Anyone over the age of 40 in WNY will remember the name of Judge John Curtin. Chances are, they or someone they know were adversely affected by his ridiculous pie in the sky views on desegregating the Buffalo Public Schools in the 70s and 80s. There are liberals and there are conservatives and then there are outright kooks. Ask anyone who was bused from their neighborhood school across the city to an unfamiliar environment against their will in the 1980s. They will tell you Judge Curtin fell into the latter category. 

Curtin's asinine busing decisions caused families to flee the city to the suburbs in droves from the late 70s on. The end result? Kindergartners forced to get up at 6AM to be shipped off to other parts of the city. Not to return home until after 4:30 or later. Their families were greatly inconvenienced and the whole idea of neighborhood schools was destroyed. And, oh by the way, the white flight to the suburbs caused the schools to be become even more segregated than ever before! Failed social experiment. Despite overwhelming evidence that busing schoolchildren half way across the city was ludicrous, Judge Curtin continued on with his Utopian pipe dream. Of course, he himself lived in the whitest/wealthiest part of the city the rest of his life. Apparently, integration was important to him as long as he didn't have to live in a diverse neighborhood.

Pretty much anyone in WNY with any common sense will remember Judge Curtin as the one man who single-handily destroyed public education in the city of Buffalo. Apparently, everyone except Assembly candidate Pat Burke. Here's how he remembered Curtin on his Facebook page last year after his death...

Seriously. Before you vote on April 24th, please remember that Patrick Burke is reading this article right now and has no idea that 90% of his potential constituency did not see Judge Curtin as  "a truly great man." Would Burke tell friends of mine who were randomly forced out of their neighborhood schools because of the color of their skin, how great Judge Curtin was? I think he'd be surprised by their responses.

Erik Bohen is campaigning against corporate welfare and government handouts. He is willing to stand up to governor Cuomo and has the common sense necessary to lead our area. He is a Democrat who has chosen to challenge Burke on the Republican line. Because it is a Special Election, there could be no Democratic Primary for Bohen to challenge Burke. Regardless of your party affiliation, I'd ask you to talk to anyone regarding Erik Bohen's community involvement as well as his leadership/organizational skills. If you lean to the extreme far Left and think Judge Curtin's busing experiment was awesome, Burke is your man. If you have common sense and view things with an open mind and consider yourself moderate or conservative (99% of you), Erik Bohen is the clear choice on April 24th. 

Bohen Gaining Momentum in Race for Assembly

If lawn signs are any indication, candidate Erik Bohen has gained great momentum in the race to succeed former Assemblyman Michael Kearns, whose tenure in Albany can only be described as underwhelming.

Despite the old adage that "signs don't vote", there is no doubt that the number of Bohen supporters in high voter areas is greater than expected. Bohen's support comes from his years of community involvement and his reputation as a hard worker and intelligent leader. I'm told his events have been packed with supporters from both political parties. With this type of bipartisan support, I believe he has a great chance in the April special election.

In a shameless attempt to grab headlines, his opponent, Pat Burke is pretending to take on the Erie County Water Authority. As is usually the case with politicians, it's not what it appears to be. The Water Authority is being run by criminals from both political parties. These lowlifes were all given their jobs with the blessings of their respective party chairmen. Many are big donors. Pat Burke is trying to portray himself as a champion for all taxpayers, yet he is only willing to go after the Republican crooks. He completely ignores the crooks from his own party. If Burke were sincere, he'd vote against the handpicked candidate of the Democratic Party Chairman and speak out publicly against the practice of party chairmen essentially appointing one of their friends to the position of Erie County Water Authority Executive Director. I  guarantee he will not vote against the political crony they hand pick, because that crony is from his party. A true reformer would not support this type of corruption and would be calling for hearings to change the selection process.

If you  have not met candidate Erik Bohen, I encourage you to look at his background and record of community service. He is a Democrat who was snubbed by the local Democrats in exchange for Burke, who County Executive Poloncarz and Democratic Chairman Jeremy Zellner know will do their bidding. Because there are no primaries in Special Elections, Bohen chose to accept the Republican and Conservative support. His family's deep history with Labor Unions give him instant support from both sides of the aisle. It is this community involvement and bipartisan support that has many people Goin' with Bohen.

*(Update: Career political donor Mark Carney was appointed as the new commissioner of the Erie County Water Authority. As I predicted in the article, Pat Burke voted to appoint Carney, despite his obvious political ties and lack of qualifications. The lone dissenting vote came from Amherst Democrat Thomas Loughran who called the proceedings a "joke." If you vote for Burke on April 24th, expect this same type of rubber stamping cowardice every time it supports Andrew Cuomo's agenda. He will undoubtedly act as a shill for Cuomo.)

http://buffalonews.com/2018/03/15/carney-appointed-to-water-authority-lone-dissenter-calls-vote-a-joke/


http://buffalonews.com/2018/03/14/water-authority-candidate-withdraws-citing-highly-political-setup/