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.

IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR!

There is no snow but the Christmas Spirit abounds.  The Mayor appointed former long time ZBA member and past Chairman Robert Bristol to a seat on that board that opened when Mayor Johnson did not reappoint current member and last Democrat Amy Durland.  This completes his termination of the  Democrats that he has replaced in the last 5 years with either old guard Republicans like Bristol, Tom Roohan and Jumpin’ Joe Dalton, City  Republican Committee people and/or political favors he has to hand out. 

While it is the Mayor’s duty to make these Board appointments, it would only be natural for a smart overseer (?) of the City, to appoint some new young blood to these boards instead of the men who had served 20 – 30 years ago and are walking around with a little formaldehyde in their veins.   I guess when he said ‘he would be a Mayor that would work across the aisle’ at his first State of the City speech I’ll bet he was talking about bowling lanes and thought they were aisles.  It also doesn’t hurt to have a few appointees of the opposite party to get some opinions.  I am sure of all the appointments he has made, there must have been at least 3 or 4 capable Democrats who could have filled the positions.  Well, that’s politics.

Well, it’s time for Batboy and Batgirl to hand out some presents to a few of our friends.

• First we’ll send the Mayor a case of Grey Goose.  That should take him through First Night.
• We’ll send some ex lax to Shauna because she always has that constipated look on her face.  We only hope she doesn’t overdose on it, and no Shauna, you can’t take the pills with Grey Goose.
• For Mary Zlotnick we will send her stockings stuffed with all sorts of listening devices, donated by former Commissioner Dick Wirth.  Tape recorders, phone cameras, stethoscope (for hearing between walls), a lock pick set, so you can sneak in and get into locked file cases.  We’ll have Batman deliver your stockings because he wants to take you for a spin in the Batmobile.
• To Al Callucci, coming your way is a pipe, magnifying glass and a deerstalker so you can look like Sherlock Holmes when you patrol the hood at the Terrace.
• If I could ever find Tamara Valentine again, who has turned up MIA since she was knocked off the Tattlers team, I’d send over some of the Captain’s peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses.
• To Lucian McCarty, I still say you are the best, so just tell me what you want and I’ll see if I can get it for you; it has to be legal of course.
• To Citizen Nancy, hang in there and keep exposing the truth.

Well this is the Mayor’s list, gee, I mean the short list.  We’ll have some great news to report in early 2013, but until then if we don’t write before, have a Very Merry Christmas and a Healthy 2013!

ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT JUSTIFIED

The Accounts Office – Commissioner John Franck, Deputy Commissioner Sharon Kellner-Chille and Tony Popolizio and anyone else Mary Zlotnick had accused of using their positions to cheat taxpayers out of money have been vindicated and now she can be terminated.  Mary has had it good these last 4 months. While not working she received full salary with benefits.

She is now living in Albany with a mystery man, reportedly the former Pinnacle HR person who had worked for the City.  She has been earning extra income it is said by leasing her assets (her house) in Saratoga Springs.

Zlotnick’s insistence of an open public hearing in front of  officer Christopher Nicolino, who oversaw the five days of witness testimony and weighed arguments on both sides of the case, found the city proved three of the five counts of insubordination they filed against Zlotnick Sept. 13.
Zlotnick went to the media with accusations of corruption in the city’s Accounts Department, where she worked as a clerk to Assistant City Assessor Tony Popolizio.  She “exhibited a willingness to be intentionally untruthful” during a disciplinary hearing on Aug. 25; and how she contacted the media “to spread untruthful allegations of misconduct” against Popolizio.
Zlotnick will be hard pressed to file a civil suit against the City as some say she will.  Testimony given against and by her have proven that she didn’t understand the Accounts office practices and it looks like she had started from day 1 to begin a witch hunt against her superiors.  Many wonder if she could even have been a plant by the Mayor or Deputy Mayor, but there are no hard facts of this, just inside scuttlebutt.  However, think about this, the Democrats have a majority this term, the Mayor is lost, and he looks like he is a deer in the headlights at the Council table.  The Mayor looks like he is a nervous wreck and has been complaining that he can’t get his way and is red as a beet 99% of the time.  The coloring could be because of high blood pressure or worse yet, dates with a Russian liquid.  It makes one wonder.  The damage to Franck and his office have been as bad as it could get.  I wouldn’t be surprised if a civil suit were filed against Ms. Zlotnick by the three, and if she is smart, take some heat off her and bring out those who put her up to this if anyone.

