Dave: Hold your breath waiting for Ms. Savage to change her mind. You'd sooner get Dick Cheney to admit that a Mesopotamian land war might be somtheing other than the best thing since sliced bread.
You're so close with your point that one should be prepared to defend one's record - just a couple of more steps to complete the thought. If the public knows so little about you that it's possible to distort your record during a campaign, it's too late to re-educate. (On the other hand, I've seen campaigns trying to tell the truth about the opposition, but no one believes it because the incumbent's fictional persona is so deep-seated.)
No, the only alternative is to go on the offense. And there's always a way to do it. For example, I recall someone sniveling that it wasn't fair for Mr. Amedore to claim that he never voted to raise taxes because, unlike Mr. Kosiur, he was never a legislator. (Waves away for purposes of argument the possibility that the Amedore campaign never made such a claim.)
What's a campaign to do? Check to see if Mr. Amedore ever voted in a school budget election. If he did, and if it's also true that, unlike his opponent, he "never voted to raise taxes" then he must have done what? Voted against the school budget! Voted against kids! Voted against books! Voted against science labs and filmstrips and remedial classes and everything our children need to compete with the Chinese! Why does Mr. Amedore hate children so much? What an awful man! Etc, etc. You all know the punch line, right? "I know he isn't, but I want to hear the SOB deny it!"
Perhaps this whole chain of events was an orchestrated effort by Ms. Savage to end Mr. Kosiur's political career. Nothing else could explain the eagerness with which he was ushered into the sponsorship of the legislation which dare not speak its name. He had absolutely zero political capital in the towns to begin with (much less Montgomery County). So, what's going to be the biggest issue he climbs onto closest to the election? What's going to be the vehicle by which he comes to the attention of anyone who lives outside the City of Schenectady?
With friends like that, Mr. Kosiur's going to be handing out basketballs for a good long time.
TaxCutNow, good point about the school budget vote. Hadn't thought of that, and you're right, it would have been a good counter strategy for Kosiur, had you been in a position to influence his campaign strategy.
As for Savage, I don't know feels she personally about Kosiur, but I feel she and her county party were arrogantly confident in thinking they had some sort of mandate from the people following the 2006 elections and that would allow them to sail through the special election. I guess the wildly over estimated Tonko's popularity too.
All of that arrogant over confidence lead Savage and company to shove a bad set of laws down the public's throat for the purpose of political expendiancy, use those laws as a shaky platform and the only real campaign strategy for the special election and it came back to bite Kosiur and Savage on the butt.(That just evokes a yucky image!)
Unfortunately, now rather than feeling any humility or purpose in seriously revamping these sex offender residency laws into something workable and sensable, Savage is trying to save face by getting the county's municipalities to do her dirty work for her, and vindicate her and Kosiur's supposed pholosophy in enacting these poor excuses for laws.
I hope that, if these laws are passed in the form in which the Savage legislature is looking to do now, that the municipalities will have more common sense and consideration for their neighbors in enacting their own sex offender residency laws.
Again, barring sending all sex offenders on a long intergallactic journey via an ACME rocket, we all need to deal with the problem of having these people in our community in a forceful and lawful but sensible and safe manner.
Permanent GPS tracking of all level 1 and 2 offenders, more publicizing of their whereabouts, and more monitoring of their actual addresses and activities by the parole board and sherrifs department.
Dave: Rest assured that I can't influence the votes of my own household, much less the strategy of a major campaign. As for the arrogance you noted, I submit that it was present long before the 2006 campaign, although that landslide surely didn't hurt it any.
I don't think Ms. Savage overestimated Mr. Tonko's popularity so much as she may have miscalculated its transferablility. This is the surprising thing, beecause any politico who couldn't see a Democratic governor coming as far back as 2004 has no business being in the business. Clearly, Mr. Tonko would move up in a Democratic administration, creating a vacancy in the 105th.
Ms. Savage and her brain trust should have been building for this over time, as they ought to be building up for the race to succeed Senator Farley. That means a farm team not only on the Legislature, but on the Council and in the towns as well. Folks on this board throw around the word "machine", but I don't think it applies to Schenectady in the classic sense, any more than Alanis Morrissette is ironic.
A bunch of Democrats have won a bunch of elections, and the newest ones are pushed around by those who got there first. Those who got there first have less of an understanding of - and appreciation for - human frailty and suscpetibility than they have an exaggerated sense of their own power. Tonko's probably thrilled to be done with the lot of them, being now safely ensconced in a position where he can wait out his three highest years for pension calculation.
Whatever their fantasies, Mr. Gardner isn't Dan O'Connell and Ms. Savage isn't Mayor Daley (I or II). They helm an assemblage of local, parochial operatives whose time will inevitably run out. In their hearts, surely they and their confederates know this.
Some with a sense of their own political mortality choose to use their time in office boldly and affirmatively. Others lash out in fear, placing before everything else the desperate need to hang on for just one more day. Let's hope that our leaders see the virtue of the latter and reject the former.
On sex offenders, what we're seeing is symptomatic of the larger problem: just about everyone who's in prison is going to come out - sooner or later, in one condition or another. What we do with them while they're behind bars and what's waiting for them when they are released, has a huge impact on our community. An intelligent conversation about crime and recidivism in Schenectady would have been a welcome change from the political posturing that normally goes on.
Unfortunately, that conversation's unlikely to take place in a time of gotcha politics - taken to an extreme by my suggested school budget vote attack. Both parties are guilty of it, and that's a shame at the local level. I can understand it in Albany and Washington, because the stakes are much higher there. Down here should be the place for solutions, not squabbling.
Whoop de do - you're on the Town Board or you're a City Councilor. Congratulations, you've joined the Pantheon. We'll scribble your names on a piece of stone out front so you can bring your great grandchildren down on 40 years and say "I used to be somebody around here." Satisfied? Now will you please set aside the campaign invective, forget about your enemies, forget about who are the Democrats in the room and who are the Republicans, and talk to each other like neighbors?
Lumpy's Relocation of Predator's To The Towns Law is dead as a door nail. Any legislator, from either party, who votes for any retooling of this piece of political garbage is finished. Even thinking Democrats have finally stopped listening to Sue "The" Savage. This is a State issue and cannot be addressed on an ad hoc basis by different Counties in different ways.
The only question that remains is what Legislators are going to follow Sue "The" Savage off the cliff in supporting minor changes to this unconstitutional disgrace. There are more pressing issues like County Tax relief, the County Home, and consolidating services that need to be immediately addressed. Savage must admit defeat (again) and hope the voters and Rev. Jim Murphy forgive and forget by 2009. Some "machine"....
