What's more surprising than the Republicans winning all of the key contested races is the margins. That may merely reflect the GOP registration advantages and the fact there were no real wedge issues to define the campaign. Voters basically said they're happy with the GOP incumbents on the City Council and satisfied with the GOP majority in the County Legislature.
Go back and look at the video of the interviews we did with the candidates in conjunction with WBTA: There were few disagreements. There was no big issue to sway voters toward a particular candidate or a particular party. The Democrats just didn't have a big enough flag to wave to say "this is what voting for us means." I've not been around Batavia politics long enough to say this with certainity, but it seems if Democrats want to win multiple-ward seats, they need to articulate issues that set them apart. And they need to unite around the candidate(s) with the best chance to win.
What may have hurt the Democrats the most was infighting. The "Coffeecake Caper" brought a lot of that to the surface, with Tim Paine explicitly accusing a faction of Democrats with bringing forth Julie Wallace to block him from a clear path to the nomination.
Speaking of Julie Wallace, she seems like a really goodhearted person and a sweet lady. I bet she's fabulous with kids. Good luck to her on her quest to be a CASA volunteer. She will undoubtedly do a great job. That doesn't mean she was qualified to run for City Council.
Did the Coffeecake Caper sink Rose Mary? I don't think so. In the end, I think it was a wash. Rose Mary came out looking like an honest, tell-it-like-it-is, stand-up person, which is why she's represented her ward for 18 years. But the Republicans, particularly Joe Gerace, played their cards just right by disavowing Tim Paine's actions without hesitation, which probably neutralized any benefit Rose Mary might have gained from the attack on her.
Word has it it (though numbers aren't available yet) that the City Charter revision passed. That's good and bad. John Roach is right -- the city engineer position should be done away with. But opening the door to the elimination of the Police Department without fully vetting the options could be a mistake.
Following this campaign helped me get greater insight into local politics, and I came away with the impression that the local political parties, especially the city parties, are less about partisan ideology and more like civic social clubs. Both the Republicans and Democrats work very hard to try to help their candidates win, but not in the name of pushing a partisan agenda, but rather because they want to see their own club do well in the big game. At least that's my impression this time around.
As Chair of the City of
As Chair of the City of Batavia Democrat Committee I would like to take a moment to thank our candidates and our committee. You are all great people with the hearts and minds to want to make a difference in our community. What is that quote about "Stepping Into the Arena".... Your hard work and dilligence show great courage and determination. To Phil, Sara, Julie, Chris, Ed and Rose Mary our greatest admiration and gratitude.
Winning isn't always in the final numbers. It is in the hearts and minds of those that chose to be couragous and stand up. You all have shown great courage, compassion and caring.
All are winners. To Marianne, Tim, Frank, Hollis and Bob Radley, I am certain you will represent us well. Congratulations on a wonderful campaign and a fair campaign. Hats off to you for a job well done.
Let's all work for the betterment of our community. I am proud to live and work in Batavia, New York. It is a great home.
I do have to say that Howard
I do have to say that Howard is correct when he talks about partisan ideology having little to do with city committees. Council people are individuals and they for the most part are locked into a party based on their national political leanings. Party ideology has nothing to do with local city matters so; there is nothing to bind the memberships together. City committees are social clubs and not all the members like each other, that fact of life is a part of every social organization. Maybe instead of a negative, the lack of partisanship in our political process is a good thing our little community has going for it.
It saddens my heart that
It saddens my heart that there will be the same old same old. No new faces. Rosemary is an honest woman and honest people dont belong in politics. They say what they have to say to get elected then change when they get in. Same old same old, its depressing.
PS I have decided thats its
PS I have decided thats its not worth tryin to make sense of it all. Seems the leaders are more interested in making improvements on dirt than on the people who walk on that dirt.
Face it...this is a
Face it...this is a republican town and there's not much anyone is going to do about that.
I feel badly that Phil Ricci wasn't elected.
Here's a young guy with some concrete plans to keep the city moving forward (kind of "Mallow like") and he doesn't even get a sniff.
And it's more than likely simply related to the fact that he's a democrat.
I watched the interviews between him and Frank Ferrando and there wasn't much disagreement on the issues, but I thought that Phil really had a passion for the office he was seeking and a plan to move the city forward.
I sincerely hope that the "3 Musketeers" will hold to their promises and continue to make the difficult decisions moving forward to right size the city government, but I must say with less loyal opposition, I have my doubts that will happen.
Thank you so much for those
Thank you so much for those kind words, David!
I do have a lot of passion for this little town and I will tell you this...I will always be involved!
I really believe in the things I said. I know that they are realistic and can be implemented. If I'm asked, I will totally serve on any of the new "sub committees" that will push some of these things forward.
Thanks again David!
