THE DUMB BUNNIES

Some think I haven’t written because I am licking my wounds over the last election, nothing could be further from the truth.  After the election “You Asked For IT You Got IT” said it all.  It’s not that I don’t see what is going on here in Saratoga, it’s just I don’t care anymore.

Saratoga Springs has one of the lowest voter turnouts in the State.  Most of the so called” Native Saratogians” could care less about what is happening in their own City.  Let’s look at a few items.

The biggest political beach ball since the Casino is the City Center parking puke of a garage.  Now we won’t say who has her head up the wazoo of Mark Baker but I’ll give you a clue, she sits to the right of the Mayor.

This woman should have a blood alcohol test before entering the Council Chambers.  She not only looks buzzed at the table but totally disregards citizen rights.  I watched in horror yes horror, oh, the humanity, the meeting on 3/15  as the public hearing for the lease took place.  I even had to go back and watch the dialogue of the hearing again, Madigan had berated a citizen because she (the citizen) wanted to talk about finances and here was where the fun began for everybody except the lady at the mic.  Madigan went off yelling her that she was not to speak of finances (this was part of the lease) and Madigan also screamed ‘it is my public hearing and I’ll run it my way’, clearly she hasn’t seen the light of day between the vino and the wazoos, but it was doubly disgusting that an elected official would treat a citizen in such a way, she is publicly, an embarrassment as representative of the City.  Many of Madigan’s friends and owners of Broadway businesses paraded to the Mic decrying the benefits of a multi-use concept.  Ms. Sellers would be likely to say, ‘burn the non-conformers and all non-Native Saratogians’. 

We must look at the view of the DBA (Downtown Business Assoc.) and Chamber of Commerce as one of chicken crap.  These entities do not want anyone shopping off Broadway, period, whether it helps the economy, creates jobs or any businesses benefitting due to off Broadway business.  The DBA & Chamber should give free memberships to those businesses off Broadway or the City should take away their higher tax rate.  Today, it looks like the vote for the City Center to get its way may be a reality (thanks to wobbly Madigan & the wide eyed Scirocco, everyone is saying that Matheisen is the wild card and is still evaluating which I sincerely hope he is doing.  Commissioner, it is not a law that you have to vote with Madigan & Scirocco, keep an open mind and make the right decision to go into the RFP’s a little more (selfish me).  Also worth noting, Madigan’s appointment to the High Rock Park Technical Review Committee was none other than Larry Novick (a Bonaccio front man, Scirocco’s pick, Rod Sutton and Tom Roohan from the City Center plus the other picks.  Novick, Sutton and Roohan have nothing in common, right?  

You know you are in trouble as a citizen when a majority (hopefully not) would settle for $50,000.00 per year when with a multi-use garage you could have a business 1^st floor that could generate about $2 million dollars a year, create new jobs and tie Broadway into the High Rock area, now that is great leadership from a Council, again check the blood alcohol level.

The Skipster, what to say about him?  The citizens should chip in and purchase a new pair of glasses for him, it looks like he can’t read or see what goes on around him.  If you were at or watched the Council meeting from March 1^st Mark Lawton (a man who knows and can interpret the Charter) informed Skip that he was not following the Charter because he should be presenting his water & sewer plan at budget time instead of in March.  Scirocco admitted he didn’t know this and then corrected himself with a shaky excuse.  This is scary because by not knowing your Constitution (Charter) you are bound to fail.  

Wait, according to Skip, if you go against the Charter just change it to suit your needs.  Point in case, Donna Buckley, Deputy Commissioner and puppet master of Skip hires a Director of Public Works then fires him when a Veitch family member wants the job, only he can’t pass the exam.  So what does Donna & Skip do?  Why create a new position of Business Manager.  Who was taking care of business for the Department all these years?  Now that we have a Business Manager the department’s employees whose duties are going to this new position should have their salaries reduced.  Skip, you’re a nice guy I guess but you are way out of your league in your position as Commissioner as you were as Animal Control Officer (PC for Dog Catcher).