 Her accusations were cloudy from the beginning.  She contacted City Police and State officials before talking to her superiors, and then she went on the radio, newspaper and TV circuit to drum up support and portray herself as an innocent lamb looking to draw out self serving attention about her alleged scheme.  She has had her 15 minutes of fame and hopefully will ride into the sunset down in Albany.


 down in Albany.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH JOHNSON & SUTTON?

What is going on with Johnson & Sutton, the dynamic Smirnoff Duo at City Hall?  The Mayor negotiates a 15 minute break for City employees to go cash their paychecks every Friday, and to top it off it is on City time, not on the employees lunch break or one of the 2 fifteen minute breaks they get M-F.  Figure the average salary, times that amount by lets say 300 employees then divide by 4 and that is a large sum of money in a year.

The Mayor and Shauna fail to do their due diligence and failed to renegotiate the National Grid contract for 5 years, the City (taxpayers) are short at least $5,000.00 per month for 5 years.  After the Mayor is embarrassed and had pressure put on him by some citizens he then sits and negotiates a contract.  The Mayor, at a Council meeting then insults the citizens of Saratoga by saying the fault lies with National Grid and he negotiated a super great deal for the City.  However, he made a deal based on current market prices and locked us in for a high number of years so we will be behind again in a few years. 

The Mayor and Shauna for years spent over $100,000.00 plus City Hall employee time fighting a citizens group to change the Charter.  He said publicly 4 years ago that he would appoint a Mayoral Commission to study the issue and 4 years later, 1 week before the election, he announces that he will appoint a 15 member Commission by the end of the year.  He also has issued some directives that this Commission will discuss (he told us already), one demand they will change for him is to put the Mayor in charge of the budget, with his large donations to his outside attorney friends imagine how much more he will give them? The Mayor’s Commission will have at least a budget with a minimum of $50,000.00.  It would have been much simpler and less costly if he just appointed a Commission 4 years ago, but Herr Mayor likes to play the attorney game.  His Napoleon complex is so bad he has been making himself look foolish and smaller.  I wonder if the breakdown of his Commission will at least like former Mayor Kehen’s in who sits in the chairs?  Keehn appointed 3 Republicans, 3 Democrats and 3 Independents.  Her Commission was started a little late but at least she worked accross Party lines to come up with a document.

The Mayor and Shauna failed to renegotiate a contract for 5 years with Time Warner.  The contract had expired the first year Napoleon, I mean Johnson took office.  He knowingly did not negotiate a new contract which would have raised the amount of money Time Warner paid the City, by the way, The Mayor always says it is someone else’s fault, suck it up, you’re the Mayor and you are failing to do your job.

The Housing Authority is in his lap also.  The SSHA is supposed to come before the Council and inform them of the salary figures for the coming year.  He never asked the SSHA, as is the Mayor’s job to do so.  He keeps reappointing the same Directors to the Board and when he is responsible for not taking corrective action on the bedbug issue (he sat in his chair looking stunned) he then appoints two of the oddest people to sit on a Board, Ken Ivins and Al Callucci, WOW.  The only other person he could have appointed that would have topped these two would have been Rich Wirth.

These few examples and some clear liquid on the rocks show us why the Mayor and Shauna should hit the road.  The Republicans should strongly consider putting someone else in to run for Mayor.  We can’t afford this duo any longer.

If the Republican Committee can show us any mercy, cut the cord with these two Russian Cossack dancers.

THANK YOU!

Thanks all the way around.  I want to say thank you to those who have sent emails about the blog.  It is appreciated.
  
Thanks all the way around.  I want to say thank you to those who have sent emails about the blog.  It is appreciated.

Thanks also go out to Dee Sarno who grew the Saratoga County Arts Council from 50 to 1,000 members during her more than 20 years as Executive Director.  A quote in the Saratogian, sums the whole thing up, “I see the arts thriving in Saratoga

always,” said Sarno, who moved here with her husband, A.J., in 1987. “To keep them going you need somebody with a vision who wants to work. You also need patrons because the arts have always needed financial support.”

