zhelan

To answer John Herbert's question, the problem with lowering the road is that the bridge is located at the lowest point of land along the parkway and the water level of the lake has been rising for decades.
When the Barge Canal improvements were made a century ago that lowered the Onondaga Lake level. That escarpment you see along the parkway and in Onondaga Lake Park is where the water line used to be.
Banning commercial vehicles from the Parkway is the sensible solution. There's only so much you can do if people get behind the wheel but don't pay attention to where they're going.

Reading these comments, it isn't difficult to figure out how we elected Rep. Buerkle. We seem to be as mean-spirited and irrational as her policies are.

Perhaps, when the Post Standard is in an investigating mood, they might wonder about what Dave Murphy brings to this. He used to be Onondaga County's Chief Fiscal Officer. Conflict of interest, anyone?

"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Somewhere on that continuum is the Onondaga County Republican Party. They've had things their own way for way too long. Of course, voters bear some of the responsibility for consistently voting for them. The solution won't be quick or easy but it's time to start shoveling out the Augean stables.

You call that reporting, O'Hara? One of the reasons we have ethically-challenged police, prosecutors and judiciary in Central New York is surely that the local media are unwilling to investigate them. The Jordan-Elbridge School District debacle was an easy red herring to throw to the public. No one at the Post Standard needed to fear any consequences from covering it and the story had sex, too. It was as far from the downtown power centers as you can get and still be in Onondaga County.
If you want know what a newspaper that serves it community responsibly looks like, just read the Watertown Daily Times.

When people talk about religion in public life, they usually mean a religion they like. How about having your/ your daughter's clitoris mutilated, labia sewn shut, prevented from driving, covered from head-to-toe and unable to move about and work and contribute to society, etc. That's the problem with religious conservatives be they Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or Muslim. They are not content to practice what they preach. They want to force their beliefs on other people. Freedom of religion is not just the freedom to practice your religion, it is the freedom from being coerced into practicing someone else's religion.

Now they know why these overlapping layers of government are unsustainable. Also, the rates of fires have been going down nationally for decades thanks to better construction and better codes enforcement. County Sheriff's budget has doubled in one decade. It's not just that these things are unsustainable, they are unnecessary. We throw money at our fears while our real needs - like infrastructure and researsh & development, go underfunded.

Simple fact: there are many thousands more poor people in Buffalo. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves and get a grip, Syracuse.

Even of this mean-spiritedness - and at this season, too.
Many of these comments explain why a hypocrite like Andrew Russo was considered a serious candidate for statewide office when he ran against Dave Valesky. Russo told Susan Arbetter during an interview on The Capitol Pressroom that he didn't think other people should have pensions when he had a 401-K. Of course, he failed to mention that he makes a salary that enables him to buy a $375,000 house, an expensive choice if you're worried about your future. He's also employed in the financial industry, according to the Post Standard, so if he's making poor decisions he must be in the wrong line of work.
One test of a civilized nation is how it treats its workers: sick leave, retirement, health care, education. To quote Fredrick Douglas: "Power never concedes anything without a struggle. It never has. It never will."

As of this morning 12/21/2011, our elected Congressmember Ann Marie Buerkle's website and email are unavailable. Perhaps she is too busy planning what to do with that $1.9 million she just got from selling her shopping center to bother with her constituents. We can only hope she gives all the money to charity. Considering the work the House has failed to do this year, there are many needy people out there.

I'd be amazed if most of these creepy comments weren't made by men. Yuck! You guys make me want to get myself to a nunnery - or at least out of Central new York.

This is a lot more uproar than when Senator de Francisco had Albany create a cushy job for his wife Linda. Must be people are getting more sensitive now that times are tough. When I first moved here the Republicans had a free hand with the cookie jar. Onondaga County voters might even want to consider a two party system.

wombat625 isn't entirely right - or entirely wrong, either. It's the appointed positions, usually better-paid, that go to people who are well-connected. The bottom line is to be a registered Republican; the exceptions, like former Chief Fiscal Officer Joe Mareane, are few. It doesn't mean these people are incompetent. Everybody has friends. The problem is that so many accomplished people never get a chance ( a job) because they are not well connected. And I've never met anyone who did get one of these jobs who thinks it was because of their connections. Each one thinks "My sterling qualities have been justly rewarded."

Illogical, self-serving, and cruel. The argument boils down to: there is evil that humans have done and there's no reason to stop now.

To fampro621, Cicero didn't send the same people back. The problem is lack of competence and disdain for government. If you think a job is a snap, you're probably not prepared to do it well. The Lysander Planning Board was full of people who needed help understanding planning issues. A good part of what counties do in New York State is hold the hands and cover for the lower layers of government.

