EVERYBODY SING NOW ‘OLD MAN RIVER’

Commissioner Skip will soon be putting the citizens of Saratoga up Old Man River, his antics are becoming an embarrassment to those who deal with him which are few and far between because you have to go through is Deputy first – Deputy Dawg Donna Buckley.  Those who think Tim Cogan is Skip’s Deputy are sadly mistaken and those who work for DPW know it to be true.

At a previous Council meeting Commissioner Skip announced the City would be removing Elm trees on City property that looked like they were starting to show signs of disease, that’s a good thing, however, when he proclaimed that citizens had to remove these trees from their own property at their own expense (and we all know how expensive that is), Commissioner Madigan asked Skip if the City could also remove the trees for citizens.  Skip answer to that was NO, ‘everyone will have to pay for their own removal’, when pressed by Madigan & Matheisen that it would be cheaper to have 1 company remove the trees, Skip again said NO, ‘everyone will have to pay for their own removal’.

Now here’s the info that shows what Skip thinks of us, the taxpayers of Saratoga Springs.  Recently he HAD A VERY LARGE OAK TREE REMOVED FROM A PRIVATE RESIDENCE FOR FREE, THAT RESIDENCE WAS ON LOUGHBERRY LAKE RD. IN THE TOWN OF WILTON.  Yes, that’s right not City property in Saratoga but a personal residence in the town of Wilton, removed by City workers for free.  Not a smart move Skip.

The next move by Skip that will probably end up costing us money from large fines via the DEC is one that involves the City Compost site.  The yard debris & tree chips the City picks up during the year is laid out in rows then treated and turned into the compost that is sold.  The bottom (what we’ll call ‘scum’) that cannot be sold has to be disposed of according to DEC regulations.  Saratoga has a contract with Wilton to have this ‘scum’ properly disposed of at a site at Harlem’s Hollow in Wilton.  Well, to shove it in the face of the DEC, Skip has been burying this ‘scum’ on a hill at the Compost site.  Not a smart move Skip.

Skip has ordered dredging to take place at Bog Meadow which of course again is not legal.  Bog Meadow is a supplemental water source for Saratoga Springs and an inside source has told me that DEC has never given Commissioner Wonder the permission to do this.  Again, not a smart move Skip.

Skip has been hiring outside engineering firms to do some of the work our 2 City engineers can’t do because their plates are full.  Have you ever noticed that trying to see the City Engineer during some mornings or some afternoons is impossible?  Well sources tell me that our Engineer loves to play golf either in the mornings and comes in at 11 or afternoons when he leaves at 2, depending who he plays with.  When confronted about this information, Skip gave this reasoning ‘he is on flex time’.  What the heck Skip?  Flex time?  When is he making up these hours? I thought that if one had to represent the City at a meeting after hours they had to take that time off the next day, are you sure you are not confusing the time when you were Supervisor and worked for the City and left your job during working hours to attend County meetings?  You should come up with something a little better than flex hours.  Stop hiring outside help and use our well paid department heads.

This is the last one for today.  A young man went into the Commissioner’s office looking for a job and was told that he had to have a driver’s license, which he did not have.  Then the son of the little person on the flower crew who just got a job upgrade because she makes a great informant was given that same job the young man was turned down for because of not having a driver’s license.  The irony of this story is that the son of ‘petunia’ as we like to call her, has no driver’s license and this will be his 3^rd stint working for the City. 

Your decisions Skip are becoming more and more bizarre; some of these decisions could possibly lead to monetary penalties against the City and may add more fuel against you in the looming court proceedings coming up.  The time may be fast approaching for you to turn in your two way radio.  HE JUST KEEPS ON ROLLING ALONG.

THE POLITICS OF GETTING A RIDE:

In Saratoga County there are many individuals who receive cab rides courtesy of you and me the taxpayer. On the surface there is nothing wrong with that. If you really have no other means of getting to a doctor appointment than ordering a cab via MAS (Medical Answering Service) makes complete sense…until you have to deal with them.

I am not naïve. I understand that with most everything in our culture there is always some kind of politics involved. The politics involved are frustrating enough but when individuals call MAS and request the cab company they would like to have them picked up they are told they are not allowed to choose the cab company of their choice; which would be fine if that were factually correct but it isn’t.

And this is where the real games begin.

First of all, the Medical Answering Service isn’t based out of Saratoga County which it should be but it is outsourced to a place in Syracuse which is part of the problem. The number to MAS is 1-800-850-5340.

Each municipality should have their own medical answering service so the examples of incompetence I am about to give you and the waste of taxpayer dollars is minimized.

Disclaimer: The examples are actual case scenarios.

