STOP THE INDOCTRINATION OF OUR CHILDREN SARATOGA SCHOOL BOARD

 

AMANDA ELLITHORPE

CONNIE WYTOWICH

CHRISTINE KRASZEWSKI

 

This coming Tuesday May 18^th Saratogians will be voting for 3 members for the School Board.  This is a very important election because the education of our children is at stake.  I urge you to vote for the 3 names above.

WHY?  There is a push to push the 1619 project curriculum into Saratoga schools.  Basically, this indoctrination of warped history starts by telling our young children that our country is systemically racist. This is Big Lie that unfortunately is being backed by most teachers unions and the extreme left in our country wants every young white child to be told that they are bad people because of the color of skin and we are inherently racist at birth.  The racist 1619 history lessons are being challenged by parents across the country and to some extent School Boards are not listening to their voices.

The only way we can stop this from becoming a reality in the Saratoga School District by electing the above names.  The other 3 candidates will give the Board the majority vote to put the 1619 curriculum in place.

Please stop this atrocity from happening.  VOTE, VOTE, VOTE

WHO WANTS DALTON ???

 

Robin Dalton, the current Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Public Safety has no ‘home’.  Ms. Dalton, whose job performance has been terrible since being sworn into office last year has been a dismal failure.  OK, we’ll give her a bit of slack for it being a COVID 19 year but some things have been very lax in her job duties.  However, she sure does like getting interviewed.

Last year when the City had whatever you want to call those protests which caused major problems and counter protests against a march backing the police and BLM troublemakers laying in the road at 10 at night, Dalton didn’t back up her department at all and for a few of the protests was even out of State on vacation, yes during a time we were all told not to travel

However, this doesn’t address anything about losing her ‘home’.  In 2019 Dalton ran as a Republican and won the race defeating Kendell Hicks.  She then bypassed any Republican who wanted the Deputy’s position and instead gave the job to one of the top Democrats in Saratoga Springs.  Also, it is worth noting that the Republican Dalton ran as a trifecta along with Democrats Kelly and Madigan.

In the 2021 election Kelly and Madigan have announced they will not run for election but I don’t trust Madigan not to run for another position as an Independent.

Dalton has announced she is running as an Independent saying she has nothing in common with Republicans and hasn’t for years.  The truth is the Republicans were likely to primary her and the Democrat Party won’t touch her so if she wants to run it has to be as an Independent.

So, the question is will the lack of Party support and a dismal job performance be enough to win with Independent (No Party) designation?   The fastest growing political affiliation of registered voters in the City and the County is the Independent or No Party line.

The other question is, will she even run for Public Safety or is she waiting for her fans to talk her into running for Mayor?

 

As your Captain, I say throw her overboard.

2020

 An anonymous poster left a comment today asking for 1 more post to make it an even 4 for this year.  Well here it is. Since depression and just plain having to not socialize has been a factor I really haven't felt like commentating on any issues although there have been many in this City.  This year 2020 has been a washout for the country, small businesses in the country have closed down in big numbers both because of the closing down of the country in the Spring and the terrorists burning and looting in the name of a 5 time felon who was killed by police in a brutal fashion after he ingested fentanyl.  This should never had happened and these policemen should get whatever penalties the get.  However it triggered something larger that looking back now should never have happened and that was the domino destruction it caused.  Race relations need to be looked at for sure but all whites are not racists just as not all blacks are racists.

Now, in Saratoga Springs, businesses have been hit real hard with some closures and it will most likely to keep on going for a while.  Saratogians are good people and most supported the food industry by ordering take out and pick up. 1 business Saratoga's Broadway Deli had their best year since they have been in business "   This year has been good to us. In fact, it has been our best year since opening. Record sales. But we understand that for many this was the worst year of their life. Lost their job, lost their income, and some of you even lost a family member. As the cold and darkness set in, hope can be a little hard to find. So we would like to help at least a little bit. " They have been offering free roasted chickens to anyone who want them through December 31st . The community has been generous to us so we would like to be generous back.

We aren’t asking any questions. We’re not asking for any proof. You say you need a hot roast chicken to provide a nice holiday meal for your family, we got you covered. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa. Whatever the reason, up until the 31st you can count on us."

Wow, what a great gesture.