That is the point David..The
That is the point David..The wasn't any difference between him and Frank...As far as the other two democrats,they didn't even know all the issues that were facing the city.Wallace was all about the children..Balbi had no new ideas of how to handle the city's high taxes....But at least they tried and did run..Gave a fair shot at it..Republicans seemed more unified in there efforts.They all came around my neighborhood as a team on Saturday..The only person i saw was Ms.Balbi ..Behind the scene's Joe Gerace did a great job....Let see who he replaces Ms.Clattenburg with..So there will at least be one new face on council...I did want Rosemary to win ,but at least she will still be on council and keep everyone in check..
Congratulations Frank Ferrando,Tim Buckley and Marianne Clattenburg ..
Thanks anyway Mark. I feel
Thanks anyway Mark. I feel that were some differences between Frank and I, but I didn't do enough to show them. I guess the point was, I wasn't going "against" Frank. I was trying to get elected to one of three seats. I know the issues and I spoke on them. Now, I will continue to be involved in this city. Sorry I missed when I was out walking!
Joe is a great guy by the way!
Phil, Do you think you were
Phil,
Do you think you were hurt by Patterson? Sort of a backlash?
I said that there wasn't any
I said that there wasn't any difference between Phil and Frank "on the issues".
The difference (at least for me) was that Frank was a member of council when many of the financial issues that the city has recently struggled with were created and Phil clearly was not. Seems like many people simply forgot that because of Frank's recent history on council (when Charlie was holding everyone's feet to the fire). To his credit, he was part of fixing the problems he was a part of creating but I didn't forget the history and I voted accordingly.
I don't think so John, but
I don't think so John, but who knows? I think at the end of the day people were content with those who were in there. The truth is, I am a newcomer to these things. I feel that I have a lot to offer and I will still do that.
Frank is a great guy. He has always been very cordial to me and extremely encouraging in my involvement in the community. I don't agree with him on a number of things, but I respect him.
Since you were not running
Since you were not running agaisnt Frank, but really agaisnt 5 other people, I thought Dems.as a whole might have been hurt by the anti Patterson feeling. Not enought that it would have changed the outcome, but a little bit. That's just a thought.
John I think people were
John I think people were voting either all republican or democrat..It has nothing to do with Patterson...No split voting....Phil keep it up you'll get your chance I'm sure..
I think the democrats should of made it more of a issue of who will control council...With Charlie Mallow leaving who will get the leadership post...If the democratic candidates
made more of an issue that if they were elected as a whole they would be able to be in control of picking the council president they might of created an issue to run on...Republicans pick up a seat...
John also great job to you and your committee on the city charter..You'll did a great job on it.Glad it passed.......On to consolidation.........
Charlie, I have to disagree
Charlie, I have to disagree with you about political committees being social clubs. Committee seats are elected positions and you know how I feel about folks who take that position lightly.
Chris, I know how you feel
Chris, I know how you feel but, that is what we have right now in the city. That's not a knock on the committee either. It's made up of a group of long time friends who try to help each other. Friends fight, bicker and sometimes backbite. There was too much of that this year to win or even make it close. I'm not pointing fingers, everyone was guilty to some degree.
Charlie, are you adding
Charlie, are you adding yourself to those who were guilty "to some degree"?
Bea, of course I'm guilty as
Bea, of course I'm guilty as well.
Chris, Regardless of all of
Chris,
Regardless of all of this, I think that you ran a great campaign! I mean it when I say that you should stick with it and keep going.
Hello????? If they coudlnt do
Hello?????
If they coudlnt do right by us u think theyre gonna now?
Look around Batavia, its a ghost town that happened with the current city council. How many businesses could have been her should have been here??
Barilla, yahoo, what else.
Batavia is not a ghost town.
Batavia is not a ghost town. We've been down this path before. There is absolutely no empirical evidence to support your assertion, and every objective observation tells the opposite story. I'm not going to let that non-sense statement go unchallenged.
Mary-Try to drive down Main
Mary-Try to drive down Main St from 5-6pm on a Friday and tell me that Batavia is a "ghost town".
Batavia as a whole isn't perfect, some things still need to change, but to say that all hope is lost or that there has been no progress isn't based in truth.
Mary, a lot of things
Mary, a lot of things happened during the term of the current city council. The economic decline of the city wasn’t one of them. Things are actually looking up for our whole county.
We haven’t had a full downtown since “urban renewal” and that didn't happen in the last two years.
Driving downtown at those
Driving downtown at those hours are people driving home from Rochester or Buffalo from work.
I swear some people are blind. Look at all the empty buildings! Look at all the for sale sign. Im not making this up fercrissakes. On a sunny Saturday afternoon there is barely any activity with the exception of Walmart. But thats the town of Batavia. Seems they have the right idea. Which comfirms my support of a merge. Then we could really be a "city".
I see what I see I dont see dreams of what could be.
Get a grip on reality!
Get a grip on reality!
Mary, what color is the sky
Mary, what color is the sky in your world? When I look up I usually see blue. Try not to look for dark clouds.