NY-Gov: Chris Collins manages to set his hair on fire twice in one week.

by: Adama D. Brown

Thu Oct 29, 2009 at 15:56:10 PM EDT

In the aftermath, Collins of course apologized and swore up and down that it was just a casual joke, completely accidental, one time thing.

Come to find out he made the same joke at least once before to a group of Buffalo State political science students, as well as their two faculty escorts. Geoff Kelly over at Artvoice puts it as well as I ever could.

Yesterday I asked Grant Loomis, the county executive's director of communications, if Collins had ever made a similar reference to Silver before. He assured me that Collins had had not, that the remark was "unscripted" and "off the cuff."

He then paused a moment and backed off a little, adding, "...to the best of my knowledge."

I told Loomis about the Buffalo State students, and the two members of the faculty, and Loomis said, "Oh."

Generally speaking, it's a bad sign for you when your communications director's best rapid response and fierce advocacy for your cause is reduced to "Oh."

Erie County: "Career Politician" Talking Point A Twisted One

by: robert.harding

Sat Oct 17, 2009 at 12:02:12 PM EDT

Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz, who has butted heads with Erie County Executive Chris Collins - the man helping push this notion of "career politicians" by putting forth his own slate of candidates - is one target of such labeling. Collins was asked who he thought was a "career politician" in his mind. One of the names? Mark Poloncarz.

Here's the Collins definition of career politician: "It starts with somebody who sees politics as a career path. It is someone who caters to the special interests in order to advance or preserve their career.

"It is somebody who makes decisions based on the political ramifications, not based on what's in the best interest of taxpayers. It is typically someone who does not have a lot of history of other experiences, meaning private-sector experiences."

He agreed that career politicians nest on both sides of the aisle.

Collins, a Republican, easily rattled off a few Democrats in county government he thinks qualify: Reynolds. Legislature Chairwoman Lynn M. Marinelli. County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz, who is completing his first term and made his living as a lawyer before seeking office in 2005.

The one item in the piece that sticks out is when Collins was asked about what Republicans are career politicians. When asked about Senator Dale Volker, who has been in office for over three decades, Collins gave this response:

"I don't want to get into name-calling necessarily."

So if he has to name Democrats who are career politicians, he is willing to do so to fit his political agenda. But once he has to name Republicans, he refers to it as "name calling" and dodges the question. Convenient dodging by a man who wants to run for governor next year. Talk about career politicians.

In Erie County, the problem with the "career politician" label is that it is being thrown around by, well, those who themselves could be affixed with the "career politician" label. Collins, for example, has served as county executive since 2008 and is already talking about seeking higher office. His name has been mentioned as a possible GOP gubernatorial candidate in 2010 if Rudy Giuliani doesn't run, which is a possibility.

But from there, it only gets worse for Erie County Republicans.

Kevin Hardwick, the Republican challenger to Michele Iannello in the 10th Legislative District, has labeled his opponent a "career politician." Yet, a look at Hardwick's record shows who the real career politician is.

That isn't the only instance where the Republican accusing the Democrat of being a career politician is actually a career politician (or more of one) than his or her opponent. Republican Shelly Schratz is calling her opponent a "career politician" even though she has more years of experience as an elected official and also has sought other offices unsuccessfully.

It is an interesting strategy for the Collins Republicans. They are calling their Democratic foes "career politicians" in an attempt to make them seem like they are old, stale and just warm bodies in chairs at the Legislature Chamber. But these are candidates who have served many years in office. They have also ran for other offices unsuccessfully (Hardwick ran twice for Legislature and lost in the early 2000s).

But the troubling part, from Collins, is that he couldn't name a single Republican. Even though he said that there was career politicians on both sides, he wasn't willing to throw a member of his party under the bus. That tells you what kind of guy Collins is. It's no secret he wants to run for governor. It's no secret these candidates running against incumbent legislators and Poloncarz are his candidates. His hunger for power is so massive I can hear is stomach growling from here in Orleans County.

You can't think of a single Republican? And when Dale Volker, a man who has served 36 years as a New York state senator, is put in front of your face you say you don't want to engage in "name-calling"?

Name-calling isn't okay when it's someone of your own party AND someone who, as a senior Albany Republican, surely would help to have on your side should you run for governor in 2010. But name-calling is acceptable if you're trying to take down the Democrats.

EC-Leg: Kathy Konst (EC-5) gets targeted by Chris Collins

by: Adama

Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 12:00:22 PM EDT

From the News:

Dino Fudoli, 38, a Canisius College graduate who owns a property development company, will oppose Konst. He is already labeling the incumbent an "obstructionist" to the county executive's agenda.

Fascinating, isn't it, that the only "obstructionists" in the Erie County Legislature are Democrats in potentially competitive seats.

Apparently Fudoli learned a little something from the embarassingly fawning rollout of Kevin Hardwick, and so made sure to at least pretend to disagree with Collins on something. Though whether that means anything, we'll see later.

"It's strange that someone like Kathy Konst would go against the county executive on everything," he said. "I don't support everything he does; I don't support his tax increase. But she sticks her neck out to obstruct everything he wants done."