America has problems....The problem is not America Platinum Member
Posts
2,594
Reputation
48.48%
Reputation Score
+16 / -17
Time Online
67 days 4 hours 36 minutes
Location
Schenectady
Quoted Text
This is a State issue and cannot be addressed on an ad hoc basis by different Counties in different ways.
First off, I don't think you can come up with any reason why a county cannot enact it's own laws on this issue.....Albany Co. has it's offender laws, maybe they should repeal those and use the excuse "It's a State problem".....Just like these cities around the NE that harbor illegal immigrants and say "It's a Federal problem".
Wanna rework the law?.....Fine.....Level 1: Can live anywhere......Level 2: Can't live within 1000ft of schools and such (if convicted of sexual contact with minors).....Level 3: Get the hell out
Second, What part of 'THE STATE WILL NOT ENACT LAWS PERTAINING TO THIS ISSUE' don't you get benny.....I have already shown, more than once, that it ain't gonna happen with Silver and the Dems leading the Assembly.
TaxCutNow, Pretty comprehensive analysis, ironic and funny. I think your analysis points out fairly clearly that politics is perception, and the truth not being a factor, it's the eternal campaign trail that maintains a politician's image as perceived by the public. Then, sometimes the majority whips its machine, yes I said machine, and despite how repugnant, the ugly souled candidate gets elected. Buck, I see no reason why Schenectady County can't have its own sex offender residency laws, but patience, input by all municipalities and some modicum of common sense are required to do the job. And your residency rules are okay, but I still advocate the ACME rocket to another planet...in another galaxy.
This county does need some laws governing residency and location of all sex offenders, and monitoring of more serious offenders, laws which are similar to the laws of neighboring counties, but perhaps go a bit further in monitoring their locations 24/7.
What we don't need is a county legislature that acts precipitously merely for the purpose of political expediency and enacts laws which offer unrealistic solutions to serious issues .
We also don't need columnists like Mr. Strock, talking about the residents of Schenectady County who were rightfully concerned for the safety of their children in terms being a panicked mob from a bad monster movie while pandering to the sex offender criminals and painting them as the victims of this B movie.
Also, the Gazette editorial staff looking for the state to pass any real legislation pertaining to sex offenders is pure fantasy. Adequate laws have passed through the state senate only to die repeated deaths in the state assembly, as pointed out by several other posters on this thread.
I keep advocating that we ourselves need to deal forcefully and sensibly about this issue right here in Schenectady County. Legislators must team up with law enforcement, county health and social services and the state correctional department to enact the best laws possible, not one they think will win a special election.
One final note. Ed Kosiur has been disparaged here quite a few times by quite a few people, and I can't say that he doesn't deserve at least some of that disparagement. I've know Ed for many years and my gut feeling has always been that he is intrinsically a decent person who has spent much of his life endeavoring to better peoples lives, especially children. I have observed his political career, and therein lie my first disappointments in Ed. I felt that in politics, the friendly but forceful man I knew had become subservant to people who he must have come to trust would counsel and guide him in the world of politics. Unfortunately for Ed, he trusted too much in people who talked a better game than they played and Ed failed to remain his own man. If national politics hadn't given the Democrats such an overwhelmingly successful 2006 midterm election, perhaps the local Democrats might not have felt they had a mandate from which to launch campaigns based not on substance but on political overconfidence and expediency. This lead an already politically cowed Ed Kosiur to enter into a pact with the political expendiency devil, the feeling that he and the Schenectady County Democrats could take a hot button issue like sex offenders and, with the help of a supposed venerable Paul Tonko, turn it into another landslide in the assembly special election. When overconfidence fled in the face of the smart GOP campaign of George Amedore and controversy from the towns and Montgomery County over the sex offender law, Kosiur's campaign panicked and froze like a deer in the headlights. Instead of staunchly defending not only the sex offender laws, but also his legislative voting record, the Kosiur machine ground down to a campaign of "Oh poor me!", pitifully whining about Republican disortions of Kosiur's voting records. Unfortunately, voting records are public records, and it it's hard to claim distortion when it's fact. I guess I'm trying to say that Ed Kosiur made some mistakes, and hopefully he will learn from them, because if he's the guy I knew ten years ago, he'll be back in politics, and when he returns, I hope he returns as his own man, not the Gumby-like politician he allowed himself to become.
Sex offenders need to be exposed and inconvenienced as much as possible so they are encouraged to leave voluntarily. Call it constructive eviction from the community. What they really need is the Louisiana solution but in NY sadly that won't happen.
Once again, Carl misreads the situation to suit his ongoing conclusions. The County Legislature hasn't admitted to any mistakes about the Kosiur Laws. They, as Mother savage would put it, are responding to the concerns of the towns. The revamped law is just as illconceived as the first version, only now Savage is pinning her hopes at vindication from the poor work that went into the first laws on the individual municipalities each mirroring the original laws by enacting similarly stringent residency restrictions which will have the same effect as the original laws.. Savage hasn't backpeddled on inch in her contention that the original laws were just fine, and also that the laws had no effect on the special election. Do you suppose it ever sinks in with Savage and other politicos, that it doesn't matter how many times and how often they say something, the repetition doesn't automatically make it fact.
I like the 25 to life idea. Sex offenders should go away for a long, long time particularly where they stop complying with the registration and location /residence requirements. In fact I am more inclined to 30+ years with no possibility of parole for failure to report their address as required.
Joseph Suhrada, R, Rotterdam: "We need to admit we made a mistake"
I'm glad to see Joe is finally admitting I was right, although tacitly; it is still a satisfying redemption after all that deflective and defaming ranting about racism and what not.
"American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage." --Greenspan, Feb. 2004
"It is the silence of the world that is real. Our noise, our business, our purposes, and all our fatuous statements about our purposes, our business, and our noise: these are the illusion." -Merton
Sex offender residency rules eased Schenectady County pulls back curbs on living near parks, schools
By JIMMY VIELKIND, Staff writer Click byline for more stories by writer. First published: Friday, August 24, 2007
SCHENECTADY -- The Schenectady County Legislature voted Thursday night to roll back some provisions of controversial laws restricting where sex offenders can live. Lawmakers also created a panel to study the issue more. Both votes were nearly unanimous.
In June, legislators passed restrictions requiring convicted sex offenders to leave their homes starting Oct. 1 if they lived within 2,000 feet of public parks, pools and playgrounds, schools or day care and youth facilities. A second measure bans offenders from moving within 2,000 feet of such areas.
By scaling back the new law and removing the retroactive clause, sex offenders who now live in so-called restricted areas may remain in their homes. They would have been forced to move by Oct. 1. The initial law would have applied to all three levels of convicted sex offenders. Now, it excludes Level One offenders -- the lowest level -- from the statute. "It's time for this legislature to step back a bit," Chairwoman Susan E. Savage, D--Niskayuna, said. The reality, she said, is that "Schenectady has become the place of choice in the Capital District for sex offenders to reside."
