HAPPY NEW YEAR, I THINK

Well it’s a New Year and let’s hope things won’t  be getting worse before they get better.  However, we still have Scirocco & Madigan in office and that could bring big problems.  Now that we have a new Mayor, my wish is that she can gavel Madigan (which will most likely be every meeting) down and put her in place as the Finance Commissioner not the out of control ego maniac  she is. If Mayor Kelly can accomplish one thing, that is to keep the Council meetings in check and moving along instead of letting Madigan bloviate, the city might get something done.

Skip Scirocco and The DPW/Water Department had a big problem with lead in the City’s drinking water in 2017. Additionally, at the end of 2017we found out even more  troubling news, Scirocco tried to hide facts from those who drink City water.   A locational average of four quarterly samples is used to determine compliance with the New York State public drinking water standard. Samples are collected at 4 locations within our system – Louden Rd., Van Rensselaer St., South Broadway and Skidmore College.  The report that he does not want you to know!

In samples collected during August of 2017, the average level of THMs was 82 micrograms per liter (ug/l) at the Skidmore College testing site.

The DPW report is understating the issue. Each testing location has to stand on its own per the USEPA Clean Water act as of 2013. Locational averages are no longer allowed. Further each position must carry that value for a full year as each measured position carries its each own average value over the course of a year.

In essence, prior to 2013, you could have a problem (hot spot) but white wash it away by averaging it across your whole system. That is no longer allowed. Each sample position carries a rolling 12-month average so 1 bad reading will have an impact for a year.

I’ve seen how poorly DPW/Water Department is negligent in their control of chlorine usage is. This is 100% a result of that lack of control and the fact that we have a shallow, organic ladened, surface water source. And poor leadership in DPW

There is a reason that back in 1977, we decided THMs and HAAs were important enough to regulate, start to monitor and establish increasing restrictions. 

Google the Saratoga County water system and the issues they had around 2013-2014 when multiple towns (Halfmoon for sure, I think CP too) shut off supply due to this issue).

It’s bullshit to suggest this is DPW report not a big deal.

THM’s According to a University of Florida report, exposure to THMs may pose an increased risk of cancer. According to Rebekah Grossman, two THMs, chloroform and dibromochloromethane, are carcinogens; and another THM, bromodichloromethane, has been identified as a mutagen, which alters DNA.  Now how many areas in the City had this problem since DPW only checks 4 spots?  Is there anything that can be done as a preventative measure, yes but DPW does not have these in place.

 The use of chlorine to disinfect water produces various disinfection byproducts, which have been classified mainly as halogenated and non-halogenated byproducts. These primary byproducts are trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids. THMs are the byproducts of chlorination of water that contains natural organic matter.

Saratoga once had very good tasting drinking water but those days are long gone, heavy chlorination has taken that away and that’s where the problem lies especially during track season.  As I said there are inexpensive measures to keep the  disinfection byproducts in check.  They should be used.

Doesn’t anyone keep the residents of the City updated about important matters especially when we are thinking about placing our relatives in places like Wesley Health Care Center or Saratoga Hospital?

In the Fall of 2016 2 lawsuits were brought against 1) Saratoga Hospital and 2) Wesley Health Care Center in connection with an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease in these 2 institutions last fall. Saratoga Springs resident Susan Gonino has sued Saratoga Hospital, claiming she contracted Legionnaire's while admitted to the hospital for surgery in October and The son of Alice Johnson, an 86-year-old woman who died in October after contracting Legionnaire's disease at the Wesley Health Care Center, has sued the nursing home.  Come on Skip, what the hell are you doing to us?

The city’s main water source - Loughberry Lake has not been inspected for 29 Years.

Yes 29 Years!!!!

The issue was brought to the council table by Mayor Yepsen, and  DPW/Water Commisssioner Scirocco said it was not needed!!!! More BS by SS.

 A City Hall insider told me that Scirocco hired an outside firm for $60,000.00 to come up with a study on how to flush the hydrant system, (you have to do it in sequence so you keep the crap moving down the line) but I was told that the Swami (Scirocco) has never followed the the plan.  The previous Director didn’t need to spend the $60,000.00 and I can’t remember anyone dying from bad water.

Finance Office

I can already hear the excuses spewing from Commissioner Madigan’s mouth. She is up to her eyes in debt and she is hemorrhaging money!  Get ready for the blame game to start. 2016 was a 1 Million dollar deficit year, 2017 will be too. She already is borrowing money for 2018.

Let us see how long before she cries poverty.  

I will bet you we get a big property tax increase in the next budget.  There is a reason she has announced that this is her last 2 years on the Council.

THIS TRIO of “LEADERS” are an EMBARASSMENT to the CITIZENS of SARATOGA

The 3 Commissioner’s (Madigan, Scirocco & Matheisen) have to stop not only embarrassing themselves but also the citizens of Saratoga.  Madigan yells and screams it seems at every Council meeting, showing as some people think,  that she is becoming unglued and is imbibing too much during the day.  It is becoming such a spectacle that everyone watching these meetings are becoming frustrated at how they react not only to the Mayor but citizens as well.

