Friday, September 24, 2010

Unshackled from Its Own Report Card?

How Many Legislators Graded "F" by Unshackle Upstate Will Unshackle Endorse for Election?
Recent comments by Sandy Parker, Rochester Business Alliance CEO and boss of the ostensibly pro-business Unshackle Upstate, suggest that Unshackle will not rely solely on its own scorecards for legislators in determining its endorsements for election.   It is set to announce endorsements next week.

Unshackle scored state legislators on a 100-point scale.   In school, a score below 60 gets you an "F;" we'll call it the same way.

State Assembly:   Out of 105 Democrats (including 2 independents aligned with them), 103 got an "F" on Unshackle Upstate's legislative scorecard.
Most weren't even close.
Of the 103 "Fs," only 12 scored higher than 17 -- that's 17 points out of 100.
Of the 103 "Fs," only 4 scored higher than 40.
State Senate:   Out of 32 Democrats -- 32 "F's"
Again, not even close.
Of the 32, only 2 scored higher than 13.
Of the 32, only 8 scored above zero.   The others -- 24 -- scored in negative numbers, because Unshackle took off points for especially bad behavior.
Rochester Delegation:   Four Scored South of 60.
David Gantt - F
Susan John - F
Joe Morelle - F
Joe Robach - F
Remember, it was Unshackle Upstate itself that scored these legislators.   Scores based on each legislator's actual votes and bill sponsorships.   And why else are they in the legislature?   What do they do as legislators more important than that?

So the question is:   If there's more to it than the report card, which of the legislators it graded "F" will Unshackle Upstate be endorsing next week?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

A scam is a scam is a scam! I bet you that Sandy Parker and Dutch Summers try to stick it to Senator Alesi, despite his good performance for business! Her/He excuse will be Mayoral control, a bill, though it never came to the Senate floor, would have given control of the schools to someone not yet determined...who may not want it! Bill Johnson says it makes no sense...how do you know if the next Mayor (the one after the interim next Mayor) agrees with it? Sandy should be carrying Alesi's water as part of her job...but I am willing to bet she will not.

Philbrick said...

Alesi was one of Unshackle's top scorers, at 80.

http://www.unshackleupstate.com/scorecard-new/senate-scorecard.cfm?card=3

Let's see if they endorse his opponent, who was so sympatico with that 100% "F"-scoring Senate Democratic majority that they chose her to run their Rochester field office.

Anonymous said...

It needs to be noted that Sandy Parker has totally subordinated her obligations to her organization and our community to her relationship with Dutch Summers. There is no more of a shining example than the question of Mayoral control of the schools. Dutch, who was one of the largest campaign contributors to Duffy, made control of the schools a political priority for the City. The reason was to give contractual control of every contract let by the city or school district to the Democrat party. As a result, Duffy would have fund raising ability above and beyond that of almost everyone. What spoiled the plan was Duffy deciding to cut and run before it was executed. That left Dutch and Sandy in an embarrassing situation of not being able to execute their game plan. The Democrats put out a phony story that they were within 1 vote of having the votes in the senate (which was untrue, they were 7 or 8 short) to put Alesi and Robach under pressure for one of them to roll over and vote for Mayoral control. Both had the courage to push back...Alesi had the courage to confront the behavior and agenda of the pair...so,now, Sandy will try to use the endorsement process to hurt him! Mayoral control was about control of money...not helping kids! It is time for Dutch to do what he does best...sue people that he does business with and use the court system to his financial advantage. Sandy should be fired before she has a chance to resign...and they should take the two other co-conspirators, Duffy and Morelle and play their stupid games in Albany...not here where we need Senators and leaders that care about what happens to us! Dutch and Sandy care about what happens to them!

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to see Sandy and Dutch endorse Joe Morelle, Harry Bronson and Davey Gantt. I need a real good laugh. I honestly hope they do. Then we can finally expose this cheesy group for what they really are, shills and promoters for the Monroe County Democratic Party, prove their hypocrisy, and then hopefully help them fade away. That'll be the best thing that can happen to this community. Alesi doesn't deserve this abuse from RBA and Unshackle Upstate.

Anonymous said...

The word spreading throughout the membership is that democrats with failing grades did in fact receive Rochester Business Alliance's endorsement. Apparently, this went against the majority member's wishes but since Sandy Parker and Dutch Summers run RBA with an iron fist, they made the choices they personally wanted.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous (September 28, 2010 3:26 PM) said a lot of interesting things, including a motive for mayoral control. Not to put him/her on the spot, but I'd like to see a source on that if there is one. There as been a lot of conjecture about the "Why?" of mayoral control, but I've never heard one really plausible reason. I certainly suspect financial motive as Anonymous suggests, but would feel more comfortable in that suspicion if I had a source I could turn to.

Anonymous said...

I thought Joe Morelle had the most pro-business rating of any legislator in Monroe County... Am I wrong on that?

Philbrick said...

You're as wrong as it gets. Morelle scored a solid "F." 45 out of 100. Except for Gantt (2 out of 100) and Susan John (-1 out of 100), Morelle scored the lowest of any Monroe County legislator.

Anonymous said...

Unshackle Upstate made it look like they didn't endorse Morelle and Gantt. That's not true though. They haven't amde their endorsements in those races yet. They'll wait another week or so and then endorse Joe Morelle and David Gantt and give little time for the public to chastise Unshackle for their hypocrisy. Unshackle, RBA, Morelle, Gantt, Dutch Summers, Sandy Parker and the Monroe County Democratic Committee probably have it all worked out already.