HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

Well 2014 is starting out with a bang.  Snow and cold for a 36 hour period.

Inauguration of all elected officials were held today (Wed.) and all went well.  Congratulations to all, especially to new Mayor Yepsen who didn’t wait 2 weeks to install Code Blue.  She took the bull by the horns and put a plan in place, although I wish the 10 degree mark could be higher by at least another 10.  However, this should have been done years ago as other communities around the State took the proactive step.  Unfortunately, Saratoga Springs is a reactive City and it takes a death or a proactive politician to make things happen.

I was pleased to be wrong and see that Shauna Sutton has left the building.  I was not pleased however, to see that John Herrick gave her a plum job in the County Clerks office.  I would think that she would have to take a civil service exam to have the job but was told that they could delay the timing of the exam for a long time.  So, here we go again, full time County employee and full time cemetery Director, don’t you just love patronage jobs? 

I was surfing channels tonight and happened to catch the comment period of the televised Council meeting of 12/17, you know the one where Dave Bronner spoke about the proposed fire station (he repeated the same 4 sentences for at least 10 minutes and was never cut off by the Mayor).  Then when the Commissioner of Public Safety corrected some of his misconceptions, Bronner started yelling from his seat.

Cliff Ammon spoke as Cliff does about the 300 Save Saratoga that met to hear some information about the Casino and how we need to keep gambling out of Saratoga, could someone give Mr. Ammon a little history about what made Saratoga famous in addition to it’s water?  I read in the paper where Moreau would like to have the Casino at Mt. McGregor.  The site fits snug by Saratoga, Glens Falls and Lake George.  Moreau having a long shot at getting the Casino would certainly send customers to Lake George in the summer (yes, Lake George has a very long history as does Saratoga) which would be detrimental to us.  Also, they would not have to be restrained by our downtown businesses or City Center and would compete for both business and conventions/concerts, as a matter of fact if any other community around us gets the Casino, we would lose.  Horse racing attendance is down, SPAC cannot survive unless it has concerts that destroy the park and over burden our emergency rooms, where is the Ballet and the Orchestra, for which was the main reason SPAC was built?

The information night at the City Center gave me a few chuckles.  The head of the local Holiday Inn said that building the 135 room hotel on the Racino property, hotels downtown would suffer greatly; does she care about the 3 new hotels that are being built now as having an impact?  I also wonder if she feels that she is taking advantage of tourists when a room you can get from September thru June for $126.00 per night goes up to $356.00 (same room) for July & August with a minimum 2 night stay, this is standard for the hotel industry in the City.

This will be an interesting 3 months for this topic.

PROMISES, PROMISES!

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

SIGNS, ELECTIONS AND DEFECTIONS

Well, all the candidates’ political signs are planted, joining the 4 who are running for the Independence line in the Primary this coming Tuesday, September 10th. As I stated before, I believe this will give us a hint of how the election might look like. However, Primary’s do not usually draw the number of voters that the election will. Let’s look at this Primary for instance. This will be for the Independence Party line on the ballot in November. It is reported and checked out at the BOE that a large number (50 – 60) of Republicans changed their affiliation to the Independence Party last year before the election, thereby qualifying them to vote in this Primary and we will see that number all out to vote. It is said that it took Shauna Sutton and John Arpei only 2 hours to collect the needed numbers on petitions to qualify and force the Primary, which is pretty much unheard of. There are still a very large number of Independence voters and I think you will see a larger number turn out than in past Primary’s. The campaigns will start in earnest now that the tourists have gone and everyone is home and settled. Were you invited to the fundraiser at Scott Johnson’s home to benefit Shauna’s campaign? Heard that the minimum plate charge started at $500.00 but the price was encouraged to be more generous. This, along with the anticipated Palacio de Riggi fundraiser also heard the price to be starting at $500.00 per plate, show it is good to rub noses with the rich and famous. Well, let’s see what Tuesday brings and go from there.

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.

CUT ANOTHER TREE

Have you started to receive political paper at your house yet?  Door hangers and political ads have started to be dumped by Republican candidates, so you can expect the Democrats to follow suit soon. 

The DROP seems to be starting a little early this year, but then again there are a couple of primaries in September.  PLEASE don’t throw your junk pieces away, give them back to the candidates so they can save on printing more junk pieces.

