The Fighting 29th

All about New York's 29th Congressional District

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader editorial page [pdf] which includes the Leader's positive take on Tom Reed's tenure as Mayor. Reed gets good marks for a number of common-sense initiatives.

Also not to be missed is a letter to the Editor from a local crank who simultaneously complains about being ignored by Eric Massa's office while saying "I must admit it, I got very short with the young gal answering his phone in Corning."

This morning's Corning Leader carries the news that Mayor Tom Reed will not seek re-election. Reed's statement said that he is "exploring an opportunity for public service that many have been encouraging me to pursue." Reed will make his decision on a run by July 1.

This morning's Corning Leader has two stories about Eric Massa. First, Massa presented an award to the founder of Camp Good Days. And, he commented on yesterday's reshuffle in the New York State Senate.

Finally, Massa was interviewed on GRITv about single-payer health care. You can watch the video after the break:

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader opinion page [pdf], which includes Joe Dunning's column on two Corning politicians. One of them, Corning Mayor Tom Reed, has been mentioned as a possible opponent for Eric Massa. The other, Frank Coccho, had Reed's job until a spectacular crash and burn, and he's thinking about running again.

Dunning doesn't think either man will win. In the case of Reed, he cites two powerful reasons: name recognition and money. Anyone running for Massa's job will have to raise $2-3 million and become a known entity in Rochester. That's a tall order for Reed.

In theory, the 29th is a competitive district and Massa is in danger of losing his seat. In practice, it's tough to find someone to take a risk running against him, since he'll be well-financed and so far, as Dunning says, "Massa has done a pretty good job doing what he said he was going to do".

Reader Elmer sends today's Corning Leader front page [pdf], which has a story about the Corning Mayoral election. Former Mayor Tom Coccho is talking about a run because current Mayor Tom Reed is seriously considering a run for the 29th seat.

“If the opportunity presents itself, I’d be flattered and consider it,” Reed said. “It’s something I would think heavily about and I would seriously consider.”

Reed said he'd make his re-election decision by the start of next month.

My guess is that, if Reed chooses not to run, he'll probably be Massa's Republican opponent in 2010. He'll need the rest of this year and the beginning of next to start fundraising, so an early start is smart. None of the other establishment players (such as George Winner and Maggie Brooks) have shown any serious interest in the seat. Reed is well-regarded in Corning, so his main challenge will be getting some name recognition in the Rochester area.

The Albany Project has a copy of a mailer sent by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) attacking Eric Massa for his vote against the Iraq supplemental. I live in the Northern part of the district and didn't get a copy of the mailer, so it is apparently a targeted mailing.

The Albany Project has an interview with Eric Massa and video from Massa's appearance at a healthcare forum.

City Newspaper and the D&C have coverage of John Conyers' appearance yesterday in Rochester with Eric Massa. Conyers was here to discuss HR 676, the single-payer health bill.

Stop the Cap is on top of the Time-Warner story. TWC's CEO is still supporting the idea of caps, and Time-Warner's customer agreement still has cap language.

Stop the Cap is also on top of a story that has major implications for the future of broadband in Rochester. Frontier purchased a bunch of rural phone lines from Verizon. As the Wall Street Journal notes, and as Stop the Cap has been covering in great depth, Fairpoint Communications, a New England telephone company, got itself in big trouble with a similar move last year.

Frontier is trying to put a positive spin on the acquisition, but there's little to celebrate here. Frontier is promising to bring new technology to rural areas, but the fact remains that Frontier's core technology, DSL, does not work well unless the user is close to a DSL access point. Rural subscribers tend to be a long distance from the "central office". Also, with Frontier staggering under a huge debt load, its unlikely that they will make the massive investment necessary to upgrade any of its service areas to cutting-edge fiber technology.

For Rochesterians, this is just another signpost in the long decline of what was once a showpiece local telephone company, Rochester Tel. Frontier is nothing but token competition to Time-Warner, which has a superior network and is phenomenally profitable. Frontier's business of delivering voice service over copper wire will soon go the way of Western Union, and they'll be left with crushing debt and fleeing subscribers. This bodes nothing but ill for the future of broadband, and businesses that rely on it, in the Rochester area.

Eric Massa is upset about high gas prices, happy about the Sotomayor pick, and appearing with John Conyers at a health care rally on Saturday in Rochester.