Some facts, observations and testimonies heard on the street… and please Joe, for the good of the country, put them aside.

For now, politics is not a local affair. July will be a very interesting and perhaps painful month for national politicians.

Here are some facts, observations and testimonies heard on the street:

• In a previous article a few months ago, I suggested that President Joe Biden declare his job done and not run for reelection. He chose to ignore my advice. In any case, I ask, with all due respect, please, Joe, for the good of the country, to put that aside.
• It is unfortunate that Biden’s debate performance largely ignored Donald Trump’s incoherent chatter and calls for an authoritarian state.
• There is not much time left to change candidates, but in politics, eight weeks can seem like an eternity. The party has a solid pool of potential candidates, perfectly qualified to replace the president.
• Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last week that she would run for re-election in 2026. As of January, she already had $9.1 million in her campaign account.
• David DiPietro handily won his Republican primary for the 147th Assembly District, by a margin of 81 percent to his opponent, Mitch Martin, by 18 percent. According to reports, Martin and his employer and campaign backer, Sheriff John Garcia, both called DiPietro to congratulate him. The same reports indicate that DiPietro may not be ready to move on just yet. The Erie County Republican Committee has not endorsed either candidate in the race.
• DiPietro’s campaign received a major financial boost from Carl Paladino — $4,000 of the $10,789 raised in 2024 through June 10. That comes on the heels of Paladino’s strong showing in the Erie County portion of the 23rd Congressional District Republican primary in 2022. Paladino’s last-minute endorsement of Lindsay Lorigo in the race for Erie County’s 10th Legislative District last year seemed to turn the tide just enough for Lorigo to pull off a narrow victory. In the Erie County Republican primary, Paladino appears to have the magic touch.
• The deal with CEO Henry Wojtaszek and two other directors of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation for a massive buyout of their contracts seemed inevitable, but it is certainly not in the best interest of taxpayers in the Corporation’s 15 counties and two member cities. The total cost of the package is $508,500, which means $508,500 less will be paid to taxpayers in the counties and cities that share in the Corporation’s profits.
• The Corporation’s website has a link to the agency’s annual report, but the most recent edition published is from 2021. That report says that since its inception in the early 1970s, Erie and Buffalo counties have together received about 38% of total distributions to counties and cities, meaning the buyouts have cost Erie and Buffalo taxpayers more than $191,000. Niagara County took a hit of more than $41,000.
• Assemblywoman Monica Wallace, who sponsored the law that reorganized the agency last year, said the payments contradicted a law that limits severance pay for at-will employees of state public agencies to 12 weeks of pay. She took the case to the state comptroller and attorney general.
• As the organization prepares to look for replacements for the CEO and others, it would be a good idea to bring salaries down to a lower level. Why should a public agency with a relatively modest budget and only 400 employees pay its CEO $299,000?
• It seems to have been forgotten that WROTBC’s original purpose was to facilitate betting on horse racing. As interest in the game has waned, OTB has reduced the number of its independent branches, but it still operates eight directly. All have been losing money for years. There are staff to pay and buildings to maintain, and every dollar lost by each of these facilities is one less for taxpayers. What’s the point of maintaining them?
• The November elections are less than four months away, but so far there doesn’t appear to be much competition for the state legislative seats in western New York. Campaign finance reports, due next week, could clarify things.
• This year, four state Supreme Court seats will be up for re-election in the Eighth Judicial District. Three incumbents are running for re-election: Henry Nowak Jr., Catherine Nugent-Panepinto and Deborah Chimes.
• There will be two Erie County Family Court judgeships up for election, assuming Gov. Kathy Hochul approves the creation of a new position on the court.
• Geoff Kelly in his recent Investigation post The newsletter reported nine candidates winning seats on the Democratic County Committee. Republicans also held a series of runoffs that will change the makeup of their county committee to some extent, including 16 new committee members on Grand Island as part of an effort led by Matt Poole, who has run several other successful campaigns in recent years. Nineteen seats were up for election in Buffalo, and changes are also coming in Elma, led by Stefan Mychajliw and Jim Malczewski.

X/Twitter @kenkruly

kenkruly threads