KAREN KLOTZ IS KOO KOO FOR KOKOA PUFFS

Reading a letter to the editor in a local paper penned by Karen Klotz, one has to wonder at her comparisons to the current and proposed charters.  There will be a vote on either keeping the current form of government or switching to a new Professional/Council/manager form.

Mrs. Klotz, wife of respected past Mayor Ken Klotz has now become the bull dog face of the anti Charter Change group called SUCCESS.  If Karen had 1/3 the class of her husband she still would be a bull dog.  She takes the reins temporarily from Remiga Foy who fell ill and we all hope Foy gets better soon. 

Anyway, as I said Mrs. Klotz is the new poster face of her group and she does present a scary profile.  She believes that a strong point of the current form is that the elected officials can see first hand how their departments are run and that they can often hear from constituents.

WHAT??  If you think this a strong point of the Commission form you must be daffy.  Under the proposed form our ELECTED Mayor and 4 Council persons can see how departments are being run and will have more time to hear from constituents who hopefully won’t have to file a FOIL request for public information like our current Mayor Johnson has everyone do.  Why you can’t even go the Building Dept. to get public information because you are told they are not to talk to citizens per Johnson’s orders.  The Mayor or Council person can take the information to the City Manager and tell him or her to look in the matter and report back to them. This is easy for everyone to understand except for Karen & Jane Weihe and the faithful in SUCCESS.  Try calling the Mayor or the Commissioner of DPW and see how long it takes to get an answer.  Mayor Johnson, 23 calls, no call back.  DPW Commissioner, 29 calls, no response.  Visiting the offices are not going to get you anywhere.  Try getting past the Doberman (Shauna) and Skip’s Mexican hairless (Diane), no dice there either.  So much for access to our Commissioner’s.

Klotz’s next miss is that a citizen told her that if the change takes place we would no longer have to grovel to the Mayor and Commissioner’s during the comment period.  This is one that even Karen should understand.

There are usually about 10 people at a Council meeting unless some issue affecting a group or proposed laws being changed (old time Saratogian’s do not like change of any kind even if it helps them in the long run).  Citizens have a time limit of 15 minutes, each citizen wishing to say something to the Council has 2 minutes to say what they want.  You cannot direct your question to a specific Council person and the Council is forbidden to engage or answer your question.  You can have no impact on the agenda that night even if an item comes up for a vote that may be against public wishes.  This scenario Mrs. Klotz sees nothing wrong with and wants to keep this feature in our current form of government.

Mrs. Klotz also interjects her ideas and those of her group that are totally false and knowingly spreads this misinformation just to confuse voters.  She says ‘it’s a stretch that an appointed City Manager won’t hire an assistant City Manager” why stretch the truth Mrs. Klotz, no one has ever mentioned this except your group. She then goes on to say that the Proposed Charter says that the City Manager doesn’t even have to live in the City, the Proposed Charter says “ The Manager need not be a resident of the City or New York at the time of appointment, but may reside outside the City while in office only with the  approval of the Council.  How about if the Manager lives in Wilton?  Will that adversely affect his or her position?  We had a Commissioner that lived outside Saratoga Springs for over 30 years and never once did I hear Mrs. Klotz at a Council meeting say that wasn’t right.

Mrs. Klotz also tries to make a point that Saratoga Springs is the envy of everyone around.  Envy, I don’t know, but Saratoga Springs is a fine city to live in and changing our government structure will not make the city anything less.  The truth is that once you get an experienced Manager in position the real savings will show how many years ago we should have made this change. 

Mrs. Klotz you are right.  The voters will not be asked if they want a City Manager, they will be asked to choose a more cost savings, efficiently run government.  What we have is a 100 year old model that if replaced years ago, Saratoga Springs could be sitting on a much higher surplus than we are now.

Read the Charter; attend the informational forum on Thursday October 25^th.  Attend to get informed and make a real decision that will be best for Saratoga Springs now and in the future.

JOHNSON DOES IT AGAIN, BUT IS IT A SURPRISE?