Imagine that, a non-native Saratogian – a transplant, yet she is a true Saratogian.  She did a wonderful job being a great civic leader, something many non-natives do and do it well.  Again, thanks Dee for all your past endeavors in making Saratoga a little bit better off than it was and we hope you keep your imprint in the arts by staying active.

IT’S JUST TOO MUCH JOHNSON AROUND

You would think with all that is happening in Saratoga there would be other stories to be read and concerned about besides the Saratogian and Scott Johnson.  However, these two entities leave themselves hanging out there so much, that they monopolize the news and the two are joined at the hip.

Why do I think that these two, the Saratogian and Johnson are Siamese twins, because The Saratogian is a tool of Johnson’s and Johnson is a tool of the Saratogian.

Let’s start with the Saratogian.  Over the last 20 years the newspaper has been calling for a change in the form of government, a change mind you not a revision.  In 2006  when a strong mayor form was proposed, they said not to vote for it, then again in 2012 when a manager/Council form was proposed, they again said don’t vote for it.  One may ask, what form would they back, a King Johnson form?

The Saratogian never questioned why the Mayor spent over $100,000.00 fighting against putting the Proposal on the ballot or why after 4 years and countless times the Mini-me stated he would appoint a Commission, which he should have done anyway 4 years ago but was content in spending our money.  This sound like the newspaper is playing politics and cannot offend its own advertisers, some who voiced negative comments about changing, thereby endorsing some form of change itself.  It’s no wonder it looks like they will cease to exist in a few years.  They try too hard to please a Mayor’s & big business rather than be true to reporting the news ad back their own long time call for change.  Oh well, the Mayor’s businesses do spend quite a sum on advertising.

Next we bring up the dreaded BEDBUG CAPER.  The good thing that came out of this issue was the insane salary of its Director.  However, again, Johnson appointed or re-appointed the entire HA Board.  Every year Johnson failed to have the Chairman of the Board come before his Council with the proposed salary increases, then backs away from all the problems that the Council is trying to get to the bottom of.  Now the game begins for Johnson, he doesn’t re-appoint the former Chairman and it is rumored that after begging people to take a seat on the Board with no takers, puts Ken Ivins, a former political puppet of Johnson’s and Al Callucci, [no one in the City can figure this appointment out], although Callucci and Ivins along with an out of town blogger seem to be the front men for Johnson’s odd actions by their own instability.

Does the Saratogian go after Johnson for dereliction of duty by ignoring the yearly reports from the HA along with bugging out of sight when things heat up?  That would the Publisher and Editor in a bad light with Johnson and his Deputy the infamous Hound.  So they give him a pass.

The Mayor it is rumored, told the managing editor of the Saratogian to print a piece regarding the goings on at the Housing Authority and also put a piece written by Ken Ivins to be in the paper on the same day.  Ivins mentioned that the Mayor appointed himself and Callucci to the Board to bring sanity to the Board of Directors.  That is like putting Wimpy to work at McDonalds.

Again, here is another example of the newspaper being used as a tool of Johnson’s.

In the office of the Justice League, the saying is Holy Cow, Batman, it looks like the Saratogian is playing with their Johnson (the Mayor, silly).

The next item is that an idea that was put forth 6 years ago by a previous administration of revamping the parking lot across the street from the Police Station and using it for the City and the City Center.  This proposal was shot down by big business as too costly, now the City Center proposes to do a somewhat similar plan for $9 million dollars that the Mayor said “will not cost the taxpayers a penny”.  The loss of what the City receives yearly from the City Center, who has to pay off the debt, will affect the taxpayers.  More voodoo economics by the Mayor.

Last but not the end, in Monday (26^th) edition of the Saratogian, the business reporter gives a report about one of the Mayor’s restaurants i.e. Sperry’s and their plans for New Years Eve and that they are now taking reservations.  I hope the Saratogian does an article on all of the restaurants that are taking reservations for New Year’s Eve and what special things they have planned.  However, I don’t think that Michael F. O’Sullivan (Publisher) or Barb Lombardo (Managing Editor) would give away that much free advertising.  

Now, some will say, all I do is pick on the Mayor, but we like to get you info of this kind.  We promise not to make every story about Johnson, but will add those about our potentate when necessary.