Well, one of the best Christmas presents for this year is that we won't have to have Michelle Madigan to kick around any more after next years election.  It is really too bad because she needs to be kicked around.  Before the pandemic hit we were in a budget deficit saved only once again by the surplus, we took a hit with the Racino money by only getting 1/2 of what we normally get and next year will most likely get nothing.  We most likely would have gotten a tax increase in spite of the pandemic anyway and because of it we are going to be hit hard.  I always wondered why in 10 years we never had a tax increase even a small one as expenses rise every year but she controls the money not anyone else even the other Commissioners.  Also, her spending on the newly renovated City Hall which is way way over the stated amount will be a legacy of unnecessary opulent spending in her office and a little bonus for Scirocco (a fireplace in his office).  She is leaving the City with a very large bill for her lavish spending.

Charter Change lost by over 1,500 votes which is surprising because 3 years ago it lost by 10 votes.  I cannot figure that one out but I hope the change happens with the next vote.

 Happy Holidays, hope you stay safe.

 

FUNNY SARATOGA SPRINGS

 

With the beginning of Fall,  a few thoughts.

When will City Hall be open so everyone can see the palace that Madigan (the Mad Hater) call her office?  The amount she spent on furniture is the talk of City workers and soon the citizens when we can see it.

Talking about City Hall, exactly how much is it going to cost the taxpayers?  Madigan’s incompetence with budget matters pre pandemic will  raise taxes big time. 

The fight between Madigan & Scirocco regarding camera’s being monitored  in Congress Park at night was a bit childish on Madigan’s part ,she has to be yelling at someone at Council meetings and the big surprise is that it was her Siamese twin Scirocco .  Black Lives Matter destroyers toppled a Civil War era monument to those Saratogians that died serving in the Civil War and other vandalism will most likely never be caught.  Madigan hired a PR firm to come up with a ‘Mask Campaign ’ about wearing masks cost taxpayers some big money and was about 5 months too late.  She didn’t want to spend the money for a position to monitor Congress Park’s cameras and a nighttime dispatcher but had the money for her projects, it’s a funny thing what happens when you have 1 person in charge of all the money – they get what they want and everyone else has to beg.

Well Charter Change is back on the ballot and this year the Democratic Committee voted to support the initiative.  The renegade ex Democratic committee members who quit the Committee last year when they couldn’t get their way are leading the group opposed to the change.  They just can’t stand not getting their way on all things.  They are as bad as Republican leaders who don't want to give up controlling the City. As one of the Anti - Change leaders Jane Weihe wife of John Kaufman the unbiased blooger (hahaha) said “Abolishing and setting up a new government is expensive, disruptive, and challenging under the best of circumstances. Why would we want to do it – imagine this – doing it during a pandemic and in the midst of probably the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression? "So our message is this…make love, not wards!”

Jane Weihe, there is no large expense in a change and saving money and better management and citizen involvement with their government is a good thing right?  And as for your words of wit “So our message is this…make love, not wards!”,I hope your husband is up for it. Sore losers all around these ex Dem Committee whiners are.

JUMPING THE GUN TOO SOON?

Feeling better after health problems and treatments gives me the opportunity to get back at this time and we’ll start up again.

Well the pandemic is still around but to many Saratogians they say what the hell.  The situation is that masks should be worn anytime you are in a setting where you will be close to people.  I see people in grocery stores going in not wearing a mask and asked to leave, people try to get in the Post Office trying to get into the lobby without a mask and are asked to leave, people standing in line without the 6 foot separation (marked by lines) and don’t seem to care, groups of kids and adults in Congress Park.  DPW workers cannot pick up plastic barrels or the paper lawn debris bags because they may catch something but ride 4 in a pickup truck and 2 in the truck that the leaves etc. are dumped in all not wearing masks why can’t they pick up and empty barrels or bags? 3 of the guys got out of the pickup truck to watch the scooper pick up the branches and leaves without masks and when asked why they aren’t wearing masks they laugh and say they are essential workers!  What a joke.  Where Public Safety Commissioner Dalton and her squad, should they be letting this happen?  You may ask, shouldn’t Skippy be checking his people but the Skipster doesn’t know there is a pandemic yet, I guess Madigan hasn’t told him.  The City wants to open up fast and we know what that means, we will be bombarded with people from areas that aren’t open and will put the people who live here in jeopardy. However, Madigan & Shimkus will be smiling again because of the clinking of money being spent. 

