Which brings us up to last nights' Lackawanna City Council Meeting...
September 19, 2011
Lackawanna City Council Meeting last night......
Comm. of Public Works – requests Council award contract for rehabilitation of Fire Houses #1 and #2 to Kirst Construction for the bid of $526,000.
Vote 5-0 Yes.
Now this is a VERY good thing and I know it is coming out of The Bond!
This is the kind of Corruption that HAS TO COME TO AN END!
Editorial Page » Buffalo News editorials
Tempest in Lackawanna
Mayor shouldn’t automatically get job as head of the city’s Housing Authority
News Editorial Board
Published:October 10, 2011, 12:00 AM
Tone-deaf politicians are always with us, but the Lackawanna mayor’s recent interest in being appointed executive director of the Lackawanna Municipal Housing Authority raises that to a new level.
Mayor Norman L. Polanski Jr.’s term ends in December and he has said he’d like the $82,000-a-year Housing Authority job, which would be a huge increase from his $56,106 salary as mayor. And because Polanski appointed five of the seven members of the authority’s board of commissioners, he may get it.
Before he can be appointed, however, the board needs a waiver from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The commissioners voted 4-1 to seek that waiver.
HUD’s ethics policy prohibits housing authorities from hiring public and elected officials who exercise functions or responsibilities with respect to the Housing Authority during the tenure of the official or for up to one year after the tenure is completed. A HUD waiver would allow the board to consider hiring Polanski as soon as his term ends in December.
Polanski would be following in the footsteps of previous mayors—Thomas E. Radich and Kathleeen M. Staniszewski —who have been appointed to head the Housing Authority.
George W. Halsey III, a former First Ward councilman, says its just politics as usual, telling Polanski: “You appointed everybody; now they’re going to appoint you executive director.”
Polanski says he is well-qualified for the job, with his extensive background in dealing with maintenance crews and the budgetary issues as mayor. That may be true, but it misses the point. The Housing Authority should conduct a wide-ranging, transparent search for the best candidate. Without that, there will always be whispers of political maneuvering.
Polanski has made it clear that he can return to the Department of Corrections, where he is on leave from his plumbing job at Collins Correctional Facility. And he’s still considering a run for the Assembly, although the law doesn’t allow him to mount a campaign if he’s in the Housing Authority post.
We hope he chooses one of his other options.
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Thanks Buffalo News! You get it along with thousands of us who stand AGAINST greed and nepotism! Enough is enough and the people want this to STOP!
TAKE-TAKE-TAKE, what has he or any of them really given back to OUR City or Schools?
How about the Martin Road Housing Development Sub-division where $$millions of hidden tax money is tied up in EMPTY LOTS for 4 longgggg years now??!!?? Qualified--HA!
How about the purchase of the land behind his house that the Council sold to him in 2006 but he did NOT close on for about 3 longggg years later! Yes, he knows Real Estate all right, I'll give him that............he is always down in the Assessor's Office seeing who can they squeeze out and belly-up to next!:mad:
Some Poli-Tricks and downright crime for Thought........
If an outfit wins a City Bid for something..........and then this same outfit is seen doing jobs at a City employees house.......What do you think?
And then there is that scraping of Friendship House property Labor Day weekend 08'. Where did the money go...............and WHO gave them the key to get in?:rolleyes:
How about the out of court settlements that the Council should vote on# :rolleyes: We Are talking BIG Money here folks, BIG BIG BIG Money! Just like in the Schools, they think it is cheaper to pay someone off out of court then go to court# Except for Sorrento and LCDC.............BIG Money folks, BIG BIG BIG Money! The money spent could have been put into the streets/sidewalks instead of leaving us with that $5million extra debt load!
You see, the Szymanski-Pirowski Team = the same ole' same' ole' #you know all the same na#es that have batted around the political arena for years# type of back room/bar room poli-tricks# Show us how the future of Lackawanna government could be any different with all the same team members# I know lots of favors are owed###why when I first got on the Council I know from way back that every Council person was given a "BINGO Inspector position# Geoff had already promised "2" positions to different people in the Second Ward way before he got elected! The Boys purposely left the First Ward out thinking I did not know how this worked..................I was appauled and had to argue with them to let the First Ward have one of those appointments# Remember Geoff?
January 17, 2006 Lackawanna City Council Minutes
Bingo Inspectors
It is in the Archives.......
Well we got our appointment and a Senior from the Baker Homes who plays Bingo, got the $1200/yr Bingo Inspector position. As soon as I lost my re-election bid Mr. Noman appointed an Arabic woman, as was his choice.
Do you REALLY think things will CHANGE in Lackawanna with this Team?
What has changed in Lackawanna over the past decade? The players? The street-scape? The What?
If the new " Team Szymanski " gets elected, do you think you will see BIG changes in Lackawanna?
Do you really think the new "Team" has some state of the art plans or vision for a better Lackawanna? Did I miss a flyer?
Or will it be just another change up of the quarterback and goalie in Lackawanna City Hall!
I have heard none of them complaining about the state of the City or the Lackawanna Budget! Why not? It is because none of the team members want to step on the toes of their teammates.......status quo---hush, let's go have a drink---and, pass the buck. OR, maybe they just don't know the way the Budget, etc. works at all---.
Oh, how I wish I could debate them!
If I was not telling the truth about their mis-management of public funds, then why did they come after me so hard to make me go away? They hated me questioning them and telling you what went/goes on!
I did not give Lackawanna the dirty politics reputation it has.........listen to the pulse of the people and the truth rings loud and clear!
I tried to bring new ideas to the table but I kept getting bullied down, as you all know. The Buffalo News in 2006 quoted one of my peers as saying "Tax Deadbeats" should be barred from City Hall back when he had two government jobs and was behind in his own tax bills. They cover up the truth when it comes to their own personal problems and credentials. BTW: What credentials do you think the general public would like to see a candidate for City Hall possess?
The Executive and Legislative branches are supposed to be separate arms of the governmental triangle......I mentioned this before, if they are this tight of a team pre-election----can you imagine how tight they will be post? Who will arbitrarily represent "the people"...Code Enforcement?
Game Day is around the corner....hup two......Time to use OUR "Secret Play"!
I can see it now......if the Team Syzmanski/Pirowski wins........
The old regime will shuffle out and roll on down Ridge Road to get to their martini and their spot at the bar; while the new regime' swaggers by with a failed high-figh pass to them as they stumble onto the crumbling steps of the Orange City Hall! For their Christmas Party they will all file rank as they toast each other for their BIG win against us little people .........and wake up on New Years day to pencil in whoever worked the hardest for the Party for the other patronage........and I am not talking Bingo!
Sadly, the jobs.....promises of jobs.......deals and promotions are what Lackawanna Democratic Committee Persons and the "connected people" will vote for on November 8th! :rolleyes:
Others of us who know you must vote the person NOT the party, are voting OUT the broken promises, connected people, and lack of vision that has caused the rust in OUR Steel City!
Out with the good ole' boy , "what's in it for me attitude", and I know this about you so you better not squeal on me or I'll tell on you too cry babies! The stories I have heard about so much unfairness would make you sick, we have Nazi gestapos, not Democrats in charge!
Yes, out with the old style...... and in with the new style of the "woman who is out there" willing to take chances, and who is relentless when it comes to getting OUR goals accomplished for a cleaner-better Lackawanna !
Not rocket science, just elbow grease and common sense! Vote for me on November 8, Then I can retire knowing Lackawanna is finally going to come into its' own !:eagerness: