Coppola says incumbent's budget rants are 'empty rhetoric'

Howard, now this is a spin masterpiece!

There is something about this guy, I just like. Although, I can't put my finger on it yet.

Mr. (Senator) Cappola, Senator Ranzenhofer is working for the people that voted for him by rejected the spew coming from the assembly.

Charlie, be careful about liking this guy. He’s from the same political excrement that crashed Buffalo. I doubt he even cares about us. We’re only 20% of the voting block and most are republicans.

I’d like to ask him, besides driving down the Thruway or going to Darien Lake, name the last 3 times you’ve been to Genesee County and what did you do?

Mr. Coppola announced his candidacy at City hall, he attended and marched in the Oatka parade in LeRoy and ended up spending the whole day at there talking to people, he has sat down several times at various places in Batavia with members of the public and answered their questions, he'll be having a candidate meet and greet again in LeRoy either this week or next; you're invited to attend Mr. Janofsky, I'll be sure to get the info to you.

When he chose to run, he asked for every single news article of importance to Genesee County over the last couple years. He's been doing his homework for months and he calls every week to ask if he needs to do some more.

Marc Coppola isn't going to pretend to know everything about Genesee County, but he IS going to talk to the folks out here to gain a better understanding of what we want and need from our State Senator.

Do you think Mike Ranzenhofer ever set foot in Bergen before he wanted to be a State Senator? How many times has he been to Elba since he started representing the 61st? What do you think of the mid-day 'office hours' he has that no one can leave work to attend?

Mark, this Coppola sounds like a guy who's angry and comes to work with a ball bat. I like that. So far, what I don't like his stand on cross party candidates but, I give him an A for attitude. As for what he said in this release, we all know the Democrat leadership is holding the bag for the budget and this is clearly spin but, it's well done.

Mark Janofsky, that is a fair question and one that I asked the evening Marc spoke to the County Democrat Committee and asked for our support.
Giving him a nod wasn't cut and dry.
When he spoke, he didn't mention Genesee Co. It sent up a red flag.
What does this guy know about us?
His answer was refreshingly honest. He didn't know much.
How do you expect to represent us with little knowledge of the county.
You know how you sometimes can tell if an answer is sincere or if you are just getting brushed off? This time, I sensed that he was sincere in his response. He would learn as much as possible about our area and the concerns of those who live here.
He still didn't have me convinced until he explained his belief on how a state budget could be brought in on time without all the foolish dancing we are seeing now.
When asked for a vote to endorse him, I think my hand was the first one up.
Take the opportunity to meet him, Mark. I'm hoping you walk away with a sense that he is the real deal.

And even when Senator Ranzenhofer says he's coming out to Genesee County there's no guarantee that he'll show up.

There was a scheduled "constituent office hours" that Sen Ranzenhofer blocked off at the LeRoy Town Hall on Thursday July 22nd that he simply didn't show up for. I might be mistaken, but I don't believe there was even so much as a courtesy call to let staff know that he wasn't coming. Lunch hours were skipped to accommodate him.

I was recently reading a biography on Anne Austin. Even though her struggles, beliefs and intellect have nothing to do with this discussion, one of her many good quotes is very fitting for this conversation. She once said, “Confusion is an often too subtle sign of paranoia.” And it seems to me, that there is a lot of confusion here.

To say that Mr. Razenhofer is not, was not, or will never be familiar with Genesee County goes without factual merit and is an outright lie.

For starters, it is common knowledge that he is a partner of ‘Friedman & Ranzenhofer, P.C.’ His firm has had an office located in the heart of Batavia for years.

Anyone who has ever been fortunate enough to have the friendship of any small town lawyer can appreciate the magnitude of understanding such a person possesses towards their community. By providing residents of Genesee County with legal services, any lawyer who has practiced law in this area quickly develops a complete understanding of Genesee County, its residents, and its way of living. If a true and compassionate comprehension isn’t attained, the firm will not be successful to say the least.

Years before he was elected to stand for the citizens of the 61st District of New York, Michael Razenhofer represented the men and women of Genesee County out of his firm’s Batavia office. Like most practicing attorneys in our area, he specialized in small personal matters. i.e.; Assisting families during difficult times with Estates after their loved one has passed away. Helping young families start a home, and more importantly a family, by providing services to purchase real estate. Representing emotionally stressed individuals during nerve-racking experiences such as a divorce.

Now it baffles me to think that Razenhofer, or any person who has seen and dealt with those emotional actions, wouldn’t have a true and comprehensive understanding of Genesee County. Almost on a Dickensian type level, these individuals grasp the moral currency that runs through this county. By practicing law here for all of those years, he must have gained an in-depth personal understanding of all Genesee County’s citizens. Not just what is important to them, but more or less the problems they incur on a daily basis. This has been shown consistently over the past two.

Additionally, Ranzenhofer’s firm provides legal services that deal with business related matters. Likewise to the personal matters, such representation provides an understanding of locally operated businesses. I’m not familiar with the interworking of this specific firm, but I do know that they help local business owners with the resources required for them to start, maintain and grow their company. i.e.; contracts, agreements, LLC’s, ect.

It’s really evident that Mr. Coppola shares this compassion towards the small towns and villages of Genesee County. Oh wait, the University of Buffalo isn’t located in Genesee County. No, the closest portion of its campus is thirty miles away from Batavia. This is not to say that Mr. Razenhofer is against UB 20/20 legislation for that I am not aware. But it’s just interesting to note that his punch on Razenhofer was directed more towards the constituents of Erie County. I’m sure there are individuals from Genesee County who are employed by the University of Buffalo, but I’m also sure that the residents from this county appreciate and are thankful for Senator Razenhofer’s successful efforts to defeat the farm death bill. Well, at least I hope they are grateful for it’s a huge component of GENESEE county even though it may not be a huge issue for the entire district.

