I CAN TALK TOO!

Hello Bat fans.  The run for the money has started in earnest.  Looks like Sutton will have her (2) $500.00 per plate dinner fundraisers compliments of Scott Johnson and reportedly by residents of Palacio de Riggi.  The Mayor didn’t need the fundraisers as past Republicans did but Sutton’s lack of funds needed to win (about $75,000.00) will be made up by the fundraisers and by Johnson and his out of town attorney groups.

The NYS Funeral Association convention is being held this week in Saratoga and the guest speaker will be none other than our very own Mayor Scott Johnson, it seems that a group of happy funeral home directors were walking downtown one night and passed by Mayor Johnson as he came out of Sperry’s and thought he looked like someone from the Walking Dead, so they just had to have him on the agenda to see if he indeed talks.

The Police of Saratoga Springs, handicapped by former Commissioner Wirth’s layoffs are doing an incredible job in keeping the City in fine shape, is Saratoga Springs without crime?, No.  Take a look at national averages though and our crime rates are on the low side of cities throughout the country. 

According to the Saratogian:

“Saratoga Springs does have more arrests from reported burglaries than the national average.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation collects crime data from thousands of police agencies across the country, including Saratoga Springs. The national clearance rate for burglaries is 12.7 percent, which is the percentage of arrests made from reported burglaries. The city’s clearance rate for the last decade is 16.4 percent.”

 I would call that pretty good;  as for those of you who want instant up to the minute information on what the Police are up to, one word of advice would be to join the force, why is it that in today’s world we have to know everything that is going on as it happens?

The capital budget has been set and it seems that the Mayor and his aide Shauna Sutton have told residents on the Eastern Plateau that EMS and Fire protection should not be a priority for them.  Something has to be done and if it takes a change of leadership in the Mayor’s chair to do it then the Eastern Plateau residents should tuck this info in their mind for Election Day.

City Deputy Public Works Commissioner Tim Cogan said there are intake valves at the water plant that date back to 1871 and need to be replaced.  Please, if you could wait just 8 more years, we could have another year of Saratoga 150 festivities for those intake valves.

Remember that the primary’s are coming up soon and it should be a gauge on what the election will bring, so stay tuned and please attend one of those $500.00 a plate fundraisers, I know I will.

HANGING OUT AT THE WATER COOLER

I was talking with some members of the Justice League at the water cooler and heard some interesting news.  It seems that The Republicans have set in stone another block to run on their ticket making it 4/5 complete.  Along with Ivins, Scirocco, A. Jarosh is the newest retread R. Wirth.  Wirth as you heard was not going to be supported by the Party but a combination of events changed Harper’s mind.

a. They (Republicans) can’t get anyone else to run.  They are even brokering deals for someone to run for Mayor.

b. Like the other 3 named above, Wirth gave in and swore allegiance to Chairman Dave Harper’ edict, that if any Republican candidate wins election, they MUST hire Shauna Sutton as their Deputy to give her the necessary 2 years for lifetime benefits.

Since it looks like the Democrats on the Council will retain their seats and the fact that Yepsen is almost unbeatable (however, you never know, she still has to work hard), b. above would include Commissioner Scirocco.  If Deputy Cogan hasn’t taken the hint by now, a piece of advice, be prepared pack your bags and get a swift kick out the door.

The only other post except for Mayor, on the Republican side are the 2 Supervisor seats that will be on the ballot.  It’s a sure bet that Matt Veitch will run and win.  It is not clear however who the other Republican will be or if indeed there will be one.  The picture is also unclear who the Dem’s have, if anyone yet.  If 4 run, the top 2 with the most votes get the nod.

Scirocco will need some big help this year if the Democrats have a credible candidate to run against him.  For starters, we hear that Shauna Big Bear will be tapped to run his campaign.  If she runs his campaign like she did Johnson’s last time (so negative it even turned a big number of Republicans off) he’ll have a big nut on his hands.  The water deal with Wilton will only be getting worse this year and with so much more to come out, the Democrats can’t let him slide anymore, it could be a big water fight.

Someone in the know also let it slip that whoever gets the nod for Mayor on the Republican ticket won’t have Johnson’s personal wealth to use for the campaign, so the Riggi’s will be hosting a $500.00 per plate dinner ala Mike Lenz later this summer.  The event will be held at, surprise, The Palicio de Riggi.  The Green Hornet also heard that for entertainment, Mrs. Riggi will have her 38? Pomeranian canines, dance to ‘Swan Lake’, bring your Kleenex; Michelle won’t be able to stop blubbering, Gee, when the dogs did a Sammy Davis routine last summer, she passed out from all the excitement.

Just one other piece of information,  longtime Saratogian’s say that the Old Boy’s Network is dead in Saratoga and they are giving way to a younger, kinder type of politics. Ha, I say, Ha. 

• Walk by Tom Roohan’s Realty Building, there is construction going on and guess what, like the Mayor and the Parking Garage, Roohan has no visible Building Permit.
• Walk by Adirondack Trust on Broadway – The street sign doesn’t name the street – the street sign says ATM -----à.  I guess that means any business can remove the street signs, put their name on it with a pointer and whistle a happy tune.

Until next time, same bat Time, same bat Blog.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH JOHNSON & SUTTON?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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