Howard Dean, the former presidential hopeful, has had to slug it out to become the chairman of the national Democratic Party. Check the notebook

It appeared as though Rick Dollinger, the former state senator, would have no such problem. He was the only local Democrat willing to take over as the new chair of the county Democratic Committee.

That was until Tom Wega appeared. Wega doesn’t have the lofty credentials of a Dollinger – he has been a Democratic town leader in Pittsford, he ran for the county legislature unsuccessfully.

He also is a Deaniac – an active member of dfaRochester (part of the Democracy for America movement, which sprang up after Dean’s withdrawal from the presidential race).

Wega initially figured he would be the ONLY candidate for the job. And he said that he respects Dollinger and interim chairman Jim Vogel (who will also put his name into consideration for the permanent post).

Wega said he knows that Dollinger will be the favorite for the seat. But he’s going to keep his name in the mix because he’s following a Dean dictate – let no race go unchallenged.

In a letter to Democrats in the committee, Wega wrote: “We must remake our party into one that wins elections at all levels. Before we can win the presidency and Congress we must win state, county, town, school board and village elections and before we win town halls, we in the rank and file must win back our party”

It’s not the equivalent of a scream after the Iowa caucuses.

But it is a polite shout by one local Democrat that the appointment of a new chair not be a coronation.

An earlier edition of this column focused on the allure of the sales tax for cash-strapped counties. More specifically it pointed to Erie County, where the county legislature had approved a penny hike in the sales tax and then got approval for the increase by the state.

Well then Erie County lawmakers took the unusual step of backing off. One of the legislators who approved the notion of sending the sales tax increase to the state legislature backed off giving final approval in order to get more concessions from the county administration on cutbacks.

But Erie County’s hesitancy doesn’t negate the obvious point – counties in need of revenue will go any place except the property tax to get it.

And the sales tax is the most palatable place to go.

And while Erie County’s schizophrenia with their sales tax hike is odd, there is no such problem in our area.
Monroe County has already paved the way for sales tax increases. While our neighbors to west wrestle with issues like sales tax sharing, Monroe County has the Morin-Ryan agreement from the 1980s and the Doyle-Johnson update from the 1990s that creates a plan for sharing the money among municipalities.

And former County Executive Bob King proved back in the early 1990s that a sales tax increase is a much easier sell to voters in an upstate community than a property tax hike.

So the only question is whether other counties in upstate New York are in the same boat as Erie.
Well maybe the Erie County vessel is taking on water at a greater rate.

But the crashing waves of ever-increasing Medicaid costs are flooding the boats of other counties.

Just look at Genesee County where the Buffalo News reported that legislators donned red baseball caps in an effort to plead for a cap on Medicaid costs being passed down from the state.

The sales tax is a last refuge for counties.

A month ago you would have counted Rick Dollinger among the Democrats who wanted to see City Councilman Wade Norwood elected mayor.

That was the Rick Dollinger who was a former state senator, who worked within the party as a kind of wizened elder, who stayed in the public eye as a kind of political pontificator.

That was before Rick Dollinger became poised to become chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, thrusting himself right in the middle of the political arena.

What does Dollinger, the likely party committee leader, say now about the potentially combustible primary for Rochester mayor – one that could feature a primary scrum between Norwood, fellow councilman Tim Mains and Police Chief Bob Duffy?

"I’m not going to take a position until the party’s designating convention," said Dollinger. "Then I will endorse the choice of the convention."

Most observers say Norwood will take the designation. The designating convention is a party insiders’ affair where committee members vote in a weighted system for candidates. The winner doesn’t have to pass petitions to get on the ballot.

Anyone else looking to run would have to get the necessary number of petition signers. And Duffy, who comes in to this race with high approval ratings and the makings of an organization, will have no problem getting in the primary race.

Mains has a long history of running in the city as an at-large candidate and surely would have little problem getting into a primary battle. And Mains has made it clear he will wage a primary.

Some political party chairs have worked hard to avoid primaries. Would Dollinger? No, he said.

"It’s the way a party defines itself," he said. "It’s part of what the party process is all about."

Take it from a man whose political career took off by running as an outsider in a primary.

In 1992, the Monroe County Democratic Committee designated Ralph Quattrociocchi as the party’s candidate for state senate. He was a conservative Democrat from Greece. He was an incumbent.

Dollinger, then a county legislator, went ahead and challenged Quattrociocchi in a primary.

He then went on to beat the party’s designee, and then beat him a second time in the general election (Quattrociocchi ran as a conservative. Dollinger also beat Republican Tracey Long).

