white is right
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This probably the best move for Joe, considering his age and health issues. His hardcore fans will always wonder what could have happened, if had fought the aging Tyson or elder Klitschko, here is the Niagara Falls Reporter story....CITYCIDE: MESI EXPECTED TO FORSAKE BOXING IN ORDER TO RUN FOR STATE SENATE
By David Staba
After a decade as a professional boxer and 36 bouts without a defeat, Joe Mesi says he's ready to test his skills in a very different sort of blood sport -- politics, Albany-style.
The 34-year-old Tonawanda native, mentioned repeatedly in published reports as a potential candidate for the potentially pivotal 61st District state Senate seat being vacated by Mary Lou Rath, told the Niagara Falls Reporter that he will officially announce his intentions at a news conference on April 5.
Democratic sources said he will join a field that already includes Dan Ward, a former Amherst town supervisor who lost in a landslide to then-popular Erie County Executive Joel Giambra in 2003, as well as Erie County Legislator Michelle Ianello.
Rath, a Republican, announced in January that she will retire at the end of the year, her 16th in the state Senate. The opening was immediately targeted by state Democrats, since picking up two seats in November would relieve the GOP of the Senate majority they've enjoyed since 1965.
"The way the seat was vacated and the way the situation is with the Senate in New York, with the possibility of a Democratic takeover -- I think the timing is perfect," Mesi said.
Republican hopefuls include Michael Ranzenhofer, another Erie County legislator, and Bobby Newman, former Niagara USA Chamber head and failed candidate for Tonawanda town supervisor.
Mesi is the only potential candidate from either party without previous experience running for office. But for weeks, he has been acting and sounding like a candidate -- walking in Dyngus Day and St. Patrick's Day parades, as well as meeting with Democratic leaders in Erie and Genesee counties.
Late Saturday afternoon, he certainly looked and talked like one, as well.
"I'm always looking for new challenges," said Mesi, wearing a dark suit and white shirt. "This is what I was meant to do -- make a difference and play a role in this community."
Mesi's name has been floated as a candidate as far back as 2000, when Republican leaders mentioned him as a possible contender for the Erie County Legislature. Speculation heightened during the two years he was out of the ring following brain bleeds suffered in his March 2004 decision win over Vassiliy Jirov.
"Throughout my career, I've made friends on both sides," said Mesi, who has used his popularity on behalf of political candidates and charitable causes, including his own foundation, Baby Joe Mesi's Fight for Organ Donors. "But I'm a loyal Democrat and always have been."
What would have been the biggest fight of his boxing comeback, a meeting with Terry Smith on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights," was scheduled for April 4, but a shoulder injury forced that fight to be scrubbed.
At the least, running for the state Senate would put Mesi's ring career on indefinite hold, since the time commitments involved in either endeavor would be mutually exclusive.
"I never, ever plan on having a teary-eyed press conference announcing my retirement," he said. "As far as boxing, I'll never say never, but I'm full time into this campaign right now. If I'm going to run, I'm going to be the hardest-working candidate and if elected, the hardest-working senator."
Mesi won seven fights against incrementally improving opposition since resuming his career in April 2006 after a Nevada judge lifted his medical suspension there, allowing him to apply for a license in other states. Long-standing policies against licensing fighters who have ever suffered similar injuries prevented him from fighting in the boxing meccas of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, or in Western New York, where he drew enormous-for-boxing crowds in Buffalo and Niagara Falls before his suspension.
He was ranked No. 1 in the heavyweight division by the World Boxing Council before the Jirov fight and, after signing with Providence, R.I.-based promoter Jimmy Burchfield, had climbed back up to No. 17 in the organization's most recent rankings. A win over Smith, a solid journeyman, would likely have positioned him for a bout with a Top-10 contender and put him a step closer to an eventual shot at one of the myriad world title belts.
The shoulder injury was not his first since returning to boxing, with back problems forcing the cancellation of two scheduled fights in 2007.
He also suffered a setback in court last week, when the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling that Physicians Imaging Center of Amherst did not violate his privacy rights by releasing medical records that revealed the subdural hematoma suffered during the bout against Jirov.
Subsequent scans have shown no lingering effects from the injury, Mesi's doctors have said, and he has been cleared to fight by licensing bodies in Rhode Island, West Virginia, Arkansas, Puerto Rico and Quebec, as well as by a tribal commission in Michigan.
