The Mayor and His (Former) Friend

Listen to the entire phone conversation here.

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Sometime back in May, my wife and I dragged our bulky garbage cans to the curb. It was a Wednesday evening around 6. A gray-haired slender man was three doors down, standing in the middle of the street. He wore a navy blue suit and drove a car the same color. He spoke to a blue-collar type.

We recognized one as Matt Ryan, Binghamton's mayor. The other, we didn't know, other than he and his crew had been around for a few days, repairing cedar shake and replacing roofing tiles on a nearby home.

"Hey, there's your mayor down the street," I said to my wife, joking. "If we stay out here at the curb, maybe he'll come up and talk to us."

"You can stay out here. I'm going inside," she said.

It might have been a week or two later when friends of ours from down the block, in the direction of the mayoral sighting, told us of a situation they encountered with a contractor, and with the city's Code Enforcement Department. They said that a garage behind their house - a garage shared by the vacant, neighboring property - had become the target of code.

My friend relayed that shortly after a contractor (that same contractor who kibitzed with the mayor down the street on garbage night) had been working on a house a couple doors up, the official city notice about the garage arrived in the mail. It was a code violation, he learned through the formal paper work, which said, in part, that if he did not remedy the garage's woes in 30 days? The city would issue a criminal summons for his arrest.

In that same time frame, he was also approached by the contractor working nearby, who, unsolicited, offered an estimate for the garage's removal. My neighbor said the man offered to do the work for $1,000. My neighbor said that man’s name was Bob Cavanaugh.

My neighbor told me that in a subsequent conversation with Cavanaugh, the contractor mentioned that he was business partners with Mayor Matt Ryan and that the two were interested in purchasing the empty house next door. They'd like to buy it, fix it and flip it, is the way the story was presented to me.

My friend said that Cavanaugh told him the bank, which at that time owned the property, wanted $80,000. My neighbor said Cavanaugh told him that he and Mayor Ryan were hoping to buy the house for far less because, after all, it needed serious upgrades due, at least in part, to plumbing damage while it had been vacant.

In a later phone conversation with Mayor Ryan, my neighbor's wife said the mayor told her that Cavanaugh spoke out of turn, and that the two men were not business partners. She said Mayor Ryan told her that he had been interested in the vacant property to purchase and live in. My neighbor's wife told me that her impression of the conversation with Ryan was that the mayor couldn't back-pedal any faster than he did that day.

My neighbor, pretty upset about the garage citation and, most especially about the "criminal summons" threat aspect of it, quickly began work to dismantle his portion of the garage. It quickly became evident, he said, that this was not going to be a simple task. In this time frame, he said he contacted the city code inspector who had issued the ticket.

My neighbor said that in his conversation with Chris Schleider, the code inspector for the city, Schleider told him "not to worry" about the ticket, that it was just a formality and was issued to "get the ball rolling." My neighbor said Schleider characterized the entire issuance of the citation as a catalyst to get the bank to act on its side of the garage as well.

My neighbor said he asked why the garage was suddenly an issue and he said Schleider told him the following: That he received a call from his supervisor (Dave Chadwick, then head of the city's Building Bureau and the Code Enforcement Department – who retired over the summer) who said he had been called by the mayor (Ryan), who had requested that a code inspector go over and inspect the garage at the vacant property alongside my neighbor's.

My neighbor said that Schleider told him that because he cited the garage on the side of the vacant property, and the structure was attached to a second bay on my neighbor's property, he issued the citation for both sides.

In a September 3 phone conversation, Mayor Ryan told me he never made such a call. In fact, after we spoke that evening, Mayor Ryan showed up at my neighbor’s front door, unannounced. My neighbor told me that on that particular evening, he was under the weather and was trying to hurry Mayor Ryan off his porch so he could go back to the couch. Ryan, in a later phone message to me, characterized his conversation with my neighbor differently. He said, in his message, that my neighbor told him he wanted nothing to do with the story, and that it was me who pushed the issue.

My neighbor later told me that what he wanted nothing to do with was Mayor Ryan on his property that evening when he was feeling ill.

My neighbor told me that Mayor Ryan, while on his porch September 3, called Chadwick, on the spot, to ask – while on speaker phone – if there was any truth to the mayor having requested that a code enforcement officer check out the garage. My neighbor said he heard Chadwick’s response, which was that no such communication ever occurred. In Ryan’s message to me later, he wanted me to be sure I got that point, loud and clear.

When I saw my neighbor at our block party on September 5, we chatted a bit. I asked him if he was willing to stand by his story – that it was Schleider who told him he had been directed by Chadwick, who’d told him he’d received that call from Mayor Ryan.

My neighbor stated, again, that he stood by that. It was exactly what Schleider told him, he said.

I spoke with Dave Chadwick by phone back on July 21 (weeks prior to his retirement). He said that he has not seen a circumstance in which a contractor would call in a code violation of a property near where they might be performing work. However, he elaborated.

"Bob (Cavanaugh) has made complaints to this office before," Chadwick said, referring to the city’s Building Bureau, "and to Code Enforcement. That's fact."

But Chadwick said there was no specific name listed regarding the reporting of the garage. Chadwick added that he could not recall how his office had received the complaint.

The following morning (July 22), I called Code Enforcement and asked to speak directly with Chris Schleider. I stated my name and told him I would be writing about the scenario in this blog.

“I'm interested to know the impetus of the complaint regarding (my neighbor's garage),” I told Schleider. There was a pregnant pause, after which Schleider said, “Uhhh ... anonymous.”

“Since you were the one who cited the property, and since it was fairly recent, I thought perhaps you'd recall ...” I started, but Schleider cut me off. “No, I don't, Steve,” he said. “You'd be better off talking to Dave Chadwick or Matt Ryan.”

"But since you were directly involved ..." at which point Schleider cut me off again.

"I think you should FOIL (freedom of information legislation) that information, Steve," he said.

"So, Chris, I want to be clear," I told him. "Are you saying you don't remember? Or that you'd ..." at which point he cut me off a third time. The rest of my question would have been, "... or that you'd prefer not to answer the question?"

"No comment, Steve. Sorry. Thanks. Bye." And he hung up the phone.

Just two hours after I spoke with Chadwick on July 21, Mayor Ryan left a message on my cell phone. I'd mentioned to Chadwick that I intended to contact the mayor for comment, but at that point, I hadn't. In fact, I had never contacted him by phone before. Prior to that call, I was unaware that he had my cell phone number.

In the message he left for me, he said he'd like to explain his relationship with Bob Cavanaugh, which he termed as "non-existent." We traded phone messages over the next 24-plus hours. Then I got a call from my wife, who was at home. She said Mayor Ryan had arrived, unannounced, on our stoop. He asked if Steve Jensen lived there. He was pleasant, she said. He told her we'd been playing phone tag. She told him I was on my way home from work. By the time I arrived, he'd left.

We traded phone messages a few times more, then I sent Mayor Ryan an e-mail telling him I would be out of town on vacation for a bit and that I was sure we’d eventually connect. When I returned from vacation, I got busy with work and put the topic on the back burner. Until September 3, when I phoned Mayor Ryan on his cell.

