The Machine Won...but what did they win???

[Caz5]

Yes, the Machine won in this year's mayoral race. At what cost? Over 3,000 registered voters showed up to oppose the Machine. It cost over $50,000 for the Machine to win this election. It made the Machine actually WORK HARD, cut lots of deals, make lots of promises, and stab lots of people in the back to stay in power. It made the Machine actually CAMPAIGN, spend money, drag people out to the polls who haven't voted in years and years. The "silent majority" of this City are getting more and more VERBAL.

[speaker]

???????

[Wake Up New York]

I can say this the people including everyone who voted stated overwhelmingly that they did not want Andrea for sure and that they did not want AJ for sure. Now the other people who voted for Dion had to be signed up and registered and told who to vote for these people have never even voted before, come on how many people did he register I'm hearing numbers like a thousand total. While it is a good thing to register and vote lets see how many of them vote in the next election if say it is jaworski against szymanski. Now is the time to hold them accountable to change the city dont jump all over them before they even take office. Lets give him a chance and see if he holds true to change.

[stonecold]

Think this will change Wake Up??
Lets Start Cutting Some of the Exuberant Benefits From Our Elected Officials
I have just been learning about some of the benefits that are afforded to our civil servants. For starters I was informed that the work day for the people in City Hall is from 9:00 AM till 4:30 PM included in these hours of work is a hour lunch, that means these people are actually working per say for 6.5 hours a day and receiving 8 hours of pay. This gets better on every Wednesday during the months of July and August these people only work until 12:00 PM and get their full eight hours of pay. I would like to hear from somebody if this is true, I cant believe that this was ever allowed. This is one of the problems with having so many family members working for the City, how does anything get negotiated in good faith when its your uncle, child, wife etc asking. I hope that one of the new guys gets elected and changes that and I DONT MEAN RENEGOTIATE IT for something in return I MEAN TAKE it AWAY. If you are getting eight hours of pay your rear should be there for at least the eight hours. We hard working people of the private sector are getting very sick and tired of YOU PUBLIC EMPLOYEES giving it to us every chance you get. I went to City Hall once to get a permit to install a fence, I went at 12:15ish I was told I would have to wait until 1:00 PM until they got back from lunch. Can you believe that they shut the whole department down for lunch because they feel they should be able to go to lunch together, they dont give a rats bass that the people actually paying their wages also work and that we try to get stuff done during our unpaid lunch hour.

[Wake Up New York]

Think this will change Wake Up??
Lets Start Cutting Some of the Exuberant Benefits From Our Elected Officials
I have just been learning about some of the benefits that are afforded to our civil servants. For starters I was informed that the work day for the people in City Hall is from 9:00 AM till 4:30 PM included in these hours of work is a hour lunch, that means these people are actually working per say for 6.5 hours a day and receiving 8 hours of pay. This gets better on every Wednesday during the months of July and August these people only work until 12:00 PM and get their full eight hours of pay. I would like to hear from somebody if this is true, I cant believe that this was ever allowed. This is one of the problems with having so many family members working for the City, how does anything get negotiated in good faith when its your uncle, child, wife etc asking. I hope that one of the new guys gets elected and changes that and I DONT MEAN RENEGOTIATE IT for something in return I MEAN TAKE it AWAY. If you are getting eight hours of pay your rear should be there for at least the eight hours. We hard working people of the private sector are getting very sick and tired of YOU PUBLIC EMPLOYEES giving it to us every chance you get. I went to City Hall once to get a permit to install a fence, I went at 12:15ish I was told I would have to wait until 1:00 PM until they got back from lunch. Can you believe that they shut the whole department down for lunch because they feel they should be able to go to lunch together, they dont give a rats bass that the people actually paying their wages also work and that we try to get stuff done during our unpaid lunch hour.

