Buffalo Rising Online

One thing I would have a problem with him is his underestimate on how much UB could and would contribute if it could into the light rail funding. 28 THOUSAND students, Millions of trips between north and south campus happen every week that is unheard of revenues for NFTA. They spend millions of dollars to run those freaking buses back and forth. Light rail it and UB can contribute that extra money to run the system. Whether it is through straight dollars or if it is through student passes.

Plus you give five kids a pass and those other one or two that don't will buy tickets cause no one would want to drive downtown once they have access to the train.

The whole build the bridge thing now.. sounds like build the Route 5 project now.. get it done before we can get the right thing done. Yeah we have a plan.. we have a shared border plan.. "Lets get on with that"!! The duty free idea is actually a smart one. anything to shrink the footprint needed is a good idea no matter what plan goes through.

Other than that I actually really liked what he said. Much more on point to the vision of what makes a good community. Vision is what an executive needs. Skills in firing workers and throwing money at companies so they can stay afloat isn't what I call vision. Sure Collins owns a bunch of businesses. He didn't start or grow any of them.

He is anti-sprawl = save money on infrastructure costs. Remember Collins' quote "sprawl has no implications to the taxpayer" only a businessmen who lives in Clarance without any education on urban planning or economics could say such a thing.

I was actually shifting towards Collins' before this interview. Not anymore.

Congrats to BR for pulling off the interviews with Keane and Collins. Keane seems like a decent enough guy.... but if he's been "preparing all his life" for this job, you'd think he'd know that pulling off the peace bridge project is about alot more than moving the 'duty free shop' back across Porter (but he will have his "laser' on this one). His comments about the mud slinging in the campaign seemed a bit odd as well (he didn't defend himself against Collin's claims).. I won't be voting for him, but this piece, in some strange way, raised my opinion of him (cutting jobs and fiscal responsibility under Gorski). Should a grown man call somebody (Higgins) a rockstar? That seems a little creepy. Maybe someday will have a "rockstar" in the private sector.... wouldn't that be refreshing.

It doesn't matter what he says: he supports unions and will not lower taxes. Buffalo will never advance as long as pro union democrats are in charge.

well...sorry but anyone who is says light rail isnt a priority....will not get my vote!

Keane....get with the program.

http://www.nysun.com/article/64879

I've said it for years now, and this article confirms it. Buffalo will never have any hope of rebounding as long as there are high taxes, strong unions, and stupid politicians. The only thing that will spark any kind of revitalization is ingenuity, education, and private business. If you don't believe me read the article. We need to educate the children that remain in the city, hopefully they will grow to be intelligent adults and find ways of using what we have (and creating private businesses) to bring back jobs, people, and respect. Federal money, do nothing politicians, and competition killing unions only stop this idea.

why haven't his former employers, Dennis Gorski and Hillary Clinton, formally endorsed him?

Gorski attended Keane’s victory party on primary night, but perhaps as a senior exec of a local health insurance co, he no longer takes sides publicly in political contests. Or perhaps his company doesn’t want their execs doing so. I don’t recall Gorski publicly endorsing Byron Brown either, another former appointee of his. But I don’t think there’s any possibility he’s not backing Keane. Maybe as a desperation move he’ll make an endorsement near election day. Maybe some of that Gorski charisma on one of those recorded messages might help generate some Cheektavegas turnout.

As for Hillary, why in the world would she not be backing Keane? When she appointed him as her WNY representative, Keane filled one of the first of those 20,000 jobs she created in Upstate NY. Have to be some sentimental ties there. They might be waiting until closer to election day to announce her endorsement. Maybe Halloween would be appropriate.

Metro Rail takes 22,000 car trips off the road daily.

Wouldn't the vast majority of those riders take the bus?

BTW, I've always thought that if the money spent to operate and maintain the Metro Rail were used to enhance bus service the city residents as a whole would be better served. I wonder how many extra bus runs it could pay for.

he just seems like someone who has spent his whole life in government who thinks everything will be fine so long as he and everyone he knows has a job in government. the rest of us can be damned.

That's why I thought sure he'd win. That usually works like a charm around here. I think he and his staff have run an exceptionally poor campaign, however. Has VanEvery run a campaign before? It seems like he's been advising Keane to just be himself - big mistake. We should all be thankful Casey isn't running it (hope I don't give them any ideas, but at this point the rats are probably staying off the ship) - and hope Zogby was correct in that poll.

i think you have to go with keane if you want a county government that will do its part to strengthen the city of buffalo.

I see your point, bfloBR, but I think it comes down to philosophy of what can better strengthen Buffalo.

If a voter believes Buffalo’s decline in strength over the years has been due to higher levels of government not providing enough aid, regulation, or other kinds of “help”, then I can certainly understand going with Keane.

But for people who feel the enormous percent of aid that Buffalo and its residents disproportionately receive from our nation-leading state taxes and very high county sales tax, etc. is already quite a lot of “help”, and that real strengthening will eventually depend on finding ways of making the area more business friendly… then I think those people will more likely go with Collins.

That’s more my point of view - that Buffalo’s problems are deep and will stay pretty much the same until or unless this area ever starts attracting much more private sector jobs than it’s been.

Will Collins make that happen? I doubt it because I think it’s beyond what county govt can affect either way. We’re still in NY State, and that shows no signs of changing its ways. But I think it’s worth a try to see if he can make small steps in that direction.

Just sent money to the Collins campaign and ordered a lawn sign. Thanks BRO for helping me make the easiest decision on my life.

Well, for people who really want change, there are alot of people on here who keep asking for the same thing. Are you the guys that voted for Bush both times instead of "career politicians" like Gore or Kerry? I do not know what is wrong with being a public servant all your life. Is that a bad thing? Everyone seems to think that because he is a Democrat, that Keane is just in it for the money and that because he is a Republican, Collins is really in it to make a difference? Why? Collins cares more about people?

Maybe it could be that Keane is in it because he cares what happens here too. Maybe he is invested in this area just like the rest of us. Maybe he didn't come out of retirement just to make some extra cash. And maybe Collins got in the race because he sees an opportunity in front of him at our expense as he has many times before. Maybe HE sees a chance to take more of our tax dollars in order to enrich himself and his friends (this is fact, my friends. 13 million in taxpayer funds to cut and outsource jobs, cut wages, and cut benefits. Now that's a business model that will bring Buffalo back!). How will he cut the taxes so dramatically? What services will he cut that you use or that you like to know are provided to the residents of Erie County? At whose expense? God knows that there is a ton of waste that we can get rid of, but there is only so much that you're going to save by cutting employees, and there are only so many employees that you can cut before everyone suffers all around.

There is a track record for both candidates, one that is public and one that is not. One is with experience on an administration that got us out of a previous Republican (Rutkowski) mess and one that has made alot of money employing people who make very little. It's our job to scrutinize both. Both men are far from perfect, and neither (and that does include Collins) is our saviour, but sometimes it's better the devil you know.

And one more thing I cannot seem to get a handle on, why does it always seem around here and everywhere for that matter, that the Republican candidate is always thought of the one that will bring change and gets the second chance when they are always giving us deficits, cuts in services and corruption and the Democrat is painted as corrupt and taxing the hell out of us when they are the ones left cleaning up the mess left behind by Republicans?

If you really think that Collins is going to be able to eliminate the deficit and get us in the green while cutting our taxes as significantly as everyone seems to think (or at all, for that matter), then the only thing I can think of to say is........HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN, WELCOME BACK GIAMBRA!

I'm still not sure who to vote for. But what stays in the back of my head is if Clinton is elected president, there will be a lot of attention on Buffalo. Brian Higgins and Keane both are close to Clinton and could be a very positive team in getting buffalo what they want and need. One problem I have with Keane is he needs to rethink the whole Rail system. I wonder why the city has to pay for millions for rail upkeep. Sounds like a backwards system to me. We pay for upkeep and the NFTA collects the money to ride? Im sure it does not generate much money being such a short rail system, maybe thats why the city has to step in however extending it to the right points may generate a lot and maybe the city could work with the NFTA. ok now im rambling ....

I could care less which either say. It is ultimately what they will do to correct an operation that can't fund itself or grow. But to discuss:

What has Keane done to drasticly cut costs in his realm of influence (gov't)? What has Collins done to drasticly cut costs in his realm of influence (buisness)?

The area as a whole and its gov't employees need some strong nasty medicine to correct it so it can stabilize and start to grow again. It won't be painless. Who's going to actually do what it takes? I see Keane doing what it takes to get relected again. Nothing in his past shows otherwise. I see Collins taking risks and making unfavorable choices to correct the system. He did it with several buisnesses that would not be here without the drastic changes he implimented. Those changes pry didn't win him any popularity contests, but those buisnesses are still here.

We have Keane claiming anti-NAFTA. I'd rather see someone figure out how to use NAFTA to our benefit instead of fighting reality while we crumble under old pre-NAFTA practices. Crying anit-NAFTA may tug at our nostalgic heart strings but will do zero to turn this area around. Show me a Canidate that will proclaim he will find a way to make NAFTA work for us. I want a canadate that will proclaim he will find a way top make an international market place work for us. And then follow through. Promising us 1950 will only keep us on the crumbling road that we are on though many of us seen content enough to dream along. The rest just move away.

Nothing will change if this idiot gets elected. It will be the same old crap all over again. I'm not sure how much more this 27 yr. old can take. If I didn't love the city so much, I'd already be gone.