Local Democrats and Republicans open campaign headquarters in Downtown Batavia

Chris,
Where's the sign for CM?

Get the total rent in advance because neither party pays their bills....

Tim
That is quite an accusation. What are the outstanding rents from the last election and who owes them? You seem to have the information. Care to share?

John, it's in my office at work. I haven't had a chance to get it up yet. I've been too busy getting Cuomo/Duffy signs up all over the county and wondering, 'Gee, where are all the Paladino signs? I thought people just loved Kinky Carl out here.'

Just a guess Bea, but I believe Tim is referring to the fact that the people we've elected to run our State and Nation have run up a huge debt that will never be paid off.

Kevin, I appreciate you attempting to speak for Tim, but he was quite clear.
If he knows that rent was not paid, he should be more specific.

Chris,
I would have thought you'd put CM's up while putting the ones for Cuomo/Duffy since you are already out just, to save time. Hope you at least put one up in the headquarters with the others.

John,
Why not consider sewing a quilt with all your needles.

Looking forward to the grand opening of the campaign headquarters in the mall.

Don't sweat it Bea. John's just grumpy because he's not going to be able to get that job he wanted at a Paladino prison camp.

Chris,
And what are you hoping for from Andrew?

John’s comments don’t see grumpy or needling. After all the debate over CM’s candidacy, who knows maybe John is simply showing concern or might even want a sign of his own (don't hold your breath).

John has had signs for local Democrats on his lawn in the past; he is a prized swing voter. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge his intentions.

John, I know I'm hoping his claim to cut the budget 20% is real. I saw this on one of his campaign ads. however, i am not holding my breath.

Charlie,
I just found it odd they have all those nice signs for everyone but the only local candidate they are running. Signs have been going up for a few days now, but nobody had time to get CM’s out?

John, CM has been going out of his way to say he isn’t a Democrat. You know that isn’t going to get him support among the diehard committee people who put signs up and knock on doors.

There is also the fact that no matter what, CM is going to lose. He will never be able to pay any of his supporters back with the perks of politics in the future.

I’ve developed a pretty good amount of respect for CM. I’ve seen him out working for votes a few times; he even gave me one of his wooden nickels. I hope he has a respectable showing and aims a little lower next time.

Charlie- just like in sports, everyone wants to show support for the winner, and disregard the probable loser.

Also, correction on my earlier post....Prince Andrew says he will cut agencies and authorities by 20%. Still not believing it.

John, Just an FYI. We don't have a number of signs up because we are not officially open and are still decorating. Do you see Gillibrand or Schumer up yet? It's a process especially when most of us are working and have other obligations.

Save your critiquing for after our opening. In fact you would better serve your candidate, Carl Paladino, if you put in some time over at the Republican office.

John, I'm expecting good government from Andrew. That's enough for me.

CM doesn't have lawn signs to distribute. If he did you would see many of them being displayed proudly.

Also, I think of Marc Coppola as a local candidate. It's not a very big district and he spends a ton of his time down here. Matter of fact, he spent a ton of his time in Genesee County before he ran for office. He has good friends out here.

Posted by Chris Charvella on October 6, 2010 - 9:04am
Don't sweat it Bea. John's just grumpy because he's not going to be able to get that job he wanted at a Paladino prison camp.

Darn, don't you hate that when it happens? I wonder if his sights were set on being a 'bat' boy, too?

Chris, CM doesn’t have yard signs yet or is he not going to get them at all?

By the way, these “Carl Country” signs are stupid. They don’t even have the guy’s last name on them. You can’t vote for “Carl”, that name isn’t on the ballot. That would only work if his last name was a household name like “Hillary” Clinton.

Chris,
And I thought you wanted the real estate job selling Attica back to us like his father did.

Sounds like CM has been written off.

CM hasn't been written off. Signs cost a lot of money and he isn't independently wealthy. Party by-laws don't allow us to spend committee money on candidates who aren't party members.

No matter how bad I would like to get him cash, my hands are tied. I have personally donated what I could afford to his campaign and more than a few others have made either in-kind or monetary donations. If there is money for signs, he will have them. CM's campaign has been about effort and message. He has done an admirable job with both and he earns more of my respect every day.

One more thing John. I don't expect favors from the candidates I support. I have a job and I don't need a pat on the ass either. I do what I do because I believe that certain people will make our town/county/state/country a better place. I do it because I give a damn. I'm proud of what I do and I'm proud of the people who do it with me, even the ones on the other side. I don't need anything in return.

