I can't be the only person to notice an ever increasing population of homeless and transient individuals in downtown Saratoga Springs. We need to get a handle on it before it gets worse. Where are our city leaders on this issue?
Two weeks ago a couple was robbed at gunpoint on Connolly Lane. There have also been other incidents of people being harassed/ followed in our local parking garages and most recently a certain religious organization on Broadway was robbed of cash and gift cards.
The leaders of the community need to make a stand; either provide affordable housing or send the homeless packing to other municipalities.
One of the many perks of living in Saratoga is the fact that one can walk around the city and not be panhandled or threatened with violence. This reality is quickly changing here in Saratoga Springs.
Saratoga is increasing becoming a town of 'rich only'. Having a variety of people in any city makes for more culturally enriching experience for all involved. I for one am tired of the 'Manhattanization' of Saratoga Springs.
We have expanded everything except the roadways and this town has some glaring weaknesses in an otherwise near perfect family oriented city. The most glaring weaknesses are still a crappy hospital, a rogue police force and lack of affordable housing. The cause and effect is very real and has already happened in bigger cities such as Manhattan and San Francisco where it is currently a 'non-millionaires need not apply' mentality.
We have much to offer in our city in the country. The homeless situation will most certainly worsen if we continue to ignore it. The city leaders need to ask themselves two very important questions: “What is right”? And.... “What is just”? Our city leaders must come up with a definitive plan as to how this city intends on moving forward without selling out and without compromising Saratoga's integrity.
Yepsen has brought most of them here.with social veiws and big goverment!
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see how inept Skip is, and the engineer that he hired, look at the bid documents for the Granite and concrete curbs Granite+and+Pre-Cast+Curbs+2015-14. Here is the web address on the city web site. http://www.saratoga-springs.org/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=67&func=fileinfo&id=4732 created by DPW April 2015.
ReplyDeleteThe link will open a document in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Do not move the screen just look at the top of the first page. Scott Johnson is still mayor in April 2015. This should be enough to get the bids pulled and reissued, and waste more time and money. Maybe it is an intentional disrespectful swipe at the current mayor? How can a bid be legally binding when the wrong mayor signed it?
It would be interesting to see how many other letter heads are wrong in DPW.
Accounts and John Franck are responsible for bids and the RFP process. Read the city charter.
ReplyDelete3:33, you are right. The date of the Invitation for Bid that was prepared by DPW is dated April 2015 when clearly Johnson was out of office since 1/1/14.
DeleteThe only responsibilities the Comm. of Accounts is responsible regarding bids are publication, receiving the sealed bids,
The Purchasing Agent (Comm. of Accounts) and, where necessary or appropriate, the City Engineer or any other authorized representative shall review capital project bids to determine the lowest responsible bidder so that a recommendation for award can be made at the next regular meeting of the appropriate department, entity, or the Council.
After review by the City Attorney for form and legality, the Purchasing Agent shall arrange for the department negotiating the bid/contract to ensure that contract documents are signed by the appropriate authority.
The Commissioner of accounts is not responsible for writing the specifics of the bid, that duty is the Commissioner who prepares the bid.
Hey Billy. The purchasing agent (Accounts) is ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the bid document. In this case they should have caught the error. The suggestion that a simple oversight means that a department (Accounts/DPW) or individual (Commissioner) is incompetent is ridiculous.
Deletewrong bucko, the Commissioner of DPW or the City Engineer writes up the bid and gives the information to the purchasing agent for publication.
Delete"After review by the City Attorney for form and legality, the Purchasing Agent shall arrange for the department negotiating the bid/contract to ensure that contract documents are signed by the appropriate authority."
Also, in this case Commissioner Scirocco is using 2 year old bid forms with the wrong City Official and the bid could be technically in error. Come on Skip, get your forms updated, can't you or Donna even do that?
Um, the Commissioner of Accounts releases the bids, so it is incumbent on him to make sure all the documents are correct. The mayor or other commissioners could send him a completely messed up document and it would still be his job to make sure it is correct before releasing it, that is if he cared about doing the job he was elected to do.
