I hope you were listening to the Scott Leffler show on WLVL this morning. He may be the new political voice of Niagara County. The management of WLVL should give him another hour if he continues to have shows like today’s.
It became clear this morning that Niagara County does have a political consciousness and a sense of what we have at stake as a Community of communities. The event, the issue, is whether we are going to continue to be the garbage dump of NYS or whether we are going to define ourselves, empower ourselves, according to what we value and declare anything else absolutely and irrevocably unacceptable. The days of Niagara Garbage Dump are over if we so choose and decide.
Are we going to permit another 75, 0000 tons of contaminants to desecrate our land or are we going to fight this. Are we going to let the politicians pussyfoot around with this in Albany or take a stand here and now.
No, it is not a question of whether George Maziarz is going to fight this. It certainly is not a question whether Francine Delmonte is going to fight this because I’m not even sure if she is aware of it or cares about it. At least Maziarz seems to be provisionally aware and at least symbolically “on top” of this.
However, we have to understand what is going on here. As Legislator Cerreto said when he called in to the Leffler show, ‘this is not a Republican-Democrat issue.” This is an issue of the communities. As a few other callers had the wherewithal to note: the party division is irrelevant. The good of the whole is coming to light and we should be aware that it is in such consiousness on this issues and others that our true political power and embodiment lay.
Moreover to also get sidetracked by whether the issue of the contaminant dumping is a strategy to get Maziarz re-elected is irrelevant. Let’s not succumb to the political paranoia here and blow the moment. Those who have interests in either having the contaminants dumped here or in retaining the obsolete power struggle of the party system would love to have us wasting our time “debating” whether this is a real issue or just a “strategy” on the Republicans part. Such thinking is absolute non-sense.
Also whether we should be only fighting for lower taxes as opposed to a clean Niagara is also a red herring, a rodeo clown, a strategic, self-defeating DIVISIVE distraction. Contamination, PCB’s AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE, and taxes are all of our issues. We cannot allow the weight of the issues to destroy the unity and integrity of our sovereignty as a community political force.
Big Daddy Politician alone is not going to do what needs to be done politically in Niagara County. If the politicians of this county can recover their moral sensibility and responsibility to the good of the community as a whole, they will not turn this into an opportunity to gain power, prestige or leverage in the next election. They must transcend the professional politician, party bureaucrat, political machine mentality and restore sovereignty to the people. Professional politicians can become People’s politicians. This however for them is not only a political decision but a philosophical one.
This issue is a critical moment in the re-politicization of Niagara County in taking control of its own life, heritage and future. If in fact Maziarz does not take further action to mobilize the people now at the grass roots level, this may be a sign that he may exploit this to increase his hold on power. That would be tragic for the democratic and political awakening of Niagara County.
It is good that people are reacting to this situation and demanding that the politicians should act. But bureaucratic action in the backrooms of the state administrative apparatus is not enough. If Maziarz is a true politician he should be out there responding to and further mobilizing and inspiring the people to organize and see to it that the state bureaucrats realize that we are not the fools we have been up until this moment. If Maziarz can transcend partisanship, who knows, he may well achieve an even greater power that would actually be clearly and wholly legitimate and not just legal. Moreover to powerfully mobilize the county would undoubtedly enhance his power in Albany.
Hopefully also the Legislature will resolve to act for our empowerment. If they can pass a resolution in absolute opposition to this exploitation of NC at the next meeting on July 22nd, at which the entire county should be in attendance, this will not be merely a temporary consensus. This can be an acclamation of local political self-transformation and self-assertion. A unified county for the good of the county.
4 comments:
ROB I'm still calling you out - put up or eat crow. If you don't recall review our comments on 7/11
If you can't find donations to Maziarz by CWM, it's cause you're not looking very hard. No need to "call Rob out." He's right.
Now ... would Maziarz sell us down the river for a few $500 donations? Probably not, but they were made ... and are listed on the NYS BOElex website.
Scott Leffler,
I been their and ran several reports - Can't find a think. Please point to the specific report if you have such a handle on it. You got to lay off the erb when you are surfing - second hand smoke applies to grass too.
I'm callin you out too.
Anon,
Here's one example: http://www.elections.state.ny.us:8080/reports/rwservlet?cmdkey=efs_sch_report+p_filer_id=A05179+p_e_year=2001+p_freport_id=K+p_transaction_code=B
There are others.
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