THANKSGIVING

As Thanksgiving approaches we must take time and give thanks for all we have.  God, family, friends, food, a warm place to stay and trying the best we can to help our fellow man.

It is also time to reflect on the idea of Ben Franklin.  Ben wanted to name the noble bird, the turkey as our national bird.  A few things to ponder if this happened.  (1). we would be eating eagle on Thanksgiving Day, (2).  We could name our current Mayor Scott Johnson as our national symbol, instead of stuffed he is pickled most of the time, so we would celebrate with vodka pickled eagle stuffed with a Shauna Sutton.

Instead, the reality is that the eagle is our national bird and the turkey is our thanksgiving dinner, whether it’s roasted, deep fried or pickled.

Now, we are all waiting with baited breath for our esteemed Little Royal Lowness to name his Commission.  One has to ask the Mayor, what dollar amount will this Committee have?  All the meetings will have to be taped and have a secretary there to take the transcript.  The Committee will also have to have an outside attorney verify the wording and get it ready to be put on the ballot.  Who he will appoint will not be that much of a surprise and I’m sure that he will convey his wishes and orders to them and to carry out those wishes.  Look for the power they give the Mayor, only then will you be able to see where the man with the goatee has hands.
It's too bad Johnson took Mel Torme literally and roasted his chestnuts over an open fire. Ouch!

ANOTHER AWARD

Well citizens, Saratoga Springs has won another distinguished award.  A well known sports magazine has listed our Broadway as one of the top 10 main streets that geese love to fly over, on the way South.  The Mayor is so happy that he gets a Golden Goose to put on his showcase in his office, the Golden Goose Award will be placed in between his 2 bottles of Grey Goose.

Speaking of the Mayor, word out of City Hall is that after he empanels his 15 member Commission to tweak the current Charter, Johnson will order them to insert 4 year terms for Mayor and Commissioners and stronger powers for the Mayor’s position.  It looks like he wants to be sure he has a longer period of time to be away from his wife, who by the way is a very nice person, and give poor destitute cemetery caretaker Shauna some extra dough.  Remember another 4 years for these 2 means life insurance for as long as they live, paid for by us.

It will also be interesting to see how the SUCCESS group deals with 4 year terms that one of their members (Mayor Johnson) will tout.  We will see if the Sellers, Klotz’s, Weihe’s, Masie, The Saratogian,Wait, Roohan’s, former Mayors Lenz, Watkin, O’Connell, and current DA Jim Murphy.  Remember they all complained endlessly that this was a very strong point that “you can get rid of the bums after 2 years”.

I want to address a sad case.  A local blogger who never had any scruples to start with and who lives off of the taxpayers and what money he can get from a few supporters, has gone to a new lower level.  No he hasn’t moved downstairs.  He used to be involved in a group of break – away Democrats and attended their meetings at Mama Mia’s every month.  However, since last year, they told him to STAY AWAY.  They do not want him around and he has added them to his vulgar and idiotic blog.  His blog is followed by a handful of readers and sadly he posts many responses himself.  It is very sad to see him try and operate as a reporter the thinks he is.  He is truly a pathetic individual.

On a lighter note, Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away.  I hope everyone has family or friends to gather and enjoy the day with.  If you do, why not consider donating some stuffing mix, canned vegetables, potatoes, a jar of gravy or cranberry sauce to a local food pantry so a family in need can have a taste of the Holiday.

Thanks

EATING CROW - CONGRATULATIONS SUCCESS

Well, the election is over and I have to tip my hat to SUCCESS for running a campaign that did put the fear of high taxes and a change to a City run by big developers, I thought that’s what we have now.  However, they won and we will go on as usual.

It should also be said a round of thanks should go to the hard working people who worked on the Saratoga Citizen side.  They were a group of concerned citizens who fought for a cause they believed in with no aspirations other than to make the City better.  Saratoga would be even better if it had more citizens like them to join civic programs that just to sit back and complain about those whose intentions are not selfish in any way.

One thing that we can come away with from this election and can join SUCCESS in is that people do not want 4 year terms among other items, as the Mayor has indicated this himself.  His Commission will be watched by many to see if they will make sure that the mandates of the 2001 Charter passed by the citizens will be enforced.  The way to better this form can probably be done by just following that Charter’s mandates.