Example one: One male living in our area needed surgery and needed to go to a hospital in NYC and he ordered a cab through medical answering service. Shortly before his scheduled surgery in NYC, MAS informed him that he couldn’t take a cab to NYC ostensibly because it was a burden on taxpayers and was redirected to AMTRAK. His surgery was scheduled for 10:30am. The only morning train that leaves from Saratoga Springs Amtrak is the 9:30am and it never arrives in Saratoga until at least 10:15am. It takes over three hours by train from Saratoga to NYC.

Needless to say he missed his appointment in NYC and was subjected to taking the train down anyway and forced to spend the entire day there and came back later that evening on the AMTRAK. It doesn’t make sense.

There were individuals who called on this mans behalf and tried to explain to MAS that he was going to miss his appointment if he took the train but they didn’t care. This case is not an anomaly. This is the everyday stuff.

Another issue is that when you call MAS and request a specific cab company, they tell people they can’t do that and say that they must have what they are calling ‘group ride’ but when ask to define what a ‘group ride’ is they tell the caller something that is not factually correct. They wrongly tell people that they must share a ride with others on Medicaid that are going to the same place like Albany Med. for example. Not true. Medicaid passengers are not required to share a cab with anyone. Sometimes MAS will tell someone who requests a particular cab company that the requested company isn’t on their list which isn’t true. Most if not all cab companies take Medicaid calls. Why? Because that is where the money is. There is a substantial amount of money to be made on these Medicaid calls which is why every cab company would like their fair share of the calls.

What ends up happening is that these calls are redirected to primarily two local cab companies in Saratoga. One is Saratoga Taxi and the other is Capitaland. What is worse is that many passengers have specifically told MAS that they do want to ride with these companies and they are told that they do not have a choice. Again, these people are being lied to.

Another game that MAS plays with some of the other cab companies is this example:

MAS will call an alternative cab company and ask the owner if they will pick up a passenger in North Creek? The owner then asks if the passenger is going to Saratoga and is told no. They are going only one mile to another place in North Creek. The cab owner says no because why would the cab owner send a driver forty-five miles each way to only drive someone one mile? They wouldn’t as it’s a waste of time and money and benefits no one. Then MAS uses this against cab companies for ‘refusing a call’ and that cab company is bumped to the bottom of their list.

See how this game is played?

The system is broken and is in need of fixing and in the meantime our tax money is being wasted.  Where are our elected officials on this issue?

NO MORE KIM KARDASHIAN BUTTS IN OUR SHOPPING DISTRICT

Please, I am asking for help, call City Hall and as one of the posters Dave Morris swears to, ask for Skip and tell him personally (lol) that we want the horses back in our shopping district and not the ‘ballet slippers’ that look like Kim Kardashian’s butt.  It was most embarrassing last year as Saratoga Race Course celebrated 150 years of horse racing in Saratoga and mysteriously the horses were put in a barn in favor of the slippers.

One of the reasons why the City catered to Ms. Riggi it was rumored was because it was an election year and in order to open up the purse strings to Skip & Shauna and the Republican Party she wanted them to play ball.  Well not this year, we want our horses back.  Remember the slogan ‘Health, History & Horses’, no where in there does it say statues of Kim’s butt.  Act now before it’s too late.
This is Ms. Riggi's latest ballet creation.  Help!!

TIPS FOR SKIP

Tip #1

The American flag colors are RED, WHITE and BLUE.  While it’s nice to have the flowers planted at the end of Union Avenue your planting directions are a little askew.  The colors are, starting with the outside ring and working into the center BLUE, RED, and WHITE.   Switch the flowers so they either start inside out as red, white & blue or outside in as red, white & blue.  The only other thing I can figure is that you are honoring another country.

Tip #2

This advice would be like the decision to you made to save money and buy regular pick-up trucks rather than 4 wheel drive pick-ups for plowing snow.

You can save money by not replacing the brown (dying) bushes in our ‘crown jewel’ Congress Park by doing these two steps.

1. Purchase cases of glue in spray cans and spray all the bushes so the needles don’t fall of the branches.

2. Purchase several cases of evergreen color spray paint and spray the dead branches.

IS SCIROCCO TAKING THE CITY DOWN?