The Mayor and the DBA want to open before the region is supposed to open. The Mayor, Commissioner of Public Safety, the DBA are petitioning our local State representatives and the Governor to run the Saratoga meet with full crowds in total disregard of most our local residents health and safety.

Hell you say, this won’t happen, if you believe this then you are in Skippy, Kelly, Madigan and Dalton’s  world.  There was a couple from Queens that drove to Albany on a sunny warm day to order take out from a Thai restaurant in Albany, ate in the parking lot then returned home.  When asked why they said they had to take a ride to break up the monotony.  I do believe we will get overrun with out of area people and that will be unfortunate.

We’ll have some more to come.

ARE THESE REALLY SURPRISES?

Well, the ‘new’ Council has started its reign of terror already, normally after the election and until after the swearing in of the new Council on January 1^st not much happens in City politics.  Yes, they may finish up some small items but there aren’t many meetings left in the year so with 3 big Holidays coming up and the chance that many people won’t be paying much attention or have enough time to keep track of what is going on it is usually… ease along into the new year. 

However with this Council everything is different.  This Council likes to make major decisions when citizens are at their busiest.  The major decision this Council had to make was, will they or won’t they allow Saratoga Hospital to destroy area housing developments and several neighborhoods in giving them a green light to build an unnecessary expansion.  Well, true to their cowardly actions of the past, Monday night, calling a ‘special meeting’ they voted 4-1 approving the hospital to plow ahead to the next step, Commissioner Franck was the lone dissenter.  This Council has already made up their minds to let the hospital have its way and most know the reason why.

What is it not surprising about the ‘special meeting’ that these cowards, 2 days before Christmas is summed up by the Saratogian reporter that wrote the article “ The brief special meeting of the Saratoga Springs City Council held during the Jewish holidays and two days before Christmas drew few residents impacted by the City Council’s 4 to 1 vote last night in favor of the zoning map amendments”, then this gem spewed by our renowned City Attorney DeLeonardis.

   “City Attorney Vince DeLeonardis reading the long litany of “no negative impact” found declarations in reference to the zoning changes up for a vote before the Saratoga Spriings City Council at Monday night’s special meeting of the Saratoga Springs City Council.”  I gather DeLeonardis forgot about all the residents in the area in his decision of ‘no negative impact’.

This was truly a Christmas gift to the hospital and a payback for gifts given to those politicians running in November.

Another major (big surprise) announcement was that Robin Dalton has appointed fellow Democrat Eileen Finneran as her Deputy.  It seems Finneran needed the money and Dalton obliged.  Finneran has experience and will help the blank Dalton run the department.  There are many who believe that those running for Commissioner should announce who their Deputy will be so voters know who will be running the departments.  However that would be too good information for voters to know so why do it?

Well, it is not even New Year’s Day yet and already the Council has divided the City with major announcements made in secret, so begins 2020 and with this Council we are screwed already.

The attorney for the area residents being ‘negatively affected’ are filing a section 78 against the Council’s decision, as with any litigation it takes money to go to court and the City and the Hospital have unlimited money at their disposal.  We would like to ask you if you are so inclined to donate to the Save Morgan Street group to help with the costs involved.

  https://savemorganstreet.com/  

COMMISSIONERS SCIROCCO AND MADIGAN AT IT AGAIN

Well you can tell it is an election year in Saratoga Springs.  We’ll start with Scirocco, has your lawn debris been picked up weekly since summer?  Have you seen articles in the paper about all the projects large and small that Scirocco takes credit for? If you answer yes to these 2 questions then you have to know election time is this November.

Scirocco can’t really take credit for much as he contracts out quite a lot of what DPW does.  He hires more outside contractors and engineers as much as the City hires outside attorneys.

The rest of the 1 1/2 years the City looks like crap, ripped up roads all over the City and City property looking terrible, overgrown grass is common place, Congress Park is a mess and Broadway doesn’t look any better until 6 months before an election and it has been this way since he has been in office, he bit off more than he could chew when he took office.

