Former State GOP Chair Steve Minarik Dies At 49

by: phillip anderson

Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 08:57:02 AM EDT

Former GOP chairman Steve Minarik dies of heart attack

Whether viewed as brilliant tactician or partisan brawler, Steve Minarik was for decades an unrelenting force in local politics - a kingmaker to some, nemesis to others and the architect of today's Monroe County Republican Party.

Minarik, former county and state GOP chairman, died of a heart attack on Sunday. He was 49. Funeral arrangements have not yet been set.

The news shocked political leaders across the state, and from both sides of the aisle.

"With Steve, you got what you saw," said Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Committee. "He was the same always. He wouldn't back down from a fight. We had animated conversations. But the great thing, he didn't put on airs. He wasn't trying to be anything but himself."

The tough-talking Minarik served as the county GOP chairman from 1992 until last year. He was 32 when he took over the party, the youngest GOP chairman in the county's history. And he led the party to some of its largest victories, taking control of county government and winning races for county executive, sheriff and most town supervisor seats despite Democratic enrollment increases.

He also served as state party chairman from 2004 to 2006, where he faced the uphill battle of finding candidates to run against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer and then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Republicans lost all statewide offices in 2006.

Our condolences to Mr. Minarik's friends and family.

Monroe County scandal update

by: Exile on Ericsson St.

Mon Jan 05, 2009 at 22:32:19 PM EST

Lawyer says arrested union workers in County scandal ordered to do private work

News 10NBC gets answers for the first time. The lawyer for two men charged with stealing taxpayer money says they never thought they were breaking the law.

[....]

"Their position was they felt that what they were doing was legal and correct. They never thought that what they were doing was a criminal act," Morabito said. Morabito says they did what they were ordered to do.

"Who told them to do it?" this reporter asked. "Well I'm getting the impression others, their immediate supervisors," he said.

Here's what I've heard:

1.  This crew allegedly did work on (former Monroe County and NYS GOP Chair) Steve Minarik's kitchen, (County Clerk) Cheryl DiNolfo's sidewalks, and on the exterior of (State Senator) Joe Robach's house.

2.  This scam has been going on for years.

3. The authorities have flipped one of the key players (Robert Morone, head of ROBUTRAD Corp).

4. The FBI may get involved with the investigation.

I've yet to hear that this touches Maggie Brooks, whom many believe may appear on the Republican statewide ticket in 2010, but it sounds like Joe Robach could be in trouble, politically if not legally.    

Congressman-elect Eric Massa Meets With Maggie Brooks

by: robert.harding

Mon Dec 22, 2008 at 15:42:50 PM EST

Massa met with Brooks to discuss the issues impacting Monroe County. As indicated below, Massa has been meeting with leaders from all over the district to get a head start on building relations between himself and leaders throughout the 29th congressional district.

As part of his commitment to get to work before even being sworn-in, today Congressman-Elect Eric Massa visited Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks to discuss the critical infrastructure requirements of Monroe County.

"President-elect Obama, in the model of Franklin Roosevelt, has committed to rebuild this Nation and put millions of Americans back to work. Our job is to focus on Western New York State, including right here in Monroe County."

This visit, coming on the heels of meetings with Chambers of Commerce and Industrial Development authorities in Cattaraugus, Steuben, and other Southern Tier Counties, is a continuation of Congressman-Elect Massa's commitment to hit the ground running.

"Clearly there's no time for introductions or to take a break, I have to be ready on day one. I look forward to working with County Executive Maggie Brooks, and all of the leaders throughout the district, to help strengthen Western New York's economy in the years to come," said Congressman-Elect Eric Massa.

This is a very smart move on behalf of Massa to meet with leaders from all political parties. He is more than willing to be a bi-partisan leader and he truly believes in the message of President-elect Barack Obama, who wants to see a more united country and a less partisan one.  

Monroe County, USA, or hey, Genesee

by: Exile on Ericsson St.

