In case you’re wondering where I’ve gone, you can now read my posts, articles, blatherings, etc. on the frontpage of this fine website.

WNYMedia

We have about ten people contributing to the portal and as always, we’ve got the latest videos from around Buffalo and WNY.

If you don’t wish to read other people’s ramblings and would prefer your browser be filled with all Geek, all the time…well, you can head over to my dedicated page on WNYMedia.net which has my archives. I will be slowly porting my archives from this page to the frontpage over the next couple of weeks.

See ya on WNYMedia!

It has occurred to me that I am just generally too busy with life, work, family, non-profits and whatnot to really keep this site fresh with content everyday. After all, the secret to high traffic numbers is at least one post a day.

However, I am not the kind of writer who can put out 500-1000 words on a topic in less than a day. I also don’t have enough traffic to just pop up a link and say “discuss amongst yourselves”. I try to post long form, discussion-oriented musings on an issue and I can’t seem to do it justice with my current schedule. I know that I am not the only WNYMedia blogger in this position.

In 2004 when Marc Odien founded WNYMedia.net, he envisioned it to be a portal site on which mainstream media and blog commentary collided and offered something unique. Marc built a great community with high traffic numbers and attracted some great writers and community activists into the family. In 2005, I joined the team and we decided to make a little business out of this blogging/web media thing. At our peak we had 40 bloggers updating their sites every day with news and opinion from around the region. As time wore on, we started to focus more on individual content that was networked together through RSS and we had a few fits and starts with template designs that we though would provide some uniformity.

At the end of 2007, we weren’t producing enough content on all of our sites because we were so absorbed with managing the network, web technology, dealing with web designers, and our video business. Thus, some of our bloggers weren’t feeling the love from us and content dipped.

Our dedicated blogging staff became more involved with the community they write about and many had some life changing events like marriages, children, home purchases, election campaigns, job changes, etc. As a result, we found ourselves at the confluence of several factors which were taking away from the quality of our product.

So, as he usually does, Marc boiled it all down to a basic strategy; “Let’s collapse the writing staff into one central portal”. I’ve learned my lesson on underestimating Marc’s ideas in our two years in business…don’t sleep on that guy, people never see him coming. Anyhow, I digress. Most of us are not able to post frequently enough to carry the water by ourselves on our own blogs.

What we would like to do is collapse the writers into one site if they wish. If they wish to continue with their own site, they can. However, most of our writers have agreed in one way or another to stop posting to their individual sites and contribute to WNYMedia Central.  By the way, if you haven’t stopped by the frontpage of WNYMedia.net in the last few weeks, do so. We’ve got a lot of cool features installed with more to come. Each writer will have a page where all of their articles are stored with their collection of links and virtual tchotckes, but the articles will primarily be displayed in a traditional format like News, Lifestyles, Sports, Activism, Arts on our front page and updated two to three times per day.

For an example of what a writers page will look like on the wnymedia portal, check this out.  Not much different from what we have now, just a different wrapper.   In many ways, you can still consume the content of only one writer if you just want to bookmark his or her page or you can more easily consume the content from the wider community by reading the portal and subscribing to specific feeds like “news” or “activism”.
Before we make yet another decision in a vacuum, I thought I would ask what you think.  Would you be more or less likely to read WNYMedia if the articles were organized on one portal?  Do you see value in having a one stop shop for all of our articles?  Or do you prefer the individual pages like this?

If you primarily consume WNYM writers via RSS, all of the articles will be streamlined into one feed for your consumption.  Or, you can simply subscribe to one writer, but most writers won’t be contributing daily, they will do it when they have time.  It’s all about choice on the new portal.  Is that cool?   We’ll mix in news feeds from local print, TV, and web…yes, even BRO articles.  You’ll be able to comment on articles from all over Buffalo media on our frontpage. Does this sound like a good idea?  You tell me.

I just spent the better part of my free time today flipping through the 2008-2009 New York State budget, yeah, good times. As Spitzer states in the press release that was sent along with the budget, “Governor Eliot Spitzer today delivered his 2008-09 Executive Budget, which closes a projected $4.4 billion budget gap without raising taxes, while making key investments in education, health care, and economic development.”

