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.

LET’S ROLL THE DICE

It’s nice to see that Alexis Broz is coming home.  Broz a Schuylerville High graduate last year, made her mark in high school sports where she ran track and holds the state record in the pentathlon and high jump. Biking 13 miles every day from home to Broadway to create the chalk artwork on downtown sidewalks with a substantial amount of supplies on her back she showed her dedication to earn money for her educational wilderness adventure while gracing us with a beautiful and different form of art.

The election season is trying to kick into high gear but can’t seem to find the gas to do so.  The upcoming summer season is one where slings and arrows are kept in hiding most of the time as we really don’t want the tourists to see how some Saratoga politicians play their dirty games in the campaigns. However, wait until the day after Labor Day, things will most likely start to percolate.  The Deputy Mayor is already taking credit for securing the grant to finish the waterfront park on Saratoga Lake, as she states she has been meeting with Bradley Birge (Planning and Economic Development Director) twice a week to get things done.  It has been in this administrations hands for about 7 years to get it finished and there is still much work to do, but don’t let that stop you from taking the credit Deputy Mayor.

Talking about the Casino, do you really think it will be a good thing for Saratoga?  The State takes 25% off the top as a gambling tax (Nevada takes 7%).  The casino owners will have to make large profits, so where does that leave Saratoga and its problems of where to house the low income workers that will be employed there.  The State should make sure that the Casino owners spend some of the big bucks to build low income housing, which shouldn’t be a problem since they will have to pay the State a $54 million dollar franchise fee.  We should also hope that if we do get a token income stream like we do from the Racino, like a 1.5 million dollar stipend, we won’t have to provide the police, fire and DPW services to get the money.  The Casino should either pay for all of its own services including repairing roads annually or contract with the City for providing them.  Also, if we get a Casino there’s no guarantee racing will continue to receive a share of gaming revenue.

Remember the Secret Garden Tour this weekend, no one knows where it is, as it is a secret Tour, but if you’re going, have a good time, I guess.

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.

SARATOGA SPRINGS IS GOING TO THE DOGS

The news on T.V. last night revealed some interesting items about the said ‘First Family’ of Saratoga Springs, The Riggi’s.  I must have been in a coma for a while because I didn’t realize they are the ‘First Family of Saratoga’.  However, that is what was spouted by Greg Floyd last night when he told us that the Riggi’s will have their own  Reality series on the E Channel named Palacio de Riggi, I kid you not.   The things that make the Riggi’s famous is their house, the fact that they have a real English Pub in their palace (you can’t take the waitress out of Michelle from her Cock and Bull waitress days) and the fact that their lawn is heated in the winter so her dogs paws don’t get cold when they practice the doggie ballets they are famous for.  I hope this show won’t be an embarrassment to Saratoga or the Riggi’s like the Kardashian’s do to themselves.

We all know that government costs grow every year, that’s to be expected.  The huge part of the budget increase is payroll, overtime and benefits, which makes up 70% - 75% of the budget.  However, costs could be reduced dramatically if the overtime in the Police and Fire departments didn’t have to be offered by seniority.  Nothing against our Police or Fire Departments, they do a great job, however a starting officer’s pay is what $32,000.00 or so?  These officers should be given 1^st crack at overtime not the $80,000.00 - $90,000.00 ones on that level of pay scale.  Senior officer’s work quite a bit in their last 3 years to boost their retirement checks, but it costs the City more every year.  If this is a contractual issue and the union won’t give it up, the City should perform the Reagan nuclear decision like he did with the air controllers. Let all the Police officers go and contract with the Sherriff’s Dept. to cover the City until such time that the force is back to full strength.  The process will not be a drawn out affair and I’m sure that the deal would be completed in a matter of weeks.  The City could even hire out of work officers to work along with the Sherriff’s department.

The main thrust isn’t that the departments are not doing their jobs; it is because the cost of overtime is killing us and because overtime is based on seniority.

"THE PEEPER" IS RUNNING

Well, we would say its official; Dick ‘Peeper’ Wirth is running for Commissioner of Public Safety.  Tuesday night’s Council meeting was graced with his presence which indicates that when a name of a person is floating out there about running for office and they start showing up at Council meetings, they are running.

