BUSINESSSMAN, COMMUNITY LEADER EDDIE EGRIU SEEKS REFORM AS FRIENDS URGE HIM TO RUN AGAIN

In the wake of recent reports of malfeasance from Washington to City Hall, reportedly, Buffalo businessman and community activist Eddie Egriu is being encouraged by friends and supporters to run for public office again. Though Egriu has made no decision as of yet, he continues to take a strong interest in political issues, including what he feels is the continuing lack of interest on the part of governmental leaders in the problems of "the forgotten people" of our community.

Meanwhile, Egriu expressed his opposition to the trend toward higher taxes and decreased government services that he sees on all sides.

THOMPSON BRINGS CAN DO ATTITUDE TO ROLE AS CHAIRMAN OF SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION COMMITTEE...FUNDING FOR WATERFRONT, FERRY PARK, NEW GREEN BUSINESSES ON ITS WAY...DINAPOLI: "IT'S A PRIVILEGE TO WORK WITH ANTOINE"

$1 million for waterfront development, $500,000 for the Buffalo River Canal, $250,000 for the park at the foot of Ferry. As the Chairman of the NYS Senate's Environmental Conservation Committee in only his second term in Albany, Senator Antoine Thompson is using his clout to turn our community into a greener, more beautiful place in which to live for all of us. Still, to the Senator and his ally, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the state-wide Green Initiative which they both fervently support is about economic development as well as aesthetics.

Accordingly, they jointly assembled a collection of decidely Green entrepreneurs on Thursday night to talk about a brand new $50 million fund which is dedicated to helping Greenies with good ideas to get needed financial support.

"This is why we set up this fund and this is why I continue to do what I can to encourage Green entrepreneurs," he explains. "As the Chairman of the Senate's  Economic Conservation Committee, I am dedicated to making sure that the people of my district get the benefits of the economic development that will come from new technologies that will make us more energy efficient, while making our communities cleaner and cutting down on our energy bills."

Earlier during the event held at the Buffalo Historical Museum, Comptroller DiNapoli, himself a former chairman of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee, declared that it is "a privilege to work with Senator Thompson on environmental issues. His leadership in this area is being appreciated, not only in WNY and even nationally."

CHALLENGER PROMISES TO TAKE THE POLITICS OUT OF CITY HALL

As South District Councilman Mickey Kearns looks at the recent "Pay for Play" scandal involving inner city economic development as revealed in the Buffalo News, he find himself appalled. In a city so starved for new business and jobs, how can anyone put politics ahead of employment for the needy, he wonders.

"The project talked about in the News story has been approved by the Planning Board," he points out. "It has been approved by other agencies and yet we hear that it has been held up because of political reasons to the point where a developer who was going to invest millions in the City of Buffalo has backed out! It is simply unconscionable for any Mayor to put politics ahead of the people of this community and when I'm Mayor it will stop. We will keep politics out of City Hall...Actually, I don't even care about politics. What I care about is good government."

SURVEY OF LEG DISTRICT OFFICES SHOWS 4 TO 1 ANTI COLLINS ROBOCALL BACKLASH...LAW ENFORCERS, FIRE FIGHTERS THANK WROBLEWSKI FOR SUPPORT

An independent, non-scientific survey of county legislature district offices is now showing that the recent anti prevailing wage robocall campaign of Erie County Executive Chris Collins may be backfiring.

"Our calls are coming in three or four to one against Collins' robocalling campaign which attacks the Legislature's insistence that workers on non-profit projects sponsored by the County be paid the prevailing wage for their labors," reports one staffer. "People are calling us up and saying, 'Who is this guy? And, why is he against people making enough money to support their families? Who is this millionaire to tell working people that they can't earn a decent wage?"

Meanwhile, out West Seneca, Cheektowaga way, we hear that police officers and fire fighters are lining up to support the re-election of County Legislator Tim Wroblewski.

