Buffalo Rising Online

neither the county nor the city get it...if they did then Buffalo would be in much better shape.

The city and the county need one top notch accounting, actuarial, auditing and controller department instead of the substandard individual departments.

The city and the county need to give priority to infrastructure projects that promote job creation...

the state has funds to pay for cost saving and consolidation yet neither the county nor any municipality has tapped them even though its free money they could access.

(yes you friggin weiners...that state money is taxpayer money too but that taxpayer money is for investment in future savings...would you rather pay for taxpayer waste at the same rate or more tomorrow than today with no possibility of savings)

so far...I dont see Collins using the control board to his advantage. I see Collins taking a very parochial, county vs city approach and adversarial approach to the control board....the result is more of the same...instead of the real change we were hoping.

Collins got elected because he was County vs. City. Nothing will change with him in office. I am just hoping we all can hold our own and not get any worse while he is in power.

sbrof is correct, Collins is anti-regionalism and is too shortsighted to see that the future success of the county is directly linked to that of the city.

What do you expect from a guy who owns a mansion in Clarence and runs a business in the suburbs?

What do you expect from a guy who owns a mansion in Clarence and runs a business in the suburbs?

What do you expect from a guy who owns a mansion in Clarence and runs a business in the suburbs?

he runs a business on main street in the city, ZEPTO, he is also renovating the mansion next door that was empty for decades for nearlly a million dollars as the world headquarters for his business.

If Buffalo does get worse as sbrof hopes it won't, the blame will be with its own residents and city govt much more so than with spending decisions of county govt.

The county govt's budget is reportedly around 90% mandated, which means neither Collins nor the legislature can affect how 90% of county taxes are spent. Much of that 90% goes to city residents. The remaining approx 10% non-mandated is spread out county wide for many different purposes. Buffalo has under a third of the Erie Co population, so proportionately it should get about 3% of the non-mandated 10%. In other words, spending decisions of county govt have relatively litte impact, good or bad, on Buffalo "getting worse", and we should see no major impact on the city regardless of whether the County Exec is Collins, Keane, Giambra, etc. It's what City Hall does and what the people of Buffalo do, that has way more impact on the city than does county govt.

NY state govt obviously has a huge impact on both the city and county because they set the rules for mandates and have great impact on the anti-business environment in both the city and county.

Look the truth for Collins is that he is not running things to the betterment of Erie County or Buffalo.

If he was then connecting the Airport & UB Amherst & Niagara Falls to downtown via light rail would be a county and a city priority because these are the growth engines for our region even if it meant taking the gas tax off budget and contributing a share of the gas tax to the NFTA

If he was then taking the bed tax off budget so we could truly advertise our region, build a new convention and conference center and fund the film division would be a priority.

If he was then infrastructure from ports to rail to light rail to air to roads (paved and cobbled), to street lights, to sidewalks, to curbs, to small business incubators and office parks within previously developed municipalities (especially former retail cemetaries), etc.

Both the city and the county cant focus on operating the city and the county, they need to focus on investing the future of the city and the county. One just feeds unions and patronage...the other assures the city and county will be around in the future.

Atwater- Much of the 90% you claim goes to city residents is because "our neighbors" have contained all the poor and associated problems within the city. Sounds like a bargain for the suburbs considering how well they have insulated themselves from sharing the burden of poverty that we all are guilty of ignoring.

BRL - If you read carefully you'll see I didn't complain about the 90% in that comment. I mentioned it while pointing out how little difference a county executive (any county executive) makes about whether or not the city "gets worse". This was in response to sbrof hoping that Collins won't cause the city to get any worse. That 90%, or whatever the number is, is the same regardless of whether Collins is county exec, or Jim Keane, or Joel Giambra, or you. If Buffalo gets worse of better or stays the same, the county govt will have very little impacts compared to City Hall, Albany, and mostly to Buffalo's residents.

tim kennedy is a joke of a politician. what does he know about budgets? he was GIVEN his Legislator seat when Shroeder took a state seat. He was a long time party intern. to my knowledge he has never run a business and is an occupation therapist major....not a business major.....not an accounting major. wtf!!!!

how do these people get into office and why do we keep electing them. And why aren't we up in arms that the people working on our budget and with our money have no knowlege or experience????????

Same old posts...

Blackrocklifer explaining this massive conspiracy by the wealthy whites to keep the impoverished African Americans down by inflating crime statistics, creating unequal education and social opportunities, implementing unfair tax breaks, and generally taking away all opportunity and self-determination for city livers

And

Chris69 or Buffalo21stCentury or whatever, contending that there is a massive conspiracy being perpetuated in the name of equal opportunity, and another that is being masterminded by the Jews. Somehow these conspiracies are impeding city development by failing to build light rail between the UB campuses in Amherst, by not excavating and re-watering the useless canals, and by maintaining the Kensington and Scajacuada Expressways. By building light rail, opening canals, and removing these highways, we will create a logistics hub similar to what they have built in Rochester. The lack of these improvements have held the city back economically and socially.

I wonder why I even bothered to check back. Same posts different thread.

Where can I get a copy of the proposed budget? I would like to look through it to see where our taxes are truly being spent. Anyone have a link or know where we can get a copy?

Einstein- There is no claim of a "massive conspiracy by wealthy whites" to keep the poor down but you are naive if you are unaware of the planning decisions made by Buffalo's neighbors that have resulted in the concentration of the poor in the city. These decisions were intended to make it difficult for the poor, minorities, and even people with disabilities to move into these communities. Zoning is a favorite method of controlling who can afford to live in a given area. Add car dependany and the lack of public transportation that defines suburbia and it is pretty hard for lower income people to leave the city. Segregation by income certainly perpetuates the cycle of poverty and hurts those on both sides of the divide. This selfish and shortsighted policy of seeing the city as a warehouse for the regions problems has and continues to hold our area back.

My statement was based on his lack of vision to try and make significant regional changes. He came into power because he would run government, for which he has little actual control, like a business. Sounds nice on paper but in reality it does work like that. He didn't come into power to work through or try and solve any of our regionally significant problems. He just wants to pave roads and paint bridges not worry about poverty, segregation, school systems, overlapping layers of government. Nee thats all just fine the way it is, fiefdoms for all.

He doesn't run Zepto either, he is just the money behind the operation. Which is fine, but don't give him credit for managing something he doesn't do. In fact that place is a total wreck of business, they go through employee like water because they treat them so poorly.

Also don't forget your history about the Mansion. Zepto wanted to demolish the building for parking before another group put in a proposal to the city to renovate it for commercial and residential space. The city was then going to turn it over to the other party... after which they decided to renovate it as well. I am glad they changed their mind, but if they had their first wish it would be long gone by now.

Blackrocklifer - Your response to Einstein sure sounds like the suburbs have conspired to keep the poor in Buffalo.

"you are naive if you are unaware of the planning decisions made by Buffalo's neighbors that have resulted in the concentration of the poor in the city. These decisions were intended to make it difficult for the poor, minorities, and even people with disabilities to move into these communities.

I'll take victim mentality for $1,000 Alex: "name a depressed city by Lake Erie that cannot accept their role in the mistakes of the past"... What is Buffalo!

As a refresher BRL, a victim mentality is one where you blame everyone else for what happens in your world.