Personally, I could care less that the university is the biggest employer of the 61st District. And I don’t intend to come across as apathetic or lacking concern. The fact of the matter is that UB 20/20 would allow the school to raise tuition over 30% for undergraduate students. Graduates students would find that generous though, because they could expect a 60% increase in their tuition under the proposed legislation. As a father of two and as a lawyer who has represented many college students in WNY, I could expect Razenhofer to see a problem with this. But anyways, this is getting off of my main point so I won’t digress any further by talking about the proposed privatization and tax immunity that were also wished-for in UB 20/20.

As far as Chris’ comments pertaining to how many times Razenhofer had been in Elba or Bergen….well I think I’ve answered that. I find it close to impossible to imagine that he didn’t deal with residents from those towns for many many years.

Regarding the “constituent office hours”, I am actually pretty surprised with everything going in Albany that any State Senator would personally be able to take a few hours off. It surely is a comforting feeling to speak directly to a local government official on a personal level, but I think that their time and energy can be spent more resourcefully in efforts to represent the citizens of this district. I’ve been to a few of these over the years for a variety of elected officials, and when it comes to a state or federal level there is usually a staff member there and not the actual official. Was Senator Razenhofer scheduled to be there on the 22nd or was it going to be a senatorial aide?

Speaking of the July 22nd meeting, I have been in town for a few weeks now and I did not hear one thing about it. Now I feel for the lost lunch hours, because I love a cheeseburger from the LB or a slice of pizza from Pontillos just as much as the next guy. Did any constituents show up for the event or is the main area of concern the lost lunch? If anyone showed up, I could feel for their disappointment but in the same breathe understand the packed schedule of a state senator. However, I would be surprised if anyone showed up because I don’t know how they would’ve heard about it. If no one showed up, then I don’t think it’s an issue. I wonder how many lunch hours Mr. Razenhofer has skipped to accommodate the citizens of the 61st District, but more importantly Genesee County. Anyways, with the lack of dissemination of information regarding this event I think its safe to assume that it wasn’t a lack of concern by Senator Razenhofer but merely lack of communication and foresight to set an outreach up with everybody being on the same page.

Even though I wasn’t aware that anything was planned in LeRoy (nor did anyone I asked around town) I did hear that there was a pleasing meeting in Batavia last week. A few of the people that I know were present for that one and liked it.

Lastly, I encourage anybody who wants to be informed about state government or wants to report a problem, to contact his office. I know first hand that this works! In the Spring of 2009, I faced a problem regarding a particular scholarship funding being erased from the state budget. Hesitantly, I called his office and explained my predicament. I was just a college student at the time, and I didn’t think they would have time to deal with my problem. Not only did they assist me, but there was a sense of eagerness to help. In the ensuing weeks, I corresponded with a few of his staff members and assisted them in providing specific paperwork and letters that were requested by the Senator to remedy the problem. In a joint effort, Senator Razenhofer and his staff helped resolved this personal crisis. I wholeheartedly suggest anybody who showed up for that event on the 22nd, if they mysteriously found out about it, to call or email his office.

I am personally grateful for the attention that Senator Michael Razenhofer has devoted to me, Genesee County, and the entire 61st District.

Thanks for that Tyler. Real good insight.

Thanks Charlie. I hope you weren't being sarcastic.

All I was trying to say was that I think we are all pretty blessed to have hard working representatives. Republican and Democrat. Federal, State and Local. All across the board, we mostly do have fine officials who look out for us. Yes, Albany's screwed up. Yes, Washington's screwed up. But, here in our backyards, I do kind individuals who do work hard and they wouldn't levitate to their positions without their understanding and compassion towards this community. Do we sometimes disagree with their decisions? Of course. But that doesn't have to mean that they are cold heartless people who are out of touch with us 'small' people. And frankly, no matter what political side is getting attack, one of the first and easiest methods that is used is usually suggesting any insincerity, a lack of understanding of the represented citizens, ect. ect.

I originally saw the comments a couple of days ago, but as the weekend went on I felt more and more like I had a responsibility to defend a man who has helped me. A man that I know personally cares for his constituents.

My late godfather was a democratic mayor in Genesee County, and I remember how much he loved his town and I also remember how it hurt him when people questioned it. With that said, I just want Mr. Razenhofer to know that his continuous efforts to help us haven't goon unnoticed.

Hope that I didn't come across as too offensive. My intentions were out of complete defense for Sen. Razenhofer.

Tyler, I do see on his website that he's coming to LeRoy for a free car seat safety check. :)

For truthiness -- his office most certainly did block off constituent time at the LeRoy Town Hall. Did you call the Town Hall? I happened to be there doing an art camp on the 22nd, saw the conference room being prepared and I asked what was going on. I would have stayed for the office hours but I had to go to another job. I naturally asked how it went the next day and was told that he never showed up and that no one called to cancel.

To clarify and for fairness -- this could have been a schedule miscommunication with the staffer, Legislator Grasso, who set this up with the town. And for the benefit of the doubt, it also may have been an isolated incident. We are all human and things come up and schedules change, but you can't change the facts. The town did get the request, the town prepared the space, at least one lunch hour was changed to accommodate, and no one showed up or called from Sen. Ranzenhofer's office.

Tyler, my thanks was genuine, as were your words about someone who helped you. I do not have a favorite in this race yet and it’s good to hear some balance.

Tyler, I'd like to add my thanks as well to Charlie's. It's good to read opposing views, and always good to hear of a constituent receiving help from our representatives. I'm glad it worked out for you.