One of the most amazing things about Wirth’s appearance was when he spoke at the microphone and gave his approval regarding the cameras to be put up downtown.  The amazing part you may ask?  Wirth said more during that stretch at the microphone than he did in the 2 years he was Commissioner, he did start the head bobble but caught himself.  I didn’t even think he could string that many words together.  We also love the picture in this morning’s newspaper of Al Callucci looking longingly at Wirth up at the microphone.

There is interest in a hotel being erected at the former Weathervane fish restaurant.  Brad Birge did his routine about Planning Boards, Design Review Board etc.  I have a word of advice to the person who wants to put the hotel up, hire Bonacio Construction and you will be able to break ground this May and will have a completed Hotel by summer of 2014, end of story.

Had some friends come up from down State over the weekend and unfortunately had to park in the Woodlawn Ave. parking garage, how soon that became a slum.  We had to park on the 2^nd level which is no problem, when we noticed the elevator was out of order; we then walked down the stairs, all of them littered with cigarette butts, paper, Trojan wrappers and dirt.  The first landing we hit, we noticed that someone relieved themselves and left everything there but the toilet paper, it also looked like that corner of the wall was being used as a urinal, the same down at the next landing.  Hellooooooo, is anyone taking care of this garage???  I thought this was under the jurisdiction of DPW.  I wonder if the Commissioner or his Deputy or any Commissioner (Mayor included) or their Deputies ever park there?  Please get word to Commissioner Scirocco, he hasn’t returned 3 calls from Justice League members, so I don’t know how many people have complained.  I have an idea for the Commissioner, take some of the water we are selling Wilton, start at the top of the Parking Garage and hose the darn thing out, please.  This is a very bad impression to leave for visitors or shoppers of our once pristine City.

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.

COMPROMISE

When things work out, you have to give credit where credit is due.

Your Captain was at the beginning of the Council meeting tonight and it was good news that a compromise was reached regarding the Comprehensive Plan Committee.  The Council led by Commissioner Franck had said from the beginning that the Council needed more input and as past CPC’s showed this to be the way it was done.

The Mayor to his credit did indeed drop people from his Committee and each of the 4 Commissioners appointed 2 of their own picks that were added to the Committee.  It was with great pleasure that one of the Mayor's drops was Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation Executive Director Samantha Bosshart.  That one almost feels like a demolition.

I know this result pleases me and it should also please the citizen’s that were opposed to the first Committee, now if you don’t like the choices, call the Council.

LEGACY OR LUNACY?

The City of Saratoga Springs Republican Party is looking hard to find a legacy for Mayor Scott Johnson with no luck.  The Recreation Center that was supposed to be a money maker for the City in its first couple of years is bleeding money big time.  The newest Parking Garage was the idea of a past City Council as was the Lake Front.  The things I will remember about him and his cracker jack terms would be his haughty attitude to fellow Commissioner’s and citizens of Saratoga, his suppression of the citizens right to vote on the Charter issue, having to FOIL any bit of public information from his office or the Building Dept., and the issuance of orders for employees to not give out any public information that citizens asked for.  The Building Inspector debacle will also cast his terms as a dark spot.  There were questionable decisions that were made regarding issues at the Recreation Center and the new Parking Garage which resulted in the Inspectors being let go after not bending to the will of the Mayor or Deputy Sutton, and if I remember correctly, after the City’s Inspector wouldn’t pass an item the Mayor wanted passed at the Recreation Center he was let go and an Inspector from Albany was called in and even she agreed with the City Inspector’s ruling and against the wishes of Johnson/Sutton. Should we trust a Mayor who, with only the Commissioner of DPW makes a back room deal with Wilton to get our precious water?

 Today another attempt was made regarding the sanctity of Johnson’s decisions. 

Ms. Sandi Cross, a current City Republican Committee person and former President of the City Republican Woman’s Committee and one who was taken under the wing of former County Chairman Jasper Nolan.  She is Saratoga County Director of the Office of the Aging (appointed by the County Supervisors yearly), and is now under the service of current chairman John Herrick. Ms. Cross was also the campaign manager for Skip Scirocco for a few campaigns.

Director Cross has penned a Letter to the Editor in Sunday’s Saratogian, stating “City Democrats are obstructionists”.  I don’t think anything could be farther from the truth. 

