IT’S STILL THE SAME

When I go away on an extended business trip like the one I just returned from I never read the local papers while I am not here so I can be surprised what things changed.  The problem is it’s always the same cast of characters doing crazy things.

Let’s take NYRA for example.  Tom Noonan who is one of the best bloggers around keeps his hand on the pulse of NYRA and informs the public with information we would never really know. 

Chris Kay the CEO of NYRA who is really totally blank about the Corporation and industry he is supposed to be the leader of has started another domino effect to change Saratoga Race Course from the most historic, beautiful, fan friendly track in the nation to just another race track.  The list to start according to Mr. Noonan and the NYRA webpage is:

• ·         A permanent structure built on the other side of the horse path that runs next to the end of the current club house.  It would replace the tent and the temporary modular boxes that have been used in recent years.
• 
  
• ·         A new picnic table area along Union Avenue, replacing the parking area now used by owners and trainers.
• 
  
• ·         A "Top of the Stretch Club" to be built at the end of the grandstand, intended "to attract a younger crowd to the Race Course."
• 
  
• ·         Moving the jockey quarters from the administration building to the Paddock.
• 
  
• ·         Eliminating the Open House held on the Sunday before opening day (which was always a fan favorite and a fan experience).

• ·         The continuation started last year of charging admission on Labor Day which was always ‘Fan Appreciation Day’
• 
  
• ·         Turning the lower Carousal into a Sports arena which would eliminate the free seating and replace it with a high end sports bar with a $40.00 admission fee.

Kay is also said to be looking into charging fans for taking water from the water fountains around the track and installing paid toilets.  If Cuomo who started this mess 2 years ago and extended the current board with Kay at its head for another year doesn’t make the change to privatize the track, Saratoga will be changed forever and its appeal will slowly dwindle.

This picture of Chris Kay was sent in by a racing fan, I cannot verify its authenticity as I have never met Mr. Kay.

I also see that the ‘Spirit of Life’ restoration is completed and the company that did all the work did a fine job.  However, this being an election I also see that Commissioner Scirocco is taking all the praise for his Department doing a great job, what about all the money paid to the firm that did the job?

The words ‘City in the Country’ keeps being thrown around and our feeling is that it is just a nostalgic notion that citizens want to keep in their minds.  I am sorry but that term does not apply to Saratoga Springs anymore.  We are just a concrete & brick City with big City problems.  A big problem we have that some areas I was in do not have is the washboards we call streets.  This would be just one problem I would be embarrassed about if I were Scirocco or Buckley.  This City’s streets are deplorable.  Come on Skip, do something about this.

A funny story in the news was the Commissioners getting into racing (harness) gear and sharing a sulky with a professional driver and running a race, everything was going fine I heard until Madigan put on the brakes and Skip, who was behind her stopped so suddenly he flew out of his seat and up Madigan’s 'wazoo' where it usually is during Council meetings.  The story, as related to me was that the 'wazoo' intake propelled Madigan into first place and the track’s vet separated the two with little problem.

As we all know or we all should know is that confessed child porn star John Tighe will be shipping out to prison in the Boston area at the end of July to a hospital that fits his health needs. 

The story floating around is that John won the lead part when he visited the slammer as Curly in the show ‘Men in Tights’.

I want to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July, we should all take time out of our celebrations to remember those who fought and those who died to make this great Republic and if you see Skip Scirocco, thank him for screwing our all American 4th of July celebration by selling our Congress Park out for the day (the first such screwing ever on this Holiday). 

THEY ARE RUINING OUR CITY!

This past Tuesday nights (June 2^nd) Council meeting shows what is wrong with the Councils majority namely the S&M’s.  S&M”s stands for Scirocco, Madigan & Matheisen.  So, what happened you ask?  If no one saw the meeting Madigan had a complete meltdown and embarrassed not only the City but herself big time.  I hope this is not the way she teaches her kids to behave when they don’t get their own way or someone calls her decision for what it is, pure bunk.  Now she is writing Letters to the Editor for Skip & Matheisen, signing their names to her letters.  Can't the boys write their own letters?

Here is the link and just click on Finance Department, sit back and watch in astonishment as Madigan melts down. 

http://saratogaspringsny.swagit.com/city-council/

Now whether you like or dislike Madigan you have to agree she acted in a bizarre and childlike way.  I don’t care who is running against her, she should lose and go away quietly (never quiet).  After her part of the meeting was over it was told to me she allegedly leaned over to Franck and whispered ‘you’re a dick’, maybe she forgot in her brain explosion his name is John.