This is what happens when apathy sets in at election time.  Most people don’t care enough about what goes on in their City but boy can they complain about everything and a case of electing the good old boy’s choices (yes it still runs rampant in Saratoga, although the old guard are dropping away quietly)

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.

OSCAR NIGHT

Saratoga Springs has an evening of celebration for Oscar night.  This year’s movies up for best of the year are:

WATERGATE – A small city, having water problems of their own really sinks when the City’s Mayor and Commissioner of DPW sells it’s water to an adjoining town in a possible back room deal that future developed land of 170 acres may be supplied with City water.  The tag line throughout the movie is ‘follow the money’, stupid, or see where the water flows.

COMPREHENSIVE – The Mayor of a small City decides he will hand pick the entire Committee of a 10  year Comprehensive Plan Committee which will determine the path the City will follow in growing, building and keeping green space which the City is fast losing.  The real drama comes when the Mayor nicknamed “Little Napoleon” leaves the other 4 Commissioners out of nominating a candidate, (3 of which do not live in the City and 3 or 4 others who have no vested interest in the City as they pay no taxes, a banker that handles all City money and a good local developer).  The Mayor tells the Commissioners that they can choose one of his picks.  THIS MOVIE IS IN THE COMEDY CATEGORY.

WHAT, NO BUILDING PERMIT? – The story of a small City Mayor, who for reasons unknown fails to issue a building permit to the developer of a 3 story parking garage for the City (yes, the City must issue a permit for any City project).  After 3 months of work, when asked, the developer said the City is responsible for supplying the permit and after the developer discussed this with a local blogger, just like magic a permit was on site the next day.  Something should also be done to the Good Olde Boy’s Network fellow Tom Roohan (see how I used the old fashioned Olde, has a nice look doesn’t it) as no permit can be found on his building which is undergoing reconstruction work; the lack of a permit is a pivotal scene if it involves a new office for Tamara Valentine.  If so, this movie critic would vote this for movie of the year. THIS IS A DEEP DRAMA MOVIE.

RECREATION CENTER – In a small City miles from any land that could be used  for recreation, the small town Mayor builds a Recreation Center on a piece of land that was used for recreation, spending $7 million dollars.  The dark side of this horror flick is that when the Mayor of this small town promises that the City will make large amounts of money after the first year, the taxpayers are being bled to death just to keep the doors open.  The Mayor also plays the bongos at his private club nightly.

These are the four movies up for the award for best whatever.  You choose.

In WATERGATE, the director wanted Harvey Korman & Tim Conway as the male leads, but with one dead and the other not available he chose one who looks dead and one who is not available in Johnson & Scirocco.

 In COMPREHENSIVE the director wanted TaToo from Fantasy Island, but alas he’s dead so they choose Scott Johnson.

In WHAT, NO BUILDING PERMIT? Shauna Sutton stars as the Mayor who can’t find the 3 level parking garage.

And last but not least, in RECREATION CENTER – the director wanted Don Knotts to play the Mayor but since he expired guess who got the part?

Rumor has it that Mayor Johnson’s wife Julie will present the Best Actor award.

ANOTHER AWARD

Well citizens, Saratoga Springs has won another distinguished award.  A well known sports magazine has listed our Broadway as one of the top 10 main streets that geese love to fly over, on the way South.  The Mayor is so happy that he gets a Golden Goose to put on his showcase in his office, the Golden Goose Award will be placed in between his 2 bottles of Grey Goose.

Speaking of the Mayor, word out of City Hall is that after he empanels his 15 member Commission to tweak the current Charter, Johnson will order them to insert 4 year terms for Mayor and Commissioners and stronger powers for the Mayor’s position.  It looks like he wants to be sure he has a longer period of time to be away from his wife, who by the way is a very nice person, and give poor destitute cemetery caretaker Shauna some extra dough.  Remember another 4 years for these 2 means life insurance for as long as they live, paid for by us.

It will also be interesting to see how the SUCCESS group deals with 4 year terms that one of their members (Mayor Johnson) will tout.  We will see if the Sellers, Klotz’s, Weihe’s, Masie, The Saratogian,Wait, Roohan’s, former Mayors Lenz, Watkin, O’Connell, and current DA Jim Murphy.  Remember they all complained endlessly that this was a very strong point that “you can get rid of the bums after 2 years”.

