Author: buffalopundit

Valenti’s: How the Story Has Changed (UPDATE & BUMP)

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UPDATE & BUMP: Terry Valenti called the Shredd & Ragan show on 103.3-FM the Edge, and the recording of that conversation will be played on air around 7:45am on Thursday the 19th. I’ll be on the phone with them right afterwards.

It’s become the Valenti’s Restaurant Massacree. Arlo Guthrie could do a 30 minute monologue about it in talking blues style, if there was an underlying anti-war theme to be had.

If you missed it, I spoke with Shredd and Ragan from WEDG 103.3-FM on Tuesday morning to talk about Janice Okun, restaurant reviews, the Buffalo News, Valenti’s, and how all of it ties in together. The audio of the full interview is here.

For those of you who are checking this out to find out more, here is the compendium of Valenti’s posts so far:

1. “Two and a Half WTFs” is the original post from December 19th, now boasting over 650 comments, which have caused a very sordid and criminal tale to unfold about the purported owner(s) of Valenti’s, including a “secret” third partner, allegations of restraining orders, fraud, check kiting, violations of law and statute, battery, and a place that is apparently poorly run by some allegedly shady characters.  It was here that we first learned that Valenti never appeared on Iron Chef, never worked at Mamma Leone’s, and never attended, much less graduated from, the Culinary Institute of America – a claim that I uncovered from a Florida publication.

2. “Valenti’s Coda“, also from December 19th and headlined far too soon, pokes fun at the Buffalo News’ hasty and clumsy correction of Janice Okun’s original review of Valenti’s, which contained the false statements about Iron Chef battle parsnips. Andrew Galarneau, the Buffalo News’ food editor, assured me on Facebook that my Artvoice posts and comments at the Buffalo News’ own site played absolutely no part in the non-transparent corrections process, and that Jeff Levine from the CIA contacted him about Mr. Valenti’s claim to be a graduate of that institution, although that never appeared in Ms. Okun’s review.

3. “Valenti’s: Still Going” is a January 9th piece referencing MetroWNY’s work speaking to the producers of Iron Chef to verify that Valenti never appeared on that program.

4. “How Not to Run a Business” links to a Tonawanda News article that first uncovered Mr. Valenti’s landlord/tenant dispute with Frank Budwey, and references a Chowhound thread about the matter.

All of the foregoing articles served as a sort of informal assignment editor for this Buffalo News piece that appeared on Saturday.

So far today, I’ve learned more about the third partner, I’ve learned that there is no hearing scheduled yet on any eviction proceeding, that Mr. Budwey is out of the country at the moment, and I found out some other details I’m not at liberty to discuss at this time.

But suffice it to say that this has swiftly turned from a criticism of a poorly researched restaurant review, into civil eviction litigation, and now into bona fide criminal reporting.  We’ve turned a corner into hoping that these two people can no longer victimize another unsuspecting, naively trusting ambitious person.

Buffalo Food Truck Law: Crunch Time

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There are hopeful signs that the Common Council may vote on the proposed Food Truck licensing legislation as early as January 24th. The WNY Food Truck Association recently met to back the current proposal as written. Although its language is somewhat vague and, in my opinion, incomplete, the trucks are eager to get on the road and vend legally.

A flawed law is better than no law. Also, it has a built-in sunset provision, enabling the various stakeholders and city government to re-evaluate the statute and keep what works and ditch what doesn’t.

Proposed Food Truck Lawhttp://www.scribd.com/embeds/76216760/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-apy5eod0zl44jfqrnoi//

On Tuesday, I spoke with Council President Rich Fontana who said that the food truck opponent brick & mortars feel as if their voice hasn’t been adequately heard, and he will be pushing for a “one truck per block face” rule, which would effectively forbid trucks from parking, en masse, along a single side of a street.

