John LaFalce on Casino Gambling
Bruce Jackson has just posted this essay by former Congressman John LaFalce over at Buffalo Report:
On June 25, 2008, a gigantic struggle took place on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives involving casino gambling in the State of Michigan. That controversy and struggle is highly instructive on the question of the legality of casino gambling in Buffalo.
Two titans of the House, John Dingell (D-Mich), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and John Conyers (D-Mich), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, stood in opposing corners and came out fighting.
Rep. Dingell wants a casino in Port Huron, and doesn’t want the issue to go to the U.S. Department of Interior for its review. So he is trying to “legislatively” bypass Interior review, and permit casino gambling in Port Huron by mandating that the Secretary of the Interior “shall” take into trust certain land as part of a land claim settlement. The bill at least recognized that the land had to be taken into trust.
Rep. Conyers says he opposes gambling in principle, but also doesn’t want another casino in Michigan, which would compete with the casino that already exists in his city of Detroit. Conyers also argued it would be wrong to bypass the Interior Department’s review as to whether it should take it into trust, especially since he is confident Interior will render a negative opinion. An overwhelming majority of the House agreed with Conyers, and defeated the attempted bypass by a vote of 121 to 298.
So how is this relevant to Buffalo?
ResulTech Achieves 100 Percent Failure Rate, Wins Contract Extension
Without waiting for the results of a State Education Department investigation conducted two weeks ago at Academy School 44, the Buffalo School Board voted Wednesday night to extend a lucrative contract to Maryland firm ResulTech, to continue ongoing technical support. The expected outcome is to “increase student achievement, attendance, literacy and out-of school suspensions.”
After two years of ResulTech’s help, which has already cost the district $5.4 million (the new extension makes a grand total of $7.1 million), this year’s test scores show the following: Speaking to the attendance issue, only one third of these 7th and 8th graders took exams. Of the one hundred students that took the tests, 79% of 7th graders failed English, while 90% of the 8th graders failed English. In addition, 91% of the 7th graders failed Math, while 100% of the 8th grade students who took that exam failed it.
Voting to extend the ResulTech contract were (shown left to right) Mary Ruth Kapsiak (Board President, Central District), Catherine Collins (at large), Vivian Evans (East District), Florence Johnson (at large), and Pamela D. Perry-Cahill (Ferry District).
At large board member Chris Jacobs ordinarily votes in step with superintendent Williams—who advocates ResulTech despite its performance—but he voted against the contract extension. Jacobs felt the results of the State Education Department report should be considered before moving ahead another year.
The vote had been delayed since May 14, when it was pulled off the school board agenda at the last minute as stories surfaced in the media about Academy School 44. Teachers there harshly criticized ResulTech, which prompted the State Education Department investigation two weeks ago. The contract extension passed quietly this week as school ended, and as the public was distracted by the district’s inept response to the Crystal Barton/McKinley scandal, and the District Attorney’s response to the bungled handling of reported sexual abuse at school 67.
On the bright side, after two years of trying, ResulTech now has literally nowhere to go but up when it comes to producing improved results for 8th grade math.
June 25, 2008
Jamie Lembeck Passing
Jamie Lembeck, a loyal friend of Hallwalls (and many of us personally), and devotee of the arts (especially music) and man about town known to (and loved by) most everyone in the art and music scene of Buffalo, died at home overnight, June 24–25, 2008. As was his wish, he had just been released from the hospital earlier yesterday, where he had been treated for newly developing respiratory problems and had contracted a serious infection, both complications of the prolonged paralysis that required him to use a wheelchair for most of his adult life, but which never kept him from getting around or attending more concerts and other art events than just about any non-wheelchair-using person you could name. You never thought of Jamie as being “wheelchair bound”; his wheelchair was his means of mobility, and he was always on the cutting edge of technologies for independent living.
He passed away peacefully in his home in the former firehouse at 1416 Main Street, which he had designed and built as a multi-unit model of independent living, with both close friends and hospice caregivers present, though he had been expected to last longer than the few hours he had left there.