The solar power law she wants changed is nothing more than an illusion to get the City Center parking lot built the way Baker would like it built, a Saratoga Monster.  She is going against the majority of citizen’s wishes and has behind her 2 favorite children, Skip Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW and Chris Matheisen, Commissioner of DPS.  We will now call Commissioner Madigan the Pied Piperess as she leads these two around very well and boy do they follow her.  In other words we would like her out of office.

During John Franck’s discussion he came up with a good idea.  The aforementioned property is worth at least $30 million dollars.  The City will make $20.00 (twenty dollars) over 20 years if Baker gets his votes from the S&M’s.  Franck argued why not start with a 2 story garage then have businesses on the Lake Ave. side that can generate income for the City in sales taxes etc., not to mention that it will create jobs.  But no, this wasn’t appealing to the 3 amigos.  They want big, big buildings in our inner core and want to give that piece of property away.  This will be a paid parking garage and Matheisen said that this would be the start of downtown paid parking.

Now we come to Commissioner Scirocco – He leads a protest within his own Party not to endorse any Republican to run against Democrat Madigan’s position.  This is so screwy that only a dog catcher could understand this.

Scirocco is the person that gave over 1 million dollars back to developers, yes he said they made 1 million dollars of upgrades but the upgrades were required to get the projects into development.  Then he holds a public hearing at a Council meeting on changing the law to drop water hookup fees costing the City about $250,000.00 - $400,000.00 per year, he holds a vote the same night which is very unusual and the law change is passed 3-2.  The best part of this is that because of this loss of income Skip had to raise the water fee for the citizens of Saratoga.  So, he thinks more of the builders than he does the citizens.

The next brain fart he has is the 4^th of July .  The group of citizens especially Kate Jarosh who has been heading the 4^th of July celebrations and has brought the celebration up as a showcase around the nation has been squashed by this Commissioner (Scirocco) as has our celebrated First Night.  

The 4^th of July celebration will still go on but using Congress Park was the best of the best.  Saratoga’s First Night has also gained a very great reputation but this year celebrations will not be able to use the Casino.  Scirocco, in his infinite decision making has booked 2 weddings for both the 4^th of July and New Year’s Eve.  I wonder if he was looking at a Chinese calendar when he booked these events.  These celebrations belong to the citizens of Saratoga and the multitude that come into town for each of these and blocked off every calendar the City uses.  He justifies his Karnack the Great thinking by saying ‘the City is making $3,000.00 each night’.  Well folks, he just told the citizens to f*@k off.

Flowers – N. Fox Jewelers wanted to plant their own flowers in front of their store on Broadway and received permission to do so by Comm. Scirocco but BARBERRY BUSHES?  BARBERRY BUSHES are an invasive species.  The bushes also have thorns, what will happen if a little tot falls into a bush?  The City should check this out and have the bushes removed. 

The State Attorney’s office and the Comptroller’s office are still in City Hall gathering information on these water deals. In other words we would like him out of office for a much better City and hope he follows the Pied Piperess out the door.

The Commissioner of Public Safety, Chris Matheisen is another one of the three that the clock has struck its final blow and he should also go.  He has already lost 1 lawsuit by not turning reports in regarding inspections of public buildings (17 in fact).  He also wants to close businesses down in Saratoga and may be responsible for one business owner to lose a buyer because for his penchant of limiting bar hours. 

Now owners of these establishments pay a hefty price for a license and a high price for insurance.  They also complied with his wishes to install computers and use trained security guards (bouncers).  Still he wants to cut back hours of operation and makes no bones about it, even making the looniest decision of creating a “Night Club District”. 

I now heard that in his campaign literature he is for the bar industry.  He also voted against the Police contract because of a 2 1/2 % raise instead of a 2% raise and he was joined in tossing the contract with none other than Madigan & Scirocco (who by the way has health benefits for life for being the City’s dog catcher).

What you have to understand is that most restaurants and bars or ‘Night Clubs’? close before 2 am but that is their choice.  I ask the Commissioner, why try and destroy someone’s livelihood?  Commissioner you have way too much police presence on Caroline Street, get some of them around the City, they are only a microphone call away.