Charlie, I haven't "gone out of my way" to disassociate from the Democratic Party- no more than accuracy. My brochures note: "Green Party member, Democrat endorsed." My website*: "Vote Green on the Democratic line." The wooden nickels do not address party affiliation; they were only intended for name recognition- hardly space for anything else.

...And when Democrat-haters vent on me, I don't use the Green Party as a shield. Even while petitioning, focused on a Green Party line; I assured voters, I had my spot on the Democratic line. My fusion logo, the Green Burro, all about parity.

I haven't bad mouthed the Democrats- didn't even squawk when they gave me a goose egg for budget. You want lawn signs, they're self-funded- like my campaign**.

And lastly, Charlie, your third sentence could fit the company of lines like The Buck Stops Here, "I'll never repay my supporters with perks of public office!"

*(amended 10/4- had suggested Green and Democratic ballot lines)
** Donations to-date total $290.00.

CM, if you ever do get some yard signs...There is a spot in my yard for one.

Thanks, Justin; I've had numerous occasions, wishing I could oblige offers as thoughtful as your own. I just don't have the dinaro.

CM, no matter how mild you believe you’re distancing yourself from the party establishment, you are not a Democrat. You mention your differences in you literature and you are clearly “not of the party”. That makes a BIG difference. I remember taking hell because on my literature I listed myself as a “Conservative Democrat” Some said, that I put my Conservative endorsement ahead of the Democratic and they were not going to help me because of it. Please take this next statement in the way it was intended to be, polite. You are an outsider. Being an outsider, you will NEVER receive the full support of your line or the people on the committee. Those people volunteer to help Democrats, not Green ones.

Phil, you don't want to go there.

You know exactly what it means Phil. We'll not do this in public. Feel free to email me if you want to discuss it further.

CM, I mentioned your wooden nickels only because; I thought they were a great idea especially, for a low budget campaign. They are fitting because they remind me of the fake money our government uses to prop itself up.

I also understand your position as well and I personally don’t believe it is productive for a committee NOT to financially support a candidate they have endorsed but, like I said you are an outsider. You did have Chris and others supporting you but, it would have been nice to have seen some signs.

I also believe that because you received no funding you are the purest of all candidates. You owe nothing to anyone other than the best job you can do. That gets us back to why you don’t have the full support of you line. You are an outsider.

C.M.,would you mind if some folks made their own signs and put them on their lawn. Something like " Chris Barons will owe no one if elected" Grassroots, baby what it's all about.

Dave C.M. may be off to work by now, but I think he'd not only be ok with your idea, he'd probably encourage it.

Why didn't CM change and become a Democrat ..Seems like he was doomed from the beginning..First he cant get on the Green ticket for what ever reason..Then the Democrats won't even print up a few signs for him..Kind of tuff to challenge Hawley with your hands tied behind your back..Now i see why he really only has the Batavian to get his word out..Does this mean no radio ads also..Sound like the Democrats just used him to fill a spot on the ballot and never really took his candidacy seriously...

Mark, it wouldn’t have mattered if CM changed parties or not. CM wouldn’t have been a true Democrat till after the election. He would have still not received financial support.

Thanks Charlie...I do agree with you that he is the truest of candidates..Thats to bad..Good Luck CM..I have alot more respect for you and even though i don't agree with you on alot of things,You are standing up for what you believe and you can't fault a man for that..Maybe next time you can run for a county seat and start that way...

At the end of the day lets just hope and PRAY that whoever wins whatever position that each and every public SERVANT will roll up thier sleeves, look across the aisle at the people they disagree with, think about the "little man" who put them where they are and work together for the common good.....

Yeah I know, kind of ignorant huh? :)

I would like nothing more than to give Chris Barons a few thousand bucks out of committee funds, but because of people like Phil Ricci, I can't even bring the subject up for discussion.

Last year when Phil ran for city council, he switched his registration to Democrat. He accepted campaign money from both the city and county Democratic Committees. Along with every other endorsed candidate, including myself, he agreed that if he switched his registration after election day that he'd pay the money back to the county committee. We're still waiting for the check.

The purpose of the agreement wasn't about enforcing party loyalty, it was about keeping people who do not share our ideals from using our line as a stepping stone for their own ambitions. Phil does not share our ideals, he never did. He used the Democratic Party as a tool. For all his spouting about hating 'parties' he sure couldn't wait to join one and take its money.

It's because of people like Phil that well meaning 'outsiders' as Charlie put it, can't get our financial support. Chris Barons shares most of our ideals. He didn't come to us begging to run for office, I personally contacted and recruited him.

Because we were burned as recently as last November, it's nearly impossible to even get a floor discussion at a meeting about funding campaigns for non-Democrats. So good folks who maybe deserve financial support have to suffer for it.

