Je me Souviens

When the now-vactioning King of Erie County tells you that it's "tragic" that the penny didn't get passed; remember - it was he who first introduced the red budget. Donn Esmonde gets it exactly right today. Giambra wouldn't compromise. He refused to. He had to have it his way - his way meaning keep as much patronage cronies around as humanly possible. When the legislature was working hard at City Court with Judge Makowski's mediators, Joel and his new best bud Al hatched their own plan - which still needed nine votes. Make no mistake: Giambra started this. He let it escalate. His stubbornness and arrogance made it worsen. His short-sightedness and blind loyalty made it stick. To top it off, on the day that 2,000 County Workers are getting axed, HRH jets off on vacation. Not that he's not allowed to, but a lot of politics is about perception. Joel Giambra is to blame. Let's recall him.