Of course anyone who knows Erie County politics is aware that that's a load, and that Kathy has actually gotten in hot water with her own party a few times for taking the other side in a disagreement. However, Kathy has also had several high-profile fights with Collins over the county budget--and as I said with regard to the challenger to "obstructionist" Michelle Iannello, attempting to obstruct incompetance is not a bad thing.

Now that appears to have extended to Konst, with Fudoli indicating he has met with Collins and hopes he will assist him politically and financially.

"I can expect he would maybe help me in that aspect," Fudoli said of Collins' financial backing. "It's certainly something I would ask him for."

And there's the onion. Each and every one of these candidates is effectively running as a proxy for Chris Collins, in what you could be forgiven for thinking of as a "Vote Lapdog" campaign. All of them are going to be so politically indebted to Collins if they got elected that they wouldn't be able to provide real checks and balances government without losing their sugar daddy.

The Erie County legislature races this November are far more important than they might seem to the outside observer. Besides preserving a vital Democratic foothold in western New York, they're a crucial bellweather of Chris Collins' popularity and political capital. Collins is already being talked up by elements within the state GOP for statewide office next year, possibly even the Governor's race. Facing a major defeat of his hand-picked puppet candidates this year would put some serious marks on his self-touted record.  

EC-Leg: Collins Recruits WGRZ's Lynne Dixon To Run Against Reynolds

by: robert.harding

Thu May 21, 2009 at 07:19:51 AM EDT

WBEN radio host and Canisius College professor Kevin Hardwick announced on Sunday that he would be running against Erie County Legislator Michele Iannello and now another local media personality will resign from her post and run for Erie County Legislature on the Republican line.

Lynne Dixon, who resigned from Buffalo's NBC affiliate WGRZ Channel 2, will run against Legislator Bob Reynolds, who represents the 12th Legislative District.

Here is more on the story from The Buffalo News:

Dixon, 43, is a registered member of the Independence Party, which is expected to give her a strong claim on that nomination. The sources say she also has submitted a letter to Conservative leaders declaring her intention to run. They have scheduled her for an interview on Tuesday.

The Channel 2 reporter marks the second, high-profile media figure selected by Republicans in recent days to run for the County Legislature. Kevin R. Hardwick, a Canisius College political science professor who hosted the "Hardline with Hardwick" government and politics show on WBEN Radio, said over the weekend he will challenge Legislator Michele M. Iannello, D-Kenmore.

When Collins started out, he was targeting three incumbents. Two of those incumbents were Iannello and Reynolds, both of whom he claimed are "obstructionists." The third target is Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz, who will be a much more difficult candidate to find an opponent for. It is a countywide race and Poloncarz will be a very tough candidate to run against.

It is interesting that Collins has turned to the local media for his talent pool. Hardwick wasn't a huge shocker, given his past in politics and clearly the desire was there to get involved again. But getting Dixon to run is something that is a bit of a risk. She was referred to in the News piece as a "high-profile" pick, but it's hard to tell just how high her profile is. It would be another story if she was an anchor. They tend to be more recognized. But she was a reporter and got minimal face time.

Collins is trying to flex some political muscle here. In November, the test will take place to see if he has any political muscle. Hardwick will be a tough challenger, but Iannello is very popular in her district. Dixon might be a "high-profile" figure, but I don't see her beating Reynolds. And Collins will need to find someone with real credentials to run against Poloncarz, who is a very tough opponent and is already being considered a challenger for county executive in 2011.  

EC-Leg: Hardwick To Halt Show, Run Against Iannello For County Legislature

by: robert.harding

Mon May 18, 2009 at 08:21:24 AM EDT

For the past four years Dr. Kevin Hardwick has hosted "Hardline" on WBEN, examining the political issues on a local, state and national level. Today he stepped away from the microphone in order to enter the race for the 10th District of the Erie County Legislature. Hardwick says that he is doing so after County Executive, Chris Collins pleaded with him to do so and that Collins has "...certainly indicated that he will help me politically, financially. To what extent, we'll find out over the course of the next few months."

Hardwick's opponent in the race is Michele Ianello who has won re-election and thinks that Hardwick's candidacy is simply a move by Collins to get her out of office, "The county executive believes he can just have me fired...I have provided oversight of county finances and I represented the people of the tenth district in the way that they want to be represented." Ianello also labels Hardwick as a "rubber stamp" for Collins agenda.

Hardwick counters by noting his opposition to the Republican party in his previous runs for the same seat (2001 and 2003), "...any attempt to paint me as this puppet of the county executive, I think we can look at my history and know that I had no problem standing up to powerful people before and if the county executive crosses a line, certainly I'll be there to try and stop him."

It is rather difficult for Hardwick to make such an argument - that he isn't a puppet of Republican County Executive Chris Collins - when Collins has made it known that he wishes to target three individuals in county government. That list, which also includes County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz, has Iannello's name on it.

If Collins makes it possible for Hardwick to win, I can't imagine Hardwick fighting back too much. He might pick his battles to make it seem like he's a John McCain-type, but since Collins will make an investment in him "politically and financially," I can't see Hardwick questioning too much, if anything, that Collins will do should Hardwick be elected.