Fri Dec 05, 2008 at 18:46:15 PM EST

There are some differences, though: Obama did much better than Kerry in Monroe County (Kerry only won by three points so the Democratic gain was 14, as compared with a 9 point gain nationwide), while he did only marginally better than Kerry in Genesee and Wyoming (he picked up only two points in Genesee and four in Wyoming).  Some of this has to do with the larger African-American population in Monroe, but that's not enough to account for more than a few points (Monroe County is about 14% African-American and so even a 25 point percentage point gain there -- which seems high, even factoring in both turn-out and voting break-down -- only translates into 3.5 points).  

The real reason for the gains in Monroe County probably has a lot do with swings in votes in affluent, white collar suburbs like Pittsford and Brighton.  I don't have access to figures for individual towns, but F29th has done an excellent job of detailing this phenomenon in the context of NY-29.

Today, Mark Brownstein has an excellent article about white collar flight from the Republican party and what it means for the future of American politics:

Barack Obama on Tuesday won the most decisive Democratic presidential victory in a generation largely by tapping into growing elements of American society: young people, Hispanics and other minorities, and white upper-middle-class professionals. That coalition of the ascendant -- combined with unprecedented margins among African-Americans -- powered Obama to a commanding victory over Republican John McCain, even though Obama achieved only modest and intermittent gains with the working-class white voters who provided the foundation of the Democratic coalition from Franklin D. Roosevelt's election in 1932 to Humphrey's defeat 36 years later.

"Obama is reimagining a Democratic coalition for the 21st century," says Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, a Democratic group that studies electoral trends and tactics. "Democrats [are]... surging with all the ascending and growing parts of the electorate. He is building a coalition that Democrats could ride for 30 or 40 years, the way they rode the FDR coalition of the 1930s."  

Marc Ambinder continues:

One reason why wealthier, knowledge/service workers are voting Democratic is because the Republicans have boxed themselves in on cultural issues, including the role and place of science in society. Since the mid-nineties, Democrats have been gaining in these knowledge/professional melting pot/white collar  suburbs -- just check out four cycles worth of results from the ring counties around Philadelphia, Fairfield Co., CT, Oakland County, MI, Sillicon Valley.

The bad news is that the tides that are currently lifting the Democratic party are unlikely to lift Democrats in rural upstate counties.  The good news, though, is that (in my opinion, as native of rural upstate) rural upstaters are not as culturally conservative as their midwestern and southern brethren.  I admit I have no real data to back that up, but the fact that NYS is only 6% evangelical certainly speaks to this fact.  Growing progressivism in rural upstate New York may be one of the most interesting -- neither easy nor insurmountable -- challenges facing local progressives.  

Banned in Brighton

by: Exile on Ericsson St.

Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 17:44:12 PM EST

A concerned reader alerted us that Monroe County has blocked their access to RochesterTurning but not other websites. Of particular note is that local conservative websites are not blocked.  We talking about computers managed by the County for employees.  They checked other computers with the same result.

Look, I don't know what the County Internet policy is.  I suspect that like other places there is a reasonable level of "surfing" allowed with the usual exceptions ("Adult", chat, gambling etc)

The question is why is RochesterTurning blocked and not conservative sites?

What's interesting is that it's more or less an open secret in Monroe County that at least one of the conservative blogs is maintained by Republican employees of the county (I don't know whether or not they use county computers to do their blogging but I'd guess that they do).  

SD-56: More On Christa Construction Ties To Robach, Monroe County GOP

by: robert.harding

Fri Oct 10, 2008 at 11:33:47 AM EDT

Dollinger demands Robach, GOP return contributions from Christa Construction

Democratic State Senate candidate Richard Dollinger demanded Thursday that his incumbent opponent Joseph Robach, R-Greece, and his Senate Republican colleagues return more than $74,000 in campaign contributions from Christa Construction, the construction manager of a botched $120 million capital renovations project at the Greece Central School District completed in 2005.

Dollinger's campaign said Robach received $1,850 in contributions from Christa over the past six years, while other GOP Senators received $48,450 and the Senate Republican Campaign Committee received $24,000.

"The message, it seems to me, is very clear," Dollinger said Thursday outside Longridge Elementary School in Greece. "Senate Republicans and Joe Robach need to give back this ill-gotten taxpayer money to the town of Greece and the taxpayers in this community."

