The antics of Hillbilly Clinton, Sarah Palin and the Donald are enough to make people laugh or puke on a national scale. Everyone chooses to overlook the asininity of our local politicians only because they haven't made the national news media. Yet.
In the last twenty four hours in Rochester, three separate incidents have revealed how badly broken our political and judicial systems are.
Today, US District Court Judge Frank Geraci suspended prostitute patronizing attorney John Parrinello from practicing law in federal court for 180 days.
It was not because of Parrinello's taste for gratuitous sex, but because of his asinine behavior in a court room last August. He was disruptive and heckled the court.
Parrinello has been pulling that sort of shit for years. What took the court system so long to chastise him? Why now? And it's such a mild rap on the knuckles, too.
Also today, Robert Wiesner pleaded guilty to committing a felony antitrust crime in connection with a major public corruption scandal. Of course there was a deal.
Wiesner paid a total of $8,000 and gets to stay out of jail for pleading guilty. He has to keep his nose clean for three years in return for the conditional discharge. He did not agree to cooperate and testify at the trials of his fellow crooks.
Wiesner got off cheap.
Which just goes to show you that there is one set of laws and sentences for the rich and another one for the rest of us.
Last but not least, Rochester's Board of Ethics ruled last night that it would not be unethical for the city to hire Bill Johnson's firm to study a disastrous program that he helped to create when he was mayor. Going back to the source of the problem to find a cure.
Last week, City Council approved the hire seven to two. The two holdouts, Conklin and McFadden, wanted the Board of Ethics to rule on it. The Board is appointed by City Council, and knows which side its bread is buttered on. It usually bases its conclusions on what the City Council and the mayor want. Conklin and McFadden know that, too.
I guess the mayor doesn't trust her Commissioners of Neighborhood and Business Development and Innovation to conduct the study. Why not? What does she trust them with?
How come Saturday Night Live doesn't come up with some skits featuring Rochester? The mayor is forever attempting to thrust herself into the national arena.
Showing posts with label Bill Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Johnson. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Bill Johnson to get key to the city.
As part of the celebration of the Urban League of Rochester's 50th anniversary, ex mayor Bill Johnson will be presented with a key to the city.
I assume it's because of the work he is credited with doing when he headed that group before he became mayor of Rochester in 1993.
His three terms as mayor of Rochester benefitted him enormously, but were an unqualified disaster for Rochester.
His legacy of failures include High Falls, Midtown, the Fast Ferry, to name the most obvious ones.
They all cost the taxpayers millions.
The only notable monument to his twelve years as mayor is the tacky, multi-colored sign on the Inner Loop bridge over State Street that reads "Welcome to High Falls."
It might just as easily have read "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter."
The only notable success about Bill Johnson as mayor is that he was Rochester's first black mayor.
Bleeding heart liberals ooohed and aaahed over that.
He will be given the key to the city by Rochester's second black mayor, Lovely Warren.
She is therefore not unique in that respect.
Lovely Warren and her mentor, David Gantt, were opposed to Johnson running for mayor again during the special election in 2011. Johnson's campaign might have upset the deal Gantt claims he made with Tom Richards during that election so that Warren might run unopposed in 2013.
Ironic, isn't it?
I assume it's because of the work he is credited with doing when he headed that group before he became mayor of Rochester in 1993.
His three terms as mayor of Rochester benefitted him enormously, but were an unqualified disaster for Rochester.
His legacy of failures include High Falls, Midtown, the Fast Ferry, to name the most obvious ones.
They all cost the taxpayers millions.
The only notable monument to his twelve years as mayor is the tacky, multi-colored sign on the Inner Loop bridge over State Street that reads "Welcome to High Falls."
It might just as easily have read "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter."
The only notable success about Bill Johnson as mayor is that he was Rochester's first black mayor.
Bleeding heart liberals ooohed and aaahed over that.
He will be given the key to the city by Rochester's second black mayor, Lovely Warren.
She is therefore not unique in that respect.
Lovely Warren and her mentor, David Gantt, were opposed to Johnson running for mayor again during the special election in 2011. Johnson's campaign might have upset the deal Gantt claims he made with Tom Richards during that election so that Warren might run unopposed in 2013.
Ironic, isn't it?
Friday, January 9, 2015
Hitting rock bottom.
The figures have come in and the verdict is out.
After forty years of Democratic misrule, Rochester, New York, is now the poorest city of its size in the entire US of A.
Coupled with the fact that we have the worst school system in New York State and one of the worst in the country, we are clearly up Shit Creek without a paddle.
This is one thing you can't pin on the Warren Administration.
Truly, Warren Administration has enough mortal sins and fatal flaws in its makeup to answer for, but they inherited this mess from previous incompetent and inept mayors.
The downward slide in Rochester's fortunes goes back more than twenty years, to the Johnson Administration.
This subject has been covered in depth elsewhere, so only a brief summation will be offered here.
Rochester's prosperity was based on heavy industry. The change in technology resulted in heavy industry being discontinued, with tens of thousands of jobs in those areas being eliminated.
