SNOWPLOWING LEAVES??

Here in Saratoga Springs nothing is as it seems.  The celebrated Broadway once a celebrated top ten downtowns in America is now #99 out of the top 100.  The dirt, garbage and lack of clean parking garages in the downtown core, lack of summer debris, total lack of the leaf pickup in the fall and not in late November which leads to snow plowing of tons of leafs along with the snow is a sign the City is not what it used to be in keeping up with being one of the top 50 best small cities in the lower 48.

There is a reason for this decline and most of it is because of the incompetence of DPW Commissioner Skippy Scirocco.  He was unqualified for the job when elected and it shows.  The City hires more outside engineers when we have 2 that make good money and benefits, his motion to cease collecting water hookup fees on new buildings cost the City $1 million dollars in income by ceasing to collect on 1 project and since then he has lost about ½ million dollars per year, this money could have been retargeted to improving our ancient infrastructure. He takes care of neighbors and friends when their street needs paving or need new sidewalks.  

Scirocco being the only Republican on the Council never comes up with a clear thought unless coached by none other that ‘Magic Michelle Madigan”.

Scirocco’s son Mark who works for his father in the Water Dept. was arrested in Feb. 2018 for has been charged with a DWI in Milton, being assigned a driver to take him throughout the city so he can perform his job of reading and repairing water meters. The younger Scirocco is not allowed to drive a city-owned vehicle with a pending DWI, which would also be in violation of the city's fleet safety policy. From a TU article “When city meter-reader Mark Scirocco was arrested for an alleged aggravated DWI in February, he didn't lose his job. Instead, he got a driver.” 

  

“Scirocco added this kind of situation occurred in the past and "was been handled in the same exact way."

 Sharon McCormick, one of DPW's four meter readers, disputed the elder Scirocco's assertion. She said that the younger Scirocco is getting special treatment.”

"They are constantly hanging the fleet safety policy over our heads," said McCormick, who has feuded with the Sciroccos in the past. "If you can't drive, you'll be terminated."

“McCormick, who has worked for the city for 14 years, said that in the past when a worker got a DWI, the person was either given a desk job or fired.”

McCormick said it was proposed that Mark Scirocco be dropped off in neighborhoods and picked up later in the day so that Colucci wouldn't have to fit in all of his city duties as well as the younger Scirocco's. The idea was nixed, she said, so we pay for a chauffeur a salary & benefits for carting Mark around. 

 "Skip (Scirocco) said no way were they doing that," McCormick said.

Mark my words Scirocco will not be fired by his father but will instead be given an inside job.  The elder should be brought up on ethics charges by not turning the case over to the HR department to handle but even doing this might cause the Director of HR a vote on her salary increase. 

Court records show that Mark Scirocco, 45, was stopped on Route 29 in Milton on Feb. 17 at 3:10 a.m. He was charged with driving while intoxicated and aggravated DWI because of a blood alcohol content that was 0.18 or higher. He was also ticketed by the arresting Saratoga County Sheriff's deputy for unsafe lane movement.  His case has still not been decided in court.  It has been in court since Feb. 14^th and word is he won’t be back in court until the new year (2019).  Maybe he’ll throw a party.

After the fire at City Hall where most of the damage was from water our City Hall was gutted.  They found asbestos and had to remove it but gut the whole building?  There has been no update from the Mayor or Scirocco on a cost estimate. 

I heard they will be changing the inside of the building and making new arranged Departments.  I would think that this would need the approval of several Boards but none have been mentioned.  

 I hope Madigan’s $7,500 toilet wasn’t destroyed because the charge for fitting the seat to her derriere (buttocks) is a costly measurement.

We’ll have more in the upcoming weeks.

CHANGE OF THE CURRENT CHARTER? I DON’T THINK SO!

There is something rotten that will be on the ballot in November, the 6^th by the way.  The item is twofold.

1.    Charter Change

2.    Adding 2 more baby Commissioners with limited authority.

First of all the newly elected Mayor (Meg Kelly) who was elected by the Changing the Form of Government people did something underhanded.  Instead of fighting with the group It’s Time Saratoga in demanding a TIF recount which the County Attorney and both Democrat and Republican Election Commissioners would not allow even when the great Judge Nolan’s ruling was overturned by the Appellate Court  ( Nolan  must have the most cases he rules on overturned among all judges in the State).