A spokesperson for the Senate Republican Campaign Committee criticized Dollinger's demands Thursday.

"It's clearly the height of hypocrisy since this same firm has been giving major contributions to the Monroe County Democratic Campaign Committee, as well as to local leaders of the Democratic Party like Mayor Duffy and Assemblyman Morelle," said Joe Conway, campaign committee spokesperson.

According to records filed with the state Board of Elections, the Monroe County Democratic Party received $7,250 from Christa in six contributions since October 2006. Christa's most recent contribution to the county Democratic party was in July 2007, records show.

If Soros is the best one you can come up with because he's for "drug legalization," I take it the Republicans and Joe Robach don't have a rebuttal to taking money from a construction company that robbed Greece blind. An audit of the Greece School District earlier this year by the Comptroller's office showed that there was a pattern of waste and abuse, especially when it came to capital projects.

As for the money that was given to the Monroe County Democrats, the point is that Dollinger has not received a penny from Christa Construction. Joe Robach has. Plus, the Republicans have benefited greatly from Christa Construction's money. Jim Alesi has been a recipient. Michael Nozzolio (SD-54) has been a recipient, among others. If Joe Robach cared about his home base of Greece so much, he would have defended his home school district and defended his hometown from this waste and abuse.

Instead, Joe Robach was bought and paid for and kept his mouth shut. That's not the type of representation the people of Greece and the 56th Senate District need.

ON THE WEB:

Rick Dollinger's ActBlue Page

NY-26: Monroe Co. Independence Party Member Asks D.A. For Investigation Into Davis' Campaign

by: Jerri S. Kaiser

Tue Aug 19, 2008 at 07:25:46 AM EDT

From the report:

Corryn, who read a statement to the media on behalf of himself and the party, supplied the deposition to reporters laying out a case against Blanca Colon, who was paid $5,000 in consulting fees by the Davis campaign to build relationships with Independence Party members while Davis was seeking the party's endorsement.

"Mrs. Colon has had no contact with any member of the Monroe County Independence Party Committee and has offered no explanation for her actions, nor has she disclosed what 'consulting work' she did for Mr. Davis," Corryn's deposition states. "To date, I have seen no evidence and have no reason to believe that any services were delivered to Mr. Davis for his payments. Based on this, Mr. Davis received nothing from Mrs. Colon other than her vote for this $5,000 fee."

District Attorney Mike Green said that he would review the documents and decide how to proceed from there if this matter merits any further investigation.

This seems to be yet one more example of Jack Davis' campaign to "Buy the people."  But when asked about these serious charges, Joy Langley, Communications Director for Mr. Davis, said:

"These are half-baked slanderous charges made at the height of the silly season,"

Somehow I don't think this is a laughing matter, nothing "silly" about it other than Davis' campaign thinking this issue will go away.  

The next question is: Does this mean Mr. Davis will have a catchy new jingle coming out soon?  

Monroe County Democratic Legislators Call On Clerk To Address Privacy Concerns

by: robert.harding

Thu Aug 07, 2008 at 14:41:13 PM EDT

The Monroe County Legislature's Democratic Caucus has called on the Clerk to address this problem immediately:

After media reports revealed that thousands of individuals' social security numbers appear on the Monroe County Clerk's website, Democrats in the County Legislature are calling for the information to be immediately removed or for portions of the website be blocked by the County until it can be removed.  

Given the urgent need for action to protect citizens from potential identity thieves, Democrats have introduced Legislation that, if passed, would implement their demands.

The documents containing the social security numbers that were discovered yesterday were primarily bankruptcy related, which compounds the potential for damage from identity theft. While the Clerk is prohibited from redacting the physical documents after their filing, posting them on her website is optional. The Clerk is not required to post any documents to her website. The documents with social security numbers were filed with the Clerk's office from the early 1990's through at least 2007.

Assistant Democratic Leader Calvin Lee (D-Rochester) said, "Every citizen's social security number must be protected. It's hard to believe that Ms. Dinolfo has refused to shut down her website until these documents are removed. It is a risky decision that is making an untold number of Monroe County residents vulnerable to financial criminals. She's had more than 24 hours to take action and she has failed: that is simply unacceptable."