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Who isn’t behind a hard line on taxes and investments in good things like health care and education? As it turns out, pretty much everyone since it doesn’t appear to actually be true. I had planned a lengthy treatise on the budget, but I stopped by Knickerbocker Blog and observed the statewide media beatdown that has been issued on this budget. See if you can detect a common theme:

Spitzer budget raises spending, state taxes, fees; Proposal totals $124.3 billion (Tom Precious/Buffalo News)

Spitzer’s budget: Higher fees, delayed tax breaks (Joe Spector/Gannett News Service)Spitz takes a taxing U-turn (Ken Lovett and Fred Dicker/New York Post)

Spitzer’s budget would wallop residents with taxes in hundreds of millions (Joe Mahoney/Daily News)

Spitzer Plans Cuts and Fees to Close Deficit of $4.4 Billion (Danny Hakim/New York Times)

Spitzer Tax Plans Worry Business Leaders (Grace Rauh/New York Sun)

Illegal drugs may be taxed (Tom Precious/Buffalo News)

Spitzer Details Cuts and Fee Increases in Budget (Karen DeWitt/New York Public Radio)

Budget proposal hinges on revenue enhancers (Cara Matthews/Gannett News Service)

Spitzer budget banks on $250 million from Belmont video lottery (Richard Richtmyer/(Associated Press)

Spitzer’s Budget Triggers Backlash; Egan Rebuffed Over Tuition Tax Deduction (Jacob Gershman/New York Sun)

Grim economy, political reality shape the plan (Rick Karlin/Albany Times Union)

Modest spending hike relies on new revenues (Jim Odato/Albany Times Union)

Slicing half of Apple pie (Ken Lovett/New York Post)

Firms without new jobs to lose Empire Zone aid; Governor says state will end program’s tax breaks for those that missed targets (Mike McAndrew/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Education Groups Frustrated With Governor’s Plan (Elizabeth Green/New York Sun)

Fees, school aid rise in Spitzer plan; Governor proposes funds to help CNY economy, but counties would take hits. (Delen Goldberg/Syracuse Post-Standard)

Local districts face aid shortfall in Spitzer budget (Michael Woyton/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Spitzer’s budget plan gets mixed review from local pols (Tim Ashmore/Ithaca Journal)

Spitzer wants $140M more for state’s bridges (Judy Rife/Middletown Times Herald-Record)

Some districts will lose out on state aid (Paul Brooks/Middletown Times Herald-Record)

Spitzer wants $82B [six] budget; Governor seeks to spend more while closing a $4.8B gap (Matt King/Middletown Times Herald-Record)

Local Lawmakers Critical Of Budget Proposal (Luke Anderson/Jamestown Post-Journal)

With the exception of a few media outlets; most reporters, pundits, and independent budget experts are uniformly skeptical of the budget.

My primary objections to the budget are related to Spitzer no longer pegging state spending to the inflation rate or revenue growth and instead using personal income growth as the measuring stick. What does this mean to you? It means that it is unlikely that you will ever get ahead of the taxmasters. When you make more, the state will spend more and tax you more…or “increase fees” and “close loopholes”. The budget significantly exceeds expected tax revenue and the gap is supposed to be closed through gimmicks.

All in all, a disappointment from a man who promised real and significant change on Day One. Perhaps he meant Day One of Year Three?

If you aren’t familiar with “Shelbyville“, it is the rival town to Springfield, home of “The Simpsons”.  The town is often cited as being the complete opposite of Springfield in every way…Buffalo has its very own Shelbyville, often called “Buffalo South” or “Charlotte”.

Every couple of weeks, I rummage through the Shelbyville blogs and newspaper sites to see what’s going on in the headquarters of the Buffalo Diaspora. The story of the week appears to be the scourge of construction cranes that are dotting the city skyline.

Charlotteans grumbled in the ’90s that orange traffic barrels had come to symbolize progress in one of the region’s fastest growing cities.

In 2008, that honor goes to construction cranes, which have recently taken over the uptown like an infestation of 200-foot iron weeds.

Twenty-five tower cranes are active in and around the Interstate 277 loop, on a dozen projects ranging from the NASCAR Hall of Fame to the EpiCentre.

Construction and the resulting jobs are booming in Charlotte as the economy expands and people flock to the region.

Up to 11 more cranes could be added to the uptown area by year’s end, says Dennis Kenna, whose Heede Southeast Inc. supplies many of the region’s construction cranes.

For a town that has seen a decade long economic boom, the current explosion in construction is still shocking.

“It’s a renaissance,” says Michael Smith, president of Center City Partners. “These cranes are a fascinating, leading indicator of progress.

“We have an urban core that is expanding and it has pierced through 277 into South End, Elizabeth, midtown, Wesley Heights and Wilmore,” he says.

Experts say young professionals seeking to live near jobs and entertainment, and empty nesters weary of yard work and long commutes are driving the boom.

In case people are wondering, that is what a renaissance looks like. Also, I’d like to note how Charlotte has identified the primary means with which to attract young professionals to their city, jobs.  Not much talk of museums, sense of place, or massive amounts of state funding.  They keep the taxes low, attract business, and the people follow.  Not really a revolutionary idea, but one that we might be able to learn a thing or two from up here in Springfield, err, I mean Buffalo.

