ELECTION NOT QUITE OVER

Well, the election season is almost over.  There are 3 races left to be determined, the Commissioner of Public Safety post which if Peter Martin holds onto his lead will be the biggest upset in Saratoga Springs voting in years.  The second position will be that of the 2^nd Supervisor post, Tara Gaston currently holds the lead and the third is probably the most important vote in Saratoga Springs in the last 100 years, yes Charter Change.  In a surprising vote at the end of election night The Yes vote had a slim 48 vote lead over the No voters.   With over 500 absentee votes to be counted on Tuesday it will be nail biting time for all those involved with the outcomes.  If I am not mistaken most of the absentee ballots are from senior housing and nursing homes so this will be an indication of how or aged population is up to date with the goings on in the City.

Again, it is very sad that our Democratic & Republican Chairmen cannot handle their jobs.  One of their functions is to make sure every position has someone from their respective Party running for office.  In a City as great as Saratoga Springs that can’t be too hard of a job, there must be many people that want to take part in keeping this City great, right?

One of the most notable and pathetic things that came out of this election was to show how bad of a job our unopposed Commissioners are doing especially one that was highlighted throughout the campaign season and that is Commissioner Skippy Scirocco, not only can’t he do his job but it seems there is no direction coming from the Deputy position.

It was highlighted during the season that the water in Saratoga Springs tastes terrible, some areas had lead in the water and low pressure was a problem in many areas of the City.  Pictures showing the disgusting shape of our water lines were shown by groups with the hope someone in DPW would get it.  Well some revelation must have happened election night.

I want to start off by saying that the picking up of leaves and lawn debris has come down to once every 4 weeks, Skippy has sheared off staff to help Madigan keep her budget deficit under 2 million dollars this year, so he hasn’t got the staff to work the streets and has to pull them off that job and put them on other jobs.

That being said, Skippy is feeling the heat for the condition of water pressure, and of the water lines which I had showed you in pictures in previous posts.  I’ll put one up here.  

Now, at this time of the year, with freezing temperatures, Skip, Donna or his Deputy has decided to FLUSH the hydrants.  The problem with this is, it’s the wrong time of the year, not only is it freezing out but the water will pick up and carry the leaves that haven’t been picked up by DPW workers (as they now have to flush the hydrants) will be floating and will cover the water  drains.  What type of leadership do we have here and how can this Commissioner sit at the Council table saying how much worse off we will be under a new form of government?  This man in incapable of doing his job and has been for the last 10 years.  This is what we get for having Party leaders giving someone a free pass at election time.

Flushing of the hydrants will begin Nov. 13^th and will continue through, THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING, November 24^th. 

Anyway, we wait to see what shakes out Tuesday.

Just one other tidbit, on election day, candidate and loser Mark Baker stopped in to most voting places handing out apples, something I don’t think was kosher for a candidate to do.