A family issue with no connection to boxing rekindled his political aspirations.
"My brother lost his job at American Axle a few months ago," Mesi said. "When that happened to my brother, I said, 'It's time. It's time to make a difference.'"
The possibility of playing a role in a Democratic Senate takeover enhanced the allure of running.
"That interested me even more," he said. "Much like in boxing, you have to be clutch. I think I always came through in the clutch as a fighter and this situation is like that -- it requires a clutch performance."
He acknowledged that name recognition makes him attractive to Democratic leaders, but expects his political opponents to use his local celebrity against him.
"I'm just Joe from Tonawanda," he said. "I'm not an athlete looking for a job. I live in Amherst and pay a crushing amount of taxes. I pay for my health care out of pocket, which is a fortune. I have concerns and problems the same as everyone else, and I want answers."
Then there are the realities of Albany. In the aftermath of former governor Eliot Spitzer's public disintegration, the steady stream of revelations of past infidelity and drug use by his replacement, David Paterson, and near-daily rumors of further bombshells involving lawmakers across the state, the political climate has never been more brutal.
"I've been living under that microscope for a long time," Mesi said. "It's nothing I'm not used to."
The nature of politics could help him avoid one of the factors that keeps many fighters in the ring far too long -- an addiction to competition.
"Laying awake before a fight, you're nervous, worried about your opponent," he said. "This isn't that much different. You have an opponent, and you worry about getting endorsements and talking to people, asking yourself, 'Did I get my point across?"
He said he's already becoming acclimated to the demands on a candidate's time.
"As a fighter, I'd be running, working out in the gym, getting punched in the face by the other guy -- I'm fully prepared for this schedule," Mesi said.
Not being able to punch back? That might take some getting used to.
The national search for five key positions at City Hall in Niagara Falls is drawing to a close, Mayor Paul Dyster said.
The head-hunting firm employed by the city is scheduling final interviews for several positions, with the jobs of economic development director and city administrator likely to be the first filled.
"There are going to be some decisions made this next week, if the scheduling works out," Dyster said.
The openings, which also include city engineer, corporation counsel and the newly created position of tourism director, have attracted candidates from the Western New York area and across the country.
"Some candidates are coming from smaller communities who regard us as the big city. Then we've got other people ecoming from really large cities," Dyster said.
"One of the candidates said this is the world's largest village, and it really is," Dyster continued. "We have some big-city problems here, but there's a lot about our city that is like a big village. There's a more relaxed, interpersonal style, so if you're coming from, say, a smaller city in the Midwest, there's an attraction there."
The first round of interviews was conducted by a transition team chaired by Niagara Falls attorney Craig Touma and involving local business, community and religious leaders, with Dyster sitting in on part of each session. He said he'll be increasingly involved in the final interviews, along with the head-hunting firm.
"It doesn't seem like anyone has done anything like this here before," Dyster said of the extensive process. "It's been frustrating having to wait to get people to fill some of these keys positions, but I think the end result is going to be worthwhile. There won't be the sense that everyone owes their position to political loyalty to the mayor."
Before Dyster took office in January, a pure patronage system had been the unbroken rule in Niagara Falls for decades. His immediate predecessor, Vincenzo V. Anello, put on a charade of organizing not one, but two, "blue-ribbon panels," which, remarkably, decided the best possible candidates for every key job just happened to be elected officials and City Hall types who had supported his campaign.
Whatever his other failings, Anello played the patronage game as well as anyone. After filling all the exempt positions, he created new ones. If the City Council rejected one of his appointments, he simply tacked the word "acting" on to the front of the job title.
Nor was he bashful about putting family and friends into civil service positions, whether they were qualified or not. And if they failed the civil service test, he would dub the position "temporary" and therefore exempt. Anello treated summer jobs in the city's parks and public works departments as if they were funded by his campaign, doling them out to supporters and their relatives.
Last week's city job fair, where residents could apply for legitimate temporary and seasonal jobs, offered evidence that old habits are indeed hard to break for supervisors accustomed to making decisions based on the whims of the mayor, instead of what's best for the city.
"Somebody asked me, 'You really want us to pick the people who are best qualified?'" Dyster said. "I said, 'Yes, that's really what I want you to do.'"