There is nothing wrong with having nice looking buildings, museums, cool restaurants, and kitschy tschotske shops; they are absolutely a value added bonus for people looking for a place to live.  However, they are not a primary means to create economic development.  The jobs need to be here in order for those things to be a real differentiator.

In Fortune Magazine’s annual ranking of the “100 Best Companies To Work For” list, local grocery chain Wegmans again finished near the top of the list. The 2008 list places Wegmans as the third best company to work for in America. This follows their #1 ranking in 2005 and their second place ranking in 2006. Wegmans has appeared on the list every year since its initial publication in 1998 and has ranked among the top 10 for six consecutive years.

“Every one of our employees and our customers should stand up and take a bow, because together they make Wegmans a special place,” says CEO Danny Wegman. Whenever I’m in one of our stores, customers stop to tell me how much they appreciate our employees. You can imagine how great that makes our people feel and why they enjoy coming to work everyday.”

The company, headquartered in Rochester with stores throughout the Northeast, employs 37,602 workers which was a near 6% increase over last year.

Founded in 1916, Wegmans has prioritized quality employee relationships as a driver for growth and customer loyalty. Company founder Robert Wegman once said that “Great customer service begins with treating our own employees right. If our people feel valued and supported, they will give their best to our customers.” This mantra is repeated by many of their employees as demonstrated in this video from CNNMoney.

According to the survey, the most common job for salaried employees was Store Department Manager with an average salary of $49,411 and the most common job for hourly employees was customer service with an average salary of $27,414.

I watched Barack Obama’s speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church yesterday and I thought to myself…this is what my Mother felt when she heard John F. Kennedy speak. As do most members of her generation, she speaks with great reverence when it comes to Jack and Bobby Kennedy. Looking back through the prism of time, I came to understand why they were so important and often wondered if there would come a time when our generation would see a JFK. If we would have a chance to see a leader who summed up a moment…who put forth a calling…who made people consider the greater good rather than the content of their own ideological backyard. Yesterday, Barack Obama gave us that moment.

Until today, I had considered Obama to be a little wet behind the ears and the specifics of his economic plans to be too grandiose and overarching to be practical. Today, I see the import of this candidate as someone who can LEAD. At this crossroads of the American experience, that is what this nation needs most. Someone who can make us believe.

A man who is willing to walk into Ebenezer Baptist Church and tell a minority religious audience that they have failed in loving their “gay brothers and sisters” is a man with moral courage.

And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King’s vision of a beloved community.

We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.

A man who believes in the power of unity and hope. At the 18 minute mark of the video, Obama throws out the notes and speaks off the cuff about hope. It’s the best part of the speech and it won’t be found in the transcripts…paraphrased:

Some are scornful about my message of hope. “He’s talking about hope again. He’s so idealistic and naive. He’s a ‘hopemonger’.” Love, education, and hope were my birthright. Hope is not blind optimism, it is not ignorance of the barriers and obstacles and hazards that stand in your way. Hope is just the opposite. Nothing worthwhile has happened in this country unless somebody, somewhere decided to hope.

So, call me a hopemonger…but this guy has won me over. This speech, this moment, has done more to expose the moral and ethical emptiness of the Clintons than 10,000 republican conspiracy theorists combined. Obama represents a moment in time and Hillary represents the establishment.

In Democratic politics, the establishment candidate usually wins. She has the organization that is provided by local and state delegations and the union support. She has the army of the party, Obama has the people. Can he win?

On Sunday night, Former President Bill Clinton was in town to stump for Hillary and collect a few checks, courtesy of the Erie County Democratic Party.  Rep. Brian Higgins was one of the hosts for the $1,000 per person event, which was expected to raise $100,000 at an event in the law office of Phillips Lytle at HSBC Tower.  WNYM was on hand at the Ellicott Square Building in Downtown Buffalo to cover the post-fundraiser festivities.

Bill alluded to upstate as the “backbone of her support” in the Senate.  Really?  I don’t know if I’d agree with that assessment, but I am predisposed to loathing her, so there’s that.

Erie County Executive Chris Collins is taking a closer look at which businesses will receive tax breaks during his tenure and the manner in which they will be awarded.

(Collins questioned) the need for sales tax incentives for an expansion by Martin’s Fantasy Island.

The Grand Island amusement park had asked the Erie County Industrial Development Agency for $87,000 in tax breaks to help it buy new equipment for two new rides slated to open this spring. The equipment is valued at more than $850,000.

The park, owned by Martin Di- Pietro, has received similar benefits to install rides in 2006 and 2007, with no challenge. But this time it ran into opposition from an administrator who has stated his intent to apply a business approach to government.

