Bad News For Kyle and Company

Long time Pennsylvania political watcher and former Erie Times News state political beat reporter, Al Neri publishes a news letter The Insider which eyeball’s Keystone State politics and politicos. In his most recent missive, he runs down an interesting re-cap of upcoming Congressional races here in the commonwealth.

It's what’s missing from this laundry list of races that may burst the bubbles of local libs who are hot to trot for Phil English’s ouster from the 3rd Congressional district seat.

Here's the run down from The Insider's perspective:

DC Bound

Congressional races are heating up with primary contests in April being the first electoral test
With only one of Pennsylvania's 19 members of Congress retiring this year, you would expect a year of little change in the Commonwealth's congressional delegation. And you might be largely correct, but both in the primary and general elections, a few surprises may lurk.

Under the headline: PRIMARIES TO WATCH: “A look at the contested primaries which could produce a different member of Congress in the 2008 elections:”

Neri cites:

5th District

10th District

1st District

18th District

6th District


Under the headline- VERY SAFE, BUT…:

13th District

8th District

7th District

So much for all of the hype that this is going to be a targeted race for the Democrat Party, and the toughest race English has faced yet. Even the political gurus appear to be giving this one a ho-hum yawn

It's no wonder Foust and friends have all but disappeared from the local radar even during this petition season.

Is it Time To Recall DiVecchio

Why is anyone surprised by the Erie Times news report that County Controller Sue Weber is looking for answers from County Executive Mark DiVecchio on his apparently ongoing use of county employees, on the taxpayer dime, for his personal and private business needs.

The most recent case involves a county employee plowing out the driveway of DiVecchio’s home in the 2400 block of Bird Drive. It’s also been alleged that Marky Mark also misused county plow services during the winter of 2007 and had county employees set up a pepperoni ball booth for DiVecchio Catering at Celebrate Erie and to help his sister move.

DiVecchio’s defense includes: December back surgery preventing him from shoveling his own driveway (or apparently calling a local plowing service) not wanting to be late for work, (lord knows he is critical to the operation of County government) and my favorite, he thought that it was a “side job” for the workers and didn’t know they were on the taxpayer clock!

DiVecchio is waving around copies of a check for reimbursement of the plow jockey’s time. The check for $9.35 is laughable at best. How long did it take the county employee to drive to the County Executives house, plow his driveway and then drive back? Exactly how much are we paying this plow jockey? Apparently he’s not on the list of Marky Mark’s friends who get fat raises!

Like I said, I’m not surprised, this guy is as old school Democrat as it gets. Add to that fact that he just is not real smart and you end up with this as the outcome. Politicians in Erie have been pulling this crap forever and DiVecchio is just trying to carry on the tradition.

Weber is just kind of pit bull the taxpayers need in this instance, she won’t shy away from DiVecchio’s personal attacks. The State Ethics Commission is aware of the situation and needs public input to launch an investigation into the matter.

Another path to consider is the fact that the Home Rule Charter for Erie County does have a recall provision when it comes to the County Executive. It may be time to consider collecting signatures in an effort to remove this cancer from county government.

$100K Buyout for Kelly Fredricks

With flight, destination and airline cutbacks already a regular occurrence, could more bad news be on the way for Erie air travelers with the news that The Erie Municipal Airport Authority has accepted the resignation of airport Executive Director Kelly Fredericks.

It appears Fredricks is getting out while the getting is good! with air service in a state of shambles and huge questions remaining about the much needed, long overdue runway extension project.

Recently Fredricks proposed a $100,000 buyout on the three and half remaining years on his contact as a cost saving measure for the Airport. Chris Rodgers, director of strategic development, will step in and serve as interim director.

This certainly throws into question the future of the runway extent ion. Fredricks has taken a lead role in spearheading what should have been a no-brainer for the community.

40 Winks For Bubba

Apparently all those late night...."campaign strategy sessions" have caught up with former President Bubba. Click the title to see the NY Post video of Bubba catching some Zs at an MLK Day ceremony. You'd have thought listening to all those Hillary stump speeches would have prepped Bubba for a less than invigorating sermon.