Has anyone else noticed that whenever the Mayor has been at any event lately that makes the newspaper accompanied by a picture, Shauna Sutton is somewhere in there, like a Where’s Waldo picture?

Well a new book store opens and the best Italian restaurant in the area burns down, happy and sad in the same day, however, Broadway will be that much better for having Northshire Books and Ballston Spa and our whole area will be glad when Augie’s is back up and running.  Augie’s is having a fundraiser for their staff, you can go here http://bit.ly/16YsPyx

to make a donation, starting at $25.00, businesses, area restaurants, customers and those touched by the effort of Augie have been supporting the fund.  On the website he says this:

“Augie's Family Style Italian Restaurant had a fire. The entire place was condemned. The most important headline of the day is that no one was hurt. Things can be replaced - and we will rebuild. However, while we rebuild, our faithful and amazing staff will be temporarily out of work. As per the nature of being service staff, supporting them is difficult when much of their money comes in as tips for their superb and amazing service.
We are making a fund for those who have experienced the service from Augie's to help hold over our employees while we rebuild. We hope we have the community reach out and help the staff. Nothing is more important to us than our dedicated and friendly service staff. Without them, there wouldn't be an Augie's.

Where the money goes:

The money raised will go towards the service staff's hold-over budget - split as we normally do with tips and money raised with normal business at Augie's. We will use the funds to assist our employees while they are out of work during rebuilding. Any remainder of the funds (in case we rebuild faster than estimated) will go towards local homeless shelters in the 518.
Those who assist will receive a one-time coupon good for a percentage discount off of their bill upon reopening - applicable for in-house dining. We will also have a page built on our website showing who loves and supports the Augie's staff. “
Augie, a classy guy and a businesses man dedicated to the well being of his employees.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Yes, we are having fun on our vacation.  We are staying overnight and I have a chance to read the home town paper and was I surprised by an article or two.

First of all, I spoke with a friend who knows such things and it seemed that a large group of Republicans switched Party’s for this election and joined the Independence Party, thereby giving Sutton and Arpei the number required to force a primary in September.

I still think that this primary will be a good litmus test for the general election.  The primary vote will indicate how many votes the 2 candidates get then deduct at least the 58 of the Republican who switched to guarantee they got the ballot (as they would have voted Republican anyway).

Now comes the money part.  According to the Saratogian, Yepsen after expenses leaves her with $17,724 balance, “Most of Yepsen’s contributions come in $100 or $200 increments. She reported 106 contributions Monday and said the number was doubled after Friday’s fundraiser.”

Sutton on the other hand has not had a fundraiser to date and it is starting to look like another big money campaign money matter, as in the momentous misstep during the 2005 campaign that led to a Democratic sweep. The Republican candidate was having $500.00 a plate dinner fundraisers and Sutton looks to be doing quite the same thing minus the dinners.  Sutton’s donors and amounts of money given so far are: 

The Republican Party - $2,400.00

Wally Allerdice - $1,000.00

Richard & Bonnie Sellers - $500.00

Marcia Mac Donald - $1,000.00

Kathleen Smith - $1,000.00

Amy Smith - $500.00

Sheila Sperling - $500.00

Ann Hiller from Ga. - $500.00

Scott Johnson - $1,000.00

Carusone & Carusone - $1,000.00

http://www.elections.ny.gov:8080/reports/rwservlet?cmdkey=efs_sch_report+p_filer_id=C00635+p_e_year=2013+p_freport_id=K+p_transaction_code=A

 So, Sutton has 10 donors plus the Party’s money giving her $9,400.00.  Think of a few donors giving thousands of dollars against many donors giving smaller amounts and you may say to yourself who is for the people over big money?

There is no campaign filing page for Arpei yet.

Saratoga’s general elections are by rule, won by a few hundred votes and the Independence Party plays a role in the elections and again with the Republican move to the Independence Party they would vote Sutton anyway. .  The election will also boil down to how many cross over votes a candidate can muster.  The City’s declining Republican registrations along with an increase of Democrat and Independent (or, no Party), may end the Republican domination that has existed since Saratoga Springs became a City.

WHY, WHY, SHAUNA, WHY, WHY?