There has been some discussion in recent days about holding a Buffalo Cash Mob in support of the food trucks down by Canal Side. A “one truck per block face” rule would prohibit that from happening in the way it’s envisioned. Fontana indicated that perhaps the provision could be written so as to apply only to existing commercial districts. I also asked him about whether the law could include a way for brick & mortars and food trucks to collaborate in an informal way that would technically violate the 100′ radius rule, but do so with the brick & mortar’s consent. He indicated that he would be willing to take up such a measure.

Be sure to reach out to the members of the Common Council – especially members Golombek, Fontana, and Pridgen, and urge them to back a fair and rational set of regulations for Buffalo’s food trucks.

And while you’re at it, make sure to check out the newest upcoming truck – the Cheesy Chick, which will be serving gourmet grilled cheese starting this Spring.

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America is Better than What It’s Becoming

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I’ve censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet–a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/42152/uncensor

█████ ████████ ██████ is a ████ ███████, the ████████ is not to ██████ the ████████. ███████’s ███████ ████ a █████ █████ █████████ ████ a ██████████ of ███████████ ██████ ████ be ████████.

Uncensor This

Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

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When they’re not insulting our NATO allies, the Republican “candidates” for President accuse Democrats of waging “class warfare”, and equate criticism of the vulture capitalist superwealthy with assault on free-market capitalism itself. They think that if they keep yelling “socialism” – an untrue charge that hasn’t stuck – that they can find electoral success, enabling them to further weaken the government they so detest.

The problem the Republicans have is that their frontrunner and presumptive nominee, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, is the very embodiment of the vulture capitalist. But this week, it was revealed that Mitt Romney likely pays 15% or less on his income, most of which comes from investments, not work.

What this means is that if you earn a paycheck or own your own business and earn money from your labor rather than from investments, you probably pay a higher tax rate than millionaire Mitt Romney. The guy who owns this Belmont manse pays a 15% income tax rate, or possibly less.

No, this isn’t about class warfare. No one begrudges Mitt Romney his success at Bain Capital or his ability or right to buy and live in whatever type of home he wants and can afford. But we have a progressive tax code in this country, under which the wealthy pay more than those who are not. This is about fundamental fairness – that a person earning millions of dollars, taking advantage of tax shelters and loopholes custom-made for the superwealthy, by the superwealthy can pay a lower income tax rate than a physician or a teacher or a sales clerk is fundamentally unfair.

There’s a really good reason why Mitt Romney is reluctant to release his tax return – because it shows that he is taking advantage of a tax code in a way that the average American cannot.  Someone who says $374,000 is “not very much” is, by definition, completely out of touch.

It also drew fire from the Democratic White House and other critics, who said it reflected how Romney, whose estimated net worth is $270 million, is out of touch with the experiences and concerns of typical Americans.

Romney, a former private equity executive and Massachusetts governor, seemed to feed that narrative on Tuesday. He said that he gets speaker fees “from time to time, but not very much.”

Annual campaign financial disclosure forms indicate that he was paid more than $374,000 in speaker fees from February 2010 to February 2011.

Romney’s estimate of his income tax rate suggested that like many of the wealthiest Americans, he could earn a large chunk of his income from investments – much of it in capital gains.

Because capital gains generally are taxed at 15 percent compared with the top income tax rate of 35 percent on ordinary wages, those with significant income from capital gains often pay lower tax rates than many Americans.

…

His vast fortune is invested in dozens of funds linked to Bain Capital LLC, the powerhouse private equity firm he co-founded and led for 15 years. Several Bain funds have offshore connections and take advantage of tax breaks used only by the U.S. financial elite.

His tax returns could shed light on how Romney and Bain use offshore strategies to avoid taxes, said Daniel Berman, a former U.S. Treasury deputy international tax counsel and now director of tax at Boston University’s graduate tax program.

Bain funds in which Romney is invested are scattered from Delaware to the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, Ireland and Hong Kong, according to a Reuters analysis of securities filings.

“Certain interests in foreign investment structures would have to be reported on attachments to his return,” Berman said.

On capital gains, Romney’s tax returns would not reveal any gains that he has not yet realized, even though those gains would be easy for him to lock in at any time, Berman said.