Ms. Cross is upset because the 3 Democrats who with popular support will not cave into Mayor Johnson’s elite appointments.  While the majority of the Council agrees that all the appointments (some who don’t even live in Saratoga Springs) are fine people, I don’t see the relevance.  I feel the appointments are good people looking out for their own interests (nothing wrong with that, if you can get away with it).  The Democrats however, would like to see citizens from different areas of the City that would be affected by the changes that will be envisioned by this Plan, not too much to ask for.  The Mayor has assured the Council as well as interested citizens that they will have their say during comment periods before meetings (we all know how that works at Council meetings), the Mayor will also set up a web site so citizens can ask questions, keeping them away from meetings. Ms. Cross and Mayor Johnson, we have plenty of caring and smart every day citizens that can be committee appointees, why even keep the consultant to keep the committee on track.

In the first paragraph I stated that Mayor Johnson was suppressing voter’s rights according to Saratoga Citizen in not allowing a lawful proposal to be put on the ballot while spending at least over $70,000.00 and very costly City employee time in fighting Saratoga Citizen in Court and losing both lawsuits.  The majority Party at the time (Republican) had no qualms about siding with the Mayor that time.

So, Ms. Cross accuses the Democrats of being obstructionists, while the citizens are clamoring for equal representation on the CPR.  Ms. Cross accuses the Democrats of being obstructionists because they don’t feel the $65,000.00 consultation fee is a tad too high for what the Mayor wants to bestow on a friends Company.  It is said, just follow the money, The Mayor spending well over $70,000.00 to outside Attorney’s & internal employee time devoted to keeping citizens from voting on an issue and wanting to spend $60,000.00 + on consultation when citizens can’t even have a say on who should represent their interests.

 It’s no fun to keep writing about County or City Republican Party lunacy.  The past 2 weeks have shown us some of the bad side of Republican strong arm politics regarding job spots, things are not what they used to be.  There are no more political bosses, people who care can raise their voices and make things happen.  Citizens of Saratoga, let’s raise our voices and demand equal representation on the Comprehensive Planning Review Committee, remove some of the special interest reps, businesses or non profits  that pay no taxes and put on some good, smart and willing citizens of our City.

MAYOR FOR WATERGATE? FOLLOW THE MONEY

Well, tonight’s Council meeting was filled with presentations.  The Comm. of PS gave his ambulance report along with the Fire Chief and the Mayor could not believe it.  The deal works fine and the Department also updated their 5 year projections based on a solid year of experience.  The Mayor however, drilled the Chief and tried his lawyer best to rattle him by throwing misinformation at him but the Chief did fine and provided all the factual answers to the Mayor.

Then it was the Lame Duck’s turn.  He had to put together a presentation for his failed Comprehensive Plan Committee, because the Council and residents are sick of the Mayor appointing his friends while turning his back on citizens of Saratoga to have representation on a Committee to set the City’s path for the future.  Wait, he did say he was going to set up a web site so citizens could email concerns to be read by the Committee, wow.  He also relented to let the Council choose 1 person each and said he would allow the choices to sit on the Committee; the Council met the Mayor’s presentation with quite as the Mayor was pleading with them to accept the Consultant and his picks.  Skip has already chosen the Superintendent of Schools who lives in Wilton and was an appointee of the Mayor.  The other out of town friend of the Mayor who is on the Committee is from Washington County and works for the State (thinking of running for a State office Mayor Johnson and need some help)?  Remember, this is the same Mayor that said Mayor Keheen’s Comp Plan was DOA when he took office and sits on his shelf to this day.  That Plan was a good one developed by a consultant and more city appointees.  The Mayor also mentioned that the nearby towns should have input in the process because we should be good neighbors, remember that 3 of the Mayor’s picks are from Wilton and that town was granted, by the Mayor and Commissioner Scirocco to buy Saratoga water, water which we can ill afford to sell.  Remember also that it was the Mayor who extended the number of homes getting water from 18 to 25, there is also 180 acres for development there so I guess the homes built will also put a strain on the water we have now, especially since we are losing wells at a scary rate.  Just remember the names and positions of those who did or will allegedly benefit in Watergate, Tom Lewis, D. Harper (attorney for the owner of property and City Republican Chairman) and it is said the owner of our local McDonalds.

Talking about chicken, one hairy blogger posted on an article at the Saratogian’s site, saying that the Rec. Center should be named after Scott Johnson as he will go down as the best Mayor in Saratoga Springs history.  I think that they should put a statue of Johnson on top of the building with him holding a bucket. Forget that, he would look like Col. Sanders and we know how much birds like chicken.

As Thor has said many times: hello, follow the money.