All three need to go before we ask ourselves in the near future, what happened to Saratoga, it was such a nice place to live.

ELIMINATE WATER HOOKUP FEES FOR EVERYONE?

All builders by law have to pay a $3,000.00 for water hookup fee per each new single residential unit then $2,000.00 for every additional unit.

I reported many months ago that developer Sonny Bonacio had gotten away without paying hookup fees of at least $854,000.00 that Commissioner of Public Works Skip Scirocco waived.  The Commissioner also waived fees in the amount of $35,000.00 to Gordon Companies of Albany at Seward & Morgan Streets in 2012 and Saratoga attorney James Doyle had fees of $9,000.00 waived at homes on Adams & Jackson streets.  The amount so far is $898,000.00, that’s right $2,000.00 short of $1 million dollars taken away from citizens on just these 3 projects.  While this was reported in the Times Union today, this may only be the tip of the iceberg.  Records also show that Bonacio, B&B Plumbing (owned by Bonacio and Billy Benton) and Doyle contributed money to Sirocco’s campaigns.

The reasoning Scirocco gave of waiving the fees was that DPW can subtract costs for water hookups if developers install 12” water pipes in right of ways but it is noted that none of the waivers approved by Sirocco for these projects included installation of said 12” water pipes.  Scirocco also said that he alone can grant a waiver but the city ordinance states that the Council has to approve waivers of this type.  Scirocco also stated that the developers were granted waivers because they spent money to update the water infrastructure, which William McTygue a city resident, former Director of Public Works and a candidate who ran against Sirocco in the last election makes a valid point as far as I am concerned, stating that developers shouldn’t be rewarded with waivers for improvements because in some cases they would have to make them anyways for their projects to be approved.

After the waivers were granted by Scirocco, Tim Wales the City Engineer (who reports to Scirocco) sent Bonacio a letter which informed the developer that the free connections for the Weibel Avenue and Railroad were awarded mistakenly As there is no provision in the law that the Commissioner alone can make this decision and that he (Wales) asked Bonacio to pay the fees, which he has refused to do.

Now Scirocco wants to change the law in the Charter giving him sole discretion to waive fees without Council approval.  McTygue has asked for an audit to be conducted by Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan and also an outside audit of the waiver reductions.  Madigan said she did a limited review but now she is thinking of doing a more defined audit if necessary.  She also said “that would mean a larger scope and I would go much further back in time as well”

This story smelled funny when I reported it many months ago and it smells worse now.  It seems we have a Commissioner who doesn’t know how or doesn’t care what is in the best interest of the taxpayers.

I would suggest any developer to start your engines now and ask for a waiver before something changes.

WE HAVE ENOUGH DPW EMPLOYEES

It’s time again that the Commissioner of DPW is asking to hire more help.  There are certainly enough DPW workers to fill all the positions right now, maybe even more than we need.

Someone told me that the saw 2 DPW employees on Locust Grove Rd. in the Town of Wilton in the middle of the day with a City truck looking at 2 motor cycles, that is 2 employees that DPW doesn’t need if they have time to look around for motorcycles out of Saratoga Springs, I wonder where they went next and what jobs suffered because they obviously weren’t doing theirs.

The same person told me that she was driving down Hitchcock Rd. and saw 2 DPW employees sitting in their truck after 2pm reading a newspaper and one talking on his cell phone.  Again, we can eliminate these 2 employees because they must not have anything to do.

Have you ever followed a DPW truck around ( I know, get a life) and you drive around for an hour burning gas and the truck never stops, it just keeps driving round and round until it hits a coffee shop then stops and refuels with java then drives around again?

How about the trucks that are parked in front of private homes or out at the Wilton Mall or WalMarts?  Trucks stopping at personal residences picking up garbage?

Below is a picture of truck #210  parked during the middle of the day at the ITAM club Grand Ave.

I think what this shows is that we have more employees than we need and more working supervisors that the Commissioner promoted at higher salaries.  There seems to be more ‘working supervisors’ than employees, move some of these supervisors back to regular employees.  I think it also shows that there is no one in that department that can plan jobs for a work day and there is no supervision by the Commissioner or his Deputy.

If I were the one that Commissioner Scirocco was asking for more DPW employees, that person should be telling Scirocco ‘how many employees will you let go?  The general feeling of the City is that with all the spare time the employees have, DPW should be accomplishing quite a bit more than they are with the size of the force they have now.