Madigan expresses the fact that the Mayor can’t control the meetings but it is herself (Madigan) that argues, won’t shut up and won’t listen to the Mayor when she is trying to restore order at the table.  This is a pitiful trio.

Scirocco had zip on his agenda so he made the resolution to censure the Mayor.  The motion should have taken 10 minutes to read but the great orator took 30 minutes to get through it, a mighty reading, that’s probably why so many dogs and cats got away when he was the dog catcher,he trying to call an animal over to snare it and it probably took  him 15 minutes to say ‘come here fido’.

The Ethics Committee issued a report about a conflict with the Mayor but they didn’t issue one for Skip’s alleged  illegal multiple water deals which Madigan may be a party to by not making sure the monies were collected and the voting block of those 3 should as one brought the matter before the Council.  Also let’s not forget the Collimer lot deal which would cost the City to lose big money if Commissioner had his way dealing with the people he knew.  The City Attorney’s wife serves on the Ethics Committee and we wonder if she abstained from the discussions and the vote?

It is alleged that the reason Matheisen changed Attorney firms is because the firm that was handling the water deal & the Collimer lot deal was a not capable to handle criminal charges and it is said that the State is now pursuing criminal cases against the 3 .  Again, a nice representation by three comatose Commissioners.  We need to remember this at election time next year.

The Public Works Department is and has been up to job capacity for a while.  The problem is that Sirocco’s last bunch of hires have been to supervisory jobs or newly created supervisor jobs which total over $300,000.00+.  The baloney that if employees are blacktopping they can’t pick up grass clippings too, how many times a day have you seen City vehicles parked in a Stewart's, Shirley’s, Triangle Dinner, Cumberland Farms or Wal Mart?  The same numbered vehicles are seen at most of these places by people daily.

Also, the new hired bookkeeper and Finance fellow (Veitch) that Skip had the job title changed from Director of PW has taken to riding around the City in the Skip Mobile instead of working inside and it is said that Deputy Donna Buckley is not too happy, resorting as some say to putting a whoopee cushion on the seat of Skip’s chair.

This is really unsettling and if the criminal charges stick the 3 should be removed and a special election held to replace them.

I also read in the paper that John Herringbone has called for the Mayor to resign.  Nice try John.  John is retiring as the Chairman of the County Republican Committee because he has a loss of faith in his position.  There were many towns, the City of Saratoga included that did not support him and the list was growing.  He should have left years ago when he could have saved face.

Let’s keep the focus on Madigan, Matheisen and Scirocco and remember Sirocco put new sewer & water lines down his street and gave his street new paving, What A Guy!

THE ANNOUNCEMENT & THE REPUBLICAN’S BIG SPENDING

Bill McTygue has announced his Deputy if he should win the DPW post.  Pat Design, Deputy Commissioner under both former Commissioner Tom McTygue & current Commissioner Skip will be the new Deputy.

For the past 2 weeks I have been getting blasted with Republican political flyers in the mail or on my door knob.  All I can say is that they are either nervous about losing or have some big money to spend (in most cases via big builders).

Although some have good information like Wirth, who we picked to defeat Matheisen for the good of Saratoga Springs, some are just laughable.

One of these jokes came in the mail today ‘A Personal Message from Four Former Mayors’, this was the headline in the return address spot.  I first thought it was restaurant coupons for 4 Guy’s Hamburgers but I opened it and lo and behold it was a letter denouncing Mayor Yepsen (what a surprise) and extolling the former Army man and who now advises homeowners associations. While it doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to run for office (we now have a librarian, dog catcher and dentist among our City’s leaders, I guess an advisor to homeowner associations is ok.  They disparage Yepsen’s accomplishments which are many (more in 2 years than Johnson had in 6) and one profound statement about secrecy ‘too many closed to the public Executive Sessions’.  This statement had to be written by someone that knows nothing about City government because all Executive Sessions are held behind closed doors.  The candidate John Safford extolls his plans if elected, JOHN, Mayor Yepsen has your plans already in operation, get your own.

The letter contains more political dribble but most of it is nonsense.  The letter is signed by 4 former Mayor’s whose terms except Mayor A.C. Riley were a joke.  The other three are Scott ‘red face’ Johnson, Mayor J. Michael ‘smiley’ O’Connell, please don’t get me started about him and Mayor Jim ‘where am I’ Murphy, who’s tenure was 1966-1969 when Saratoga was really rocking (right).    I wonder why they didn’t get one of the good Mayor’s,  Mike Lenz’s signature.

