Alan Bedenko

[WNYresident]

Crabapples

Alan Bedenko covers local media and politicians. I would imagine the man has met him at some point in their lives. They are also Democrats and such they run in the same circles. Finally, my point about Mazur was that he represents about 90 of the 111 election districts in Cheektowaga and no one ever sees him. Ranzenhofer covers 11 or so and you see him as much as you do Mazur. That's where the two are connected.

Do you want Ranzenhofer to do door to door on the tarmac at the airport? I know people in Cheektowaga who live in his district. When they have a problem, they call him and the issue is generally taken care of. I live, as well as about 85% of Cheektowagans, in Mazur's district and he does a very poor job representing us.

If Alan is promising to be a proactive Democrat I simply cannot trust his word. Look at what the Democrats promised in 2005. They get their 12 - 3 majority and nothing gets done. They continue their patronage and under the table stuff. The only Dems who actually backed up their promises were Locklear and Konst. And look at what they received in return. Konst is getting no support from the Democrats and Locklear didnt get the endorsement. If Bedenko gets in, it will be for one term and then Lenihan and his crooks will primary him.

At least Ranzenhofer votes against some of the bone-headed ideas of the County Democrats. Need I bring up the apprenticeship program?

So Alan,

Will you actively cut programs which the community just doesn't need to support?

Will you do everything you can do to cut patronage and wasteful spending the community can't afford?

Will you work on stopping unfunded mandates from Albany so the local community doesn't have to bear the cost?

Will you also stop, if any, welfare programs that the community pays for? There's no reason why people who are able bodied can't move to another state where employement may be better. People are leaving the area to do that now so there is NO REASON to give people a reason to stay if they don't want to be productive. I'm not refering to the very elderly, completely disabled or blind.

Will you lead by example and start an across the board salary/benefit cut for all county employees. We will use this example for all other city, town and state employees once implemented.

well?

[AlexMaryvale]

Alan won't deal with any of these issues, because Ranzenhofer and his ilk will solve all of our problems!

I think Victor Getz should be our County Exec.

[buffalopundit]

So Alan,

Will you actively cut programs which the community just doesn't need to support?

Everything will be on the table.

Will you do everything you can do to cut patronage and wasteful spending the community can't afford?

Nothing sickens me more.

Will you work on stopping unfunded mandates from Albany so the local community doesn't have to bear the cost?

To the extent that a county legislator can have influence over Albany nonsense, I will always push for an end to unfunded mandates that are killing us.

Will you also stop, if any, welfare programs that the community pays for? There's no reason why people who are able bodied can't move to another state where employement may be better. People are leaving the area to do that now so there is NO REASON to give people a reason to stay if they don't want to be productive. I'm not refering to the very elderly, completely disabled or blind.

These are issues that the county leg simply has little control over. There are federal and state mandated requirements - some statutory, some under the state constitution - which the leg can't simply abolish & ignore. What I will do is lobby as best I can that Albany reform the Medicaid system, for instance, so that the services offered are brought in line with most other states, so that our cost for the program is also brought in line with most other states.

Will you lead by example and start an across the board salary/benefit cut for all county employees. We will use this example for all other city, town and state employees once implemented.

You can't do it for _all_ county employees because there are still binding contracts in place for them. But my understanding is that many contracts come up for renewal soon...

[therising]

Alan
Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't you advocated to abolish the County Government in the past? Will you still advocate that if you win?

Also, I assume you won't be giving up your full-time job, will you?

[buffalopundit]

Alan
Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't you advocated to abolish the County Government in the past? Will you still advocate that if you win?

Also, I assume you won't be giving up your full-time job, will you?

I'll stay at my current job as long as they'll have me.

I have advocated for county govt abolition in the past, and it's something that I think should still be looked into and considered. In the meantime, however, I'd like to work on improving the system we have and making sure it's running as efficiently as possible.

[therising]

I have advocated for county govt abolition in the past, and it's something that I think should still be looked into and considered. In the meantime, however, I'd like to work on improving the system we have and making sure it's running as efficiently as possible.

I'd nominate you for the JFK Profiles in Courage Award, if you got the position with the County, and made your #1 mandate, to abolish the very entity for which you work.

There would be something poetic about that.

[buffy]

Alan, what would you do differently from your opponent, Michael Ranzenhofer?

[PaulJonson]

In the meantime, however, I'd like to work on improving the system we have and making sure it's running as efficiently as possible.

This the same rhetoric we heard last election. And aren't these the same things that Locklear and Konst have worked to change only to see them on the outside looking in?

Reynolds, Mazur, Kozub, Whyte, Loughran, Iannello and the rest of those elected 2 years ago on the Democratic ticket campaigned on this same line and nothing has changed.

I do not doubt your frustration and desire to change government, but you are sponsored by the machine that has done little to nothing to change county government, countinued the taxation policy and is riddled with corruption, so I have a hard time believing this.

[buffalopundit]

This the same rhetoric we heard last election. And aren't these the same things that Locklear and Konst have worked to change only to see them on the outside looking in?

Reynolds, Mazur, Kozub, Whyte, Loughran, Iannello and the rest of those elected 2 years ago on the Democratic ticket campaigned on this same line and nothing has changed.

I do not doubt your frustration and desire to change government, but you are sponsored by the machine that has done little to nothing to change county government, countinued the taxation policy and is riddled with corruption, so I have a hard time believing this.

One legislator can't do it on his or her own. Neither can three, if they sequester themselves from the rest of the pack. It takes a majority of the legislature to really push for change. So, you can think what you want about whom I'm beholden to or whether someone's pulling my strings (no one and no one, respectively), but I'm sincere about this, but can't say I'm going to waltz in there like a bull in a china shop and piss everyone off. Somehow, I suspect that won't advance my agenda very far.