37.5 Hours

While he may not be too bright, at least County Executive Mark DiVecchio is persistent. Tuesday night that persistence paid off for the top six appointed position holders in his administration after a series of votes by County Council jacked up their salaries retroactive to 2007.

One of those votes saw the workweek expectations for these folks rise from 35 hours to 37.5 hours.

DiVecchio insists on making the ridiculous claim that because the county has a budget of $315 million annually that staff salaries should be commensurate with those of a private corporation of similar size.

This claim is patently stupid for a number of reasons. First what Executive level employee of a major corporation works a mere 37.5 hours per week? Most of the successful executives I know working in major corporations are knocking down between 50 and 60 hours a week.

Secondly if those folks are receiving pay increases, it’s not based upon the overall size of the company or what the competition is paying their employee but based upon their performance. Does their work effort merit the pay hike, not what does the guy doing this job make in the other county!

That’s the real question taxpayer should be asking the County Executive and Council. What has Bob Spaulding, the county’s director of economic development done, aside from junkets to Australia and China on the taxpayer dime, to deserve this pay bump?

The same for the director of personnel and finance, what have they done to reign in the out of control growth in the size of county government?

I think the answers are frighteningly simple.

National Lampoon Reality

In a scene reminiscent of the classic 1980s movie National Lampoon’s Vacation, police in Hillsboro, Wyoming report that a family from Arkansas (why am I not surprised) in an attempt to fulfill a Grandmother last wish, arrived in town with the Grandmother’s dead body in the back of their recreational vehicle.

The 79-year old women suffered from advanced kidney disease and wished to see her family before she died. Her family picked her up at her Oroville, California home drove to Arkansas and after visiting relatives there were headed home after a stop with other family members in Hillsboro.

According to the Oregonian newspaper, the woman was last seen alive by the family about 3 a.m. Saturday near Laramie, Wyoming. "We believe they were about 1,100 miles from Hillsboro when she passed away," Hillsboro Police Lt. Michael Rouches said. "We believe they were in Wyoming. That's based on gas receipts."

Rouches said the situation is being examined by detectives, but added that he didn't expect any action to be taken. He said the family routinely traveled together and there is no reason to suspect foul play.

"I've looked through all the Oregon statutes," he said. "This is not a crime."

When Will Foust Bail?

The Sharon Herald newspaper recently published an article detailing the fundraising efforts of the candidates in the crowded field running for the seat currently held by Congressman Phil English.

The piece seemed to back up the heavy rumbles on the local political rumor mill that Erie County councilman Kyle Foust will be looking to pull the ripcord and drop out of the race.

Sounding like a man with a large “L” tattooed on his forehead Foust was quoted by the Herald as saying, “I’m not worried about what other people raise, I’m worried about raising what I need to get my message out, and I’m confident I’ll reach those goals.”
The campaign money Web site http://www.opensecrets.org/ had Foust trailing badly behind his fellow Democrat candidates on the fundraising circuit. Attorney Tom Myers chipped in $25,000 of his own money to lead the pack with $107,000 plus. Even lay minister Mike Waltner racked up better than $55,000 in campaign cash to finish second.

For a guy with campaign experience and one who was born into a political family that stamped a “D” on his ass shortly after birth, Foust only managed to rack up a paltry $43,000.

With tree lady Kathy Dahlkemper’s entry into the race it’s an easy bet that a lot of the old Erie Democrat money just dried up for Foust to tap into. While she hasn’t had to file a campaign finance report yet, word is she started out like a house on fire raising loads of cash from moneyed friends, something she has plenty of experience at given her work with the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park and being a member of the board of the Erie Community Foundation.

Foust likely thought his early entry into the race would clear the field of other Democrat challengers given his family name and county experience. It hasn’t played out that way and I doubt he’s got the fire in the belly to tackle a tough primary only to have that followed by what will have to be a knock down, drag ‘em out brawl of a general election.

I see Foust looking for the exit sooner rather than later!