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE (hum the Bocelli & Brightman song)

Well, it’s time to say adios as Poncho Villa Johnson rides into the sunset.  He leaves a legacy as a Mayor that has cost citizens the most money in outside attorney fees, legal losses and fines and penalty’s associated with the losses and other monies lost to the City such as having lost valuable revenue from Nat’l Grid by not renegotiating an expired contract for 5 years and not renegotiating the Time Warner contract (another 5 year loss of money).  The Rec Center should be his legacy because promising after it was built and in operation for 1 year it would not only pay for itself but make money, well it doesn’t pay for itself and costs taxpayers at least $100,000.00 - $150,000.00 in losses each year, plus WHERE ARE THE SHOWERS ? Now that is a legacy.  He terminated the full time HR Director the City employed and as is his managing style hired an outside company that supplies the City with an HR person that works 20 hours a week for a total of $75,000.00 a year or more, if he has to put in a few extra hours.  The dollar amount is much higher than the full time HR Director made.  He also takes credit for bringing peace and dignity back to the office of Mayor and to the Council.  That was the case when he had a 4-1 majority in his favor and had what we called the bobble head kids that sat at the table.  The 3 kids sat there bobbing their heads up and down at anything the Mayor said, leaving John Franck to be the voice of reason and as most thought the real mayor at the table.  However, when in a minority and where a real leader should step up to lead, our Mayor falls apart and becomes more hostile and pompous and the more ineffective he became.  You could read the fact he wasn’t going to run again after the last election when he was almost upset by a new comer to the local political scene.  He has looked dazed and confused ever since.  That stool at Sperry’s will be getting an even better workout now.

We would like to make one more think clear to the now Mr. ‘Lame Duck’ Mayor.  When you spoke proudly of the public/private monies that were used to build the new parking garage, you forgot to mention that there were no private monies involved.  The City owned the lot, the DBA donated money but that comes from their tax fund and the City paid the rest, so all in all it is tax payer money, no matter what the spin you tried to put on it.

Well, in closing I want to say thank you Mayor Johnson, you did make these last 5 years of Council meetings fun filled and sometimes hilarious.  I would also like to pass on a tip to the Deputy Mayor, she should have your gavel bronzed because after leaving office she may have some extra time and can come over to polish the thing.

DRIVING MISS DAISY

Well, it seems that the Mayor has given another order and Commissioner Scirocco has done the deed.

First, we want to welcome the Mayor back from his minor surgery (the doctor’s had to remove a sliver from his butt that he received from a bar stool at his restaurant (he has to pad his seat).

However, to the stories:

 It seems the Mayor who is in contract negotiations with DPW again is getting a little testy and groveling to some of the DPW Commissioner’s pleas.  The foreman from the East Side who was arrested for DWI or DUI, I can’t keep my letters straight, cannot drive a truck anymore and word has it is that he will most likely loose his license for 90 days at his court hearing on 3/20.  An inside source buzzed that the last 2 snow storms we had that needed plowing, the Commissioner had to “hire” him a chauffeur (the Deputy Commissioner) to plow his route while the foreman sat in the passenger seat, collecting his foreman’s pay rate.  I hope as in past practices that when a foreman is suspended from performing those duties and has to be downgraded to laborer, the pay scale also goes down until such time his job title is restored if indeed it ever is.  This is something key to watch because it is a very dangerous situation when a City employee is inebriated and gets behind the wheel of a truck, if God forbid, there was an accident or even a fatality, we the citizens would have to pay the price and live with the knowledge that the superiors   are not monitoring a drinking employee.

I know, you’ll say, like the Mayor does every time he loses a law suit and the City has to payout that our ‘insurance’ will pay the monetary damages.  However we are not stupid are we?  Every time the City loses a lawsuit and has to pay, our deductable and rates go up costing guess who to pay more? Bully incompetence I say, incompetence.

In other news, the Commissioner had to address the Casino as it needs better drainage in the basement.  The City employ’s a City Engineer and an Asst. City Engineer, but like the Mayor it seems that the Commissioner likes to out source jobs as well.  He contracted for an outside Engineer to the tune of $100,000.00 and the aide of the Asst. City Engineer (allegedly costing us a figure estimated at $20,000.00 for her time, which was work time not paid extra) for a total of about $100,020.00 or so.  The decision was made on how to correct the situation but we have it from a bumble bee that the cost of the job was only $100,000.00 and will not be done, it seems that the Commissioner thought the job would be much higher and could be bonded but the basement will still be wet.