As to Buffy's question, what I hear a lot is that Ranzenhofer is aloof and unapproachable. That he's not the first guy people go to with their issues with the county. I intend to change that. The people in Newstead feel forgotten - they're part of the county, too, and have serious county and state-related issues. They don't feel they're being listened to or considered in any way - that they might as well be part of Pembroke in Genesee County.

Several bridges are out in the middle of Akron - county bridges. Why is it that they were summarily closed when they were found to be unsafe? Why weren't they inspected and shored up before they reached that critical point? Tonawanda Creek Road in Clarence has been washed out and closed for 3 years now. That's not really great constituent service.

But ultimately, you can rail against the Democratic "machine" all you want - I'm not a machine guy.

But between 2000 - 2006, most of the 4th District had a Republican governor, Assemblywoman/man, State Senator, and county legislator. And yet all of the Albany programs, unfunded mandates, Giambra budgets that led to disaster in 2005, and other problems that plague our community were ignored, worsened, or both. The idea that a legislator who's been in office since 1989 will somehow magically turn the district around is a canard.

For example, one of the more promising deals that the county struck - a private/public partnership that would have gotten the county out of the lien collection / foreclosure business altogether (the deal with Xspand) was voted against by Ranzenhofer. That deal was exactly the kind of thing Republicans are supposed to be pushing for - not voting against.

Had the Xspand deal gone through, the control board's control period would have become moot, and the subsequent RAN borrowing would have either been obviated or significantly lessened. Why? Because the control board said the county hadn't obtained enough bids. Problem was, only three companies bothered to bid on it, and Xspand's proposal was the most advantageous.

But now, with the deal rejected, the county is out tens of millions of private dollars, is left with a portfolio of properties that are tax delinquent, maintains a responsibility to make up the shortfall to the municipalities in spite of the properties' arrearage, and would have to hire hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of staff in order to properly do this work. How's that for fiscal responsibility?

When the charter revision commission finalized its proposal for a hybrid county manager, Ranzenhofer backed it. Yet it would have kept one high-level, high-paying job for CE, and created yet another executive-level high paying job for the county manager, who would also have to hire staff and support people. How is that fiscally prudent? If the county manager idea is such a brilliant one - and I'm not opposed to it - then let's just have a county manager instead of a political county executive.

Among the charter revision changes that were approved by the legislature and taxpayers last year was "performance based budgeting", which would have taken our budgeting process and turned it around 180, focusing more on the desired result and our means to achieve it, rather than arbitrarily assigning a number to its cost and then re-assessing it at the close of the fiscal year. This has yet to be implemented, and the control board is blocking the issuance of a small part of an already-allocated multi-million dollar state efficiency grant to determine how best to implement it in Erie County. When people talk about efficiency and running government like a business, performance based budgeting is a massive step forward towards those goals. Yet you hear nothing about it.

There are just some of the issues that I find interesting. But the question isn't so much about what I'd do. It's more about what has Ranzenhofer done? Remember that it wasn't very long ago at all that Ranzenhofer was majority leader in the leg, working under the Republican County Executive. Remember who got Swanick to turn Republican. You want to talk machine? Has Erie County improved since 1989? 2000?

[crabapples]

One legislator can't do it on his or her own. Neither can three, if they sequester themselves from the rest of the pack.

So, people in the 4th Legislative District should vote for you beacuse you won't be able to change anything. Also, Locklear and Konst have legitimate shots at losing their seats. So then it would be you by yourself.

And you Democratic machine people kill me. You blame Republicans for Giambra and the County Legislature problems. You control 12 of 15 seats and cant get a thing done. I would say things are worse than 2 years ago. And who gave Giambra his start in politics? Oh yeah the Democrats. And he definitely received lots of support from local Dems or else he wouldnt have been elected. The enrollment is as such that he didnt win on Republican votes alone!

[buffalopundit]

So, people in the 4th Legislative District should vote for you beacuse you won't be able to change anything. Also, Locklear and Konst have legitimate shots at losing their seats. So then it would be you by yourself.

I don't think you read this properly:

One legislator can't do it on his or her own. Neither can three, if they sequester themselves from the rest of the pack.

And you Democratic machine people kill me. You blame Republicans for Giambra and the County Legislature problems. You control 12 of 15 seats and cant get a thing done. I would say things are worse than 2 years ago. And who gave Giambra his start in politics? Oh yeah the Democrats. And he definitely received lots of support from local Dems or else he wouldnt have been elected. The enrollment is as such that he didnt win on Republican votes alone!

Well, that's fine then. You obviously prefer the status quo. The only thing you replied to is my pointing out that the Republicans haven't done squat except lead us to financial disaster, and I'll note that many of those Giambra budgets were passed unanimously.

Traditionally, Democrats were labeled with "tax and spend". More recently, our Republican friends in county government have cut taxes while increasing spending, while also borrowing money to feed the habit.

For the record, both are bad.

After all, nothing gets votes like lower taxes and more services. Unfortunately, that's an unsustainable position, and it's a mess we're just starting to clean up.

[slothrop]

Alan, what would you do differently from your opponent, Michael Ranzenhofer?

How about actually show up for work and committee meetings.

[TheBlueEagle]

Alan is one of the better Democrats. I hope he wins his primary.

[crabapples]

Is he in a primary? I thought he was the only Dem candidate? I only ask because I truly do not know.

[TheBlueEagle]

Is he in a primary? I thought he was the only Dem candidate? I only ask because I truly do not know.

I thought he was in a primary but now I'm confused.