The agreement that Phil made with the County Democratic Committee wasn't legally binding. It was simply a statement of personal responsibility and a commitment to ethical conduct regarding money that people worked hard for. Our volunteers work their fingers to the bone raising and donating the money that funds our candidates' campaigns. Phil took that money without hesitation and burned us.

Phil wasn't the first to do something like that, but he's certainly going to be the last.

There you go Phil, you wanted it up here and you got it. Like I said, the agreement wasnt' legally binding so you don't have to pay us back, but if you're feeling the least bit guilty I encourage you to send the check to the Barons campaign, he's the one you hurt.

I wasn't going to comment again, but the more I think about it, I have to ask. Did C.M. know he would get no backing from the Democratic party? If so, no big deal. If not, that was pretty sneaky move on the dems. Why do I say that? Well, whatever candidate you put up against Hawley is likely going to lose(sorry C.M.). So this way, it's not costing the dems anything to have a candidate on the party line. If this was a race they believed to be winnable, I don't see Mr. Barons being the dem candidate. They would have put a legit democrat on the ballot. JMO

They weren't legally binding documents, they're not filed anywhere special, but they were presented to and required of every Democratic candidate. If you're saying you didn't sign one, then congratulations you pulled one over on us, but you knew the terms required to accept money from the party. If you took that money without agreeing in writing or in spirit to those terms then I'd say your actions are even more underhanded than I originally thought.

Let's assume that you didn't sign one. That means that you looked right at it (it was presented to every candidate at our endorsement meeting) and refused to sign. That means you intentionally took our money, broke our rules, and waved your post-defeat party switch newspaper interview in our faces.

Some might say that it's a good thing you lost your race. That sort of behavior would be unbecoming of a public servant.

Chris, I was at the endorsement meeting with Phil. I never remember these documents being presented. I would have stopped Phil from signing any type of loyalty document. I remember the idea being floated and I strongly objected to the idea that a person would have to put party first.

Candidates and elected people should be loyal to the public, not the party. It is very disappointing to hear that these documents were actually signed. You guys need to reevaluate that policy.

Phil was a good candidate to run even though he didn't buy the party line. Local office has nothing to do with national politics and Phil is an upstanding person and my friend. You should all have felt proud to support him. The fact that our local Democrats looked past "party" and selected the best candidate is what made me proud to be a member of the Committee.

Phil, even if you didn't sign it, I guarantee you read it or had it read to you. Every candidate was informed, in depth, about that agreement and presented with it at the endorsement meeting.

Taking that money without signing is an even worse action ethically because you knew that you were breaking the rules.

If you didn't want to agree to the terms you could have refused. Instead you chose to ignore the rules and run with the cash. At this point I'm really not sure which scenario paints you in a worse light.

Let me know how that phone call goes.

Not the city endorsement meeting, Charlie, which you were at. It was the County endorsement meeting which I don't think you were.

The agreement wasn't about party loyalty as far as voting is concerned, it was about party loyalty when it relates to campaign funding.

I find it miraculous Phil that you're the only candidate who didn't sign or see one when the thing was physically placed in front of all of us. Simply amazing. Keep repeating yourself and maybe you'll get someone to actually believe you.

Chris, I wasn't at the county meeting but, why bring this up now? Phil lost the election and left politics. What loyalty did he need to show? We begged him to run, it wasn't his idea.

Did you want him to continue to show up to the meetings and fight everything on Democrat party platform? Phil made a horrible Democrat and had no business being on the committee.

I don't like what you have done here. It's bitter and beneath you.

The reason I did it Charlie was that Phil asked me to just a few posts up the page. I said I didn't want to do this in public, Phil insisted that I do. So here we are.

Chris, you called Phil out because of a statement that he made supporting your candidate and wishing that he was able to get more funding. You overreacted with your response.

Phil isn't unethical or immoral. He is a wonderful husband and a fantastic father of two little girls. You should retract what you said about him, it's not true.

Chris,
If your endorsement meeting was like others, then there were minutes taken.

The minutes should have who was in attendance, issues such as funding and policies set, etc. The minutes should settle the issue.

I'm tracking them down, John.

Howard, I will if you will

I hope everyone reading this understands, that this like a "single A" version of what goes on in Albany(Triple A) & Washington (Major League).

Chris, you are not helping your cause with this. Pull back from the brink. You are in too deep to understand that things like loyalty documents are what sickens people about political parties.

As someone who enjoys reading both chris and phil's posts, and doesnt know either personally (as far as I know, although I do recall a Chris Charvella from my St Anthony's days) my take on what happened here.

