Hayseeds No. 197

Grannis' Nomination to DEC Head on Back Burner.

It looks like with the recent actions by the Conservative Party and Hunter's groups, plus Joe Bruno's increasingly chilly relationship with Governor Spitzer, the confirmation of Grannis to DEC is going to wait even longer.

On the other hand, as the article notes, it looks like Pat Hooker is all lined up to get the confirmation for heading Ag and Markets this week.

Assembly Republicans Accused of Political Favors for Jobs.

It looks like the Assembly Republicans, to many of our chagrins, may be charging it's staff people 1% of their salaries in to their political coffers for exchange for jobs. At least that's what one person is claiming:

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R,C,I-Schenectady, said he was unsure where an anonymous, unsigned letter sent to Albany County District Attorney David Soares’s office came from, speculating that it could have come from a staffer or the Assembly Democratic majority.

“If this were happening, this would be inappropriate, but it’s not happening,” said Tedisco.

The Democrats do something similar apparently, but not as bad:

“The Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee does not engage in these tactics, nor would we,” said Canestrari, who added that in the Assembly Democrat conference, staffers are not asked to donate, and that at the end of each session, “most” staffers are invited to an end-of-year fundraiser, for $125 a plate, a price that he said is neither raised nor reduced.

So that's politics. What's new about that? Still formal kickbacks are a bit illegal, and probably shouldn't be happening. And there probably is room for new ethics rules, like limiting how much money a staffer can contribute to his bosses' campaign or the use of comp time for political campaigning for your boss.

Don't Jump. Talk.

The State Bridge Authority is getting tired of people jumping off their bridges. So their solution—install phones so people can chat for a while before jumping, or at least until police can stop them. Assuming people who have paid their $1 to cross the bridge are still not planning on jumping.

The phones will be installed at the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge located between the city of Kingston andthe town of Rhinecliff, the Rip Van Winkle Bridge 30 miles south of Albany, The Bear Mountain Bridge between Peekskill and Rockland, and the Newburgh-Beacon bridge, which carries I-84 across the Hudson at Beacon and Newburgh.

“No one deterrent can, in and of itself, prevent suicides on bridges. The phones will certainly help and are part of a larger plan of awareness, education, informed intervention and new technology that should have a greater impact on suicide prevention than any single deterrent alone,” said Gary Spielman, retired director of Suicide Prevention for the New York State Office of Mental Health, who consulted with the Bridge Authority.

I have to say the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge is probably on the prettiest bridges to jump off of if you want to kill yourself—particularly the southern view. I've long wanted to either ride my bike up there or somehow walk up there, and take some pictures of the amazing view looking south of the Catskills Mountains.

If you've never been up there, the view particularly on a nice fall view will forever be ingrained in your mind. Assuming you don't jump first.

Matt Clyne Beats Karen Shea To Be Elections Commissioner.

It looks like the suburban democrats seem to be keeping their hold on things in Albany politics, with the recent election of Clyne over Shea to be the the county elections commissioner.

It seems like the City Democrats haven't done very well with Karen Shea, whose been their candidate for elections commissioner before, but lost against Jim Clancy. Bethlehem is proving to have a pretty robust Democratic party that's leading the County Democrats in increasing numbers, despite being a traditional Republican-stronghold and the third largest suburb in Albany County.

Now That They've Confined Sex Offenders, Now What?

It looks like Spitzer, along with Silver and Bruno now have yet another feather in their hats—they've agreed on a SEX OFFENDER post-prison time law, to deal with those people whose prison stay has been a complete waste of state money and resources, and hasn't rehabilitated sex offenders.

So that brings up the question, what will they talk about now. SEX OFFENDERS have such a nice ring, that gets a rise out of a lot of parents, particularly those with a lured interest of themselves. And it sells papers. I'm sure those people in Albany will think of something new to propose to further restrain SEX OFFENDERS, just to keep people happy, and give newspapers fodder to talk about.

Unpaid But With Health Insurance.

It looks like certain state authorities are barred but from giving compensation, but have figured out a way around that—giving benefits like health insurance to members despite state law prohibiting gifts to board members. And of course, the ethics people over at Andy Cuomo's office are less then happy about that and want it to stop.

Democrat Carl Kruger Appointed To Head Senate Social Services Committee.

It looks like Joe couldn't find yet another (qualified) full-blooded Republican to chair the social services committee with their numbers getting smaller and smaller. They after all, have only 32 seats of the 62 left—and a need more then 32 seats to fill all the committee seats plus other leadership posts without doubling up.

"This is the first time, to anyone's knowledge, in the history of this state that a majority has assigned a standing committee, fully staffed, fully effective, to a minority member," Bruno said.

Brooklyn's Carl Kruger said, however, that he would remain a Democrat and "will not be joining the majority conference."

Nonetheless, Bruno's move sent a clear message to new Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his allies in the Senate's Democratic minority that the GOP would not easily give up the last bastion of Republicanism in state government. Democrats are in firm control of the state Assembly and, with Spitzer's election in November, the party took control of all statewide offices.

And to boot, Carl Krugar already is a Republican of sorts. In 2004, he ran not just as a Democrat (getting 34k votes), but also as a Republican (getting 28k votes) and an Independence (getting 3k votes). He's in the past supported Republican candidates over Democrats, and probably ideologically is more Republican then a lot of Republican members.

Got Lots and Lots of Corn?

With the new ethanol plant opening in Oswego, the big question is where do they plan to get all the corn to feed this beast.