election

It's still quite at Dem HQ at the Elks Club on East Main Street in Batavia.  The first early numbers are being tallied, but nothing to report yet.  From here I'll head to the Falcon's Club and the GOP HQ.

The Batavian's election coverage will start some time around 8 p.m..  We'll spend time during the evening at both Republican and Democratic headquarters and plan to stop by 400 Towers and anyplace else we hear there's election-related activity.

We will post results as soon as they are available.

WBTA will be on the air with election coverage at 9 p.m.. The Batavian and WBTA1490.com will provide live online streams of WBTA's on-air coverage.

Below are the results of the election survey taken of readers of The Batavian over the past three days.

Please keep in mind: 

• This is somewhat experimental. We're curious how close we can get to accurately reflecting how the election will go. That question won't be answered until election night. But as a matter of transparency, we're releasing the results tonight (also, even while acknowledging the potential pitfalls of this survey, candidates are expressing an eagerness to know the results.
• This is a non-scientific survey. Participants are self selected, which statisticians will tell you can skew results.
• An online survey isn't beyond being gamed, or tricked, but I see no evidence of that taking place in this case.

All of that to say: You shouldn't let these results influence your voting decisions, from who to vote for or whether to show up at the polls. Treat this as a potentially interesting reflection of how readers of The Batavian are responding to the candidates, but not necessarily a prediction of what will happen on Election Day.

Two other notes. We are not randomly deleting responses as we previously said we would. We had to delete too many as it is because SOOO MANNNNY people didn't follow the instructions on the survey.

The most common reason we deleted surveys (and whole surveys were deleted, not just specific questions) was people voting in BOTH district elections for the County Legislature. The next most common reason, was saying you lived in the Town of Batavia or another town and then voting in Batavia races or on the charter question.

We have 165 completed surveys. We trashed at least 200 more for failure to follow the instructions and another 25 for stating not registered to vote and unlikely to vote (you see, those were trick questions). We also deleted five surveys with duplicate IP addresses.

We're also not displaying results for jurisdictions that had only one or two respondents.

Here's the results:

Very likely to vote: 149 (90%)

"The children" is a key part of the City Council campaign platform for Julie Wallace, but when it comes to her claims of serving the kids of Genesee County, there appears to be inconsistencies in her resume.

In our Oct. 15 candidates' forum in which The Batavian and WBTA interviewed Wallace, Wallace said, "I do a lot for the children. That's basically what I want to do. I want to do more for the children than anything."

She also claimed that evening that she is a volunteer for CASA, a claim repeated in her bio in the Daily News interview earlier this week.

"I do a lot of volunteering," Wallace said Oct. 15. "I volunteer for CASA."

After being tipped by a reader, The Batavian called Tara Pariso, executive director of CASA, and Pariso said Wallace has never volunteered for CASA.

CASA stands for "Court Appointed Special Advocates" and the job of volunteers is to help children in foster care.

Pariso said her predecessor, Sara Munger, had started the application process with Wallace, but Wallace never completed the interview process required for all volunteers. Pariso said Wallace was supposed to do one of the two required interviews last week, but missed her appointment. She also said volunteers require an extensive background check, checking for any criminal record, and Wallace has not yet had a background check.

Wallace today had a different story. She didn't explicitly repeat the claim to volunteer for CASA, but she did say that Munger interviewed her and cleared her for training to begin in November.

When asked if she had that in writing, she said she did not.

"I just touched base with Tara last week, since Sara had left," Wallace said. "Everything was all set to go with Sara."

Wallace was adament that she will start training in November. 

When we spoke to Pariso yesterday, she was equally adament that Wallace had done no volunteering of any kind for CASA and that she needed to be interviewed and pass a background check before she could start volunteering.

