One may ask why is it so easy to pick on Mayor Johnson’s crazy way in how he runs the City. The reason could be because it’s so easy or because he operates outside the City Charter and he is fodder for anyone, well, almost anyone that would print it.
This time we have yet another example of Mayor Johnson’s favorite statement “you’re making this political”, whenever he doesn’t get the votes to pass whatever he wants.
The Mayor should be giving the Council the authority granted to them by the Charter to choose members for a committee, except those mandated by the State that only a Mayor can do like the Planning Board, Zoning Board, two that I know of, except every chance he can, he skirts the rules and decides to do it “his way”, he must be a Sinatra fan. The latest example, which had been mentioned here before has some new information that came to light.
Regarding who picks the members of the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee: Johnson made several statements at many Council meetings that he searched the records to see how previous Mayor’s chose these Committees, he made note that under former Mayor Keehn she allowed the Commissioners to choose 1 candidate. In a recent blog authored by Lucian McCarty, it was stated that Mayor Keehn informed him (correcting the information Johnson gave the Commissioners as to why he (Johnson) is allowed to choose the Committee, by saying that after talking to the whole Council, that each Council member would appoint 2 members each and she would appoint 7, that’s Commissioners 8, Mayor 7. The article further stated that Mayor Klotz who formed a committee in 2000, appointed 5 members and the Commissioner’s appointed 1 each, Mayor 5 – Commissioners 4. Mayor Klotz also stated that this was based on previous precedent.
Mayor Johnson’s Committee’s make up – Mayor’s appointments 13 – Commissioner’s 0, you must also remember that 3 of Johnson’s appointments do not even live in Saratoga and 1 of the 3 does not even live in Saratoga County
It is just too easy to find the points that an opponent can use this fall, oh yeh; he did say in the paper “I don’t pick my opponents, I just beat them”. Two Republican Committee members had told a friend that he (Johnson) has become an embarrassment not only to the Party but around the State as the leader of Saratoga Springs
One other item disturbs us. Why did the McCarty article only show up on his blog and not as a newspaper article? How much longer is the Saratogian going to protect Mayor Johnson? If you needed facts you had them from the Mayors. You could have checked with the Committee members and asked them who appointed them. If you can’t find Keehn’s document, check his shredder, his Council was supposed to vote yes or no on the Plan or did he feel that it was DOA when it was time to vote on it?
Captain, What we're really getting from Mayor Johnson and his political ally DPW Commish Skippy Scirocco is an attempt to ignore the Democrats Council majority and run their own style of secrete City government. Whether it be all the secrecy about Wilton Water Gate or their attitude about the City's Comprehensive Plan Committee, they are out of touch with the real needs of this community.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail right on the head. You know, it doesn't matter what Party is in the majority, every Commissioner was elected by citizens of Saratoga. In my mind, every one of them should have a say in appointments to boards. The Mayor wanted a 13 member board, he could have let the Commissioners choose 6 and the Mayor could still have his majority of 7. Is there an agenda he wants to push through like the Water deal? He also announced 1 week before last November's election that he would appoint a Charter Commission to look at ways to improve our current Charter, GREAT. It will be 5 months next week since he made the announcement, if he followed the current Charter, there would be no reason to improve it. Think of this. Once he publicly announces a Commission, the meetings have to be open to the Public. I think he already has his Charter Commission working secretly and won't announce them until they have crafted a document he has had a hand in and approves because once the Commission is announced; the Mayor cannot have any input from that time forward. Your statement of Skip & Scott running a secretive government seems to become clearer every day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post