Collins, a member of the ECIDA board, said at the agency’s monthly meeting that the park would probably go ahead with the expansion anyway because it needs to remain competitive. So, there’s no need for the county to give them an incentive to go forward, he argued.

A quick check of the Martin’s Fantasy Island homepage shows they are already advertising the addition of the two new rides.

FLIGHT: A new vertical swing ride. Passengers are seated in one of 12 double swings which are elevated to a height of 140 feet while rotating around the top of the tower. This provides not only an amazing ride sensation but also a spectacular view of the surrounding area (Who wouldn’t want a closer look at the toll booths and empty light industrial parks of Grand Island! - Geek). FLIGHT - it’s not just a ride, it’s an experience.

GRAND CIRCUS MENAGERIE: Brings vibrant color and excitement to the midway. Watch your children’s eyes light up as they select their favorite mode of transportation and relive the fun while enjoying the ride under the circus big top on the Grand Circus Menagerie.

Now, I’m all for adding the semblance of entertainment at an amusement park that lacks a certain sense of, errr, amusement, but tax breaks don’t appear to be necessary to make that happen.

Tax incentives should be awarded to companies that are either being lured here or or are contemplating closure or relocation to another metro area. Even then, they should be given with caution as fiddling with the competitive balance in an industry with tax breaks often has unforeseen consequences in the market.

It’s a nice change of pace to see an elected official taking a closer look at all budget lines and challenging established procedures and customs.

On the freshly redesigned WNYMedia frontpage, we’ve added a bunch of cool functionality and one of those features is an official weather report from “WNYMedia Weather Central”.   Our weather prognostication center is in an undisclosed location, but the weather guy is an actual weatherman and he knows what he’s talkin’ about.  You’ll be able to pull our weather forecasts on YouTube and the frontpage.

Does the day-to-day business of local governance impede broad-based progress? That’s what former Chief of Staff to the Buffalo Common Council, Paul Wolf, recently asked on his blog.

People run for office, because they want to accomplish something. Dealing with garbage totes, parking tickets and barking dogs is probably not what most candidates had in mind, yet most elected officials spend all of their time focusing on solving individual problems. Peter Senge noted author and management consultant, points out that spending all of your time solving problems in the end gets you no where. Problems never go away; they keep coming and coming. Problem solving drains your time and energy, preventing you from focusing on big ideas that can make a difference.

Effective elected officials move beyond problem solving and focus on a vision for the future. What is your vision for your community? What are you passionate about seeing happen in your community? Effective elected officials can answer such questions, as they know what they want to accomplish, they have a vision that is clear and that others can rally behind.

Each year as I draw the curtain behind me in the voting booth, this is the question I ask; Which candidate has a big picture vision? Oftentimes, I am disappointed to find that neither of the major party candidates for office are effectively equipped with the skills to set a vision and work towards implementing it.

Erie County Legislature candidates are usually embroiled in budget minutiae and jumping through the nonsensical political hoops the media sets for them. Will you support take home cars? Cell phones for staff? The small potatoes pablum that fills a ninety second redcoat “On Your Side” news segment with great efficacy. Nary a word about the big picture of county governance, few questions about state mandated service delivery mechanisms and ways to implement vision based programs to reduce cost and accomplish something revolutionary or unique.

The same holds true in Common Council elections. What will my councilmember do to make my particular corner of the world safer, quieter, cleaner? There is very little discussion about citywide planning, changes to stagnant cost structures, or project master plans.

The politicians who have come forward with vision based plans in recent years are few and far between. Joel Giambra trumpeted his vision of regionalism but lacked the political capital (or the good sense to stop wasting it) to implement that vision. Satish Mohan, Mary Travers-Murphy, Steve Walters, and Cindy Locklear rode big idea government vision into office in 2005 only to meet varying levels of opposition from a political establishment who were interested in the maintenance of status quo day-to-day governance. Chris Collins rode to a massive victory in 2007 based on his Six Sigma methodology mantra and we’ve yet to see if he has the will and muscle to implement.

I look around the political landscape and see few local officials who possess the vision to accomplish big things. What is the grand plan and vision put forth by Mayor Byron Brown? Ask your councilmember or legislator what their vision for the town, city, or county is. Are they able to put something together that is more than a loosely organized set of “priorities”?

Possessing vision and leadership skills seems like it ought to be a prerequisite for holding political office, but I fear in this region, it is not.

In the post about my horrific customer service experience at Joe Cecconi’s Chrysler Complex, a reader left a comment…

While we haven’t met or done business, I’d be happy to supply you (no charge) with a spare key and program it for your vehicle. Yes they have a chip inside and are expensive but you shouldn’t have to be going through this. Contact our Chrysler Service Director, Steve Heary at 667-1700.