If the stories from Shauna Sutton’s friends are true, look out for a blast of negative suppositions spewing out in July.  This will be a nasty campaign as we mentioned before as evidenced by Suttons role as the hit lady of Johnson’s last run for office.  However, the tactic may back fire this cycle as many voters were very turned off by the Johnson camp false and very negative sprint to the finish, some even say that that tactic Sutton took in the last week of the campaign actually helped Brent Wilkes, Johnson’s opponent.  Wilkes as you remember, lost by a thin margin for being a relatively unknown in local politics.

Much of what was said by Sutton against Wilkes at the time was proved to be lies and really in poor taste by Capital District newspapers, something we can look forward to in this election campaign against Yepsen also.

Rumor also has it that big news will be coming in September, when everyone is back from vacation or from renting their homes out to track visitors, regarding Sutton and Arpei.  The news if it can be proved (and it looks like it will be) is so bad regarding Sutton she may, like so many of our State representatives be looked at for possible theft of services by taking money from the City in a no show job, while spending more time playing with graves.  There is supposed to be video from an unnamed source, who followed Sutton for 1 month, it is said the film has date and times, which will be easy to check with FOILED time cards.  Sutton also never went back to City Hall at night as she claimed when this came out in early Spring, when it was brought out about the time she MUST spend in City Hall and the time she said she made up nights to compensate for the days she worked at the cemetery. More news on this as the facts come in, but this could deliver a serious blow to Sutton and those who are playing the role of advisor’s to her campaign, as it could cast a shadow on them also, (guilt by association).

 Also, what will she do as Mayor as far as nepotism when it comes to her family and friends?  She hired her brother to a cemetery position of “head plumber”.  Here is an interesting fact:  cemeteries are not charged for the water they use.  Greenridge Cemetery had a water leak from June of last year and it wasn’t fixed by the "head plumber" until June of this year.  How much water was wasted when a 45 minute job took a year to fix?  The question, if she runs the City as she does the Cemetery by this one example, what will it cost us, the taxpayers? (see Rec. Center losses).

John Arpei who is running for Commissioner of Accounts has more baggage than Elizabeth Taylor used to tote around.  This is one of the reasons he has not publicly come out of the closet to say he is running (he is, don’t worry).  I don’t think the Party wants him to answer any questions about the position he is running for or any answers he will have to provide about the jobs he has had, organizations he was involved in etc., until it is absolutely necessary.  Look at late September to hear from him after Sutton or whoever is leading these campaigns runs interference for him.  When the election season rolls around for good, this exposure could be devastating to his run for the roses.  If the Republicans were serous about defeating Franck, the Party should have done a better job vetting him. 

Well Bat Fans, until then.

MEN IN TIGHT’S, EVERYBODY’S IN BUT ANDY

The Republican Party has delayed the handing in of their petitions for 2 weeks and it looks like they may delay a few more days.  The best guess is early next week when they introduce Andy Jarosh as a candidate for Commissioner of Finance, opposing Michele Madigan, which will fill their ticket, Andy is probably away on vacation, hence the wait.  I have been told the first delay was because they couldn’t find any one to oppose Franck.  After getting turned down 22 times according to my source, the Party finally talked John Arpei into contesting Franck for his seat.  It looks like the same scenario for someone to accept a chance to run against Madigan.  Republican sources have said that the same number (in the 20’s) had turned down the call to run for Mayor, Accounts and Finance, it seems Supervisor and DPS were easy to fill, especially  since Dick Wirth promised to Primary any Republican candidate for DPS unless they chose him.  The Republican’s, of course, want to look united so they gave the nod to him.  Similarly, the position of Mayor was proposed to so many people who declined it, that they finally had to throw their support to Sutton, whom they didn’t really want in that slot.

Supervisors were an easier task.  Matt Veitch is considered a shoo in and rightly so.  Peter Martin enters the race against Ken Ivins, Ivins enters the race carrying so much baggage from his City seat, that after 2 years of $0.00 tax increases he was still soundly defeated by an unknown Madigan, who has done some very good things with the Finance Department, the best of which is updating the department and putting income and expenses of every department and even the sub categories of every dept on line, that’s transparency.

Martin will give Ivins a run for his money especially since Ivin’s theme seems to be that more Republicans should be on the BOS to get more things done.  We would like to remind Ivins that there are 19 Republicans, 3 Democrats and 1 Independence party members seated on the Board now.  How many more Republicans are needed to get things done?  I think a good mix would be a Democrat and Republican representing the City.

