Tim Whalen: One of two Democrats to support the incompetent Barbara Miller-Williams

In his first official act as Brian Higgins' and Jim Keane's yes-man, newly elected County Legislator Tim Keane-Whalen voted with the Republicans to reelect Barbara Miller-Williams as Chairwoman of the useless Erie County Legislature...

In the end, Miller-Williams needed only two Democratic votes to win re-election as chairwoman. She got three — her own and those of Christina W. Bove of West Seneca and Timothy J. Whalen of Buffalo.

If you remember, Miller-Williams was the woman who embarrassed herself and the entire body a few weeks ago with her tirade against a member of the Oshei Foundation. That group had the nerve to try and help out the County arts' groups with private funding. Apparently, people like Miller-Williams and Whalen don't like private spending. Why would Whalen, when the public sector has been so good to the Keanes for the last 40 years?

Len Lenihan: If you're out there, hear my message. People in South Buffalo are sick of Brian Higgins and the Keanes living off the public dime for generations. They are looking for change. Tim Whalen can be beat by a true Democrat. The word can get around pretty quick that he is simply doing Jim Keane's bidding. Most of the neighbors are onto the fact that he lives in Florida, yet stays involved in Erie County politics to get his family members more public sector jobs (*see the recent appointment of Richard Keane, Jr. as an $80,000/year "spokesman" for the New York State Thruway Authority. Richard is the nephew of Jim Keane.)


Miller-Williams re-elected as Legislature Chairwoman - Erie County - The Buffalo News

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Where'd they find this lady?

Philanthropist Robert Gioia tried to lesson the burden on taxpayers in an effort to privately fund the cultural organizations of Erie County. Barbara Miller-Williams made a fool out of herself by turning down the money and trying to label Gioia as the bad guy. Miller-Williams is the Buffalo police officer who doubles as a $43,000/year part time County Legislator. She even has the audacity to work overtime as a police officer, thus emphasizing the irrelevancy of her position as lawmaker (as well as the other 13 members of the do-nothing Legislature).

Gioia is now bypassing the entire Legislature with his plan. Who can blame him? They are an irrelevant body. They need to be eliminated, as they are an unnecessary layer of government. South Buffalo representative and MENSA member Tim Keane-Whalen didn't say anything during the hearing, but did play with his tie a few times...

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Vacancy in the Erie County Legislature

This from Bob McCarthy's column in todays Buffalo News, regarding what political opportunist will be appointed to Tim "Little Antoine" Kennedy's vacant seat on the Erie County Legislature...

• With South Buffalo’s Tim Kennedy moving on to a seat in the State Senate, maneuvering is already under way to fill his vacancy in the County Legislature. Most speculation is centering around Tim Whalen, who is backed by Rep. Brian Higgins—and that is significant.

Also in the mix is School Board Member Lou Petrucci, another familiar name in city politics. Other names being mentioned include Brian Bollman, who works in the office of Council Member Rich Fontana; and Mark Rutecki, an employee of the Medical Examiner’s Office.

The thing to watch in this appointment is in which camp the new legislator lands. While Kennedy was part of a coalition friendly to Republican County Executive Chris Collins, a new legislator might not follow that route and chip away at the Legislature’s current majority.

The situation is expected to be addressed during a meeting of district committee members in early December.

Whalen will mark the third intellectually challenged candidate Higgins has endorsed in a row. (Jeff Conrad and Tim Kennedy were the other two.) Higgins obviously likes to choose people he can control, over those that actually possess leadership ability or intelligence. This way, they will never be a real threat to him.

The South Buffalo rooster tells me there is another candidate in the mix that has the backing of South District Councilman Mickey Kearns, as well as substantial support in Lackawanna. This unnamed candidate plans on running against whomever the Democratic Committee members are told to support. I'll have a name shortly.

It's been my longstanding belief that the entire Erie County Legislature is an irrelevant body. For decades, the all volunteer Board of Managers served the exact same function. They consisted of elected city and town leaders that met with one goal in mind:to approve the County budget. Today, we pay each legislator $43,000 for the part time job of doing the exact same thing! They do nothing else. For proof of this, see Barbara Miller-Williams. In addition to being a County Legislator, she was also a full time Buffalo police officer. She had the audacity to work overtime to pad her police pension upon retirement. How could she work a full time job, plus overtime, and have time to perform any duties as a legislator? Easy. As an Erie County Legislator, one has no duties! We formed an entire new layer of government, costing the taxpayers more money.

