She Did

I have received a reply from Mrs. Behlok. She thanked me for viewing her website and restated her promise of open government. I suggested that it would go a long way toward open government if we put the check book registers of the Town of Henrietta and the Rush-Henrietta School District on line.

I expressed disappointment that she wanted effect her goals by using state and federal moneys. I told her that the money we get from higher government levels is not free but comes from taxpayers. I pointed out that the electric company sent its customers a notice that the state is requiring the utility to collect a new tax. The utility does not profit from this. “Where,” I asked, “does it end?”

At least I got a response. It is a start on a long road that ends at the cliff.

Julie B., Talk to Me

This morning’s e-mail brought an invitation to a political fund raising picnic. A former coworker’s wife is running for town council, and this picnic is one of two events that will help finance her campaign. The invitation urged me to buy a $30 ticket even if I was not interested in the political aspect of the event. My congressman would be the featured speaker.

The other event is a $30-a-ticket “High Tea with Julie”. I am a coffee drinker.

Putting out 30 bucks to hear the guy for whom I did not vote is not going to happen. It is a lot cheaper to simply stand near and absorb the wisdom while trying to dodge the political ejecta. I am not certain that the event is going to generate enough heat to produce lava. If it did I still ain’t spending 30 bucks. It is always a lot cheaper and safer to stay home.

I did, however, go to Mrs. Behlok’s web site. Her c.v. gives me the impression that she is a woman of drive and intelligence. She has a BA and a MA in art. The college degrees prove she has drive to slog through the nonsense that she had to pay for. This along with frequent breathing make her qualified to send out e-mail invitations. It is the breathing that makes her qualified to run for office.

Her web site also reveals that she is a great supporter of the current Disappointment-in-Chief. There are also on the web site a photo of her with the person who claims to represent me in Washington, D.C. There is a photo of her with Congressman Conyers. Conyers recently told the press that he does not read the 1,000 page bills before he votes on them because they are so complex that it would require two days and two lawyers to understand it. Since it is necessary to do things in a hurry, it is much better just to vote for it. This leaves much more time for the really important job of whatever else it is he does.

I am sure the Town of Henrietta will not have any 1000 page bill to vote on.

There is also on her site a photo of her being concerned about what some unidentified but obviously older man was saying. The senior vote is important. The town has a building devoted exclusively to seniors. Do politicians know how to pander? There is a photo showing her looking off into the distance. I think this last photo is supposed to tell us that she is a visionary.

I looked at her “Goals for the Town of Henrietta”. Then I went to work.

Those who have read my previous post know it is my style to ask candidates questions that they don’t expect anyone to ask. The candidates are caught by surprise because the candidates think no one can get past the slogans and platitudes. Most of the time the candidates are right. Most of the time the candidates can’t get beyond the slogans and platitudes. Candidates seldom provide details about how they are going to accomplish what they say because few people want to know. This relieves the candidates of the great burden of thinking.

The hypocorism I don’t have is Few.

Some of her goals were innocuous: putting town board meetings live on line, on line registration for town recreation events, and lifting the ban on concerts in the park so some can there enjoy bands. Other of her goals were silly, e.g., putting on bridges signs saying “Welcome to Henrietta, Home of the Hornets.” I have lived in Henrietta 25 years, and I don’t know what are the Hornets. Neither does my wife.  My daughter tried to find information but could not get anything. Besides, “Home of the Hornets” sounds like a warning to bring your own bug spray. This is supposed to instill pride in our government schools. I told her that I don’t use the government schools. Maybe that photo of her looking off into the distance means that she too is trying to find the Hornets.

It is the more serious proposals, the ones that will require real money to implement, that I questioned. (I did ask who would pay for the signs, but I did not mention the bug spray. I believe in individual responsibility.) She states that she wants to stop the “excessive power outages” by getting state and federal money to upgrade the power grid. I asked her to define excessive. I also asked why taxpayer money would be spent making improvements on private property.