It will also be interesting to see how our economy will fare when as rumored the Governor announces soon that Albany will be the site of a new full blown casino, which has been talked about for the last few months.  I have no fear however, that our form of government will be able to keep Saratoga the lively City we are now with no tax increases and the same level of services.

   

Again, congratulations to SUCCESS for their victory.

IN BASEBALL, IT WOULD BE A 3 WAY DEAL

THIS JUST IN

It just came over the Justice League ticker (you can take it for what ever you want), that there may have been a three way deal in the Saratogian's non endorsement of Proposition 1 after years of calling for Charter Change.  here is the possible deal:

The Adirondack Trust receives the small parking lot on the corner of Woodlawn from the City, thus enhancing their drive up entrance.

The City gets A+ plus coverage and cover up promises on stories that may have to do with the Mayor's office.

The Saratogian receives choice stories over other news outlets and increased add revenue from Adirondack Trust.

It may be something that is just a rumor and we will be keeping our eye on the developments, but it does sound logical.

Another thing:  I'll be glad when this election is over.

LOOT AND A LOT OF IT

Someone sent me a picture of a basket of money, with the line "A Johnson & Masie slush fund for SUCCESS"

While I am not saying it's true, it sure is funny.




Just a small addition to my last post about businesses who have something to lose if the Proposal goes through.  I had mentioned The Saratogian and Adirondack Trust as a few examples.  Well, here are a few of the Board Members of Saratoga County Chamber.

Just a small addition to my last post about businesses who have something to lose if the Proposal goes through.  I had mentioned The Saratogian and Adirondack Trust as a few examples.  Well, here are a few of the Board Members of Saratoga County Chamber.  Remember, the Saratogian cannot stand to lose ad money if they came out in support of the Change of Government, something they have called for since at least 1991.

Great businesses all named below, but if they don't like Charter Change because of something they might miss out on, it's a long list of ad revenue the Saratogian could be afraid of messing with and that would scare anyone into making a forced backing.


Mike O'Sullivan (Chair Elect, Communications) - The Saratogian

Travis Bullard - GLOBALFOUNDRIES - Board member of Adirondack Trust

Lynn Pohl – Adirondack Trust Company

Ray O'Conor - Saratoga National Bank & Trust Co.

Susan Halstead (Chair) - Family Vision Care Center

Angelo Calbone (Immediate Past Chair) - Saratoga Hospital

Patricia Mangino - Mangino Pontiac Buick

Mark Pepin  - Time Warner Cable Business Class

Susan Slovic - Ballston Spa National Bank

Marcia White - Saratoga Performing Arts Center

  State Farm Insurance

Jason Lynch – Olde Bryan Inn

Gerri Thompson - Longfellows Inn and Restaurant

WILL IT BE A SURPRISE?

1. Will it be a SURPRISE, if the Saratogian, after nearly 30 years of calling for a change of the form of our government does not endorse Proposition 1?

  

2. Will it be a SURPRISE to find out that Mayor Johnson will pull a last minute slam out of his bag of dirty tricks to try and create fear and doubt to sway voters as he did in last years Mayor’s election.  I remember that one, he had his minions pass out door tags and mailings days before the election telling voters that his opponent Brent Wilkes had mismanaged his business into a 90 some million dollar loss.  It was proven that the Mayor had fabricated the information.  Newspapers reported in many articles of the unscrupulous act the Mayor pulled.

3. Will it be a SURPRISE if businessmen like Tom Roohan, Charles Wait, and Elliott Masie are against Proposition 1?  Remember that the Commission form was started “when fearful that the island city might never recover its prosperity under the leadership of the incumbent city council, a group of wealthy businessmen known as the Deep Water Committee devised a plan to have the governor appoint a commission to govern the city during the rebuilding period. To appease opponents who contended that appointed government was undemocratic, the plan was altered to provide for popular election of the five commissioners.”  The operative words here are WEALTHY BUSINESSMEN.  The Commission form was created by them and for them.  Look at Saratoga Springs rich history, who were the power brokers?  Roohan’s, Wait’s, McNeary’s, go ahead look back in time and see for yourself.  These men and those that came before them wanted to keep Saratoga Springs under their thumbs and do things when they wanted to, not when an independent Council set the pace.  Today we have a mini me version in Mayor Johnson, with his $27,000,000.00 clout and his business buying spree's, he is getting away with things local citizens could never get away with.