“I remember as a young lawyer being surprised to see tax returns of very successful investors showing net losses – because they were recognizing net losses” but not yet factoring in unrealized gains, Berman said.

Romney’s returns also might not spell out how much he benefits from a tax break used by private equity executives called the carried interest loophole.

This rule allows private equity and hedge fund managers to pay the 15 percent capital gains tax rate, rather than the top income tax rate, on a large portion of their earnings.

The economy is still reeling. People are earning less and working more. When it’s not acting out of noblesse oblige to grant average Americans a small pittance in tax relief, Congress is arguing over whether to do so for political reasons.  It’s a time where the Occupy movement is giving voice to a lot of people’s concerns about money in politics – this isn’t going to fly.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, for example, has said he paid $6.9 million in federal income taxes on $39.8 million in taxable income in 2010, a rate of 17.4 percent. Buffett has said it’s unfair than his tax rate is lower than his secretary’s.

You’re damn right it’s unfair, and it’s something that ought to be fixed.  Clearly, the guy who pays a 15% tax rate on his (mostly) investment income, and who thinks $374,000 isn’t a lot of money, the guy who was born into wealth and power and never lost it, has absolutely no clue – none – what it  means to struggle. It’s as if contemporary Republicans are eager to abandon our great bourgeois revolution of the late 18th century and bring about a new sort of feudal nobility – a plutonomy of the rich, for the rich, and by the rich.

You and I? We don’t matter. We exist to be pandered to just enough to motivate us to become another slab of meat in a voting booth.

Bain Capital & the Supply-Side Faith

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The Republicans don’t really realize how much of a problem they have on their hands with Mitt Romney, income inequality, the rise of the superwealthy at the expense of the middle class, and other consequences of its Reaganite trickle-down, supply-side voodoo economic religion.

This article detailing Bain Capital’s business dealings under Mitt Romney makes for interesting reading, and goes to the heart of how Bain gamed the system for its own gain in an arguably unethical manner.

One of the most fascinating things about the Bush v. Gore decision was that the conservatives on the Supreme Court aren’t known to be big fans of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, but in that particular case, they were. Similarly, this New York Times editorial explains that the Republicans are most interested in citing “One nation, under God” when the socio-economic cleave being exploited is one of income inequality and class. When it comes to race, religion, and when the poor are the class being demonized, they are massively in favor of division and disharmony.

And yet if Democrats dare to point out that the income gains of the top 1 percent have dwarfed everyone else’s in the last few decades, they are accused of whipping up class envy. Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, noted in a speech on Thursday that the median income in the United States had actually declined since 1999, shrinking the middle class while the income of the top 1 percent soared. Such inequality is corrosive. And pointing it out has nothing to do with envy and everything to do with pressing for policies to help America’s struggling middle class.

Anyone who criticizes Mr. Romney’s business practices now faces the absurd charge of putting free-market capitalism on trial.

Yet capitalism isn’t supposed to just further enrich the wealthy. It’s also supposed to lift everyone up – the middle class and also the poor. But that’s not what the Republican supply-side faith has done.

What they don’t realize is that Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital was not just a corporate raider that cost many people their jobs, but it is the very embodiment of the Republican ideal, where money and profit are more important than a strong economy and society. It’s why they can’t say “middle class”, it’s why they continue to demonize the poor, it’s why they throw out “socialist” and “class warfare” when they’re the biggest class warriors of them all.

Stenhouse Settles (How Not to Run a Poor City)

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Buffalo City Hall

Buffalo City Hall by Flickr User Alex Fisher Photography

The corruption lawsuit brought by NRP, a Cleveland developer, against some city bigshots just got itself an empty chair to which the other defendants can point. It’s alleged that the Rev. Richard Stenhouse and his Jeremiah Partnership conspired with Byron Brown, Steve Casey, and others to shut NRP out of a proposed east side housing development project unless it would retain Stenhouse’s unwanted services.

