After two separate campus investigations, a secretly recorded conversation, numerous motions, petitions, and accusations brimming of bribery and slander, the Student Association election scandal of 2005 is over. And sadly enough, we are no closer to knowing the truth today than when it all began.
The oft-delayed case was finally nearing a Student-wide Judiciary trial, which was the day in court that Reform Our Campus party leader Matthew Pelkey had been seeking since first accusing SA Treasurer Mazin Kased of bribery last year. The case is now over, abruptly ending because of procedural problems. It seems Pelkey didn't turn in his paperwork on time.
After all the bad blood spilled over the alleged bribe, a judiciary trial would have been the proper forum to find out what really happened. Pelkey's case against Kased and the rest of the executive board might have been merited, but his inexplicable failure to respond to SWJ letters means we'll never know for sure. Instead of clearing out corruption, Pelkey's allegations now look like a vain attempt at self-promotion.
There is no doubt the SA establishment looks to keep their own in power, and every couple of years, a new group of students tries to bring them down. But there is a big difference between looking to reform SA, which Pelkey claimed was his party's motivation in running, and playing a game of "take down the SA," which is all his actions actually amounted to.
Pelkey has been clamoring for "due process" since he first brought forth the bribery charges against Kased, and he actually got it. It's a shame he didn't know how to use it.
Don't believe the hype
Erie County budget surplus is not what it appears
Optimism reigns throughout Joel Giambra's office today because "early indicators" point to Erie County having at least a $10 million surplus at the end of 2005. In Giambra's view, effective management brought the county back from fiscal meltdown. We beg to differ.
While it's undeniably better to run budgetary surpluses as opposed to deficits, the "management" role he cites in taming the red-ink is hardly responsible. The Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority forced Giambra's hand because of the mess he helped create with the county's finances. Though the Erie County control board doesn't have the power of Buffalo's - it only serves in an advisory role - it was put in place to halt the county's trend toward running deficits.
But lets not forget how the surplus was achieved. Fifteen hundred county employees were laid off in order to shave around $7 million off the payroll, while numerous civic services were cut off that negatively affected county residents across the board. Furthermore, the sales tax increase of one-quarter percent was vital in helping curb the deficit, which actually would have risen without the controversial tax's implementation.
Giambra's budgetary buoyancy is nothing more than a drowning politician desperately spinning himself a life preserver. His failed county executive-ship will conclude at next year's end, and he is looking ahead to his political future. Rumors of a Giambra congressional run in 2008 are abundant, and he is simply trying to position himself for another election.
