Here’s an election contest that’s easy to call: Judge Patrick NeMoyer has ruled to strike Ralph Hernandez from the ballot in the Erie County Legislature District 6 race citing problems with his  signature petitions.

Maria Whyte will retain her seat, uncontested.

Here’s something that drives me crazy about the Buffalo News: the “Another Voice” column on the editorial page. It would be a nice idea, except that so often it is not given over to “another” voice. It is given, rather, to the same old voices: to people who are frequently quoted as sources in articles, who are in positions of political or economic power, to folks whose job is to push agendas—to people, in other words, who have no difficulty making their voices heard.

Today’s “Another Voice” column is by Ron Rienas, general manager of the Public Bridge Authority. None of the evasions he offers here are new, nor has Rienas lacked opportunity to make them in a public forum. He has been quoted in at least 40 Buffalo News articles in the past year. He wrote another “Another Voice” column in January.

In the past two months, the column’s authors have included incoming State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, who earns headlines somewhere in that state nearly every day; Tom Golisano, who can order up a microphone and reporter whenever he needs one; Erie County Legislator Maria Whyte, with whose column I agree but who already  has occasion to speak with reporters weekly; UB President John Simpson, stumping for the UB 2020 plan that is frequently the subject of articles in the news pages; Erie County Executive Chris Collins, also no stranger to headlines; and outgoing Congressman Tom Reynolds, who, it is true, has not been much in the limelight in the past two years.

And Rienas’ column today is a response to a recent “Another Voice” piece by attorney David Colligan, chairman of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. I agree with much of what Colligan says in that piece, but he’s another guy who hardly lacks opportunity to speak his mind: He is quoted in the pages of the Buffalo News about once a month, sometimes more often than that.

In between these privileged perspectives, the column frequently comprises articles by the mouthpieces for lobbying or special interest groups. It would be nice, I think, if “Another Voice” were afforded solely to those who are invisible in the news media, underrepresented in government, underserved by our institutions and economy.

The Coalition for Economic Justice held a rally outside of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA) on Oak Street Friday morning, demanding IDA reforms that would include suitable wage standards for laborers on government subsidized projects, among other things.

Speakers included Alison Duwe, Executive Director of the Coalition for Economic Justice, Lou Jean Fleron of the Cornell University School of Industrial Labor Relations, Sam Magavern, UB law school instructor and member of the Partnership for the Public Good, and Erie County legislator Maria Whyte.

The speakers stressed important points about our poor city. One, that while unemployment rates are between 5% and 7%, poverty rates are just shy of 30%. Because a local economy built on the shoulders of the working poor can’t thrive, the demonstration was intended to send a message that not just jobs, but good paying jobs are needed—and they can’t simply be pirated from the city to the suburbs to inflate job growth statistics around the county.

Magavern also pointed out the importance of reducing subsidized sprawl and rebuilding the 9,000 abandoned structures and 10,000 vacant lots within the city, while observing green building codes that will save energy and operating costs down the line.

Based on the cacophony of horns being blown by cars, trucks and buses, as drivers read the banner “A Living Wage for a Livable City,” the theme of this rally resonates with a broad spectrum of Buffalonians.

Learn more about the Coalition for Economic Justice here.