The City Attorney did the sensible thing in resigning her post after the Council was pressuring the Mayor to fire her.  We had a City Attorney that was bright, easy to get along with and very capable of doing a superb job.  It’s sad that politics has to be forced into that position when she was trying to protect the Council members legally and in turn represent the legal opinions to protect the citizens.  Sarah, you will be missed, but with your legal knowledge you will have a long and prosperous career.

Here now are our City employees enjoying an afternoon at the Italian American Club.  See you there.

Ciao for now.

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.

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?

BUT I SAID YES LAST YEAR.

In a 5-0 vote the City Council Tuesday night voted against the State gambling law, leaving the door open for the State to still have Saratoga Springs as #1 on their list to put in a Saratoga style Casino after the bidder for a casino builds community relations.  I’m sure the Destination Saratoga group will bring to Albany past Mayors, Commissioners, Supervisors and current business owners who would like to see a Saratoga style casino placed here, to pressure them as well.

This vote holds no water with many as last year the council (except for Yepsen, who was not Mayor) voted 5-0 in favor of expanded gambling in Saratoga Springs and if Destination Saratoga does indeed go to Albany for talks, I am sure they will bring a copy of that resolution with them.  The leader of the no vote was none other than Commissioner Skip Scirocco, who if you remember pulled a circus act against having the Racino in Saratoga when he was a County Supervisor which contributed to his ouster from County politics.  Commissioner Scirocco will soon have his own problems when a story of epic proportions comes to light in the very near future, which may contribute to his ouster from City politics, but that will be played out another day.

Regarding the casino, Mayor Yepsen has called this the issue of the decade.  While I agree, there could be a part (b) that will be an issue of the decade and that is what will happen to Saratoga Springs if a casino is placed as far as 25-35 miles away?  We would be crazy to think that we could keep our same status as the destination city of NY.  A speaker at tonight’s meeting said that NYRA already owes the State $17 million dollars that it can’t pay  and without casino money the thoroughbred industry can’t even turn a profit.  The Governor wants NYRA to make money without the casino money and if it can’t, then our flat track will follow the trend of lower attendance and handle that has happened over the last few years and then we ask what then Commissioners?   We have 2 new hotels going up now and 1 on the board (I think) and that doesn’t count the numerous hotels built in the last 6 years.  The City will have more non occupied hotel rooms as it has empty condos.   Saratoga Springs lost its City in the Country charm years ago and our officials can’t accept this, we are becoming an over built city with no controlled growth (something I don’t think we ever had).  We need to do something to bring more people to Saratoga and the flowers on Broadway aren’t going to do it.

 PS:  Remember 43% also have a voice and can tilt an election.

PROMISES, PROMISES!

First of all, I must tell you that this information was given to me from a friend of one of the Republican candidates. It is said that if Shauna Sutton loses the election bid for Mayor and any Republican holds their office or wins an office that Sutton will be appointed to the Deputy’s position. I know what you’re thinking, why would she take another Deputy’s position? Well there are a few things that do sound right about this tactic. 1. She makes approximately $80,000.00 now and has been for 6 years. She only needs 2 more years to be vested in the City’s benefit for life plan. Right now if she loses, it is assumed that her salary would be $20,000.00 from the Greenridge Cemetery and the income of her husband who she hired to work at the Cemetery. The Mayor’s position only pays $14,500.00 a drop of about $65,000.00 but the position would still insure the benefit package although losing $130,000.00 would be a heck of a drop. The other piece of information floating around is that if Commissioner Scirocco is re-elected that he will either appoint her as his Deputy or as Director of Public Works. This $90,000.00 yearly position was eliminated from the budget during the Keehn administration but was funded and put back into the DPW budget by the Commissioner (just something to think about). Also, the rumor is gathering steam that none other than Al Calucci currently a Board member of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority is in line to be Dick Wirth’s Deputy Commissioner if Wirth is elected. Imagine that office, a Commissioner that doesn’t say 2 words and a Deputy that can talk all day. That may keep Big Al out of the Finance Dept. for a few days at least. These pieces of information are written here not because I received first hand information from the candidates but from people who are supposedly ‘in the know’. Has anyone heard of any Deputy’s to be appointed? Bill McTygue has said that no member of his family would be appointed as Deputy. In 2011, out of the 18,200 registered voters in Saratoga Springs, only 6,373 residents voted in the elections. Do the 11,000+ really care about Saratoga politics (go to about 3 Council meetings and see who is there, the same 7 or 8 people, even if there is something very important on the agenda)? There is the thinking in Saratoga that the 11,000+ non-voters are happy if the have running water and their lawn clippings and leaves are picked up, which may be a reason they don’t vote and don’t really care what is happening on the political front. Ask most people and they can’t tell you who a Deputy Commissioner is let alone what department they work in. This is apathy, and it abounds in our City, however quite a few of the over 11,000+ who do not vote, will complain when (a). They don’t attend a Council meeting to give the Council heck if they don’t like the way the Council is doing business or (b). They just want to give them a free ride to do what they want. This election season will be one to watch, for sure.