Bill McTygue versus Skip Scirocco should be an interesting race also.  Will Saratogian’s say Scirocco’s number is up?  I feel the question will come down to, other than the foolish deed of selling water to Wilton to fulfill the Mayor’s pledge to Dave Harper (the attorney for the developer) that a housing development outside the City will get our water is this:  Is Saratoga Springs a better looking City now than it was before he took over?  Infrastructure cannot be seen, so we should know what has been done to improve that.  One other thing, when a project like building a condo etc. is finished, the developer is supposed to grade the street that they wrecked or cracked and repave it, all at no expense to the City or in other words we the taxpayers, I hope this has been the norm.

WELL PETE MADE ME DO IT

I got back from a short vacation yesterday and some fellow posted that everything that has happened in the last 6 days passed me by, but nothing I feel important has passed by in 6 days worth writing about.  This person (who I have named Pete) insists my name is Ric, so I’ll humor him or her for a while, as I said before; I get a chuckle when I hear names dropped regarding who Captain America is, so far nobody has picked the right combo, but keep those cards and letters coming in.

I do read the paper when I am away either on vacation or business so really it’s the same old hash of Shauna hating non Natives etc.  Ken Ivins did make a funny statement that with a 19-3-1 Republican majority on the Board of Supervisors he thinks he should be elected not for what he can do for Saratoga but by adding another Republican, the Board can get more done.  Where did that come from?  Yes, in the last 6 days Skip Scirocco has gotten a challenge from Bill McTygue, but that isn’t new news, that has been in the loop for 2 weeks.  Maybe now we might be able to remove dandelions off the list as Saratoga’s City flower.

I did see Dick Wirth walking down Broadway to meet with his think tank at Uncommon Grounds and he looked very happy as he was bobbing his head up and down (it reminded me of his days at the Council table). 

Mayor Johnson, voted his conscience (with a no vote) a few times tonight (he must have found it behind the bar at Sperry’s), I find it funny, not that he found his conscience at Sperry’s but that he is still not thinking rationally when voting.  He is showing Shauna how to play the mind games with the opposition.

What do you think?  Should we have last call at 2am year round except between 6/1 – 9/15 when last call is at 4am, or do you think we are the hoot toot tootinist City in the good old US of A?

Have you seen the Mayor’s Secret Service detail blending in behind Stewarts, across from the new 11 screen movie plex?  Have you noticed how his detail has grown since he has been Mayor? 

Last night the Council voted to hire 2 more police officers, good job Council.  I don’t think the Charter stipulates that officer’s live in Saratoga, so look for 2 police officers who may be out of a job but are fully trained and can start immediately, now can we restart the DARE program that Wirth eliminated?  We are now one of the leading Cities in the nation of student binge drinking both in Junior and Senior High Schools, a designation we don’t want.  The only no vote came from Mayor Johnson, whose grasp on reality is starting to worry some people.  I think he knew this was going to be his last term in office (he would have been beaten by Yepsen) so he bowed out.  That with some other personal demons is leaving him look dazed and confused.  He also voted no on the gun issue, and the ambulance proposal.

There was some other good news from last nights meeting but it also comes with a question mark.  The DPW appointment of an arborist position was passed.  This was long overdue.  The position will be provisional for 1 year at which time that employee must take a Civil Service test and place in the top 3.  The thing that bothers me about this is a few months ago the idea was brought forth by Commissioner Madigan that the City had the monies to create a FULL TIME in house Human Resource person as called for in the Charter.  The Mayor eliminated the full time position and contracted with an outside firm to work 20 hours a week at $75,000.00 or more for the person’s service.  First of all, our City staff is large enough for at least a full time HR person.  The Mayor, as an excuse, did not want a provisional employee appointed for the HR position reasoning that the position would have to wait until the next Civil Service test then a person from the top 3 from the list, then last night he voted for a provisional arborist.  Then the Mayor stated,  that since he voted against the City taking over the ambulance service he has to be consistent and vote no on the  EMS Operating Certificate motion,   Why the inconsistencies between personnel and ambulance?

ARE THE SLATES SET YET?

