Senator Grisanti Sponsors Bill to Prevent Blackouts on Cable TV

Pay Raises for Legislators or Governor Strongly Opposed

Imagine having a new Erie County Comptroller who served as a corporate treasurer for 32 years...who spent four years as the Commissioner/Treasurer of the Erie County Water Authority during which he kept rate increases to zero...who will be completely independent of both political and economic influence from any quarter just like his predecessor.

“I want to be the kind of comptroller that Mark Poloncarz was,” says George Hasiotis, a Co-Founder of the Economic Club of Toronto. “The kind who provides independent leadership so that he always makes his judgments of fiscal issues effecting the county based on the merits of the issue and not politics. During four years as a Commissioner of the Erie County Water Authority and as Treasurer, that's exactly what I did. I reduced operating expenses, and cut patronage employees while keeping rate increases to 0% even if that meant sometimes disagreeing with the Legislature and the County Executive at that time.”

Hasiiotis believes he can be just that kind of independent people's watchdog.

“I'm running because I'm at a time in my life when I am not beholden to any interest financially nor am I controlled by any political faction,” he points out. “It's a time when my only goal is to serve our community.”

MAYOR BROWN ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF CORPORATION COUNSEL

Attorney Timothy A. Ball will lead the City of Buffalo Law Department

BUFFALO – Mayor Byron W. Brown today appointed Attorney Timothy A. Ball to the position of Corporation Counsel. Ball has been acting as Senior Deputy Corporation Counsel since June of 2010 and has been an Assistant Corporation Counsel with the City’s Law Department since March of 2005, when he was admitted to the practice of law. Prior to his admission, he served as the City Law Department’s Chief Law Clerk, after beginning his clerkship in February of 2003. He is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Canisius College’s Honors Program and a Cum Laude graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law.

DEMOCRATS SEEKING TO LOWER NUMBER OF PETITION SIGNATURES NEEDED TO RUN FOR OFFICE THIS YEAR

Democrats on the State Board of Elections are proposing to lower the number of signatures candidates would need to get on the primary election ballot, according to papers filed in federal court.

The argument appears in an affidavit filed in federal court. U.S. District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe who has asked the state board to submit a political calendar after he ordered primary elections for the U.S. Senate and Congress be held on June 26. It was moved from Sept. 11 to comply with a federal law, which mandates military voters stationed overseas get absentee ballots at least 45 days before a general election.

The state Board of Elections is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, who are mired in dispute over whether to move the primary for state offices — members of the Assembly and Senate — in line with the June date, a move that would spare New York taxpayers $45 million in extra expenses.

SPEAKER SILVER COMES TO BUFFALO TO RAISE $$ FOR DACC...RUMOR OF THE DAY: NO THIRD PRIMARY FOR YES TO LEG REDISTRICTING DEAL

NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver came to Buffalo on Wednesday night to be the featured attraction at a $500 a plate fundraiser for the NYS Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, also known as DACC. Of course, the purpose of DACC is to raise money to support Democratic candidates for the Assembly, both incumbents and challengers. Approximately 50 attendees paid the full $500, including Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Erie County Democratic Chairman Len Lenihan, former Queen City Mayor Tony Masiello, former Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz, a number of prominent local business people, and about a half dozen Cong. Brian Higgins staffers.

The fact that so many Higgins people were on hand proves that the former Silver/Higgins rift (that goes back to the time several years ago when Higgins backed a challenger to Silver's Speakership) has been healed.

A number of local Democratic attendees went out of their way to complement the Speaker on his support for a major hike in New York's minimum wage.

The hot rumor of the evening was that there was a deal in place by which Gov. Cuomo would accept the Legislature's redistricting map or, at least, not bust a gut to oppose it in return for which the Legislature would not try to schedule a separate third primary this year for state candidates. If anything, the Speaker might have actually encouraged such talk by telling the media attending the event that he was working to make the Governor “comfortable” with the Republican Senate and Democratic Assembly's lines.

Perhaps the only sour note of the evening for local Dems was struck by the Sabres who lost a 1-0 shoot out battle to Silver's New York Rangers as many fundraiser attendee watched and groaned from the comfort of a local pub.

CUOMO SOURCES BELIEVE THIRD PRIMARY WOULD BE POLITICAL DISASTER...THE CASE FOR SHENK, THOUGH HASIOTIS, PAWARSKI MAY CHALLENGE...PALADINO AND GINGRICH IN ELLICOTT SQUARE

Sources friendly to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are warning legislators that scheduling a third primary for New Yorkers this year in order to avoid having state office seekers run at the same time as the June 26 primary for federal offices could lead to political disaster for incumbents.

Here is what Gov. Cuomo has said about this subject publicly:

“Obviously this is less than an ideal situation,” says the Governor.  “It’s very expensive for the state. I don’t think the taxpayers want to pay for three elections. I don’t even think it serves the electoral process well. You have much lower turnout — who’s going to come out to vote just for a congressional election, for example? It’s a very real problem,” “I don’t know what the date is, but I know that having three dates is not in anyone’s interest.”

