Monroerising.com

Earlier today, Joe Robach made his re-election announcement at the Roger Robach Community Center, the building named after Robach’s late father, Assemblyman Roger Robach.  I received an e-mail about the announcement and was able to attend the event.

First and foremost, if the number and array of supporters is indicative of what we can expect from the upcoming campaign, Robach will once again win re-election by another huge margin regardless of who his opponent is.  The building was packed with city and suburban residents, veterans, firefighters, law enforcement, democrats and republicans, union members, members of the faith community, community leaders, elected officials, family members and friends.  There had to be around 150 people there.  And it looked like every single media outlet showed up to cover it. [Read more →]

Tags: Articles, InsidePolitics, Joe Robach, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, Willa Powell by InsidePolitics
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Take a look at Water Buffalo Press’ take on RICHard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel and Willa Powell’s protest last week outside of Joe Robach’s office — It’s really well done:

What a beautiful day to grandstand

NYS Senate hopefuls Rick Dollinger, Sandra Frankel and Willa Powell could not have had better weather in which to grandstand, I mean demonstrate, outside the office of Senator Joe Robach yesterday.

See our earlier post on the matter that caused all the hub-bub for the background on this story which led to the Rochester branch’s NOW-organized picket:

Barbara Moore, secretary of the Rochester chapter of NOW, said she didn’t think the candidates were using the issue for political gain.

“Economic justice, the economy, is the bedrock of the Democratic party and these are strong Democrats,” she said. “Democrats care about raising people out of poverty. They know something has to be done and they know pay equity is the way to do that.”

Uh-huh.  What Moore failed to mention is that Robach’s bill passed the Senate unanimously with bi-partisan support.  Moore also failed to address the mythological nature of discriminatory pay practices in New York and across the country.

Well done WBP!

Tags: Joe Robach, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, The Equalizer, Willa Powell by The Equalizer
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So, the gang of three seeking to run against state Senator Joseph Robach, Democrats Willa Powell, RICHard Dollinger, and Sandy Frankel, were in Greece yesterday grandstanding for the latest special interest group, NOW of Greater Rochester. 

They were protesting because they felt Robach didn’t support their cause — having government decide how much people working in various jobs should be paid.  Many feel this legislation is unnecessary because there is this thing called the “free market” that has worked pretty well since before the founding of our Republic.  The Democrat and Chronicle was the only media outlet covering the event – they sent cub reporter Kate Perry, to cover this event.

RICHard Dollinger was the biggest hypocrite of the bunch.  According to the D&C:

Dollinger, Robach’s predecessor who held the 56th state Senate district seat from 1993 to 2002, accused Robach of ducking out on a vote that would have released a stronger pay-equity bill from committee.

Wait a minute, isn’t this the same guy who “ducked out” of the Senate in 2002 when he found out he was going to have a tough race?  Isn’t this the same guy who “ducked out” when he was elected chair of the Monroe County Democratic Committee because he wanted to pursue his life long dream of being a judge?  In case you don’t know, the answer is yes to both. [Read more →]

Tags: Articles, Cincinnatus, Joe Robach, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, Willa Powell by Cincinnatus
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Well, that didn’t take long.  Remember when I wrote that Joe Morelle’s endorsement of Rick Dollinger was going to effectively seal the deal for Dollinger to get the nomination to run for the 56th Senate race?  Sandy Frankel had already beaten Dollinger in Brighton with 53% of the vote.  Then Dollinger quickly releases an announcement that he has the endorsement of Democrat Assemblyman/Democrat County Party Chair Joe Morelle.  I said that Morelle’s endorsement would shift the Democrat Party machine’s support over to Rick and I was right.

Last night, the Greece and Parma Democrat Committees overwhelmingly endorsed Dollinger with 56% of the Greece votes and 60% of the Parma votes.  Now, it should be noted that only a total of about 51 Greece committee people voted and a paultry 12 Parma Democrat committee people bothered to show up, but the rules are the rules and Dollinger walks away with crushing percentages.

[Read more →]

Tags: Articles, InsidePolitics, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, Willa Powell by InsidePolitics
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Since I don’t read the weekly Messenger Post Newspapers, I completely missed this announcement.  Thank you to one of our readers who sent us an e-mail and some thoughts regarding an article in last week’s Brighton-Pittsford Post.

