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. 

ELECTION DAY DRAWS NEAR

Well it is almost here, Election Day Tuesday November 3^rd.  How can you tell?  The land is covered with signs, so many in fact you can’t tell who the candidates are. 

The local newspaper has a subscription rate of at least 700 homes so we know that Saratogians can’t get their information from there. The candidates have to get their information out themselves, that’s why every one of them need to go door to door themselves and talk to voters themselves.

The Mayor’s race is one that gives me a chuckle.  We have a Mayor that has a good track record and a newcomer who has not gotten involved in or on any commissions but declares himself ready because of him being in the military and advising some homeowners associations.  The old lip service that he must get rid of a career politician (10 years) and bring stability back to the Council is just that lip service.  Mayor Yepsen has had to control the Council but Madigan, Matheisen and Scirocco clearly do not want harmony so 2 times a month create a circus atmosphere and even the new candidate won’t be able to handle unless he rolls over and is subject to them.  He also talks about career politicians yet I don’t hear him trying to get rid of Skip for going for his 4^th (8 year’s) and his (8 years as Supervisor) for a total of 16 years times in office, wouldn’t he be classified as a ‘career’ politician?  Stafford isn’t upset about this?  Isn’t this kind of being two faced and not being honest about his feelings and statements?

On to the DPW race.  Skip has done too many questionable things to be re-elected.  There are too many lawsuits against the City (against Skip), including but not limited to the Betty French suit, The giving away of over $1 million dollars to 1 developer concerning water hookups without getting Council approval (required), changing the Charter and eliminating the hookup fees then charging certain developers water hookup fee but not the one he gave $1 million dollars to, also during this past very cold winter a plumbing firm I will not name the outfit but I’ll give you the first letter of their name ‘B’ was repairing a water line break and had to dig up the road over to the house, however when they didn’t finish that day left the hole open causing sever water main breaks. 

The major repairs are now being done on Washington regarding this and hopefully the plumbing outfit will be paying the City for the work and not us taxpayers, also the pressure he put on his Party to not have any Republican to run against Democrat Madigan for Commissioner of Finance even when the Party had 2 qualified candidates that wanted to run for the position and well just for being Skippy who is like past President Coolidge “Silent Cal”,  we call him “Silent Skip”, although Skip does try to get into a discussion but  forgets what he is discussing 1 minute into talking and when he does discuss an item and he gets around the ooh’s and uhm’s and finally sounds like he might make a stand he reverts to voting along with Madigan & Matheisen.

Skip’s opponent is former DPW Director of Public Works and he did a good job while doing his job.  The one mark most people think Bill has is his last name, McTygue.  Bill’s brother Tom was a good Commissioner for years and the Skipper ran a successful election victory beating Tom McTygue.  However, Bill is his own man and he was involved with many popular and important projects.  The one thing noticed by City residents and tourists alike is the appearance of Downtown and how dirty and unkempt it is.  This is not good. Infrastructure was certainly updated during these years and won’t be a problem. Let’s do as John Stafford says and vote out a career politician and give a chance to someone who will probably be a better fit for the job and the City.

As for Madigan & Matheisen, their absolute disregard to the majority of citizens who have spoken on issues in the past 2 years and one who it appears wants to close businesses down and the M & M’s are the same two Commissioners who have gotten condescending and downright mean to citizens when they (citizens) are speaking, just about gives the nod for their seats to go to qualified opponents.

Of course everyone should thank all citizens who want to take their personal time to serve the City, there aren’t many and we do appreciate it.

So, here are our picks.

Mayor - Joanne Yepsen – she should continue to add to all the good projects she has done.

Commissioner of Finance – Ken Ivins, a former Commissioner who should be back in because of his knowledge and positive contact with citizens. It’s time to vote out one of two Commissioners who have gotten condescending and downright mean to citizens

Commissioner of Public Safety – Richard Wirth (it should have been Sarah Burger), it’s time to vote out one of two Commissioners who have gotten condescending and downright mean to citizens

Commissioner of Public Works – Bill McTygue – We need to get someone in that position who know what the heck is going on and one who will talk to, reply to and answer citizen’s questions directly.

Commissioner of Accounts – John Franck (running unopposed) ‘he can’t be beat even with an opponent.

Remember to vote, it is a right no one can take away from us, if you are going to be away get an absentee ballot.  

Election Day Tuesday November 3^rd, 6:00am – 9:00pm

Don’t complain about issues if you don’t vote.

THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS?

A few years ago Commissioner Franck wanted to look into an earlier closing time for downtown bars except during our ‘season’ from Memorial Day through Labor Day.  Needless to say the rest of the majority Council at the time brushed his idea aside.

Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen ran on a platform with one of the planks being rolling back the closing time of bars because of serious late night problems.  He was intent on doing something about the problems and police overtime especially that which is focused on Caroline Street.  However, again he met with resistance, this time from the Board of Supervisors whose job it is to approve any earlier closing time for the County as a whole not just 1 town or 1 City. Because of Commissioner Mathiesen’s diligence, Washington and Warren Counties looked at what the cutback in hours would mean for them and the 2 Boards of Supervisor’s did establish earlier closing times.  I think it is time again for Saratoga County to listen to our Commissioner because it is a real problem downtown and not just blow him off because he is from the minority Party.

