DemocratsPittsford.org

I have no idea what was going through Bill Carpenter’s mind when he was quoted in the August 5,2009 BPP article about a suburban RBTL venue.

As per the BPP, Bill said “Without having a specific site in mind I told them that we’d be willing to come to the table. I think it’s a great venue to have. I think it would fit in our community in many ways so I think it’s worth considering.”

Think traffic. Think no open space near an expressway entrance. Think no mention of this type of need in the about to be approved Comprehensive Master plan.

I think he is just off the wall on this.

I have been doing some research using the New York State Board of Elections campaign finance database available through the link http://www.elections.state.ny.us/DisclosureReports.html# .

If you want to roll your own, the link http://www.elections.state.ny.us/CFDownloads.html leads to the full database downloads by filing period. Looking up the filer’s account numbers you want and doing some database work, you can really find out a lot.

Although I can do it and have done it in the past, I’m lazy and have been sticking to the disclosure reports recently.

As an exercise, I looked up contributions by ‘Christa’, uploaded it as both html and text to my machine and then started to work in a spreadsheet.

Stripping everything away but filings by Christa Construction, Christa Development and David Christa with addresses either of Victor, Fairport or Williamsville (Christa Construction apparently has an office there)  leads to some interesting data.

Here are the yearly totals:

Beginning in with July 2006, all local campaigns had to file through the State Board of Elections so it is not a surprise that the amounts jump in 2006.

Here are all the Christa contributions as of August 3, 2009 since the online system started in 1999 sorted by recipient and then date:

Judge for yourself how evenly split between Democrats and Republicans Christa entities make their contributions.

According to the New York State Board of Elections page http://www.elections.state.ny.us/Contributions.html :

The New York State Election Law places aggregate calendar year limits on the amount of political contributions that can be made by individuals and corporations to New York State candidates and committees, as follows:

• An individual may contribute up to a total of $150,000.00 in a calendar year.
• A corporation may contribute up to a total of $5,000.00 in a calendar year.
• Each affiliated or subsidiary corporation, if a separate legal entity, has its own limit.

Note that the table above covers several different entities and people so in order to see if these limits have been violated, you need to go back to the original page and total the individual entities up for each year. I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

How much in consultations and contracts has Christa entities gotten during this period? I have no idea.

Of course, correlation is not causation – but I’m suspicious.

As of last Thursday, the Pierson signs at Sutherland and Monroe had come down but the Brizee sign was still up. As per the Village, the responsible employee is on vacation and won’t be back until Monday.

Since the Trustees get notified about a complaint, well the Pierson signs are gone.

My intent was just to mention the Village temporary signs before going on to Town temporary signs but there is more. My photos, the property lines as shown on the County mapping site (http://www.mappingmonroe.org/mmb)/ and the Village Code ( go to the Village website http://www.villageofpittsford.org/; use the link in the first paragraph, enter 168-6 as the section number you want to look at) indicate that as of last Thursday you would be hard pressed to find a legal real estate sign anywhere in the village!

Take the signs on the south side of Monroe east from Main to the bank. these include the for rent sign near the corner as well as several for lease/sale signs further east.

Blue line is emphasizes property line

Click on the image to see it blown up or go to the mapping site and look for yourself.

The property line is flush with the buildings, not out towards the sidewalk.

What is going on with code enforcement in the Village? If you understand, please comment below. I don’t have a clue.

And this is a newly revised ordinance as of 4-28-2009!

That for sale sign on the north side of Monroe further east- within the right of way and with the additional part on top, my estimate is that it is over the four square feet limit. The signs along Jefferson are apparently all in the right of way. Shoen Place – Flour Mill for rent sign is legal since the property goes essentially across the street but with the one on the grain tower, there are two signs on the parcel with only one permitted.

Pittsford Dairy has a temporary sign most days between the sidewalk and the curb, in the right of way.

While the Village Zoning Board of Appeals can allow exceptions, it looks like most temporary signs in the village don’t meet code.

Then there are the contractors signs allowed by 168-6 A(3). My guess is the intent of the new law was that these should be set back 10 feet, too, but the law doesn’t read that way. In any case they should be on the property being worked on, not in the right of way and certainly not in the right of way down at the corner.

The ones I saw last week didn’t seem to comply except for the one at Danielle’s which might and I mean might not be in the right of way. And whose house was being painted a few weeks back by the painter that had a sign at Monroe and Washington?

If these signs are gone or more legally placed by the time you look, great! But don’t let anyone claim they weren’t there – I have the pictures to prove it.