I want to address a sad case.  A local blogger who never had any scruples to start with and who lives off of the taxpayers and what money he can get from a few supporters, has gone to a new lower level.  No he hasn’t moved downstairs.  He used to be involved in a group of break – away Democrats and attended their meetings at Mama Mia’s every month.  However, since last year, they told him to STAY AWAY.  They do not want him around and he has added them to his vulgar and idiotic blog.  His blog is followed by a handful of readers and sadly he posts many responses himself.  It is very sad to see him try and operate as a reporter the thinks he is.  He is truly a pathetic individual.

On a lighter note, Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away.  I hope everyone has family or friends to gather and enjoy the day with.  If you do, why not consider donating some stuffing mix, canned vegetables, potatoes, a jar of gravy or cranberry sauce to a local food pantry so a family in need can have a taste of the Holiday.

Thanks

WILL IT BE A SURPRISE?

1. Will it be a SURPRISE, if the Saratogian, after nearly 30 years of calling for a change of the form of our government does not endorse Proposition 1?

  

2. Will it be a SURPRISE to find out that Mayor Johnson will pull a last minute slam out of his bag of dirty tricks to try and create fear and doubt to sway voters as he did in last years Mayor’s election.  I remember that one, he had his minions pass out door tags and mailings days before the election telling voters that his opponent Brent Wilkes had mismanaged his business into a 90 some million dollar loss.  It was proven that the Mayor had fabricated the information.  Newspapers reported in many articles of the unscrupulous act the Mayor pulled.

3. Will it be a SURPRISE if businessmen like Tom Roohan, Charles Wait, and Elliott Masie are against Proposition 1?  Remember that the Commission form was started “when fearful that the island city might never recover its prosperity under the leadership of the incumbent city council, a group of wealthy businessmen known as the Deep Water Committee devised a plan to have the governor appoint a commission to govern the city during the rebuilding period. To appease opponents who contended that appointed government was undemocratic, the plan was altered to provide for popular election of the five commissioners.”  The operative words here are WEALTHY BUSINESSMEN.  The Commission form was created by them and for them.  Look at Saratoga Springs rich history, who were the power brokers?  Roohan’s, Wait’s, McNeary’s, go ahead look back in time and see for yourself.  These men and those that came before them wanted to keep Saratoga Springs under their thumbs and do things when they wanted to, not when an independent Council set the pace.  Today we have a mini me version in Mayor Johnson, with his $27,000,000.00 clout and his business buying spree's, he is getting away with things local citizens could never get away with.

He has a fence surrounding his house that is illegally placed and doesn’t meet code.  He has stamped macadam sidewalks when City Code says you -have to have 5ft. wide by 4’ thick concrete with wire sidewalks, again he is out of code.  Why isn’t the code Dept. charging him with these code violations?  Is he inserting his private threats on City Hall employees?

4. Would it be a SURPRISE if SUCCESS was paying senior’s to vote no?

5. Would it be a SURPRISE if not one word that SUCCESS is promoting regarding the Charter is truthful?

Like it or not, the back room of politics is surely a game.  Will it change if the Manager form wins?  Not all games but most of them.  One Commissioner would not be able to stick it up another Commissioners backside because they wouldn’t play ball with them. 

 The Council would be the legislative body of government approving every piece of City business.  The Manager would oversee the running of the departments by qualified department heads, not political appointees or appointees that have a personal interest with a Commissioner.  This Manager will get the Departments to run smoothly and efficiently because if they don’t then it is his or her job on the line.

I hope you have made up your minds by now, but if you are against the Proposition or still on the fence, take a look at what happens in the next few days, say a Press release by the Mayor, a charge by the financial backer of SUCCESS, Elliott Masie and ask yourself, are these acts of desperate people trying to have fears and doubts about this issue?  If so take a look at what they do not want to lose and ask yourself, maybe it’s time to take our government back.

A great post by a Saratoga resident who is an author of his own site explained it well, visit his article here
http://tenoonan.com/2012/10/31/saratoga-springs-charter-vote/