While she acknowledged the need to continue thinking about the issue, Savage was happy some restrictions remain on the books.
The legislature conducted its business over an hour after its scheduled start time after the Democratic majority called a caucus to discuss amendments proposed by Republican members. According to Legislator Joe Suhrada, R-Rotterdam, the amendments were composed by the small caucus during a two-hour session at the Grog Shop on Erie Boulevard following a public hearing on the law.
The Republicans proposed the creation of what Legislator Bob Farley called a "cavalcade of interesting people" including members of the law enforcement community, some legislators, members of the public and all of the mayors and town supervisors in the county.
The Schenectady County Council to Prevent Sex Offenses would study 15 recommendations, including:
Increased electronic monitoring of more serious predators.
A review board that could waive restrictions for "registered sex offenders who have good standing in the community and have been residents of Schenectady County without incident for not less than 10 years."
Allowing towns to enact tougher rules.
Requiring landlords to notify all tenants in an apartment building if a sex offender moves in.
The legislation also calls on the state legislature to address the issue. Thirteen counties statewide have residency restrictions for sex offenders, including Albany, Rensselaer and Saratoga.
"If we continue to work with the community we will be able to protect our children," Farley said. He compared the legislature's action on the issue to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.
The bi-partisan resolution creating the panel and excluding Level One offenders passed by a vote of 13-1 vote, with Legislator Michael Eidens dissenting. The repeal of the retroactive clause passed 12-2, with Farley and Savage voting against. Legislator Carolina Lazzari was absent.
The law came under attack from residents of more suburban and rural parts of the county, who argued that the restrictions would push offenders into their communities. Duanesburg Supervisor Rene Merrihew spoke against the measures, and was present.
"There were a lot of good things, but it's still just a residential restriction law and I'm not in favor of that," she said. But she was pleased, especially after Savage laid down a challenge when she said it was easier to legislate than criticize, to be involved in the process.
"I look forward to being on the committee and seeing what part I can play," she said.
In addition to the suburban criticisms, lawyers from the New York Civil Liberties Union threatened a lawsuit on grounds that Schenectady's residency restrictions pre-empt state laws and statistically don't work.
How the rollback will affect the pending legal challenge remains to be seen. Jimmy Vielkind can be reached at 454-5043 or by e-mail at jvielkind@timesunion.com.
"without incident for not less than 10 years.." Of course this means without having been caught and convicted, talk about driving the behavior underground ... not that it isn't always as far underground as the offender can make it but a stint in prison would tend to both educate and make the offender more clever, devious and cautious in the future.
I also note that the article claims that Schenectady has become the venue of choice for sex offenders. why? What is attractive about Schenectady if not easier access to targets or cheap section 8 housing? It's worth noting as well that the Towns objecting to Schenectady's efforts to address the problem of the city's attractiveness is more than a bit NIMBY.
Come to think of it who is to say that these offenders weren't residents of the Towns to begin with? Why would sending them back be such a terrible thing?
Fine in your back yard but not in mine. What the logical response of the Towns would be is to pass even more restrictive legislation until like in Florida, the only available space is under a rural bridge which is fine with me especially since our winters would encourage them to leave altogether. If that happens maybe Strock will leave too so he can spend time with all those quality people he seems to admire so much.
Joseph Suhrada, R, Rotterdam: "We need to admit we made a mistake"
I'm glad to see Joe is finally admitting I was right, although tacitly; it is still a satisfying redemption after all that deflective and defaming ranting about racism and what not.
Smith, The people don't want the law, and it may have negative un-intended consequences. I concede that. So I am for repeal and revision to what the panel recommends. I also know that the people are the bosses and the officials work for them. Period.
As far as making innuendos about me being an "Arab" or a "Muslim" and that I want to "cut off hands" then yes, you are trying to do what my opponents did in the last campaign around my town-to make people think I was "not like them" and perhaps a dreaded Middle Easterner. It was a childish attempt to use racial fears and yes-you participated in it by repeating it on this message board, and YES-THAT is defamatory. So the next time you want to call names based on a person's ethnicity (real or imagined since MY LAST NAME IS CZECH and I am a ROMAN CATHOLIC) think about how you sound...
Believe me Mr. SMITH, not all people are named SMITH or JONES. A lot of us came here from places OTHER than England or Holland. We may not be Anglo Saxons, but I can assure you SMITH, that my name is my FATHER'S name and my GRANDFATHER'S name, and it is a GOOD NAME. Play with it, make false accusations about MY NAME and YES, SMITH-I will stand up for my name. Let's consider the issue over since you now know I am not of "Arab descent" and remember that I have copies of what you posted...I forgive your "mistake" but the next time you say I was defamatory, be ready to defend your use of misguided ethnic race-baiting! OK? I think others would find what you said "defamatory" especially considering when you lie about my name, you are attacking my FATHER, my BROTHER'S and the rest of my family and they are NOT public officials and don't deserve these kinds of racial attacks. As a matter of fact, you put yourself in the position of defamer.
...you can say whatever you want about my politics, my big fat face, my bald head, or me being four-eyed. I can take it. You can make fun of my clothes, my 38 year old car, my speech pattern, my quotes. Anything you did on the playground when you were five is OK here I suppose, especially since it isn't to my face. I am fair game. Just DON'T cast aspersions about my family and my Father's name. I hope I am clear about that. I think you understand exactly how I feel about my family...Don't cross the line again.
Btw, anyone know who was the guy in the tv new reports from the County Leg meetings this past Monday, 8/20, who was saying their 15 yr old daughter was trapped in their home in the city because of the sex offenders? Mid 40's, tall, brown hair, Caucasian. If you saw the tv report, all channels carried it, you know who I mean because the guy had a serious rant going.
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
“Most of the speakers criticizing the proposal were municipal officials and homeowners from Duanesburg. Many argued the proposed amendments are not nearly enough and instead demanded politicians delay action until the topic is better researched.” . . .
It is interesting that the theme of regional approach comes up in this topic more than any other. Could SORR be the goose that lays the golden govt consolidation egg?
btw, if SORR is unconstitutional then how do 13 other counties have the law?
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
Mr Suhrada: You take a lot for granted. You assume I was or am aware of: "opponents did in the last campaign around my town-to make people think I was "not like them" and perhaps a dreaded Middle Easterner" and that I would like to undermine you and the Republican party. You think you have something because you have my posts; well, I have all our communications saved as well, so what. Reading without comprehension only addles your mind.