Well, it looks like the Republican slate is set to go.  One inside Republican told me that they had asked no fewer than 20 people to run for Mayor with no takers, so they had to settle on Shauna Sutton.  The only slots the Republicans are having more trouble filling are for Accounts and Finance and it seems that by asking so many candidates for Mayor, one would think they would also ask those people to run for these slots but alas, no takers.  The only worry that Republicans have is the race for Mayor.  Again, the Party did everything it could do, to have someone run for office and they wanted to stay as far away from Sutton as they could.  The City can look forward to one of the dirtiest campaigns ever.  Remember, she ran Johnson’s campaign last time and it got so dirty at the end that even the Mayor lost Republican votes, making the race close.  The rest of the slate looks possible, Vietch will win another term, the other race for Supervisor pits former Commissioner of Finance Ken Ivins against a yet unnamed opponent, however there are 2 names floating around.  Scirocco while a long term incumbent, looks like he will have an opponent this year so his unopposed runs might be over.  The problem to look at with Ivins and Wirth are that both are losers in the election businesses and it may be hard to sweet talk the voters they lost last time.

The Democrats have not yet endorsed candidates yet, although all have had fundraisers so it looks like a given the incumbents will get the official stamp.  The only races they haven’t officially spoken about would be the 2 candidates for Supervisor and the candidate for DPW.  With all the jockeying around it still looks like the Democrats will have a majority on the Council, how large remains to be seen, but rest assured Sutton will be the only Republican who will self destruct, its in her genes, her obnoxious behavior and acidic tongue will be a turn off as soon as she hits the road.  She should bring a pillow with her.

WE’RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD

And if you don’t finish the song in your head, there is something wrong with you.

A tribute to Sutton, she is not even the 2^nd best person running for Mayor.

We’ll we knew for weeks it was going to happen and after asking (as I hear from a committee member)  about 20 people and being declined, Dave Harper chose, yes, another in a long line of Johnsons, sultry Shauna.

I think we all woke up this morning, after the tornado hit and we landed in Oz.  The Wicked Witch of the North was being pronounced candidate to wear the Ruby Slippers.  Funny, the movie ‘The Wizard of Oz’ came out the same year (1939) that Sutton was born.

You would have thought I was pregnant as I had a severe bout of morning sickness after reading Lucian McCarty’s blog announcing The Wicked’s planned fanfare.  Enough of this for now, because there will be so much material for the rest of the year, one has to hold back some.

Aw, gee wiz, ok one more thing.  The best way to beat Sutton is to burn her broom and throw water on her.  It may not melt her but it may improve her conniving face, get it, face.

Honest everyone, this just in, Dick Wirth will name (either before, or if he wins, after the election) that he has tabbed Al ‘The Marlboro Man’ Calucci to be his Deputy; it seems we are turning into Hooterville more and more, every day.

CAN’T CATCH A BREAK

It seems the Republican Party is having a hard time getting candidates to run for office.  They have backed 2 losers in Ken Ivins and Dick Wirth.  When I say losers, I don’t mean it as a reference to their personal character (although that may be one reference, but not now); I mean to say that they were beaten on their records, so it appears that the R. Party will have to back these 2 announced candidates.

There is also a rumor floating around that Shauna ‘of the dead’ Sutton will have to take the endorsement of Mayor because of a lack of volunteers for the position and that she will do so while being backed by  Johnson money.  If this is going to happen, it will all but guarantee Yepsen a victory as Sutton’s husband and family would not vote for her, I am not one for political advice but Shauna, stay in the cemetery.

The Wirth run is interesting.  He was beaten, not so much from his lack of being at meetings (he was there but his mind was in the female officer’s shower room) and his failure to being anything but a pure puppet of John Herrick and Scott Johnson.  It was embarrassing when the Council had to wake him up so he could vote on a piece of legislation.  I think the only reason the Party endorsed him is (a) they had no one else and (b) he said he would run, with or with out Party support.

Wirth’s opponent, Chris Mathiesen, won the election because of the promise’s he would carry out.  He has carried out those promises and more, maybe a little too verbosely but performed as he promised.  His call to turn back the closing hours of bars failed to garner even a look by our County Board of Supervisors but  resulted in the Mayor of Glens Falls to pitch the same idea to the Warren County BOS, who last week voted to do just that, so now the proposition will go to the State with County approval.