It seems that Monroe County Democratic Party Chair and State Assemblyman Joe Morelle has already decided who will run against Joe Robach for the 56th state Senate seat.  It was reported in the BPP article that Richard Dollinger released a statement that his candidacy has been endorsed by Morelle.  This is a major setback for Sandy Frankel and pretty much ends the race for Willa Powell.  Morelle’s endorsement is seen as an indication of how the votes will be expected to go at the Democratic County party convention and comes at a critical moment for Dollinger.

[Read more →]

Tags: Articles, InsidePolitics, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, Willa Powell by InsidePolitics
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We had a post yesterday about Richard Dollinger’s scheduled press conference announcing he was running for his old senate seat.  Not because he wanted to be a Senator again, but because the party bosses in Albany wanted him to.

Dollinger, who served in the Senate from 1993 to 2002, chose not to seek another term after Robach, then a Democratic assemblyman, switched parties and ran for Dollinger’s post.

But Dollinger said Friday that circumstances are different this time after being encouraged by political leaders to run again.

I watched the local television news and it looks like this event was ignored by everyone but the D&C –they carried a two paragraph story on 7b.  This led me to wonder why he would schedule his announcement yesterday.  The St. Patrick’s Day parade and a bunch of other stuff going on.  If anyone did show up they would ask him about his disgraced buddy, Client Number 9, or at best he could tell everyone how he used to sit next to David Patterson.

This reminded me of the ineptitude of Sandy Frankel and her announcement for Senate in early February — another event ignored by local media. We did this post back then.  What’s up with these guys — they can’t even get media coverage for what is supposed to be one of the biggest Senate races in quite awhile.

The crew from Albany better get in here quick — at the rate these two are going, Willa Powell might actually have a chance to steal the nomination.

Tags: Articles, Cincinnatus, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, Willa Powell by Cincinnatus
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Gentle Reader:

We have been so busy with our team coverage of Client Number 9’s fall from grace that we have had to push other stories out a few days.  We’ve finally had a chance to talk to our sources about Tuesday night’s County Legislature meeting.

Sandy Frankel and Willa Powell both spoke at the public forum — evidently, pandering to the special interests is the latest form of campaigning for the state Senate.  The Legislature clerk called Richard Dollinger’s name to speak and he wasn’t at the meeting. Maybe Mr. Dollinger is trying to get confirmation that his deal for a judgeship is still on the table.  After all, as the saying goes, all deals die with the king, or in the case Client Number 9.  If its not too late, maybe he can re-apply for his Town Judge job back — I bet Supervisor Sandy would support that.

Sandy Frankel droned on about what a great liberal she is — after all Brighton offers benefits to people who do not meet New York State’s legal definition of marriage.  She promised to be back next month and do some shameless self promotion about the wonderful green initiatives she has sponsored as Supervisor.

Willa Powell was there and she told a story about how a young lesbian was shopping at the mall in Greece and encountered an anti-gay rally and was subjected to all kinds of abuse — due in no small part to that darn Maggie Brooks appealing the court decision requiring the County provide benefits to people who are not legally recognized as married in New York. 

This story sounds like complete non-sense.  I would think that would be the cause of the week for all of these newly energized fringe groups.  There would have been press conferences, candle light vigils and condemnation of Maggie Brooks  for encourage an attitude of intolerance.

We will have a post a little latter about Democratic Party embarrassment Jason Koon.  He cut ER’s senior nutrition program and he actually got 13 of the 14 Democrats in the Legislature to vote against a measure helping low income seniors in his community.

Tags: Monroe County, Prudence Izguhde, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, Willa Powell by Prudence Izguhde
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Just the other day I paid our friends at the Smugtownbeacon a compliment about their piece on Assemblyman David Gantt’s potential vulnerability and put them on our blogroll. Then yesterday they had a post that was as off base as their analysis of Gantt was right on the money. 

Yesterday’s post predicted that Senator Joe Robach would switch parties and run for the Senate as a Democrat. Robach isn’t switching — that should be obvious to anyone. Here’s why:

1) He was recently quoted in numerous media stories saying how Elliott “the Steamroller” Spitzer tried to buy him off with a job that paid a lot more than his legislative salary (it probably included getting a paycheck whether or not the budget passes on time). After expressing his outrage as strongly as he has, how do you turn around a couple of weeks later and say “I want to be on “the Steamroller’s team?”  I also doubt “the Steamroller” would welcome Robach now.