The next piece of paper was a door hanger to vote for Skip Scirocco.  His flyer is even more hysterical:

Fixed longstanding infrastructure problems

Upgraded the City water facility filters (gee, you should have done that anyway)

Fixed neighborhood flooding issues (don’t tell anyone living in Geyser Crest about this, they have been calling you for years about this problem and you ignore the pleas.)

Resolved decades long water capacity resource (this is just an outright joke, the ‘new’ holes he dug would not supply the City with enough water for a day in a drought or any new building.  As a matter of fact he had said he fixed the water supply in the Crest however anyone we talk to has water pressure so low they can pee a stronger stream.

Improved safety at dangerous intersections- where and how?

It gets better:

City Hall – restored the steps and lions (contracted out the work)

Canfield Casino is now handicap accessible (I guess he didn’t see the ramp on the side when he was first elected)

Saratoga Lake – new park & entranceway (the Park was in planning when you were still a dog catcher)

Flowers, leaf pickup & snow removal, accomplished with professionalism under Skip’s leadership.  (Seriously?  All three have deteriorated every year under your leadership.)

You left out one thing – how lousy downtown and the garages look, both have one thing in common, they look dirty.

Just a comment about this race.  A person’s last name should not disqualify them for a shot to win an election, if the person is qualified then he or she should at least be considered.

If your son shoots someone and kills that person does that mean you should be looked upon as those who look at your son?  Each of us is his own person and should be judged on their merits.

It seems in Saratoga, many City dwellers hold a grudge for life.

Please look at the previous post and see who we backed for elected office, and next time you are at Four Mayors order your burger medium with fries. 

DOES ANYBODY CARE?

Saratoga politics, does anybody really care?  The primary pitted a newcomer with good ideas to put in place against someone that campaigned from the Council table at meetings, saying things about his opponent while she couldn’t respond in kind at the meeting (this tactic by the Commissioner of PS is most likely illegal), but that doesn’t stop some on this Council.  The citizens of Saratoga have really no clue on what is happening to our City.  How many citizens go to meetings?  How many take the time to watch on line?  How many watch on local TV?  How many go to the site http://saratogaspringsny.swagit.com/city-council/ and watch the whole meeting or any part you want?  If you did, you would see a show worth sitting down with a bowl of popcorn and wouldn’t be able to stop laughing until after the meeting when you then become disgusted that those were the people voted in office to serve we the people.

People complain that Mayor Yepsen hasn’t gotten much done but she has and she would get more done if the 3 amigos would stop disagreeing with her just because of some idiotic personal thought placed in their heads.  Matheisen is just plain mean, the paper said Burger called to congratulate him on his primary win and his reply to that gesture was that “Miss Burger was not a good fit for the job.., this, after saying, “he would now reach out to Burger’s supporters, in keeping with Democratic Party values”.  I guess that is the response one gives when you have access to as much laughing gas you want.   Madigan is mean and is losing touch with reality and Skip, and well he is just Skip, looking like a deer in the headlights at every meeting.

One area that the City is losing income is the DPW used to have its own crew that would pour sidewalks in designated areas, the City would get grant money every year for doing this thereby making money doing the concrete work. As it stands now, Commissioner Scirocco hires out a firm to do the sidewalks not only giving up income to pay employees but to outsource work, he just doesn’t get it.  Look for yourself from past Council meetings how many times Scirocco hires outside engineers to perform jobs when the City pays big money for 2 City Engineers, I don’t think he gets it.  Skip also has his street ripped up new water & sewer lines run and then newly paved.  I asked a few neighbors if they had water or sewer problems and they said no, so what’s up Skip?

On the water front, the Bonacio water hookup fee forgiveness (over 1 million dollars) that we the citizens have to pay for as the Skipper changed the law so no fee is required so the cost falls on our backs, he just changed the Charter with the help of Madigan & Matheisen.

When the citizens were raising concerns that Bonacio was not going to pay that 1 million dollar fee, in a back room meeting attended by, Bonacio, Scirocco, Billy Benton, Donna Buckley, Sam Boardman &   Barbara Putnam it was decided that the City would not put pressure on Scirocco to pay it back, it looks like Skip had Sam Boardman sign a letter stating that Bonacio did not have to pay the City the 1 million. Only Skip or Tim Wales could sign a letter of this type and only after Council approval which Skip never brought the ‘deal’ before the Council.  The excuse from Scirocco that over ½ million dollars of improvements were done by Bonacio for the forgiveness of payment is bull skip.  These improvements were items that Bonacio HAD to do to get the permission to build.

The latest (2 weeks ago) the public received information from an Albany law firm that is being retained by some local developers because the Commissioner of Public Works has been charging certain developers a water hookup fee after he had the Charter changed not to charge these fees.   I would like to know, was the law changed to protect 1 developer and not everyone?  Also doesn’t Finance Commissioner Madigan have the responsibility to know if money is coming in for water hookup fees and inform Skip that he is breaking the law according to the Charter or is she allowing this and not performing her duties?  People, this is another potential lawsuit in the making, one which if the attorney is correct will result in the taxpayers paying out yet another bumbling by Madigan, Matheisen & Scirocco.