The legislation was introduced by Legislator Ted O'Brien (D-Irondequoit) who said, "It is imperative that all social security numbers be removed from the County Clerk's website immediately and that steps be taken to ensure that Monroe County residents are not put at risk like this again."

To support their call for a temporary shut down of the site while these documents are removed or redacted, Democrats pointed to a similar situation that arose in Suffolk County in 2006. After the Suffolk County Clerk was notified that several thousand social security numbers were visible, the County Clerk's website was promptly shut down.

According to the industry experts, there are several commercially available software programs capable of redacting 100,000 documents each day, which means the Clerk's website, with 15 million documents, would take only two weeks to fully scan.

In 2007, Democrats sent a letter to Clerk Dinolfo regarding a constituent complaining that a social security number was posted on her website. Despite this warning, Dinolfo failed to initiate any comprehensive review to seek out and remove other sensitive information from her website. This letter is attached.

As of right now, the website is still up.  

NY-26: Reason For Monroe County IP Chair Resigning: "Bribe Money"

by: robert.harding

Tue Jul 29, 2008 at 09:53:43 AM EDT

Bob McCarthy of The Buffalo News has more on the resignation of Rafael Colon:

The chairman of the Monroe County Independence Party has resigned after his wife accepted $5,000 in what party officials call "bribe money" from the campaign of Democratic congressional candidate Jack Davis.

Rafael Colon, a Rochester resident who works in a Batavia factory, quit his local and state positions after Monroe County Independence Party officials confronted him over the payment, according to Walter Schiemann, interim chairman.

"It's all about what we call the bribe money from Jack Davis," Schiemann said. "I'm not going to let this party fall into hands like that."

The Buffalo News reported July 18 that Colon's wife had received $5,000 from Davis under her maiden name for "campaign consulting." The wife of Anthony L. Orsini, chairman of the Erie County Independence Party, also received $5,000 from Davis for "campaign consulting" through a firm she established in the couple's Florida mobile home earlier this year.

From Davis' filing this year, you can see four disbursements to Coastal Consulting South set in Venice, Florida for $1,250. Total, Coastal Consulting South was given $5,000 by Jack Davis. That was the firm set up by Orsini's wife, as mentioned above.

The defense given by Davis' campaign?

While Schiemann described the payments as a bribe, Davis spokesman Luke Vaughn said they were legitimate.

"The goal of the payments was to help build relationships with Independence Party members, and that effort continues," he said.

And the mafia bribed politicians just to make more friends...

Minarik Out As Monroe County GOP Chair; Headed To MCC?

by: robert.harding

Sat Jun 28, 2008 at 00:17:33 AM EDT

Minarik was chair of the Monroe County GOP since 1992. He also served as the state GOP chairman for four years at the end of the Pataki Administration. His Democratic counterpart in Monroe County, Assemblyman Joe Morelle, issued this statement about Minarik's resignation.

"Steve Minarik single-handedly rebuilt the local Republican Party.  And, while he and I have very different views on government and politics, I have considered him a most worthy adversary.  I wish him the best in his future endeavors.

"I also believe that simply changing leaders will not change the fundamental differences between the Democratic and Republican Parties in Monroe County.  Democrats will continue to ensure Monroe County residents get the very best government possible in return for their hard-earned tax dollars."

But Rochester Turning has the story. Our friends at RT have been covering the situation regarding the Monroe Community College president search. Apparently Minarik's resignation will take him right into the interim president's seat at MCC.

From RT:

We've heard from two independent sources this evening that Steve Minarik's abrupt resignation is because he is to be named as interim president of MCC.  The timing certainly fits- a surprise resignation late in the day Friday, and what's happening first thing Monday?

   MCC Board of Trustees Special Meeting
   9:00 a.m., Monday, June 30th in Monroe A

   It is expected that an interim president will be appointed at this meeting.

Locally for Monroe County, this is a huge issue. This is the Brooks reign at its finest (or worst, depending on what you want to call it). Stay tuned...