Dollinger said it would be a "gross act of hypocrisy"  to tell Duffy, or anyone else, not to run in a primary.

"I would never say ‘you can’t do this.’" he added.

He could also add the party’s designee for mayor the last time the seat was open – County Legislator Kevin Murray – was soundly defeated in the primary. 

It probably wouldn’t be wise for the likely new Democratic Party chairman to alienate anyone who might be the next Democratic mayor for Rochester.

All that stands in the way of former State Sen. Richard Dollinger seeking to become the next chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Committee is a heart-to-heart talk with his law partners.

"It’s looking good," said Dollinger. "I’m leaning toward doing this."

An executive committee meeting of leading Democrats this week could make his decision final. He’ll likely have to gather support before the full committee votes for a new chair to replace Molly Clifford in the next ten days to two weeks.

As Dollinger inches toward the job one question you may ask is why? Look at the recent history of the chairmanship.

It’s September 2002. The Monroe County Democratic Party has just reappointed Ted O’Brien to be its chairman for two years.

The talk in the Laborers Union hall that day was basically: How does Ted cope with all the bickering between Democrats? County lawmakers from the party battling city leaders. Members of the Democratic Assembly from Rochester feuding.

"Several people have come up to me and said ‘jeez Ted I’m glad I don’t have your job,’" O’Brien said at the time. "But that’s not at all how I feel."

It’s December 2002. Ted O’Brien announces he’s stepping down. He cites long hours. O’Brien supports Molly Clifford as his successor. She says she knows that there are divisions in the ranks but said she’s ready to “work with the strong-willed personalities” of the party.

At a gathering of Democrats for her election, Clifford said that her goal will be to get Democrats to focus less on each other and more on Republicans.

Weeks into her tenure, Clifford holds a press conference to blast Republican County Executive Jack Doyle for remarks he made in the Democrat and Chronicle that they defined as racially-charged.

It was Clifford’s earliest attempt at going after a Republican.

Except that days after the press conference, then-Democratic County Legislator Christopher Wilmot of Rochester sent out a press release that blasted Clifford. He said Clifford excluded him and others on the Democratic caucus of the County Legislature from the press event. He said that move  continued a practice of miscommunication that has led to the squabbling. He even suggested that Democrats hire a professional mediator, someone who could bring all the warring factions together and iron out the differences.

Democrats going after Democrats.

Now we know the latest news about the party. The primaries for party committee seats egged on by Assemblyman David Gantt. Actual fists flying at one Democratic committee meeting. A letter signed by leading Democrats for a Republican – State Sen. Joe Robach – while the party had their own candidate in the race. Even Chris Wilmot became a Republican. 

Last week Clifford left, complaining about the infighting and about how some in the party are all about power.

There is a thread woven in this recent Democratic history. When Clifford was appointed in late 2002, the comment here was that it was not only a test for Clifford but for the leadership in the Democratic Party – the elected officials.

The sudden departures of O’Brien and Clifford are very much an indicator of the long-standing disharmony among top Democrats. It makes the job of chairman a difficult, if not frustrating, one.

Dollinger said Sunday night just prior to the Super Bowl that he believes it is an exciting time for the party. But he’s not kidding himself.

"If the next party chair spends all his time refereeing… well, then I might as well get a zebra suit and blow the whistle and call them as I see them. But that won’t do much good," he said. "I intend to be the quarterback."

And so the question remains as it always was: Do Democrats have it in them to put aside some of the personal feuds and the sniping to unite behind some kind of party structure? Time will tell.

Listen to the drum beat of sales tax increases in New York.

Erie County’s Legislature has approved an increase in the sales tax by a penny to 9.25%. Now it goes to the state legislature. Erie County says it needs the money to cover rising Medicaid costs passed down by the state.

Oneida County’s request to bump up its sales tax to 9.75% has the approval of the state legislature and only needs the signature of Gov. Pataki. The move will cover the Medicaid increases, local officials there say.

They are the latest in a string of counties, big and small, who are relying on the sales tax to cover the mounting Medicaid costs.

Meanwhile Pataki visits our region this week shilling for Medicaid reforms that some critics say isn’t enough to slow the growth of Medicaid costs on counties.

County Executive Maggie Brooks says she will work to have Pataki’s reforms, and his budget, approved.

But the question remains – does Brooks truly believe this will be enough to deal with the multi-million dollar Medicaid increases? Does Brooks and the Monroe County Legislature hear the distant drum beats of sales tax increases?

It’s too soon to forget that former County Executive Jack Doyle proposed a sales tax increase for 2004, which was shot down then.

How soon before we hear the leaders in Monroe County raising the idea of raising the sales tax?