I asked him about his alleged business partnership/relationship with Cavanaugh.

“I talked to the neighbors and they know exactly what happened,” Mayor Ryan said. “First of all, that person, they talked to Bob Cavanaugh. I'm not ... I have nothing to do with it. Bob Cavanaugh had a relationship with them about talking about the garage. I had nothing to do with it. Nothing ... at all. I can’t control what Bob Cavanaugh does.”

I found the following comment particularly interesting, given that Chadwick had said he could not recall how the complaint was reported, and Schleider had tagged it as an “anonymous” complaint.

“You know, it’s unfortunate that he called the code office and I told him that and he wasn't ... you know ... I went and talked to those people,” Ryan continued. The “he” Ryan referred to here was Bob Cavanaugh.

“I talked to them on the phone. I told them what happened,” Ryan went on. “They know what happened, so if you want to continue to make a story out about it that’s not there, go ahead, Steve. But, you know, the reality is you and Victor (Salcedo) are very vindictive people, and, you know, it’s just too bad you people have nothing better to do. Have a nice night.”

And he hung up the phone.

I gave him a few minutes, then I called him back.

"... he (Cavanaugh) talked to that guy (my neighbor) and saw the roof and he said, 'boy, you need to do something here. This doesn't look safe,'" Mayor Ryan said. "And stupidly ... uh, although Bob, I won't deny it, one of the arguments I had with him is he got ... he said, 'Well, this could fall down on some kids and, you know, I should see something like that that's dangerous, you should call code,' and I said, 'Bob you should have thought this through.' You know, you're, and he didn't think it through. He was thinking, 'Well, we'll call code and see if we can get them to move ...'

"And so he said, 'Well, let's call code and find out what we can do.' And it wasn't like ... I guarantee you Bob has enough work where he wasn't trying to shake this guy down for work," Ryan said. "It was about, just, stupid, not thinking it through and not thinking what the consequences would be ...

"You can ask Chris Schleider ... he tried to talk him out of, when he saw what was happening, he said, 'Chris, don't give him a ticket.' He wasn't trying to get him ... at least that's the way Bob explained it to me. Now, I didn't really check with Chris, but I'm assuming Bob's telling me the truth, that he tried to talk Chris out of citing the place.

"And I know what it looks like," Ryan continued. "I know it looks like he's trying to get, you know, code to do something so the guy will have to get work done. And maybe ... I don't know, I can't say how Bob thinks. I don't think that's what he meant. He told me he was just reacting to trying to find out what, uh ... he called Chadwick ... he called Chadwick and uh, and, Chadwick I think sent over Chris, and he said, you know, but I had no knowledge this happened 'til after it happened, and I don't ... I hope you're not thinking that I ... just like Victor thinks that I ... when Victor got hauled off to jail, which he didn't tell me the truth about the facts about, through, 15 minutes or whatever he ended up being in there, uh, you know, he uh ... I don't know. I just lost the train of thought I was talking about, anyway ...

"What I'm suggesting to you is that this was not something that, Bob planned, it's just ... Bob, just, Bob does stupid things sometimes, and I said, 'Bob, what the hell did you do that for? Why would you call code? You know ... didn't you think this through? If code comes over and sees a dangerous situation, they have to cite it and then you look like an idiot.' And he goes, 'Well, it is a dangerous situation.' I go, 'Yeah, but, that's, just,' you know, he ... he will defend himself on this saying, 'I ... I don't wanna see this fall on ...,' you know, because he doesn't like to admit he's wrong. Uh, I don't wanna ... he said, 'I don't wanna see this garage fall on some kid, and that's why, and I was trying to help this guy, because he said he wanted to do something about it.' So, that's his rationale.

"So I ... I'm not happy with the way it turned out, and then ... but when I started looking at those, you know, that letter I got from all the neighbors, obviously I was, that's when I went to Bob and said, 'Bob, what the hell are ya doin?' 'Cause I didn't know what was ... I didn't know he was talkin' to so many people, but, don't forget, you know, neighbors can get on a little roll here and make things sound worse than they were. I mean, he was out ... and I think there's an element of that there, too. I'm not saying that he's not aggressive, but I think when a bunch of neighbors get together and talk they ... they can come up with the, you know, the worst-case scenario."

At that point, I reminded Mayor Ryan of what was alledged to have been said by Cavanaugh: that the two were business partners and that they had an interest in potentially flipping this property next door to my neighbor's property.

“Look, I’m not … I don’t make a lot of money as mayor,” Ryan went on to say. “I did … Bob would call me from time to time, ‘cause I said ‘If you find,' what I told Bob is, ‘If you find the right property, I might invest in one.'

“That’s all I ever told Bob, and, you know, and that I certainly, I was also looking for a house for myself, and I would never … you know, that’s why I know that this thing has gotten blown out of proportion because then the people started saying, ‘Well, we don’t want … we want a … an owner-occupier. We don’t want somebody buyin’ it and flippin’ it to somebody who’s gonna violate the R-1 rules, and all that stuff,’ and I said (unintelligible) I looked at the numbers on that place, I mean, and I said, there’s no way.

“If they want $80,000, the bank, there’s no way to make, uh, you know, make this work for even, uh, even if you wanted to … even if you wanted to flip it and sell it, but certainly, as the mayor,” Ryan said, “I’m not gonna flip it and sell it to somebody illegal. I would improve the property and see if I could make a profit on it and in that house, there’s no way I could make a profit on it. And so I didn’t have anything to do with it.

“But it was ... quite frankly, I’ve never had any … I mean, we’ve just talked about it,” Ryan continued. “I never invested in a property with him.

“So, I mean, he called me up and said, ‘Hey, there’s this house over here, and I went and looked at it, and we looked it over, and then found out the numbers on it, and that was it. And we never did anything on it. But the fact that he’s going out and sayin’ that stuff, I really don’t have any control over that. That’s why I ended up being very mad with him and that’s why I don’t have a relationship with him anymore.”

Despite Mayor Ryan’s proclamation, the string of events revolving around my neighbors' garage and the code enforcement citation made several property owners on our street wary. Over the course of a few weeks after the citation, I heard from a few of them that they were so skeptical of what appeared to them to be a lack of ethics that they were moved to construct a letter, to be sent to Cavanaugh, and to be copied to Mayor Ryan.

They said they believed the appearance to be that when Cavanaugh pointed to a potential code violation, a directive may come from the city, at which time Cavanaugh would become privy and, consequently, approach the homeowner about potentially handling a remedy.

In other words, their stated perception was that the city's code office had the potential to be used as an instrument through which a contractor could potentially benefit financially.

The following is their letter (for the record, I was not asked to help construct this letter ... in fact, I had no part in its genesis, writing or delivery). I did, however, sign the letter, as did my wife.

As I have throughout this report, I've removed names of my neighbors, and I have placed in parenthesis generalities, rather than pinpoint specifics where warranted. I don't think the letter loses any of its zip.