I was not aware of the racial attacks you claim opponents made against you, and you haven't shown that either by the way. My comments were original thinking, which is more than what you did with your sex offender crusade. You still wish to bend this into some sort of racial issue to make a good face for yourself, but I have already given you the context of my comments; first when you contacted me; and second, on this board when you thought you were the only one saving old letters. My reference was to your apparent bent be like one of the Arabs who punish by cutting off hands; it is a pretty good parallel to what you now say are "negative un-intended consequences." Maybe you're still upset that I saw them right out of the gate while you decided to be a haughty self righteous type. I thought it was just the liberal left that played the victim game. Trying to twist your nitwit mistake into your family suffering racism is a bit pathetic and quite un-Republican like. It's embarrassing. So you know, I am a Republican, I don't really want you to go under (and really did not know some group was attempting it the way you claim), I really don't want these nitwit democrats to have a full house, I really want "you" to be smarter than them, I really don't know you as well as you seem to think--I just know when someone does something so nitwitty that I can't develop an excuse for it. When I began reading your response I had high hopes for reconciliation, but you are as stubborn as a mule--perhaps I am too--but if that concession was your olive branch, it got burned up by your prose, I thought. At any rate, this can be an eternal contention, or as good plain thinking Republicans, we can try to find some better ground and be constructive from here on, instead of this schism which can only benefit the opposition.
"American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage." --Greenspan, Feb. 2004
"It is the silence of the world that is real. Our noise, our business, our purposes, and all our fatuous statements about our purposes, our business, and our noise: these are the illusion." -Merton
It's absolutely NOT unconstitutional except to the personal constitutions of liberals and other NIMBY (never mind that these offenders likely came from the areas that now don't want them back) types.
Smith, fair enough. But all I ask is that you refrain from repeating what is a tired mantra about my home town, that my name is pronounced SUE-HAD-RAH and I am some sort of middle easterner. As I said, I "assumed" you were privy to the whispering game (BTW-at the December County Board meeting Don Ackkerwomann, assistant county legislative clerk, insisted on mispronouncing my name at least a dozen times in a row in that manner no matter how many times I "corrected" him. He being a former teacher, I now understand why students have trouble reading and writing. Just understand that I am proud of my Father's heritage and his name. And I won't take making fun of my heritage or my background, lying down from anybody.
Go ahead and differ with me on policy all you want, or perhaps not differ with me! It doesn't matter. I am a big boy. But I resent any attempt to label me or my heritage as something I am not, and in the process drag my family name around. That is all I am saying. I take off my county legislator hat when someone insults my family and I don't a damn what anyone thinks about that. The hat I put on is that of a man whose parents have just been insulted, as you can imagine. And that hat isn't a "victim hat." It is a "knock somebody on their ass hat." I have never been a victim and won't be. that's the point here.
As far as the policy issue-when was the last time you heard a "politician" admit error and say he made a mistake in his initial vote and support? When was the last time you heard someone say that the "people have spoken, and we should change what we did?" If that is stubborn, then what is flexible? When the other legislators stop being so defensive about it then I will shut up! !
Smith, perhaps you did try to make a point by comparing me to an Islamist. But the mispronunciation and misspelling didn't sit well with me. After my opponents AFSCME campaign to discredit me using racial tactics I decided I won't be as quiet as I was 3 years ago. Without elaborating too much (remember something about me being sued by my defeated opponent? that is still "open" in a court of law)-many phone calls were made by AFSCME (a public union) that declared I was "of Arab descent." I have sworn affidavits from people to this effect who received the calls. I was the target of that kind of politics once, and I won't be again. Even so, I certainly don't expect the Anti-defamation league, the NAACP, or the Sons of Italy to come to my defense. They were silent the last time and I imagine since I have an "R" after my name they will be silent again.
So, Smith, there it is in a nutshell. We can agree or we can disagree, it doesn't matter to me. I forgive any insult you made and I just want you to know that I am not a guy who takes things like that lightly since I love my Father, my late Grandfather and everything they stood for, so I won't let anyone demean my family name.
Gee Dave, I sure didn't read your line as "shake hands and come out swinging"--was that really how you meant it?
Ah, no Kathryn. That is why I was sure to include the phrase "peace offering", not "piece" offering, as in "piece of my mind" or "piece of my verbal fist".
All I can say is that I've been in heated, emotional "discussions" with other members on this site from time to time, and most of the time, after coming to an understanding of their points of view, even if I still disagreed with their point, I have come to respect them,
I hope Joe Suhrada and Smith can find some ground for mutual respect and bury the "proverbial" virtual hatchett.
Joe: Well, how well I can see when someone turns his light on! But for stubborn: "When was the last time you heard someone say that the "people have spoken, and we should change what we did?" If that is stubborn, then what is flexible?" Actually I wasn't criting that at all, that was fine and to your credit. I was saying you were stubborn since it appeared to me that you kept ignoring the metaphor, which I felt made the issue quite clear, and seemed hell bent on keeping the race thing in the headlights--I thought, apparently to keep the sex issue out of play. This is what I've observed often enough in politics, and it usually plays the victim hand. However, if I had known about the Don Ackkerwomann thing, along with the rest that you've disclosed here, I would have found another way to craft it--I would have recognised as well that my point would likely be lost by rubbing a sore spot like that; well I just wouldn't have put myself in a spot to be so easily misunderstood and misrepresent myself. Somehow I've missed the "tired mantra" but you won't hear it from me. I have no reason to believe the generations of your family have been anything but a decent lot. That law thing though, was still pretty nitwitty Best: Smith
"American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage." --Greenspan, Feb. 2004
"It is the silence of the world that is real. Our noise, our business, our purposes, and all our fatuous statements about our purposes, our business, and our noise: these are the illusion." -Merton
The Gazette headline said it all, by saying nothing; "Offender law to protect kids amended". Right? What mush, what a waste of time, what an outrage. Existing pedophiles can stay, Level 1 offenders can stay, zones to be examined by a group of "experts". This protects no one, does nothing, and proves that the only thinking County legislatures are Michael Eidens (D-Glenville) and Carolina Lazzari (R-Rotterdam). Again.
Funniest part of this fiasco was the GOP "meeting" at the Grog Shoppe for "coffee". That's the first place to go when thinking of caffeine. Let's hope it was several Irish Coffees. Maybe that would explain things. The Democrats keeping trying to give the County back to the GOP and the GOP keeps dropping the ball. Now the GOP has co-authored this mess. More should have followed Carolina and head out of the jurisdiction. Joe Suhrada has been the one taxpayer watch dog and critic of obscene spending. The Dems poorly copied his legislation putting him in a difficult spot. He least he publicly admitted he made a mistake. Several Dems privately did too, while burying Democrat County "leaders". Time to go on the record, y'all.
Thanks Gringo. It's wonderful when we can put aside partisanship and work for the good of the County. When we can agree the stars must be in alignment for positive change.
Benny if you read my quote in the Gazette I believe it was last Friday or the Friday before I also admitted that I had made a mistake. I told that to Carl Strock also. Whether he prints it or not I don't know.