Is Commissioner Scirocco taking the City down with him?  Listening to him at the Council meeting last night, one would think we had a 5^th grader sitting on the Council.  He just couldn’t get it through his head that the DEC cannot issue titles like lead agency.  He was repeatedly told by the City Attorney about this fact and she even read the part of State law that deals with the Racino issue.  Another item his brain couldn’t grasp was that the law also states that any ancillary buildings even if they have no gaming in them (like Vapors) is still under the State Law passed in 2001 in that the City does not have to be consulted as long as the Racino follows all the regulations that the State mandates.  It must be tough for him to try and keep up with what goes on in Saratoga.  We have to remember that when Scirocco was Supervisor he was against the Racino locating in Saratoga and he seems to have carried a lot of hate with him over the years and is bringing it out again.

A funny statement he made was that ‘no one from the Racino ever called him, ever’.  The Mayor then said that she has called them many times and has set up meetings with them and even to discuss items relating to the expansion and was always put through to someone to talk to.  She did give some important advice to Scirocco, “call them”.  I doubt that will ever happen, have you ever tried to speak with Mr. Scirocco?  Call him at City Hall and leave a message to call you back?  Try to email him seeking a short answer regarding any matter, good luck.  Many people I know have left 10 to 15 phone messages and at least as many emails with not so much as a peep back from him.  I think the reason these people called and emailed so much was to see how many times it would take to get a response but good old Commissioner Scirocco broke them down and they gave up.

The most disgusting tribute to the Scirocco era is how bad the entrances to the City and the downtown flowers look.  THERE ARE NO FLOWERS except the ones in front of stores that they themselves planted; there are however, many, many weeds in the flower beds around the trees on Broadway.  Maybe he is going for the natural look this year.

The entrances themselves are another matter, heading North on Rt. 9 past the Honda dealership the islands are mowed like a golf course and flowers are planted and look very nice.  The State takes care of these islands and you can tell where the City takes over, the islands grass looks like it was mowed to sell hay, again the flower beds are weeds with no flowers (they should be in the ground by now).  He certainly shows how visitors what to look forward to when they enter the City.

Moving on to our “gem” in the City, Congress Park.  Take a walk around our gem and visit Spit and Spat, the evergreen shrubs are half dead (the brown color looks great, just kidding) and weeds seem to be the flower of choice.  The shrubs throughout the park have a big problem, half of them are dead, now I can’t blame this on Scirocco but replacement should have started in early spring.  The hill across from the Casino looks like a hay field, the weeds must be 5’ high and the message board at the end of Union Ave. is full of prize winning weeds.  NYRA has already planted the islands they maintain on Union Ave. and the grass is well manicured, however, like everything else, the islands down Union Ave. that the City maintains have no flowers and the lawns look like hell.

Scirocco has destroyed in a few years what it took quite a while to do, namely make Broadway look clean and crisp.  When you spend over $22,000.00 on flowers and by June 3^rd the City still looks dirty and full of weeds it’s no wonder why Scirocco can’t grasp what a 5^th grader should know.

Now, on to some important matters.  The Commissioner still has not answered the question posed to him by many people and that is did he forgive the payment of water hookups at the Bonacio project on Weibel Ave. to the tune of $880,000.00?  Did he forgive the water hookups to the attorney who built 3 new homes on Jefferson St.?  This attorney has land next to these houses and it is said intends to build 8 more homes.  The Commissioner put a new water main on Gridley Avenue, was it for this attorney? Will these water hookups be forgiven also?  Will you answer these questions at a Council meeting Commissioner and offer proof of payment if made?

There has also been a problem at the landfill with the methane gas for years and the State hounded Commissioner for years to install a gas flaring system to safely get rid of the underground buildup which is at dangerous levels.  The State was very upset with Scirocco that for 3 years after the City said in writing that they would take the necessary steps to get the flare system installed it still was not acted on.  The grant section of the State was ready to take back some of the $500,000.00 in grant money the City received but the City started to act and the State decided not to request any monies to be paid back  hence the motion by Scirocco at tonight’s Council meeting to have the Council pass action to fund the program.

Another feather in Scirocco’s cap,  DPS as most everyone knows is remodeling the offices and other areas of the department.  It seems like there have been change orders like there are on any project, but in this case Tim Wales the City Engineer has cried to Scirocco that there is no one acting as clerk of the works and looking to keep check on the project and want Commissioner Scirocco to hire an outside firm to act as the overseer.  Now, the City employees a City Engineer who is paid over $101,000.00 plus benefits and an Asst. City Engineer who is paid over $95,000.00 plus benefits.   The question I have is why can’t one of these two do the job or the Building Inspector for that matter since this is an in house project?  I guess Scirocco is like former Mayor Johnson in these matters, it is better to spend 3 times as much on outside help than use our own employees who God forbid would have to work a little.

How much more can we take of incompetent leadership?  Oh yeah, you elected him to do just this.

Who is this Robert Davis guy and is he a real person from Saratoga or a comedian from Albany?