MAYOR FOR WATERGATE? FOLLOW THE MONEY

Well, tonight’s Council meeting was filled with presentations.  The Comm. of PS gave his ambulance report along with the Fire Chief and the Mayor could not believe it.  The deal works fine and the Department also updated their 5 year projections based on a solid year of experience.  The Mayor however, drilled the Chief and tried his lawyer best to rattle him by throwing misinformation at him but the Chief did fine and provided all the factual answers to the Mayor.

Then it was the Lame Duck’s turn.  He had to put together a presentation for his failed Comprehensive Plan Committee, because the Council and residents are sick of the Mayor appointing his friends while turning his back on citizens of Saratoga to have representation on a Committee to set the City’s path for the future.  Wait, he did say he was going to set up a web site so citizens could email concerns to be read by the Committee, wow.  He also relented to let the Council choose 1 person each and said he would allow the choices to sit on the Committee; the Council met the Mayor’s presentation with quite as the Mayor was pleading with them to accept the Consultant and his picks.  Skip has already chosen the Superintendent of Schools who lives in Wilton and was an appointee of the Mayor.  The other out of town friend of the Mayor who is on the Committee is from Washington County and works for the State (thinking of running for a State office Mayor Johnson and need some help)?  Remember, this is the same Mayor that said Mayor Keheen’s Comp Plan was DOA when he took office and sits on his shelf to this day.  That Plan was a good one developed by a consultant and more city appointees.  The Mayor also mentioned that the nearby towns should have input in the process because we should be good neighbors, remember that 3 of the Mayor’s picks are from Wilton and that town was granted, by the Mayor and Commissioner Scirocco to buy Saratoga water, water which we can ill afford to sell.  Remember also that it was the Mayor who extended the number of homes getting water from 18 to 25, there is also 180 acres for development there so I guess the homes built will also put a strain on the water we have now, especially since we are losing wells at a scary rate.  Just remember the names and positions of those who did or will allegedly benefit in Watergate, Tom Lewis, D. Harper (attorney for the owner of property and City Republican Chairman) and it is said the owner of our local McDonalds.

Talking about chicken, one hairy blogger posted on an article at the Saratogian’s site, saying that the Rec. Center should be named after Scott Johnson as he will go down as the best Mayor in Saratoga Springs history.  I think that they should put a statue of Johnson on top of the building with him holding a bucket. Forget that, he would look like Col. Sanders and we know how much birds like chicken.

As Thor has said many times: hello, follow the money.

DRIVING MISS DAISY

Well, it seems that the Mayor has given another order and Commissioner Scirocco has done the deed.

First, we want to welcome the Mayor back from his minor surgery (the doctor’s had to remove a sliver from his butt that he received from a bar stool at his restaurant (he has to pad his seat).

However, to the stories:

 It seems the Mayor who is in contract negotiations with DPW again is getting a little testy and groveling to some of the DPW Commissioner’s pleas.  The foreman from the East Side who was arrested for DWI or DUI, I can’t keep my letters straight, cannot drive a truck anymore and word has it is that he will most likely loose his license for 90 days at his court hearing on 3/20.  An inside source buzzed that the last 2 snow storms we had that needed plowing, the Commissioner had to “hire” him a chauffeur (the Deputy Commissioner) to plow his route while the foreman sat in the passenger seat, collecting his foreman’s pay rate.  I hope as in past practices that when a foreman is suspended from performing those duties and has to be downgraded to laborer, the pay scale also goes down until such time his job title is restored if indeed it ever is.  This is something key to watch because it is a very dangerous situation when a City employee is inebriated and gets behind the wheel of a truck, if God forbid, there was an accident or even a fatality, we the citizens would have to pay the price and live with the knowledge that the superiors   are not monitoring a drinking employee.