Why so many DPW workers working in Congress Park?  The last time I counted 5 people & 3 cleaners, this is a complete waste of man power.

Hey, good news.  It looks like the Hospital has taken a beautiful chunk of green space from the green belt on Myrtle Ave. for an Administration Bldg.  This West side property had one of the prettiest views around.  Where are the bleeding hearts that are trying to stop Saratoga National from building on their own land?  Could this be a case of double standard, Save the Greens or whatever you call yourselves?  On this topic, why does the eastern side of the Northway need a fire house and ambulance station on property in the green belt?  We have a fire Dept. that can answer calls already.  I don’t want my taxes going to pay for a minimum of 4 firemen (12 because you need 3 shifts) and ambulance people, let the Lake people pay for their own.  Wilma Koss and Nancy ‘Pitbull’ Goldberg will be glad to start a campaign for you to do so.

 Lastly, why does it take Matheisen 15 minutes to give a comeback after a person says something in the Public comment period?  Why not be like Skip and mumble out a few words and forget what you’re talking about?

THE CONTINUING SAGA OF INVESTIGATION AND MORE

Where to start?  Well let’s start with the first Comptroller’s report.  Commissioner Matheisen got spanked.  He not only got spanked but did not report to the State like he was mandated to, and according to the report, the lack of his compliance put our children’s lives in potential danger.  I’ll let you read the article so you can get the particulars as it is a 15 page report.  The whole report can be found by going to this link posted by Dennis Yusko: http://blog.timesunion.com/saratogaseen/comptroller-audits-saratoga-springs-fire-safety/24114/

If this is a precursor of the many current investigations by the Comptrollers & Attorney General’s office the Commissioners being investigated, (yes still being investigated as both State offices are still in City Hall almost daily), those Commissioners could be in big trouble (most likely, Madigan, Scirocco & Matheisen, according to sources).  There is also a legal battle over the Collimer lot that is being waged.

The day that Bill McTygue announced that he was challenging Skip Scirocco for DPW Commissioner, Scirocco was endorsed by Eddie ‘hot dog’ Miller and Gordon Boyd’s club the Independence party (small p on purpose).  The Independence party line position on the ballot drops every election year due to the fact that voters are continually not voting on that line.  Yes, they may have a party enrollment number but that number is way over inflated.  Why, you ask?  Well Independence sounds a lot like Independent and the concept too many people is that they are the same.  Independent means that you are registered as a no Party affiliation while the Independence party is an organized political Party (except in Saratoga Springs, where it is a power tool of a few people like the two named above rather than organized.  I don’t think they even announce when their interview process is, if they have any.  So beware of any of Miller or Boyd’s endorsements and how they came to be.

Mayor Yepsen finally announced her endorsement.  I’ll get into some thoughts after this comment.  Commissioner Michele Madigan was seen sitting at the bar texting for the whole hour, most likely back to her cohorts at City Hall and to Eddie ‘hot dog’ Miller’s girlfriend who is her best friend and wine tasting buddy.

Yepsen listed her accomplishments which are pretty long given the fact that Madigan, Scirocco and Matheisen fought her at every turn and tried their best to keep her from accomplishing anything.  Listed accomplishments were a 1.6 million dollar in federal funding for the Geyser Road pedestrian trail (heck, Scirocco gave this much money away to contractors alone), completion of the long delayed waterfront park on Saratoga Lake (6 years delayed), the City’s success in finding housing for 18 homeless veterans, the launch of the Code Blue program which the City desperately needed as most other Cities have such a program.  While you may or may not like her, she gets things done and with one member of the Council to work with (John Franck) it is amazing she got all this done.

The same day as Yepsen announced, the hot dog & Boyd announced that their club was endorsing Yepsen’s opponent John Safford.  Safford who is quoted in the gazette as saying “.. voters will have a clear choice between the status quo politicians, or a new beginning under a longtime businessman and U.S. Army veteran”.  I guess helping homeowner associations and being in the Army qualifies one to automatically take away a sitting Mayor’s accomplishments and last time I checked the status quo in Saratoga is the Republican Party, however you have to give him credit for stepping up to the plate to run as it looked like the Republicans did not have a candidate for the post.  

I am a member of the Republican Party and I am quite frankly embarrassed by what has been going on within the inner sanctum.  The Party had a good young, qualified professional financial person ready to run against Commissioner Madigan.  The Committee held their meeting and the gentleman gave a great speech and handled himself well, then the crap started flying starting with (in her dreams, Deputy) Donna Buckley, then Scirocco states that he works well with the Democrat Madigan and why run a Republican against her who may not see eye to eye with him, huh?  It is also said that Scirocco’s wife had something to say but that’s not important.  Scirocco, was also said to comment that if the new candidate was endorsed he would not help any Republican candidate.  This last line can’t be confirmed but why the Republican Party kick Scirocco out and let him become a Democrat is beyond me.  Remember it was Scirocco who with Madigan eliminated the water hookup fee because we had many sources to get that lost income and then Skip raises our water bills, in the end he gives the deals to the builders and sticks it to us, the tax payers.