UPDATE Monday, Nov. 2, 9:42 a.m.: We just received this e-mail from Sara Munger:

As the former director for Genesee County CASA for Children I would like to   verify some misconceptions that have been shared with your readers.  I did in  fact interview a Julie Wallace near the end of my service as the Director for  CASA for Children.  At no time during the interview did I tell Ms. Wallace  that she was accepted as a volunteer for CASA, or that she would be going  through the training process as a volunteer.  When interviewing CASA  advocates it was my policy to review all of the materials after our  interview, check at least three references (by phone, or through mail) and  complete a thorough back round check on all potential candidates.  When I  interviewed Ms. Wallace I explained to her that after reviewing her  application and completing these appropriate steps, I would then contact her  to set up a time for training.  Shortly after our interview, I stepped down  from my position as the Director, and Mrs. Tara Pariso was hired as the new  CASA director.  At this time Ms. Wallace's application was handed over to  Mrs. Pariso, and the application process and background checks had not been  completed.  Ms. Wallace did contact me to follow up with the interview, and  it was explained to her that due to current circumstances, I was not able to  move forward with her application, but ensured her that I would hand over her  information to the new director.  At no time did I indicate to Ms. Wallace  that she was accepted as a CASA advocate, or indicate that she would be  training in November.

One of the things that I have stated time and again throughout this process is the lack of forward thinking I see here in Batavia. After months of walking the streets of our city and meeting the hundreds of neighbors that took time out of their day to speak with me, I, with the help of those who know more on these subjects, have created a look of possibilities at some very important issues.

1. We will create a committee made up of multi-community officials (City and County Officials/ Officers) to work through all the details of the transition. Their primary objective: Keep safety levels at their current levels while we transition.
2. We will honor the careers of our City Police and only eliminate positions through natural attrition to minimize impact on them. 
3. We will begin in year one to have a blended force with the county as we reduce our staffing levels to fill in any holes. Keeping our patrols where they are and ensuring response times are sound.
4. We will work with the county to decide what equipment and vehicles are needed and what can be sold. Taken full inventory and using the monies earned to pay for any costs associated. If none, a full return to tax payers.
5. By year two the county will fully take over operations as well as any officers that will be brought into the new force.
6. The local police station can either be utilized by the county as a metro dept if they wish or be returned to the city for other purposes.

We still have our election survey online (link below).

PLEASE READ: I have invalidated at least HALF of the surveys cast so far.  People are not following the instructions. If you say you're voting for one candidate for County Legislature in District 7 and then also select a candidate in District 8, I'm throwing out your survey.  That is by far the biggest reason for invalidating a survey.  I've also invalidated surveys for voting in every jurisdiction.

Also note that I've only included in the survey races that are competitive. For jurisdictions or districts that have candidates running unopposed, there are no survey questions.

var PDF_surveyID = '290AD911A70E920F'; var PDF_openText = 'View Survey';

We are experimenting with an online survey for the County's 2009 Election. The survey will be up until Friday evening. We will publish the results over the weekend. Please read the instructions carefully.

NOTE:  Please follow the instructions. Do not vote in multiple jurisdictions.  I just deleted half of the first 12 survey responses because people voted in every race, or, more common, both contested Legislature races.  You can't vote in both District 7 and District 8.

var PDF_surveyID = '290AD911A70E920F'; var PDF_openText = 'View Survey';

For the better part of two years, I have watched and witnessed the current council as it sits now. I have seen certain members try to push public agendas that would help the greater good and benefit the city as a whole. I’ve also unfortunately, witnessed those pushing private agendas without any care of how detrimental the collateral damage could be. Here’s the truth as I see it.

My wife and I as we were making our departure from Europe decided to return to Batavia. We believe to this day that it is an amazing place to raise our family! We also have an amazing sense of community pride, which is just one of the reasons that I have been involved in many different organizations here. I have not done this for any kind of personal gain, except for the satisfaction that I could make a difference. You see, I was raised by the mantra: “Do something or Shut up” from two very stern parents; one Italian, one Irish. They believed, as I do now, that the only way you’re going to make it in this world, is by putting your hands to the plow and working to get it done. Well that’s why I’m running for office; plain and simple. I don’t like the way things work now. It makes no sense how we prioritize our finances and how afraid we are to change it.

