Masiello’s ALL-NIGHT COP . . . Missing-in-action?

This is serious! At 5:45AM (Fri., 2/22) there was no sign of the nightly fixture in front of 101 Penhurst.

Masiello’s all-night cop (cost $90,000/yr.) is there like clockwork from midnight til 6AM. Any conclusion that the Mayor had finally given up this dramatic token of power & privilege in a virtually bankrupt city was dispelled by the dry spot on the street when the car had been parked. Let’s hope the mayor was not robbed during this serious lapse of his security! Or was his cop kidnapped? Perhaps aprehended while sleeping on the job (a great fear of allnight cops)!?

We will keep watching this litmus test of when the Mayor “gets it”. In a near bankrupt city laying off teachers, Masiello asks taxpayers to pay more for reduced services, & cops to give up the perceived safety of two-officer cars, but he won’t make personal sacrifices. It defines poor leadership.

COPY: Masiello’s ALL-NIGHT COP . . . Vs “NEW VISION” City Hall WatchJan10

On Fri. night at 1:30AM (1/9) Masiello’s ALL-NIGHT COP was on duty at 101 Penhurst, engine running. In Friday’s News, Donne Esmonde cited “failure of city policy” at historic 1313 Main Squier House. Reviewing Masiello’s June 1998 promise, “we can preserve our heritage & at the same time plan for our future”, Esmonde concluded, “Like many things in City Hall, it was mostly talk”.

At a VOICE Buffalo meeting Tues., Jan 8 at St. Jobn’s Grace Episcopal Church (Lafayette & Bidwell) the representative of 2 North District Churches (Nick Knezevich, 877-5338) reported that the Black Rock area (approx. 2 sq. mi.) has only one police car. If an arrest requires a trip to central booking downtown, there are no cars available, as cops with no cars apparently ‘hang out’ at Dist. D station on Hertel. Seeking Dist. D confirmation of this data, I was asked to “hold for a minute”. Nobody had picked-up 10 minutes later when I gave up.

At his inauguration for a third term last week, Masiello promised a “new vision” & to stand-up to those protecting the status quo out of “selfish special interests”. It would appear that allocating one police car to his house & one car to 2 square miles reflects unfair allocation of scarce resources, obviously out of selfish special interests, as Buffalo State College & Buffalo Psychiatric Center a block away have separate small armies of NYS-funded security officers. A mayor with close ties to a Republican Governor with a budget crisis of his own should be able to negotiate some reduction of such a costly duplication of 'selfish special interests'. And of course, there is the possible use of high technology as is used by the single woman Mayor of affluent Portland Oregon, with ability to call all cops within miles in an instant. That would eliminate a great fear of Masiello’s ALL-NIGHT COPS (Still on duty, engine running Thurs. 5:30AM) being discovered asleep at the wheel by activists. Until Masiello cuts his $90,000-yr. vestige of “selfish special interests” in front of his house nightly, in a city laying off teachers, obviously he believes he still can get by with “mostly talk”

Worse than “mostly talk” is growing evidence of Masiello’s corruption. In 1993 Masiello promised to aggressively enforce residency on city workers. That never happened. He winked as his crony & top-appointee to BMHA, (Assist Exec. Tom Wms, now paid $76,000 with a mere GED, moved to Clarence in 1995, lying that he lives with his mother-in-law on West Ave.). About 100 top- paid (patronage) BMHA staff live in suburbs, while housing Buffalo’s poorest at incredible cost.

¸ New proof Residency Enforcement is a fraud, of which Masiello has full knowledge:

COPY(City H WatchJan2)Buffalo Residency Officer #4 Frank Rossi . . . Criminal Mind?

In February 2000, “Governing” Journal & Maxwell School of Government (Syracuse University) ranked Buffalo “Worst Governed” (tied with New Orleans) of 35 cities studied. Getting bottom grades of D & D+ in “Human Resources” & “Managing for Results”, Budget Director James Milroy responded, “there are no real outcome measures or customer satisfaction measures”. Buffalo’s failed ‘managing for results’ is dramatically evidenced in a 4th “Residency Officer” (RO) in 4 years, as open defiance of stronger residency rules in a newly revised City Charter is flaunted by Mayor Masiello, Council President Pitts & Comptroller Nanula. Nearly 1_ yr. after R O #2, Ind. Party Chair, Realtor (& convicted criminal tamperer) Charlie Flynn was fired . . . & RO #3, retired-cop Pat Fahey resigned for ‘health reasons’ . . . Frank Rossi quietly became R O #4. Rossi, an alleged investigator for Fox TV News, returned to Buffalo from California in Jan. 2001, rented an apartment in S. Buffalo & was secretly appointed RO #4 in August. An earlier quiet plan to appoint obscure Chris DiPasquale, ended when his rank of #185 on BMHA’s security officer exam was exposed.

Masiello’s Office refused repeated requests for Rossi’s resume. Promises by Civil Service Com. Chair (& Sheriff candidate) Councilwoman Barbara Williams also never delivered. Rossi’s refusal to address non-residency of top appointees quickly confirmed fears his appointment was simply a political move to get Masiello through election year. The silence of both Common Council & Comptroller Nanula, whose $63,000 public relations aide Tony Farina is the most dramatic residency offender (living in Niagara Co., & threatening a lawsuit for exposing that fact) insure that taxpayers will continue paying for a farce. Unless, that is, an Internet “Bibliography for Frank Rossi” again confirms that Buffalo is still worst governed. Can we believe our RO #4 is “Frank Rossi . . . born 19 August 1960, Buffalo NY . . . Moved back to Buffalo in Jan. 2001 after suffering a nervous breakdown after criminal & civil charges, still pending for fraud in a money raising operation for several feature films, were brought against him by the FBI & SEC. He was convicted of civil fraud by the State of Indiana in another case & fined . . .Indiana currently has a judgment against him & his former company for over $60,000 . . . Appeared in or contributed to the following movies . . “The Criminal Mind” (1995), star; “White Men Can’t Jump” (1992); “Dead On: Relentless II” (1991) (see: http://us.imdb.com Jan. 7: Note, data above nowdeleted)

Are the charges true? In a city where the most basic accountability seems lacking . . . WHAT TO DO?

(Rossi’s resume will be posted on www.Kernwatch.com when [if] we get it).

COMING: Human Resources Commissioner Kathleen Ohara leaving City Hall for a County Attorney job . . . as “Acting” Residency Officer #4 Frank Rossi, convicted & fined $65,000 for securities fraud in January 2000, still on the job.

Richard Kern, MSW, Feb.22; Rev. Jan. 4& 7, Jan 10, 20 02
WEBSITE: www.kernwatch.com email: Kernwatch@AOL.com