Do you want to run for office in the near future?  If you are a young professional, forget it, you would be better off running as a Democrat, Independent or the Party of Mickey Mouse. 

SCIROCCO THROWING THE CITY UNDER THE BUS?

Is Skip Scirocco throwing Saratoga Springs and the taxpayers under the bus?  The granting of a million dollar waiver of water hookup fees is and will continue to burden taxpayers with higher water and sewer bills.  Since Scirocco has been in office one of the water charges has risen from $12 to $48 and will continue to escalate until these developers who gained Sirocco’s favor pays the City the money they owe.

The matter of how Scirocco runs the waiver of fees and his lame brain excuses for doing so is now in the hands of the NY State Attorney General’s hands.  The AG’s department was in City Hall weeks ago removing all relevant materials and Scirocco was warned by the AG and in a City Hall memo not to shred or remove any documents that are the property of the City’s.  It is alleged that after this warning Sirocco’s son was seen carrying out a box of materials from his father’s office,  again this was alleged to have been seen by a City Hall employee who has reported the action.

A few Friday’s ago Commissioners Madigan & Mathiesen drove down together to Albany to be interviewed by someone in the AG’s office.  Remember that Madigan last year had said that she audited the ‘supposed’ hookup fee waivers and found nothing wrong but recently has admitted that maybe she didn’t go deep enough in her audit.  This sounds like a great Commissioner of Finance.  Hopefully sometime soon we will find out what happened and why Scirocco gave these waivers when the developers didn’t even pass the 1^st requirement of having to install 12” water mains.

The trio of Madigan, Mathiesen and Scirocco are starting to sound like a bunch of out of control puppets at Council meetings.  Obviously these three have formed an alliance to make the Mayor look bad and they give her a hard time as often as they can.  Commissioner Madigan, thank God you have Christine Gilmet-Brown in your office or you would not be half the successful Commissioner you think you are.

The reason I mention the three Commissioners forming a ban is because since early last year they have decided that 1. They do not like the Mayor and 2. They want to shift any control of the Mayor’s office into their own. 

I was at this past Tuesday’s Council meeting and what a circus it was, well the second circus after the Sustainable Saratoga clan rallied against PUD’s and the desperate need to ban plastic bags in the City.  The group is slowly becoming the minority voice of the majority and we better turn out and speak up or they will get their way on every issue they dream up.  Politicians vote on issues depending on how many people show up and exert pressure at meetings.  Anyway, the second circus was during the Mayor’s portion of the meeting.  Through a technicality 3 Housing Authority Board members seats were deemed vacant by State law because the appointing Commissioner at the time (Mayor Johnson) did not inform the appointees that they had to sign an oath of office form which next to tying your shoes is the easiest thing to do.  So, Mayor Yepsen has the right as every other previous Mayor had, to fill these positions.  Yepsen being the most transparent Mayor in Saratoga’s history now advertises commission & committee seats up for appointment and chooses the appointments from the list, which by the way any citizen of Saratoga Springs can be a part of.  Well, that did not sit right with the 3 Musketeers and they argued why they were not informed of the replacements.  Scirocco went as far as saying he hoped ‘this isn’t a power grab’ and that the Charter should be changed so that all appointments have to be passed by the Council.  Again the asinine thinking of Scirocco even when Johnson made his 11^th hour mass appointments which usually goes to the incoming Mayor, his lips were sealed as they are 99% of the time unless he in stammering at Council meetings.  He was joined at the lip (yes lip) with Scott Johnson for 6 years and as Johnson systematically never reappointed a Democrat to a seat, he filled the seats with friends and Party members and did we ever and I mean ever hear 1 word out of Sirocco’s mouth admonishing Johnson, or Madigan & Mathiesen for that matter?  At the meeting Madigan and Mathiesen uttered the words that they want to be informed on who the Mayor is going to appoint, I say why?  It seems to me that the three horseman of death want to be the ones to grab power and by banding together they feel they will become 3 larger kings of their domains.  Tuesday night’s meeting was one of the most embarrassing meetings for Scirocco, Mathiesen and Madigan that I ever witnessed and by the way the Mayor did reappoint one of the SSHA board members that were removed and he just happened to be a Republican.

A very big circus atmosphere in the old chamber Tuesday night and 3 clowns highlighted the evening.

Next up, a look at the increasing number of working supervisors Scirocco has appointed at inflated salaries and how many DPW workers these new supervisors oversee. 