May 15, 2009

Dear Mr. Cavanaugh,

During the month of April, while you were completing a job on (our street), certain things happened to trouble and disturb several of the residents in our neighborhood. As a local businessman, we believe you would be interested in how you are perceived by the public and that is why we felt it was important to write to you. Perhaps you are unaware of how those events which transpired between you and (our neighbors) have been interpreted.

In about mid-April, Mr. Cavanaugh, you approached (our neighbor) about his garage, a structure which has stood on his property much longer than he has owned it. During the conversation, you revealed that you are interested in buying and flipping the adjacent vacant property at (the next door property) with Mayor Ryan as a partner. Mayor Ryan’s visit to you at the property seems to have validated that claim.

You spoke with (our neighbor) about encouraging the bank to take care of the problem garage by reporting the structural deficiencies to code enforcement. When (our neighbors) returned home from vacation, only a few days after speaking with you, they found the citation in their mailbox which was issued to them as well as their neighbor since, as you know, the structure is shared by both properties. Along with an order for removal, the citation included the threat of a criminal summons for non-compliance within 30 days.

Imagine the impact this had on a law-abiding, hard-working couple which has held down three jobs between them just to maintain their nice home and support their (family). A demolition permit was subsequently issued, but after several professionals looked at the job, it was determined that removing the structure would jeopardize the garage that sits on the 10-foot bank behind it because the back wall of the garage acts as a retaining wall.

This is no simple project to be completed in a few weeks with no advance notice, especially since it also involves three other properties with at least two absentee landlords.

Even so, being pressured by the time constraints and consequences in the citation, (our neighbors) promptly began removing the portions of the structure which could safely be removed.

We have the following concerns surrounding these events:

1. Though you offered to do the needed work for $1,000 as a favor, it could seem that you reported the code violations in an attempt to get additional work.

2. When you speak excessively about your connections with the mayor and other government officials, it might be somewhat intimidating to conscientious homeowners who strive to maintain their properties up to standard.

3. While you were working on the (property at which you replaced cedar shake and roofing tiles), you walked up and down the block examining every house for maintenance needs. When you described such a need to (another of our neighbors), a single senior citizen, as a "serious problem," it seemed like you were trying to take advantage of her since a similar "serious problem" with her siding was fixed by her handyman last year with a hammer and one nail.

4. It also seems questionable to us that you have information about (the vacant property next to our neighbors) which seems unavailable to the general public. It may appear that you are using connections to city offices and information that would give you an advantage in purchasing the property without competitive bids.

5. And finally, Mr. Cavanaugh, all of this could give the impression that you are also using your personal relationship with (Mayor Ryan) and other government officials to cause this property you wish to purchase for your own profit to be cited for code violations in an effort to motivate the owner to sell.

Aside from questioning these practices, Mr. Cavanaugh, we want you to see how this situation has caused (our neighbors) great distress as well as an undue and unfair financial burden. We feel that by implying the mayor’s involvement in the case, you may have caused code enforcement to accelerate the process without a thorough assessment of the physical circumstances surrounding the structure. Now instead of a building that had served well enough for outdoor storage, they are left with a possible hazard on their property that needs to be replaced.

Though (our neighbors) obviously bear the brunt of this trouble, the situation as a whole concerns all the residents of our street. We are especially curious about your intentions for (the vacant property) and your (potential) acquisition of the property. Our desire for the property is that it be owner-occupied which corresponds with City Council's and the mayor's desire to increase home ownership.

With (Mayor Ryan) as a partner, we hope that you would have that same objective, even though our recent experiences with you have made us wonder whether you have the best interests of the neighborhood in mind. Please note that due to your admittedly close personal and business relationship with (Mayor Ryan), we are sending him a copy of this letter.

Thank you again for your time and consideration.
Sincerely ...

The letter is signed by several of the tax-paying property owners who live on our street.

“I can’t deny, I mean, but, Bob, the fact that Bob Cavanaugh says something, does that make it real?” Mayor Ryan said. “I mean, does that make it truth? I have never had a business relationship with Bob Cavanaugh. I, you know, never. And I … you know, I never had a business relationship with him.

“I, we did … like I said, we talked about it," he said. "I talked to him about it. He would constantly say, ‘Oh, I found this house, let’s invest in it, we can make some money,’ and I’d say, ‘Oh, I’ll look at it,’ and none of them ever … I did look at a few, but I never got involved with one because I just didn’t like the numbers, I didn’t like the situation.

“So, then that all of a sudden turned into, from that letter I got, seemed to turn into that I was, you know, gonna try to flip houses in the neighborhood, and that I was some kind of, you know … I don’t know. It just, the tone of the letter that I received – that you signed – was just one that, you know, had nothing to do with reality of my reality, at least.”

I reminded Mayor Ryan that perception can be reality for some. He agreed.

“I hope that you’ll accept what I’m telling you to be … ’cause it is the truth … and I have, I mean, I … all I can say is, I got witnesses that saw me almost punch Bob Cavanaugh up at State Park, and luckily I didn’t because, but … he’s actually, he had two good golfing buddies … let’s just put it this way, he had two good golfing buddies and both of us now want nothing to do with him.

“You can ask the D.A.,” Mayor Ryan said. “I have no … he knows that I did nothing wrong. They came, like I said, they came and took a statement from me about the … exactly what happened with the check, and that’s what happened.”

Over the summer, I had a conversation with a different nearby neighbor of mine who said she had hired Cavanaugh to perform some home repairs when she and her husband moved into their home. She showed me a signed contract with R.J. Cavanaugh Enterprises for work to be performed at their property. It was dated April 14, 2008.

She said that she felt she made a mistake by paying Cavanaugh up front for the work. She added that she still had not been fully reimbursed, and that so much time had elapsed, she no longer expected to be.

She also offered a chronology of her dealings with Cavanaugh:

* On Monday, April 14th, I signed a contract for an impending job for my home on (address deleted).
* On Wednesday, April 16th, I gave RJ a check in the amount of $2,000 as a deposit for this job.
* On Saturday, April 19th, I called RJ to inform him I had to cancel the job completely due to unforeseen financial problems. During that conversation, he said he would return the money in full, but needed some time. I agreed to give him time.
* On April 25th, I e-mailed him to express how deeply sorry I was for cancelling the job. No response.
* On April 28th, I e-mailed him again in an effort to contact him for payment. No response.
* On April 30th, I spoke with him on the phone. He asked if (he) could pay me back on an “installment plan” where he would give me $500 a week until it was paid off. I said that would be fine.
* On May 8th, he paid me $500 in cash.
* On May 15th, I called him about another installment, but he said since it was raining, he didn’t have the money. I said that’s fine, but that I do expect to get my money back by the end of the month. He told me he would have another payment on Thursday, May 22.

There is a receipt in her paperwork showing that Cavanaugh paid her $300 on May 22, 2008. Below it is another receipt showing that Cavanaugh paid her $200 on Saturday, June 7, 2008, with a note stating that he still owed her $1,000. It is signed by her and Cavanaugh.

I spoke with this woman today (September 14). She said that Cavanaugh still owes her the $1,000, but she added, "That money's gone." I asked if she had pressed the issue beyond the interaction that occurred in the summer of 2008.