Also, shouldn't it be a prerequisite that a candidate announce his or her Deputy before the election?  How do we know that the Deputy will be qualified for the position and not just a politicaly appointed position, heavens knows we have had enough of patronage attempts at the County level

I was wrong in predicting that Ivins would run against John Franck.  The order from Harper came down that he would not get the backing of the Party if he pursued that avenue.  If Ivins runs on his past record as he said in his announcement, he is in trouble from the get go and his statement that more Republicans are needed on a Board that is comprised of 19 Republicans to 3 Democrats and 1 Independence party members, (nothing against Republicans) are needed to get things done at the County level, must have been said after the cocktail hour.

Let us also not forget Johnson’s, Harper’s and Scirocco’s Watergate.  This will be huge at election time.

So, that leaves rumored Democrat Peter Martin to run for County Supervisor, a candidate who has not been named yet as Sciricco’s opponent, Andrew Jarosh a designated hitter for any position and opponents for Madigan and Franck.

The picture should become clearer by the middle of May.

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.

IT’S OFFICIAL

Insider’s in City Hall confirmed today that the Mayor has appointed his cast of characters for the rest of his term.  He is copying the show Hawaii Five-O.

Chris Mathiesen – Steve McGarrett

John Franck – Danny “ Danno” Williams

Michele Madigan – Lydia Lei

Skip Scirocco – Chin Ho

Scott Johnson –   Wo-Fat (He will darken his hair shave his goatee and grow a fu-Manchu).  If the Mayor isn’t in the Wo-Fat role look for him as Gomer Pyle.

Shauna Sutton – Wo-Plump

A certain blogger that is very close to the Mayor, some say he is in bed with him, play’s the role of Kono “Kong”

The Mayor has issued an edict that all Commissioner’s and Her Plumpness get into their roles ASAP, he is also getting lei’s for all the staff in City Hall.

For those of you who have never watched the old Hawaii Five-O, you can watch the show on channel 556 or 13-3.  I started watching it and it is a lot better than the current one.

Aloha

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR - PART "CINQ"

Commissioner of Accounts – John Franck – (B-)

John Franck probably deserves a B+ but just as Mayor Johnson deserves an F, there is something a politician does have and that is the desire to help their City, in Franck’s case he does, in Johnson’s case he tries. 

If you are looking for the strongest person on the Council for their knowledge, standing up for what he thinks is right (most of the time he has the facts in front of him), efficiency in running their Department, look no further than Franck.  Some say he is actually the Mayor of the Council as he seems to have the brains that the real one lacks.

Frank’s Deputy is most qualified to hold her position also.

Franck explains in detail every item he presents, whether he agrees or disagrees, so citizens absolutely know where he stands on the issues.  The years 2005 – 2007, when the Council was all Democrats he did not always follow the Party line on all the issues.  Today with Johnson as Mayor he has held him somewhat in check for the good of the City.

This past year he faced a crisis with class and dignity.  Mary Zlotnick, who it was said by an employee of City Hall, was a plant sent to Franck by super-spy Shauna Sutton and started to undermine and accuse, take pictures, remove files (temporarily) in order to set Franck up for a fall from office in her first days of working.  It was rumored that the Mayor wanted to hold the story up for later this year to come smack in the middle of this year’s election season and with the dirty trick Johnson & Sutton pulled at the last minute of the 2011 election regarding Brent Wilkes nothing would surprise me at what these 2 are capable of.

Zlotnick went to the Police, who found he did nothing wrong, she then called in the Atty. Gen. who after all this time has found no causes of impropriety.  Zlotnick called in every newspaper, television stations and a local blogger whose only purpose is to destroy a person even if he makes up disgusting information to aid her in her directive to bury Franck.  If anyone knows the story, Franck, who gives classes on how to grieve your taxes and will opens his books to anyone, seems to have nothing to hide.  The end result is that the Department of Accounts is as clean as a whistle, Zlotnick, after a public labor hearing (her choice) lost because it was determined she had no knowledge of the job she was doing. 

This year we will decide our new Council.  If the Republicans want to add seats on that Council, they should put up credible candidates rather than the one sitting there now.  We can always hope.

Yours truly

Captain America195

IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR!

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

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

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

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

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

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.

THANKSGIVING

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

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

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

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