However you can figure out why when the County Republican Committee gives SUCCESS $1,000.00 to aid them in the anti - Charter fight and Republican candidate Don Braim donated $500.00 out of his campaign funds to SUCCESS for the same reason.  Now I may be wrong but is it allowable to donate campaign funds for a City ballot proposal?

No Change in the form of government did not win by 10 votes when you look into why some people voted against Change – many people tell me that quite a few people didn’t like the City Manager form but wanted a strong Mayor form but they did want a change.  Imagine if they voted for Change instead and if things didn’t work out switch to a strong Mayor?  Not that I believe the City Manager would have been nothing but an excellent choice.

Back to Kelly gave a slap in the face to over half of the citizens who wanted a Change in the FORM of government not a retooled version of the dysfunctional one that exists now and after looking over the ‘proposed changes’ is still dysfunctional.

She appointed a new Commission to retool and the Commission was made up of the 5 Commissioners, their Deputies (who depend on their Commissioner for their job) and the City Attorney who had just gotten his salary doubled as Commission Chairman.  Now the first thing that stands out is do you think that a Deputy Commissioner will object to their boss?  Also, this Commission appointed by the Great Kelly has not 1 citizen on it.  This Commission is like the old adage “hatching rooster eggs - wasting time and/or resources”.  All they are doing is  stripping the Mayor of their duties and spreading them to different departments thereby making the position a ribbon cutter one like that one before the last Charter retooling under former Mayor Klotz which strengthened the position.

Much was made of the costs when changing over to a new form of government and cost estimates were given and made public in the financial analysis.

This new ‘proposal’s’ financial estimates lines are all $0 even when they know there will be added costs.  A member of the so called Commission said if they couldn’t figure out the cost they put a $0 in the space. Transparency is a wonderful thing

The retooling’s 2^nd part is adding 2 more baby at large Commissioners who can vote along with the Council members but cannot get involved in any Departments business.

SO ALONG WITH MANY CITIZENS VOICING THEIR OPINIONS YOU SHOULD VOTE A BIG NO ON BOTH ISSUES AND PRAY THAT THE OPPORTUNITY COMES AROUND AGAIN FOR A CHANGE IN THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT AND GET RID OF THIS RETOOLED DYSFUNCTIONAL COMMISSION FORM.

We can also thank our lucky stars that Madigan & Scirocco have both publicly stated they are not running for office in 2019.

WHAT IS GOING ON IN DPW AND DOES THE REST OF THE COUNCIL EVEN CARE?

DPW is in a mess and Skip is to blame for not keeping his head in the game as a Department Head should.  He was under-qualified for the job when he was first elected and if he wasn’t a guitar player and native son he wouldn’t have lasted for 1 term as the department and City are both going downhill.  The fact that he is Charlie Brown to Madigan’s Edgar McCarthy is comical and she does have her hand up where a dummy has to have it placed.

First it was Skip’s son Mark who was arrested for DWI blowing a .18 and 3 other charges.  He had his girlfriend pick him up after booking and not only was she charged with DWI but also driving under the influence with their child in the car.  She has had a past DWI so her charges constitute her arrest as a felony.

Remember all this happened in February of this year over 5 months ago.  Who else would have 4 major charges against them and still as of July 23^rd still not have the case put before a judge.

Now, another story development. Frank Brimhall a DPW employee was involved in a traffic accident while driving a City truck.  SSPD issued him a ticket and arrested him for driving with a suspended license.  This could be a potential and most likely a lawsuit against the City.

This is yet another hair brained lapse for Comm. Scirocco and the Human Resource Dept. because insiders tell me that there are many DPW workers driving around without licenses also some not having the proper class of license for driving the larger trucks and equipment.  Scirocco should be doing a license abstract periodically to make sure that his employees #1 have drivers licenses and #2 don’t have any marks that would affect the status of driving for the City.

