Hey Donn, who's better than Tony?

Donn Esmonde rips Masiello a new one in his column today. So, who's better than Tony? Joel? Sam? Byron?

"A city-county merger is inevitable. It's got to happen, economically, for the survival of the region." - Tony Masiello, Feb. 16, 2003. In a turnaround stunning only to the terminally naive, Tony Masiello turned his back this week on the city-county merger panel. Masiello distanced himself from the commission, even though he's on it and helped to pick the panelists. It's like Groucho Marx's line about not wanting to belong to any club that would have him as a member. Weeks before the 11-member panel reveals the fruits of its labors, Masiello whacked at the tree he helped to plant. It's nothing new. Masiello leans whichever way the political wind blows. Two years ago, he joined hands with Joel Giambra on a city-county police merger. Months later, he left Giambra standing at the altar by re-upping on the city police contract.

Well, as I mentioned the other day, and as Esmonde echoes, Masiello is jumping off the SS Giambra. And all of Esmonde's points in his column are well-taken.

If Masiello doesn't like this plan, where's his idea? The guy has been mayor for 11 years. He makes $105,000 and is surrounded by staffers. The city gains the most of any burg from real, help-the-hub regionalism. When has he ever come up with anything? Giambra is less popular these days than a wet dog. But he has pushed his brand of regionalism for years and is the force behind the merger panel. Even a private citizen, regionalism activist Kevin Gaughan, came up with a merger plan. Gaughan did it on his own time, on his own dime. The mayor sits there, waits for everybody else to do something, then dumps on a merger panel he's part of weeks before it delivers. And this guy wants to be mayor again?

True - where is Masiello's plan? Or will he back Gaughan's plan? Or will he back no plan whatsoever? What is Masiello's point in all this? But can Esmonde really be surprised that Masiello wants to distance himself from Giambra? Who's waiting in the wings to be a better mayor, right now? Gaughan is the only name I can conjure. I said better mayor. And IMHO, Hoyt and Brown are the same-old-same-old products of the machine. They will merely preserve and protect their individual fiefdoms and special interests. (Prove me wrong, fellas.) Like Pataki, Giambra and Masiello are politically finished. There is no elective government position that these guys can earn, beyond where they are now. The question becomes: who will take their place? Will Albany get a real reformer and real reform? Will Buffalo elect an active mayor with vision, or stick with passive? Will Erie County elect a CE who is more concerned about the betterment of the whole county, or a guy who perpetuates and enhances the rift between city and suburb, and whose job #1 is to enrich his friends and family? Tune in ... same Bat-time. Same Bat-channel.