Why? There were many citizens in Scotia who asked me to do that, and I agreed to do that, he told me after the meeting. (Im glad there werent many citizens in Scotia who asked him to jump off the Western Gateway Bridge.)
Carl - newsflash for ya... Legislators are voted into office to speak as a representative FOR THE PEOPLE they represent. Listening to constituents is what they're SUPPOSED to do. Having done any less and we'd ALL be voting him out of office.
I agree with you there, Joe, but more to the point, how does anyone expect this "advisory group" to find the time to all meet, no less accomplish anything substantive?
And something substantive and workable must be found because it is obvious that sex offender residency will remain a hot button issue....at least until the election season is over.
Bob Farley should be trying to be part of a solution to the issue of sex offenders in the community, but he continues to be part of the problem, pandering to the valid concerns of his contituants but offering pablum instead of intellegent thought, on top of becoming the tool of the County Democrats by coming up with mostly unworkable solutions to the problem. The county Republicans should have taken some more time, and perhaps met in a venue more condusive to tempered thought, and thought their suggestions through intstead of panicking and blurting out some crap to try to one up the Democrats.
The worst of the Republican suggestions is an official dormatory to become sex offender residence located......where? Certainly not in the city, according to the 2000 foot law that still exists in the proposed "revised" law, excluding any such residency for the more serious of the sex offenders. So which town will want a single building filled with the most serious sex offenders, fresh out of prison? Let me guess, NONE???
Back to issue one, the people of the towns in uproar mode again. Back to the County Legislature trying to patch up the political holes in this situation with illlogic and bad rhetoric that ressembles jello rather than concrete solutions.
HostPC: The manner of Mr. Farley's response betrayed a kind of kneejerk sentiment no more conducive to effective policy making than that evidenced by the Majority's failed legislation.
As Burke stated so well, "Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion."
America has problems....The problem is not America Platinum Member
Posts
2,594
Reputation
48.48%
Reputation Score
+16 / -17
Time Online
67 days 4 hours 36 minutes
Location
Schenectady
Quoted from 178
Oh, and to the Gazette editorial cartoon staff, the rocket is supposed to say "ACME" on the side, not look like a U. S. Air Force shuttle mission.
Yeah Dave....I'll have to agree with you on the USAF logo...They shouldn't have used it.
But in defense of the 'People's Gazette', the use of an ACME rocket wouldn't have been realistic (Then again, the shuttle landing on the moon isn't either).
Although ACME rocket engines are incredibly powerful, fast and very reliable....The guidence systems constantly suffer from massive failure.
It would have a severe tendancy to put you into the side of a mountain rather than land you on the moon.
ACME also have shortcomings with the landing systems as well....Since they don't install them....My friends at Haliburton tell me they don't require them because they NEVER expect the rocket EVER to reach it's intended target....They consider this a cost cutting measure
LOS ANGELES Self-described pedophile Jack McClellan said he is leaving California after a judge ordered him to stay away permanently from places where children gather, it was reported Sunday.
"I have to leave the state, really, I can't live here under this Orwellian protocol," he told KABC-TV. "It's nightmarish."
A call to McClellan's cell phone on Sunday by The Associated Press was not immediately returned.
McClellan has been unemployed and living out of his car since arriving in Southern California this summer from Washington.
On Friday, Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig issued a permanent injunction and a three-year restraining order that prohibit McClellan from coming within 30 feet of schools, playgrounds and other places where children congregate.
The judge's ruling narrowed a previous injunction, issued earlier in the month, that had barred McClellan from coming near anyone under age 18 anywhere in the state. McClellan spent 10 days in jail for violating that injunction when he was arrested earlier this month near a child care center at the University of California, Los Angeles. Related
Sandvig's new ruling also bars McClellan from contacting, videotaping or photographing children or publishing their photos without written consent from a guardian or parent. McClellan could be arrested if he violates that prohibition.
McClellan, 45, came to the attention of authorities for a Web site where he posted photos of children in public places and discussed how he liked to stake out parks, public libraries, fast-food restaurants and other areas where little girls congregated.
His Internet service provider took down his Web site more than a month ago.
McClellan maintained he launched the site as a form of therapy and wouldn't do anything illegal. He has never been charged with molestation.
They can be tracked and as far as whether they sleep in a bed or on the ground and are homeless -well who cares?
Habitual offenders ought not be walking around with the rest of us anyway, but to the extent we can't kill them for their horrific acts then by all means we ought to imprison them for life without parole. That way these very, very few people who are recidivate sex offenders (at least according to Strock) will always have a roof over their heads and everyone is happy ...well at least decent people are happy. The offenders can be miserable for a change which is entirely appropriate instead of the general public being made anxious and miserable at the prospect of one of these sub-human predators being allowed to live nearby.
"American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage." --Greenspan, Feb. 2004
"It is the silence of the world that is real. Our noise, our business, our purposes, and all our fatuous statements about our purposes, our business, and our noise: these are the illusion." -Merton
HA, I think I've found your perfect neighbors...the vigilantes anyway..... HELENWOOD, Tenn. (Sept. 14) - Everybody in this little mountain community knew that Timothy Carl Chandler had been arrested on child pornography charges. It was in the newspaper and all over the TV news.
Photo Gallery: 'Unfortunate Incident' Duncan Mansfield, AP
Melissa Chandler of Helenwood, Tenn., died in a Sept. 2 home fire set soon after her husband, Timothy, was arrested on child porn charges. He escaped. "I really wish it wasn't me who got out," Timothy Chandler said. 1 of 4 Two of Chandler's neighbors decided to do something about it, police say. They're accused of trying to scare him off by setting fire to his tiny house tucked away in a hardscrabble Appalachian hollow.
Chandler, 53, escaped from the flames. But his wife was killed in what authorities are calling an example of vigilante justice.
"I really wish it wasn't me who got out," Chandler told Knoxville television station WBIR. "I wish it was her. She didn't deserve that."
Robert "Bobby" Bell, a 37-year-old construction worker, and Gary Lamar Sellers, a 39-year-old coal-mining equipment mechanic, are jailed on $1 million bond, charged with first-degree murder and arson.
After losing all his possessions in the Sept. 2 fire, Chandler was living in a Knoxville homeless shelter. His attorney, public defender Larry Bryant, said Chandler expects to enter a plea next month to charges he downloaded more than 100 pornographic pictures of young girls.
His mother-in-law found some of the pictures on a disk he had given her to copy computer programs in May. She tipped off police, and Chandler was arrested Aug. 20. Released on $100,000 bond, he came home a few days before the fire.
Sellers and Bell told police they did not intend for anyone to die. They just wanted to get Timothy Chandler out of the neighborhood because he was "a pervert," Chief Deputy Bill Lane said.