In the Brimhall case not reporting his license suspension and continued driving should be cause for immediate termination, union or not and this Council should not give him a monetary going away package as they always seem to do.

This is another case of why this form of Government should be changed not played around with like it is being done with now.  Everyone has to vote NO on the updated Charter as it will cost us big money because of all the raises everyone gets and the funny part is that this was the reason Franck, Madigan and Scirocco gave as the biggest reason to vote against Charter change last year, funny how things change when you are on the side of making more money.   Franck, Madigan and Scirocco must go next year and we hope the opposing Party’s put up qualified candidates against them, well in Scirocco’s case a monkey could probably do a better job.

DOES OUR COUNCIL KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON?

Do our elected officials drive around Saratoga Springs? Should I provide a ‘honey do’ list?

Get the intersections in order please! We need left turn arrows at many intersections.

For example: Union Avenue at Nelson, Nelson at Union Avenue.

Many motorists still do not understand the rules of the road. The Circular, Park Place and Whitney Place is technically a four-way stop but have you ever tried taking a left from Park Place onto Circular Street? It has become a death defying experience and is nearly impossible to navigate during Racing Season.

There needs to be a left turn arrow at the Union Avenue exit 14 intersection. It’s almost impossible to take a left turn onto Henning Road and it will be IMPOSSIBLE to turn there this Racing Season because the CRESCENT AVENUE bridge is closed. These things should have been remedied several months ago at the very least.

The local roads could have been paved months ago but if things were done logically than the tradition of doing things just minutes before the Saratoga Racecourse opens would be over.  And THAT can just not happen!

SARATOGA WHAT?

Has anyone seen the latest edition of Saratoga Living Magazine? It’s trying very hard to be something that it is not. There are some quality images in the zine and a nice local feature about Garland Nelson but other than that it isn’t that good. Until recently Saratoga Living was the best magazine around here and now it clearly is not. It used to be $5 and now it’s free. WTF? The new owner, local lawyer Tony Iianello has taken a high-quality product and has single handedly destroyed it in a little over a year. He has systemically fired most of the local writers and replaced it with writers who are not local folks at all. The new editor is taking the magazine in an entirely different direction and seems to be obsessed with celebrity. Ugh. I guess it’s safe to say that Simply Saratoga and the new Upstate Magazine will be vying for the best local stories and images.  It is just mind boggling that a once highly successful magazine is falling from grace right before our very eyes.

 

Saratoga Springs certainly has more pluses than most small cities but it still has an underbelly. There was the shocking murder of a local person two days ago. The kind of stuff that plagues other larger communities are slowly creeping into the fabric of Saratoga. The crime and pandemic of drugs, the air of desperation in the homeless and soon to be homeless population. The over development of our land and the meteoric rise of the cost of living here are making its indelible mark on our dear city. The downfall of Saratoga Living Magazine is symbolic of the uptick of superficiality of the entire nation in general. We used to rise above it and now it is an increasing weight on our shoulders. A burden of sorts, a malaise that you can see in those thrill seekers on Caroline Street just past the hour of midnight. They so much want to feel like they are having a good time but they know deep down they are not. Waves of sadness flourish until the wee hours of the morning; the witching hours as I call them. It pains me just to watch so I look away. Is the end near for Saratoga?  A fading star? What will finally break our winning streak? Only time will tell.

A FAMILY AFFAIR?

From the Daily Gazette

SARATOGA SPRINGS —“ A city employee, who is also the son of a city commissioner, was arrested in February on four charges, including aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Mark Scirocco, 45, a city water meter service worker and son of Anthony "Skip" Scirocco, commissioner of the Department of Public Works, was arrested Feb. 17 by Saratoga County Sheriff's deputies on Route 29 in Milton.

The charges include operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, aggravated driving while intoxicated, unsafe lane change and improper lane use.

Skip Scirocco said that, while his son hasn't been convicted, he is not allowing Mark Scirocco to drive a city vehicle while on the job. He added that if his son has his license revoked as a result of a conviction, he could face termination.

Once a city employee is arrested, Skip Scirocco said, the city's Risk and Safety director sends a note to the employee's supervisor notifying him or her of the arrest.