SCOTT JOHNSON”S BITE IN THE ASS

It looks like former Mayor Scott Johnson’s 11^th hour mass appointments to virtually every City Board is starting to unravel.  The day is December 31, 2013 and Scott Johnson make mass appointments to upcoming vacancies on City Boards and Commissions, thereby taking away the right of the incoming Mayor, Joanne Yepsen to name her own appointments.  The only thing that Johnson didn’t know about was that an appointed person had only 30 days to sign their ‘oath of office’.  The last 3 board members appointed by Johnson to the Housing Authority BOD failed to follow the law and sign the oath and had to be removed from Housing Authority Board of Directors.  The 3 (Ken Ivins, Al Callucci and Lou Schneider could reapply along with any other citizen wishing to serve on the board and had until Friday Nov. 21^st at the close of business to turn in a resume. 

Mayor Yepsen follows not only an announcement of an appointee at a Council meeting but also has that person come to the front of those attending or viewing the meeting, introduces the appointee and has them sign the ‘oath of office’, making it a little ceremony for those that will be serving on City Boards and Commissions.  The Saratogian noted that every Commission & Board member will be reviewed to make sure every member has signed the proper legal document.  The Scott Johnson 11^th hour appointments may be a silver bullet to those appointed just because of his not wanting Yepsen to have any chance for her own appointments.  This is how he ran the Mayor’s office for 6 years and should be one reason his reign gets lost in Saratoga history.

Arthur Einig Saratoga Springs wrote a letter to the editor in the Saratogian last week outing the DPS saying “In short, they extracted $30 from my pocket and put it into theirs. They did it to at least five other people too. There were probably more extractions to others earlier and later in the day and it’s reasonable to imagine that this goes on week after week. It’s a cash cow for the city, so why should they see it as unjust or immoral?”

It started for Mr. Einig on a “bright and sunny September days, I drove my wife, my mother (who just moved here) and my sister-in-law (her first visit to Saratoga) to see and shop at our wonderful farmers’ market at High Rock. The place was packed. Parking was tighter than tight. I let them off and rolled slowly away to find a parking spot. All the spots on both sides of the street were taken, so I turned into the city parking lot by the Mouzon House.”   He goes on to say that when ready to leave he noticed a parking ticket on his windshield. Every car parked on the curve was likewise ticketed. 

 The day of his court appearance he was found guilty and paid “the unjust, unethical ticket (I call it a dirty tricket). The judge allowed me to question the ticket-writing officer, who admitted there was no “No Parking” sign in that area and that the city had no plans to put one up. She also admitted that cars were ticketed in that area often during the summer.”

After paying his ticket he had asked the clerk to have the person in charge to please call him to discuss why there isn’t a parking sign there and if they plan on putting one up and since that day in September he has heard from no one.

The idea that the City would use this area as a money trap and was even backed up by the officer that wrote the ticket doesn’t sound like Saratoga, or does it?  Are we stooping to this level to grab money from Saratogians and visitors alike?  Where the heck are we heading?  Money traps, water hookup fees waived amounting to over 1 million dollars for special developers, City property being used by businesses for private parking.  Welcome to the new Saratoga.

ROCK & ROLL PART II

If you go to the Marion Ave. car wash, the City owns the property on the right hand side when entering the driveway although you would never know it; there is no signage that it is private property let alone City property.  The station has so many cars and U-Haul trucks parked on this piece City property that I would say that anyone who wants to car pool, park your cars there and drive to work in 1 car.  Obviously the City has no problem with non City vehicles parking there.  What department you ask uses these buildings?  Well none other than, you guessed it, DPW.  The buildings look like they should be torn down.  Scrub trees are growing all around the buildings and the weeds are waist high.  If this belonged to a property owner they would be fined, have the eyesore taken care of and charge the work of clearing the outside junk to the owners taxes.  There are many questions citizens are asking about why the City is looking so shabby but a few are just common sense.  The shrubs were ripped out around Spit and Spat and something like a lawn was planted there.  You can tell by the roll of yellow tape that circles the area, with track season opening in less than 3 weeks wouldn’t it have been a smart move to lay sod down in that area which would have made that whole side of the park and the Italian Gardens look much nicer?  The once ‘gem’ of Saratoga (Congress Park) is loosing a little luster, bushes are overgrown, the hill on the right passing the Casino needs weed whacking, the moss needs to be scraped off the base of the fountain, if you need instruction Skip on how to slow the growth after you clean the base, let me know its easy and only takes 10 minutes. Who is running DPW?  How is the work distributed, and does anyone check to make sure the work is getting done on time?  The flower beds in the islands as you enter the City on Rt. 9 have no color but they do have ornamental grass planted in the place of flowers (no color), is Skip and his 2 Deputies color blind?

