Open Mouth, Insert Foot.

Poor Joel Giambra. He just can't catch a break, can he? Our pals at WNYMedia.net report on an interview Joel gave to his official organ WBEN yesterday.

In the Interview, Joel Giambra refered to the City of Buffalo as a 'warehouse for the poor'." The comments were sparked when Mayor Anthony Masiello said he does not support a proposed merger of Buffalo with Erie County, even though he helped form the commission making consolidation recommendations.

You know - even if you THINK that, if you're the CE of the county that not only contains Buffalo, but of which Buffalo is the county seat, maybe it's not such a smart comment to make. Maybe it doesn't...reflect positively...on your own County government's competence and ability to do good for the region. Not only that, but IIRC, Giambra himself lives (probably reluctantly) in the City limits. Not only that, but IIRC, Giambra used to be a member of city government (i.e., Comptroller - HA! what a joke) during the time of the city's good ole decline. Which leads to another question: who the hell is surprised that Joel Giambra is presiding over the decline of the County's solvency when he was the fiscal watchdog during Buffalo's decline? Duh.

County Executive Joel Giambra wants voters to decide the fate of the plan. The commission hopes to put the plan on the ballot in the November elections. Giambra was in in Albany yesterday to seek relief from Medicaid mandates by the state. County Executives from across the state are meeting with leaders of the state Legislature and the Pataki administration in an effort to get the state to ease their Medicaid burdens -- which the county leaders say threaten the delivery of local services. Business leaders say the state's Medicaid costs also are a drag on the state's business climate. Erie County Executive Joel Giambra says Governor Pataki is seeking Medicaid cost containment measures in the Legislature, although the Buffalo-area official says he's worried that some of the proposals have been rejected by legislators in the past. Counties and New York City pay about 20 percent of Medicaid costs in New York, with the state covering about 30 percent and the federal government 50 percent.