There is no catch in this , I’d just like to work hard to earn you as a customer. As a 4 time recipient of the Better Business Bureau Torch award for ethics, we strive very hard to do whatever it takes in the community to help owners no matter where they purchased.

Please mention to Steve that I referred you to him.

Kindest Regards,

Brad Coon
Director of Parts and Service
West Herr Automotive Group

Later that evening, I received a follow up email from Mr. Coon who again asked that I contact his service director. He was apologetic for the treatment I had received at another dealership and hoped that I wouldn’t let one experience with this dealer sour me on the Chrysler brand.

I followed up with a phone call to Steve Heary yesterday and I was immediately overwhelmed by his politeness and willingness to help. He asked me for my Vehicle Identification Number and informed me that I would have a key waiting if I came by West Herr Dodge in Orchard Park the next day. Upon arrival, Mr. Heary greeted me with a handshake and a smile and provided me with a spare key for the Jeep. He had ordered a simple spare key without the lock/unlock/panic fob and I was absolutely satisfied with that as a second key. However, Steve was not.

He wondered if I needed a third key in order for the remote starter to work and put a call into Custom Radio in Amherst to confirm. The tech at Custom Radio informed him that I only needed two keys for the starter to work, but Steve decided to give me an additional lock/unlock key fob to go along with the grey spare key he had provided earlier. I told him it was unnecessary and that a second key of any sort was more than enough to rectify the situation, but he went the extra mile.

Steve apologized for the entire mess of a situation, never uttered a word about the Cecconi dealership, and focused on the level of service provided at his dealership. Very professional, extremely polite, and a very proud West Herr employee.

I was blown away by the outreach and the friendliness of everyone at West Herr, it’s amazing what a little politeness can accomplish in this day and age.

We live in a time when companies which sell commodity assets rely on their brand as their true asset, not the commodities they sell. The brand is a sum total of your corporate reputation and the way you treat your customers. Clearly, a dealership like Joe Cecconi’s Chrysler Complex is not concerned with their brand identity and feel that cars are the product.

West Herr gets it. They understand that there are several dealers for each brand of vehicle in the region and each offers similar pricing and similar products with similar configurations. The difference and the key to growth is to invest in your brand and the level of customer service which you provide. There is an old saying that a “brand is a promise”.  It is a promise to deliver to the corporate standard and to meet the expectations of old and new customers alike. West Herr did that today, they delivered on their brand and exceeded the expectations of this new customer.

Yes, today West Herr won themselves a customer for life. Since they sell virtually every brand under the sun, whatever car I am looking for will be purchased at one of their dealerships. Because they deliver on the promise of their brand and they get it.

So, welcome to West Herr New York.

Today, Eliot Spitzer will give his “State of New York State” address in Albany at 1230PM.  Hopefully, the finger gesture Spitzer makes in the above photo does not represent the amount of progress he intends to report.

Click here to watch the live web stream of the speech.

Supposedly, Spitzer will touch on major issues like a property tax rate cap, increased funding for universities, privatizing the NY Lottery, and a $1BN Upstate Revitalization Fund that will be used to fund development projects throughout upstate.

In any event, how would you describe the state of affairs right now in New York State?  Do you approve of the job Eliot is doing?   What are your expectations of Spitzer in 2008?

Back in September, I was fresh off an incredibly unpleasant purchase of a Jeep from Joe Cecconi’s Chrysler Complex on Military Road in Niagara Falls. This is what I had to say then:

The customer service at Joe Cecconi’s Five Star Chrysler Complex is no better than One Star. We traded in the old Jeep for a new one and my beloved Kane Doyle Jeep has recently closed its doors, thus forcing us into the arms of Mr. Cecconi. Not a pleasant experience. If you need to buy a Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler, I’d recommend you go somewhere else. The salesman was disorganized, the sales manager couldn’t find my car for three days, and the entire experience was just a mess.

What follows is a lengthy dissertation on awful customer service and is written for the sole purpose of my personal venting. Read at your own risk of being bored.

At the time, it was just another in a long series of mildly unpleasant sales transactions that have littered my life over the past ten years. Customer service is in a general state of disarray in America, so I stopped really getting worked up about the minor slights and rudeness years ago. However, the purchase process was a mere prelude to the incredible rudeness, arrogance, and outright lying that I have had to deal with over the past couple of days. Absolutely incredible.

When we purchased our vehicle, John Simone (our salesman), only provided us with one key to the vehicle. In the morass of waiting several hours to close our sale with the finance guy, wrangling the baby, dealing with my wife who was on the verge of burning the dealership to the ground, and other general nonsense…the fact that he only gave me one key went unnoticed.