There is a proposal to subsidize child day care for the workers of the school district. She says that the District’s turnover rate is high because of child care costs. No information was given about financing this subvention.

Some of her other goals are a recycling program to raise funds to finance one of her other goals, (The county already has a mandatory recycling program. I asked if it was making a profit and if there would be enough bottles once the state legislature passes the new bottle deposit bill. I also asked if there was a market for the scrap bottles.) a coupon for a “free water heater cover”, bicycle trails to promote physical fitness and a green something or other, a technical oriented high school, new landscaping and fancier light poles around the town hall, and community gardens so indigent people can have more food. I asked, “How are you going to pay for all of this?”

There is a vague proposal (all of her proposals are vague) to attract young families to Henrietta. How she is going to do this and retain them is unstated. Why young families? What happens when they are not so young?

There is also the usual blah blah about more manufacturing and high tech. jobs. No details.

Perhaps the strangest proposal was the one she says was broached by our Attorney-General. He wants to consolidate the town’s and school district’s equipment. I asked Mrs. Belhok if we were in violation of some law. This looks to be a major turf war, so nothing will come of this. I think it is the AG is setting himself up for a run for Governor. Our current Governor is not likely to be reelected.

I asked her what her analysis of the public safety budget shows as underfunded. She quotes a statement by our Fire Marshal that the Fire Department needs $250,000 more. She did not give his reason for saying that. The voters recently rejected the proposed new fire station building. I asked if there was any problem because of this.

I’d find it easier to believe the Fire Marshal if he said that the Department was giving back $250,000. I also find it easier to believe in the Tooth Fairy. Maybe that is where we will get the money for her goals. Or maybe she can put the touch on the Hornets.

Jobs for the Boys

It is silly season: the time of life when people who should know better run for election to public office.  There is not much I can do to stop this farce, but why should I try?  Someone has to spend my money.  If it can’t be me, it might as well be someone I never met elected by people I don’t know.

It is what is done with the money that I find to be so vexing: it is taken from me.  I am the victim.  I don’t pay taxes because I want to.  I pay taxes because there will come to my house guys (and, these days, girls) with guns.  They will rob me at gun point.  This is usually a felony, but the guys (and the girls) have badges.  This makes it not a felony.  It is only a felony if I don’t pay.

It seems that everyone and his brother wants money they have not earned.  They all have their hands out for tax money for their projects.  Money for the Arts.  Money for the schools.  Money for bridges to Nowhere.  Nowhere must be where the “Money for” ends.  It has to end somewhere.  (We also have bridges to there.)

There is no end of people who want “Money for” and no end of “Money for” people who want it.  Every good, bad, and ugly idea is advanced with a plea for government funding.  Why not? Its free.  Well, no; but who cares if you are the one getting?  I do.

There is a lot of concern about special interest groups giving politicians campaign contributions for political favors, but I have not heard too much about politicians giving out political favors for votes.  This is where the money goes: into some kind of jobs program.  It may not be called Jobs for the Boys courtesy of Sen. Graft, but it really is.  Everyone is getting on the government payroll.

Whenever you hear “Public and Private Partnership” read that as public pay, private benefit.  I have heard many pleas along the lines of “we will get all the public money back in increased sales tax revenues.”  Or better, “the project will pay for itself.”  On this type of reasoning the local political class has built a refuse processing facility that was supposed to turn garbage into fuel for the local power plant (it never worked; the stuff wouldn’t burn very well, and the building is now a recycling center for our household bottles and cans), a minor league baseball stadium (it drinks money), a ferry boat across Lake Ontario to Canada (it sank in a great lake of red ink), a major league soccer stadium (a major league drain on the city’s finances now that the team is going broke), and the purchase and demolition of an indoor shopping mall for a new office building (it is not the city’s building, of course).

Yes, the boys (and the girls) need jobs, and it is your civic duty (and legal requirement) to pay for them.  If you don’t, you may end up making license plates for the prison industrial complex.  That is one way to get on the payroll.  You may even like living in Attica.