An interesting article appears tonight on the O-D Website: Brindisi spent $17,000 on campaign for Utica school board.
"The amount of money spent in the Utica race was higher than most school board races in the state, according to the New York State School Board’s Association.
About 61 percent of school board members reported in a 2008 survey that they spent no money in their last campaign, and just 4.1 percent reported spending more than $1,000.But it’s not unusual for Utica school board candidates, who regularly spend far more than average for mailings, signs and media ads to win the five-year seats.
Now look at who contributed to the campaign:
Brindisi’s list of contributors reads like a who’s who list of Mohawk Valley officials and also includes three current Utica school board members — Margaret Buckley, Barbara Klein and Chris Salatino.
Also contributing were newly sworn-in Utica Police Chief Daniel LaBella, U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, and New Hartford’s new budget director Heather Mowat.
“When I announced my candidacy, friends and family came forward with overwhelming support,” Brindisi said.
"Family and friends," my eye! The same old - same old names are behind the election. The area's "elite" take care of their own, regardless of party affiliation, to ensure that they remain "in charge" of one of the biggest pots of public money in the region.
What good have they accomplished? ... other than for themselves?
2 comments:
Our area is comprised of two classes, the "ins" and the "outs". The "ins" recycle each other in both political party and board positions. Unless one is within this circle one does not have a chance to assume positions of authority and power.The entire structure is designed to control how the ever decreasing pie is cut. Sadly the local media, particularly the OD and Sentinel do not scratch the surface in reporting our incestuous situation.The area's inbred nature renders productive ideas involving reform impossible to achieve.
"When I announced my candidacy, friends and family came forward with overwhelming support." Brindisi said.
I think that means that the rich, the powerful, came with checkbooks in hand for the free booze and finger sandwiches, and a few cockroaches like Dan LaBella crawled out from behind the baseboards to support him, in return for "in kind" support in his position as Police Chief.
There seems to be three categories of politicians in the area. There are the powerful, the corrupt, and that overwhelming number of those that are a hybrid and are both powerful AND corrupt!
Brindisi may do a fine job on the board, I am not familiar with him personally, but don't kid yourself, it was money and his name that got him elected, not some vision that he will be the "messiah" of the average student in the inner city.
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