I know, you’ll say, like the Mayor does every time he loses a law suit and the City has to payout that our ‘insurance’ will pay the monetary damages.  However we are not stupid are we?  Every time the City loses a lawsuit and has to pay, our deductable and rates go up costing guess who to pay more? Bully incompetence I say, incompetence.

In other news, the Commissioner had to address the Casino as it needs better drainage in the basement.  The City employ’s a City Engineer and an Asst. City Engineer, but like the Mayor it seems that the Commissioner likes to out source jobs as well.  He contracted for an outside Engineer to the tune of $100,000.00 and the aide of the Asst. City Engineer (allegedly costing us a figure estimated at $20,000.00 for her time, which was work time not paid extra) for a total of about $100,020.00 or so.  The decision was made on how to correct the situation but we have it from a bumble bee that the cost of the job was only $100,000.00 and will not be done, it seems that the Commissioner thought the job would be much higher and could be bonded but the basement will still be wet.

It was also reported by a Bat Fan that the Contractor that is doing the renovation at the water works is using City vehicles to transport piping over to and using City tools to cut and tool piping.  Taxpayers are paying this Company to do the job, why are they using our trucks, our tools and our fuel?  Use your own equipment, which is part of what we are paying for.

Will this never end?  Will the Mayor ever stop wearing his Cat Woman outfit?   Will Commissioner Scirocco ever remove his Joker suit?  We will find out when next we get together.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

What’s going on (not the Marvin Gaye song) in Saratoga?  This water issue just won’t go away and I don’t even think the tip of the iceberg has been seen yet.  This Watergate folly may and I say may even have legal ramifications for the Mayor and DPW Commissioner Scirocco.  I heard the other day that City Republican Committee Chairman David Harper was the attorney for the property owner’s where the water is being sold and the 180 acre parcel next to it that will ultimately be developed for homes and we all know what happens, the water is out there now, why not add on this development.  We don’t have enough water for the mandatory DOH rules what’s another fine and millions of gallons of water to supply an adjacent town.

 Ripped from the headlines- DPW Commissioner was allowed to borrow from the General Fund, monies to offset the deficit between costs and income received for our water and sewer usage (our bills).  It appears former Commissioner of Finance Ivins let the amount get up to nearly $1.5 million dollars.  The problem as I understand it is that DPW has to pay back the General Fund for the monies borrowed, which hasn’t been done for a while, as a matter of fact since Ivins and Scirocco were in office, there was never even a plan on how to proceed with the payback.  This, fellow Justice League members is going to result in sky rocketing water and sewer  bills and I mean sky rocketing for Saratoga Springs home owners.  Thanks to the smarts of current Commissioner of Finance Madigan and Deputy Bachner, they have started a framework on repayment and have already done so.  Thank you, for that, girls.  I say girls because they are very bright and businesses savvy young ladies, plus I like the term girls, meaning no disrespect to them.

One other item that may or may not interest you, but it does bug me.  Usually when I’m out at night fighting crime and there are fireworks going off, I always think it’s because of my costume and City protection (give me some leeway folks).  However, all kidding aside, it seems every Saturday night between 9:30 and 10:00 fireworks are booming.  I have an idea, why fireworks every weekend?  We all know how costly these displays are, so I have a suggestion.  Those that spend the money for these fireworks do the following.  Take the money you would have spent on these Saturday blasts, split the cost in half and put ½ in an account for fireworks for special events like 4^th of July, Hat’s Off, First Night and a few other special events, then take the other ½ and donate it to a different food pantry or other needy non profits.  You can have the distinction of being named a co sponsor of all the firework events and the tax breaks for the charitable donations.  Then at least we won’t have to cry when the money is not there for a special event fireworks display.

Just a note on Commissioner Franck’s announcement of making a motion to have the Imperial Ruler, I mean Mayor Johnson remove the entire Housing Authority Board for past failures and now the insult of not replying to the state after having 3 months to write a response to the audit’s findings at this coming Tuesday’s Council meeting.  Is this Commissioner the only one that has the pelotas to tackle this head on?  It seems that the Mayor sits on his throne, I mean seat and is trying to use mental telepathy with Sutton while any of these discussions are being held at the table.  I’ll tell you right now Mayor, its useless trying to play mind games with Deputy Sutton.

WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHY?

Let’s look at some decisions here and see how they tie together and who benefits from them.

First, let’s take the Comprehensive Plan Committee. The upmost concern regarding this committee should be fair and equal representation for the future path our City will take in the next 5 years.  The Mayor in what I feel is an illegal move in going against the rule spelled out by the Charter and past practices, has appointed all 11 members of this Committee.  3 of these members do not live in Saratoga, there are no citizen non-business representatives of the 4 Districts of the City, there is a very good developer, but why a developer when you are talking about areas that could be affected by crafting changes for boards like Planning, Zoning and Design Review?  One question you can ask yourself is who is to gain by having all these “high level” people on the Committee?  I guess the Mayor feels he can’t get a few smart every day citizens to be on HIS Commission.    

An excerpt from Commissioner Franck’s response in the Saratogian, which I am surprised (lol), the Saratogian did not ask this of the Mayor states,

“Surely, with council input, the Mayor would not have had to look for individuals from Wilton, Clifton Park and Washington County. We would have helped him find local residents, local taxpayers.
Non-taxpaying institutions like the state park, the school district, Skidmore College, the Preservation Foundation and the YMCA certainly have a legitimate institutional interest in the Comprehensive Plan, but they have no taxpayer skin in the game. They should not be placed in a position of dictating our land use policies, and sending the bill to the already beleaguered taxpayer”. 

Seems like a sound statement to me.  I don’t think this is a Democrat against Republican concern, if Commissioner Scirocco had the good sense to see that he was being shafted by the Mayor you wouldn’t know it by his lack of concern for not being able to appoint a few members, but I’m sure the Mayor read him the riot act before the meeting.  If the Mayor is not blowing wind and truly believes what he said when he commented that ‘the Comprehensive Plan should be updated every 5 years and it hasn’t been addressed in 10 years’?  Well let’s see 10 years (2) 5 year periods, gee, the Mayor should have appointed a Committee 5 years ago when he first took office, what takes him so long?  I’ll mention a line that a friend of mine tells me all the time, “Follow the money”.

Does it seem to you as it does me that the Mayor likes to outsource almost everything but his Deputy?  He hires outside attorney’s (we pay 2 City Attorney’s over $160,000.00 & benefits) at $300.00 - $400.00 per hour, he outsources an HR person and pay’s him $75,000.00 per year for a 20 hour work week, he outsources members of City Committees to people that live outside Saratoga Springs.  Again the line from my friend “follow the money”.

Another issue that is disturbing is the Wilton Watergate.  We were told when this mess  started out that 8 homes would be sold Saratoga City water, now the Mayor said this number could be up to 25 units.  The scary thing is there is another 75 or so acres nearby that if developed would want City water.  I am not saying who the developer is but, well, you never know.  If Saratoga gets a Casino and all the hotels and extra businesses that come with it, think how much more water we will need.  The Mayor should start to think about Saratoga and not a possible run for higher office in the future.

He told a citizen at the last Council meeting that if he wanted more answers regarding the Water issue to send his questions to him in writing, what about telling the rest of the City?  Gee, that would be transparency, a word that doesn’t sit well with the Mayor.

Regarding his Charter Commission, I hear that they are discussing the Mayor’s orders to (a). Eliminate as many duties they can from other Commissioner’s and put them under his authority, (b) he would like 4 year terms and change key mandates in the current Charter to be placed under is control.  What he lacks in size he makes up for in arrogance.  We all remember that he was against Charter Change, but it looks like if his Change is to a Strong Mayor he will do anything he can to get it by the voters. 

In his State of the City message, the Mayor made this statement:

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” It looks like that was only filler for a longer speech; he sure doesn’t heed his own line of bull.

IT’S THAT TIME TO REMMBER

Well Super Hero fans, it’s time to look back on 2012 and see if predictions come true in 2013.  The events are not in any particular order.

It’s hard to say anything bad about Sonny Bonaccio.  He gives back to the City in generous ways like starting the fireworks pledge of money and getting other friends with bucks to fork over some last minute tax deductions, but that’s a good thing.  However, nothing comes without getting something in return.