Well, it has been done.  Mayor Johnson, who has been saying for 4 years that he was going to appoint a Charter Commission to make the current Charter much better, announced he has done just that.  What I can’t wait for now is to see the cast of characters he appoints.  One thing for sure, it will be Johnson supporters, SUCCESS members (guess who?) and the good old boys network.  This last grasp for power by the Mayor, Shauna and it appears the Republican Party shows how they operate and how they feel about the citizenry.

Now, do you think this was done by the Mayor to confuse voters with only less than 6 weeks before the election?  Granted, he CANNOT change the fact that the Proposed Change has to be voted on in November.  Do you think the Mayor is smart enough to propose this Commission after saying he was going to 4 years ago?  Some say no, I feel this smells a little of Shauna Sutton yanking Johnson’s (better not said).  Like Charlie McCarthy to Edgar Bergen, so to is Scott Johnson on Shauna Sutton's lap.

When the Mayor joined SUCCESS, he made it perfectly clear to citizens he was opposed to Charter Change.  Instead of being a Mayor and staying neutral he has again joined with a small group led by Remiga Foy who, at her party last week with Johnson and Joe Dalton, (we call him the $225,000.00 man because of his salary amount at the Chamber before he retired), had admitted that professionalism is the best solution when dealing with groups like government, school districts etc.  Her example was that citizen’s elect a School Board and the School Board then interviews and appoints a Superintendent to administer the District.  This does sound like blueprint of a Mayor/Council/City Manager form of government, doesn’t it?

One thing stands out as explained to me by a friend who visited both a SUCCESS meeting and a Saratoga Citizen meeting.  She said at the SUCCESS meeting it was attended by the same old guard of Saratoga Springs and she did say OLD GUARD.  She then said she was impressed that the Saratoga Citizen group consisted of every age group, young and old and ages in between and had more information and that they allowed attendees to freely ask any questions they had a concern about.  It was said that at the talk SUCCESS held at the Principessa Elena last week with SUCCESS members Mayor Johnson and Joe Dalton that after their talk, questions were taken from the audience but sadly Remiga would never take a question from any Saratoga Citizen member in the audience.  This is the Mayor’s idea of hearing from everyone,

Mayor Johnson has said we have a great economy here, and he is right, we also have a beautiful City.  However, look at what happened when we lost Racino money, it cost Saratoga Springs dearly, we had to slash services in a hurry.  What if the State's takeover of the race tracks doesn't work and it starts to hurt the racing industry, we will suffer immensely, what planning is being done just in case this might happen???  We cannot have knee jerk reactions to problems like we do now.  We need to get out of 1918 and get into 2012, things have changed in almost 100 years, everything that is but how our City Hall operates.  Captain America says to know what the difference between the two choices that will be on the ballot in November and vote for what you think will be better for the whole City.  Remember though, the Mayor's Commission will not be on the ballot.  The Mayor does not want you to consider change, show him we are not as dumb as he thinks we are.

IT HAPPENED ONE EVENING

  

I have received some inquiries from various posters to blogs if I would post their responses that another blogger will not post, my answer sad to say is no. 

While some bloggers might be vile and offensive they do have a right to spew.  If they do not show your post, know that you probably either, hit a nerve, proved him wrong or just plain embarrassed him.

The only complaint I’ll post is against Captain America but I will not, if the language is vulgar.

Well, I attended the info session that was hosted by Remiga Foy’s group   Saratogians United to Continue the Charter Essential to Sustain.  Mayor Scott Johnson and Joe Dalton spoke about the benefits of the Commission form of government and how well it worked with the Chamber in bringing Saratoga back from the brink of disaster.
The discussion was what one would think it to be (talking to the choir), with about 35 people in attendance which included a number from Saratoga Citizen.  What was typical of Remiga though was when questions were taken from the floor.  Remiga who also served as moderator would not allow any questions from the Saratoga Citizen group in attendance.
This is the way Saratogians United to Continue the Charter Essential to Sustain and Remiga will be conducting her future ‘informational hearings’.  If I were you don’t bother to attend, just figure everything is wrong.