I, too, am underemployed and sympathize with the people in this article. But I am struck by the contradictions in the story of the Baldigo family. They regard universal health care as evil and also, apparently, public schools since they don't send their children there. Yet Mrs. Baldigo works in a school and they are using, as they are entitled to, a government health program. If we denigrate collective action we have forgotten that "no man is an island."

Medaking, Congel is all too typical of the rich - in this community and elsewhere - who do as little as possible to leave the world better than they found it. And by the way, your comment is just plain rude, aside from being content-free.

Mr. Turo, has it occurred to you that this is why other countries are cleaning our clocks? You're not very flexible. You talk about a "dream job" while many of us can only dream of having a job. I used to work overtime at no extra pay when I worked in public service and was glad to do it.
Senator de Francisco, how tough is it to get the point?. I understand the law and the reasons for it and I'm not an attorney

As I recall, someone tried to shoot Dov Avery when he was the Lysander Town Assessor. And when I attende a Town Board meeting, a board member accused the State of dereliction of duty for something the Town was responsible for - but the audience didn't understand that, and cheered. glad I don't live there anymore.

In 1990, an official from Wilmorite came into the government office where I was working, seeking information. He struck up a conversation with me about shopping malls and sneered at the increased amenities offered at Carousel Center - including places to eat and handicapped access. He told me that people didn't want or need these things and then grilled me on how long it had been since I had been to each Wilmorite mall in Central New York. He was not pleased with my answers.
As to the current situation, my sympathies go to the Oneidas whose businesses have given much more to Central New York than Wilmorite ever has. All 'special interests' are not created equal.

Remember a few years ago when Green made it known that he was available to run for public office but he hadn't quite figured out if he was a Republican or a Democrat? Really! Must think as deeply about ethics as he thought about politics. Like so many career athletes he doesn't seem to have studied too hard in college or he'd be better prepared for the tough questions in life.

When I lived in Van Buren I was dismayed by the games the Town played with sales tax revenues. Van Buren is a poster child for ending the sharing. It's also a poster child for governmental consolidation. When I went to vote, the chair of the inspectors at my polling place ( a Republican and lifelong resident of the town) told me that voting is not a right, it's a privilege, and that the wrong kind of people are being allowed to vote (me - a newcomer and a Democrat).

Good newspapers moderate their comments for basic standards of civility; The Post-Standard does not. My guess is that they use the numbers of comments posted to attract advertisers.

To notaniceguy: You are under-informed. Several years ago a Syracuse hospital refused to let me visit my mother in the intensive care unit They had performed a risky test on her and it had gone badly, so they shut me out. Nothing about sexuality in this story, just a reminder, like the clerk refusing to issue a marriage license to two women, that there are always people who will try to do something bad if they think they can get away with it.

The crime rate keeps dropping, decade after decade, and we keep throwing more money at law enforcement, as our roads crumble, our children's education and health care needs go unmet.
Here's an example of what we get for our money.
Last year my car was pulled over because the left headlight was out. The Village pulled me over, the State Police boxed me in from the front, and the Sheriff's patrol car boxed the driver's door in. Then the brave police officer confronted me with the ticket. How many police agencies does it take to deal with one blonde woman in an economy car? Your tax dollars going down the tube so grown men can play tough.

All I know about Judy Tassone is that I emailed her twice about issues before the County Legislature and she did not reply either time. Whatever her positions on the issues, she doesn't communicate them to constituents, so she can't complain of people interpret them. So much for responsive government.

Just a fact or two to remember...Texas and the two Carolinas, states that have the highest job creation rates this decade, also have among the highest poverty rates and the lowest wages. 19 per cent of workers in Texas make at or BELOW the minimum wage. The northerners who go south and live it up do so with decent northern wages and benefits, things not available the people they will be living among. Taxes are low, yes, but so is the quality of education. And there is LOTS more crime.

The Capitol District is way ahead of Central New York on nano technology. It seems that this area is usually a follower, rather than a leader. It is also good at freezing out ideas that don't come from the "right people." I've been here for 25 years and I'm still an outsider. That's why I'm saving up money to leave. Now that we've identified weaknesses in Central New York, what are its strengths?

The Syracuse Symphony disappeared! The Ida Benderson Center disappeared! This makes me think of the Wisconsin voter who was quoted as saying "I voted for Scott Walker because he said he would eliminate frivolous spending. I didn't know he considered education frivolous." Why are we surprised? We boo gay soldiers and cheer at the idea of someone dying for lack of health care. We are becoming a mean-spirited society. Just read the comments posted here every day.

At least this is a better outcome than when Congel closed Bonwit Teller in 2000. The Everson Museum wanted to buy the frescoes that had been painted by the Springside artists who refurbished the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. But Congel refused and had them jack-hammered to bits. Several of us who saw their ruins in the dumpsters cried.