No one who pays even passing attention to Buffalo politics was surprised by it. The only surprise is that an out-of-town plaintiff with little else to lose was willing to go to war over it.  Racketeering, Buffalo style: city government fails even at that.

Stenhouse’s insurance company reportedly paid $200,000 to settle the case. That leaves city officials still litigating the case, and Stenhouse is free and clear but could still be subpoenaed to testify at trial. That Stenhouse’s insurer chose to dump the case at this stage for a hefty six-figure sum is indicative of a thought there that the facts and law weren’t shaping up all that favorably. And instead of paying Stenhouse $80,000 for unwanted “services”, NRP itself got paid for enduring the insult.

But I’ll take note of something else that troubles me about Stenhouse and his Jeremiah Partnership. The east side, as we all know, is not at a loss for housing; it’s at a loss for habitable housing. There are thousands of vacant homes blighting the city, abandoned to the clinging remnants of once-thriving neighborhoods. To modernize each one costs a small fortune – especially if one is poor. New windows, new siding, lead paint remediation, structural repairs, updating the utilities – these cost loads of money that are seldom justified by a concomitant rise in home value. That’s why land banking is a viable option for much of Buffalo, and why the state passed a land banking law, and why Empire State Development is accepting land banking bids.

This program permits municipalities to apply for and create land banks in their communities.  Pursuant to Article 16 of the New York State Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, signed into law by Governor Cuomo in July 2011, certain municipalities are permitted to create land banks upon approval of ESD.  Land banks are not-for-profit corporations created to take control and redevelop vacant or abandoned properties to where they can better serve the public interest.

Program Highlights

  • In order to combat the problem of vacant and abandoned properties, the program permits local communities to create land banks to be utilized by communities to facilitate the return of vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties to productive use.
  • The primary focus of land bank operations is the acquisition of real property that is tax delinquent, tax foreclosed, vacant and/or abandoned, and to use the tools of the program to eliminate the harms and liabilities caused by such properties.
  • Ten land banks will be permitted to be created within New York State.

Eligibility, Criteria & Additional Program Information

Eligibility, criteria and additional program information, can be found in the Land Bank Program Guidelines. For additional information, please review the Land Bank Act (Article 16 of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law).

And what is the Stenhouse track record of improving and lifting up the community? David Torke at the FixBuffalo blog will tell you all about it. Take, for instance, 38 Ada Place. A quaint little one-block street of once-tidy homes, Ada Place has loads of rehabilitation potential, given its proximity to Main Street and  Canisius.

Torke writes:

Rev. Stenhouse’s organization Bethel Community Development Corporation purchased 38 Ada Place in 2002. Three years ago I included a post about 38 Ada Place in a six part series about a failed neighborhood housing plan.  Rev. Stenhouse wanted to be part of that plan.  38 Ada Place  looked like this in March 2009.

Rev. Stenhouse was invited to Housing Court for his failure to properly maintain a string of houses across the street from his Bethel AME Church, near the corner of East Ferry and Michigan and directly across the street from one of the City’s newest school renovations – Performing Arts.   He later resigned from the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority when he plead guilty in Buffalo’s Housing Court in 2007.  He’d been appointed by Governor Pataki to be the Control Board’s Secretary and Treasurer in 2004.

What happened to that failed neighborhood housing plan?  It’s dead.  Rev. Stenhouse and his now defunct Jeremiah Partnership are defendants in a Federal “Pay-to-Play” lawsuit.  Here’s a copy of that lawsuit filed on behalf of a Cleveland Ohio based developer NRP Group in June 2011.  According to public records the Jeremiah Partnership failed to file the required 990’s for three consecutive years. The IRS has revoked its exempt status.

It would seem to me that the Rev. Stenhouse is already in water far too deep for his own abilities, and that he ought to concentrate on the structures he already owns, rather than allegedly conspiring with city officials to clumsily strong-arm developers into a job or a contract.

