4-8-11: Chamber of Commerce Breakfast

I was at this event, which threw my blogging strategy right off.

My interview with Peter Lopez, this guy. That's his official website.

HERE IS OUR SHORT CONVERSATION.

We agreed that local ethics enforcement should be included in ethics reform and that financial records should be online for public inspection.

And Stephen Saland and Roy Brown spoke. I have that audio for what its worth. Saland talked about how dire the budget is and all that, but of course he's been there in Albany the whole time. Roy Brown talked about buying the old Walmart. I don't think it sounds good to me. Apparently this is big news. I thought it was well known or I heard about the plan before but I could be wrong.

And the District Attorney was there. If the DA is having breakfast with folks, is she likely to also prosecute them if necessary? Theoretically, in terms of what controls there are on local ethics, there are really almost none. The DA is one tiny possible control. Somehow, her office should be more insulated from politics. Not her fault: structural problem.

The Chamber of Commerce, the local one, by the way, is a great organization. Not criticizing the Chamber.

I met these guys, from Shireworks, the guys behind the BIG UP festival. Good project, nice guys. If you do a blog search on this blog, you'll see me trying to figure what this is.

In general the county officials and employees and elected officials and hangers on seemed to out number actual business owners.

Here are some of the folks who didn't come, since their tags were sitting on the table:

I saw a lot of elected officials shaking hands, making speeches and stuff. Not a lot of time for asking questions. I paid $18 but I only had a lukewarm cup of coffee and a lousy danish.

I call it a good morning.