In case you haven’t already heard, Great Train Robbery resurges tonight at The Towne Ballroom on Main Street (formerly the Sphere).

Show is at 8, doors open at 7.  Tickets are $14 at the door.  Don’t miss it!  Sponsored by BOHW!

to Geek and Mrs. Geek…they welcomed Cole into the world yesterday morning.  Albeit, a little early, but everyone is healthy and happy and doing well!

“So, when do you think you’ll be home for Thanksgiving?”

That’s mom on the phone, trying to get my schedule nailed down so she can somehow, magically, be just taking a pan of lasagna out of the oven as I pull into my parents’ driveway. She asks more or less the same question before every holiday, and just like I’ve done for the past twenty years I give more or less the same answer.

“I don’t know. I can’t think that far ahead.”

“But honey, Thanksgiving is next week.”

Yikes. It happened again. Despite my best intentions and my best vigilance, another year has slipped by and it’s the holiday season again. It’s been quite a year, hasn’t it? As 2006 enters the homestretch and we race toward 2007, remember one of my favorite sayings: life’s greatest gift is contentment. Take a moment to appreciate all the wonderful things about life here in Buffalo, and savor the anticipation of better times ahead. Happy Thanksgiving… early, but sincere!

Our session last night with the CPA had us learning about the Buffalo Fire & Police Departments.  It was by far the best session we’ve had.

Commissioner Lombardo, of the BFD, did a presentation, partially about the October storm, and then explaining how a fire is put out.  He finished with a moving video done going to different actual fires in the city…and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.  It certainly made you grateful for those who risk their lives everyday.

‘Mac’, Commissioner Gipson of the BPD, spoke about the crime rate being down and the new ‘Strike Force’ modeled after the Chicago Police Department…all volunteer police officers who work above and beyond…what they are already doing for our city.

Both men were engaging speakers and we really appreciated them taking the time to talk to us about their departments.  All the more reason to pull over when you see those flashing lights behind you…chances are, they aren’t pulling you over, but responding to an emergency…and if the emergency involved you/your family, wouldn’t you want others to pull over on the road?
We wrapped up the evening to talk about the CPA graduation - funny sounding, isn’t it?  This has been one of the best learning experiences of which I’ve been endeavored.   I went into the CPA with an open-mind, but a cautiously open-mind.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, honestly.

What I found is that the city is doing remarkable things…all things you’ll never hear about on the news or in the paper, to continue to protect us, maintain the amazing quality of life we have here, and I feel very blessed to have learned a little more.  I encourage any and all of you who are interested in learning more about the city to consider this academy…next class begins in March!

Thanks to Oswaldo and Tamara for putting this together.  Thanks to all of the speakers over the past 8 weeks for taking the time to tell us what their departments are doing.  Thanks to the mayor for championing the idea when it was proposed by Os.  Thanks to my fellow classmates…I learned as much from you all as I did from the speakers!

The CPA is nearly at an end.  Tonight marks our last official session as our ‘commencement’ is next Tuesday.  I’ll post tonight or tomorrow about what we learn down at BPD/BFD from the commissioners, but I wanted to post about my police ride-along.

Yesterday, I went to C District - Ferry & Fillmore and did my police ride-along with two of BPD’s finest.  It was an interesting evening and I learned an awful lot from my experience.  I learned how important these civil servants are to us…they put their lives on the line every single day for us.  It’s a risk they know they’re taking and they take it in stride.

What did we see…young woman wielding a big knife - a small machete, let us say…threatening to cut someone…if the cops hadn’t interfered, she would have hurt someone for sure…

…searched for a group of young men after shots were fired…interesting and a little intense at the same time…

…baby choking and taken to the hospital…cops were first on the scene, followed almost immediately by Rural Metro and then we escorted the ambulance to Children’s…baby will be fine, but very scary!

It’s a rare thing that I was with a two-man cop car…they were on detail…acting as a second car to any call that was needed…otherwise, it’s all one-man cop cars.

I want to thank he lieutenant, and the two cops I rode with  because they made sure I got a good view of what it’s like for them…and another thing…those kevlar vests are heavy!

Last night’s session was really informative. We had the opportunity to hear from Dr. James Williams, Superintendent of the Buffalo Public School District. He shared the accomplishments since he’s been in office and the challenges he faces.

Specific things I learned:

• $28,000 was paid last year in 2005-2006 in Overtime to School Administrators. Dr. Williams said this was the only school district in his 38 years of experience where administrators are paid over time. That is ridiculous to me, but a good testament of what’s broken in the system.
• All school administrators - not teachers - have the regular school holiday breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter). Additionally, they have 15 sick days, 5 personal days and 24 vacation days. This amounts to a total of 70 days of paid time off for administrators…I am certainly not saying they don’t deserve it, but to also be collecting overtime, well…
• Going forward, all 9th graders will be taking the PSAT to find where they lie academically.
• AP classes until now have only existed at Hutch Tech and City Honors. Dr. Williams has raised the number of AP classes from 16 to 46. 2 AP classes will be offered in each school.
• School 44 - the alternative high school - is using thematic based learning and it’s working…

I don’t want to even mention the whole health care thing because it’s out of hand as I know my good friends BP and Geek have already posted in the past. Let me just say this…if the system goes back to multiple health carriers (as it appears will occur from the court’s ruling), the AP classes will be gone and the 200 teachers that were hired this year will all be laid off or fired. This is symptomatic of a town that doesn’t know how to get out of its own way…we are famous for it…and the school system is just another example.

We also heard from one of the school board members who talked about her role…and that was interesting and not nearly as exciting.

Phil Haberstro spoke…he is the Exec Dir of the Wellness Institute. He talked about the different models of a community and how the only truly successful communities include citizens in every aspect - business, government and non-profits. And he’s right…which is why this academy is so important…and why I’m so glad to be part of it.

So, back to reporting on the CPA.  Weeks 3 & 4 were postponed because of the storm.  Instead, several members of the Academy, myself included, went down and answered the mayor’s hotline.  It was a great learning experience and one way to really help people.

Week 5 was last week and we heard from Corporation Council, Alisa Lukawiewicz and her staff as well as Paul Wolf, Chief of Staff of Buffalo Common Council.  It was an interesting look at what all these folks do and Alisa reported how the city actually went through the process of declaring the state of emergency and then renewing it as necessary.

Week 6 (last night) was the Quality of Life Day.  We heard from the MIS (Management Information Systems) Department, Commissioner Tobe (Econ Dev, Inspections & Permits) and everyone in the Division of Citizen’s Services, which is the division running the academy.

One of the cooler things we heard about was Keep America Beautiful, locally known as Keep WNY Beautiful, run by Jim Pavel.  Jim talked about what he does and then gave each of us 100 dandelion bulbs to plant in our neighborhood.  He said we should group them, so I can’t wait to find a visible place to plant them!
So far, every session has been great…I’ve learned so much and look forward to taking it all back to my neighborhood and using what I’ve learned!