NY-26: Monroe County Dems Endorse Powers

by: phillip anderson

Fri Apr 11, 2008 at 14:42:48 PM EDT

Monroe County Democrats Officially Endorse Jon Powers in NY-26

Rochester, NY - April 11, 2008 -"Today we celebrate not only the beginning of the Jon Powers campaign, but the beginning of a new area of change in Western New York and Washington D.C. Jon is the change the people of New York and America have been waiting for," said Joe Morelle, Chair of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, in an official endorsement of Jon Powers.

"I am truly honored to have the support of Chairman Morelle, Legislature Beebe, and the leaders of our Monroe County Democrats," said Jon Powers, former captain in the U.S. Army, Iraq war veteran and Democratic candidate for Congress in the 26th Congressional District of New York.

"Together, we can provide the unified front necessary to not only win in November, but bring real leadership and change to Western New York and Washington."

"Jon's leadership and ability to bring new solutions to the many important issues in our community - jobs and economy, healthcare, education, the war in Iraq, and the need for drastic reforms in Washington - is a refreshing break from the business as usual approach by Washington Republicans," said Jo Meleca-Voigt, Greece Democratic Committee leader.

Powers now has the endorsements of 6 of the 7 counties in the district and two of the four towns in the one hold-out - Erie County. He is the only candidate in the race who has received an endorsement.

Take that, Jack.

On the web: Jon Powers for Congress.

NY-26: Monroe County Dems To Endorse Powers?

by: phillip anderson

Thu Apr 10, 2008 at 20:27:49 PM EDT

Just got a press release from the Powers campaign:

Tomorrow, Monroe County Democratic Chairman Joe Morelle and Democratic Leaders in New York's 26th Congressional District will hold a press conference for a major announcement regarding New York's 26th Congressional seat.

They don't say what the announcement is about, but spidey sense says: endorsement. I'm not sure any other reason the campaign would be trumpeting the announcement with such fanfare. Maybe the DCCC announcing they're staying out of the primary cleared the way for Morelle & his posse to jump in.

Guess we'll find out tomorrow, but it very much looks as if Powers is about to land a big one.

On the web: Jon Powers for Congress.

Minarik's tactics questioned in SD-48

by: robert.harding

Thu Feb 28, 2008 at 19:27:24 PM EST

Minarik is being criticized because of negative attacks that apparently were even too negative for some Republicans. Some Republicans are even blaming Minarik's tactics for the loss.

For the record, Wahl Media made a pretty penny for their efforts. According to Will Barclay's campaign finance filing, Minarik's Wahl Media made $643,833 through February 8. Meaning, they could have made more money, which we will know with the post-election filings.

What will this mean for Minarik? The talk in Albany circles is that Minarik's role in the 56th Senate District race might be limited by the state GOP. In fact, the state GOP might try to play a more dominant role in SD-56 because of Minarik's failures in SD-48.

This might not be a good sign for Republican Joe Robach in SD-56. Minarik and Robach are very close. If Minarik is pushed aside by the state GOP, that could be good for the Democrats in that district. Not that Minarik is a political guru, but the state GOP had their chance to play a huge role in the SD-48 race and they lost big time. So if they jump into SD-56, that could be a very good thing for Democratic candidate in the district and could make the race more appealing to the New York State Democratic Party.  

Spitzer announces affordable housing in Rochester

by: robert.harding

Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 12:30:07 PM EST

Governor Eliot Spitzer announced today a $17.8 million affordable housing project for the city of Rochester.

From an e-mailed press release:

"Projects such as The Mills at High Falls should be commonplace throughout Upstate New York," said Governor Spitzer. "If we are going to revitalize and reinvigorate our Upstate communities, it is going to take a significant commitment and that is why it is so important that we enact the Upstate Revitalization Fund. It's also why community, business, labor and advocacy groups throughout Upstate are joining us in calling for this historic investment."

The Mills at High Falls project targets a unique niche audience interested in living in a historical Riverside neighborhood in downtown Rochester. The project features 67 units that will provide rental opportunities for a wide range of household incomes. Initial occupancy is anticipated for Spring 2009.