CAN THE EMPIRE STATE REALLY AFFORD A 10% HIKE IN WELFARE BENEFITS, GABRYSZAK WONDERS...3 REASONS WHY 20-20 IS SO VITAL

No one was really entirely happy with the achievements of the most recent session of the NYS Legislature, least of all Assemblymember Dennis Gabryszak. In the case of the former Cheektowaga Supervisor, his sense of dissatisfaction centers on what he considers to be two egregious lapses: What he feels is the lack of budget cuts despite an annual deficit that runs into the billions and the session's failure to approve funding for the UB 20-20 program.

"We have a deficit in the State of New York that runs into the billions, yet we only cut about $100 million from the budget," he points out. "Obviously, that is not nearly enough and I have stated that publicly many times. We need to make much greater cuts and we need to be working much harder to find areas to cut in our budget. I know that there are many differences between the economic situation in the New York City area and upstate, but honestly I do not think we can afford a 10% increase per year in welfare payments in New York. I know some of my downstate colleagues support this, but I have to disagree."

The Assembymember also doesn't like the fact that the Assembly did not approve state funding for the University of Buffalo 20-20 project, which is intended to increase bio-medical research locally while creating countless jobs, both high tech and low.

CULLITON TO LEG: NO NON-PROFIT PROJECTS BEING HELD UP...GLASCOTT: "I JUST WANT TO CLEAN UP MESS IN SHERIFF'S DEPT."...BRODERICK'S "ALL IN THE FAMILY" PROBATE SCHEME SUBJECT OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Republican Erie County Executive Chris Collins has been making the claim for weeks that the Democratic Legislature's insistence on putting a prevailing wage clause in the new law related to development projects for non-profit organizations was "holding up $200 million in projects that would otherwise be going forward."

The problem is that now WNY's only self proclaimed "non-political" candidate for Lt. Governor or who knows what has now been "caught in a lie," according to a highly reliable source.

"Clearly, Collins was caught in a lie at a committee hearing last week when Al Culliton, the chairman of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency's Management Committee, specifically said told members of the Legislature that there are simply no projects ready to go at the moment, that there are no projects being help up by the Legislature's actions," our source reports. "So the truth is that Collins has been caught in yet another untruth. And, this one he can't wiggle out of."

Moving over to the Erie County Sheriff's race, Democratic Party nominee Captain John Glascott seems to be thriving on the campaign trail, even though he has never run for elective office before or even been active in politics in the past. He explains the peace he's made with the political world this way:

The Erie County Legislature today approved a plan, by a vote of 11 to 3, authorizing the Buffalo and Erie County Land Development Corporation (ILDC), part of the ECIDA, to issue bonds for certain projects of not-for-profit corporations in Erie County. "This unique arrangement allows local borrowing for economic development and job creation," stated Legislature Chair Lynn Marinelli. Legislators who approved the item are: Chair Marinelli, Majority Leader Maria Whyte, Economic Development Chair Tim Kennedy, Daniel Kozub, Barbara Miller-Williams, Betty Jean Grant, Thomas Mazur, Thomas Loughran, Michele Iannello, Robert Reynolds and Timothy Wroblewski.

Under this plan, qualified not-for-profit corporations will be able to receive tax-free borrowing for their capital projects, allowing millions of dollars in building, infrastructure and improvement work to begin. For the last 18 months, many of these projects have been stalled because of Albany’s failure to re-implement the law governing Industrial Development Agencies, according to Chair Marinelli, and the State’s failure created the need for the county to act so that these valuable community projects could move forward.

AS IMPORTS FROM CHINA SURGE, GILLIBRAND STANDS UP FOR PROTECTING NEW YORK JOBS AND INDUSTRIES

Senator: We Must Develop Strong Policies That Ensure A Fair Playing Field For U.S. Businesses And Workers

Washington, D.C. – Today, as the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission hold a hearing in Rochester on the “Impact of Trade with China on New York State and Opportunities for Economic Growth,” U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand submitted testimony urging to protect New York jobs and industries. Senator Gillibrand called on the Commission to develop strong policies that ensure a fair playing field for American businesses and workers.

In her testimony, Senator Gillibrand wrote, “The relationship between the United States and China is one of growing cooperation and interdependence, resulting in increased opportunities and challenges for both our countries.  China is the second largest U.S. trading partner and our largest source of imports.  In 2008, trade with China accounted for about 12 percent of total U.S. global trade.  The magnitude of U.S.–China economic ties underscores the need to develop strong policies that ensure a fair playing field for U.S. businesses and workers, some of the most talented of whom live and work in and around Rochester, New York.”