He has a fence surrounding his house that is illegally placed and doesn’t meet code.  He has stamped macadam sidewalks when City Code says you -have to have 5ft. wide by 4’ thick concrete with wire sidewalks, again he is out of code.  Why isn’t the code Dept. charging him with these code violations?  Is he inserting his private threats on City Hall employees?

4. Would it be a SURPRISE if SUCCESS was paying senior’s to vote no?

5. Would it be a SURPRISE if not one word that SUCCESS is promoting regarding the Charter is truthful?

Like it or not, the back room of politics is surely a game.  Will it change if the Manager form wins?  Not all games but most of them.  One Commissioner would not be able to stick it up another Commissioners backside because they wouldn’t play ball with them. 

 The Council would be the legislative body of government approving every piece of City business.  The Manager would oversee the running of the departments by qualified department heads, not political appointees or appointees that have a personal interest with a Commissioner.  This Manager will get the Departments to run smoothly and efficiently because if they don’t then it is his or her job on the line.

I hope you have made up your minds by now, but if you are against the Proposition or still on the fence, take a look at what happens in the next few days, say a Press release by the Mayor, a charge by the financial backer of SUCCESS, Elliott Masie and ask yourself, are these acts of desperate people trying to have fears and doubts about this issue?  If so take a look at what they do not want to lose and ask yourself, maybe it’s time to take our government back.

A great post by a Saratoga resident who is an author of his own site explained it well, visit his article here
http://tenoonan.com/2012/10/31/saratoga-springs-charter-vote/

IS IT REAL OR JUST A DREAM?

Two things struck me as funny today, well maybe 5 or 6.  In a Letter to the Editor to be published in Friday’s paper there is one by none other than one of the McTygue boys.  Some of the boy’s rear their heads at election time but unlike the beloved groundhog, shadow or not, they go back underground, except for Bill because we know where he goes.

Well brother Peter pens a letter that is both hilarious and like most of SUCCESS’s statements, the article is based on myth.  One person responded to Peter’s letter and they quoted a section not only proving that Peter like to stretch among other things, his stories.  The person that posted did give the chapter and section of the part of the proposed charter which if you can read English proved his allegations total fabrications.  I’ll never understand why members of SUCCESS can never argue any point on fact, Oh well, that was funny 1.

The next funny was the story on WNYT where Pat Kane, founder of Saratoga Citizen and tech guru Elliott Masie were interviewed.  Kane looked sharp in his sport coat while Masie looked like he just got back from Moreau Lake.  There were 2 funnies in his interview, (1). He kept saying he had a bridge in Brooklyn, I guess he was trying to sell it to the reporter and (2). "I don't believe that Saratoga, which is one of the top communities in the world, needs this change. If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Masie.  So now Masie is paying for full page ads for SUCCESS, he must be getting nervous for both himself and best bud, Scott Johnson.  Masie who has donated upwards of $15,000.00 to SUCCESS looks like he is piling it on again with full page ads of the myth & smoke screen that define both SUCCESS & himself.

Now I love Saratoga Springs and it is a beautiful City, but first, it was said to be the most beautiful City in the country by our business politicos , now our resident tech guru (I thought guru’s wore Kimono’s) say’s it is one of the top communities in the WORLD.  I guess Masie doesn’t get out of New York State that often.

Well there may be more, word has it that a well respected former City employee  (no not Mary Zlotnick) will have a Letter printed in the Saratogian in  which he will give us an inside look at what it takes to deal and work with this form of government.  This letter is found on page 6A and is a doozy. 

As it is November already and October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I want to say that some of my family have been touched by this dreaded disease and even when the doctor's tell you they "got it all", you are thinking about it the rest of your life.  So my prayers are with those who have loved ones that have breast cancer.  The below picture is done with tongue in cheek and I mean no disrespect to the cancer survivors, but he deserves the picture.

IS IT REAL OR JUST A DREAM?