The lawsuits that he has had against himself and the City have been numerous.  Among the ones out there involves the City Engineer he suspended earlier this year because he supports Dillon Moran and the water hookup fee which I don’t think is wrapped up yet.

Remember that his son who works for him in DPW was arrested on 4 counts of DWI and allowed to stay on the job.  Skip had another fellow who worked for the water Dept. drive him to the job sites.  He also cries he doesn’t have enough help but I am told by someone in the Finance Dept. that he turns money back every year to his darling Michelle to make her look good.

Skip was also involved in voting to give Hot Dog Eddy Miller and his girlfriend a contract to do business with the City through their business.  Yes, Skip hired the Hot Dog to work for him in Public Works (he gets the Independence endorsements that way and a nice campaign donation).

This November you must vote for Saratoga native Dillon Moran.

ONTO COMM.MADIGAN

Well you can tell it is an election year in Saratoga Springs.  Commissioner Madigan who has lost the Democrat line on the ballot due to losing the Democrat primary has broken off on being a Democrat.  She is running on the Independence line and that Party is run by none other than DPW employee Hot Dog Eddy Miller and his girlfriend.  This Party has never ran a candidate but once that I can remember but just endorses friends of theirs.  Commissioner Madigan is as thick as a heavy burgundy with Hot Dog’s girlfriend and also voted to give Hot Dog Eddy Miller and his girlfriend Joanne Foresta a contract to do business with the City through their business, both Scirocco and Madigan received the endorsement and a nice campaign donation from the Independence Party run by an employee of Scirocco and Commissioner Madigan’s best friend.  This information was taken to the Ethics Board but since that board is run by biased men and a woman they decided that nothing wrong happened, WOW.

Commissioner Madigan has had a few of her own problems I am sure you know about.  The 30 year deal with the fiber optics company that will cost Saratoga Springs a fortune and believe it or not this Company is the only entity that can run cables through our sewer lines.

This week she announced a 0.05% tax cut for City taxpayers even though expenses have risen. Madigan’s plan, an increase of $1.1 million over the adopted 2019 budget. Contractual wage increases, additional funding for information technology, increased commodity costs, and health insurance accounts for much of the year-over-year change. Personnel and benefits are up 1.9% and 2.5% in 2020, respectively.”  By the way there is a story going around the City of a very unknown and non transparent present the Commissioner will receive if elected this Fall and that will be an all expense paid (by taxpayers) top of the line health care policy all complete for life, yes life.  Should elected officials get lifetime benefits for life?  What happened to serve the people? Now, back to the tax decrease.  The Commissioner plans on paying the rising expenses with the budget surplus which she has been draining every year since she has been in office to pay for these increases which has given her the magic of not raising taxes over the last 8 years.  This is not a sound practice to run a City.  Well there will be more as election time draws near.

We must vote Morrison for Commissioner of Finance to not only save the large expense of for life health insurance benefits but also not leaving the City with much of a surplus.

This November you must vote for Patty Morrison.

THE PREDICTIONS:

Mayor – Tim Holmes

Commissioner of Finance – Patty Morrison

Commissioner of DPW – Dillon Moran

Commissioner of PS – Robin Dalton

Supervisors : 2

Matt Vietch

Steve Mittler

DEMOCRAT PARTY IS IMPLODING

The Democrat Party in Saratoga Springs as everyone knows by now is imploding.  The culprit who is behind  the ‘rats jumping ship’ is none other than the big RAT, Commissioner Madigan and those lemmings that worship at her feet and have resigned from the Executive Committee and today the other resigning Party traitors have done the Democrats a huge disservice.  The Democrats who cast their ballots in the June primary spoke with their votes to replace Madigan, now Madigan cried foul because voter turnout was low and she only lost by a handful of votes shows what a sore loser she is and what kind of character she possess.  A primary decides which person will be the Party’s standard bearer will be in the Fall election.  The former Executive Committee after being told what to do by Madigan wouldn’t make the call to back the winner and instead took the childish way out and resigned, and then Madigan worked her magic and had her friends resign today.  This shows Party loyalty? These people should be ashamed of themselves and registered Democrat voters should be embarrassed by those that represent them.  The person they should be embarrassed by most of all is Michele Madigan who planned this show from the beginning.