CHALLENGER COLUMN RAISES HACKLES OF LEHIHAN FRIENDS OF BOTH RACES.... HOPE FOR AN ANTI-MAZIARZ VICTORY

Both African-American and white friends of Erie County Democratic Chairman Len Lenihan are defending him from personal charges leveled against him in a recent column in the Buffalo Challenger.

LACK OF "RESPECT FOR WILL OF PEOPLE" CITED AS REASON FOR EXPECTED COLLAPSE OF BOVE EFFORT...DID TINA BOVE ATTEMPT TO USE BOARD OF ELECTIONS TECHNICALITY TO FRUSTRATE WILL OF VOTERS?

A number of veteran observers are predicting that the race between Erie County Legislator Tim Wroblewski and his challenger, West Seneca Town Board Member Christine Bove, will likley be over long before it ever gets started. Why? The answer, according to our highly placed source, has to do with a big time boner pulled by Councilwoman Bove not long ago.

"What Bove did was incredibly ill considered," says our source. "It's bad enough that she opposed the West Seneca Town Board downsizing initiative, which passed overwhelmingly, while Wroblewski was a sponsor of the downsizing plan passed by the Erie County Legislature. It turns out that she actually attempted to overturn the will of the people in the wake of that vote, attempting to use an incredibly flimsly technicality to do so."

Our source goes on to explain that it all had to do with a Board of Elections issue.

"There was some talk for a while that there might be some sort of Board of Elections ruling that might overturn the results of the West Seneca downsizing vote, based on some obscure technicality," he or she goes on. "The downsizing vote had resulted in the elimination of the town board seats of Bove and her colleague, Vince Graber, at the end of this year. Graber, though an opponent of the downsizing measure, accepted the results cheerfully as the will of the people...Bove did not. Instead, she seized on the unlikely possibility that the vote would be overturned and began circulating petitions that would allow her to run again for her old town board seat, which had already been eliminated."

Hoyt Passes Key Legislation to Revitalize Upstate Cities

Legislation Will Spur Investment and Protect Historic Buildings

Assemblymember Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo) and Senator David Valesky (D-Oneida) announced on July 17, 2009 that the New York State Legislature passed their legislation (A.9023/S.6056) to create an expanded historic preservation tax credit program that will offer unprecedented opportunities for economic development and job creation while utilizing existing infrastructure.  The Legislature also passed their legislation (A.0695/S.1980-A) to protect historic districts and landmarks from demolition by neglect by allowing regulations prohibiting lack of maintenance or improper care.

“This historic rehabilitation tax credit is actually an economic stimulus program for homeowners and developers to make improvements to our neighborhoods and our central business district.  This program will enhance and preserve our existing vacant, underutilized, and deteriorating buildings while spurring job creation and increased homeownership, and it will do so in a way that is cost-effective for New York State.  The demolition by neglect prohibition will give municipalities a powerful tool to prevent absentee landlords from destroying the fabric of our historic neighborhoods by allowing significant structures to deteriorate,” said Hoyt.

ROGOWSKI TO GOVERNOR: SIGN ANTI TEXT AND DRIVE BILL...TWO FOR ONE CROSS ENDORSEMENT OR NONE AT ALL!

We don't claim any inside knowledge. But, here's the word on the street re the 2009 8th Judicial District Supreme Court race: The Erie County Democratic Party won't agree to a cross endorsement arrangement with County Republican Chairman Jim Domagalski unless it's a two for one deal. That is Domagalski would have to support both incumbent Supreme Court Justice John O'Donnell and County Court Judge Shirley Troutman in return for Democratic backing for Republican Justice Burns.

If there is no "double cross" as it's sometimes called, then Erie County Dems will line up behind Buffalo Housing Court Judge Henry Nowak, along with O'Donnell and Troutman.

Moving on to a state-wide issue, onthe day when Cheektowaga Town Board Member joined the NewWNYPolitics family of advertisers, he was also celebrating yet another historic achievement: The passage of a law he originated that would make it against the law to send text messages while driving.