"I called Cavanaugh," she said. "My father also called Cavanaugh. Then we got a call from Cavanaugh's attorney. They said if we didn't stop calling R.J., they'd file harassment charges."

This neighbor’s story, coupled with our other neighbors’ garage/code enforcement situation spurred me to go back to check on a scenario I’d been told about many months ago – this one, too, regarding Cavanaugh, with another assertion of Ryan as his business partner.

At some point in late winter of this year (I’d place it around March, perhaps April), local businessman Garo Kachadourian offered to let me read a notarized letter in his possession, from a Windsor couple who’d had dealings with Cavanaugh. The couple had hired Cavanaugh to do structural work at their home, the letter said.

In their letter, they claimed, they had paid Cavanaugh and had not seen all the work performed. Their letter also stated, a few different times, that Cavanaugh told them he was business partners with Mayor Ryan.

Kachadourian also showed me a copy of a check the Windsor couple wrote to Cavanaugh. I did not receive a copy of the check, but Kachadourian allowed me to photograph a copy of it. The check was for $1,000. In the copy I viewed, that check was written to R.J. Cavanaugh, but was then endorsed by a “Matt Ryan.” The signature looked like the signature available on press releases from Mayor Matt Ryan of the City of Binghamton.

Kachadourian, who owns a Binghamton auto repair shop, as well as the Web site BC Voice, said that at some point, his friends had submitted their letter to the office of the Broome County district attorney, Gerald Mollen, for review. The letter was written in the late summer/early fall of 2008. I was allowed by Kachadouriuan to photograph the letter, as well.

“We started searching for a contractor in early summer, 2008,” the letter stated. “We received only two estimates, one from a contractor whose name I don’t remember, and a second one from Robert Cavanaugh of R.J. Cavanaugh Enterprises. We chose Cavanaugh because he said he felt he could have the job done quickly. We thought that he was a large outfit, based on the fact that he told us he had several crews.

“He showed us pictures of projects that he had done, letters of recommendation and also told us that Matt Ryan, Mayor of the City of Binghamton, was a partner in his business.”

They wrote that they met with Cavanaugh for the first time on August 28, 2008. He gave a written estimate of $24,500 for the work to be performed and they signed the contract. The scope of the work included basement work, roof replacement, work on the front porch, and window framing and installation. The couple’s letter stated that Cavanaugh required a $2,500 deposit.

“I told him that I only had $1,000 at that time because it happened so fast,” their letter, which was written from the woman’s perspective, stated, “and I hadn’t had a chance to get my financing in place yet. He agreed to take $1,000 that day, and he would accept the balance of the deposit ($1,500) when my financing was secured. At the house, I wrote a check for $1,000 (check No. 4256) …”

The couple said in their statement that they had asked Cavanaugh to cash the check quickly.

“He did not cash the check until August 14, 2008,” they stated in the letter. “Because he held the check, the check bounced. Mr. Cavanaugh called me to tell me about the bounced check, and I made sure the funds were in the account so that it could be re-deposited.

“He said that it would be the right thing to do for me to call Mr. Ryan to explain that the bounced check was my fault and not Cavanaugh’s. I made the phone call as he requested, but Mr. Ryan and I did not discuss the business partnership during that conversation.

“I later observed the reverse side of the $1,000 check that Mr. Cavanaugh apparently had endorsed the check,” the letter stated, “and made it payable to Matt Ryan, and Mr. Ryan then endorsed the back of the check back to Mr. Cavanaugh. Mr. Cavanaugh also told me during our conversation that the job was ‘going to move quickly,’ so he would need the first draw in the amount of $12,000 in order to purchase materials.”

The letter stated that the $1,000 was re-deposited on August 23, 2008, and cleared. The couple wrote that they were frustrated dealing with Cavanaugh about the scheduling of work. By mid-September, the letter stated, the work had not yet begun.

“This went on for (the) next few weeks, each time we got a different excuse and an assurance that ‘they would be there the following Monday or Tuesday’ or ‘later in the week,’” the letter stated. “On September 19, I left Mr. Cavanaugh voice mails on both his cell and business phones telling him that the windows had been delivered. I also asked him in those voice mails to give me start dates for each phase of the project. He did not return my calls. After that date, I left him voice mails on both his cell and business phones about every other day, and I have never received return calls.

“I finally called his business partner, Matt Ryan (the mayor’s current cell phone number, as of September 3, when I called him, was listed here), to ask him to get a message to Mr. Cavanaugh. I asked him why Mr. Cavanaugh had my money but would not return my calls. I mentioned that Mr. Cavanaugh told me that they were business partners, and Mayor Ryan denied that they were. He told me that Mr. Cavanaugh never should have told me that, that he had only written a letter of recommendation for Mr. Cavanaugh. He told me that he would get a message to Mr. Cavanaugh.”

The letter went on to state that shortly after that phone conversation, the couple received a call from Kelley Fischer, described in the letter as Cavanaugh’s attorney.

“(Fischer) said that Mr. Cavanaugh had asked him to be a ‘mediator’ between him and me,” the letter continued. “For a time, he acted as a ‘go-between’ between Mr. Cavanaugh and I. During a conversation on October 2, I told Mr. Fischer that I wanted to fire Mr. Cavanaugh and hire Ken Peters of Pour Boys Concrete and/or a contractor friend of his … to do the concrete, roof job and renovations work. He advised me that I couldn’t hire them because they were under contract to R.J. Cavanaugh Enterprises to subcontract the work at my place.”

The letter then stated that Peters attempted to contact Cavanaugh to get money to purchase materials for this job, but to no avail. The letter also stated that Peters said Fischer was incorrect in telling the homeowners that he was under contract with Cavanaugh’s company for these repairs.

During our September 3 phone conversation, Mayor Ryan commented on the check written to Cavanaugh.

"Can you think of any reason why somebody might end up with a ... money from a ... from somebody ... somebody might endorse a check?" he asked me. "Can you think of any, Steve?"

"I'm asking you about this specific instance," I responded.

"Can you think of any?" he continued. "Instead of ... you know, again, you think of yourself as a ... you know ... see, the thing why I know you're disingenuous is 'cause you know where this check is right now and what's going on with it, so why are you asking me the question? You know that this check is part of a case against Bob Cavanaugh, right?"

I told him that I had heard rumors, but had no direct knowledge to that effect. I then asked him again if he'd care to explain his signature on the check written to Cavanaugh.

"The check was, on a Saturday morning, after we got done golfing," Mayor Ryan said. "He needed materials, he had to buy materials for on Monday morning, he wasn't going to have to be ... early at his job, he said, and he said 'Can I sign this over to you and you give me money from your ATM?' I said, 'No problem.' You know? And, 'cause I know him well enough that he ... I've always had a relationship with him where he's, you know, never stiffed me for any money. So, I cashed the check for him. I'm sorry, I didn't cash the check for him. He ... well, eventually I cashed the check, but he endorsed ... he endorsed it over to me and I gave him $1,000 from the ATM machine.

