Maggie Brooks is running the Much Ado About Nothing campaign for the 2007 season. I think I’ll whip up some campaign tees this weekend.
Stirring up trouble for the Public Library is a great first step, because everyone knows librarians are the most licentious of individuals. In fact, they’re probably the ones who invented the word “licentious,” and there’s no doubt that they can find books that begin with that word in seconds.
And sure, you can let the press handle the news, but why wait? Why not take public tax dollars and put them towards a website where all the news articles are about you? Get this: Brooks and AirTran Airways Announce Non-Stop Service to Las Vegas. Brooks and AirTran, what the hell is that about? Check out the other headlines for the day:
Brooks launches the County’s first-ever Prom Safety Campaign
Brooks Visits Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 13
Brooks Proclaims May 2007 Buddy Poppy Month
Brooks Announces Projects Approved by COMIDA
Brooks Leads Groundbreaking for New Elephant Splash Pool
Brooks Announces Pierce Industries is May Business of the Month
Do you regard this as proper spending of County tax dollars? Well, Steve Minarik does, and he calls the shots. You know, because people qualified to make decisions about the way the county should run cannot be trusted to make Republicans look good.
And oh, yeah: the Seneca Park Zoo relies on member contributions and national grants for it’s funding. Otherwise, they couldn’t afford the krill to feed the fish, let alone come up with the scratch to build the new elephant pool. Monroe County didn’t contribute jack shit to this project, but just for showing up, Maggie gets to put up another stupid news article. I’ve at least bought a freakin’ brick, can the County say as much?
While we’re at it, why not pass some meaningless measures and have some fake crack downs? Well, we’re about to see a doozie passed in the Monroe County Legislature:
County tax measure sparks debate || Democrat & Chronicle: Local News
But Democrats say that while the proposal may sound good, it’s just an election-year trick and would also limit the county’s financial flexibility.Democrats say the county hasn’t spent more than the inflation rate since 1999. The restriction could hurt the county’s ability to increase spending if, for instance, an emergency occurred or it received a major grant for a project. They also say it’s unclear what the county is defining as mandated and nonmandated spending.
“It’s a feel-good thing, but it’s not very substantive,” said Minority Leader Carla Palumbo, D-Rochester.
Brooks said the law would allow the legislature or a county executive to seek an increase in spending during the fiscal year if a special situation were to arise.
I commented on the article itself, but let me ask again: what, precisely, constitutes a “special situation” in a county with a $100 million deficit? How many times do you suppose that clause will be invoked? If you can’t pass a law that will be held in effect, why bother?
Because you’re planning on scoring political points, that’s why. And the County Republicans are taking a page right out of the national Republican handbook: if the measure doesn’t pass in the Legislature, they’ll try to force it on the ballot in November. Think of it as “Gay Marriage for Maggie Brooks.”
Technorati Tags: Maggie Brooks, Steve Minarik, Republicans, 2008, Rochester, Monroe County, Elections, Sleaze
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