It was also reported by a Bat Fan that the Contractor that is doing the renovation at the water works is using City vehicles to transport piping over to and using City tools to cut and tool piping.  Taxpayers are paying this Company to do the job, why are they using our trucks, our tools and our fuel?  Use your own equipment, which is part of what we are paying for.

Will this never end?  Will the Mayor ever stop wearing his Cat Woman outfit?   Will Commissioner Scirocco ever remove his Joker suit?  We will find out when next we get together.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

What’s going on (not the Marvin Gaye song) in Saratoga?  This water issue just won’t go away and I don’t even think the tip of the iceberg has been seen yet.  This Watergate folly may and I say may even have legal ramifications for the Mayor and DPW Commissioner Scirocco.  I heard the other day that City Republican Committee Chairman David Harper was the attorney for the property owner’s where the water is being sold and the 180 acre parcel next to it that will ultimately be developed for homes and we all know what happens, the water is out there now, why not add on this development.  We don’t have enough water for the mandatory DOH rules what’s another fine and millions of gallons of water to supply an adjacent town.

 Ripped from the headlines- DPW Commissioner was allowed to borrow from the General Fund, monies to offset the deficit between costs and income received for our water and sewer usage (our bills).  It appears former Commissioner of Finance Ivins let the amount get up to nearly $1.5 million dollars.  The problem as I understand it is that DPW has to pay back the General Fund for the monies borrowed, which hasn’t been done for a while, as a matter of fact since Ivins and Scirocco were in office, there was never even a plan on how to proceed with the payback.  This, fellow Justice League members is going to result in sky rocketing water and sewer  bills and I mean sky rocketing for Saratoga Springs home owners.  Thanks to the smarts of current Commissioner of Finance Madigan and Deputy Bachner, they have started a framework on repayment and have already done so.  Thank you, for that, girls.  I say girls because they are very bright and businesses savvy young ladies, plus I like the term girls, meaning no disrespect to them.

One other item that may or may not interest you, but it does bug me.  Usually when I’m out at night fighting crime and there are fireworks going off, I always think it’s because of my costume and City protection (give me some leeway folks).  However, all kidding aside, it seems every Saturday night between 9:30 and 10:00 fireworks are booming.  I have an idea, why fireworks every weekend?  We all know how costly these displays are, so I have a suggestion.  Those that spend the money for these fireworks do the following.  Take the money you would have spent on these Saturday blasts, split the cost in half and put ½ in an account for fireworks for special events like 4^th of July, Hat’s Off, First Night and a few other special events, then take the other ½ and donate it to a different food pantry or other needy non profits.  You can have the distinction of being named a co sponsor of all the firework events and the tax breaks for the charitable donations.  Then at least we won’t have to cry when the money is not there for a special event fireworks display.

Just a note on Commissioner Franck’s announcement of making a motion to have the Imperial Ruler, I mean Mayor Johnson remove the entire Housing Authority Board for past failures and now the insult of not replying to the state after having 3 months to write a response to the audit’s findings at this coming Tuesday’s Council meeting.  Is this Commissioner the only one that has the pelotas to tackle this head on?  It seems that the Mayor sits on his throne, I mean seat and is trying to use mental telepathy with Sutton while any of these discussions are being held at the table.  I’ll tell you right now Mayor, its useless trying to play mind games with Deputy Sutton.

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.

MAYOR PLAY'S DOA ON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

One may ask why is it so easy to pick on Mayor Johnson’s crazy way in how he runs the City.    The reason could be because it’s so easy or because he operates outside the City Charter and he is fodder for anyone, well, almost anyone that would print it.

This time we have yet another example of Mayor Johnson’s favorite statement “you’re making this political”, whenever he doesn’t get the votes to pass whatever he wants. 

The Mayor should be giving the Council the authority granted to them by the Charter to choose members for a committee, except those mandated by the State that only a Mayor can do like the Planning Board, Zoning Board, two that I know of, except every chance he can, he skirts the rules and decides to do it “his way”, he must be a Sinatra fan.  The latest example, which had been mentioned here before has some new information that came to light.