"That's what I'm talking about. So there's nothing ... and the D.A. knows this. I met with the D.A.," Mayor Ryan said. "I gave a statement to that affect, and they know exactly what this is about, Steve, so don't try to make it something it isn't. You guys are searching for something, and I know where you've been. I know you went to the feds already. So, that's why I don't ... you know, the reality is, Steve, this isn't about journalism, it's about trying to get me. I know where you've been already with the check. I know you have."

I told Ryan that, in fact, I had not been anywhere with any check, and that I also had not - and have not - gone "to the feds."

Later in the same conversation, Mayor Ryan all but implored me to not write this article with his name attached. He said he felt he had showed me that he was clearly not a business partner with Cavanaugh, but I told him I planned to write the story with all information presented, and that readers could come to their own conclusions.

This appeared to upset Mayor Ryan even more. He then offered to supply me with another source of information on Cavanaugh.

“If you want to write a story about Bob Cavanaugh, I’ll give you another name,” Ryan said. “The lady, I forget her name but, he stiffed this lady on … now, maybe you already know about it. That’s what I almost punched him for, I was so pissed off, and I went to see her, and the daughter called me up, again, because he used my name and I went and saw the (unintelligible) lady and I was totally pissed off at what I saw and how he … apparently he had taken advantage of her …

“So, that’s what I’m talking about, is that, just because somebody says something, and that’s why I just got done explaining to you, Steve, you know, if you want to continue to write the story that’s all about innuendo and all about, you know … you have no evidence. Don’t you think the D.A.’s office woulda looked into to see if I was his business partner? I have nothing to do with Bob Cavanaugh other than, you know, I was his golfing buddy and I’ve never been involved in a business deal with him. Ever.”

I asked Ryan why he thought me writing both sides of the issue would hurt him politically.

“Because, people are gonna … well, I don’t know what else you’re going to write, but people, you know … you know how people are,” Ryan said. “You just said, some will believe it, some won’t. All I’m suggesting to you, Steve, is that you have no evidence. This is not journalism.

“The fact that somebody says that you’re … just like when, you know, Kim, uh, my campaign, she used to work on my campaign said I wouldn’t date her anymore because she was … and then she also, they found out afterwards, she told the Press that she was, uh, her integrity was impeccable because she was, you know, a district attorney.

“Turns out she had been fired by the – not fired, but (unintelligible name) told her if you don’t quit, we’ll fire you, and she wrote the article in the Press … never checked it out, and at the end of the day it was a bunch of bullshit, because I wouldn’t date her because she was African American and I couldn’t win the mayor’s race if I was dating an African American. Do you remember that? So, is that journalism? To print that letter? Do you think that is?”

“I don’t remember it, Matt, I really don’t,” I responded. He continued to equate the stories.

“You’re doing the same thing,” Mayor Ryan said. “You’re just suggesting that this is the, you know … and it’s just, there’s nothing there. You’ve gotta have something more than that, Steve, to start this kind of bullshit. That’s what I’m suggesting. If you were a real journalist, you wouldn’t do it.”

I reminded Mayor Ryan that he made the statement, himself, that he told Cavanaugh that he was interested in investment properties, if Cavanaugh were to find any, and that Cavanaugh should give him a call. I told Mayor Ryan I believed that if I expressed interest in investing in properties with someone, it could be perceived by some as being a business partnership.

Mayor Ryan began to yell, calling me a coward if I wrote this article.

“It’s just disgusting what you’re saying,” Mayor Ryan said. “I’m glad that you’ve never been a prosecutor because, you know, that’s why they need good public defenders like me because people like you would draw conclusions from no evidence, so you know …”

I tried to show him, again, by example, how someone could get the impression he was looking into business ventures with Cavanaugh when he admitted to me that he checked out a property and, in his words, “ran the numbers.” This was followed by more unintelligible yelling from Mayor Ryan, punctuated by …

“Steve, shut up! I’m not going to listen to your bullshit!” Mayor Ryan yelled into the phone. “You are … I told you, I’ve never done one with him. That would make me a business partner … If you don’t know the difference between thinking about something and doing something, then that’s exactly what you’re going to write your journalism about. I had no business relationship with Bob Cavanaugh. Ever.

“I talked about it. That’s not a business deal. If you went to court and said, ‘Well, he said he was going to be in business me,’ well where is the documentation? That’s what I’m talkin’ about, Steve. You don’t … you have to have something more than that, and that’s what you’re writing an article on, nothing else. And that’s my point. You’re gonna make a … you’re gonna put in all these things.

“I’m talking to ya and now you’re going to say I admitted that I might, you know, might be interested in purchasing a property?” Mayor Ryan asked me.

“You said that,” I reminded him.

“And that I told you it never happened,” he yelled.

“You said that,” I repeated.

“And you’re gonna write that?” Mayor Ryan went on. “A suggestion that I have a business partner? You’re a scumbag if you do that. You’re a … not a journalist. You’re a liar and a scumbag, just like Victor Salcedo.

"So, record it, put it out on the Internet, but that’s the truth, Steve Jensen. If that’s what you’re gonna do, you’re a punk coward. Goodbye.”

…

And now for something completely different.

This change, he won't contain,
Slip away, to clear your mind.
When asked, who made it show,
The truth, he gives in to most.

So lay down, the threat is real,
When his sight goes red again.

Young student/athletes pitch in for Discovery cleanup

Fifteen Binghamton student/athletes participated in a volunteer "cleanup" effort Saturday morning (September 5) at The Discovery Center of the Southern Tier. Several weeks ago, as much as $25,000 in estimated damage was done at the center, most of it specifically in the Story Garden area. According to Pokey Crocker, executive director of The Discovery Center, local law enforcement officials have leads on suspects who may have committed the vandalism, but as of Saturday, had not yet made any arrests. There is a $1,500 cash reward leading to the arrest of the vandals.


Student/athletes and some family members and coaches received a tour of the Story Garden prior to beginning work. Nancy Hargrave, of The Discovery Center, showed everyone where the vandalism had taken place, and what has already been done to rectify the damage.


Nancy Hargrave, shown here, at right, showed the student/athletes photos of the vandalism, as well as pointed out areas that are still not yet fully restored.


Here, Hargrave points out areas of damage in the Story Garden.


Hargrave talked about the importance of community support for The Discovery Center, as Christian Sezenias, Gracie Jensen and Chloe Brauer listen.


The damage spanned most of the Story Garden, as well as the grounds of The Discovery Center.


Students did weeding in the flower and plant beds. Here, Jonah Chambers attacks some weeds.


To start his morning, Roberto Jensen joined Chambers in the weeding department.


Zion Burwell attacked the weeds, although gnats were intent on attacking Burwell. (Soon after this photo, Burwell was covered with bug spray.)


Adana and Sydney Brauer led the weeding charge.


Gracie Jensen and Chloe Brauer attacking weeds.


Getting ready for some heavy lifting were: Matt Whiteman, Nick "Dirt" Gilbert, Gabe Whiteman and Alex Gilbert.


Some of the student/athletes were charged with creating foot-deep rock frames around various flower beds.