Although many of our current Board members might not know Jamie, Jamie served on Hallwalls’ Board of Directors for a full decade, from January 1996 through January 2006, until the institution of term limits that year (coinciding with our opening in The Church, as it was then called), but he was a long-time supporter before that, and remained a loyal supporter to the end. He advised our architects (both Hallwalls’ and the entire Church project’s) on accessibility, as he had done on so many projects in Buffalo, and one of his legacies is certainly the exemplary accessibility of Babeville, which he took advantage of as long as he could.
The last Hallwalls event I know he attended was the full-to-capacity Eyes & Ears: Sound Needs Image Part II, on April 5, 2008. He had wanted to attend Artists & Models at the end of last month, but, not feeling up to it, he sent his regrets—along with a donation—with a friend.
Artists & Models founder Tony Billoni, former Hallwalls Board member Wendy Pierce, and others of Jamie’s closest friends are making arrangements for a memorial service in Buffalo (probably at the Unitarian Church), and I will let you know the details when they are set.
photos from our Grand Opening weekend in January 2006, with Bruce Adams and Tom Hayduk.
Ed Cardoni
Executive Director, Hallwalls
June 24, 2008
Steam Donkeys Live from Sportsmen’s Tavern on WBFO
Wednesday, June 25, 8pm
Live Summer Broadcasts from Sessions Studio’s Musician’s Park
An outdoor family-friendly stage next to Sportsmen’s Tavern
326 Amherst Street
Buffalo, NY 14207
874-7734
Don’t miss WBFO’s first live broadcast from Sportsmen’s Tavern. Come see the Steam Donkeys in person or tune in to 88.7 FM at 8pm Wednesday, June 25. Heck, drop by at 7pm and have a beer with the guys. Also catch the re-broadcast Friday at 1pm. Be the first to hear live versions of tunes from the band’s upcoming release.
Who Else Will Get Fired?
Here’s what I want to know:
Mayor Byron Brown said that he asked Rich Tobe to resign because the city’s economic development, permit and inspection services department was being reconfigured. Well, then, who else is getting fired? Are any city inspectors losing their jobs?
Brown said that Tobe had done a good job, but that he wanted some economic development measures to move more quickly than they had under Tobe.
Are other department heads also in danger of losing their jobs for not moving quickly enough? How about John Hannon, the city’s real estate chief? He moves like a three-toed sloth, and his inaction costs the city private investment dollars.
If he wants to prove that Tobe’s firing was not politically or personally motivated, Brown is going to have to clean house thoroughly.
June 23, 2008
West Side Story
Scott Talvitie and Erika Hedberg returned to Buffalo a few years back and have been slowly and thoughtfully rehabbing a house at 374 West Ferry, between Richmond and Grant, which had been on the city’s demo list. Last Year Talvitie and Hedberg discovered that the vacant house at 366 West Ferry had been slated for demolition, just as their house at 374 had been, before they stepped in and took ownership. Talvitie and Hedberg petitioned the city to stop the demoltion of 366 West Ferry with the intention of purchasing and rehabbing the house themselves; their primary motivation, Talvitie told me back then, was to maintain the integrity of the block in which they’d invested.
That didn’t happen and the city took down 366 West Ferry, despite Talvitie and Hedberg’s efforts. Now, La Nova Pizzeria wants to turn the property into a parking lot. Talvitie and Hedberg sent the following letter to Mayor Byron Brown and the Common Council today. It’s long, but worth the read (after the jump):
Update: Tobe’s Resignation
UPDATE: Here’s Tobe’s statement on his departure:
At the request of Mayor Byron W. Brown, today, I submitted my resignation as Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development Permit and Inspection Services.
Mayor Brown indicated to me on Friday June 20, 2008 that he will be announcing a reorganization of the City government in the near future and that my resignation will facilitate his plans.I am pleased that when I leave City government Buffalo will be more prosperous, better managed, and more optimistic than when I arrived two and a half years ago. We have seen record investment in both the public and private sectors, have acquired and are developing over 400 acres of former brownfields, and have faced and overcome many of the problems of the past that prevented Buffalo from moving forward. I am confident that the improvements in the City are continuing and will be permanent.