Unfortunately it took a horrific budget gap for us to be willing to consider that change was needed. The council took action behind the leadership of a man, who many have called a radical, Charlie Mallow. Love him or hate him, he did the one thing that so many former and currently sitting members never did; he started the conversation.  He accepted the fact that people would hate him for saying what he felt and that some of his ideas would be smashed to the ground. Yet he said it and did as much as he could in during his time on Council. Now, this isn’t some ringing love note for Mr. Mallow, but a reality check of the past two years. Hard choices were made to right the ship, but now it’s time to fix the hull once and for all. We have to continue the conversation by continuing to move on and act on tough decisions.  

We also have to include you in on the process! That’s right, it’s time to stop just having talks in private rooms behind closed door, but to put them out to the open floor and let government work for the people of Batavia. Charlie Mallow asked me to run and take his place because; he believed I was strong enough to continue this conversation. Now it’s our turn.

You want to create jobs in Batavia? Then you have to cut the waste out off our city budget so that you can lower the cost to actually run a business in our city.  You want to improve neighborhoods? Than we have to sharpen our focus on holding these absentee “business” owners to their commitments while still protecting the personal liberties and freedoms of our citizens. You want a more open government? Then we have to get council over itself and publically print every council agenda before each meeting for every citizen that wants it! We have to put tough decisions to special votes and let us all collectively decide our fate! Most importantly, you have to vote! Speak with that voice as loud as you can.

Lastly, do you want to cut taxes? Then understand that we have to right size our service levels to do that. Notice I didn’t say eliminate! I’m not one of these extremist that buys into the “ALL OR NOTHING!” way of governing. There are practical and pragmatic ways to achieve a balance! I’m not going to sit here and promise you that I can bring about a zero tax rate in Batavia, but we should be able to roll the recent increases back. Give back the money that was ripped from our pockets just to play catch up! Achieving that though is going to take some tough decisions.

Over the next few weeks I will put out a plan to each of these points. They will be collective ideas from me and also those who I have been asking for advice and guidance along the way. You may like some, hate others. That's great! Let the conversation continue! WE CAN DO THIS! I know we can. If I didn’t believe it with my whole heart, I wouldn’t say it.  We can make Batavia better. No, even more, we can make Batavia the kind of place that every city in New York State dreams of becoming.

Why not? We can do it!

Respectfully,

Phil Ricci
Candidate, Councilman-at-Large

Robert Radley, an engineer who previously served on the Batavia School Board, will be the GOP candidate for District 6 7 of the County Legislature, according to WBTA.

The county Republicans have yet to select a candidate for District 7, Radley will be a candidate for the seat now held by John Hodgins, who is retiring at the end of his current term.

Also getting GOP backing are incumbents Don Read for County Clerk and Lawrence Friedman for District Attorney.

Of 105 Genesee County GOP committee members, 78 attended the endorsement meeting last night.
 

We just received this as a press release:

Dear Neighbor;

My name is Christopher Charvella and I would like to take this  opportunity to announce my candidacy for Genesee County Legislature in the  8th District. I grew up in Genesee County and after serving our country for  six years in the United States Air Force I decided to bring my wife back to  Batavia so we could begin our life together in the place I love so much. We  recently had our first child, a girl, and it is my goal to make Genesee 
County a place where she can grow and flourish.

Sadly, our area is in decline. We are facing a multitude of problems: empty  storefronts on Main Street, an unemployment rate at nearly 9% and climbing,  and a local government that seems incapable of coming up with real solutions.  We have watched businesses close their doors or leave town. We have seen  County bids and purchases go to companies that aren’t even based in New  York State and our stagnant Legislature has been a part of the problem  instead of being a part of the solution. It is time for us to change the way  we do business at a local level.

I pledge to bring balance, oversight and transparency to our local  government. When elected I will immediately offer legislation that will open  the County bid process to all qualified local contractors and distributors,  set up a County website that tracks exactly where your tax dollars go and  make County Legislature and Committee meetings accessible to working people.  Together we can bring an end to the ‘rubber stamp’ legislative  environment that has plagued us for so long.