Nick Snyder nearly drops a large rock on his friend, Nate Keuter.


The rock brigade


Snyder was a work horse on Saturday, hauling literally thousands of pounds of rocks.


Gabe Whiteman

Nate Keuter, John Sezenias and Alex Gilbert

Nick "Dirt" Gilbert

Nate Keuter, Nick Snyder and Gabe Whiteman

Nancy Hargrave and Randy Gilbert pull a wheelbarrow filled with rocks.

Mary Gilbert and Heather Snyder weeded and planted on the hillside in the Story Garden.

Nick "Dirt" Gilbert works on the hillside with his dad, Randy Gilbert.

John Sezenias and Gabe Whiteman

Kyeem Holmes, Roberto Jensen, Zion Burwell and Jonah Chambers

Adana Brauer

Matt Whiteman, Alex Gilbert and Adana Brauer

Gabe Whiteman worked in the composting piles.

Kyeem Holmes watered plants and flowers on the hillside.

Sydney Brauer spent much of the morning weeding flower and plant gardens.

John Sezenias

Gracie Jensen and Chloe Brauer

Shirley and Erin Goodman

Kyeem Holmes and Zion Burwell

Nick Snyder, Jonah Chambers and Kyeem Holmes

The crew

Kyeem Holmes, Roberto Jensen, Nick Snyder and Jonah Chambers

Gracie Jensen and Chloe Brauer

Kyeem Holmes, Roberto Jensen and Zion Burwell

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Fifteen Binghamton student/athletes participated in a volunteer "cleanup" effort Saturday morning (September 5) at The Discovery Center of the Southern Tier. The cleanup went from 9 a.m. to noon and the work was mostly performed in the Story Garden, but also near the entrance of The Discovery Center itself.

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The purpose of the cleanup was two-fold. It was in response to the recent vandalism, as well as to help prepare the grounds for the "back-to-school season," during which many young school children visit the facility for various programs.

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There will be a couple fundraising events coming up soon, both intended to help raise funds to purchase security system equipment. According to Nancy Hargrave of The Discovery Center, Price Chopper recently donated security cameras to the center, but funds are still needed to purchase equipment to put the cameras into play.

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From noon to 5 p.m. on September 19, a band called "Pirates of the Susquehanna" will perform at the Country Pines on Route 26, Endwell. It's billed as an "adults" event, with proceeds going to The Discovery Center.

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A more family-oriented fundraiser is scheduled for October 3 at The Discovery Center. Admission will be $1 per person, or $5 per family. Price Chopper will donate hot dogs and hamburgers for a barbecue, and Hargrave said the food will be sold to attendees for a "very reasonable" price.

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Two bands will play on October 3, said Hargrave. They are "Hover" and "Groove Garden." For more information about the fundraisers, contact The Discovery Center at (607) 773-8661.

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And now for something ... you know.

What's In a Name? That Which We Call ... Shirley

In a mad rush at the grocery store this morning, I spotted a couple little girls motoring along past the pharmacy with their mom. The girls, maybe 7, 8 years old, wore identical white t-shirts with bold black letters: SHAKESPEARE LIVES, it read, with a big ol’ cartoonish head of The Bard.

“Hey! I’m going there,” I said, way too excited, to these complete strangers, who stared blankly at the crazy man who hadn’t shaved in several days. Realizing they might be frightened, I quickly added, “Oh … I’m Gracie’s dad.” But they were gone.

(Sidebar: My wife says I talk too much to strangers. Like last night, we were late for a barbecue and I stopped by Leroy Package Store to get a bottle of Red Cat and ended up talking to the guy at the counter for a few minutes – the guy who grows and sells his own vegetables. Hadn’t seen him for a while. He filled me in on Mike, the kid who used to work there, and how Mike just went off to basic training. Army, I think he said.

I don’t really know Mike at all, but we chatted about him for a bit, then I came out to the car. The kids were singing along with "Smashing Pumpkins." “What were you doing?” my wife asked, all edgy. “Just talking to the guy about Mike, the guy who …” She shook her head as we drove away. Then she made fun of me at the barbecue.)

When I pulled up at Shirley Goodman’s house a few minutes after leaving the grocery store this morning, delivering a bag of ice to keep the ginger ale cold for the Shakespeare Camp final day's performance, I was relieved to see those same two little girls and their mom again. In my world of things needing to even out (see: the "Even Stephen" Seinfeld episode), it was a cleansing moment. So now the little girls and their mom knew I wasn't just some crazy person. Not completely, anyway.

I went onto the porch amid a bunch of elementary school girls, all wearing various colored t-shirts bearing the same bold print and the cartoon cranium. And there was Shirley, dragging a large green cooler out the front door.

Have you met Shirley Goodman? First thing you should know about her is that she’s among the small percentage of legitimately kind human beings walking around our planet. There's no facade. From there, the rest is gravy.

Shirley's a self-deprecating, semi-guileless sort, punctuated with a sarcastic jab. She and her husband Mike have four kids, some cats the number of which I don't actually know, a thundering, lovable mastiff with a urinary tract infection, maybe some rabbits or meerkats or pumas living in her back yard, who knows? You wouldn’t doubt it.

Shirley also has six heads, each going in one of seven directions. It's a trait that endears her to my wife and I, considering that we're familiar with the six-and-seven routine, albeit with half as many kids and, aside from two cats and a mammoth dog of our own, no other pets. (Although, my mother-in-law recently moved in. Have I mentioned that? Maybe a story for another day.)

From my view about halfway up in the Theater of Life (I don't see Shirley close-up every day, of course), she just puts herself out there for others - over and over and over - with a smile on her face.

In her day job (or as some might say, "in her real life"), Shirley Goodman is a special education teacher, perhaps one of the more challenging roles that world offers. People who teach children with disabilities receive a “get in free” card to heaven. If they don't, they should. I, and maybe you, too, don’t currently possess that level of patience.

But what Shirley Goodman does when she’s not drawing a paycheck might be one of the coolest things about her. After work, she volunteers (see: no money) to oversee her school’s drama club. And then there was today, and this week, with Shakespeare Camp.

To fill in some blanks, her little program is actually called Front-Porch Drama. As you might catch from the title, a bunch of young kids, those of her friends, neighbors and other cohorts – I’d guess around 15-20 girls, ages in the 7 to 11 range, and a small handful of boys in that range, too – gathered from 9 a.m. to noon each day this week on Shirley Goodman’s front porch.

As Shirley recently said, laughing, “I call it that because I’m not very creative, frankly. I also call a pencil … a pencil.”

This week on the Goodmans’ front porch, my 9-year-old daughter learned a lot.

* What was it like to be alive in Elizabethan times? Life was hard, and it was short.

* Mrs. Goodman showed them status gestures of the era – the bows and the greetings.

* They worked through the famous “speak the speech, I pray you” scene from Hamlet.

* They learned what Shakespeare was not (“whatcha talkin’ ’bout, Willis Shakespeare”) and what he was (“it’s Greek to me”).

* The kids were given food recipes from the Elizabethan era, then asked to put on a sort of Food Channel program, as they would imagine it might go (my daughter spoke the most about this activity).