CHARTER DEBATES A GOOD THING

It’s finally good to read that Remiga Foy has woken up and is starting to talk about the change in the form of government.  As I read in the paper, Saratoga Citizen has had 61 meetings to explain and discuss and held informational sessions and had debates on the pros and cons of each form.  One question you may want to ask her is why wait until the 11^th hour before holding her meetings.  I feel it is because she thinks she can cause confusion in the last 6 weeks and that will help her in her quest to keep the status quo with as little debate as possible, thus having citizens keep wondering what is going on.

While as I said in earlier posts regarding my feelings on changing the Charter, I have not been associated with any one group but have some friends in each one.  One of the interesting facts between the two groups that were mentioned to me by my friends is that Saratoga Citizen has a mix of young, middle age and senior members while at the first SUCCESS meeting it was mostly all older citizens made up of the hard core Saratoga ‘natives’ Remiga leads on almost every issue.

It seems that younger voting adults as well as middle aged (up to late 60’s) make up the core of those wanting the change, there are a large group of newer seniors late 60’s and above that also seem to think we need to streamline government to save money and open government to the people.  All citizens agree however that Saratoga is a great City and a nice place to live.

Another slant on this issue is that Mayor Johnson and Joe Dalton are the 1^st guest speakers at Remiga’s first open meeting.  Finally, the Mayor has shown why he spent so much of the citizens money to stop the proposal from being on the ballot, it looks like Remiga had his number and ear early on and some say SUCCESS didn’t have the money to sue so the Mayor took up the mantle with financing their cause of stopping the issue from ever reaching the voting public.

However, we should look forward to these debates as educational and informative so they will help citizens make a sound decision in November.  I only hope that at the debates attendees will have the chance to stand and ask questions instead of filling out cards so some moderator can choose which ones to ask.  Many good questions are not asked if a moderator or screener feels the question should be bypassed.  If the group or sponsor of the debate is worried about time, start an hour earlier.  Questions and answers can be put in a word program after they are answered and projected on a screen if someone comes in late.

On September 19^th there will be a debate at the Saratoga Springs High School sponsored by the League of Woman Voters and the debate will be between 2 persons against change and 2 persons for change.

ATTEND THE DEBATES WITH AN OPEN MIND NO MATTER WHAT SIDE YOU ARE ON.

WHAT’S NEW PUSSYCAT II

Some interesting news the Justice League has heard from a Republican plant in City Hall (yes, we also have those).  What is going on in City Hall recently sounds like a good old soap opera.

 Oh! what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!

By: Sir Walter Scott

Well, the news goes like this.  The reason behind the executive session the other day was to get rid of the HR person that Pinnacle designated to City Hall.  It seems that none other than Mary Zlotnick (you all remember her?) was dating the HR fellow that worked in City Hall.  I guess we could call Mary a working girl, but there is nothing good that comes out of ‘pillow talk’, and this is probably the main reason of Ms. Zlotnick’s insubordination (could be because she wouldn’t stop the affair) and subsequent  termination and the following reason Mary ‘came clean’. The Mayor tried his best to keep the Company that works 3 days a week for a price of over $1,400.00 per day and it was pointed out by the Council that the budget line for the job would run out at the end of September.

Now remember, at the Council embattled Commissioner Franck made an argument and his motion was passed to give notice to terminate the Pinnacle contract.  The decision to get rid of the HR person and his company was done because of a possible lawsuit down the road for the City and Ms. Zlotnick.

This will be a series worth watching and the players seem to be changing every day.

More about the plant in City Hall.  It is a Variegated Ivy, so if you are standing by one do not talk, and if it’s red as a lobster, it’s Mayor Johnson.

WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT?

The answer is so simple I shouldn’t even ask the question.  However, I can’t help myself when it’s about someone who is such a schmuck. 

When is a person not a citizen of Saratoga?  Answer- When he doesn’t live in Saratoga.