It was brought up that the local Dem party endorsed CM but cannot fund him as he does not meet the criteria to recieve money per bylaws. Phil called Chris out about how that policy sucks (which i'd agree with).

Chris replied that he didnt want to go in depth on that one out in public, instead asking Phil to email him (over 2 posts with a reply from phil in the middle) Phil then calls Chris out for his reply and states he will not email him.

So Chris simply stated the reason for the policy stating he may have minutes that will back it up.

I dont see either of them more at fault than the other. IF phil took money from the dems knowing they wanted it back if he didnt stay a dem in the future and didnt repay it I think that is wrong. However I'd feel the same way if the candidate took the money from any party knowing that they were going to go against what the party stood for after the election. I'm not saying they need to toe the party line and simply rubberstamp the policies, thats not how it should work, however if people elect you as a Dem (or Rep) they should expect that your core values (and according votes) will be along that line.

Was it necesarily right to call Phil out in public about it? No but it explains why the policy that other people have mentioned not liking is there and he did offer to say it by email. IMO best thing would have been for Chris just not to mention Phil by name in explaining why (as far as he understands) the policy exists.

CM goodluck next month and you have my vote.

Charlie I'd disagree. I dont see how asking people to commit to staying within the party after the election you are offering to fund is unethical? How is it different from a bank loan?

the party will give you $x, if you win or lose we expect you stay with us, otherwise would you please give us our $x back? If you intended in actually being a member of the party why would it be an issue? If you weren't well they arent forcing you to take the money and maybe you should rethink taking the endorcement (for the reasons I pointed out above).

Chris didnt say they would expect repayment if all your votes were by the party line.

Maybe I'm just naive....

*edit, just as a disclaimer I'm a registered Dem, but not involved with the party other than that.

Bill, I'd say you have it jsut about right. Phil called me out specifically as the elections chair and questioned our policies. I found his position rather ironic and insinuated such. Phil challenged me, I gave him an out, then he challenged me again.

You don't have to take my word for it, it's not like I was the only person in the room that night. But I will track down the minutes and post them. They're a matter of public record after all.

Chris, let's get to the heart of this matter. Honestly, was Phil a good fit with the party? Is someone with his political viewpoint the type of person who belongs on the Democratic Committee? What good was a candidate who lost to the committee? He wasn't running again so, what did you want him for?

Also, did you give Phil money or did you just buy some signs with his name on them? Phil was also asked to run, it wasn't the other way around.

This whole issue is just mean spirited. Phil leaving was best for everyone involved and I think you know that.

This isn't about whether or not Phil was good for the party, Charlie. I agree with you, he was not. By the way, you were the one who asked him to run so I understand where you're coming from.

You guys are friends, I get it, but Phil called me out here. He stated opinions about our funding process (which he is VERY familiar with by the way) and now he's shocked that I responded to his direct challenge.

Phil is welcome to retract his statements here. I'm willing to drop this and personally request that Howard delete this entire thread if he does.

The Wooden Nickle
CM doesn't have a record, so what makes him so appealing?
He is honest; he is intelligent; he knows how to use his God given skill sets to reach out to people.
Do you know why he has wooden nickles? When he was at Stafford's carnival he noticed a lot of his opponent's flyers littering the carnival grounds. He knew, after seeing that, that he didn't want to distribute anything that would add to the litter and cause more work at clean up time.
Thus, the wooden nickle. People take them and slip them in their pocket. They aren't tossing them away to add to litter.
It is a small example, but a big illustration of CM's thought process. He isn't pretending to be "one of us", he IS "one of us". He saw the political litter as another burden for someone to clean up.
Isn't that what we need in Albany? The ability to see a problem, no matter how small, and come up with creative solutions is what makes CM the person we need in Albany.

Bea, then prove what you say by getting the guy some signs. It's that simple. Either CM is everything you just said or he is a patsy you got to fill in a slot on the ballot. Using Phil as an excuse for not funding CM is a reach. CM is truly "one of us" or he is NOT! Prove to me he is worth my vote instead of just telling me he is, talk is cheap.

The records show the committee has thousands of dollars in the bank, if CM isn't worth $800 for some signs, I don't want to hear another word. I'll have my answer and pull Steve's lever without hesitation and everyone else should too.

Cute Charlie. You know what the rules are; you were our County Chair. I can't get them changed because of all the things that have been discussed here. I gave CM some of my own money. As much as I could afford actually. I'm not a wealthy person so it wasn't enough to get him signs. I regret that I didn't have more to give.