Sellers admitted driving the pickup truck used that night, but he claimed Bell set the fire, according to an affidavit. After lighting the blaze, the pair "drove to a close location where both men watched the residence burn."
Bell "feels like it was a very unfortunate incident, just like everybody else," said his court-appointed lawyer, Lief Jeffers. "This was not anything that was intended by any of the parties."
Sellers' attorney Jimmy Logan did not return a call for comment.
The fire is one of many examples of suspected vigilantism against sex offenders, ranging from harassment and arson to more violent crimes. A Nova Scotia man used Maine's sex offender registry last year to find and fatally shoot two registered sex offenders. Two convicted child rapists were killed in Washington state.
Helenwood, some 15 miles south of the Kentucky border, is a mountain community of about 800 people with an average household income of $17,700 - less than half the state average.
The Chandlers and both suspects all lived on Butler Lane, a twisting one-lane country road that runs past small fields, weathered houses, outbuildings and trailers, and rusting farm machinery. Homes are clustered so closely together that neighbors can keep an eye on each other from their back porch swings.
Oma Butler lives on a hill overlooking the now-charred one-bedroom home, which she rented to the Chandlers. She knows everyone involved and blamed the fire on a combination of alcohol, drugs and "no sense."
The Chandlers were a little secretive, Butler recalled, and covered their windows with plastic bags. But they were good renters for nearly eight years.
"They have always been real nice to me," she said. Timothy "seemed the happiest guy when I would see him."
Records indicate Chandler served 18 months in prison in Ohio for a 1990 conviction for gross sexual imposition, which typically involves fondling. But he's had no problems since.
Bell and Sellers have had frequent run-ins with the law over relatively minor offenses, including drinking and driving on a revoked license.
Detective Don Laxton said several people were "hollering names and so forth" outside the Chandlers' house a few hours before the fire began.
Butler didn't think anything of the noise then, but awoke later to the sound of a truck spinning its wheels "like it was in a deep mud hole." She saw the red pickup drive to a nearby hill, park and turn off its lights.
Soon after, her son came running in. "Mom, mom, the house is on fire!" he yelled. The house's porch "was burning from one end to the other. It was a-flaming," she said.
Her son ran to the house. He smashed a window to get Chandler out. Then they broke open a door so Chandler could race inside for his wife. She was unconscious when Chandler brought her out. He tried CPR, but Melissa "Missy" Chandler, 37, died at the emergency room.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. 2007-09-14 17:56:29
Mike: I took it that he means sex offenders received notice and only they can get into the protest, all others who disagree but are not SO's cannot, which I took to mean he is one of the all others. But possibly I got it wrong and he is an offender and just wouldn't have to move, although that seems unlikely since he is in Scotia. Anyway, that's why I ask.
"American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage." --Greenspan, Feb. 2004
"It is the silence of the world that is real. Our noise, our business, our purposes, and all our fatuous statements about our purposes, our business, and our noise: these are the illusion." -Merton
Why would those be my perfect neighbors? I can't recall ever saying anything about wanting a pedophile for a neighbor and if you mean the arsonists I can't recall ever saying that anyone ought to be deprived of their legal rights before a trial or killed in their home, that's just sick. Pedophiles ought to be tried like other criminals then if convicted, the law ought to be applied against them fully. We can argue about what the law ought to be but killing people who have merely been accused is just murder, isn't it? Why would I want a murderer for a neighbor?
Grow a sense of humor along with a brain, HA. I was referring to the vigilantes as being perfect neighbors for you, considering all the references you've made to using the death penalty as a cure for recidivism...it was a joke...geez, what a wacko!
I have a sense of humor but what you posted wasn't funny, it was just stupid. I made reference to vigilantes to cure the vandalism problem but didn't suggest killing anyone. As for recidivate child molesters I have always called for legal treatment of them I'd just like to see the law changed to include the Louisiana/Jesus solution. I don't find the occasion of the death on an innocent person suited for humor.
What I commented on with that news story was about your penchant for ultimate solutions for criminals found guilty of certain crimes.
What I find now find humorous is the dichotomy of your reasoning process, in that you recommend vigilantism, which is illegal almost any jurisdiction I can think of for any purpose I can think of, but you want to limit that illegal activity to what you think is acceptable.
Once you stir the mob into action, you no longer control the mob, and people die.
So the next time you think you're righteous enough to recommend that people rise up and break the law, for any purpose, you'd better be prepared to reap the harvest of your words and actions.
As far as I am concerned the death of innocent people is just not a source for joking about others. I didn't think it funny at all.
Vigilantism as I wrote about it has nothing to do with death. There can be measured responses appropriate to fit the crimes without it getting out of hand. People should rise up and by force protect their property even if vandals get bloodied up.
There is no such thing as reading comprehension in your tired old brain, is there. You cannot control the mob once you stir it into action, or do you think you alone can lift your hand and still the mob.
And the joke was about you, not the news article...another example of some lack of reading comprehension on your part.
I don't think neighborhood property owners protecting their own homes constitutes a mob. But to the extent it does, I still think people can and ought to protect their own property including the use of force if necessary to prevent vandalism. Note I am not making personal remarks about you or what I think of your brain or any other body part. You used the content of the article to make a joke about me. While I don't mind being made fun of, death isn't funny and I would never want murderers for neighbors as you suggested by your joke.
Thank goodness you're not thinking about any of my body parts...you may remain living within the city of Schenectady.
As for defending your home, or neighborhood, I believe in vigilance, not vigilantism. I believe in being the squeaky wheel and keeping the police and neighbors notified of any suspicious behavior rather than spurring a mob to violence.
I believe in defending my home with force as the very last resort, not a philosophy to be preached.
Perhaps that is what you've been trying to say, but sometimes you come off as so reactionary and seemingly in favor in violence, legal or not, as a solution in many of your views.
I'm sorry if you didn't find humor in my first reference when I posted the article. It really wasn't meant to denigrate you.
Well we certainly have our differences. I believe in defending my home and property as a first resort since I am likely to be there long before the cops and I am unwilling to permit criminals access to anything of mine. In other words reach into my strong box criminally and you'll pull back a bloody stump. I do not believe that property owners and citizens have any duty to retreat in the face of criminals trying to do them harm or steal their things and have every right to prevent it by force if necessary. I support the right of all citizens to let Smith and Wesson do the talking for them in all such situations as the Second Amendment clearly provides. Our society needs to stop worrying about the rights of criminal predators and start taking it to them literally every time they step out of bounds. Robbery and buglary where people are at home at the time ought to be activities involving mortal risk to the burglars and robbers and homeowners ought not have any worry about taking them out.