At the City Council meeting tonight we witnessed again, a person who plops himself in the front row so he can tape the meetings and also be the first one in line to make comments or statements to the Council regarding City business.

HEY TIGS, YOU DON’T LIVE IN SARATOGA SPRINGS.  He has castigated the Veitch family because several of the clan works for the City.  It is hilarious because he admitted at the meeting tonight that 1. His father was Fire Chief, 2. His uncle was Police Chief, 3. Another uncle was a Captain on the force and 4. He worked for the City (his supervisor of his told me that he was about to get fired because he couldn’t even back up a truck, so he got ‘hurt’ in the nick of time to collect permanent disability).  He and his family have been sucking from the tit of the City and its citizens and he criticizes the Veitch clan with hateful spew.  Naughty fruitcake.

Also some information that came out of the meeting was the fact that John Franck and his office except for Mary Zlotnick had done nothing wrong in the ‘Assessment Saga’.  Also the problem here is that the Human Resource fellow that works for the City and gets paid over $1,400.00 a week for 3 work days per week may have leaked confidential information out and Zlotnick may have been the recipient.  The Council over Mayor Johnson’s protests (it would seem that he may be getting some kickback money, although the only proof is that even after discussing the topic last week with the rest of the Council, pleaded amnesia about what went on in the meeting.  Franck alluded to the fact that he heard Johnson snoring).

It looks like Zlotnick might find herself in a lawsuit brought by the City for leaking confidential information (a pattern that she cannot learn from).  I don’t think that anything went Johnson’s way.  Johnson at one point accused the Council of being political, can you imagine that?  He even trapped himself when Pat Kane from Saratoga Citizen made reference that Deputy Mayor Shauna ‘Tuna’ Sutton has been keeping the ballot wording buried under a stack of papers.  The Mayor jumped right on Kane saying his department has nothing to do with the matter.  Later in the meeting it was pointed out that the City Attorney was working on the draft (the City Attorneys work under Johnson’s Department) and he started to stutter a string of excuses.

The Mayor did make one great point; he suggested that a professional was needed in the HR department “because it is very important to have a professional”.  I guess he thinks we don’t need a professional working for the Council to streamline and run a more efficient government, to that point he would like to keep the amateurs running the City. 

The Mayor also announced tonight that he finalized the Lillian's parking lot deal after 5 years with Sonny Bonaccio.  The City recieved $750,000.00 which is 1/2 the price they could have gotten.  The other reason this sounds crazy is that the plans of what Bonacio is going to build on the lot were approved years ago, long before he paid for the lot (can you say Johnson & Bonacio in the same breath?)

Johnson may be nearing an impeachment as he has clearly put himself and his interests ahead of the City’s.

Well, time to go out and fight crime, I think I will go down to Malta and see who’s causing trouble there.

EDUCATE YOURSELF AND LISTEN TO DEBATES

I am a self educated citizen when it comes to Charter Change.  Your Captain is not involved with Saratoga Citizen or SUCCESS, (although I have friends in both groups).  I feel it is up to the individual to do research on their own before making a decision.  There are all kinds of posts on the various blogs, from insightful to the ridiculous.  After doing some internet research I did find information on the Saratoga Citizen website informative, while honestly I couldn’t find out any information except for the donors of SUCCESS, on the internet.  All the information I received about the group was from friends of mine who are members and have told me where they stand and why as told to them by Ms. Foy. 

In researching the Commission form of government, which Saratoga has had for almost 100 years, I found that there are only 40 or so cities our size in the entire U.S. that use this form and about 76 total in the entire country.  The Commission form, as almost everyone knows, was started because of a disaster in Texas and businessmen needed fast action to rebuild their losses.  It still appears that the Commission form is promoted mostly by businessmen as evidenced by the list of donors of SUCCESS.  There also seems to be a few ex politicians who suffered tough losses and really didn’t want to give up their power as backers of the group.