The City along with private money finally moved on building what I call the Bonaccio Woodlawn Ave. Parking Garage.  Why the Bonaccio name attached?  Well, for starters, when the new apartment building was going up on the land of the former Price Chopper you could not find any parking spaces anywhere downtown or for that matter for 3 blocks around in any direction.  The parking spaces were taken up by the construction workers.  I asked myself a question, Captain, with his money, why couldn’t Sonny have the workers park in a lot in the area and be shuttled to the site?  I felt that would have freed up many parking spaces for shoppers/businesses.  Much of this construction was going on while the parking garage, mentioned above, was being constructed eliminating about 184 parking spaces.

The project announced next was an 11 screen theater on the corner of the old Price Chopper area, next to the apartment complex.  Where do you think the construction workers parked?  Well, on Division Street and the Bonaccio Woodlawn Ave. Parking Garage, thus taking away spots for diners, shoppers and out of town guests.  I also feel and wonder if you do, was the Mayor working hand in hand with Sonny to get the garage up so he would have parking for his movie theater?  Only the Mayor knows and he won’t say unless you catch him on a good night at Sperry’s.

The next project that finally came to fruition is the development of the ‘Lillian’s parking lot’.  Now, here is something that baffles me (and that’s hard to do), with all this construction going on, Sonny has taken up around 75 parking spots between the Streets of Division, Franklin and Broadway, that’s right, he has roped them off so there is no parking, and guess where the construction workers are parking?  Right the SBWPG.  The Christmas season in full swing, the cry that we need out of towner’s eating and shopping on Broadway and you can’t get a parking spot, bravo for the planning.

I try to connect the dots and you have to follow the money.  Why shouldn’t Sonny pay to the DBA a sum of money for each parking spot he took for the number of days he will keep them shut off.

Let’s grade the 5 “heads of the City”

• Mayor “Rosie Cheeks” Johnson - D
• Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan – C+

• Commissioner of Accounts John Franck – B+

• Commissioner of Public Safety Chris Matessien – B-

• Commissioner of Public Works Anthony “Skip” Scirocco – D

Now before you start to get hot under your collar, I don’t care what Party a person belongs to as long as they do his or her job.

• Mayor Johnson – D – The Mayor has said again that he will be appointing a Charter Commission to look at how to make the current Charter work better.  If only Johnson would have done this 4 years ago, it would have been credible.  Over the past 3 years he has said no less than 20 times that he would appoint a Charter Commission, then in the same breath he would say that he wanted everyone’s voice heard and after spending at least $100,000.00 of taxpayer money fighting citizens to put a legal proposal on the ballot, 5 days before the election he announced he would indeed appoint his Commission of at least 15 members.  I PREDICT that he will name the Commission during the State of the City address.  I have already been told by 2 members of the Committee that they have been charged with giving the Mayor power to control the budget process and to be the sole person to appoint outside employees i.e., lawyers, HR person, Engineers etc.

• It seems the Mayor is not only disregarding a Council mandate that he hire a                   Human Resource person that would be a full time City employee (vote 4-1, guess who the 1 was), as the City Charter calls for.  When citizens call him “Little King” I hope they know how little he really is (his goatee is even with the hem of a lady wearing a knee length dress, as a matter of fact, HBO wanted him to play Triyon the dwarf on the series “The Game of Throne’s”.  Well that may be stretching it a little but you get the idea.

• The Mayor would rather pay an ‘outside’ HR person $75,000.00 a year for a 20 hour work week.  Yes that’s $150,000,00 smakolas (a smakola =$1.00).  The Council especially Commissioner Madigan said there was enough money in the budget to have the City hire it’s own HR person for 40 hours a week for about $100,000.00 a year which would include benefits, wow, we know the Mayor loves using outside friends to work for the City, but his face isn’t too shiny on this subject.

The saving grace is that we will have to vote on the changes and we should vote no for a few reasons.  The current Charter was updated in 2001 which increased the Mayor’s authority, the positive changes in the Charter were eliminated during the first year of Mayor Johnson’s reign, as stated above the Johnson spent a large sum of money fighting a ballot proposal to be voted on by the people and his budget for his Commission will be at least $50,000.00.

I am sure that in the next year we will be finding out some interesting facts regarding the Mayor and his Deputy Shauna Sutton.

Next time, more on the Mayor and Shauna’s Building Inspector bungling.

Happy New Year and we will be discussing the Mayor, Shauna and Commissioner Mathiesen next time.