Two things struck me as funny today, well maybe 5 or 6.  In a Letter to the Editor to be published in Friday’s paper there is one by none other than one of the McTygue boys.  Some of the boy’s rear their heads at election time but unlike the beloved groundhog, shadow or not, they go back underground, except for Bill because we know where he goes.

Well brother Peter pens a letter that is both hilarious and like most of SUCCESS’s statements, the article is based on myth.  One person responded to Peter’s letter and they quoted a section not only proving that Peter like to stretch among other things, his stories.  The person that posted did give the chapter and section of the part of the proposed charter which if you can read English proved his allegations total fabrications.  I’ll never understand why members of SUCCESS can never argue any point on fact, Oh well, that was funny 1.

The next funny was the story on WNYT where Pat Kane, founder of Saratoga Citizen and tech guru Elliott Masie were interviewed.  Kane looked sharp in his sport coat while Masie looked like he just got back from Moreau Lake.  There were 2 funnies in his interview, (1). He kept saying he had a bridge in Brooklyn, I guess he was trying to sell it to the reporter and (2). "I don't believe that Saratoga, which is one of the top communities in the world, needs this change. If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said Masie.

Now I love Saratoga Springs and it is a beautiful City, but first, it was said to be the most beautiful City in the country by our business politicos , now our resident tech guru (I thought guru’s wore Kimono’s) say’s it is one of the top communities in the WORLD.  I guess Masie doesn’t get out of New York State that often.

Well there may be more, word has it that a well respected former City employee  (no not Mary Zlotnick) will have a Letter to the Editor printed in which he will give us an inside look at what it takes to deal and work with this form of government.

As it is November already and October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I want to say that some of my family have been touched by this dreaded disease and even when the doctor's tell you they "got it all", you are thinking about it the rest of your life.  So my prayers are with those who have loved ones that have breast cancer.  The below picture is done with tongue in cheek and I mean no disrespect to the cancer survivors, but he deserves the picture.

COME ON, COME ON AND TOUCH ME BABE

I am a big fan of almost every sport.  One of my favorites is baseball and since the SF Giants have won the World Series, we can put that sport to bed for the winter.

I was reading the paper today and it hit me why Wonder Woman is so into male sports.

In baseball,  when a manager takes a pitcher out of a game , the whole infield is around the mound and the first thing that 6 guy’s do is pat the pitcher on the ass before he is sent to the showers.  Sometimes the shortstop will even give a hint to the catcher to call for a certain pitch; he will adjust his jock strap and call for a screw ball.

In the Saratogian sports section there was an article about a local rugby team.  Have you ever been to a rugby game?  A bunch of guys try to pick up a ball to kick it and once in a while they will all circle around the ball looking up each others shorts until one guy decides to get the ball out of the pile and get on with the game.

Take basketball.  When the players get tired and winded during the game they will bend over and try to yank their pants down.  Wonder Woman loves this one.

Football, now that is my second favorite sport.  The players are wearing even tighter fitting uniforms this year and the linemen are complaining that they make them look terrible, I agree, if you do not have a muscular, well chiseled body and weigh over 320 pounds it can look terrible.  I was watching one game where a lineman passed gas and his pants blew up like a balloon, why you can even tell when the center passed a big one as the quarterback will move back to take the snap from the shotgun stance, and what’s with the quarterback warming his hands under the center’s privates?

 She can’t figure out soccer or hockey yet but I’m sure she’ll also find an angle there.

MESSAGE FROM THE SARATOGIAN 20 YEARS AND STILL NO GO!

Monday, October 22, 2012

MESSAGE FROM THE SARATOGIAN 20 YEARS AND STILL NO GO!

I have been bombarded by posters and facebook friends that have posted it for their friends and have been getting messages from Saratoga Citizen to print an editorial from the 90's that the Saratogian wrote regarding changing the form of government.  So here it is.