If you have purchased a car in the last five years, you’ll know why having only one key can be difficult. The key has a computer chip in it which works with the ignition and also has the remote lock/unlock functionality built into it. These keys can be a bit pricey, usually $300 retail. So, after a day or so, I called Cecconi’s Chrysler to inform them that I needed the second key to the vehicle. After leaving seven voicemails over four days with my salesman and the sales manager, I was informed that they couldn’t find my key, but I was welcome to make a service appointment to get a new one cut and programmed at their cost. I called the service department and was told the soonest I could get in was 37 days later. Ugh. I made the appointment and moved on with the day to day.

In the interim, I filled out three separate customer service surveys with Chrysler which rated my buying experience at Cecconi’s as the worst of my adult life. I received calls from Chrysler in which I informed them that this was absolutely the last Chrysler I ever intended to lease/purchase and it was totally due to the ineptitude and rudeness of the dealership. Piss me off? Well…a VERY nasty customer survey pox upon your house, Mr. Man! HARUMPH!#! Lame, I know. But I had no other recourse after taking delivery of the vehicle. You take what you can get in life.

Of course, I was sent out of town for a training class during the week of the appointment and I had to reschedule at the last minute and I was told it would be another two months before I could get in. I was incensed. To make this portion of the story shorter, I decided to just move through life with only one key to the vehicle and just forget about it. I filed it under “to be taken care of when I was less irritable”, so 2023 would probably be the date for that.

Bored yet? Stick with me, it’s about to get a little more entertaining.

My wife primarily drives the new Jeep as she transports the baby more often than I do, thus, I decided to get her a remote starter for this Christmas. I thought it would be nice if she could start the Jeep and let it warm up past 3 degrees in the morning when se is taking the baby out. Yeah, I’m thoughtful, it’s how I roll.

My appointment to have the starter installed was this morning at Custom Radio in Amherst. Upon arrival, I was informed that they would be unable to install the starter I purchased in December without two keys. If one key is lost, well, the car probably will not start without some huge cost to me at Jeep and with them. So, I decided today was the day I would take a jaunt up to visit my good buddies at Cecconi’s Chrysler Complex and get my second key.

Upon arrival, I asked to speak with Clyde Van Every (the sales manager who was ducking my calls earlier). He deigned to speak with me and I requested his assistance in following up on his promise to give me my second key. He initially agreed, but was interrupted by Mike Jensen (the dealership’s general manager). I was then informed that he mailed my key to me last month and that I should go back home and “give a good look around for it”.

Of course, this was news to me and I immediately undertook the following line of questioning:

Q: When did you specifically mail it?

A: I don’t know, sometime last month

Q: How did you mail it? UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS? Certified? Return Receipt? Insured? Delivery confirmation?

A: Nope, just dropped it in an envelope and mailed it to you

Q: You dropped a $300 key into an envelope and mailed it to me? Where and when did you find “my key” at the dealership? How did you know it was my key and not someone else’s? Did you need to run a check on the chip or what?

A: Nope, I just knew it was your key

Q: Is there any evidence whatsoever that you actually mailed this key? Is there a note in my customer file? A post it note stuck to a monitor somewhere? Anything? Because it sure seems awfully odd that you would just find a random key, intuitively know it was mine, not make a note of it nor contact me, and just drop it in the mail. And to remember with such clarity that you mailed it but to have not retained any other details of the process.

A: It was mailed, you’re free to buy another key if you want. Hell, I’ll even sell it to you at cost ($150). Seems pretty clear to me that you just want a free spare key out of us so you can set up your remote starter. I’m not gonna get screwed on this deal. ya know.

Q: I see what you did there, you flipped it! Oh, you’re the clever one Mr. GED-having car salesman! I’m the liar and thief! So, you’re telling me that I have no recourse here and that I should go fuck myself?

A: That is exactly what I am telling you.

Super. I went out to the car to calm down.

I decided to call Chrysler Customer Service to see if they could help influence the process in some way. After calmly and rationally detailing the situation to the agent, I was put on hold as she attempted to contact the dealership and broker a truce. I sat immediately outside the dealership in my vehicle, from which I had a direct view of Clyde and Mike yukking it up in the office. Moments later, the agent came back on the phone to inform me that the dealership receptionist said that both of them had left for the day and they would call back next week. To wit, I informed the phone agent that I was staring right at them and they were sitting in their office. I instructed her to call back and let them know the customer is sitting outside, has visual lock on them, and that she would like to speak with them. They refused again. Classy.