DeleteBut oh wait, he is too busy doing tax returns to do that, and he actually says so at every council meeting in Jan, Feb, March, and April!
The thread here is about the homeless population in Saratoga so lets keep it on subject. This will be your last post on bids. Read the Charter. The Commissioner who puts out the bid in this case Scirocco (but he hasn't a clue on what the bid is), so the City Engineer draws up the bid goes over it with him then Franck publishes it. The fact that Scirocco is using 2 year old bid forms lays squarely on his shoulders and his department should be aware that this needs updating. Just one other thing, Franck is a CPA, Matheisen is a Dentist, Madigan works full time at the Library, Johnson was a lawyer and restaurant owner, Ivins had his own computer business, Kim was an attorney, Lenz was a pharmacist, Dick Wirth a PI. Scirocco is a retired dog catcher trying to run one of the most important departments in the City and just can't handle it, period. Now stick to the topic, you can't make the argument and it's time for you to comment on A TALE OF TWO CITIES
DeleteJust as I suspected, people in Saratoga don't care about the homeless issue. Nice.
ReplyDeleteThis is complicated. The mayor, in her final days as a supervisor, just before becoming mayor, put a lot of effort into the new "code blue" attempts to help the homeless on those biter cold winter days. Lots of local people got involved in keeping the city's homeless from freezing to death - and that was a great thing to do. It was the right thing to do, and I can't criticize the mayor for getting involved and helping out. But she didn't allow this work to be done quietly. In her non-stop quest for attention and adulation she made sure everyone knew about it, bringing it up every chance she got. All that press coverage drew more homeless to the city. I've heard rumors that nearby cities are sending their homeless to SS when their shelters are full. The word is out that the city is friendly to vagrants, or at least not hostile to them, so their population is growing. We gotta fix this, but it's not easy to do without appearing mean and spiteful to the less fortunate.
ReplyDeleteIt is complicated. I think she did right in promoting the code blue so everyone would know about it and hopefully get the volunteers needed for the inaugural program. The fact that she takes credit for what does, (you wouldn't want a politician not to take the glory would you)?. Madigan preaches that ‘she’ didn’t raise taxes but ‘she’ did nothing about taxes because we have had year’s with increased monies coming in, why we can even give away one million dollars to a developer and still have a good fund balance. I don’t believe the press brought more homeless to the City though, the homeless just have new digs to huddle together with all the new building downtown. The new parking garage, the new Price Chopper parking garage and the hanging around the Salvation Building when it is time to leave after breakfast. Many of these homeless have other issues and if they are arrested a number of times they should get the mental help they need. You could also ask the question, where are the Police? Shouldn’t they be breaking up a loitering mob of homeless?
ReplyDeleteJoanne Yepsen created this mess by sticking her face on every news channel and newspaper promoting Code Blue. She still does it. And now she's going after the street performers instead of addressing the real problem she helped create.
DeleteSo being a humanitarian and helping those less fortunate is now a deficit? Really???
DeleteHey Cap, how about that article in the Saratogian?
ReplyDeleteSara Burger just cut the commish a new one.
is it true that the lot on Union Ave may not be buildable because it is wetlands?
Somebody better find out before we get stuck paying for something un-usable.
Sarah Burger doesn't know what she's talking about. The lot is nearly 14 acres and yes about half is in the 100 year flood plan. The top portion, approximately 6-7 acres is build-able land more than sufficient for homes or a EMS facility. Burger is obviously making up her own facts.
DeleteYou have just made a good point. The deal that Matheisen & Finneran made has become even dumber because they paid good money for 7-8 acres of wet lands. They also made a deal that most likely will be reversed because of the limitations placed in the RFP, especially since there was another deal that could be made without the purchase of the Collimer lot attached to it. Lets face it Burger knows the facts (one of the reasons she left, as the Commissioners involved would not listen to her legal advice) , its the DPS who is grasping for anything to save face in this deal.
DeleteYou have just made a good point. The deal that Matheisen & Finneran made has become even dumber because they paid good money for 7-8 acres of wet lands. They also made a deal that most likely will be reversed because of the limitations placed in the RFP, especially since there was another deal that could be made without the purchase of the Collimer lot attached to it. Lets face it Burger knows the facts (one of the reasons she left, as the Commissioners involved would not listen to her legal advice) , its the DPS who is grasping for anything to save face in this deal.