I wish that was were they started however that has to wait for the negotiations to arrive. There is no way that City Hall should be shutting down the permit department for an hour, they could stagger lunches by a half hour and cover it. Also The half day on Wednesday in the summer is a joke. I'm not sure what your point was that you figured I changed my feelings on this matter. I'm not like certain political parties in LA that change who and what they are for at a drop of a hat. There are a lot of changes that need to be done and out of the two actively running contenders (Szymanski and Dion) the best man for the job won. Lets see how long Dion stays residing in the City he probably has his house in Hamburg up for sale as we speak. By the way thats another change that I would like to see implemented if you work for the City or Its school district (seeing that some believe that is a seperate entity from the City) you must live in the City. How much sense does it make that you earn money from these tax payers and then help out another school district by paying their teachers.

[stonecold]

I wish that was were they started however that has to wait for the negotiations to arrive. There is no way that City Hall should be shutting down the permit department for an hour, they could stagger lunches by a half hour and cover it. Also The half day on Wednesday in the summer is a joke. I'm not sure what your point was that you figured I changed my feelings on this matter. I'm not like certain political parties in LA that change who and what they are for at a drop of a hat. There are a lot of changes that need to be done and out of the two actively running contenders (Szymanski and Dion) the best man for the job won. Lets see how long Dion stays residing in the City he probably has his house in Hamburg up for sale as we speak. By the way thats another change that I would like to see implemented if you work for the City or Its school district (seeing that some believe that is a seperate entity from the City) you must live in the City. How much sense does it make that you earn money from these tax payers and then help out another school district by paying their teachers.

In those cities with populations exceeding 125,000 (New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, Rochester, and Syracuse), the city school districts are coterminous with the city limits, and education is part of the municipal budget. These districts cannot incur debts or levy taxes. The governmental structure in all of these except for New York is that of an elected or appointed board of education. New York's public education is headed by a chancellor and has a 13-member all-appointed Department of Education Panel for Education Policy.>>
The city school districts for the 57 cities having fewer than 125,000 people are separate from the municipal government and are authorized to levy taxes and incur debt. Each of them is governed by an elected board of education with five, seven, or nine members. Districts for smaller cities often extend beyond the city borders and are referred to as "enlarged city school districts", seven of which have reorganized as "central city school districts”^]>>
School districts>>
School districts are organized local entities providing public elementary, secondary, and/or higher education which, under state law, have sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments. The category excludes dependent public school systems of county, municipal, township, or state governments.>>


An independent school district is a type of school district in the United States for primary and secondary education, which operates as an entity that is independent and separate from any municipality, county, or state. As such the administrative leadership of such districts is selected from within the district itself and has no direct responsibility to any other governmental authority. This independence normally also implies that the district has its own taxing authority that is outside of the direct control of other governmental entities.

Not sure what you mean by certain political parties that change. What are you registered as? From what you sound like, maybe you should run for the school board so you can change the policy. i don't think that you will get very far as Lackawanna will never exceed 125,000 people.

[getalife123]

Wake Up NewYork, there are approx 166 teachers working in the school district. Go to the administration building on So. Shore and ask for a School Directory. See how many teachers live in Lackawanna, not many. Many of the few that work and live here where Johns hires, a bunch of box of rocks.

[andreahaxton]

Think this will change Wake Up??
Lets Start Cutting Some of the Exuberant Benefits From Our Elected Officials
I have just been learning about some of the benefits that are afforded to our civil servants. For starters I was informed that the work day for the people in City Hall is from 9:00 AM till 4:30 PM included in these hours of work is a hour lunch, that means these people are actually working per say for 6.5 hours a day and receiving 8 hours of pay. This gets better on every Wednesday during the months of July and August these people only work until 12:00 PM and get their full eight hours of pay. I would like to hear from somebody if this is true, I cant believe that this was ever allowed. This is one of the problems with having so many family members working for the City, how does anything get negotiated in good faith when its your uncle, child, wife etc asking. I hope that one of the new guys gets elected and changes that and I DONT MEAN RENEGOTIATE IT for something in return I MEAN TAKE it AWAY. If you are getting eight hours of pay your rear should be there for at least the eight hours. We hard working people of the private sector are getting very sick and tired of YOU PUBLIC EMPLOYEES giving it to us every chance you get. I went to City Hall once to get a permit to install a fence, I went at 12:15ish I was told I would have to wait until 1:00 PM until they got back from lunch. Can you believe that they shut the whole department down for lunch because they feel they should be able to go to lunch together, they dont give a rats bass that the people actually paying their wages also work and that we try to get stuff done during our unpaid lunch hour.

