Monday, August 30, 2010

Release the Scorecards!

Unshackle Upstate is really getting into informing the public about our representatives in Albany. They have declared November 2nd as "Judgment Day", and they want the voting citizens to hold their elected officials accountable for change in our state, especially when it comes to job creation and helping our economy grow.

They've created "scorecards" as part of their "Judgment Day" campaign. From their website: "The Scorecard will be frequently updated to provide New Yorkers with information on how each of the 212 legislators vote on various pro-taxpayer and job creator legislation, as well as on this year's state budget."

Awesome!

Here is the link to the Senator list.

Here is the link to the Assembly list.

Morelle - his scorecard doesn't look so good so far - 45 out of 100 points:



Alesi - his scorecard isn't so bad, 73 out of 100 points:
Correction listed in D&C article: James Alesi, R-Perinton: 80 points; ranked 13th among 59 senators.



And because I was scolded for not including Robach and Reilich in another blog about politicians....I will include them on here for you, even though they don't represent Irondequoit at all.

Reilich - his scorecard looks pretty good, 85 out of 100 points:


Robach - his scorecard is better than Morelle's but, still pretty bad at 52 out of 100 points:
Correction listed in D&C article: Joseph Robach, R-Greece: 58 points; ranked 23rd.


And, last but not least, the King and Queen of anti-taxpayer, anti-job creation, anti-business....David Gantt and Susan John (even though she "retired" recently) with 2 out of 100 points and 1 out of 100 points, respectively - Boooooooo!:





The question of the day is: Will the voters remember in November?

A very good opinion piece on "Unshackle Upstate" is on a blog that I read called "Mustard Street". They make a few connections that I found insightful. I encourage you to read it. Unshackling Nothing--Part 1 and Part 2.

A snippet from their blog that I found very interesting:

"2. Local Legislators

In particular, we'll be interested to see how Unshackle Upstate grades state legislators from the Rochester area. Assemblyman and Monroe County Democratic Chairman Joe Morelle appears to have a cozy relationship with Unshackle and the RBA, especially with Sandra Parker. Brian Sampson, just before his appointment as Executive Director of Unshackle, was about to become the Democratic nominee for Town Board in Irondequoit, where Morelle, more than anywhere else, holds sway. We may safely presume a compatible political relationship between them.

Nearly all of Morelle's major donors, other than the insurance industry (Morelle Chairs the Assembly's Insurance Committee) are political action committees of unions -- the same unions implacably opposed to every reform proposed by Unshackle Upstate.

The Rochester business community should not let the RBA and Unshackle give a free pass to Morelle or his similarly situated colleagues. (This applies to a lot of Republican State Senators, too). In Morelle's case, the fig leaf of voting against last year's state budget, and this year's, neither expiates nor excuses an entire career as Assemblyman supporting the union agenda, the bloated state budgets, and the excessive spending and taxation that have brought the state to near-bankruptcy today.

If Unshackle Upstate has any credibility, Joe Morelle will get an F on his report card and Unshackle will not endorse him for re-election."

Not only that, but a recent article in the D&C reports that Unshackle Upstate had many errors in their recent "scorecards", and the corrections were made. According to the article, Alesi's staff noticed the error on his scorecard, and Unshackle Upstate said it was a data entry error, and "The errors were generally minor. No score changed by more than 8 points on a 100-point scale, Unshackle Upstate officials said. No area politician saw his or her ranking rise or fall by more than three places, records show."

"Out of more than 10,000 data points, there were roughly 20 data entry errors, Sampson said. Still, he said, "it is an integrity issue for us" to disclose the mistakes."

Here's the article:



Corrections are listed in the article, and I put the corrections (if there were any) next to the ones on this blog that I listed.

15 comments:

cheri said...

Interesting to see that Unshackle gave Morelle a low percentage. I guess it was kind of hard to avoid that Joe voted only 3 out of 11 times to support taxpayer's. Hard to hide.

I have always found Unshackle Upstate pro-Democrat and especially PRO-Morelle. In my opinion Brian Sampson has his OWN political agenda.

Can't wait to see who they endorse. The way things look they shouldn't be endorsing Morelle but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Gantt shouldn't even be allowed to run. :( Yikes!

Foils_for_irondequoit said...

I always thought their research was pretty good - but can see the connections to Morelle as well. Sampson...as well as Mayoral Control supporter Parker.

Gantt - lol. Pathetic.

The scorecards will be updated apparently....so there's always room for improvement on them towards election time.

We'll see what transpires.

Unknown said...

"Others were unapologetic for voting in favor of budget extender bills, which were opposed by Unshackle.

Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, voted against the budget but in favor of the budget extender bills, which were necessary to prevent the government from shutting down."

Its funny how Cheri (again) only read snipets of things..."Joe voted only 3 out of 11 times to support taxpayers" by whose standards Cheri? Yours? He voted AGAINST the budget (this year and last) but his score reflects the extender bills. Again, whole portions of stories are needed to truly reflect an article and once again you do not disappoint by only providing your snipets...Cheri would have preferred that government shut down, I get it.

Foils_for_irondequoit said...

If I may interject with my own thoughts on the matter.....