It’s indicative of the fact that the city isn’t about governing, per se, it’s about enrichment through money and the use of power. Through land banking and a strong homesteader program with grants and no-interest loans for people to fix up old homes, we can shore up what’s good, land bank what’s not, and try to rebuild communities block by block using existing home stock, rather than vinyl ranch homes that look more at home in Cheektowaga than a few blocks from the central business district.

Stenhouse's Contributions as per the BOE

Also, a Buffalo News headline claimed that Mayor Brown, in a Friday court filing, “took the offensive” and “countersues”. The case docket with the District Court reveals that the defendants have filed no counterclaim. In fact, what was filed on Friday is a Federal Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss; in this instance, it’s been filed in lieu of a formal Answer to the Complaint, because the defendants argue that the plaintiff has no case. In the old days, it was called a “demurrer“.  But no counterclaim or “countersuit” has been filed, and the headline author was incorrect on that point. 

In its papers, the defendants say that the “pay to play” allegations are untrue because Stenhouse never made a contribution to the Mayor. That’s true, as far as we know. However, the Jeremiah Partnership is a faith-based organization, and as such may be exempt or legally barred from making political contributions. However, it’s not Stenhouse or Jeremiah that’s alleged to have “paid” to play, but that they conspired with city officials to make NRP pay Jeremiah Partnership to secure a lucrative development contract.

You can read the relevant parts of the Mayor’s and Steve Casey’s motion below. Defendant Demone Smith filed a similar motion on Friday. Much of what’s written there is bluster and public relations about NRP’s own reputation.

Amended Complaint NRP v. Brown et alhttp://www.scribd.com/embeds/78327552/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-1081px27r4zzqpjvbqxf//

12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss NRP v. Brown et alhttp://www.scribd.com/embeds/78327561/content?start_page=1&view_mode=slideshow&access_key=key-2lmp3lgoptxwtlf4wtmr//

Memorandum of Law in Support of Brown’s Motion to Dismisshttp://www.scribd.com/embeds/78327592/content?start_page=1&view_mode=slideshow&access_key=key-oltap7rbnwyq6nr8oxp//

Balance the Humours

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There is a spate of “Tourettes-like” symptoms – tics and involuntary movements – among a particular group of girls in the LeRoy school district. Convinced that these girls aren’t faking it (I have no idea how), public health officials have reached a logical conclusion for what’s behind this:

…but at least one local expert in the field of movement disorders stated Thursday that what most of these girls experienced is likely the result of mass hysteria.

It’s describing a mass psychogenic (psychosomatic) group of symptoms shared among a large population, but doesn’t it sound medieval? Doesn’t that sound like the treatment would involve leeches or a stoning or visiting a shrine. In other words, it sounds like a junk, throwaway diagnosis that loosely translates into “we don’t know what the hell is going on” and has the added bonus of being backhandedly sexist.

Collins, Marines, and SOPA

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1. And in the end, Mr. Collins merely had to unplug the lights and radio in order to return them to their rightful owner, the people of Erie County. He didn’t need to deal with a guy he fired, he didn’t need to go to Cappellino’s.  It’s simply wonderful to be rid of him and his sense of nobility and entitlement, isn’t it? The notion that he’s looking to (a) challenge the well-liked, hard-working Kathy Hochul; and, in turn, (b) primary David Bellavia, who is still waiting to run that race, is simply delicious.

2. A video showing American Marines pissing on the dead bodies of Taliban fighters has everyone saying predictably angry things. That’s why you should read what Hamilton Nolan has to say about war, and what we should really be pissing on.

3. For some unknown reason, the federal government appears poised to pass the improperly named “Stop Online Privacy Act“, or SOPA. It criminalizes sites that store, maintain, stream or otherwise offer pirated content, and permits the government to revoke IP addresses and domain names. Also, once an offshore piracy site is summarily deemed illegal by the US Attorney General, the government can force domestic ISPs to block their customer’s access to those IPs. Furthermore, the proposed penalty would weaken security when you’re, say, doing online banking. But most ridiculously, SOPA allows the government to block your IP and track what you’re up to on the internet.