The precipitous decline of Kodak, Rochester's sacred cow and largest employer, and the ripple effect it was producing was evident during the 1990s.
The Johnson Administration, a less than creative bunch, chose to ignore it and concentrate on enjoying themselves. It was more fun to have fun than come up with any definite plans for Rochester's future.
Mayor Johnson himself was concerned with creating his legacy, which has proved disastrous, and amassing a fortune, at which he was much more successful.
It also raised the spectre of racism here.
Critics of the Johnson Administration were branded as racists, which helped muffle his opponents in the city, at least.
After twelve years, Johnson was succeeded as mayor by his endorsed candidate Bob Duffy.
Duffy promptly double-crossed Johnson on the subject of political appointments and began to dismantle Johnson's ill-devised memorials to himself.
Rochester's economic decline was clearly evident then. Rochester was making the national poverty and poor school performance lists.
Duffy substituted his height and folksy charm for policy, which accomplished nothing for Rochester, but it convinced him that he was in way over his head and beyond his capabilities.
He fled for Albany at the first opportunity, where his ineptitude was so conspicuous that he did not seek to remain on Andrew Cuomo's ticket in 2014.
Duffy's hand-picked successor, Tom Richards, was a willow the wisp. Labeled as a "progressive," he was no such thing. Rochester's fortunes continued to decline ( Duffy proved to be of no help in Albany whatsoever ) because he inherited Duffy's do nothing administration.
The few jobs he created did not counter the massive job losses that continued to occur in Rochester because even he had no clear-cut program to grow business here.
Rochester continued to decline during Richards' brief tenure as mayor, and he was ousted in 2013.
That's where Lovely Warren comes in. She inherited more than twenty years of neglect.
While her administration hasn't accomplished anything visibly beneficial yet, and it has been barely a year since she took office, she, personally, has her share of blame to bear for the sad state of Rochester. She was in city government for 6 years before becoming mayor, as a city councilor and then city council president.
They came up with nothing to turn the city around, and have no sense of shame about anything.
The big question is, is it too late to turn the city around? Especially a city that has been neglected for decades and where the only evident policies are political correctness and reverse racism?
After forty years of Democratic misrule, Rochester, New York, is now the poorest city of its size in the entire US of A.
Coupled with the fact that we have the worst school system in New York State and one of the worst in the country, we are clearly up Shit Creek without a paddle.
This is one thing you can't pin on the Warren Administration.
Truly, Warren Administration has enough mortal sins and fatal flaws in its makeup to answer for, but they inherited this mess from previous incompetent and inept mayors.
The downward slide in Rochester's fortunes goes back more than twenty years, to the Johnson Administration.
This subject has been covered in depth elsewhere, so only a brief summation will be offered here.
Rochester's prosperity was based on heavy industry. The change in technology resulted in heavy industry being discontinued, with tens of thousands of jobs in those areas being eliminated.
The precipitous decline of Kodak, Rochester's sacred cow and largest employer, and the ripple effect it was producing was evident during the 1990s.
The Johnson Administration, a less than creative bunch, chose to ignore it and concentrate on enjoying themselves. It was more fun to have fun than come up with any definite plans for Rochester's future.
Mayor Johnson himself was concerned with creating his legacy, which has proved disastrous, and amassing a fortune, at which he was much more successful.
It also raised the spectre of racism here.
Critics of the Johnson Administration were branded as racists, which helped muffle his opponents in the city, at least.
After twelve years, Johnson was succeeded as mayor by his endorsed candidate Bob Duffy.
Duffy promptly double-crossed Johnson on the subject of political appointments and began to dismantle Johnson's ill-devised memorials to himself.
Rochester's economic decline was clearly evident then. Rochester was making the national poverty and poor school performance lists.
Duffy substituted his height and folksy charm for policy, which accomplished nothing for Rochester, but it convinced him that he was in way over his head and beyond his capabilities.
He fled for Albany at the first opportunity, where his ineptitude was so conspicuous that he did not seek to remain on Andrew Cuomo's ticket in 2014.
Duffy's hand-picked successor, Tom Richards, was a willow the wisp. Labeled as a "progressive," he was no such thing. Rochester's fortunes continued to decline ( Duffy proved to be of no help in Albany whatsoever ) because he inherited Duffy's do nothing administration.
The few jobs he created did not counter the massive job losses that continued to occur in Rochester because even he had no clear-cut program to grow business here.
Rochester continued to decline during Richards' brief tenure as mayor, and he was ousted in 2013.
That's where Lovely Warren comes in. She inherited more than twenty years of neglect.
While her administration hasn't accomplished anything visibly beneficial yet, and it has been barely a year since she took office, she, personally, has her share of blame to bear for the sad state of Rochester. She was in city government for 6 years before becoming mayor, as a city councilor and then city council president.
They came up with nothing to turn the city around, and have no sense of shame about anything.
The big question is, is it too late to turn the city around? Especially a city that has been neglected for decades and where the only evident policies are political correctness and reverse racism?
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