Today's Poll: Who do you plan to vote for in the City Council election?

Interesting that over 40% chose not to vote at all, but I'm sure if the councilperson elected does things they dont approve of, they will be the loudest complainers. Those that are in the city and not voting that is LOL.

Kyle,
Many of those 46% may not live in the city and can't vote for city council (as per instructions)

Well we will see Gary, if less than 50% vote next week then I guess that will be the proof of the pudding that lurks under the the crust :)

Just heard that Donald (bad hair day) Trump is to record robo-calls in support of Twitt Wobbley. Wonder if any of Twit’s other (umm) celebrity fans will do likewise: Lyndsay Lohan (assuming she's sober enough to locate the recording studio- let's hope she walks there), Chuck Norris (who has been living on Pluto since 2004), Jeff Foxworthy (who knows a joke when he sees one), Gene Simmons (another only recognizable as his alter-ego), Johnny van Zandt (who accessorizes his Mitsubishi with crack and Busch Beer cans), John Elway (who is looking for stock market tips and a new girlfriend), Scott Biao (who is looking for anything)…

You forgot about Dave Mustaine (Megadeth lead singer) who accused President Obama of staging the Aurora massacre as part of a plot to pass a gun ban. And C.M., I think Lindsay flip-flopped last week and is now rooting for Obama. Plenty of time to flip flop again before the election though. I'm sure Mitt will have a few more before then too.

Mr Hawley needs to be more informed about code enforcement in the city.

His comments in the daily news Q and A shows that he needs to do some homework........

CMBarrons must be watchin TMZ again.

None of them came knocking on my door...Don't know any of them..

Where do you live Mark? We're going to be out again this Saturday, we'll stop by!

Phil,I'll be looking for you two Saturday..I know many people i talk to have no idea that they will be voting for a at large council person...Good luck to your wife...It could be that because Hawley and Russel were just appointed...They have made no real impact on council so far..About all they did was vote for a raise for council...

Mark,
Russell and Hawley took office in January. In July this year, our Bond rating finally went back up after years of being down. They get some credit for that.

Quant as your political humor is, really has nothing to do with a poll on three fine LOCAL candidates, for two LOCAL positions.

I know 3 good upstanding citizens that moved here in July. Hell I made my wife an honest woman in July as well. Maybe we should get credit for the bond rating going back up too John. I dont see the connect what exactly did they have to do with that event? The city clerk collected more fees in July too so does that mean they get credit too?

Besides wasnt Russell on Coucil back when the bond rating tanked too?

Kyle,
My point was that Mark is against them because they voted for a pay raise, that does not even take effect until next year. And it was the first pay raise in more than 20 years. So I thought he might give them a little credit for the same budget vote that had the raise (for next year) that helped up the bond rating.

This is a tough election year for the three Council candidates. There are no really big City issues that most people are focused on and it comes when everyone is paying attention to the presidential and congressional races.

John why would i give them credit for voting to raise the city tax rate.That is the easy way out...Come up with a plan to stop the tax rate from increasing and still raise the bond rating ....Where are the new ideas for this city....They had nothing to do with the city's bond rating..Kyle makes a good point about Russell

John then your point fell flat, If your household budget is very tight, do you hire a housekeeper, then take more money out for a vacation and dinners out? At the expense of taking away extra monies from the rest of the household. That makes no sense to me.

No big city issues? Hmm I think hiring new people, cutting low level jobs, voting raises for management, still funding a GCEDC that brags of having gobs of cashflow. While other areas of funding face major cuts and belt tightening. There are plenty of issues, unless you dont want to see them of course.

Mark,
I understand your point, but with NYS mandating an increase in our pension payments, and they are going to do it again next year, there is very little that can be done. You know that except for the police and fire departments, the city has cut personnel. And the debt payments on City Hall and Dwyer were not voted on by either Russell or Hawley.

You also know that the only real way to cut our budget is to do away with the police department and go to paid/volunteer fire department. Neither at this time has much public support. I can think of only a few people who have publicly supported either idea. Interesting note is that when Laura Ricci's husband, Phil Ricci, ran for council, he said he did favor something like that for the police and it got no traction.

Kyle,
The city does not fund GCEDC. It is not laying off anyone (high or low paying) or hiring anyone except police officers. You might be thinking of the County budget. But, if you have a big City issue, what is it?

John why have a city council if we are just on auto pilot in the form of tax increases because the city has to fund pensions......Neither Hawley or Russell has offered any new ideas...I say lets let someone else up to the plate such as Ms.Ricci and see what she can add.. When will the tax rate of this city be too much for the average homeowner to bare.....Someone needs a find a way to finance the city budget outside of raising property taxes...The budget isn't all about mandates...Trash pick up for one isn't...Giving city services to all non profits isn't mandated by the state.....Does the town of Batavia not adhere to these same mandates ,and yet have a zero tax rate.....

Mark,
Again, you know that almost 50% of our budget is for public safety (police and fire). And we both know that right now, there is very little public support to change either one. And right now, one of the biggest budget problems is the state mandating higher pension payments. None of the three candidates has said get rid of the city police or change the fire department.

I agree with you on non profits and garbage. They pay for water and sewer, why not trash. But every time it comes up, the non profit group supports go to council. The others stay home and complain.