Skip Scirocco described his son as a "great employee."

"We've had people call the department to compliment him on his work ethic, and that's the kind of employee we want," he said. "He finished in the top three on the Civil Service test, so he didn't just get hired because he's my son."

Skip Scirocco added, "People make mistakes, and thankfully this didn't happen on the job or in a city vehicle."

Scirocco's position as water meter service worker was advertised on the city's website in October 2015 with a salary of $35,118.

The water meter service worker position required a Civil Service exam, which was given in December 2015.

The position advertisement stated, "This position exists in the City Water Department and involves responsibility for reading water meters, recording amounts of water consumption, meter installation, repair and maintenance duties. The work is performed under the direct supervision of the Water Meter Service Worker Supervisor and general supervision of the Water Meter Service Accounts Manager, following prescribed procedures."

Mayor Meg Kelly did not return a call for comment, nor did City Attorney”

Well, Well.  This incident happened on 2/17 and it was just in the Schenectady Gazette the other day (in May).  If this happened to you do you think you could keep it out of the papers this long?  The simple fact that it wasn’t even our local paper Saratogian shows how much the police may even tried to hide this tid bit.  Now if this part of the story is true little Scirocco’s girlfriend picked him up at the police with a child in the car and she was also under the influence but I guess since that isn’t in the paper it couldn’t possibly be true, right (lol). 

The part that makes us laugh is where Comm. Skip says “Skip Scirocco described his son as a "great employee."  My question is why is he even involved now?  Marilyn Rivers who insiders say was not notified by Skippy until a few months after the incident should recuse himself and let Rivers (the HR person for the City who should have been notified immediately) handle the case from here.  

The fact that Mark is still working and has to be driven around is something taxpayers should be concerned about.  If I am correct you need a driver’s license to have that job and more news from City Hall is that Comm. Skippy is trying to get HR or Civil Service to change the job description so he can still work.  This smells of corruption but don’t fear the Council will side with Comm. Skippy.

Also, news out of City Hall is that Madigan’s $750,000.00 bathroom is in a quandary because no one can find a toilet seat big enough for her to sit on.  She has dispatched Skippy to scour the countryside for one large enough.

WHAT IS GOING ON IN SARATOGA?

Are you asking yourselves, what is going on in Saratoga Springs? 

New sewer lines are going in on Congress St. and the work is being done by the County, are we paying the County and if so why can’t our own DPW do the work like they used to do and make money?

What is the latest regarding the alleged DPW arrest of Mark Scirocco and his wife who was driving DWI with a child in the car to pick up her husband from the hoosegow?  I think the venue has been changed and there has been nothing in the papers about this.  However, every day I read so many names of people arrested for DUI or DWI this has to be a political hot potato.

Under who’s authority on the Council was it when they build the new Woodlawn parking garage?  Don’t tell me I would guess Skippy’s.  The entrance to the lot is the size of a home driveway opening.  Does he dare buck the Mayor and Madigan and come to a simple solution?  Take out 1 parking space to the right as you enter the lot, remove the tree (plant in in the Park) and open up that exit/entrance so someone can get in if a car is in the outbound.

Paint stripes on Broadway so cars will take up 1 spot and while you are doing that put Mark Scirocco on a bike to drive around the streets in the downtown area to see if any more can be restriped.  Mark isn’t working,(can’t do his job without a license but he can ride a bike).

Safety situations cannot be ignored anymore because we are a very busy City these days.  The intersection of Woodlawn and Church and Railroad and Church are most dangerous if you want to take a left.  Whoever is in charge fix it, that’s why you are in your seat and getting paid no matter the amount.  YOU WANTED THE JOB.

Another street that is disconcerting is Franklin St. from Washington to Division St., with parking on both sides you can get 2 lanes of traffic in between the two sided parking only if 2 mini coopers are traveling that stretch.  Again, you asked for it so fix it.

CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER SAID

The famous American Charles Dudley Warner  journalist said:

'Politics makes strange bedfellows'

 Definition. Political interests can bring together people who otherwise have little in common. This saying is adapted from a line in the play The Tempest, by William Shakespeare : “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”

THE BACK STABBER

CHARTER CHANGE VOTERS

Even in Saratoga Springs!  

Meg and Madigan

Madigan tried to have The City Democratic Party to remove Meg’s endorsement prior to 2017 election.

Meg betrayed the charter movement, cramming paid parking, and elimination of the gun show at the City Center all point to a rush to push legislation before citizens get a grasp of what is happening.  Strange bedfellows politics makes indeed. 

                                   THE BEDFELLOWS                                                              

HAS JUDGE NOLAN HAD THE WOOL PULLED OVER HIS EYES? IT'S FOR YOU TO SEE

JUDGE THOMAS NOLAN

JUDGE NOLAN'S CHARTER RULING WILL BE APPEALED!!

Taken from Bob Turners Readers View:

 On Feb. 6, State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Nolan ruled against Gordon Boyd in his request for access to ballot records from the Nov. 7, 2017 city charter referendum. The margin between no and yes was 10 votes.

A recount of the charter referendum would have allowed the voters and citizens of Saratoga Springs to validate the results. I believed the judge erred in important ways that raise larger questions about the integrity of our elections.

In many states, there are automatic recount provisions when there is a close election, usually .5 percent of all ballots cast (the charter proposition lost by less than .1 percent). To get a recount, technically called a recanvassing in New York, voters must ask a judge to order the Board of Elections to do a recount based on evidence of voting machine malfunction or irregularity. However, in order to show a malfunction or irregularity, you need copies of the ballots, which can only be provided by the Board of Elections.

It’s a Catch-22. In order to get a recount, we need to show the Board of Elections has made a mistake, and the only way to do that is to have the Board of Elections provide the TIF files of those ballots, which they have declined to do. When Judge Nolan’s decision stated that the “petitioner presents no facts to support or justify his request,” it is because the Board of Elections Commissioners would not show us copies of the ballots.

New York uses the Dominion Voting Systems ImageCast Precinct voting machines. In their marketing materials, Dominion says their machines provide a “fully auditable single cast vote record for every ballot cast” in order to “increase the transparency of the voting process and augment stakeholder confidence.” In other words, our machines take a picture of very vote and the Board of Elections can easily provide a photo, technically known as a TIF file, of every paper ballot. In the New York counties comprising a majority of the state’s voters, TIF files are public property and are available to the public. This allows voters to easily see whether the ballots match the vote totals and ensure voter confidence in the process. However, the Saratoga County Board of Elections has decided not to provide these to the public, nor have they provided any explanation as to why.

The County Board of Elections says that they conducted their traditional post election audit of 6 election districts in Saratoga County and “found no discrepancies between the totals reported on the machines and the paper ballots cast in those districts.” However, Judge Nolan notes in footnote #3, that “None of the six was in the City of Saratoga Springs.” We have a 10 vote margin and the County Board of Elections did not recheck the vote totals for a single machine in Saratoga Springs.

New York State made the wise decision in 2010 to keep their paper ballots instead of going to electronic voting. It ensures public confidence in election outcomes by allowing us to count the ballots. To quote Ronald Reagan, trust but verify. This is why I have filed a FOIL request with Therese Connolly, Deputy Clerk of the Board for copies of the TIF files. The TIF files of our ballots are public property. They should be a matter of public record. The charter referendum may win or lose, but transparency should always win.

LOOK FOR MORE TO COME

PREDICTIONS

Here are the first of some early predictions for 2018

11.    Finance Commissioner loses another Deputy and will name her 4^th, most in the history of Saratoga politics.

22.    NYS Supreme Court rules in Gordon Boyd’s favor vs. Saratoga County Board of Elections and the BOE will have to do a hand recount of ballots cast for the Charter referendum.

33.    After the recount, the Charter proposal passes by 50 votes and will be on track to start in 2020.

44.    Republican Chairman & Democratic Chairwoman both get booted from their positions and Republican Chairman Hogan tries to practice law again, NOT.

55.    After Charter wins, John Franck & Michele Madigan can’t take the pressure and elope.