Yes, it is true. " Summer Hours"........the County gets them too, they run from the 4th of July till after Labor Day. County 8:30-4pm/1 hr lunch and 2-15 minute breaks in the summer (winter M-F, 8:30-4:30 as a rule).........Lackawanna works 9-4:30 M-T-Th-F, and 9-12 noon every Wednesday in Summer Hours, (winter 9-4:30). If they can get the same amount of work done in 3 less hours or so......Time for a Time Study! I tried to get one....maybe Hank will have better luck.

City Code:
§ 5-68 Office hours.


All units in the administrative service shall be open between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and shall be closed on Saturdays and legal holidays.

Legal holidays........why they still get both Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays off in February instead of one day, President's Day like others if you are lucky; private sector usually never get any of these perks.

They have been in direct violation of our LAW for years and every time I questioned them about why it is allowed, they were not available. You are right, stonecold.

[bluethunder]

I can say this the people including everyone who voted stated overwhelmingly that they did not want Andrea for sure and that they did not want AJ for sure. Now the other people who voted for Dion had to be signed up and registered and told who to vote for these people have never even voted before, come on how many people did he register I'm hearing numbers like a thousand total. While it is a good thing to register and vote lets see how many of them vote in the next election if say it is jaworski against szymanski. Now is the time to hold them accountable to change the city dont jump all over them before they even take office. Lets give him a chance and see if he holds true to change.

They already had their chance.Maybe they can prove people wrong but call me skeptical. As far as living in this city it isn't and will not be enforceable. The most qualified candidate should get the job not residency based people. That is how we ended up where we are in the first place. Seems like you need to wake up maybe?

[Change2011]

If you believe the taxpayers mostly elderly wil allow someone to run for office in Lackawanna who doesn't live here....you need to wake up.....will never happen...residency is enforceable and has been in my cities in NY State...in the USA the Constitution allows voters to vote for the candidate they feel best fits the position...they did that inLackawanna.....several cases have been cited in law journals and the newspaper regarding residency...the latest was in Bflo...Adamczyk was removed from the ballot by the Apellate Div..in Rochester....Dion will not run again until he addresses the residency issue and move to Lackawanna...not just say he does....and why would anyone run for office and take a large pay cut from their teaching job ???????/ follow the money .......and if Dion really wanted changes...he has his large congreation ...he could have started there....but didn't....people are not stupid..

[andreahaxton]

I can say this the people including everyone who voted stated overwhelmingly that they did not want Andrea for sure and that they did not want AJ for sure. Now the other people who voted for Dion had to be signed up and registered and told who to vote for these people have never even voted before, come on how many people did he register I'm hearing numbers like a thousand total. While it is a good thing to register and vote lets see how many of them vote in the next election if say it is jaworski against szymanski. Now is the time to hold them accountable to change the city dont jump all over them before they even take office. Lets give him a chance and see if he holds true to change.

You talk about me as if I am a non-person, " that they did not want Andrea for sure ", as if I do not have any feelings and I, oh never mind........... Guess what? It is all good with me.
This morning I had a beautiful ride out to East Aurora for an appointment. Then I strolled through Vidler's and a few boutiques just for fun, had lunch at the new Chipotle and found 2 Salada Teapots that I collect at Savers. Rounded out the evening by baby-sitting my baby Grand-daughter Zoe and love it! I have spent so much time at this political game .....I now realize what so many folks have told me over the years is true, "you can't fight City Hall and win ". Fine.