One phrase a friend said to me is ‘what is wrong with Saratoga’?  ‘Our City is the envy of cities across the country’ (this has also been said by Mayor Johnson).  In response I said to her, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Saratoga Springs, we have a beautiful city and while I don’t believe we are the envy of the country, I find that many people like to live and visit our City.  Saratoga has a great volunteer base, a great downtown, an active Chamber of Commerce, a very busy Convention Bureau, these things can’t be denied.

However, there is a double edged sword, while we have all the above, we also have a dysfunctional and costly government.  The question one should ask themselves is, can our government run more efficiently and more streamlined?  Do we need 5 payroll departments?  Do we need to give City employees 15 minutes of work time to cash their checks on Friday?  Do we need 8 unions, which our Mayor cannot negotiate expired contracts, should we turn a blind eye when the City fails to live up to the laws they set forth? Is there proper planning for 5 to 10 years out?  Ten years is a stretch but there are some items that would benefit from a time period like this i.e. do we have a plan on the number of years and how many police cars needs to be rotated out for new ones?  The same plan should be planned with fire vehicles, or do we wait 19 years until a fire truck catches fire while trying to put out a fire?  By the way this last one made the national news.

It seems to me as I talk with people that young adults and those who moved here in the last 15 years or so favor a new form of government, while the ‘old guard’ of Saratoga favors the status quo, and if you ask them why, they have no answer other than to say ‘it’s always been this way’.   One thing Saratoga Springs has is a very high percent of voter apathy.  In the last primary, workers in 2 Districts reported a total of 6 and 7 people respectively, turning out to vote, (very sad).

Some people try to demonize Pat Kane, Brent Wilkes and anyone else in the Saratoga Citizen group.  I feel the issue is the form of government and the information a group puts out, not the people behind it.  If this were so, would that mean that if you disliked Remiga Foy, you would automatically say that SUCCESS is a bunch of crazies and be for charter change?  Should Ms. Foy be demonized because she is adamant in keeping the status quo? I don’t think so.

I did my research first on the various forms of government and truth be told the Professional Manager, Council, Mayor form of government seems like the best one out there.  Granted there is no form that is 100% perfect, but in today’s real world, running a government has become so difficult, that running a City without a qualified professional manager at the helm seems unreal.  Would you hire a carpenter to run a $37 million dollar computer business?  There are some who say that say they are for a strong Mayor, but it seems to me that you still are electing a pretty face who may be as dumb as a box of rocks.

Just one other thing, if you do your own research without having someone talk you into something you will feel more comfortable with your decision.  A question that pops up frequently is the cost of a new government.  The figures are out there, but think about this, if this new government form is voted in, it will be bound by the budget that is passed by the current Council, the very same Council that will be responsible for sifting through resume’s for a Professional Manager, one who will work under a Council elected by the citizens of Saratoga.

See how much information you can get if you take the time to do a little research?

THESE ARE NORMAL DAY’S OF OUR LIVES IN SARATOGA!

Have you ever wondered to yourself, has the world gone crazy or is it you?  Well, Capt. Am.  Friends, it has to be the world or more specifically Saratoga Springs.

• “More than a dozen people spoke at a Design Review Commission public hearing Wednesday night regarding the future of 66 Franklin St.”

• “The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation says the building can be saved, according to Executive Director Samantha Bosshart. The SSPF even hired an attorney from a national firm to fight to save the stack of boards.

• “Boff (the owner), as well as the builder who has been maintaining the property, estimated a full renovation of the building would cost more than $2 million and the building would be worth less than $1 million when done.”

My good people this is daily business in Saratoga Springs unless your name is “Developer” Sonny Bonacio, then the City will pay you over $1 million dollars to tear a building down.

Here is another example of delirious business:

·         Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the Saratoga Springs Public Library, Saratoga Citizen brought another speaker in to discuss what they see as the benefits of the council-manager form of government. "The only way people can be for or against it is if the know what it's about," said Pat Kane, one of the groups primary organizers.  The proposal is legally set to appear on this November’s ballot for a vote.