It has been an honor to have been associated with the many hard working employees of the City who strive each day to make Buffalo a better place and with the dedicated citizens of Buffalo who volunteer so much to help the City.
I will depart in two weeks and intend to conduct a smooth and professional transition. Deputy Commissioner James Comerford will serve as acting commissioner until Mayor Brown makes a determination about the permanent leadership of the Department.
My wife Susan and I will remain in Buffalo where I will seek new challenges that will allow me to continue working to improve Buffalo and the region.
The mayor still has not released a statement on Tobe’s resignation, which was promised for this afternoon.
Rich Tobe Resigns
At the request of Mayor Byron Brown, Rich Tobe is resigning his post as commissioner of Economic Development, Permits and Inspection Services. According to Brian Meyer at the Buffalo News, Brown asked Tobe to resign on Friday. His last day will be July 4—exactly two weeks notice.
Tobe has earned a reputation as a sharp administrator who did good work with a short staff and a monumental workload. It’s not clear when he began to run afoul of Brown and Deputy Mayor Steve Casey, but the first time I heard of a rift was during the city’s negotiations with the Seneca Gaming Commission over Fulton Street. Tobe had been a part of the city’s negotiating team, we were told, and then was booted off. For Tobe, it’s been downhill with Casey and Brown ever since. Casey, in particular, seemed to single out Tobe and his department for sharp criticism during CitiStat hearings.
Whatever one made of Tobe’s policies and his department generally, he was certainly the most responsive public servant in the Brown administration. He responded to email. His voicemail was set up (seriously, not everyone in City Hall bothers) and he returned phone calls, even to tell you he wasn’t authorized to respond to your questions. In a mayoral administration that keeps a tight lid on communications, Tobe frequently was the only one who would answer questions. Once I introduced him to a friend as “the only person in City Hall who’s allowed to speak with me,” and he responded, “What makes you think I’m allowed to?”
The mayor is supposed to issue a statement this afternoon. Brian Meyer has the story at the News.
June 20, 2008
Assembly says High Time for Change in “Marihuana” Law
The marble halls of the State Capitol in Albany are echoing once again with debate on the scandalous topic of medicinal “marihuana,” as the Assembly passed a bill (89-52) in favor of allowing doctors to prescribe the drug to very sick patients who don’t respond well to currently legal pharmaceuticals. Currently, 12 states have medicinal marijuana laws on the books.
Under the new bill, patients would be legally allowed to possess 2.5 ounces of pot for treatment of chronic pain, for example, without threat of arrest. The State would also grant them the right to grow up to 12 plants for their own use.
Under the new bill, “the department of health would monitor such use and promulgate rules and regulations for registry identification cards; (and) provides for reports by the department of health to the governor and legislature on the medical use of marihuana.” (Interesting, how the current documents adopt the same antiquated spelling as the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937—not commonly used since Louis Armstrong was a young viper.) (more…)
Foul Rumor
Rumors of Mayor Byron Brown’s imminent resignation are apparently premature.
His denial that the rumors are true, of course, are front-page news.
Here at AV we heard these rumors earlier in the week but figured they were wishful thinking on the part of the rumormongers. Some of them said that an FBI investigation into BMHA would touch the mayor. Over at the Lefty Line, where Buffalo cops go to gripe and plot, a poster suggested that the purported investigation had to do with organized crime and money-laundering. Governor David Paterson, a Brown ally and fellow Queens native, would helicopter Brown out of the scandal and deposit him in a new, comfortable job in Albany.
The Lefty Line and Glenn Gramigna seem to have been the first to post the rumors, and their posts apparently prompted the mayor’s denial, which was delivered in writing at a press conference called yesterday for 4pm, with 17 minutes notice.
The denial, of course, sounds like a cork popping: Let flow the wild speculation.
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