The long awaited and highly anticipated debut of the Sex Offender Task Force created by the Schenectady County Legislature occurs today at 4:00 pm at the Schenectady Library. The public is welcome to attend (though the meeting was not well publicized from what I can tell).
District Attorney Schenectady County - Robert Carney Town Supervisor Town of Duanesburg - Rene Merrihew Town Supervisor Town of Glenville - Francis Quinn Town Supervisor Town of Rotterdam - Steven Tommasone Town Supervisor Town of Niskayuna - Luke Smith Town Supervisor Town of Princetown - Douglas Gray Mayor Village of Scotia - Kris Kastberg Mayor Village of Delanson - Sally Burns Mayor City of Schenectady - Brian Stratton Sheriff Schenectady County - Harry Buffardi Chief of Police City of Schenectady - Michael Geraci Chief of Police Town of Glenville - Michael Ranalli Chief of Police Town of Niskayuna - Lewis Moskowitz Chief of Police Town of Rotterdam - James Hamilton Chief of Police Village of Scotia - John Pytlovany Probation Schenectady County - Joseph Mancini Parole New York State Division of Parole - Felix Rosa Social Services Social Services - Dennis Packard Community Services Office of Community Services - Jack Cadalso County Court Judge Schenectady County Court - Karen Drago Family Court Judge Schenectady County Family Court - Mark Powers Family Court Judge Schenectady County Family Court - JoAnne Assini County Attorney Schenectady County - Christopher Gardner Community Representative NAACP - Olivia Adams Community Representative - Jeffrey Parry Community Representative - Karen House Legislator County Legislature - Susan Savage Legislator County Legislature - Philip Fields Legislator County Legislature - Judith Dagostino
Anyone recognize any of these names? Jeffrey Parry is a Scotia resident who spoke in favor of Kosiur's Laws. The NAACP representative Olivia Adams also spoke in favor of the legislation when initially passed in June 2007. And, of course there are the names of Chris Gardner and three Legislators, all from the majority party and none of who opposed passage of the sex offender residency laws. Conspicuously absent from the list of participants are community representatives from Princetown, Duanesburg and Rotterdam (District 4) and a Legislator from the minority party.
So, does anyone believe that this is a stacked deck? Anyone think that the concerns of those who reside in the rural communities will be considered and addressed?
Look for the panel to fail in its mission so that Savage can claim that the County government knows best or, alternatively, for her to claim any success that results from the efforts of the members.
Just another example of one party dictatorial rule in Schenectady County. Folks, regardless of which party you belong to, absolute one party rule is dangerous.
Another notable omission is Schenectady Public Safety Commission Wayne Bennett. From what I read of his reaction in one of the news articles, he didn't think the law was the way to go.
Stacked deck? It's leaning so far left that if anyone of these guys turns to break wind, it'll topple.
You don't need a title, to make an impact. - Sarah Palin
Stacked deck? It's leaning so far left that if anyone of these guys turns to break wind, it'll topple.
Too funny Pat. Though I hope that no one does break wind as it is a small room that is apparently filled to the rafters with the committee members.
I understand that Carl Strock of the Daily Gazette and David Giacalone, the attorney who may file suit against Schenectady County to challenge the legislation may be in attendance. I look forward to reading Mr. Strock's column as I was unable to attend the meeting due to work commitments.
Carl Strock questioned the legality of the meeting based on the lack of public notice. I hope that he addresses this point in his column. If, indeed, this meeting is open to the public, as it must be, why isn't it being taped as other meetings (e.g., County Legislature, Public Hearings, etc.) and shown (unedited) on SACC, the Schenectady Public Access TV station? Could it be that those who formed this panel want there to be no public record of its actions, decisions and partisan composition?
These meetings must be conducted in accordance with the law. The County Attorney (Gardner) bears responsibility to ensure that the meetings be open to all and that the meeting proceedings be recorded in official minutes and/or video taped. The public has the right to observe the actions of this panel and the government.
Carl Strock questioned the legality of the meeting based on the lack of public notice. I hope that he addresses this point in his column. If, indeed, this meeting is open to the public, as it must be, why isn't it being taped as other meetings (e.g., County Legislature, Public Hearings, etc.) and shown (unedited) on SACC, the Schenectady Public Access TV station? Could it be that those who formed this panel want there to be no public record of its actions, decisions and partisan composition?
These meetings must be conducted in accordance with the law. The County Attorney (Gardner) bears responsibility to ensure that the meetings be open to all and that the meeting proceedings be recorded in official minutes and/or video taped. The public has the right to observe the actions of this panel and the government.
I expect they don't want it taped because they don't want "everyperson" taking attendance or discovering who is really running the meetings and forcing the agenda. The fewer people see the truth, the fewer witnesses there are, and the "he said, she said" can be propagandized by the people who have the press's ear.
in case you were wondering, the NAACP was for the sex offender law because 5 or 6 level 3 sex offenders live within peeing distance of one another in Hamilton Hill. The good citizens of Hamilton Hill want the sex offenders out of their community. they did not advocate they should go to Duanesburg or Pattersonville [couldn't afford it]. that is why they are there. Scotia tried to pass it's own sex offender law but stopped when it discovered the county planned to do so. that is why they are there.
as for the minority -- they should let joe on -- he proposed a similar law when he ran for reelection -- no one complained about thelaw then -- his law would have booted people out of apartments as well.
IMHO opinion: Birthers are nothing more than Birchers.
Guess what-wrong again. I never proposed retro-activity and coming in with a swat team and moving people out of where they live, or moving them to the suburbs, either. And I put an onus on landlords to screen and NOTIFY the other tenants and neighboring property owners before rental, via mail. The landlord would have the right NOT to rent to them (as they ALREADY DO JUST DUE TO THEIR CRIMINAL RECORD OR BAD CREDIT- ETC.) It would have been a pain in the butt for landlords ANYWHERE in the county to rent TO them. If they didn't screen and didn't notify, then they would be subject to fines. But I guess the landlord lobby donates too much money to the machine, and they didn't want to PO them. I mean screening takes all of a few phone calls and a peak onto the web page to get a look-see who is on the registry! Once again -another special interest group under the Savage tent.
I did propose the GPS monitoring as well, and that idea was grabbed up too. Now as far as the working group, so to speak. I was not informed of who is on it, and when the meetings are. I read about it here. That is because your pals believe so much in working together. Together meaning only with themselves. One of many things, your county boss Chris Gardiner must prefer doing with himself, only. OK go back, Gringo and get ALL the facts before you do anymore boot licking.
Maybe they ought to look at my original proposal and then put some Democrat name on it who is up for re-election. that way, they can get credit, and we all know that this group of clowns cares nothing more than who gets credit and who doesn't! And apparently Kosier definitely got credit for it on July 31st.