* There was an activity centering on the play "The Tempest," after which they sang a song in the round, called, “Man’s Life a Vapor, Full of Woes.” ("He cuts a caper, down he goes! Down he, down he, down he, down he, Down he goes!”) At least the tune is upbeat, if not the lyrics.

* And they played games, making all this stuff I trudged through as a college student – yes, a British literature major, in the early stages – much less daunting and much more fun.

Years later, I’d read, on my own, the complete works of Shakespeare, coming to the conclusion that he remains today the world’s greatest writer. Ever.

Shirley Goodman doesn’t know I think that, but I’d guess she'd agree, at least in part because, in another lifetime, she received a master’s degree from New York University in education theater. Before Mike and the minors and the mastiff and the meerkats, Shirley did regional theater and a little bit of professional acting.

She travelled to England to study the stuff, then came home and sang with the Tri-Cities Opera choir, spent time with the Cider Mill Playhouse crew and the semi-professional New Heights Theater. She even did a one-woman show based on the popular book “Women Who Love Too Much,” called “Women Who Sing Too Much.” (Yeah, she’s funny.)

So, thanks to Shirley Goodman and people like her. They deserve a bottle of Red Cat (or two), and a huge thanks from people like us.

And now for something, well … from Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.”

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. (Yes, Rush likes Shakespeare, too.)

You Speak Shakespeare ... As You Like It

Still not interested in Shakespeare? You’d never read that garbage? Too boring? Oh, really?

I found the bit below online. Might surprise you. Take a look. We're all unwitting Shakespeare citers:

“Without rhyme or reason," if you are "in a pickle" because you have been "eaten out of house and home" and even your "salad days" have "vanished into thin air," you are quoting Shakespeare.

You've been "hoodwinked" and "more sinned against than sinning." No wonder you're not "playing fast and loose" and haven't "slept a wink" and are probably "breathing your last." It's "cold comfort" that you're quoting Shakespeare.

If you "point your finger" at me, "bid me good riddance" when you "send me packing" and call me a "laughing-stock," "the devil incarnate," a "sorry sight," "eyesore," and a "stone-hearted," "bloody-minded" "blinking idiot" and wish I were "dead as a door-nail", then I would say that you possess neither a "heart of gold" nor "the milk of human kindness," especially considering that we are "flesh and blood." (Yep, all Shakespeare.)

Now that we have gone "full circle" and you are still waiting with a "bated breath" since I have not been able to make you "budge an inch," it is "fair play" for me to quit this sermon since Shakespeare himself taught me that "brevity is the soul of wit."

It's a "foregone conclusion" that we all speak Shakespeare's language.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

This Joe Merrill for Mayor political lawn sign is well placed, as it is on private property.


To the left and right of this frame is something that's seen frequently around the city now. Two signs for the same political candidate on one property. According to city code, this is illegal.


This Matt Ryan for Mayor sign is illegally placed, on city property, between the sidewalk and the curb. This sign must either be moved to the opposite side of that sidewalk, or it must be removed, according to city code.


This Matt Ryan political yard sign is well placed, on private property.


In this photo, there are two political lawn signs on the same property - a violation of city code. (The second sign is more difficult to see in this photo, from this angle. The second sign faces the other street, as this property is a corner lot.)

’Tis the season for political lawn signs, so step right up for your annual lesson on how it can, and cannot go.

So far in the City of Binghamton we’ve been graced by a bevy of Matt Ryan multi-colored signs, and a smattering of Joe Merrill signs. They’re running in a primary to see who gets local Democrats' nod in the booth come November.

So far, both candidates have been in violation of City of Binghamton law, Ryan to a much greater extent. (I was in contact with the City Clerk's office for this article, and mentioned just one Merrill sign I'd spotted that was in violation. Merrill responded in writing immediately.)

"I've already corrected two people (who have placed) mine," Merrill wrote. "I'm probably the worst one yelling about it because I don't need any problems. Please give me a shout if you find any of mine that are not, they will be fixed by the end of the day."

If you cruise the streets of the city, at the moment you’ll see several more Ryan political support signs than those from the Merrill camp. Ryan has more dots on the map, and his signs also violate the city’s code many more times. His people have either placed more than one of his signs on a single property, or they've placed signs on the strips of turf between sidewalks and the street which, technically speaking, is city property.

It was an entertaining exercise calling around to see who knew what about the yard signs.
A quick call to the Broome County Elections office got the following response: “You’ll have to call your town about that.”

Eileen Miller in the Binghamton City Clerk’s Office was, as always, a great help and she sent me via e-mail the following, which lays out guidelines clearly:

Political signs, provided that such signs are not more than 32 square feet in area if located in a commercial or industrial district or four square feet in a residential district; are limited to not more than one per lot; are located entirely on private property pursuant to the owner's consent; are clearly marked with the name, address and telephone number of the person responsible for the removal of such sign; are erected not more than 60 days prior to any general, special or primary election, and are removed within 14 days following such election; and are erected only in the district in which the candidate is running for office.

But I still had a question about the authority to remove the signs.

From the end of 1999 to the end of 2003, I served as Deputy City Clerk for the city. Howard Dugo was my boss, serving as City Clerk. He’d been clerk for several years and knew the routine by rote. I tried calling Howard this week, but he was away on vacation.

I recalled that when I worked with Howard, when we received a complaint call about an ill-placed political sign, we’d send a letter to that candidate’s camp. That contact name, address and phone number was supposed to be affixed to each sign placed throughout the community.

Sometimes they were, but often they weren’t.

Binghamton being a relatively small political realm, however, we usually could find a contact. If they put their sign(s) into compliance (by either moving or removing them, or adding the proper identification information), they were good to go. But many times there would be no action, and the signs would be removed.

Back then, Howard told me that as City Clerk and Deputy Clerk, we had the authority to remove the signs that were not in compliance. I was asked to remove a few – specifically for the Garo Kachadourian City Council campaign, back then – and I did.

Years later, Garo confronted me, saying I “stole” his signs. I told him I was simply doing my job and that the signs were placed on city property. We both eventually got a laugh out of it, especially when he realized I wasn’t about to deny that, “Yes, I removed your signs. It was around noon on a sunny weekday at a very busy intersection. I wasn’t trying to hide anything.”

There were other times when Howard would request that the police officers of the Traffic Division go out and pull signs that were not in compliance with city code. But Eric Denk, who took over as City Clerk after Howard and I left the office, had more information for me.

“The regulations stipulate that political yard signs must be 100 percent on private property,” said Denk, who served as clerk from 2004 to 2006, and is now clerk to the Broome County Legislature. These issues are fielded by personnel who deal with zoning enforcement and code enforcement, he added.

"The City Clerk never really had anything to do with it, on paper," Denk said. "I suspect that the city, in general, didn’t want anything to do with it, so Howard was willing to handle it because he's a nice guy. Back then, City Clerks administered elections so someone probably thought, 'hey, let’s have the City Clerk be responsible for illegal political signs.'"