Madigan as the renegades said is the only one that can run the Finance department.  This statement is a slap in the face to any qualified person, (which Morrison is)  to run for office.  Is this the way Saratogians want elections to run?  We are once again moving to the back room deal making days which ignore the voters’ wishes when those wishes don’t agree with the Party leaders.

Those who resigned most likely shouldn’t have been on the Committee in the first place, most are political hacks who cry foul if they don’t get their own way, so their jumping ship was probably coming for a long time.

This is a great time for Morrison who can use this debacle to her advantage.

PRIMARY WINNER PATTY MORRISON CAUGHT IN A DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE FRACTURE.

Well, the Primary and the incumbent Commissioner Madigan lost.  Madigan will not be on the Democratic line on the ballot but instead will be down near the bottom because she received the nod from 2 endorsement Party’s.  She should step down and let the Democrats run their choice if she is really a Democrat.  The Democratic Committee should now pull their endorsement of Madigan and give it to Morrison along with a $1,000.00 donation as they did for Madigan, anything short of this is political gamesmanship and further shows that along with Committee Chairman Courtney DeLeonardis as the lead instigator is further dividing the Dems.  Also having your husband  as the City Attorney (Vincent J. DeLeonardis)

 who just received his second large raise in salary she may owe Madigan for her vote. I guess in Saratoga a Democrat is not really a Democrat unless you have a friend as leader of the Party in the City to protect a loser.  Maybe, with all the large Republican donations Madigan received there appears what was talked about months ago that Madigan, Mayor Kelly and candidate for Public Safety Robin Dalton (which will be a discussion in the future)  met with the County Republican Chairman to run as a team with promises to benefit the 3 candidates.  This could be the collusion the Democrats have been talking about.  Also watching Tuesday’s Council meeting Madigan looked like a deer in front of headlights along with Super Skippy , that is dazed and confused most likely from her stinging loss but Skip did what he does best and tried to complete a few sentences.  He stated after 23 uh’s and uhm’s that he has been in politics for a long time and has never, never seen a board get along so well together (um, it looks like he truly is in bed with Madigan).

The Democratic Party should do the right thing and support the winner of the Primary so she can carry the Democratic line to victory.

Now, moving on to another topic.  The City Hall renovations are spiraling out of control with the City’s insurance company paying much less than expected.  Madigan, in her zeal of not raising taxes over her time in office which is not a good thing and spending down the reserve fund to keep homeowners from not having a tax increase may see in the bad results of this in a large tax increase in this year’s budget or certainly next year’s no matter who win the election for that position.  Madigan has duped taxpayer’s in Saratoga for years and that should be a good reason to vote for Morrison.

IT’S PRIMARY TIME

This year in Saratoga Springs there will be one primary and it is June which was moved up from September.  This does not allow enough time to make the rounds if you are challenging an incumbent who has a pocketbook full of money.

The challenger against Michelle Madigan is Patty Morrison.  Patty is more than suited for the position and Madigan is putting us in financial trouble (no matter what she says) in the near future.

What was the Republican Party put a candidate up to run against Madigan or Morrison but he was only a patsy and when his petition signatures were found to be bogus he had to drop out of the race.  The Republicans only put him up to fail and some say that the Republican Party will endorse Democrat Madigan.

Madigan is neither a friendly or respectful to her constituents and sometimes downright vile.  

Her work over her long tenure has been mostly good but her decisions in the last few years have put Saratogians in a position to pay big time in the future.  She hasn’t done much that anyone familiar with budgets including big budgets not just library budgets such as she was used to put together before being elected and truth be told she was blessed with terrific Deputy Commissioners.   The problem with that position in Saratoga is if you need to raise taxes instead of spending down some rainy day fund you do not get re-elected and she has been a master at spending at a future cost to future Saratoga Citizens, some of who might be your children or grandchildren.

Along with her joke of a fiber optic deal she made and her stance on the hospital takeover of residential space (remember we get no taxes from the Hospital) when the Hospital has other options is disconcerting.  She is holding off a vote until after the Primary.

Madigan will also have to recuse herself on every vote that Attorney Matt Jones comes before the Council with.  He has held Madigan fundraisers at his personal residence and that jeopardizes every vote that she casts for any of his projects including the Hospital, it is unethical to buy votes.  