I’m looking forward to meeting you in person as I walk the District over  the next few months. Feel free to stop me on the street and let me know how I  can make Genesee County a better place for you and your family. I am  committed to working hard for the 8th District and all of Genesee County and  I am looking forward to earning your vote and working for you over the next  two years.

Sincerely,

Christopher M. Charvella

When Scott Doll was arrested for the alleged murder of 66-year old Joseph Benaquist in Pembroke a few weeks back, it was at a time while he was preparing to run for mayor of Corfu.

Doll, who entered a not guilty plea on Tuesday, remains on the ballot because it was too late for the Republican party to take him of the ticket. Doll's family owned a supermarket in the village for years and he had only recently moved back to Corfu. He has no prior experience in government.

The only Genesee County village to hold an election on Wednesday is Corfu, so Doll is in jail and will make news for two reasons on that day. He is scheduled for a bail hearing, but will also be a choice for voters as he will be facing incumbent Todd Skeet in the election.

The Buffalo News today previews the Corfu elections, while also noting that Bergen, Elba, Le Roy and Oakfield do not hold elections this year while Alexander will be holding a meeting-type election in April.

For those of you who want the numbers for all the races across the county, in all the municipalities, you can download the complete report here. For those of you looking for the specific breakdown in the vote for president in the city of Batavia, we've extracted those numbers for you. Adding up the totals for every municipality is much more of a tedious and consuming task than we had at first assumed, so we've scrapped the original plan of detailing all the race counts. Further, for the city, I've only tallied the counts for the Democrats and Republicans, since the others were negligible. Nader/Gonzalez drew the most of any of the other tickets, and they only pulled 16 at most per ward.

City of Batavia election results totals (by Ward):

Ward 1:

• Obama/Biden = 535 votes
• McCain/Palin = 704 votes

Ward 2:

• Obama/Biden = 501 votes
• McCain/Palin = 521 votes

Ward 3:

• Obama/Biden = 431 votes
• McCain/Palin = 421 votes

Ward 4:

• Obama/Biden = 568 votes
• McCain/Palin = 585 votes

Ward 5:

• Obama/Biden = 384 votes
• McCain/Palin = 345 votes

Ward 6:

• Obama/Biden = 404 votes
• McCain/Palin = 379 votes

In total, Obama/Biden pulled 2,823 votes in the city. McCain/Palin drew 2,955. (Please forgive me if I made any calculation errors, though I think everything should be correct.)

Despite high voter turnout for the elections Tuesday, Genesee County did not break its record of 74 percent from four years ago, according to WBTA's Dan Fischer. Seventy-one percent of registered voters made it out to the polls in this county.

Newly-elected state Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer told Fischer that the voters of Genesee County gave him the edge to beat Democrat Joe Mesi and take over the seat in the 61st District that will be vacated when Sen. Mary Lou Rath retires at the end of her term.

Voters in Genesee County may have proved last night that this is still GOP country. Republicans won the day pretty much across the board here. Nevertheless, Democrats made the greater strides across the state—and across the nation—and are poised to seize all of the reins in Albany for the first time in nearly a century.

From the Democrat & Chronicle this morning:

Democrats captured control of the state Senate on Tuesday for the first time in more than 40 years, knocking off at least two Republican incumbent senators.

A third Republican incumbent was locked in a tight race at press time.

If the results hold up, the Senate next year will have 32 Democrats and 30 Republicans. That will give Democrats control of every statewide office and both houses of the Legislature for the first time since the Great Depression.

Republican leaders blamed their loss on the Barack Obama landslide.

Whatever the "Republican leaders" point to as the reason for their loss, that finger ought eventually to come back around at themselves, for they surely had a hand in their own defeat. I'm still amazed that Chris Lee beat out Democrat Alice Kryzan in the 26th Congressional District, even though Lee shunned all press appearances and seemed to make no real visible effort to get out the vote, relying instead on attack ads to win him the spot.