·         "Nothing to report at this time," Mayor Scott Johnson said Tuesday night (August 16^th), when asked about whether he has decided to assemble a mayoral commission to explore charter change or not.

·         The mayor left the door open for the commission back in May when the City Council put the Saratoga Citizen proposal on the ballot, however, Johnson has done nothing about putting a Commission in place after saying he might do so 3 years ago.

·         “I've asked the Mayor about the commission virtually every time we've talked since then, and I am no closer than I was in May to knowing whether it is going to happen. At the end of June he said “I don’t want to unduly delay it. There are reasons why I’ve delayed my announcement.” He wouldn't tell me the reasons.”

Most of the information here is from Lucian McCarty’s blog piece.  Thanks Lucian.

Here are only 2 examples of how Saratoga does business, and these examples are just part of one day’s business as usual.

There is a serious matter though.  Two bears have been sighted on Skidmore campus in the last few days and this should be nothing to make light of as many people use the North Woods for walking, jogging or walking with their dogs, and the woods are very close to Maple Ave. Middle School, so be careful.

It was noted earlier in the day that upon hearing this, Mayor Johnson donned his best Daniel Boone cap and his bow and arrow to either get his wife a new bearskin rug or chase them back to Wilton. 

Just another day in Paradise.

RECREATION CENTER OR POLICE STATION?

In the news, Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen has set aside $10,000.00 to explore how the police station in the basement of City Hall can be renovated. 

We remember not that long ago when then PS Commissioner Ron Kim declared the need for a new Police Station, a need I might add is 50 years past due.  The Republican majority at the time declared that we didn’t have the money and went on to pour money into a new Recreation Center.  The question I ask myself and others is, Why does Saratoga Springs promote itself as the best tourist destination in the country, yet in every aspect of government and outdated building codes, we are so far in the past it is pretty disgusting.  The only one that benefits from Saratoga taxes and fast track building permits, also a payment for City property that has not been paid in 5 years but was included in past budgets, is none other that that grand builder Sonny Bonacio.  Now don’t get me wrong, Sonny has done some good things in Saratoga but most of what he has done has ruined our ‘City in the Country’, that moniker does not even come close to what Saratoga Springs is today.

Anyway, back to the Police Station.  Why is it taking the decision makers like Roohan, Sutton, Tarantino, Anderson and pack to realize that they need to give the nod to get a new station in place?  They didn’t listen to Kim, but had a chance when Wirth occupied the seat.  Could it have been that Wirth would not have been capable to oversee such a venture?  Now must we wait for City Hall to collapse so that we can sell the property to Bonacio?  He then could build a new City Hall/Police Station/Law Library on the 2^nd & 3^rd floors and retail space on the 1^st floor and lease floors 2 & 3 to the City.  This sounds like a deal that Mayor Johnson/Sutton are salivating over.

Your Captain says to stay tuned, this isn’t over.  Just wait until the ceiling falls down, I’m sure some will blame Commissioner Christian Mathiesen for that.

RECREATION CENTER OR POLICE STATION?

In the news, Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen has set aside $10,000.00 to explore how the police station in the basement of City Hall can be renovated. 

We remember not that long ago when then PS Commissioner Ron Kim declared the need for a new Police Station, a need I might add is 50 years past due.  The Republican majority at the time declared that we didn’t have the money and went on to pour money into a new Recreation Center.  The question I ask myself and others is, Why does Saratoga Springs promote itself as the best tourist destination in the country, yet in every aspect of government and outdated building codes, we are so far in the past it is pretty disgusting.  The only one that benefits from Saratoga taxes and fast track building permits, also a payment for City property that has not been paid in 5 years but was included in past budgets, is none other that that grand builder Sonny Bonacio.  Now don’t get me wrong, Sonny has done some good things in Saratoga but most of what he has done has ruined our ‘City in the Country’, that moniker does not even come close to what Saratoga Springs is today.