Regarding who picks the members of the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee:  Johnson made several statements at many Council meetings that he searched the records to see how previous Mayor’s chose these Committees, he made note that under former Mayor Keehn she allowed the Commissioners to choose 1 candidate.  In a recent blog authored by Lucian McCarty, it was stated that Mayor Keehn informed him (correcting the information Johnson gave the Commissioners as to why he (Johnson) is allowed to choose the Committee, by saying that after talking to the whole Council, that each Council member would appoint 2 members each and she would appoint 7, that’s Commissioners 8, Mayor 7.  The article further stated that Mayor Klotz who formed a committee in 2000, appointed 5 members and the Commissioner’s appointed 1 each, Mayor 5 – Commissioners 4.  Mayor Klotz also stated that this was based on previous precedent.

Mayor Johnson’s Committee’s make up – Mayor’s appointments 13 – Commissioner’s 0, you must also remember that 3 of Johnson’s appointments do not even live in Saratoga and 1 of the 3 does not even live in Saratoga County.  Is that politics anyone?  Do we hear the Mayor stomping his feet and pounding his fists on the table because the Commissioner’s didn’t get a choice in the matter? 

It is just too easy to find the points that an opponent can use this fall, oh yeh; he did say in the paper “I don’t pick my opponents, I just beat them”.  Two Republican Committee members had told a friend that he (Johnson) has become an embarrassment not only to the Party but around the State as the leader of Saratoga Springs.

One other item disturbs us.  Why did the McCarty article only show up on his blog and not as a newspaper article?  How much longer is the Saratogian going to protect Mayor Johnson?  If you needed facts you had them from the Mayors.  You could have checked with the Committee members and asked them who appointed them.  If you can’t find Keehn’s document, check his shredder, his Council was supposed to vote yes or no on the Plan or did he feel that it was DOA when it was time to vote on it?

WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHY?

Let’s look at some decisions here and see how they tie together and who benefits from them.

First, let’s take the Comprehensive Plan Committee. The upmost concern regarding this committee should be fair and equal representation for the future path our City will take in the next 5 years.  The Mayor in what I feel is an illegal move in going against the rule spelled out by the Charter and past practices, has appointed all 11 members of this Committee.  3 of these members do not live in Saratoga, there are no citizen non-business representatives of the 4 Districts of the City, there is a very good developer, but why a developer when you are talking about areas that could be affected by crafting changes for boards like Planning, Zoning and Design Review?  One question you can ask yourself is who is to gain by having all these “high level” people on the Committee?  I guess the Mayor feels he can’t get a few smart every day citizens to be on HIS Commission.    

An excerpt from Commissioner Franck’s response in the Saratogian, which I am surprised (lol), the Saratogian did not ask this of the Mayor states,

“Surely, with council input, the Mayor would not have had to look for individuals from Wilton, Clifton Park and Washington County. We would have helped him find local residents, local taxpayers.
Non-taxpaying institutions like the state park, the school district, Skidmore College, the Preservation Foundation and the YMCA certainly have a legitimate institutional interest in the Comprehensive Plan, but they have no taxpayer skin in the game. They should not be placed in a position of dictating our land use policies, and sending the bill to the already beleaguered taxpayer”. 

Seems like a sound statement to me.  I don’t think this is a Democrat against Republican concern, if Commissioner Scirocco had the good sense to see that he was being shafted by the Mayor you wouldn’t know it by his lack of concern for not being able to appoint a few members, but I’m sure the Mayor read him the riot act before the meeting.  If the Mayor is not blowing wind and truly believes what he said when he commented that ‘the Comprehensive Plan should be updated every 5 years and it hasn’t been addressed in 10 years’?  Well let’s see 10 years (2) 5 year periods, gee, the Mayor should have appointed a Committee 5 years ago when he first took office, what takes him so long?  I’ll mention a line that a friend of mine tells me all the time, “Follow the money”.

Does it seem to you as it does me that the Mayor likes to outsource almost everything but his Deputy?  He hires outside attorney’s (we pay 2 City Attorney’s over $160,000.00 & benefits) at $300.00 - $400.00 per hour, he outsources an HR person and pay’s him $75,000.00 per year for a 20 hour work week, he outsources members of City Committees to people that live outside Saratoga Springs.  Again the line from my friend “follow the money”.

Another issue that is disturbing is the Wilton Watergate.  We were told when this mess  started out that 8 homes would be sold Saratoga City water, now the Mayor said this number could be up to 25 units.  The scary thing is there is another 75 or so acres nearby that if developed would want City water.  I am not saying who the developer is but, well, you never know.  If Saratoga gets a Casino and all the hotels and extra businesses that come with it, think how much more water we will need.  The Mayor should start to think about Saratoga and not a possible run for higher office in the future.