While the Democrat party has painted a bullseye on English’s sizeable backside for the past few election cycles and would dearly love to unseat him, it unlikely they’ll the get traction they need for any of these folks in the areas of the district that lay outside the confines of the City of Erie.

Big Bad Bill is Bitter Billy Now

There's nothing more entertaining than a watching a rat going down on a sinking ship. Click the title for a link to Bitter Billy pointing his famous finger and spewing his bitter venom.

Hey...McDonald's is Hiring.

With all of these Democrat candidates apparently forgetting to get beyond the word change in their "Word A Day" calendars and talking about how they are "ready to make change," I have a few words of advice. McDonald's is hiring! They will let you make all the change you want at the drive-through window. Frankly, I think that is about all this lot is capable of doing!

Hotel Tax Breakdown

There has been a lot of chatter on the local blogs about the increased revenue being generated by the hotel tax and commenter's complaining about an increase in the room rate rather than in the number of room stays at Erie area hotels.

Well here are the numbers I've heard broken down: there are enough hotel rooms in and around Erie to equal roughly 1.5 million room nights available per year...in 2007 nearly 2/3 of the room nights were sold equalling roughly 1 million room stays in and around Erie...at an average per night stay of about $86. Both the number of room nights (up slightly) and average price tag (up significantly) are why national developers are rushing to build around the 90 and 79 core.

Despite all of the complaints, it doesn't matter if the number of nights is up only slightly, the $86 per night average is significant in that based upon the age old principle of supply and demand local operators are able to charge and get the higher rate.

The debate over the room tax hasn't changed much since it was first instituted over five years ago, most arguing that it's become an accepted part of the cost of travel. I'm not sure when increased taxes ever became acceptable. What's significant in this story is not how much money is collected, but how that money is then spent.

Currently the bulk of the room tax is dedicated to cover the operational shortfalls of the Bayfront Convention Center with the remaining sliver going to Visit Erie PA (former the Convention & Visitors Bureau) for tourism promotion.

While local politicians and the Convention Center authority would have you believe that those economic shortfalls will decline as business picks up at the Convention Center, the fact is as time goes on the operational costs of running the center, with ever increasing energy costs and operational maintenance and upkeep (if it actually gets done) will continue to rise and the deficits will only increase.

Since the bulk of the Convention Center's business thus far stems from cannibalizing existing Authority venues like the Tulio Arena and the Warner Theater, those locations will only see their operational deficits increase significantly. Once again it's the taxpayers that will be left holding the bag and picking up the tab.

Then tack on the ridiculous bond deal struck to fund the still incomplete, publicly owned, Convention Center Sheraton Hotel and once again taxpayers wallets will take a huge hit.

Of course the geniuses at the courthouse could always add these costs on the ever growing list of things that will be paid for by all of the local gaming revenue cut which is scheduled to pay for the runway extension, community college, public safety building, Erie Zoo and other regional assets. Did I miss any?

Much Ado about Iowa

I love the hyperbole of the primary and caucus season.

During the course of all of the non-stop coverage before, during and after the Iowa caucus the 24-hour news channels blabbered on and on about candidates spending in excess of $200 per vote, Nanny Clinton paying for babysitters for caucus goers and about how important the results of this first test of the candidates on both sides would be.

The one important tidbit the the chattering class overlooked in all of this babble, was the simple fact that historically Iowans get it right less than 50% of the time! Meaning that the "winners" of the Hawkeye state caucus rarely go on to become their parties nominees.

All that was really achieved by this hoopla was a thinning of the herd of no-chancers like Senators Joe Biden (D-Delaware) and Chris Dodd (D-CN) who have now grasped that harsh reality and dropped out of the race. I wonder who will be the first among the Ron Paul (R-TX), Duncan Hunter (R-CA) set who will gravitate back towards obscurity.

Don't count out Hillary or Rudy quite yet, although it appears that Fred Thompson may need the paddles and John McCain (R-AZ) may need to battle Barack Obama (D-IL) for New Hampshire independents and work his maverick magic to hang on.