Ahearn mulls Senate bid vs. Coniglio

Considering I never had an office at the statehouse, nice try at a fabrication. And when all the Dem patronage hounds bailed for fear of retribution if they stayed on my payroll as some others did, yes my wife who had been a volunteer got the salary that OLS told me would have just gone back to the Dem staff account.  She quit her law firm job and took a huge pay cut so constituent services continued for that last few months when no one else with any experience wanted the wrath of Ferriero for working in my office.

Not like Ferriero or people like Natty care much about the quality of constituent services and outreach the chairman's picks provide in this county. They are just the voters/tax payers, not the "investors" in his BCDO machine after all. But you know that Natty. I did not repay his investors by voting as ordered I think you once said.  Pardon me.

Sorry you did not get a job on the Dem staff my funds would otherwise have gone to if my wife chose not to sacrifice her own career for the people too Natty.

 The real fun part you forgot to mention was when OLS told Speaker Sires he could not kick me off committees nor drop me as Vice Chair of Veterans Affairs, and as a minority party leader I had the exact same parlimentary powers, like taking bills off the consent list agreed to by the other two party leaders to force a floor debate, as the Republican Minority Leader and how I was able to use that to get my bills moved. 

Show me another freshman Assemblyman in NJ history that had the power of a minority party leader in the second year in office or had the same number of bills passed into law as prime sponsor. 

Nahh, I didn't learn a thing Natty. <sarc> 

Keep Bergen politics exciting, though I will be rooting for Bob Colletti either way.

Please file, we need another good laugh.

But then again there is serious doubt you can even get enough signatures and only posted you may run just to see your own name out there again.

You probably haven't even pulled petitions, so Hurry up April 9th is the deadline!

You really do not have the experience I thought you did natty.  People sign petitions to get on the ballot so easily it has always amazed me.  You can be  #231 if you live in district and you really want to enjoy the show, just drop me a line and someone will come over for your signature.  It will indeed be a laugh, think about the debates with Joe at all the AARP town meetings and such.  At least it will be one on one and not me debating two assembly candidates at once because Ferriero did not want to have my last running mate in a debate on TV. <vbg>  That was a fun debate!

Winning is never the issue with me guys, its about educating the voters.    I just screwed up and won by accident in 2001.  Of course anons at this site with a stake to lose do not like people who educate the voters do they? 

At least Ahearn has principles. Coniglio's politics are about as interesting as his fake tupee.

As you will see in this article, educating voters and fighting corruption not only go hand in hand, but with us Ahearns it is indeed a family affair.

FBI launches corruption task force By Rick Pfeiffer Niagara Gazette — BUFFALO — The top federal cop in Western New York played his cards close to the vest on Friday. Asked by reporters what he could say about a public corruption investigation that appears to have Mayor Vince Anello in its cross-hairs, Peter Ahearn, the special agent in charge of the Buffalo office of the FBI, said little. “A fine American,� Ahearn said of Anello. “Is he now or has he ever been the target of an investigation?� a reporter pressed. “I won’t comment on that,� Ahearn responded. The discussion of federal probes of Anello and other elected and appointed officials in the area, came as a small group of reporters were briefed at FBI headquarters in Buffalo on the creation of a new Public Corruption Task Force. The task force will combine the efforts of the FBI, the United States Attorney’s office, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Postal Service, the inspector generals of the U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, along with the New York State Attorney General and the New York State Police. “One of the highest priorities of the FBI today is public corruption,� Ahearn said. “They are the most sensitive cases we handle. Basically, we are looking at an abuse of trust.� Although records related to Anello have been subpoenaed from City Hall and the Niagara County Board of Elections by a federal grand jury, the mayor has maintained that he has not been contacted by FBI or other investigators. Law enforcement sources confirm that Anello has not been interviewed in connection with the on-going investigation. “I’m looking forward to my day to tell my story, since everybody wants to tell it for me,� Anello said on Friday. “Mine will be based on the facts and the documentation that’s been made available.� Told of Ahearn’s comments to reporters, Anello said, “I look forward to thanking him personally.� Anello might not be the only potential corruption target in Niagara County or Niagara Falls. During the briefing, Ahearn alluded to a possibility that “the Senecas may have been victims� of corruption in their reconstruction of the Niagara Falls Convention Center into the current Seneca Niagara Casino. Later, he said issues involving the financing of the project or the relationship with contractors might be something the task force could look at. “I don’t think we would have any comment on that,� said casino spokesman Phil Pantano. “I’m not sure what he would be referring to, so it would be inappropriate for us to comment.� In outlining the role of the new task force, Ahearn said investigators will look at reports of corruption in law enforcement, the judiciary and public officials, both elected and appointed. He said corruption can occur at the highest and lowest levels of public service. “The victims of public corruption are every individual taxpayer,� Ahearn said. “Public corruption is a blight on society.� Ahearn said the task force already has active investigations in nine of the 17 Western New York counties covered by the FBI’s Buffalo office. That includes multiple investigations in Erie County and at least one investigation in Niagara County. “When (public officials) make imprudent decisions, that is a breech of the public trust,� Ahearn said. “It is the FBI’s responsibility to investigate these breeches of trust.� While Ahearn said he did not believe there was “systemic public corruption� in Western New York, he said task force investigators were looking to victims of corruption, and the general public to contact the task force. “We need victims who are sick and tired of this and want us to take action,� he said. “There’s a lot of rumors and innuendo that we hear, but we base our investigations on fact.� One of the roles the IRS expects to play in the task force is helping to develop those facts. Financial investigations are our expertise,� IRS Special Agent Timothy Shanahan said. “There’s usually some type of money trial that has to be followed and that’s what we do.� Ahearn indicated that some of the cases currently in front of the task force are rooted in what he called “government mismanagement.� “We do see the same things you see,’ he said to the reporters at the briefing. “The mismanagement and the lack of oversight (in government), we do see a lot of that here. I believe the media is doing a splendid job of bringing (that corruption) to light.� The top FBI official said investigators must sometimes make close calls on whether evidence brought to them is a crime or just bad judgment. “There is a fine line sometimes between corruption and unethical behavior,� he said. “I think there is an awareness that we are watching. People who violate the public trust are walking through a minefield.� Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.