Denk went on to say that his interpretation of the law is that anything – including a political yard sign – that is placed “in the utility strip (between the sidewalk and the curb) can be considered garbage and can be hauled away.”

I laughed and asked if, then, a private citizen could legally chuck a lawn sign posted in that utility strip. We never really did come to a conclusion, but we agreed it might be akin to someone sifting through your garbage at the curb the night before your pickup.

“Which is also illegal, isn’t it?” I said.

“I think anything that goes to the curb is then, technically, city property,” responded Denk, who served two terms on Binghamton City Council, and who also ran for mayor.

Denk said that there was another area of question when he served as City Clerk.

“When I was clerk, I drafted some language to address properties that did not have sidewalks and/or curbs and submitted it to the city’s Planning Department,” he said, but that change apparently has not yet made it into the city’s code language, which was last updated December 15, 2006.

“If it hasn’t been done yet, it’s my opinion that it should be done in the future,” Denk added.

Ted Tedino returned my call shortly after I spoke with Denk. Tedino works in the city’s Building Bureau. In his voice message, he said that he handles complaints about political signage.

“That’s me. I’ve never had to cite anyone for political signage,” Tedino said. “If they’re in the city right-of-way, then I contact the campaign manager and get them to put it back on the other side of the side walk. That’s the violation.

“If they have more than one, I tell them, get it outta there,” he added.

Tedino also said that before he retired, Chadwick sent letters on July 28 to “all the campaigns,” reminding them of the city guidelines.

So, if you see a political sign on your street, in your neighborhood or, for that matter, anywhere in the city, that does not comply with the city’s laws? I encourage you to contact the proper authorities (Tedino can be reached by calling 772-7004) in order to better hold everyone to the same standard.

And now, for something completely ... well, similar.

Once a jewel, now just a hunk of coal

This week the news came of the shattering of the biggest cocaine operation in our area in 10 years. It wasn't a surprise to me. My surprise is that we don't hear about more drug busts than we do.

That's not to say our local law enforcement officials aren't on the case(s). I know they are, and this one just points up how, when you're sitting across the table from someone, such as Joe Zikuski, Binghamton's chief of police, you really can't be sure what he has on his mind. I suppose it goes with the territory. After all, you're on a "need to know" basis, and frankly, who could trust you and your blabbermouth? (Well, not you. But we all know someone like that. We probably spoke with them just yesterday.)

This months-long investigation is a testament to the deep-roots digging law enforcement types do on a daily basis. They're doing it right now, too. We just don't know the specifics.

Not long ago, Zikuski sat in the meeting room at a credit union on Main Street in Binghamton. That meeting room's windows look back out onto Edwards Street. If you don't know about Edwards Street, in sum, it's rough.

Zikuski being at this meeting was prompted by a group of that neighborhood's citizens who call themselves the Safe Streets Association. They've been around for quite a while, in one iteration or another, but a small handful of common denominators have always been steering. A core membership of SSA has kept a lifeline to City Hall, repeatedly asking for help in fighting a seemingly constant flow of n'ere-do-well dregs and more recently, gang activity and the mayhem that accompanies such a fractured scene.

Also at the credit union table that day was a guy named Jim Slocum. The folks of SSA had mentioned Slocum to me last fall, saying he was investing on Edwards Street, and more recently, that he had purchased one troubled property in particular at the end of Edwards nearest a corner store called Lilliana's. By all counts, as they spoke to me, Slocum was a young speculator with good intent. A decent character.

The lore of Edwards Street said that Slocum had booted members of the street gang called The Bloods from one of his properties, after which they'd paid him back with a smattering of graffiti on the building. He was soon thereafter cited by the city for code violations and ordered to clean the graffiti. I digress.

As a friend of Safe Streets, I've remained in touch with a few of its leaders, getting occasional e-mail and telephone updates. I was encouraged by one leader to contact Slocum to witness how he'd helped the situation on Edwards. Just a few weeks ago, I called him and he talked for a long time about how he'd transformed one of the Edwards buildings he'd purchased into what he called "the nicest apartment you'll find" in the city.

I'm a skeptic, so I accepted his offer for a tour, at some point. I also was interested to hear his strangely juxtaposed story about the day college graduate students moved into his building, as they watched bullet-proof vested Binghamton Police officers execute what was later said to be a search warrant "regarding a dog issue" across the street, a stone's toss from Lilliana's and police-installed surveillance cameras that prompted The Bloods to dub this 'hood "Hollywood."

Meeting with Slocum was midway down my to-do list when I read his name as one of several people arrested in this cocaine bust. My only reaction was to shake my head and laugh. I mean, what else can you do, really? Slocum apparently duped the folks on Edwards who had looked at him as a potentially strong spoke helping turn a sometimes flattened tire. While Slocum gave those around him the appearance of frustration over battling the street gangs, he was allegedly an engaged party in a pretty big coke ring. Beautiful.

I worked for Mayor Rich Bucci back in the late 1990s when the owner of a Main Street, Binghamton, property called to request that the mayor attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Bucci was always willing to help promote a new venture, as any pol will do. It's part of the landscape. But as this property owner, calling on behalf of his tenant (the new business owner), continued to press for a media opportunity, Bucci held off. I bore the brunt of the caller's frustration, and as it occurred, I wasn't quite sure why my boss balked. It wasn't the usual. It went on for weeks.

Then I saw the news story about a Main Street, Binghamton, business owner who'd been arrested in a pretty large sting. Maybe it was drugs, perhaps money laundering. I can't recall all the specifics. But I remember seeing photos of a big brick home, cars, ATVs, lots of cash. I finally understood why Bucci stayed away. He couldn't tell me why, at the time, but I got it.

Looking back at the recent meeting in the credit union conference room, I had to laugh. Zikuski and Slocum sat there together, with the appearance of allies in a fight against neighborhood crime. And as was reported to me by a few who attended that meeting, Zikuski and his boss, Mayor Matt Ryan, seemed to downplay the perceived drug traffic on Edwards. Who could blame them, knowing what they knew? They presumably had an X drawn on Slocum, and they at least had a feeling they knew what he was up to. And now we all know.

"What are we going to do now?" said one Safe Streets leader this week in a phone conversation.
Who knows? What happens to Slocum's properties and his tenants who have leases? And what were Slocum's true motivations? Did he think involvement in a cocaine ring might be acceptable, yet street gangs selling weed in store-bought cigars was a blight he just had to battle? Was he engaging in the SSA's activities to "keep his friends close, but his enemies closer?" No telling what he was thinking. So cross Jim Slocum off a fairly short list of positives for this neighborhood teetering on the edge of disaster.

The good news remains, however, that SSA and its members and their associates are tired, but they're gritty as hell. They continue to fight The Bloods and the accompanying "culture" that has wrapped itself like one giant vine coiled around their ankles, uninvited and, most times, unabated.

It may not be immediately apparent that progress is being made there, but as some members of Safe Streets will tell you, with their collective glass half full held high as they can, things have been better over the past month or so.

Of course, everything's relative. "Better than a war zone" isn't exactly what they'd prefer. But the members of SSA see that their street is now more than a footnote, and they fight on.

And now, for something quite the same.