I guess in some cases, you can judge people by the friends they keep. A source tells me that New York State Assemblyman Mickey Kearns is involved in a boxing promotion with former boxer James Ralston. Ralston is the Buffalo man with 21 prior felony convictions. He was convicted of scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars out of elderly victims through unneeded home improvement repair scams.
His son, Les Ralston, was recently arrested, accused of stealing $18,000 from an 85 year old Amherst resident by charging her money for repairs she did not need. I guess the leaf does not fall far from the tree.
I'm not sure if any state money is involved in Kearns' latest venture and I don't want to jump to any conclusions. However, if so, this needs to be investigated and scrutinized very closely. I don't run any youth groups anymore. However, I wonder how the people at Cazenovia Hockey or South Buffalo Football would feel, if they knew a 21 time convicted felon were receiving public help from Kearns? These are law abiding parents, lucky enough to get a return phone call from a politician like Kearns. If any New York state funds are involved, I'd publicly have to question Kearns' motives.
I don't usually encourage people to watch news clips. However, I do encourage you to look at this channel 2 clip and ask yourself, Is this the type of person we want our elected officials doing business with?
*Update: I spoke to Assemblyman Kearns by phone. He assured me that no public money was given to Ralston. He said he was unaware of the extent of Ralston's past scams targeting the elderly, despite the fact they've been well documented on every news station in WNY over the last 20 years. (???)
No comments:
Post a Comment