David Staba is the sports editor of the Niagara Falls Reporter. He welcomes e-mail at dstaba13@aol.com.
Niagara Falls Reporterwww.niagarafalls reporter.comEdited by: white is right
By David Staba
After a decade as a professional boxer and 36 bouts without a defeat, Joe Mesi says he's ready to test his skills in a very different sort of blood sport -- politics, Albany-style.
The 34-year-old Tonawanda native, mentioned repeatedly in published reports as a potential candidate for the potentially pivotal 61st District state Senate seat being vacated by Mary Lou Rath, told the Niagara Falls Reporter that he will officially announce his intentions at a news conference on April 5.
Democratic sources said he will join a field that already includes Dan Ward, a former Amherst town supervisor who lost in a landslide to then-popular Erie County Executive Joel Giambra in 2003, as well as Erie County Legislator Michelle Ianello.
Rath, a Republican, announced in January that she will retire at the end of the year, her 16th in the state Senate. The opening was immediately targeted by state Democrats, since picking up two seats in November would relieve the GOP of the Senate majority they've enjoyed since 1965.
"The way the seat was vacated and the way the situation is with the Senate in New York, with the possibility of a Democratic takeover -- I think the timing is perfect," Mesi said.
Republican hopefuls include Michael Ranzenhofer, another Erie County legislator, and Bobby Newman, former Niagara USA Chamber head and failed candidate for Tonawanda town supervisor.
Mesi is the only potential candidate from either party without previous experience running for office. But for weeks, he has been acting and sounding like a candidate -- walking in Dyngus Day and St. Patrick's Day parades, as well as meeting with Democratic leaders in Erie and Genesee counties.
Late Saturday afternoon, he certainly looked and talked like one, as well.
"I'm always looking for new challenges," said Mesi, wearing a dark suit and white shirt. "This is what I was meant to do -- make a difference and play a role in this community."
Mesi's name has been floated as a candidate as far back as 2000, when Republican leaders mentioned him as a possible contender for the Erie County Legislature. Speculation heightened during the two years he was out of the ring following brain bleeds suffered in his March 2004 decision win over Vassiliy Jirov.
"Throughout my career, I've made friends on both sides," said Mesi, who has used his popularity on behalf of political candidates and charitable causes, including his own foundation, Baby Joe Mesi's Fight for Organ Donors. "But I'm a loyal Democrat and always have been."
What would have been the biggest fight of his boxing comeback, a meeting with Terry Smith on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights," was scheduled for April 4, but a shoulder injury forced that fight to be scrubbed.
At the least, running for the state Senate would put Mesi's ring career on indefinite hold, since the time commitments involved in either endeavor would be mutually exclusive.
"I never, ever plan on having a teary-eyed press conference announcing my retirement," he said. "As far as boxing, I'll never say never, but I'm full time into this campaign right now. If I'm going to run, I'm going to be the hardest-working candidate and if elected, the hardest-working senator."
Mesi won seven fights against incrementally improving opposition since resuming his career in April 2006 after a Nevada judge lifted his medical suspension there, allowing him to apply for a license in other states. Long-standing policies against licensing fighters who have ever suffered similar injuries prevented him from fighting in the boxing meccas of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, or in Western New York, where he drew enormous-for-boxing crowds in Buffalo and Niagara Falls before his suspension.
He was ranked No. 1 in the heavyweight division by the World Boxing Council before the Jirov fight and, after signing with Providence, R.I.-based promoter Jimmy Burchfield, had climbed back up to No. 17 in the organization's most recent rankings. A win over Smith, a solid journeyman, would likely have positioned him for a bout with a Top-10 contender and put him a step closer to an eventual shot at one of the myriad world title belts.
The shoulder injury was not his first since returning to boxing, with back problems forcing the cancellation of two scheduled fights in 2007.
He also suffered a setback in court last week, when the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court upheld a lower court's ruling that Physicians Imaging Center of Amherst did not violate his privacy rights by releasing medical records that revealed the subdural hematoma suffered during the bout against Jirov.
Subsequent scans have shown no lingering effects from the injury, Mesi's doctors have said, and he has been cleared to fight by licensing bodies in Rhode Island, West Virginia, Arkansas, Puerto Rico and Quebec, as well as by a tribal commission in Michigan.
A family issue with no connection to boxing rekindled his political aspirations.
