A little bit of original reporting here at DFE.net.  Hopefully not the last.

You may have seen Joe Robach’s advertisements on television recently and noticed that he’s standing in front of Gleason Works.  That’s not all he’s doing.  He’s also claiming as his accomplishment, “650 jobs for Gleason Works.”

If you’re scratching your head, wondering “didn’t they just lay some people off over there?”  You’re not alone.  Through a helpful tip from a friend of mine, I decided to do some investigation into the claim, along with a few other nuggets about the deal, which you can read about here:

» Robach Ad Touts Misleading Gleason Claim || DFE.Net News » DFE News Updates

New York State Senator Joe Robach’s recent campaign advertisment, touting his record of bringing “our fair share” to Rochester, has him standing in front of Gleason Works on University Avenue in Rochester. Below him, a caption reads “650 jobs for Gleason Works.” There’s just one problem with that caption: the 650 jobs Gleason Works currently provides Rochester is actually 300 jobs less than it was two years ago.

Jon Greenbaum, intrepid blogger for DFE and organizer for Metro Justice, checks in with a discussion of the reform prospects for Industrial Development Agencies this year.  I certainly hope he’s right that reform might be possible this year.  Trouble is: politicians have a very, very hard time letting go of their cash cows, and unregulated free tax write-offs for companies that build their businesses locally are a big, fat-old cash cow.