I was talking with some members of the Justice League at the water cooler and heard some interesting news. It seems that The Republicans have set in stone another block to run on their ticket making it 4/5 complete. Along with Ivins, Scirocco, A. Jarosh is the newest retread R. Wirth. Wirth as you heard was not going to be supported by the Party but a combination of events changed Harper’s mind.
a. They (Republicans) can’t get anyone else to run. They are even brokering deals for someone to run for Mayor.
b. Like the other 3 named above, Wirth gave in and swore allegiance to Chairman Dave Harper’ edict, that if any Republican candidate wins election, they MUST hire Shauna Sutton as their Deputy to give her the necessary 2 years for lifetime benefits.
Since it looks like the Democrats on the Council will retain their seats and the fact that Yepsen is almost unbeatable (however, you never know, she still has to work hard), b. above would include Commissioner Scirocco. If Deputy Cogan hasn’t taken the hint by now, a piece of advice, be prepared pack your bags and get a swift kick out the door.
The only other post except for Mayor, on the Republican side are the 2 Supervisor seats that will be on the ballot. It’s a sure bet that Matt Veitch will run and win. It is not clear however who the other Republican will be or if indeed there will be one. The picture is also unclear who the Dem’s have, if anyone yet. If 4 run, the top 2 with the most votes get the nod.
Scirocco will need some big help this year if the Democrats have a credible candidate to run against him. For starters, we hear that Shauna Big Bear will be tapped to run his campaign. If she runs his campaign like she did Johnson’s last time (so negative it even turned a big number of Republicans off) he’ll have a big nut on his hands. The water deal with Wilton
Someone in the know also let it slip that whoever gets the nod for Mayor on the Republican ticket won’t have Johnson’s personal wealth to use for the campaign, so the Riggi’s will be hosting a $500.00 per plate dinner ala Mike Lenz later this summer. The event will be held at, surprise, The Palicio de Riggi. The Green Hornet also heard that for entertainment, Mrs. Riggi will have her 38? Pomeranian canines, dance to ‘Swan Lake
Just one other piece of information, longtime Saratogian’s say that the Old Boy’s Network is dead in Saratoga
- Walk by Tom Roohan’s
- Walk by Adirondack Trust on Broadway – The street sign doesn’t name the street – the street sign says ATM -----à. I guess that means any business can remove the street signs, put their name on it with a pointer and whistle a happy tune.
Until next time, same bat Time, same bat Blog.
If you really want to look at corruption, you should look at Deputy Mayor Sutton. Her brother William Sutton owned Boyce and Drake Plumbing until 2005. He also owns the building on the corner of Maple Ave. and Caroline St. or 24 Caroline, where Boyce and Drake was located for 25 years until 2008, when the new owners of Boyce and Drake moved.
ReplyDeleteIn late 2008, William Sutton renovated the building to have five apartments upstairs and two retail outlets downstairs. It is currently for sale, listed with Morrell Real Estate, 518 580-9400 at $995,000. There were no permits pulled and no inspections done because William Sutton is the brother of Deputy Mayor Shauna Sutton. The building inspector was told, “you are far too busy to look at 24 Caroline St, it is not on your work schedule.” Building codes are New York State Law, and not optional on the city’s part. New York State Secretary of State Divisions of Codes Enforcement Division is investigating.
Boyce and Drake moved out. The commercial space was divided in two and Torso www.torsolingerie.com/ and Silverlight http://silverwoodgalleries.com/ moved in. Here is the problem; the fire code requires a fire sprinkler to be installed in the whole building to allow such a renovation, the realtor will even tell you that when you call, for about $12,000. There is a question about the size of the water main in the street may not be big enough to support that amount of demand, so the water has to be brought over from Lake Ave. Total cost $250,000. Walk in to the business and ask if they have a Certificate of Occupancy. Walk into the building department and ask to look at the file. File a FOIL and see how long it takes to look at it.
William Sutton did all of this internal work but never got permits, renovated from two to five apartments and from a business to two mercantile. He is a plumber he knows he needed a permit for this. He saved big bucks not needing a permit, permit fee or engineer, benefits of having a sister as the Deputy Mayor.
But now we drag the accounts department into this. The building is assessed at $671,000 with full value at $881,853. The building was built in 1950, with renovation in 1978, nothing more, according to the assessment OARS.
Now here is the rub when a permit is pulled for a building renovation the permit is closed when a Certificate of Occupancy is issued, meaning the construction is complete. A copy of this goes to, you guessed it, John Franks Accounts Department, which then raises the assessed value by the value of construction as listed on the building permit, in this case $250,000 to $1,131,853. No wonder the mayor never wants to get a permit, his taxes would go up.
How many times has the Deputy Mayor allowed, by direct instruction construction to go on without a permit. How many times has she kept a certificate of occupancy from being given to the accounts department?
The total taxes collected by the city for this property is $15,800 per year, when it should be $20,280 or about $5000 short from 2008 to 2013 or $25,000 for five years. How many other people have been allowed to skate without building permits that the rest of us are paying for in higher taxes or reduced services.
If this was just a regular Joe in Saratoga the building would be closed and the tenants thrown out, but not when you are the brother of the deputy mayor.
Thanks for the great post and the interesting information.
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ReplyDeleteIs William Sutton related to Mark Sutton ? Did Shauna recently get a new job at Greenridge Cemetery ? At a nice pay increase ?
@Captain - the ATM sign was a gift to Wait from Tommy McTygue - for all things that Charlie - wait - Charles "has done for the City." Straight from Tommy. The sign is on a lamp post - not a proper pole.
Thanks for the info. The sign shouldn't be there, as it confuses out of town people looking for the street and seeing ATM instead of a street name. Shauna has beed a full time Director of the Cemetery for years, while working for the City getting paid a full time salary, she is also getting paid full time at Greenridge. Someone I know didn't have anything to do one day so he followed Sutton when she left City Hall on business - she went directly to the cemetery where she put in 4 hours, she was also collecting her full time pay from the City. Sweet, if you can pull it off.
DeleteGlad to see Lew Benton is still following people around. He used to follow Tommy and Billy but they must be friends now.
ReplyDeleteAre you following Lew or the McTygue's around?
DeleteWillie Sutton is partners with Mike Murray. Murray is related to the Tarantinos ....bingo.
ReplyDeleteAll Suttons in this town are related to one another.
If the two code enforcers could pry themselves away from the dinner table, and walk down Caroline St, all those National grid meters on the building should be enough of a clue as to what has been going on at the Boyce & Drake bldg.
Code enforcement, Dan Cogan and Kevin Veech, do not have jurisdiction for this. It is the building department under Steve Shaw and Michael Carlson, at the direction of Deputy Mayor Sutton that are not doing their job.
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