 The Saratogian, November 1991 Editorial "Time to Trade In Antique Form of Government"

"The faces may change from election to election, but the City Council will remain an unwieldy, five-headed monster until the form of government is changed.
Saratoga Springs is a city rich in history, but the commission form of government is a tradition whose time has come and gone.
The form has all but disappeared from city governments. Yet Saratoga Springs hangs on to the commission form, the same one in place when the city was chartered in 1915. It’s like hanging on to a Model T – and still trying to drive it.
It’s time for a trade-in.
The problem with the commission government is not its age, but its set-up.
 The City Council comprises five council members, each of whom is in charge of one of the city’s five departments. A council member cannot simply be a legislator. A council member must also be responsible for a specific department; finance, accounts, public safety or public works. The only lone ranger is the mayor, although the engineering department is under the auspices of the mayor’s office.
 The four council members who are responsible for a department get to hire their own deputy commissioner, which is a full-time administrator, to run the office. The deputy commissioner therefore serves at the whim of the one council member responsible for that department.
 No one is in charge. "Mayor" sounds important, but don’t be fooled. The Mayor of Saratoga Springs has no more power than any of the other four heads of the council monster. One head, one vote. That sounds fair, but it makes for ineffective government.
Think of your workplace with no one in charge. The supervisors are left to work things out with one another. As the "Dilbert" cartoon character has pointed out, if one department needs the cooperation of another on some matter, but the matter is not one of the other’s top 1,000 priorities, it won’t get done. At least not right away.
The only hint of accountability comes every two years at election time, when council members can take credit for what got done and blame colleagues for what got stymied.
Over the years, the volunteers and the private sector in Saratoga Springs have done more to enhance the city than has the City Council. The form of government is in part to blame.
Instead of a city run by five disparate departments, one person – be it a manager, administrator, or mayor – should be overseeing the government.
Changing the form of government should be a priority in the coming term. Mayor A.C. Dake – who is unopposed this term – has said she would pursue charter revision. She should hold fast to that commitment to bring Saratoga Springs into the 20th century, before the 21st rolls around."

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KEN & JANE BITE THE DUST

Well Charter fans, the debates are over, about 80 public informational nights by Saratoga Citizen and 5 nights by SUCCESS.

One good things that Saratoga Citizen did was have 4 or 5 City Manager’s there before and after the debate meeting people and answering any questions citizens had and they were quite busy answering questions before the beginning of the debate.  By the way the Managers were in town as the NYS City Managers Association is holding their annual conference here.

The moderator of the debate Thursday night at the Saratoga Springs High School did a sound job keeping the 4 debaters in check time wise although he let Ken Klotz drift on a little too long sometimes, hoping there was going to be a point made.  Those in attendance should have made up their minds one way or another by now. 

Sadly, one thing that stood out to me and my friends was that SUCCESS had no facts to back up their claims, which they had a perfect forum in which to do so.  Ms. Weihe often gave her opinion of something in the Proposed Charter that was completely explained and proved what she had said was entirely based on her spreading false information, which is a hallmark of SUCCESS.  Time after time she made a comment regarding an issue ‘in the Charter’ and when it was answered by the other side with the reading of that particular question, she still told people that the meaning was wrong.  Through the evening the moderator had to tell her to keep quiet and at one point saved her from complete embarrassment when he quietly to her he read the Charter and she was wrong.  He had to silence her 3 times on just that time alone.

One important piece of information we found out last night is that our Commissioners will pick the transition team, and that operating with a full time professional City Manager with the proper educational background is a hard act to beat.  Our elected Mayor and Council have contact with department heads and can even gather information from employees but cannot tell an employee what work to do or where to do it.  That comes from the Department head who answers to the City manager, this is known as a chain of command, another thing we don’t have under our current form of government.

Before the end of the night the moderator asked the Saratoga Citizen duo if there was any place on the internet that one could find out information on how the manager form of government works.  Between both of them they came up with 5 websites to get information and an offer to speak directly to a City Manager.  When the same question was asked of SUCCESS, all they could say was check with the State Comptroller as they perform a full audit of the City.  What in the heck will they tell a caller about a Charter form of government?  Only, in Saratoga Springs.  I like Ken but he must have been coached by that beauty Karen Klotz, yes the same one that looks like she has a pain in her a**.

All in all it was a good night for the Manager form of government and a pie in the face for SUCCESS.  There will be more to follow.

HI DE HO EVERYONE

Well friends we have moved.  Our new blog address is
captainamerica195.blogspot.com

Keep following us and you'll get an idea of what is going on here in Saratoga.

We have for sale 4 - dented and rusted shields
                            2 - Wonder Woman outfits (I may keep those myself)
                            1 pair of the Hulks ripped David banner pants.

Until the next post.