Get On Your Knees And Kiss The Ring

This is the time of year when the interviews for candidates interested in running in the upcoming September primary meet at the Mecca of Albany county politics, the Democratic Party Headquarters at 22 Colvin Avenue. In most of the races this process is pretty much a formality because they already know what candidates they are going to endorse. Just for you out of town readers, this year Albany elects it’s city officials. Here is how the process works. If you are interested in running for a city office, you call the party headquarters to get on the list to be interviewed. You present your qualifications to the committee and that’s that. When the interviews are over, the party bosses get together, decide who they will endorse in the primary, and in turn, the bosses will tell their respective party minions who to vote for. Incumbents are not necessarily endorsed. Ain’t that something. I’ll keep you out of towner’s up to date if you want to follow the blog. ……….You all know that real journalists dislike us bloggers immensely, but this past week, our one and only local newspaper, the Times Useless — better known on the newsstand as the Times Union — took quite an unnecessary shot at a fellow blogger. Now this blogger (her name is Theresa, but I can’t mention the name of her blog) is known for taking shots — I’m not a fan of him either — at the Albany County District Attorney David Soares. Daily, in her blog, she mentions the name of an eatery she frequents, and posts their menu. Now this eatery happens to be located in a building that is Soares’ home turf. The DA, thinking that they advertised on her blog, banned his employees from patronizing the place, and the TU picked up on it. Now the TU, known for picking and choosing their fights based on who they like, and they definitely don’t like Theresa, printed an opinion pretty much trashing her. Now that’s pretty much a ”I’m going to take my ball and go home” approach Grow up, ……….Did anybody notice that we had a bicycle festival this past weekend? Note to all bike enthusiasts: You are the only one who cares. The average citizen above the age of 30 hasn’t ridden a bicycle since high school (and that’s stretching it). An avid bike fancier, we won’t mention any names but lives in the 10th Ward, posted pictures of this event on Twitter, touting all the people in attendance; But in reality, showed only the people sitting behind the info tables. Our assemblywoman Fahy showed up however, flashing that painted smile. I hope the walk-a-thon goes better. That’s it. Let’s walk around Albany more. Maybe a midnight stroll down Judson Street? ……….In the shadow of my favorite organization, Historic Albany, the city ripped through an entire block of Lexington Avenue, between Sheridan and Orange Streets. Citing eminent danger by the city’s engineer, 7 vacant buildings were demolished. HAF’s leader Susan Holland, of course called this a tragedy, saying 6 of them could be saved. Then you Sue, and your foundation, buy the buildings and save them. I’m starting to like this Jeff Jamison guy.