No Merger

The Romulus/South Seneca merger vote resulted in South Seneca's approving it by a huge margin, while Romulus voted "no" 2 to 1. Thus the merger fails.

The process is strange and convoluted, with a straw poll preceding the vote, and the vote not based on majority rule but rather with majority rule within each affected district. The study plus straw poll plus vote must encompass a lengthy time period, during which people seem to get more and more exercised. In Romulus's case, they had over 100 absentee ballots submitted before the vote ever took place, and a random drive through the area, as I took last week en route to Rochester, indicated that this was going down for sure. The "NO" signs outnumbered the "YES" signs by about 100 to 1. The slogan the NOs used, "RCS Does It Best!" is belied by their report card, which shows a relentlessly average district of 399 students, down 13 percent from just two years ago.

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NYS Ballot Measures

Project Vote Smart provides a fairly easy-to-read breakdown of the proposals on the NYS ballot this year. It doesn't tell you how to vote, just what you're being asked to decide. Save time and read the measures before Election Day.

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In Which the Deer Ignore Alex, and Alex Ignores the Deer

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Required Reading

Bernie Sanders quite correctly connects the shutdown to Citizens United.

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Enough Said

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Required Reading

Slate on how we might report on the shutdown if it were happening elsewhere.

The current rebellion has been led by Sen. Ted Cruz, a young fundamentalist lawmaker from the restive Texas region, known in the past as a hotbed of separatist activity.

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