He told a citizen at the last Council meeting that if he wanted more answers regarding the Water issue to send his questions to him in writing, what about telling the rest of the City?  Gee, that would be transparency, a word that doesn’t sit well with the Mayor.

Regarding his Charter Commission, I hear that they are discussing the Mayor’s orders to (a). Eliminate as many duties they can from other Commissioner’s and put them under his authority, (b) he would like 4 year terms and change key mandates in the current Charter to be placed under is control.  What he lacks in size he makes up for in arrogance.  We all remember that he was against Charter Change, but it looks like if his Change is to a Strong Mayor he will do anything he can to get it by the voters. 

In his State of the City message, the Mayor made this statement:

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” It looks like that was only filler for a longer speech; he sure doesn’t heed his own line of bull.

COUNCIL MEETINGS

The City Council meetings are getting a little embarrassing for those who live here and for those who listen or watch, either living in Saratoga or outside the City.  The Mayor has turned a willing Council, one that has been trying to work across Party lines to make Saratoga Springs a better place and is calling any positive move of theirs as playing political games, (I wonder if that’s anything like reindeer games?).  It is sad that because the Democrats hold the majority and it would accomplish so much more if the Mayor didn’t act like a 2 year old not getting his way.  Imagine if you will, what could happen if both Party’s worked together.  Also, will someone check what is in the water cooler?  The Mayor is up there 7-10 times a meeting filling his cup and gets redder as the meeting progresses.

In the Mayor, Saratoga Springs has a person who not only runs meetings like he was a judge in a court room ( a position he could never attain), but twists the legal parts of our Charter to fit his need for power while ignoring those laws that he should follow.  The Mayor seems to be getting worse every week at flaunting the laws of the city while totally disregarding specific laws dealing with the rights of the other 4 Commissioners, all the while blaming it on political games that the are being played and holding him hostage.  One could not even make this up if they tried and it is really getting sad that by his actions he is not only making himself a laughing stock in the City but also in the Capital District.

At the 2 minute time period allowed for citizens to air thoughts to the Council, Bill McTygue argued that the water sales concerning Saratoga Springs selling water to Wilton may not be in the City’s best interest.  There are 16 homes now that will benefit and the Mayor gave the total of 25 homes/businesses.  There is another 75-80 acres that could be developed in the area discussed and I wouldn’t doubt that the Mayor and Skip have already had discussions with a developer.  Anyway, Mr. McTygue was gaveled down the minute he uttered the evil words that the Mayor does not run a transparent government.  When the Mayor was asked there should be more time for citizens to have discussion on the matter before anything was signed as 2 minutes was not enough time for discussion on such an important matter he was ruled out of order and the Mayor himself looked like he wanted to tackle him for using the word transparent.

It was good that the next 2 speakers, Mark Lawton and Charles Morrison insisted that this issue should have a long period of time set aside for citizen discussion, but Johnson and Scirocco will not stand for this and the Mayor will find some word to do an end around the Council even if it means going to court.  Bill, run for DPW please!!

Let’s look at another example that took place at Tuesday’s meeting worthy of showing Johnson’s Napoleon complex.  He has started the process for the Comprehensive Plan Review as called for in the Charter, which gives him that duty as Mayor to initiate.    The law 2.8, Sec. states:

“Initiation of reviews. The Mayor shall cause a review of

the City Comprehensive Plan and City Charter to be

conducted periodically. The City Comprehensive Plan shall

be reviewed at least every five years, commencing with the

effective date of this Charter. The City Charter shall be

reviewed at least every 10 years commencing with the

effective date of this Charter.”

As said, the Mayor has caused the review, but nowhere does it state that he/she can appoint all members of the Committee, again, a run around of the law where he manipulates said law that he says indicates gives him the power to do so.  This is sad that a person (Mayor Johnson) has to have complete control when the law does not give him that right (lawyers, should never hold public office).  As Elmer Fudd once said 'there hasn’t been a law that I can’t manipulate' you wascially wabit.

We at the Justice League hope that enough people will see the long list of cover ups and huge mistakes that the Mayor and his Deputy have made during their administration.  I would hope that Sutton will be once again working among the dead after November.