"Joe voted only 3 out of 11 times to support taxpayers" by whose standards Cheri? Yours?"

No, by Unshackle Upstate's standards. I thought that was pretty clear from the blog.

"He voted AGAINST the budget (this year and last) but his score reflects the extender bills."

Yes, 2 out of 20 years he voted against the budget. For 18 he's been a part of the Albany mentality that taxpayers are a never ending trough to take from to reward his special interest friends....and no...Joe is not the only one who does this, but he is the one I like to focus on.

I pick on him mostly because I feel he is part of the dysfunction in Albany - and because it gets under your thin skins when anything negative is said about Morelle. lol It amuses me. To no end. Honestly.

"Again, whole portions of stories are needed to truly reflect an article and once again you do not disappoint by only providing your snipets...Cheri would have preferred that government shut down, I get it."

I agree. You should have included the other 18 years of Morelle's career as well. Not just the past 2 that somehow erases the other 18 years of his contribution to the dysfunction in Failbany.

Of course, throwing out snippets is one thing.....but putting words in other people's mouths seems to be your forte. I don't believe Cheri said that she would prefer a Government shutdown. You have a habit of doing that...I remember on the D&C blogs you did that all the time.

Government shutdown/eventual state insolvency resulting in shutdown.....we keep on this path of spending increases while taxpayers flee the state in droves.....what the hell do you think is going to happen? Private sector jobs will just magically appear to fund all of the spending increases? Nope - but they'll tax the poor schmucks to death that stick around long enough.

When taxpayers in NYS have a property tax that is 79% higher than the national average....who should I hold accountable? The Assembly who doesn't even want to bring "property tax cap" to the floor for a discussion? Or Cheri Evershed for throwing out "snippets"?

Let me be the first to thank you for your snippets. I enjoyed them.

Oooh...by the way...your "hate-on for Cheri Evershed" slip is showing. Again.

Oops.

cheri said...

Oh jonathon, you sound so much like anonymous that loves to put words in my mouth.

So sorry that your candidate Joe Morelle didn't fair better with the scorecards. The WHOLE score card is on the blog people can read it in it's ENTIRETY, no snippets.

jonathon said -"Joe voted only 3 out of 11 times to support taxpayers" by whose standards Cheri? Yours?

No that would be Unshackle Upstate's standards. I didn't make the score cards, they did. The 3 out of 11 times is on THEIR score card.

I'm supposed to be thankful that Joe Morelle voted for extender bills instead of working on the budget as a whole. I'm disgusted that the budget was so late (over 4 mos) and done in a piece-meal fashion.

I'm also disgusted that they received full pay and cost taxpayer's hundreds of thousands of dollars for hotel and meal expenses. They were allowed $171 a day which cost taxpayer's $100,000 A DAY extra.

The taxpayer's of NY are paying for the dysfunction in Albany.

In my opinion when a politician has been in 20 years (I believe in term limits) and his campaign fund reads insurance company donation after insurance company donation and he is the Chair of the Insurance Committee.

It's time to say bye-bye!

cheri said...

Sorry I repeated some things you said Jax in my post. I was working on a response and didn't see your response until I posted mine.

2 out of 20 years what a track record and not a snippet. Ha

Jax said-
Oooh...by the way...your "hate-on for Cheri Evershed" slip is showing. Again.

Hilarious!

Foils_for_irondequoit said...

No need to apologize. I repeat things that others have said too. What's the big deal? I don't care.

At least our repetitions are from two separate noggins.

;)

Unknown said...

"I have always found Unshackle Upstate pro-Democrat and especially PRO-Morelle. In my opinion Brian Sampson has his OWN political agenda."

I agree, I think Sampson has his own agenda as well but I cannot find supporting documentation ANYWHERE that shows that Unshackle Upstate is Pro Democrat. Again, that is something YOU would say because (contrary to constant statements as such, you are NOT bi partisan) If anything, Unshackle is considered pro "business"/anti-union.

"I pick on him mostly because I feel he is part of the dysfunction in Albany - and because it gets under your thin skins when anything negative is said about Morelle. lol It amuses me. To no end. Honestly."

You guys make a lot of assumptions dont you? It doesnt get under my skin at all. Neither do you, I am much more in control of my emotions than you give me credit for. I like to point out that ALMOST always there is more info than what you share here on this blog. You could be speaking of Alesi, Reilich, MJD, whatever the flavor of the month is, I am just showing another side and other info.

There is a lot of dysfunction in Albany, I couldnt agree more. But again, to me it isnt a republican thing or a democrat thing...I try and get all the info I can about the candidates, to see who best supports what I believe in before casting a vote. Unlike you I am not anti incumbant, I am for the best person for the job. Tell me about your candidate/s.
I too, am for term limits in its idealism but then show me candidates who will run that arent independently wealthy, that can take 2-4 years out of their career to fight for us and that shares the same values I have that can relate to real world experiences.

jax said "When taxpayers in NYS have a property tax that is 79% higher than the national average....who should I hold accountable? The Assembly who doesn't even want to bring "property tax cap" to the floor for a discussion?"