Delete$200k for 6-7 acres of build-able land in Saratoga Springs even if near wetlands is a hell of a deal. The LOT (60X130) next to me sold for 185k. I've watched this land transaction play out and everything was done in a transparent manner. It's been talked about at council meetings and the RFP was not written for a single individual. Anyone who knows the land owners in the exit 14 area is well aware that there are a number of people who could have responded to the RFP. To continue to say that this was done to limit to one bidder is pure nonsense. I'm confident the AG's determination is going to clear the Commissioner of any wrong doing and confirm the process was transparent and legal and that this was nothing more than a political witch hunt orchestrated by Burger and McTygues. I don't think Burger knows much of anything. Losing the confidence of the entire City Council and being asked to resign or be fired does not bode well for her legal opinion.
DeleteI beg to disagree. The rfp was tailored for this 1 individual, there were land owners that wanted to sell property but didn't want the Collimer lot.and many land owners I know in the area of Exit 14 know this to be true. Many of these people are so hard up for a public safety building they want the City to buy wet lands but I don't know if this is going to happen. The City is not for the expense of putting up such a building with additional staff when we have excellent response time already. I think the AG's office will come down on the Commissioner & his Deputy and as far as Burger, why wouldn't she leave the job when certain Council members would not listen to her advice and now Skip is under 2 investigations, Madigan one, and Matheisen 1. You keep bringing up the McTygues, THEY HAVE BEEN OUT OF OFFICE FOR 6 YEARS, why do you people keep bringing them up?
DeleteThat is NOT why Burger left. You really must get your facts straight
DeleteIt makes no difference that they have been out of office for six years. There back now and they control the Mayor and the former city attorney. The City's been looking for land since 2007, if there were land owners willing to sell their property, why didn't they? These investigations are politically motivated and none will mount to anything. Which means you and Burger will be proven wrong and your short political careers will come to an abrupt end.
DeleteAgain and try to understand this:The City Attorney definitely left the job because certain Council members would not listen to her advice and she was about to be asked to leave by those 3 who are now in a pickle.
DeleteUm, a vote was taken by the council, and it was 5-0 to dismiss her. Joanne may or may not have communicated this to Sarah, but all 5 of them, including Yepsen, wanted her gone. She was given a chance to resign gracefully, and instead she wrote a resignation letter that attacked all 5 of them.
DeleteUm, what Council meeting was this vote taken?
Delete9/02/14 EXECUTIVE SESSION – Update on Personnel Issue
Deleteit was either sept 2 or sept 10. both meetings included executive sessions where her employment was discussed.
DeleteThat tells me nothing, the fact that she resigned could have been discussed, make it public and we can understand which it is.
DeleteHow does someone know what was discussed in an executive session? Also the City Attorney is appointed in this City by the Mayor only. What does the Mayor say? It looks like the City Attorney resigned effective September 10 and her resignation letter was provided to the press. I see nothing anywhere about her being fired.
DeleteOf course the Council wanted her gone. She probably wouldn't approve the contracts for the land swap mess. I read those contracts at the time and they are entirely one sided and not in our (taxpayer) favor! I feel bad for her having chosen to work for Yippie Yap Yepsen to begin with. Yepsen has always had a reputation as a fence sitter.
DeleteThe city attorney was asked to leave, Madigan is not even remotely under investigation. Just because you have a blog doesn't mean every opinion you print is true. All investigations are brought on by Burger and McTygues and Yepsen. So who cares. Soon people will complain about them and they will be investigated. It's that easy. Stop printing lies.
ReplyDeleteThe City Attorney definitely left the job because certain Council members would not listen to her advice and she was about to be asked to leave by those 3 who are now in a pickle. So stop posting made up stories.
