Published: November 18, 2009 11:58 pm      

GLYNN: Lawmakers get message via e-mail blitz

If you’re not convinced that there’s strength in numbers, look at what happened on Capitol Hill in Albany this past week.

Even the state lawmakers listened for a change when countless New Yorkers rallied to protest that plan to require vehicle owners to purchase new license plates for $25. The state had hoped to raise nearly $130 million to help reduce the budget deficit.

An estimated 100,000 residents across the Empire State, including more than 3,000 in Niagara County, voiced their strong opposition by signing an online petition (www.nonewplates.com) prepared by Patricia Ritchie of St. Lawrence County, president of the New York State Association of County Clerks.

“They’ve cried, ‘Enough!’ with the new taxes, fees, mandates and inconvenience that this license plate plan creates for their families in already difficult times,” Ritchie added.

Niagara County Clerk Wayne Jagow said he was impressed with the area response and appreciative of the strong support from the county Legislature.

“I was really a kind of conduit on this issue,” Jagow said, declining to accept any credit for its success. “I just thought it (the e-mail drive) would give us an opportunity to use the right process to resolve a problem. “By doing it collectively, with most of the 62 county clerks participating, it gave weighted opinion to the protest,” Jagow said. And it proved successful.

In a joint statement, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Republican leader Brian Kolb agreed to repeal the requirement that all New York vehicle owners obtain the new yellow plates after April 1.

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GREEDY AIDE: Patricia M. Stackrow, the personal secretary to former state Sen. Joseph L. Bruno, was testifying in State Supreme Court Monday about her duties for the former Senate Majority Leader. Bruno in on trial on charges that he improperly mixed his public and business interests and even attempted to deceive the public concerning those matters. It is said that, in the process, he earned more than $3 million from his schemes.

Stackrow, by the way, was making $100,042 a year when she retired from the Senate in 2008. In addition, she helped herself to Bruno’s personal bank account as a way of getting even with him. “He was demeaning, very degrading,” she told the court.

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HELPIING HANDS DEPT.: The United Way of Niagara honored members of IBEW Local 237 Wednesday evening at the Hyde Park Oasis Pavilion.

Philip Buffone, vice president of United Way, noted the union members had volunteered their time and talent to prepare more than 50 lighted and animated displays for the “Holiday Lights of Niagara” which will open Nov. 25.

United Way President Carol G. Houwaart-Diez said, “You cannot measure the work and dedication that these volunteers put into this project. Without their expertise and support, we would not be able to put on this annual event.”

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GLOBE TROTTING: No matter our politics, we tend to look at President Obama as an affable leader, with an engaging smile and a bounce in his step.

On his visit to China, a veteran observer of the international scene said Obama projected a different image. In that inimitable but fractured-English style, a Chinese reporter said, “He should have been waving more. Perhaps jogging in the morning. Maybe play basketball. Do some hoops. He from Chicago but when he come here, he from White House.”

Contact reporter Don Glynn at 282-2311, ext. 2246.