A response in the last post alluded to the fact that DPW is down on manpower and that is true, but not by many and if Skip would stop giving  supervisor upgrades out like candy we may have more workers.  We should not forget that it was Skip who also took about $90,000.00 out of the employee line to purchase new trucks.   This is bad management; not being able to plan on vehicle rotation is a case where it hurts the employee numbers as that would have been at least 2 full time positions.  The Waterfront Park was mentioned in Anon.’s response and at tonight’s Council meeting Mayor Yepsen was speaking about Waterfront Park and that finally plans will be submitted to the Council for development as the City was in jeopardy of losing grant monies as nothing was done for 6 years at the site.  I took a ride out to the Park and was surprised to see a local paving business had his equipment parked there and people told me it has been parked there for days at least.  Why?  Will it be ok for any taxpayer now to be able to park on City property over 2 or 3 nights?  It looks like Skip is setting precedent or extending favors for the Marion Ave. site and the Waterfront Park lot.

CHAPTER 2

Well, Chapter 2 regarding the Casino/Raceway scuffle has gone to the proponents of an expansion at their property.  Round 1 went to SAVE Saratoga with a no vote from the Council as far as a casino coming to Saratoga.  I still think that Saratoga will get a casino because if one is located in E. Greenbush or Albany it will be a set back for businesses and dining establishments in and around our City and I don’t just mean Broadway.

The article hit the newspaper last Friday morning regarding the City’s status in what involvement they have in the project, Saratoga Springs was listed as an involved agency, meaning they had discretionary approval of the plans and now is a City which has none because any changes goes through the  State’s Office of General Services..  The demand from the Mayor a week earlier of ‘they (Racino) HAVE to go through the City’s Land Use Boards to I hope they will go through the Land Use Boards, sorry Mayor, I don’t think they will play ball with you on this one since you shafted them on the issue already.

I feel we need another convention center and it will fit in nicely with what we have now instead of chasing business to Albany as Mark Baker has done in the past when his City Center is booked.

It is interesting reading the comments that are written by citizens at the bottom of the article printed on the free online version of the Saratogian.  It seems the SAVE group sometimes referred by commentators as Saratogian’s Against Virtually Everything have become quite loud and nasty in their posts.  Water is an issue at the Racino with them now tapping into the County water supply, so the Councils past actions have hurt the City in this respect also. 

Talking about City water, DPW is installing 2 new water lines on Gridley & Crescent.  The project is $90,000.00 just for parts alone; labor cost information is being withheld according to sources.  These 2 water lines benefit the flat track and the City is picking up the tab.  By the way, the track gets plenty of water now but 2 years of a chlorine problem where the track had to shut down 80% of water usage for days is the reason Skip is installing the lines which is supposed to solve the City’s chlorine problem to water that goes into the track.

BUT I SAID YES LAST YEAR.

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

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

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

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

WHAT'S GOING ON?

The new Mayor has set an agenda for her term of hard work for all citizens, for getting things done and for breaking down the barriers that the previous administration had put up as a barrier between themselves and the everyday citizens.  It looks like the ‘good old boy network’ here in Saratoga has been put in moth balls for a while.  The best move so far has been the code blue she helped install in the City and the second was the removal of Clifford Van Wagner as head of the Planning Board.

Also, I am glad that she and the Council haven’t and hopefully won’t take a vote on the sitting of the Casino in Saratoga Springs, let the State Committee do their work.

Saratogian’s hear all the time from the Save Saratoga group about the 58%.  I will tell you now that if a vote were taken today it would be 50-50 or less than 50% for those against casino in Saratoga.  I have heard from many people that voted against Proposition 1 and have changed their mind since it passed, that they would rather have the Casino here than in another community close by.  The worries of Save Saratoga (a) HIGHER HOMELESSNESS is happening at an alarming rate without the Casino, (b) INCREASED GAMBLING ADDICTION, (most of the players will be bussed in and those who visit and stay in hotels will certainly take advantage of our downtown and restaurants), and the problem gambling issue can be addressed by the fine agency we have now in The Prevention Council.  (c) HIGHER CRIME – take a look in the papers, it is accelerating already. There is no worse gambling addiction than horse betting and I have never heard a peep about helping to control this affliction here.  Downtown merchants shouldn’t worry because if at least 20% of the people drawn to Saratoga by the Casino shop or eat downtown, that would be 20% more than now.

The water issue is another issue that seems to be going back and forth in Council meeting discussions.  The Commissioner said we have enough water for emergency conditions and that the back up sources are able to pump enough water to make up the difference in case we need it.  The other side has said that according to a DEC study the Bog Meadow wells cannot pump enough water to fill a water truck daily.  The Geyser wells are going bad as residents say the water pressure is quite bad.  The study done a few years back should be updated if only to give us the number of g/p/h can our existing wells and lake can pump.