Where do you think the blame lies, if anywhere? Do you think the state will benefit or be hurt by the new majority control in Albany?

On a cursory glance over the election result totals for Genesee County released earlier this morning, it looks as if county residents followed pretty closely along the major voting lines sketched out last night. In other words, the county, as did its greater districts, remained for the most part Republican. As Legislator Jay Grasso predicted yesterday afternoon, Genesee County remained a "red county"—even in its support of the McCain/Palin ticket.

Sen. John McCain was the clear favorite in this county, pulling in 14,573 votes, compared with the 10,029 levers pulled for President Elect Barack Obama. Most of the McCain supporters came from the towns and villages, but he did pick up a majority in the city of Batavia, as well (2,955 to Obama's 2,823).

We've got the complete numbers for how each municipality voted in the county. We can get into more detail later today, if folks are interested.

We're still waiting on the final numbers in the race for the 61st State Senate District. With 85 percent of the districts reporting in Erie County, however, Republican Mike Ranzenhofer looks set to claim victory in his contest with Democrat Joe Mesi. Ranzenhofer pulled 49,870 votes in that county. Mesi received 44,183 votes.

We got Ranzenhofer on the phone a few minutes ago to get his thoughts on the victory.

"It feels great. I'm very exicted about having the opportunity to represent the people of Genesee and Erie counties and go to Albany and solve some of these very severe problems, these financial problems. I'm looking forward to getting to work and rolling up my sleeves and getting started.

"In my speech tonight, I congratulated Joe on a well-run, hard-fought, close race. Joe was a gentleman."

What is the first item on your agenda upon arriving in Albany?

"I have no first agenda item. I have a couple of items of dealing with the lack of economic opportunities and jobs in this area. My first order of business is to propose legilslation to cut taxes across the board. I will try to relieve some of the burdens and regulations placed on small businesses."

For more about Ranzenhofer's thoughts on dealing with the state's financial woes, please check out our video interview with Ranzenhofer that was posted last week.

Genesee County saw a couple of very tight races tonight.

Republican Michael Davis beat out Democrat Lawrence Stabell for the open seat on the Darien Town Board by a margin of 68 votes (677 to 609)—a third candidate, Conservative Richard Wurl, picked up 43 votes.

The race was even closer in Le Roy, but Democrat Thomas Stella held onto his seat on the Town Board. He beat out Republican Robert Taylor Jr. by a margin of 62 votes (1,468 to 1,406).

Republicans Donald Coleman and Robert Youngfleisch retained their positions as Genesee County coroners, beating out newcomer Nicole Brady, who ran on the Conservative line. Coleman and Youngfleisch pulled 11,016 and 12,014 votes, respectively. Brady received 4,389 votes.

It looks like Republican Chris Lee will win the day in the 26th Congressional District. With 498 of 631 districts reporting, Lee has pulled 106,168. Kryzan landed 77,900. CNN reports that Genesee County voters followed pretty cleanly along those lines: 6,718 of county residents pulled the lever for Lee; 3,603 for Kryzan. (Those seem to be the only numbers yet available for Genesee County. We expect a fax from the county Board of Elections within the hour.)

We're waiting on word from the Lee camp. We'll be sure to pass along a statement from that campaign when we get it.

(Update - 11:36pm): We've received a statement from Lee on his victory.

"Tonight we are one step closer to getting Western New York and our country back on track.

"We are now going to take to Washington our agenda of job creation, lowering taxes and making government more accountable.

"What has brought me here tonight has truly been a team effort – I owe a debt of gratitude to the dedicated group who helped run this campaign, to the incredible number of volunteers and the more than 1,300 supporters who invested their resources into our message. I am grateful to my family for their love and support. They have been incredible.

"My career has been solely in private sector these past 20 years. I will bring a much needed voice to Washington as someone who knows how difficult it is to earn a dollar and will therefore be a much better steward of your hard-earned tax dollars.

"This is a victory worth celebrating – but we certainly have our work cut out for us, and I will need your help and support in the months ahead."