I filed my complaint, requested that Chrysler help me, but I was informed that this was a problem with the sales process and I needed to take it up with the dealership. They couldn’t do much for me and she apologized. That and six dollars will get me a cup of coffee at Spot.

It then occurred to me that if these assclowns had indeed mailed a key in a Chrysler envelope and it was actually lost, there was someone walking about town with my address and a key to my Jeep. Not cool. I went back inside and asked if there was anything someone would do to remedy that situation and I was told to get bent. Great. “If your Jeep is stolen, take it up with your insurance company. There is absolutely nothing that I am going to do for you today.”

So, at a loss for what to do, I had to leave as it seemed the only matter of recourse was to go all “Frank Rizzo” on them.

So, as it stands; I have one key for my Jeep, cannot install the $200 remote starter I bought my wife for Christmas, was abused and called a liar by the guys at Cecconi’s Chrysler Complex, Chrysler refuses to get involved, and if by some chance the unethical (allegedly) sales manager is not lying…someone is walking around Buffalo with the key to my Jeep and my address. Awesome. My only recourse is to purchase a new key from another dealership and have that one and my current key reprogrammed or I could take them to small claims court.

While I decide what to do next, I’ll litter the various Internet car portals with poor ratings for Cecconi and this story.

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery on what to do next?

With the holiday season nearing it’s closure and a new year upon us, I thought it was time to cobble together a random musings post which details where my mind is at right now as both a blogger and Citizen of Buffalo. It’s one part recap of 2007 and one part resolutions for 2008…

• I thought 2007 would be the year in which Buffalo made some tremendous strides both politically and economically. Unfortunately, it was a lot like 2006, 2005, and 2004; Iterative progress which doesn’t amount to much of a “revolution”. Positive developments can be found if you look hard enough. However, when I look back on 2007, I don’t see much progress made on addressing the massive problems of poverty, urban blight, racism, vacant properties, and failing public education system that engulf vast swaths of our urban environment. I also see little progress being made on the statewide level to address our overbearing business costs, over regulation, excessive personal tax rates, corruption, abuse of taxpayer monies, unaccountable authorities, and unresponsive elected officials. It doesn’t inspire much hope for 2008. Hey, way to kick things off with a tidal wave of optimism, eh?
• I can’t decide which politician has been a bigger disappointment to the people of Buffalo, Byron Brown or Eliot Spitzer. Frankly, I voted for neither, so I can’t say I’m surprised they have been massive disappointments. It seems as if Mayor Brown is looking to create as little ruckus as possible while he waits for Rep. Louise Slaughter to retire. Congress is calling, don’t want to rock the boat too much and piss off any potential constituencies! Spitzer seems to lack the ability to lead or build consensus. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who was an observer of his behavior as Attorney General. State Senator Joe Bruno has effectively neutered Spitzer and without a massive Mea Culpa, I don’t see a way for Spitzer to rebuild political capital to fight back or accomplish any of his ambitious agenda.
• The proxy war for the Democratic Party in the City of Buffalo continues unabated between Sam Hoyt and Byron Brown. Shifting allegiances in party politics, control of the Common Council, control of district committeemen, control of patronage power, control of party messaging and candidates…all of it up for grabs as Hoyt and the Party square off against Byron and Grassroots. What does any of this matter in the grand scheme of things? Absolutely nothing and is a total distraction from the business of the people. See my first point about why 2007 was like any other year…
• Tell Bashar Issa to give me a call when he gets something significant done over at the Statler. Until then, I’d like it if he’d stop with the grand proclamations about his massive design plans to reinvigorate the entirety of Buffalo proper. He is a walking silver bullet plan to the denizens of “New Buffalo” and it is growing execeedingly tedious. To belabor his efforts and support him vociferously every time he farts in our general direction makes us look small and insignificant.
• Piggybacking on that, I’d like to define the difference between “efforts” and “results” for people in this town as it seems as if we are so disconnected from someone actually getting something done that we often confuse the two…
  • Results - Something tangible that comes from the conscious application of effort. Something to be celebrated.
  • Efforts - The work done to achieve a particular end. Not worth celebrating.

