Bob McCarthy: Tom’s world: Sun, Sabres and Silver
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Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano may be soaking up the Florida sunshine this winter, but something tells us he’s in a New York State of mind.
With six statewide offices and control of the State Senate in the balance, Golisano’s checkbook could determine whether 2010 ranks as a mere intense political year or one for the history books.
The billionaire businessman, you may recall, dumped $4.4 million of his own money into the 2008 legislative elections — with mixed results. Now he is weighing a repeat performance.
As a card-carrying Florida resident, Golisano is rarely spotted around here these days. He must spend so many nights per year in the Sunshine State to enjoy the tax benefits he so lavishly praises. And from what we’ve heard, Florida is nicer in winter than upstate New York (even though winter is when his Sabres take to the ice).
When he’s around these parts, it’s nice to catch him in a good mood. Conversation flows. Sometimes it’s “lively.” Always it’s interesting.
When he’s grouchy, conversations don’t happen. As his Sabres lick their wounds from some recent drubbings, maybe he’s entitled.
Still, there are indications from those close to him that he will enter the fray once again — this time targeting Speaker Shelly Silver and his allies in the Assembly. Indeed, in more talkative days last June, Golisano put Silver squarely in his cross-hairs.
“I think Shelly Silver has served there for 16 years,” Golisano said then. “Even if he were doing a good job — and I don’t think he is — it’s time for a change. And the Assembly could use a change.
“It’s time for him to move on,” he added. Even Golisano realizes that Silver has not only survived but prospered in the tough politics of Albany and his Lower East Side home turf. Removing Silver from the speaker’s rostrum would prove a tough lift— dethroning his overwhelming Democratic majority even tougher.
But Golisano showed as recently as 2008 that he will spend his money in Democratic primaries against incumbent assemblymen like Buffalo’s Sam Hoyt, a Silver ally. If Golisano is to surface in 2010, that just may be how he does it.
Indeed, North Council Member Joe Golombek has scheduled a $100 per person fundraiser on Wednesday at Ulrich’s Tavern for a new committee he calls “Golombek for Reform.” The Council member says he is exploring a repeat performance of his close primary challenge of Hoyt in 2004.
Just before heading off to watch Golisano’s Sabres lose to the Ottawa Senators in HSBC Arena Wednesday night, however, the speaker weighed in.
He respects Golisano as a businessman, he said, and agrees with many of his views about government. And he noted that the former Rochesterian acquired the Sabres with no government aid, building them into a potent NHL force that packs the house most nights. But it all ends there.
“I think he should stick to his business. He does that very well,” Silver said. “His performance in the Senate leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the end result.”
So, the battle lines are forming. And if Golisano finds himself in one of those grouchy moods even while enjoying the Florida sunshine, we might witness another war this year—this time on the Assembly battlefield.
•••
For those keeping score at home, Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo, has allowed another campaign finance reporting deadline to pass without filing seven delinquent reports and paying about $5,500 in outstanding judgments, according to the state Board of Elections.
So far no law enforcement entity in New York State has shown any inclination to pursue the case.
rmccarthy@buffnews.com
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