The $17.8 million dollar project includes more than $3.9 million in New York State Housing Finance Agency tax exempt bonds, a $2.6 million low interest second mortgage from the New York State Housing Finance Agency and $7.1 million in investor funds generated by both Federal and New York State tax credits.

Senator Joe Robach said: "I was very happy to advocate for the success of, and State participation in, this project which will create affordable housing in Rochester- it will strengthen our downtown community and provide quality housing opportunities for our residents. I applaud the collaborative effort between the Urban League, Eastman Kodak, Mayor Duffy, and the State for putting together another winning project for the Rochester area."

Assemblymember David F. Gantt said: "This is an example of the kind of progress that can be made when the State, city, private and not-for-profit sectors come together in a shared effort to move our city forward. Expanding available housing options, as The Mills at High Falls will do, is critical to Rochester's revival."

Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy said: "The Mills at High Falls will spur economic development in our region. I want to thank the New York State Housing Finance Agency, New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, the Dean of our Assembly Delegation David Gantt, Senator Joe Robach, the Urban League of Rochester Economic Development Corporation and Eastman Kodak for their tremendous dedication and commitment to this project. This type of collaborative effort is the formula that will revitalize Rochester."

This is the type of project that Gov. Spitzer was referring to in his State of Upstate Address. Providing affordable housing in upstate, especially in cities like Rochester, is important. Of the $1 billion Upstate Revitalization Plan, $100 million of that was dedicated to housing and community development. As you can see, this is just one part of the plan, but a great start.  

NY-26: Jon Powers House Party tour hits Greece

by: robert.harding

Sat Jan 26, 2008 at 00:29:56 AM EST

(Photo courtesy of Dave Garretson, a member of Club 26 and the gentleman who welcomed Jon into his home tonight. My thanks to Dave for the picture and for hosting the event.)

Why do I mention this house party? It was held in Monroe County, a county that Jack Davis lost to Reynolds by 6,215 votes in the 2006 elections. While all seven counties in the 26th District are important, Monroe County is of huge importance. That was very evident in 2006.

To win this election, Jon needs to do three things:

More on the flip.  

Jim Walsh (NY-25) Loses Conservative Party Endorsements

by: phillip anderson

Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 10:56:12 AM EST

Stand on war costs Walsh

Rep. James Walsh has lost the endorsement of the Conservative Party in Monroe and Wayne counties for the 2008 election - the first major political fallout from his decision to stop supporting the war in Iraq.

If other county parties and the state party ultimately agree, Walsh stands to lose the Conservative line in the 25th Congressional District. He has run on the Conservative line each of his 10 terms in Congress.

Walsh, R-Onondaga, has always received the vast majority of his votes on the Republican line. But the 11,634 votes he received on Conservative lines last November was enough to make the difference in the closest election of his congressional career. Walsh defeated Democrat Dan Maffei, of DeWitt, in 2006 by about 3,000 votes; the  Iraq war was the dominant issue.

Thomas Cook, chairman of the Monroe County Conservative Party, said Walsh's changing position on the war was one of many reasons why the party decided Tuesday night to withhold its endorsement.

"I was shocked when I began analyzing his record," said Cook, the Monroe County chair for 28 years. "It's only when he did the anti-war thing that I began looking into it."

Cook, a Vietnam veteran, said the party's executive committee voted 29-0 to withhold its endorsement from Walsh because most believe he does not represent conservative ideals. Walsh sealed his fate in an angry letter replying to Cook's criticism of his new position on Iraq, Cook said.

...

"We've always had a cool relationship with him regarding his voting record," Quinn said. "The flip-flop on the war in Iraq was the straw that broke the camel's back."

The geniuses in the Conservative party are about to Mau Mau Walsh right out of Congress and replace him with a strong progressive, Dan Maffei.

Thanks.

On the web: Dan Maffei for Congress.

Hey, New York! Maggie Brooks's Stealing Your Loot!

by: DragonFlyEye

Tue Oct 16, 2007 at 13:50:16 PM EDT

There's a lot of moving parts, but it all concerns you.  If you haven't checked too much of it out, let me lay it out for you: as tax payers of New York State, you've balanced the budget for politicians in Monroe County. 

Aren't you proud?