These
are busy times in Monroe County politics.

For
starters, longtime GOP boss Steve Minarik has been named as a frontrunner to
succeed the retiring New York State Republican Party chair Alexander “Sandy”
Treadwell. The state’s Republicans will meet in Albany next week to elect a new
chairperson.

Minarik
told City Newspaper he’d likely be
interested in the position and is building support for such a bid from around
the state.

“I
think I’d be interested,” he says. “I think we can bring some of the magic we
have here in Monroe County to Albany.”

Monroe
County Legislature republican Majority Leader Bill Smith says he believes
Minarik will get the job and praises the local leader’s political skills.

“It
is an excellent choice and it’s good news for the statewide Republican Party,”
he says.

Smith’s
counterpart across the aisle also says she respects Minarik’s political
abilities, even while disagreeing with his views and tactics.

“He’s
been a very tough competitor at the local level and I imagine he will be
equally tough at the state level if he goes,” says Stephanie Aldersley. “I
don’t think his style of leadership would be tolerated in the Democratic Party,
but it seems to work for him, so you know I wish him well.”

Aldersley
and her fellow Democrats, meanwhile, have their own reason to celebrate. Former
Monroe County Democratic Party Chair Ted O’Brien was appointed by County
Legislature President Wayne Zyra to fill the lej seat left vacant by Jay Ricci,
who recently moved to Connecticut to take a job. O’Brien is a partner in the
Rochester law firm Harris, Chesworth, and O’Brien.

“Ted
is a dear friend and I couldn’t be more delighted and more proud of the fact
that he’ll be joining us,” says Aldersley. Appointments only last until the
next general election, so O’Brien will have to run next year in his Irondequoit
district to defend the seat, but Aldersley says she’s confident of his
abilities and his chances in 2005.

“I
think he’ll do very, very well,” she says. “He’s very energetic, he really
cares deeply, and he’s very well-known in Irondequoit, so I look forward to his
service to the community for a long time to come.”

Jesse Thompson

Maybe Jesse Thompson was a dreamer.

“I think he was a
dreamer,” says Rochester City Councilman Adam McFadden. “But I think his goals
were doable.” McFadden and Thompson forged a quick friendship when McFadden
formed a taskforce to address some of Thompson’s business concerns.

“Jesse and I became
so close that he would always refer to me as his little brother,” he says. “He
was a standup individual. He was a great friend.”

Johnson was found
dead in his club last Thursday, November 4, from apparent natural causes. He
was 52.

Thompson opened Club
Rain, 360 Monroe Avenue, in 2002 in an effort to bring an upscale nightclub to
the city and revitalize nightlife in the Monroe Avenue area.

“He had a great
vision for the city,” says business partner and best friend Leslie Charles. “He
cared deeply about its future. He wanted to see Monroe Avenue thrive.”

Club Rain’s financial
woes threatened to overshadow Thompson’s efforts, but he persevered
optimistically with the help of friends like McFadden.

“We were putting
together a package to help him out with the debt load he had over at the club,”
McFadden says. “And we were working on things around entertainment and the
policing issues he was having. This guy was a fighter. He was not going to give
up. He was as tough as they come. I hope people remember Jesse for all the
great things he did as a business owner and a very loyal friend.”

At press time, the
future of Club Rain was uncertain.

On
procedural grounds

For
Maggie Brooks’ first budget, it’s almost the day of reckoning.

This
week, county legislators will be working to put the finishing touches on a
county budget for 2005. And while there’s been mainly praise for the budget,
much of the criticism has centered on a procurement policy. Slipped into the
budget, it gave the county executive sweeping powers to bypass the standard bid
procedure when entering into contracts.

Those
powers will now be limited if an amendment proposed by Ways and Means Committee
Chair Jack Driscoll is passed. The amendment adds a clause stating the power to
waive competitive bids applies only in emergencies.

In
a letter to Driscoll requesting the changes, County Purchasing Manager Kevin
Finnerty implied that the original language was merely an oversight: “The
intent of this proposed language was to allow this waiver only in emergency
situations,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, the clarifying language was not included
in the policy.”

But
for the heads of both legislative caucuses, the balance of power within county
government also plays a factor.

“I
think probably the wiser old heads in the legislature prevailed,” says
Democratic Minority Leader Stephanie Aldersley. “Despite the fact that the
administration and the legislature are of the same party, it’s rare to see
legislators want to give away legislative authority. So I think they were
probably preserving the rights and responsibilities of the legislature, as they
should do.”

Bill
Smith, Republican majority leader, says of the original procurement policy
included in the proposed budget: “It was unclear in a way that caused concern
to members of the legislature because it gave the county executive — and
remember when you’re looking at these things, you’re not looking at a
particular individual county executive, you’re looking at the office over time
— the ability to waive having to do a request for proposals. People were not
comfortable with that and it was only the administration’s intention that it be
permitted in the event of a bona fide emergency.”

After
Driscoll introduced the amendment at last week’s public hearing, Democratic
Legislator Bill Benet suggested adding a provision that would require the
county executive to notify the legislature if the emergency clause is used.
Aldersely expects her caucus to propose that provision when the full
legislature considers the budget for adoption Tuesday, November 16.

Is
that likely to be passed? “You know, I haven’t followed up on the progress of
that so I don’t want to speak out of turn,” says Smith, “but it does not sound
unreasonable to me.”

Correcting
ourselves

In
the article “A feeling of (fore)closure,” (City
Newspaper,November 3-9), we
mistakenly reported that homeowners who owe back taxes and enroll in a payment
program have 12 months to get caught up. In fact, the program allows for up to
18 months in which to pay back taxes.

This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2004.