• The reason that Niagara Falls has failed to derive any tangible benefits from their Casino has little to do with the actual casino itself. It has everything to do with incompetent and corrupt elected leadership and a lack of planning to build anything around the casino. How is it Barry Snyder’s problem that NFR and Cordish have done absolutely nothing with the property they own? People might go outside the casino if there was a place for them to go or something for them to do! The casino has generated millions in tax revenue for the city and they have done nothing with it to build or promote spinoff businesses around it.
• Buildings, museums, and a “sense of place” do not create economic development. Pro-business policies, lower tax rates, and increased density do create economic development. It is not a chicken v. egg argument…the artistic culture and beautiful buildings we celebrate here and declare as our meal ticket are a vestigial tail of our early economic boom times. When we again increase density by luring people into our region with the promise of decent schools, lower taxes, and jobs…I’ll give a shit about curb cuts, mixed use retail, faux two story buildings, and the constant cycle of business openings/closings on two streets in Buffalo.
• My Buffalonian of The Year award goes to Michael Gainer of Buffalo ReUse, not sure if his inclusion in this list of rants is a good or bad thing for him. However, each time I get the opportunity to catch up with Michael, I am impressed by his enthusiasm, energy, leadership skills, and results driven organization. He leads a talented group of volunteers who are bound and determined to take the communal liability of vacant properties and turn them into a model for job training, community pride, leadership development, and sustainable reuse. He stays out of the politics and focuses on results. However you can, please support their mission with a tax deductible donation, purchase of building materials at their new showroom, or volunteering your time.
• I am optimistic about Chris Collins. I will not be holding him to an arbitrarily high standard of “non-politician” nor will I be troubled if his first year in office is spent getting his feet wet and he makes a few missteps. I voted for him as I thought he would bring a “think different” approach to the office of Erie County Executive. If he is going to be successful, he’ll have to play the game of politics on some levels to accomplish anything. He is dealing with a partisan and entrenched legislature that the citizens resoundingly support (based on vote totals) and he is going to need to work with an overbearing and uncooperative Control Board to create some semblance of progress. It’s gonna be a tough year.
• I’m going to spend more time in 2008 documenting progress in Buffalo’s suburbs and the region as a whole. I am exhausted by the endless discussions and debates with the “creative class” when it comes to issues of progress, preservation, and economic development in our urban core. However, if someone wants to talk about a regional master plan for the waterfront, economic development, consolidation of IDA’s, rapid transit, abolition of the BMHA, regional housing plans, regional governmental consolidation of services and operations, count me in.
• I’m hoping 2008 is the year in which we all stop trying so hard to agree and we start demanding tangible results from our legislators, councilmen, elected and non-elected leaders, and community activists. Everyone should be open to criticism and we should all demand better.
• I’m hoping more people call me an asshole. I’m already on several political and cultural blacklists in this town due to my opinions and actions…let’s close that loop and make me persona non grata anywhere stupid ideas are thrown about.
• Finally, something I’ve been wanting to say to the citizens of Buffalo for a long, long time…inspired by the words of Tyler Durden.  Buffalo, you are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying northeastern urban city as found elsewhere. We do not have the market cornered on beautiful architecture, sense of place, good food, or anything else. We all love the shared context of having grown up here and we are proud to call our city home. It may be news to you, but the people of Chicago, Austin, Portland, Memphis, Louisville, Indianapolis, Dallas, and hundreds of other cities feel the same as you do…except for the fact that they are building, growing, and economically relevant to contemporary America. Meanwhile, we spend our time here looking to copy how other cities do things (ignorant of our own political/economic realities) and/or looking backward to a time when things were “good”. We need to shed this feeling that we are facing some sort of special situation and focus on creating wealth and looking ahead instead of behind. That is what will create a “New Buffalo”.

I know it seems like it’s all Chris Collins, all the time here at BuffaloGeek, but this is one of the final installments in our interview with the new Erie County Executive.  In this segment, Collins discusses his approach to negotiating with the public sector labor unions.   As we enter 2008, the contracts for the three major public sector unions at the county level have expired.  It’s time to renegotiate, well, in as much as the Taylor Law allows for renegotiation.

Collins’ approach appears to be firm; without a renegotiation of all contract terms, there will be no pay raises for county employees and they are free to continue working under their current and expired deals.  While this seems like a hard line, it also seems exceptionally fair.  Collins has identified the only leverage point that he has (raises) and will use it to reduce overall contract costs.

His administration will conduct a comparison of private sector benefit packages with public sector packages, define the delta between the two, and work towards compromise on give and take.  Any savings realized as a result of the new contracts will be split 50/50 between the public employees (in the form of pay raises) and the taxpayers.  Getting public sector contracts more inline with those normally found in the private sector is one of the primary reasons that Collins was elected, I don’t believe he will capitulate on this issue.

The problem in past negotiations has been that the county approached the unions with a single cost saving in mind and primarily worked on one issue.  This is not the way to negotiate anything, especially a union contract protected by the Taylor Law.  If the new administration intends to negotiate in good faith and evaluate all aspects of the existing contracts, cost savings are in the offing.  Offering cash incentives to reduce certain expensive parts of the benefit package while offering other inducements like professional training, certification, will result in a favorable outcome.

Will the unions play ball?