This brings me to another big problem.  I was at the Council meeting Tuesday night and heard Tom McTygue ask Commissioner Mathiesen what the cost to the City was when SPAC hosts the Phish concerts.  Normally there are 2 per year but in 2014 there will be 3.  Phish fans destroy the State Park rendering it a filthy mess taking Park staff 2 days to clean up.  I also put Dave Matthews in this category but at a slightly lower level of destruction because of their fan draw.  Saratoga pays our Police to handle the crowds and parking, we pay Saratoga County Sheriffs double pay to do the same and we also pay off duty State Troopers double pay and pay for their hotel rooms while they are working here, this year it will be a two night hotel stay.  Saratoga Hospital is also over flowing with legal aged and underage kids who are so drunk that some have almost died from alcohol poisoning drug use.  These fans remind me of the Deadheads who followed the Grateful Dead from venue to venue.  I am glad they love the music but they add nothing to our community for these 2 or 3 night concerts.  They camp out at State Parks or anywhere they can without being roused by the Police or go back home, only to come back the next day.  They do not frequent our hotels or restaurants nor do they shop downtown.  The little we do make is the small amount of sales tax from Burger King or McDonalds and the like, if you want to find out where they spend their money on food, visit the park the day after a concert and you will get an idea.

My question is first of all, why do we use Saratoga Police?  I thought Routes 9 & 50 were State roads, why our ambulances, shouldn’t SPAC have their own?  If they do use Saratoga’s Police and Ambulance shouldn’t SPAC reimburse Saratoga for each call?  SPAC should pick up the tab for the pay and hotel rooms for the State Police, after all it is in a State Park and the Park has its own Police force, why should we pay?  It’s about time we demand SPAC pay its share to Saratoga Springs, with the possibility of no Casino, we will need every penny we can get from wherever we get it from.  I hope the Commissioner provides us with the information he promised us he would and Commissioner, I applaud you for walking downtown to see first hand the late night problems and hope you take a drive on Rt. 50 about 6 the night of one of these concerts and a walk in the State Park the day after to see the problems and junk left by these concert attendees.

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

Skip Scirocco – D

Skip Scirocco, The Commissioner of Public Works, where do we start?  Well, it all started when Valerie Keehn ran for her 2^nd term and we all know the shafting that Tom McTygue gave her for 2 years.  Valerie was a decent Mayor but because of the squabbles along with her removing McTygue’s brother Billy from a seat on the Planning Board which in his position as Director of Public Works was at most unethical and may have been illegal started the bad blood, but she did what no other politician ever did and that was taking down McTygue while in the process it also cost her re-election.  Now, the story.  Skip, with the Democrat Party’s backing successfully drubbed McTygue.  The smartest thing that Skip did was name his Deputy (Pat Design), a former Deputy under McTygue, as a running mate.  Design was one of the best Public Works Deputy’s we’ve had in quite a while, so by naming him early on voters knew Design’s reputation and the results he produced which helped Skip immensely.

Just off topic a bit, some may be asking why did Skip announced his Deputy early on and other Commissioner’s wait until after the election?  The answer is really simple if you think about it.  The person running for a Commissioner’s position already knows who they would like as their Deputy and most likely has already discussed the issue with him or her.  The problem is that the Deputy probably has a full time job and if the decision was announced early their employer may start looking for a replacement and let the person go before the election, thus putting that person in a bad spot if their boss doesn’t win.

Okay, back to our story.  Why does Skip deserve a D?  You must know that Skip is a very nice guy, but nice guys don’t necessarily make one qualified to be a head of a department that they have no business running.  The Commissioner had it covered when Design was the Deputy as the Department was running in tip top shape, Broadway was always clean, flowers always pretty, Congress Park always neat etc.  Skip then forced Design out of his position and replaced him with Tim Cogan, who knows about as much as Skip does in running the Department.  I know Skip lost a number of employees and that may have a small impact on the Department, I say small, good management should be able to still get the job done if you know what you are doing.

With the Casino fiasco, having an employee paid $54,000.00+ to hand out rakes and shovels as a punishment, selling water to homes and businesses outside the City (a practice started by McTygue), installing mail boxes in the middle of sidewalks, keeping Broadway looking just a tad messy etc. grants him the D rating.

We must also remember that when he was a County Supervisor he worked very hard to keep the Racino out of Saratoga and now complains that we do not get enough money from the operation.  I can’t remember if he was part of the lawsuit that the illustrious Joe Dalton filed to fight the Racino from moving into Saratoga, but I would think that since they are all part of the good old boy’s network, one would think he was.

The latest bit of information gathered is that the City has bought 2 new trucks for both the Commissioner and his Deputy and that both are unmarked but are the property of Saratoga Springs.  I could be wrong but I thought all City vehicles had to be marked with either the round City logo or marked Saratoga Springs.  Well, whatever, does anyone really care?  If they did, I’m sure they would show up once in a while and ask some questions, oh yes I remember, we are not allowed to do so.