2) There are 3 candidates lined up to run against him.  True, it’s hard to imagine that local Dems would get excited about any of them, but do you think these egos would step aside and welcome Robach back to the party?  Dollinger’s deal for higher judicial appointment would be out the window, Sandy Frankel would run out the clock as Brighton Supervisor — something she’s clearly trying to avoid, and Willa Powell would …. ok, I’m not going to try to predict Willa Powell’s future — I’m good, but not that good.

There are probably more reasons, but these two are pretty compelling.  This reminds me of the rumors the Democrats are spreading about Tom Reynolds and Randy Kuhl retiring.  While it is lost on me, there must be a reason for it. They certainly know the time for Robach to switch has come and gone, yet they spread the rumors. 

I’m not saying the boys at the Smugtownbeacon are part of a vast left wing conspiracy — I think they are getting caught up in other people’s non-sense.  And after reading the personal nature of the attacks against Robach, I also get the feeling Aaron Wicks isn’t his biggest fan.

Tags: Articles, Cincinnatus, Joe Robach, New York State, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, Willa Powell by Cincinnatus
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I think I’m the only one who saw this. Brighton Supervisor Sandy Frankel announced she was running against Senator Joe Robach.  Last week she scheduled her first announcement to run against Robach (only to cancel it for “personal” reasons) between the Superbowl I mean “the big game” and SuperTuesday.  This week she announced it on the day of the public defender meeting at the County Legislature and Governor Steamroller is in town today– that’s why only wxxi pick up the story.

Check out this channel 8 story by Kevin Jolly.  Sources in the legislature told me Sandy made reference to Bull Connor during her speech and so does Jolly in the beginning of the story — unbelievable.  Sandy tries to do a walk-on at the end of Jolly’s story.

Rating the 56th senate candidates in terms of performance (that’s really what it was) my source said Dollinger first, Sandy Frankel second and Willa Powell a distant third (my source said she had an overall crazy aura about her).

The big question is who Assemblyman David Gantt will reward with the support of his Democrat rich base of voters. 

Tags: Articles, Cincinnatus, Joe Robach, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, Willa Powell by Cincinnatus
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Tuesday’s Democrat and Chronicle said that Sandy Frankel had a press conference planned for Wednesday to formally announce that she was going to run for Senate.  

She plans to make a formal announcement on Wednesday that she will run for the 56th District seat now held by Republican Joseph Robach of Greece.

I’ve read the morning paper, watched RNews and listened to WHAM and WXXI and not one word about the press conference.  This would lead me to believe that it didn’t happen.

I can think of several reasons why the press conference didn’t happen.

1) Mr. Peabody’s expose (followed by an excellent piece by Occam) on Frankel’s improper use of the Town of Brighton Website linking to her campaign website scared her off.

2) Somebody is trying to talk her out of challenging Richard Dollinger — Monroerising.com believes either Frankel or Willa Powell would have more support among rank and file Democrats.

3) Frankel, who is notoriously late to everything, arrived at her own press conference 45 minutes after it was supposed to start and all of the media left before she got there. 

Personally, I think number 2 is the correct answer, although number 3 certainly is believable.  The scheme to run Dollinger is probably being pushed by the Senate Democrats (do you know anyone in Rochester who would be excited by a return of Senator no-show?).  His pattern of putting himself first has been well documented and we don’t need to rehash it — we can just put a link to this past post!

Don’t be surprised if Sandy Frankel announces she made a mistake and meant to say she she wanted to run for County Clerk, not Senate.  Or maybe they think that just because she’s 66 years old she can be bought off with some cushy job that could help boost her final average salary in the retirement system. 

We stand by our original premise that there is no way Dollinger wins a “fair fight” for the Democratic nomination.  It will take political muscle to get Dollinger the Democratic nomination.  The big question is whether Sandy Frankel buckles or stands up for what will probably be her last shot at glory.

Keep checking in with us for all the latest developments on this story and anything else interesting in the world of local politics.

Tags: Articles, Cincinnatus, Joe Robach, New York State, Richard Dollinger, Sandy Frankel, Willa Powell by Cincinnatus
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