Why isn't the NAACP all for a law preventing convicted drug dealers and gang members from living within the same guidelines as the sex offenders? That is what the problem is on HH, drug dealing, and the killing and thieving that comes with it--not to forget plenty of sex abuse. Worrying about sex offenders is like worrying about a leaky shingle when the rafters are rotten. Maybe it's a color thing.
"American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage." --Greenspan, Feb. 2004
"It is the silence of the world that is real. Our noise, our business, our purposes, and all our fatuous statements about our purposes, our business, and our noise: these are the illusion." -Merton
I just love Strock's "mostly imaginary" danger comment. Wouldn't it be just perfect if he met one of these mostly imaginary dangers in his own home in the middle of the night or caught one of them communicating with one of his children on AIM? I'm sure he'd be Dukakisish in his response to the situation.
From: "David Giacalone" To: "Sex Offender Mailing List" Subject: posting about the Schenectady County Council to Prevent Sex Offenses Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:20:13 -0400
FYI
I just posted a very long piece at my weblog, f/k/a, describing the new Schenectady County Council to Prevent Sex Offenses and their first meeting. See "our first look at the Schenectady County Council to Prevent Sex Offenses" (Oct. 22, 2007) http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/e.....revent-sex-offenses/ The posting collects in one place everything I know so far about the SOC.
Legislators aren't required to consult the so-called experts Strock refers to in order to address the concerns and wishes of their constituents nor is it generally a good thing to govern and legislate via "expert" opinion, you know those "experts" who pronounce various killers not a danger right before they go out and kill a few more people.
Calif. Sex Offenders Go Homeless By DON THOMPSON (Associated Press Writer) From Associated Press October 31, 2007 2:18 PM EDT SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Hundreds of California sex offenders who face tough new restrictions on where they can live are declaring themselves homeless - truthfully or not - and that's making it difficult for the state to track them.
Jessica's Law, approved by 70 percent of California voters a year ago, bars registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park where children gather. That leaves few places where offenders can live legally.
Some who have had trouble finding a place to live are avoiding re-arrest by reporting - falsely, in some cases - that they are homeless.
Experts say it is hard to monitor sex offenders when they lie about their address or are living day-to-day in cheap hotels, homeless shelters or on the street. It also means they may not be getting the treatment they need.
"We could potentially be making the world more dangerous rather than less dangerous," said therapist Gerry Blasingame, past chairman of the California Coalition on Sexual Offending.
Similar laws in Iowa and Florida have driven offenders underground or onto the streets.
"They drop off the registry because they don't want to admit living in a prohibited zone," said Corwin Ritchie, executive director of the association of Iowa prosecutors.
The organization tried unsuccessfully in the past two years to persuade lawmakers to repeal the state's 2,000-foot residency restriction.
"Most legislators know in their hearts that the law is no good and a waste of time, but they're afraid of the politics of it," Ritchie said.
The problem is worsening in Florida as about 100 local ordinances add restrictions to the state's 1,000-foot rule, said Florida Corrections Department spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. Sixteen homeless offenders are now living under a Miami bridge, while another took to sleeping on a bench outside a probation office.
"As society has imposed restrictions, it becomes almost impossible for them to find places to live," Plessinger said.
Twenty-two states have distance restrictions varying from 500 feet to 2,000 feet, according to California researchers. But most impose the offender-free zones only around schools, and several apply only to child molesters, not all sex offenders.
California's law requires parolees to live in the county of their last legal residence. But in San Francisco, for example, all homes are within 2,000 feet of a school or park.
"The state is requiring parolees to find eligible housing in San Francisco, knowing full well there isn't any," said Mike Jimenez, president of the California parole officers union. "It will be impossible for parole agents to enforce Jessica's Law in certain areas, and encouraging `transient' living arrangements just allows sex offenders to avoid it altogether."
State figures show a 27 percent increase in homelessness among California's 67,000 registered sex offenders since the law took effect in November 2006. Since August, the number of offenders with no permanent address rose by 560 to 2,622.
"This is a huge surge," said Deputy Attorney General Janet Neeley, whose office maintains the database. "Any law enforcement officer would tell you we would prefer to have offenders at addresses where we can locate them."
Offenders who declare themselves homeless must tell their parole officer each day where they spent the previous night.
Those who declare themselves homeless are still legally bound by the 2,000-foot rule; they cannot stay under a bridge near where children gather, for example. But it is more difficult for parole officers to keep tabs on them.
Parole officers said some offenders are registering as homeless, then sneaking back to homes that violate the law. That's easy to do because fewer than 30 percent of transient offenders currently wear the Global Positioning System tracking devices required by Jessica's Law.
"If they tell you that they were under the American River bridge, we're going to take that at face value," said Corrections Department spokesman Bill Sessa, referring to a homeless hangout in Sacramento.
During a recent sweep in the Oakland area, parole officers discovered that two of the five offenders they checked weren't living in the temporary shelters they had reported as their new homes. Neither had been issued a GPS device.
Department spokesman Seth Unger said parole agents are starting to make the homeless a priority in issuing the GPS ankle bracelets, which are still being phased in.
R.L., a 42-year-old sex offender who lives near Disneyland in Southern California, said he registered as homeless after his parole agent told him two potential homes were too close to schools or parks.
"I finally asked, `Where do you want me to live?' He said, `You have a car, don't you?'" said R.L., who asked that his full not be used because of the stigma surrounding sex offenders.
The law was named for 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was kidnapped, raped and buried alive by a convicted sex offender near her Florida home in 2005.
The author of Jessica's Law, state Sen. George Runner, said "90 percent" of it is working well. But he conceded that some portions need to be fixed.
"When the voters voted for this, they decided that they didn't want a child molester to live across the street from a school," said Runner, a Republican from Lancaster in Los Angeles County's high desert. "If that means that in some areas that needs to be 1,000 feet or 1,500 feet, then I think that we still accomplish what it is the voters wanted."
well I am positive that this law is not working for operation Holloween a sex offender in our nieghborhood was answering the door as well as trick or treating. the cops were called twice. The first time they gave him a warning a second call came in and they said there was nothing they can do but to call in Sgt Zampella. Now within several hours and many complaints nothing is done someone put a call into news 6. Lets see some action being done now! I wonder if this is going to make the gazette. Well folks you heard it hear first. Working for the schenectady resident and letting you know what is really going on and not behind closed doors. Operation (MR)clean sweep reporting from Schenectady
Portal
Home
Calendar
Search
Register
Login
Report to Moderator
Logged
E-mail
Lumpy's Relocation of Predator's To The Towns Law is dead as a door nail. Any legislator, from either party, who votes for any retooling of this piece of political garbage is finished. Even thinking Democrats have finally stopped listening to Sue "The" Savage. This is a State issue and cannot be addressed on an ad hoc basis by different Counties in different ways.
Private message
!
Site
YIM
