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Seen, Overheard, Posted, Considered

Earlier this week, a demolition crew began to pull down what remains of St. Mary's on the Hill, the landmark sandstone church at the corner of Vermont and Niagara Streets. A year ago, the church was stabilized through "therapeutic demolition" of its roof and tower, while activists sought a plan for reuse of the remaining structure. No plan took hold. (photo by Geoff Kelly)

Seen

…late last week, at lunchtime: Judge Joseph Fiorella handing an envelope to Arthur “Champ” Eve, Jr. at Mattie’s Restaurant on Fillmore Avenue. Fiorella is running for re-election to Buffalo City Court. Champ Eve leads of an influential bloc of East Side committee members.

Overheard

…at a fundraiser for a Democratic candidate earlier this week: “We’ve been told not to criticize Nick Langworthy under any circumstances. We don’t want him to lose his job.” The speaker was a Democratic political operative. Nick Langworthy is the chairman of the Erie County Republican Party. On Monday, Jimmy Vielkind, a reporter for the Albany Times-Union wrote that Langworthy has been “re-categorized from wunderkind to rookie in the eyes of many Republicans” as a result of Assemblywoman Jane Corwin’s loss to Democrat Kathy Hochul in the special election in the overwhelmingly Republican 26th Congressional district. Vielkind’s article was about the likelihood of state GOP chairman Ed Cox retaining his job, for which some imagined Langworthy might make a run, after Carl Paladino’s victory in the Republican gubernatorial primary last fall.

Posted

…in the US Mail on August 7, by David Granville, formerly of City Hall, currently of the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority: a letter to Jeremy Zellner, executive director of the Erie County Democratic Party, in which Granville asks that the results of the party’s December 23, 2010 reorganization meeting be nullified. Granville lost his position as chair of Zone 24 in that meeting, and by extension his position as leader of the city’s zone chairs. He says committeeman James Thoma was, at the time of the meeting, registered to vote in his new hometown, Portland, Oregon, and thus ineligible to serve on Erie County’s Democratic committee. Further, Granville notes evidence that a political organization called Good Neighbors Democrats (affiliated with the Hoyt/Lenihan faction of the party, while Granville is affiliated with the mayor’s faction) paid Thoma’s airfare from Portland to Buffalo so Thoma could vote at the meeting. Thoma did not respond to a request for comment, but Zellner notes that party rules required Granville to lodge his complaint within 10 days of the meeting, and that in any case Thoma’s vote alone did not account for Granville’s loss.

Considered

…but rejected: Larry Adamczyk’s appeal of the unanimous decision by a state court to uphold Adamczyk’s removal from the Democratic primary ballot by the Erie County Board of Elections. Adamczyk was challenging Fillmore District Councilman David Franczyk. The BOE disqualified Adamczyk because he had not lived long enough in the district Judge Donna Siwek then dismissed the BOE’s determination and restored Adamczyk, but Franczyk’s attorney, Mike Kuzma, went before five judges last Friday and convinced them to reverse Siwek’s order. On Wednesday morning, the New York State Court of Appeals refused to hear Adamczyk’s appeal. That leaves community activist Sam Herbert to challenge Franczyk, who received the endorsement of the local chapter of the Stonewall Democrats on Tuesday evening. Adamczyk’s candidacy was sponsored by Mayor Byron Brown and his allies. Another of Brown’s proxies, school board member Ralph Hernandez, was also disqualified from the Democratic primary ballot. Hernandez intended to challenge Niagara District Councilman David Rivera.

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