Anyway, back to the Police Station.  Why is it taking the decision makers like Roohan, Sutton, Tarantino, Anderson and pack to realize that they need to give the nod to get a new station in place?  They didn’t listen to Kim, but had a chance when Wirth occupied the seat.  Could it have been that Wirth would not have been capable to oversee such a venture?  Now must we wait for City Hall to collapse so that we can sell the property to Bonacio?  He then could build a new City Hall/Police Station/Law Library on the 2^nd & 3^rd floors and retail space on the 1^st floor and lease floors 2 & 3 to the City.  This sounds like a deal that Mayor Johnson/Sutton are salivating over.

Your Captain says to stay tuned, this isn’t over.  Just wait until the ceiling falls down, I’m sure some will blame Commissioner Christian Mathiesen for that.

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.

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.

PAY $176,000.00 TO EAT AT YOUR OWN HOUSE

John Hendrickson bid $176,000.00 to dine with Marylou Whitney, outbidding Ron & Michelle Riggi.  The special dinner for two will consist of Whitney’s own secret recipe for bologna tacos with pork bellies stuffed with collard greens (I defy anyone to eat this goop).  The beverage is to be Old Milwaukee beer in 40 oz. throwaway bottles.  The fundraiser was for the Saratoga Springs Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, which Marylou and her husband will be visiting after the dinner.  I think we can all tell that Marylou has done great things for Saratoga Springs but can’t boil water.  By the way it was said that Mayor Scott Johnson bid $750.00 for the dinner.

I attended the opening night of the Philadelphia Orchestra the other night and enjoyed Tchaikovsky’s  Piano Concerto No. 1 op. 23,B-flat minor and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 op. 27, E minor.

SPAC did a great job and it was a very pleasant night.  Thank you, Marcia White.

There will be someone blaming Marcia White and saying this is her fault.
The Philadelphia Orchestra is out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The orchestra stunned the arts community when it became the first major U.S. orchestra to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2011.
A month after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved its reorganization plan; The Philadelphia Orchestra Association announced Tuesday it has officially emerged from Chapter 11.
The POA addressed more than $100 million in claims, debts and liabilities with a settlement of $5.49 million. Under the reorganization plan, the 111-year-old symphony will shrink from 105 musicians to 95 and cut their pay by about 15 percent. The orchestra also got a break on its rent from its main venue, the Kimmel Center.
Officials said the organization's long-term health has been bolstered by a new labor agreement covering musicians and a shift away from defined benefit pension plans.

GOING QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT

Why is it, that almost anyone that gets involved in an elected office ends up never wanting to leave on an high note but waits until they become an embarrassment to themselves, their office or in this case a Party Committee ?  So is the case in the 27 year Saratoga County Chairman Jasper Nolan, who is ‘not running for another term’ and now in retirement would like to be ‘chairman emeritus’ –it never ends.  Jasper was 'the man' when politics was a one party system in Saratoga County.  If you wanted a County or City job, ‘go see Jasper’.  If you wanted a summer job at the track, ‘go see Jasper’ and on and on.  Remember you had to be a registered Republican to get a job and you needed to be at the Party’s beck and call forever after.  That used to be the way politics worked.  We all know politics is really a dirty game fought in the trenches by Party Leaders who most of the time will stop at nothing to say or do anything, just as long as it helps their candidates get elected and Jasper was a master at these games.  These strong armed tactics that were prevalent in the past weren’t just done in the Republican Party, just look at what Albany had as a Democratic despot for mucho decades.  (I’m just throwing in one of my foreign language bits).

Jasper just didn’t have a handle on things the past few years and why he kept being elected shows the power one person can control if they have the right connections.  I feel this is one reason we don’t see as many strong boss types in local politics anymore, when the long term boss leaves the connections usually leave with them and it’s hard to get them back in the pocket of a new person.

As I said earlier, politicians should know when to go.  We can take a look at Saratoga’s own Tom McTygue.  He was in office for over 30 years and he was fortunate to have a good Deputy in the last number of years in Pat.  Pat had the City looking great and knew how to run a tight ship with the City DPW crews.  Tom should have left 15 years before he was defeated, as he had become somewhat of an exposed embarrassment for his role of Commissioner and for things that were going on in his department that some say were not kosher.