"My brother lost his job at American Axle a few months ago," Mesi said. "When that happened to my brother, I said, 'It's time. It's time to make a difference.'"
The possibility of playing a role in a Democratic Senate takeover enhanced the allure of running.
"That interested me even more," he said. "Much like in boxing, you have to be clutch. I think I always came through in the clutch as a fighter and this situation is like that -- it requires a clutch performance."
He acknowledged that name recognition makes him attractive to Democratic leaders, but expects his political opponents to use his local celebrity against him.
"I'm just Joe from Tonawanda," he said. "I'm not an athlete looking for a job. I live in Amherst and pay a crushing amount of taxes. I pay for my health care out of pocket, which is a fortune. I have concerns and problems the same as everyone else, and I want answers."
Then there are the realities of Albany. In the aftermath of former governor Eliot Spitzer's public disintegration, the steady stream of revelations of past infidelity and drug use by his replacement, David Paterson, and near-daily rumors of further bombshells involving lawmakers across the state, the political climate has never been more brutal.
"I've been living under that microscope for a long time," Mesi said. "It's nothing I'm not used to."
The nature of politics could help him avoid one of the factors that keeps many fighters in the ring far too long -- an addiction to competition.
"Laying awake before a fight, you're nervous, worried about your opponent," he said. "This isn't that much different. You have an opponent, and you worry about getting endorsements and talking to people, asking yourself, 'Did I get my point across?"
He said he's already becoming acclimated to the demands on a candidate's time.
"As a fighter, I'd be running, working out in the gym, getting punched in the face by the other guy -- I'm fully prepared for this schedule," Mesi said.
Not being able to punch back? That might take some getting used to.
The national search for five key positions at City Hall in Niagara Falls is drawing to a close, Mayor Paul Dyster said.
The head-hunting firm employed by the city is scheduling final interviews for several positions, with the jobs of economic development director and city administrator likely to be the first filled.
"There are going to be some decisions made this next week, if the scheduling works out," Dyster said.
The openings, which also include city engineer, corporation counsel and the newly created position of tourism director, have attracted candidates from the Western New York area and across the country.
"Some candidates are coming from smaller communities who regard us as the big city. Then we've got other people ecoming from really large cities," Dyster said.
"One of the candidates said this is the world's largest village, and it really is," Dyster continued. "We have some big-city problems here, but there's a lot about our city that is like a big village. There's a more relaxed, interpersonal style, so if you're coming from, say, a smaller city in the Midwest, there's an attraction there."
The first round of interviews was conducted by a transition team chaired by Niagara Falls attorney Craig Touma and involving local business, community and religious leaders, with Dyster sitting in on part of each session. He said he'll be increasingly involved in the final interviews, along with the head-hunting firm.
"It doesn't seem like anyone has done anything like this here before," Dyster said of the extensive process. "It's been frustrating having to wait to get people to fill some of these keys positions, but I think the end result is going to be worthwhile. There won't be the sense that everyone owes their position to political loyalty to the mayor."
Before Dyster took office in January, a pure patronage system had been the unbroken rule in Niagara Falls for decades. His immediate predecessor, Vincenzo V. Anello, put on a charade of organizing not one, but two, "blue-ribbon panels," which, remarkably, decided the best possible candidates for every key job just happened to be elected officials and City Hall types who had supported his campaign.
Whatever his other failings, Anello played the patronage game as well as anyone. After filling all the exempt positions, he created new ones. If the City Council rejected one of his appointments, he simply tacked the word "acting" on to the front of the job title.
Nor was he bashful about putting family and friends into civil service positions, whether they were qualified or not. And if they failed the civil service test, he would dub the position "temporary" and therefore exempt. Anello treated summer jobs in the city's parks and public works departments as if they were funded by his campaign, doling them out to supporters and their relatives.
Last week's city job fair, where residents could apply for legitimate temporary and seasonal jobs, offered evidence that old habits are indeed hard to break for supervisors accustomed to making decisions based on the whims of the mayor, instead of what's best for the city.
"Somebody asked me, 'You really want us to pick the people who are best qualified?'" Dyster said. "I said, 'Yes, that's really what I want you to do.'"
David Staba is the sports editor of the Niagara Falls Reporter. He welcomes e-mail at dstaba13@aol.com.
Niagara Falls Reporterwww.niagarafalls reporter.comEdited by: white is right