I've heard regionalism advocate Kevin Gaughan talk about the old Board of Managers, as well as many other people. It would be interesting to see a protest candidate run (say a South Buffalo blogger) and pledge to do everything possible to call for the elimination of the entire body. What an opportunity to educate the public on where their taxes are really going. You have the salary of the legislators, their full time assistants, and the cost of operating and heating their district offices. Trust me. We can survive without the likes of Tim Whalen or Lou Petrucci taking up space and pretending to be leaders. The candidate's signs could read: Vote for me and help me eliminate my useless seat.

Buffalo native makes waves - Bob McCarthy - The Buffalo News

If these people want to go WWF, let's go WWF...

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Webster's new phrase for 2010-pension padding

Honest Andrew Cuomo is starting an investigation into "pension padding". If this continues, Buffalo police officers might be forced to do something unthinkable, like move from Orchard Park into Buffalo. Cuomo called pension padding a "scam" on the taxpayers that needs to stop. Who suddenly woke him up?

It should be noted that this scam is not just a police scam, or a Buffalo scam. It's a scam done by doctors and politicians as well as Erie County Sherrifs and mechanics. It takes place all over New York State, not just in Buffalo. A Buffalo News investigation documented this in 2009:

A Buffalo News investigation conducted in 2008 and 2009 — “Public Pensions: Cashing In” — found, for example, that it’s not unusual for Buffalo police and firefighters to retire with pensions that exceed their base pay.
One officer, The News found, racked up $123,000 in overtime in his final year on the job, bringing his paycheck in 2007 to $188,747. The officer retired with a $105,361 pension on a job with an annual base pay of $58,243.
More recently, it was disclosed that Barbara Miller-Williams, chairwoman of the Erie County Legislature, is getting ready to retire from her job as a Buffalo police officer.
In preparation, Miller-Williams worked more than $51,000 in overtime, boosting her total annual pay to nearly $128,000 — double her base salary.

This scam is an obvious ripoff of the taxpayers. The question is how will honest Andrew's newfound tough stand play with the locals? Will the local workers that benefit from this scam suddenly shift their loyalties to Carl Paladino? Probably not, since they usually dutifully do whatever they're told to by Brian Higgins. It's one thing to talk tough when they're out at the bars. Here's a chance to put their tough sounding words into action. When Higgins tells them it's in their best interest to support honest Andrew, they will all drop what they're doing and fawn all over him like 12 year old schoolgirls. We'll be watching with interest. Will these tough talking government workers support an independent thinker over an entrenched democrat? Unfortunately, I think we already know the answer to this question. It lies in their genes.
Cuomo probes pension padding : City & Region : The Buffalo News

Miller-Williams: 'Gaming the System' while you and I struggle to pay our bills

How could anyone read this article in today's paper and not get angry? I've been calling for the County Legislature to be eliminated for several years now. It is a completely useless body which does absolutely nothing that the old VOLUNTEER Board of Managers didn't do. Some points from the article that should make people stand up and demand their government back (but probably won't)...

Barbara Miller-Williams is a Buffalo Police officer as well as the Majority Leader of the County Legislature. Last year, she racked up $51,000.00 in police overtime. This is not a misprint. It's hard to be sympathetic towards Buffalo police officers when most live in the suburbs, allow this blatant rip off of the taxpayers to go on, and then pull you over and harass you about your inspection sticker(because they are angry about their contracts.) Seriously, look around at the residents that pay your salaries and be very thankful for what you have.

"She's gaming the system, which is done by police officers all over the state, and it's costing the taxpayers a lot of money," said Lise Bang-Jensen, senior policy analyst with the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a research and advocacy organization based in Albany.
"This is why the public is upset by the high cost of government," she said.

Miller-Williams admits to working 15-20 hours a week as a County Legislator. Sadly, she and the rest of her colleagues in this do-nothing group probably work less than that. For this part time, unnecessary position, each makes $43,000.00/year. This is not a misprint, either.

Brian Higgins handpicked the borderline disabled Tim Kennedy as our representative, not long after he handpicked the intellectually challenged Jeff Conrad to become city Councilman . Kennedy supported Byron Brown over South Buffalo native Mickey Kearns because uncle Brian told him to do so. Kennedy also was part of a coalition of Republicans that pushed for Barbara Miller-Williams to be the Majority Leader. So when Kennedy asks you for your vote this summer for State Assemblyman, please ask him why he supported Barbara Miller-Williams for the Majority Leader position. He did so because he cares more about Bri-Bri than he does about you and I.

Lynn Marinelli claims to work 40-60 hours a week as a County Legislature. Marinelli is a liar. She is a snake oil saleswomen who hasn't worked 40-60 hours/week in her entire life. Lynn, you're not fooling anybody. Go back into your cave. Please wake up and stop reelecting the same crooks.
Legislature chairwoman's police OT is a pension lode : City & Region : The Buffalo News