I see in today’s paper that Jane Weihe, a very sour old time Saratogian who was defeated in every political race she ever entered and who some say is a retired teacher who was lucky to have tenure is backing Madigan and bad mouthing Madigan’s opponent when in these times it is refreshing to have a primary especially when the opposing party never runs a candidate or sometimes runs candidates who have literally no idea of the department they will be running as is the case in the DPS race this year with real estate salesperson- wannabe socialite Robin Dalton who may know a little bit of Public Safety from the other side but has no idea of what it takes to run Police, Fire and other departments.  Her current position on allowing guns in schools may even be a problem for her.

Stay tuned.

THE SAME THIS TIME AROUND!

Running for political office in Saratoga Springs is anything but predictable.  If you get elected to office as one of the Commissioners you could have the position for life.  This is the only City in America that has a very hard time having challengers to run for entrenched politicians.  Saratoga Springs has 3 Commissioners that have won at least 5 two year terms and I think only 1 time each candidate had an opponent. 

Again, this form of government shows why it needs changing if not only to have different people with various backgrounds run for office but also have transparency in government.

The two most non transparent offices holders are Madigan & Scirocco.  The citizens should just ask Madigan just how much this new (free) fiber optic network will cost citizens and if she says nothing then burn her to the stake.  Scirocco doesn’t tell us about any harmful water problems and just brushes them away with more chlorine to the point that our once great drinking water could only beat a fish infested swimming pool water, great going Scirocco.

The Democratic Party will be showing how pitiful they are if people come forward to primary the 3 dems running in 2019.  They are a step above the Republican Party however who has a disbarred attorney running the show and can’t get a Republican elected (Scirocco is a RINO and sides with whatever the 4 Democrats want). 

We’ll see how this is played out but don’t expect too much.

NYRA SAY'S BYE-YA to CEO CHRIS KAY

Good morning and good riddance to the CEO of NYRA Chris Kay. In addition to being a 1st class jerk he was apparently using NYRA employees to work off the clock at his home in Saratoga Springs. This is completely illegal, according to NYRA’s rules.  However this incident alone couldn’t be the only one that forced him to accept a firing or forced resignation.  This way he can collect his ‘golden parachute’ which is probably substantial.

Although he made some positive changes at the Saratoga Racecourse, he most certainly did not have that affect on his subordinates. According to those who worked there he demanded that his employees smile and say hello to everyone (treat them as you would a house guest) but would refuse to say hello to any NYRA employee himself.  This never wins respect with anyone.

While mentioning some positives he did at the track he created an amusement park atmosphere forgetting that people come to the track to bet and it is not an ideal environment for tots to crawl around in the dirt or inside the building.  He spent tens of millions of dollars ‘improving’ this environment for 6 weeks of racing while the track sits idle for 46 weeks a year.  This he did while destroying the historic atmosphere the track had for over 150 years which is one reason people came from all over the world to enjoy and soak up the beauty of the course itself.

Good riddance. What NYRA needs is actual leadership and someone with integrity and most of all someone who knows horse racing.

SCIROCCO NEVER HAD A PLAN FOR SNOW PLOWING

It began snowing at 3:40pm this past Saturday. We had known about this storm for at least a week. So you would think that as soon as the snow began to accumulate, the DPW workers would be all over the city making sure the roads would be plowed so that drivers could navigate their way around town.

You would think....but...NO.

No, that would be too logical. According to one witness, he didn't see a plow until 4:30am on SUNDAY.

You can't make it up. As of today, Monday, the main roads in downtown Saratoga Springs are in horrible condition.

Unacceptable. The whole crew should have been out an hour after it began snowing.

So...it begs the question, what was DPW doing just hours after it began snowing?

I am sick of the utter ineptitude of the Department of Public Works. There is NO EXCUSE.

SNOWPLOWING LEAVES??

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

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

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

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

  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We’ll have more in the upcoming weeks.

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

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

1.    Charter Change

2.    Adding 2 more baby Commissioners with limited authority.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DOES OUR COUNCIL KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON?

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

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

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

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

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

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

SARATOGA WHAT?

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

 

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

A FAMILY AFFAIR?

From the Daily Gazette

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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