Chris Barons has put in more effort, given more of his time and been more of a candidate than I ever thought he could be. He has taken it upon himself to work hard and spread his message. He has shown that he has guts and determination. He doesn't play games. I wish I had the words to express how proud I am of him and his candidacy, but my vocabulary isn't up to the task; I'd probably have to borrow the verbiage from him.

Charlie,
Your entire post is bogus, Charlie.
$800 worth of signs isn't going to change your vote. You made your choice loud and clear a long time ago. Who are you kidding?
lame attempt to convince us all that this thread is closed. It isn't working.

If the committee is truly behind CM, prove it. You can put the first one on my lawn!

Don't give me this bullshit about the "rules". He's either your guy or you are wasting our time. Chris, you are right, I was chair and I do know exactly how things work. You people tell me that CM is your guy but, he has $290 and a bag full of wooden nickels.

Who's kidding who?

Let's hope Ranzenhofer and Hawley don't stop too fast because a few people on here will end up with brown noses.

Charlie,
Bea and the rest of the committee members could give their own money to CM, like Chris did. Say 20 members at $25 each. There's $500 for signs. Maybe they did, but if he raised less than $300, och! It will be interesting to see a list of donors from the committee.

Chris, I think you dropped the ball on this, but then this is your first time running a campaign. You should have posted right here on the Batavian that CM needed private money and asked flat out for donations. From the number of people on the Batavian who said they support CM, I bet he would have received a few hundred dollars. He has a loyal base here. I also didn't see any CM only fund raisers.

Posted by Charlie Mallow on October 7, 2010 - 5:53am
If the committee is truly behind CM, prove it. You can put the first one on my lawn!

He's either your guy or you are wasting our time.

Who's time are we wasting? Your's? You already came out for Hawley.
The time of others on this site? Who are you to determine that CM's message is worthless because of a lack of signage?
You are beginning to sound shrill. Trying to make a point that just isn't there.
CM is "our" guy. He knew, going in, that because of previous abuses the committee couldn't fund him. The rules weren't going to change for him and then leave the door open for another episode like we had in the last election. That didn't stop him.
You, as a former county chair, should understand that better than anyone.

Bea, your right, I fully understand the situation. Unless you have the money, boots on the ground and the better candidate you don’t compete in a race for state office. You don’t send an inexperienced guy out going door to door, bleeding his heart out to get slaughtered.

For months you have been going to war pleading your case like CM had a legitimate campaign, only to find out he doesn’t have a dime. Not ONE yard sign??? Not ONE fundraiser??? All he got was a hand full of wooden nickels..

Are you kidding me?

You guys ran a completely unknown inexperienced candidate and left him to die on the vine. Why didn’t you have him run for town board? Why didn’t you get him on a committee? You didn’t prepare CM to run; you didn’t even give him a fighting chance.

Your defense is that I’m a Republican shrill? If you believe that, you have lost your mind.

Hey Charlie, I'm now a voter here and to be completely honest all this quibbling you are doing here bascially tells me you arent the man for a position in our govt for any capacity. An argument this public and this long over silly things just proves that if you think your right you will dig in and fight, regardless of what the people you represent want or not.

As far as the debate goes, I echo Howard, political parties suck. There is only 1 job when you are elected... to represent the people. The jist of what I get here is if you get backed by a party, then you do as they say, in younger readers venacular "you are their bitch" That right there is why our govt is so broken. Once your elected you represent ALL of your constituency not just those who voted for you, or gave you money.

But thanks just the same for the little peek behind the curtain at what really goes on behind the scenes.

Kyle,
Charlie is shilling for the opponent.
Your vote counts, regardless of who you chose.
Of course, CM would appreciate your vote, but the important thing is to exercise your right to cast that ballot.
The peek behind the curtains is skewed. There is an ethical reason why CM is not funded by the party. Charlie knows that.

.

I love how I counted more than 100 cuomo/duffy signs between leroy and batavia. The guy has already won, far as I'm concerned. But Warren Redlich will still get my vote, and I encourage anyone who hasn't allowed their party loyalty to make the decision for them to consider him.
http://wredlich.com/ny/2010/02/warren-redlich-for-ny-governor/

Well I was a republican once upon a time.... but since I first registered to vote 25 yrs ago I have tended to vote for those who "seem" to promise to do what falls within my view of what needs to be done. Right now at this point all I have seen is empty promises and more and more abuse.

What I look for anymore is the new guy who doesnt have any experience and is full of new ideas and promises. Even though the political machine is stacked up against them if we get sick enough of business as usual politics, and elect enough of my type of candidate then maybe things might get better.

Now casting a vote is akin to shouting into a void. They dont represent us anymore, they represent whomever bankrolled their campaign.

LOL the look behind the curtain isn't skewed at all... the system is.