CITY REPUBLICANS OR DEMOCRATS, GOOD OR BAD

I love watching and reading about how politicians in City government (any city) call each other bad, crazy, ignorant or in some cases even worse.  The reality is that in City politics there is little difference in being associated with any Party.  What you have in City government are capable leaders or inept imposters.

Take Mayor Johnson for example.  He has been in office longer than any Mayor in Saratoga history.  He has been involved in some good policy making (although I can’t think of any off hand) and some bad decisions that he would like to be his legacy.

The Rec Center being one.  Did we need a Rec Center?  I would say yes but the building of the Center was plagued with many problems, some of which will tarnish the Mayor’s reputation and could even be considered by some as bordering on being illegal.  Take the case of the building inspector at the time ; a source in City Hall has said the Mayor and his Deputy knew of the use of inferior and said by many, illegal insulation. When asked to sign off on this part of the job, the building inspector would not do so because of potential lawsuits that may arise using flammable insulation, by following the law the inspector was let go, given his walking papers, shown the door by the Mayor and his Deputy with some excuse they used and had known about when they hired him.  They then hired an Albany engineer to certify the job and after an inspection, she left the post.  The building was also opened for use without a Certificate of Occupancy.

The lake front property that was to be in use for all citizens of Saratoga, when after years of planning and promises that the job would be completed by July 2012 is still sitting the same way it was before he took office.

The new Parking Garage that opened on July 20^th which was not completed as promised also was a scene from an Abbott and Costello movie.  The use again of inferior materials, the dismissal of another building inspector because he wouldn’t sign off at the direction of the Mayor because of again a potential lawsuit for allowing unsafe materials to be used.  The City (through the Mayor’s Department of not getting a building permit which is required by law, using an outside engineering firm as a clerk of the works instead of any of our 3 city engineers that get paid to do such things all reflect bad decision making by Mayor Johnson. 

Spending upwards of $70,000.00 in court fighting a citizen’s group who legally followed State law to put a proposal on the ballot to change the form of government and he lost in Court twice.

He has not gotten 7 of the 8 union contracts settled like he promised in his first campaign 5 years ago.

And the list goes on and on.  Is he a bad Republican?  I don’t think so; he is just an inept leader who has a lot of $5,000.00 a plate friends and money.