Actually I would familiarize myself with which candidates support or dont support tax caps, I wouldnt blame the WHOLE assembly because MANY of the assembly do believe in property tax caps.
I would also look to the state to see why they keep making UNFUNDED mandates (and the federal govt too for that matter ~NO child left behind)I would also look to school boards to be held more accountable. If you familiarize yourself with your taxes (even those in Greece i bet) you will see that your TOWN taxes are probably the lowest portion of your budget. The highest would be what? You fill in the blank.

I only comment periodically to show others (if others read this) that there may be another side. Other people besides the 2 of you have thoughts. I am not pushing my opinion on anyone, nor am I hating someone who disagrees. Thats an Evershed thing...I am just showing there is more going on that what you CHOOSE to provide.

Foils_for_irondequoit said...

Read this.

No offense....but this IS my blog.

For over a year I didn't allow comments. It was just my opinion on here.

There are plenty of "other side" blogs.

I am doin' my own thang here.

Don't like it? Oh well.

This isn't "60 minutes" or "Face The Nation".

It's a flippin' blog. MY blog.

Foils_for_irondequoit said...

I hate to resuscitate the dead horse....but.....I have been trying to access the Calendar on the Town Website for days now....to no avail.

I keep getting this.

The calendar has been working fine for months - and since the big server issue (which some people don't believe is the problem, they think it's all MJD) I haven't been able to get the calendar.

This - can't be MJD's "not giving information to the town" because it never depended upon the Supervisor for sole input to update the community. It was just meeting schedules - P&R - stuff like that.

Ran fine before - now it isn't - right after the "server issues"...which leads me to believe that the server is what the problem is right now.

As far as having stuff on the website about the skate rink - yes, MJD should give a memo to the department to put on the website giving her explanation.

The ball fields? That was the last administration, and they had nothing on there about them.

I'm assuming that they won't be built because:

A - there was no money appropriated by bond or grant to pay for them.

B - the town is broke.

C - the town is broke.

D - the town is broke.

E - all of the above.

A blurb on the memo about about the ball fields and whether they will be built or not would be nice, but not necessary because it wasn't really her idea, and it wasn't cast in stone that the ball fields would be built. There were plans, but as far as I can remember, no clear discussion on how the town would "be able to get one built at no cost to residents? No increase in staff and it will be run 7 days a week from 10am to 10pm and utilize one of the revenue generating" buildings on town campus "for free to residents for hot" dogs "and warming up? With no additional costs to liability insurance, etc. I look forward to it, at no cost to residents."

Those questions were never answered about the ball fields by the past administration.

Some sort of link to update the community on the future master plan "meetings" and what's been going on would be nice too.

I assume that when all the server issues are worked out - that stuff will be on there from the Supervisor about these concerns.

cheri said...

Sorry Jonathon, you are hating on me most of the time you blog. It's very noticeable you can try to say that's me but it's ALL you!

I am bi-partisan and I LOVE that our Town Board now seems to be working so much better together. The combination of having 2 parties in my opinion is great.

I've thought forever that 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans and 1 Independent would make a terrific board. I know it's 3 Repubs and 2 Democrats but I do feel that even though MJD is a Republican she has been VERY bi-partisan. I didn't see bi-partisan behavior when Heyman, Bello and Evans were in.

This is Jax's blog and as far as blogs go if you look around this blog gives a lot more information that you can click the document/article/link than most other blogs. Since you are always so critical of this blog why don't you start your own blog and you can talk in snippets as much as you would like. :)

Words in my mouth again saying I'm anti-incumbent. Never said that and I'm not. I am anti 20 year career politician's who have line after line of campaign donations of tons of special interest groups though.

You say for you it isn't a Republican thing or a Democrat thing, thank you for the laugh. RUSERIOUS!? Ha ha ha. Cough-Cough!

Foils_for_irondequoit said...

I think I'm anti-incumbent, even though I haven't stated it on here previously.

I'm sick of the talk, the promises, the years of waiting for reform. People in Albany aren't getting it done. People in Albany who have decades of dysfunction. I'm done waiting.

I really would rather see a legislator ball up and say "Term Limits!"

Or maybe offer a decent campaign finance reform bill.

Or fair redistricting.

Or maybe some mandate reform.

Member items - rather see that go away or at least back to the taxpayer so they can decide where their money is donated to - but laying out some ground rules on how it can be used would be nice, and I believe that is in the process of being done right now.

Definitely some better negotiations with public contracts, and some reform on the laws as well. Fair reforms. Nothing outrageous, just some tweaking so it's fair to everyone.

Property tax relief. Waiting......

Tick tock!

Time ran out. The buzzer has sounded and the game is over.

Can't wait for November. I'm looking forward to using the new voting method with the scanner thingamajig.

Foils_for_irondequoit said...

Speaking of anti incumbent....

Smugtown Beacon's new commercial.

cheri said...

Oh Snippets For Irondequoit. Did you get permission to change the name of YOUR blog?

Term Limits - Would love that.

Property Tax Relief? What's that? Ha.

Foils_for_irondequoit said...

I thought I would change the title to more accurately represent what the blog is about.

Snippits.

Hey - it is a blog with what I choose to put on here.

Always has been, always will be.