Petitions in the Rain

I’ve been collecting signatures today for my campaign for County Legislature, (as well as for my fellow candidates). It’s something I thoroughly enjoy: good exercise and the opportunity to meet some great folks.

Except when it pours rain.

I was doing my best to ignore those grey clouds a little while ago. However, they didn’t ignore me. Down came the soaking rain. Since I was canvassing my neighborhood, I opted to wait out the rain at home.

When I opened the door, my wife looked at me quizzically. I stood in the doorway with water dripping off my head. With an amused smile on her face, she asked, “Is it raining again?”

I answered nonchalantly. “Nope. Just fell into a swimming pool.”

Looks like there might be a break in the precipitation. Time to clip the pedometer onto the ol’ belt and head out with some more petitions…

Private Employees, Public Pensions and the Taxpayer

Here’s one to make your head spin. I hope I do the topic justice.

Sunday’s front-page story on the Times Union caught my eye. (It’s now available online.) The headline:

You pay for it: Tax dollars help cover pensions for private lobbying

Note to newspaper editors: putting “you pay for it” in the headline makes it more likely that I will read it. And this story, like so many others also increases my blood pressure. If you’ve got the time, I encourage you to read the whole story.

The TU reports that a number of private non-profits partake in the state’s public retirement system. Yeah… taxpayer funded pensions. It’s all perfectly legal, approved by the State Legislature decades ago. Groups such as the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) and the New York Association of Counties (NYSAC) receive this publicly-funded benefit.

Did I mention that these group actively lobby the State Legislature? I’m starting to get twinges of “conflict of interest.”

Furthermore, many of their employees are paid quite well. Some receive solid six-figure salaries. No biggie, right? Sure, until I read this buried near the end of the TU story:

The leaders of the non-state agency groups, who can get raises without approval by the Legislature, may end up with pensions that well exceed what lawmakers, state commissioners, judges or governors will get in retirement. The payouts for everyone in the pension system are based on the top three years of compensation.

I cringed.

It gets better. These organizations are largely funded through dues paid by towns, counties, etc. Wait, make that taxpayers. But don’t worry, because they are looking out for the best interests of those government entities.

Also found out they provide periodic training. Again from the TU story:

Nick Caimano, a former member of the Warren County Board of Supervisors and, before that, a Queensbury town councilman, said he attended training sessions organized by the municipal associations and found them to be of little value. “If both those associations ceased to exist tomorrow, the only thing that would happen is that our local governments would have more money.”

And that makes me wonder about how this works in Schenectady County where I am running for County Legislature. After perusing the county’s nearly $300 million 2011 budget, (a great cure for insomnia, by the way), I discovered this line item:

Municipal Association Dues

This appropriation covers the cost of dues in various associations not specifically related to any one department.

The amount of this specific appropriation is $13,469. I’m guessing that it’s a portion of the dues paid to have groups like NYSAC “lobby” for the county.

Do these organizations provide a good service to the public? At this point, I’m not convinced. But I certainly want to know if we’re getting any bang for our buck, especially at the county level.

After all, whether it’s dues or pensions, we are paying for it.

6/22/11, 2 AM update: this post is also published on my campaign blog.

A visit to ponder

Day 1 on the formal campaign trail was hot and humid. But it was very successful. I met some great folks. I collected a fair number of signatures. Now, I’ve heard from a number of political experts that you shouldn’t spend a whole lot of time chatting with folks while collecting signatures for petitions. The focus needs to be on collecting enough signatures to get on the ballot.

Generally, that’s true. I try to keep the conversations short and to the point.

However, there is one visit that took a bit longer. I knocked on a door, and it was answered by an older gentleman. Let’s call him “Joe,” (not his real name). Joe was a military veteran. He lived alone because his wife had recently passed away.

It was clear that Joe is still grieving. He and his late wife had enjoyed nearly 50 years of marriage. My heart ached when he showed me their wedding picture hanging on the wall. His voice never cracked. No tears could be seen in his eyes. But his love for his wife came through loud and clear.

Joe has no children and no family living nearby. It was apparent that he has some health issues and struggles with some of the routine home maintenance. I was worried. Some of those worries were relieved when he mentioned that his neighbors look in on him.

I asked if there was something I could do for him. It seemed that he was content just to have someone to engage in conversation.

Still, I’m concerned about him. I’m not entirely sure what more I can do for him. At a minimum, I hope to find time to just chat with him. In the meantime, “Joe” will be in my thoughts and prayers.

It’s a visit that I will ponder.

Lace Up the Sneakers

It’s time. Time to lace up the shoes. Time to grab a clipboard and pen. Time to take petitions and start knocking on doors.

This is the part of my campaign that I’ve been looking forward to. While many people cringe at the thought of knocking on doors to collect signatures, I’m eager for it to start. In the past two years, I’ve collected signatures to help a number of candidates get their names on the ballot. In the process, I’ve enjoyed meeting all sorts of people.

This year, I get to participate as a candidate myself. But I don’t expect to be alone in my travels across the district. My two boys will be tagging along on occasion. (We even plan on creating a sign to attach to the stroller.) Of course, there will be other candidates, committee members, and volunteers helping out across the county. To all of those who will help collect signatures for my campaign, I thank you in advance.

Time to load up the car. Time to drive a little, walk a lot. By the way, the car just turned over 195,500 miles today. Will I hit 200,000 by November? Might have to get a pedometer, too. It’d be interesting to see how many steps there really are in a political campaign.

It’s time!

Note: this post will also be published on my campaign blog.

Rollout of the Online Campaign

Call it campaign progress. Tonight I have formally rolled out the online portion of my campaign.

• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter

I hope you will check them out, “like” me, or “follow” me as the case may be. I intend to use them as important networking and communication tools for my political campaign.

There is still much to be done online. I am working on a YouTube channel. I need to get an online donation feature incorporated into the website. And, no surprise, I’ve got a blog on the website. It will require periodic updates. No problem, though. I like blogging.