DeleteMadigan is under investigation to the point she was interviewed many times by the Comptroller and AG. She was the first to say she audited the Bonacio give away and found nothing wrong which will most likely prove her audit wasn't done that well. She is allegedly the person behind the Skipster changing the law on the hookup fees because we have so much money as a City we didn't need that revenue. Remember Ken Ivins didn't raise taxes either so that point doesn't make Madigan a Saint.
DeleteI didn't know Burger, McTygue and Yepsen had so much power and control over the Attorney General of NYS! The only people to blame for the AG Investigation are those council members (especially the dentist public safety commissioner) that shepherded the ridiculous land transaction. At least the Mayor had enough sense to ask for a second appraisal of the Collamer Lot. Complaints are made all the time and the AG investigates few of them. Not that easy.
DeleteWhat's up with Kevin Madigan going into businesses that have Sarah Burger's political picture up and demanding that they be taken down? He tells the businesses that he is a Madigan.
ReplyDeleteI am Kevin Madigan, May 18 at 7:21 PM, and I have never done that. What I did do, about a month ago, was go in for a haircut at Larry's where I know Chris Mathiesen also gets his hair cut, and ask why they would hang up her sign when she is challenging one of their customers. I then asked them if I or Chris were welcome customers any more. I then sat down and got my hair cut, with the sign still on the wall.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is the one and only time I have ever commented on a Sarah Burger sign.
Thanks for the reply but why would you care if Burger's sign was hung? She isn't running against you or your wife and if he feels he thinks Sarah would do a better job than Mathiesen so be it. I know a few of his patients that go to him as a dentist but do not like him as a Commissioner, should they stop being a patient of his?
DeleteKevin Madigan, I also get my hair cut at Larry's. That's not what I heard you said! "I'm a Madigan." Dude get a grip your wife is a political hack here today gone tomorrow. You are not some outstanding legacy or the King of England.
DeleteWOW!!! Comm. Madigan is VERY liberal tonight with budget transfers for Comm. Scirocco & the DPW Water Treatment Plant. It always seems to b about water with Skippy!!
ReplyDeleteWOW!! Skippy just created 2 new jobs & upgraded another for the water treatment plant approved. Guess where the money's coming from..Water Budget! That's why our water/sewer rates have increased the last 6 years.
ReplyDeleteYes and that is why Madigan, Scirocco & matheisen eliminated a great revenue source in the water hookup fees and put the cost on the backs of the taxpayers.
DeleteThe homeless are a bigger problem then Yepsen can handle. They have broken out window in the parking garage and have taken the steel to sell. Smoking in the elevators, living in the port a potty in the garage. Yelling and swearing at people who want to use the garage. They poop and pee in the stair wells. The Mayor doesn't deal with that.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, the garages & cleaning them (which isn't being done) comes under DPW and the Police should be patrolling a lot more to keep them out day & night.
DeleteYes, 8:17 call DPW and DPS and complain about this. It's their job to get this done. I also think the Mayor should also ask these two departments to do what they should have been doing!!
DeleteTo be fair DPW pressure wash the whole stair deck of the new parking deck and a few hr.later some one pooped in it again. It isn't like they don't clean it, they just can't keep up with it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe try this? ;)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2015/03/16/Urine-repelling-wall-paint-coming-to-San-Francisco/3671426513052/
Jill, this would be great, DPW should try it out in one of the garages.
DeleteWhy was Michele Madigan in the paper breaking ground on the racino hotel expansion when she voted against it?
ReplyDeleteI don't recall Madigan - or anyone else - "voting" against the racino expansion. Please enlighten us as to when the council even took a vote on that issue. perhaps you are confusing your issues?
ReplyDeleteYour recall isn't that good then. She also said about Skip's elimination of water hookup fees according to the Saratoga Wire was "Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan said the annual loss of $250,000 in fee revenue will not affect water rates." Hello!!! rates have been rising and after you said this a new set of fees were put in place again. You were wrong again on this one Mr. & Mrs. Madigan
ReplyDeletePlease enlighten us, oh Captain. When did Madigan or anyone else on the council vote against this expansion? You say they did. Please remind us.
DeleteMadigan is for higher taxes her voting record can prove that, she's a librarians' aide not a economics person... that plus a dog catcher equals incompetence and corruption!
ReplyDelete