I actually feel like a weight has lifted off of me......and I will soon get my life back after 20 years of running around trying to chase the lack out of Lackawanna. Other communities shine. We are the neglected ---has been ole' steel town ....but I guess 3000 people like it this way. I get it.

Beat me down, make fun of me, expose my personal problems.....WHATEVER! I feel good, am NOT a sore-loser at all, trust God, and claim a victory in my defeat........

Off the web......

" I find that I am not the first to present the manifold forms of Burke’s Triumph of Evil quote. Lee Frank had already given his own list,
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. "

All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing.

All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

In order for ‘evil’ to prevail, all that need happen is for ‘good’ people to do nothing.

I heard this famous quote in an old movie, " The world is only as good as the people in it"......Lackawanna is only as good as........

[andreahaxton]

Will one of you please tell Hank that the graffiti on the south-side "No Left Turn" sign on the Centennial Bridge (stupid name) , looks ghetto?

[blahblahblah]

I heard this famous quote in an old movie, " The world is only as good as the people in it"......Lackawanna is only as good as........
Nice thing to say about the people you supposably care
so much about.

[buffalonymann]

You talk about me as if I am a non-person, " that they did not want Andrea for sure ", as if I do not have any feelings and I, oh never mind........... Guess what? It is all good with me.
This morning I had a beautiful ride out to East Aurora for an appointment. Then I strolled through Vidler's and a few boutiques just for fun, had lunch at the new Chipotle and found 2 Salada Teapots that I collect at Savers. Rounded out the evening by baby-sitting my baby Grand-daughter Zoe and love it! I have spent so much time at this political game .....I now realize what so many folks have told me over the years is true, "you can't fight City Hall and win ". Fine.

I actually feel like a weight has lifted off of me......and I will soon get my life back after 20 years of running around trying to chase the lack out of Lackawanna. Other communities shine. We are the neglected ---has been ole' steel town ....but I guess 3000 people like it this way. I get it.

Beat me down, make fun of me, expose my personal problems.....WHATEVER! I feel good, am NOT a sore-loser at all, trust God, and claim a victory in my defeat........

Off the web......

" I find that I am not the first to present the manifold forms of Burke’s Triumph of Evil quote. Lee Frank had already given his own list,
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. "

All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing.

All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

In order for ‘evil’ to prevail, all that need happen is for ‘good’ people to do nothing.

I heard this famous quote in an old movie, " The world is only as good as the people in it"......Lackawanna is only as good as........

Apparently Haxton is saying " I will attack anybody whom I please, but I should not be attacked because I have feelings"

[Caz5]

Yes, "3,000+ residents have spoken" and Geoff and Hank were elected. Remember, those people who did the write-in and those people who voted for A.J. and Andrea and even Walter S. were also sending a message. Most elections have been a real joke...no opponents...or all the lines get tied up so there aren't any endorsements for anyone outside of the "club." The truth remains...a select few families in Lackawanna have two, three, and even four jobs between the School District and City Hall. Their children get the summer jobs. Their wives and daughters get teacher aide positions in the School District.

Will Geoff keep his campaign promises? Does Geoff really care about the City of Lackawanna or is this mayoral position just a stepping stone toward the Legislature or Assembly? Time will tell, won't it?

The focus is going to be on Geoff's 2nd Ward Council job. Who will get the nod to step into that seat for the next two years?

Question...what ever happened to the property on South Park that the Baptist Church and the Yemen Community were fighting over?

Question...where do we stand with the Martin Road Subdivision Project?

Question...Geoff never held a single meeting or mailed out any communication to the 2nd Ward voters the entire time he was on the Council - 6 years - so, will he suddenly start communicating with the city as mayor?