Deep packet inspection is the only way to block data from specific Web pages, or URLs. It also may raise new privacy concerns about SOPA because it relies on intercepting customers’ Web browsing, analyzing the protocols to see what’s going on, and reviewing the packets’ contents. That looks a lot like wiretapping, and a bipartisan group of House members soundly condemned it when a company named NebuAd tried it in 2008.

SOPA restricts and monitors Americans’ internet experience, censors what websites they can see, monitors what they’re doing, and places unreasonable burdens on domestic ISPs and hosting companies. It would create a governmental blacklist of websites. The whole thing takes the unbridled nature of the internet – the free-wheeling communications platform we all use and depend on, and turns our experience into something resembling a third-world authoritarian dictatorship, all so some Chinese website doesn’t offer pirated Metallica MP3s. The cure is worse than the disease. Senator Gillibrand is a co-sponsor of SOPA. Senator Schumer supports it, as well. It’s time to contact them and urge them to vote against the internet blacklist. Also, visit the “Stop American Censorship” site for more information and how to get involved.

[vimeo 31100268 w=400 h=225]

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Tea from Leaves!

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Buffalo News diner Janice Okun reviews Ming Cafe today. The charming little Chinese restaurant is located on the same block as Shango, across from UB South, and is well-known for odd opening times and great food.

Ms. Okun’s review reveals:

1. Ming Cafe makes its jasmine tea from actual tea leaves. Somehow, this is surprising or unusual.

2. Ming Cafe doesn’t offer all that sweet-and-sour crap you’re used to seeing on Chinese menus, but mixes it up a bit. Also, the menu is not “tomelike”.

3. She ordered Crab Rangoon, except it had shrimp and ricotta instead of crab and cream cheese. Shrimp Yangon?  She also ordered tofu and spinach dumplings, “fried as crisp as could be”.

4. Given a chance to order a really interesting escargot dish, she instead ordered Singapore noodles (found on every Chinese menu), and was surprised that it had curry. Singapore noodles is universally recognized as a vermicelli dish with meat, shrimp, veggies, all loaded with curry. It’s curried noodles – you can’t be “surprised” by the curry. This is akin to her being surprised that a muffuletta comes with an olive salad. Sichuan chicken, also found on just about every Chinese menu, was served with “medium” heat, on a bed of spinach.

5. Ms. Okun says the food and service were “excellent” and “very good”.  This doesn’t explain why she gives Ming only 3.5 stars under her unexplained scheme. On what basis is the half-star given? Everything was good based on the safe choices she made, and her surprise over something quite predictable.

6. The image accompanying the review features the owners, and a plate of beef tofu.

Based on the foregoing, I give this review only one and one-half okuns.

I am not at liberty to explain how I arrive at that figure.

Truth Vigilanteism

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The New York Times’ public editor has an earnest question to ask you:

I’m looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about…

…[for example,] on the campaign trail, Mitt Romney often says President Obama has made speeches “apologizing for America,” a phrase to which Paul Krugman objected in a December 23 column arguing that politics has advanced to the “post-truth” stage.

As an Op-Ed columnist, Mr. Krugman clearly has the freedom to call out what he thinks is a lie. My question for readers is: should news reporters do the same?

If so, then perhaps the next time Mr. Romney says the president has a habit of apologizing for his country, the reporter should insert a paragraph saying, more or less:

“The president has never used the word ‘apologize’ in a speech about U.S. policy or history. Any assertion that he has apologized for U.S. actions rests on a misleading interpretation of the president’s words.”

To me, getting to the truth of a matter asserted is part & parcel of a journalist’s job. Anything less is nothing more than mindless transcription of spin and press releases. It’s as if the Times is asking whether doctors should treat patients, or whether lawyers should represent clients.  For years, it’s been a given that the fourth estate acts as a BS detector for a populace seeking information. Enough with the phony “some say” strawman, enough with letting people get away with repetitive lying.

Should the New York Times, the paper of record, be a “truth vigilante”? It should never have been otherwise.

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