Off the record, they are saying much more:

“The big problem here is that it is the counties that would assume these extra costs,” one of them points out. “A third primary would cost about $600,000 in Erie County alone. In counties such as New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn), Nassau and Westchester Counties the charges would run way up into the millions. Can you imagine what would happen if property taxes had to go up in some county because of this additional primary date?”

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DUFFY JOINS MAYOR BROWN AND BUFFALO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SUPPORT GOVERNOR CUOMO’S PROPOSED EXPANSION OF NEW YORK STATE’S DNA DATABANK

Lieutenant Governor Robert J. Duffy today joined with City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and law enforcement officials to show support for Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s proposal to expand the state’s DNA Databank, which will help solve more crimes, bring justice to victims and exonerate innocent New Yorkers. The Lieutenant Governor and Mayor were joined at the Buffalo City Hall press conference by Erie County's First Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty, Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda, Chief of Detectives Dennis Richards and Robyn Wiktorski-Reynolds, the advocate program coordinator from Crisis Services.

“When Governor Cuomo detailed his Executive Budget proposal last month, he unveiled the next steps in his plan to build a new New York,” Lt. Governor Duffy said. “His plan to expand the state’s DNA Databank will transform our criminal justice system. During my law enforcement career, I saw case after case where DNA evidence made a difference...I can’t imagine why anyone would want to preclude such a powerful tool from being used to its fullest potential.”

Mayor Brown said: “Governor Cuomo’s proposal to expand the DNA Databank is critically important to solving crimes, and equally as important to keep people who are innocent from being wrongly convicted. This is going to be another useful crime fighting tool to help the Buffalo Police Department and other law enforcement agencies further reduce crime in Buffalo, and across New York.”

If Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoes the Legislature's proposed new Assembly and Senate district lines as he has promised to, the big question becomes: Will Albany's upper and lower house vote to override?

Some sources believe they will out of a belief that the Assembly Democrats and the Senate Republicans each are happy with the lines they drew for themselves and don't want them changed. As for the Governor, a veto override would give him the chance to say to the state's reformers: “Look, I tried to reform the system and get non-political lines drawn, but the Legislature overrode me. What can I do?”

Moving on to congressional redistricting, the lines for which are scheduled to be announced this week, we are hearing that Cong. Louise Slaughter won't be objecting too much if she loses the Erie County part of her current district as is likely. In return, she'll keep Niagara Falls and get more of her home base in Monroe County included in her new domain. The latter development could be risky for the former House Rules Committee Chairwoman if it attracts a challenge from popular, well financed Republican Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, an eventuality she is hoping to avoid..

This would mean that Cong. Kathy Hochul would inherit the City of Tonawanda and the Town of Tonawanda, Democratic leaning areas that she would obviously love to add to her district. The big question is: Who will get the parts of Slaughter's present district that include parts of the east side and west side of Buffalo, also Democratic leaning communities that Cong. Brian Higgins would also love to have.

Ultimately it will be Gov. Cuomo who makes the decision according to Andrew's agreement with the Legislature.

MARK GRISANTI: KNOWN BY MANY FOR HIS MARRIAGE EQUALITY VOTE, THOUGH HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS INVOLVE MUCH, MUCH MORE

Known mainly for his careful and courageous vote on Marriage Equality, the truth is that NYS Senator Mark Grisanti has accomplished much, much more in the midst of a tumultuous and eventful first year in office. From sponsoring a law that removes harmful chemicals from products used by babies to UB 20-20 to soliciting Toyota as a possible recipient of Andrew Cuomo's $1 billion for Buffalo economic development plan, it's clear that Senator Grisanti's first term would have been considered momentous even if Marriage Equality had never come up.

“I've tried to work every day to pass legislation that would benefit WNY and the entire state,” Senator Grisanti explained in an exclusive interview with NewWNYPolitics.net last Friday. “On UB 20-20 working with Gov. Cuomo and my colleagues from around the state, I realized that we had to make it SUNY 20-20, that is we had to include other state colleges, not just UB and we had to offer students and their parents a guarantee that tuition at state universities wouldn't go up for five years so they could plan their budgets accordingly.”

“Concerning the Governor's $1 billion plan for Buffalo and WNY, we are hoping that an auto company like Toyota would locate, a parts producing plan here in this area, with the parts then shipped out to their assembly plants,” the Senator continues. “I'm going to be continuing to work hard along with my colleagues in the WNY delegation until we are able to attract the kind of new facility we want to create the jobs our people need...

DIPIETRO TO SEEK ASSEMBLY NOMINATION VS. BURLING

Now that the new 147^th Assembly District has been turned into a mostly Erie County domain, with 15 Erie County towns added, clearly a golden opportunity has been created for former East Aurora Mayor and long time Republican activist Dave DiPietro.

“I have been considering running for the Assembly for seven or eight years,” he reports. “Now that this has been become about a 60% or more Erie County District, this represents a real opportunity for me to run. I carried Wyoming County, which is still part of the new district, when I ran for the state senate and I know I am better known in Erie County than the incumbent, Assemblyman Dan Burling. So this is a great chance for me to fight for my conservative principles on a larger stage.”

A Judge has set this year's primary date for June 26. That means petitions will have to go out by about March 15. Meanwhile we hear that congressional lines for the Empire State will be announced next week.