A fact that all Saratogian’s should be worried about was discussed on a radio show I listen to.  Carrie Woemer lost a bid for our Assembly seat in November against Tony Jordan, who was also running for Washington County DA and gave up his Assembly seat on 12/31/13 leaving our District without representation.  Special elections have been called for by the 11 Districts without representation but have fallen on the deaf ears of Andrew Cuomo.  The reason could be because some of the elections (of Senate seats) if won by Republicans could give the GOP the majority, which our Democratic Governor won’t allow.  It should stir us up to let the Governor know we want representation as very important issues will be decided this term.  Save Saratoga and Destination Saratoga should come together on this issue of representation for Saratoga as well as the communities in our District.

WHY NOT IN THE SARATOGIAN?

Anyone getting the Gazette or the Times Union knows what is going on in Saratoga Springs.  The Saratogian it seems always leaves out some key articles that we have to be made aware of by an out of town newspaper. 

Case in point:

Scott Johnson made some 20 or more appointments to various Committees and Boards while walking out of City Hall New Year’s evening.  When a Mayor makes appointments, instead of appointing under a cloak of secrecy he/she will make a public announcement, most of the time at a Council meeting.  However, Johnson did not even mention the appointee’s names or even name the positions filled.  The main point of this post is that WE STILL HAVEN’T READ ABOUT THIS IN THE SARATOGIAN.  I will put parts of the Daily Gazette and the Times Union articles here:

Times Union editorial:

“During her successful campaign for mayor of Saratoga Springs, Joanne Yepsen vowed to better engage residents by holding community forums and creating citizen task forces to address the needs of the city’s 26,000 residents.

Her refreshing openness was a sharp contrast to the man she replaced on Jan. 1, Scott Johnson, who often shunned the public’s involvement in the business of the city.

Ms. Yepsen’s community engagement is the right approach for a city on the verge of a population boom fueled by major economic development. Add to that the thorny issues surrounding the possibility of the Saratoga Racino becoming a full-blown casino in a community that voted against a state ballot measure to legalize Las Vegas-style gaming.

But this new spirit of openness has had a setback. Just hours before he left office New Year’s Eve, Johnson arranged a surprise for Ms. Yepsen: He filled 20 vacancies on a host of panels, including the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and an advisory committee on open space. The open space group hadn’t met in five years, raising the question that has to be asked about all these appointments: What made filling them so urgent that Mr. Johnson couldn’t leave it to his successor?”

…”Even if Ms. Yepsen finds she has no authority to undo Mr. Johnson’s last-minute packing of these boards and committees, there’s a civic-minded way to resolve this. The appointees should volunteer their resignations and let the mayor decide who stays and who goes. And we would look to Ms. Yepsen to give those candidates fair and full consideration.

Here’s a chance for Mr. Johnson’s appointees to renounce what by all appearances was a crassly political move, and an opportunity for Ms. Yepsen to show that she is ready to work with people from different political backgrounds. That’s the spirit of collaboration and bipartisanship the city needs as it confronts its future — a spirit both sides can show with their actions, not just words.”  Along with the editorial was a political cartoon of mini Johnson’s in a corner.

The Daily Gazette-

Story by Justin Mason

“Mayor Joanne Yepsen is questioning 20 political appointments made by her Republican predecessor during the last hours of his term, including several made to alternate positions on the city’s land use boards that were left empty for eight hours before she officially took over. Though all of the appointments were to volunteer positions, she said the timing, manner and shear volume gives cause for a legal review of what transpired during the closing hours of the Johnson administration.
   “It’s not transparent, and it’s never been done this way — at least not in a long time,” she said. “This was unprecedented as far as I know.”
   Yepsen said the appointments included posts on the Heritage Area Program Advisory Board and the Open Space Advisory Committee — an entity that hadn’t convened in roughly three years. Other appointments included alternate positions on the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals created by a City Council resolution in September 2012 but never filled.
   “Based on some of the appointments, they are clearly political appointments,” she said.
   Yepsen said she had a cordial transition meeting with Johnson prior to the holidays and that he only mentioned appointments she’d have to the city’s Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and Recreation Commission. She said Johnson’s administration wasn’t forthcoming with a schedule of appointments and made no mention of the flurry that came several weeks later.
   “It was always curious why they wouldn’t share the appointment book with us,” she said. “I couldn’t get clarification from them about which appointments were open and which needed to be filled.”
…..“Yepsen said former Mayor Scott Johnson announced the appointments by memos issued to the commissioners at City Hall at 4:31 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, less than. She said the city attorney’s office is now reviewing the appointments to determine if they were made properly.
   Appointments to such boards and advisory committees are at the pleasure of the mayor, but Yepson said they're ordinarily disclosed at council meetings or by a public announcement.”

Though both papers questioned Mayor Yepsen not releasing the names, it may be because since they have not been publicly named by Johnson and some or all may resign.

This looks like any political gains Johnson and his Deputy made in 6 years if any will be wiped out by the 6 years of secrecy and his attitude of leaving citizens out of the loop when they should be in the know.  Also included was a cartoon of mini elephants in a corner with Yepsen holding a broom ready to sweep out the corner.