As for our own Mayor Johnson, 4 years would have suited him the best.  He is starting to become in public what those who work in City Hall and those who have tried to get public information from the City are treated like we live in the old USSR.  Mayor Johnson, staying in the position when he should have gotten out with a shred of decency is becoming Saratoga Springs embarrassment and heck, he is even embarrassing himself.

Should they stay until they hear the slogans like “Remiga, who needs ya” or “Ken, Ken, Kenny, bye bye”?

But other than voting them out of office, how do we say ‘hey, its time to go’?  If they don’t live up to the majority of those who put them in office and that majority starts to complain, well, who wants to hear them bellyache, it’s your fault.

Goodbye Jasper, your time has come, only it should have been 15 years ago.

Here We Go Again

   

Exactly how many 4 story buildings can a small city have before it looks like a large city and loses its small city charm?  Well, just keep your eyes on Saratoga Springs and you’ll see how long.  The landscape has changed so much that if you left the City 10 years ago, you wouldn’t know Saratoga when you came back to visit.

There used to be various contractors that built the monstrosities in the past but under our current Mayor it seems he is pushing these buildings through on a fast track.  Why you ask?  Probably because after this term he will bounce back and forth between Miami, California and some brief visits to Saratoga Springs.  What mentality has spurred the growth and wants to keep it going?  Well, those who have come into Saratoga to make the City home come from largely populated areas and are mostly seniors (not all) who have retired here to get away from the nightmares of big city living.  Are these people responsible for making Saratoga a mini version of the large cities they left?  I will grant you, the arts, museums, a City Center, short access to the Northway etc., etc., etc. (gee, I used one of Mayor Johnson’s most used phrase) make Saratoga Springs a very nice place to live, but at what expense?  Saratoga Springs has lost that quaint charm it once had, are we better off or not?

I feel this rampant growth has to ease up until our infrastructure can handle this growth.  Saratoga Springs has only grown by about 400 people in the last 10 years according to the last census, yet when looking around you would think we have doubled our population.

One business to be built if the developer can get 3 million dollars in tax breaks would be an 11 screen theater with retail and apartments, why can’t those who work in Saratoga Springs live here with all these new apartments?

On the heals of this announcement comes the Congress Plaza giant, a 6 story hotel (the owner says maybe some retail, maybe not).  He already has a hotel chain lined up; at least he plans on additional parking spots.  I wonder if this deal comes with a tax break like the theater?  We need more 5 & 6 story buildings in Saratoga, especially downtown.

Movie Theater Wants Free Admission

The latest on the new proposed movie theater has taken a turn many people anticipated.  Mr. Bonacio gets $3 million dollars in tax breaks or the deal to build the 11 screen theater and 2 floors of inexpensive office space is called off.  Saratoga Springs, the County and School District need money, giving it away seems like a step backwards.  The deal seems to benefit Bonacio and screw the 3 entities .Several posters to the article had some good points.  “There are never 11 movies at a time that ANYONE wants to see. How about 2 screens with first run movies” said ‘myupstater’, “How about the first floor for parking, the theater on the 2nd floor and offices on the 3rd floor? Without the parking I wouldn't grant him the right to build” by native_saratogian, Joe F said “Neither a movie theater or "modern" downtown market is needed. What's next? Perhaps a mini Times Square or a Trump Tower. My survey says most people moved to the area to get away from this type of growth and continued increase in population” and “I'd like to see something more useful than a movie theatre in town. Perhaps a theatre like Proctors. Catching a show or concert in the midst of winter would be sweet.”.

        Of course Mayor Johnson & Commissioner Franck are all for giving Mr. Bonacio all the tax breaks he wants.  The attorney for Mr. Bonacio, Matt Jones estimates that $2.5 million in concession sales will generate needed sales tax unless he also wants us to give that income up for 10 years.

I stated before in previous post that the Mayor should move fast to have the zoning board institute the code that you must provide parking for either square feet or by a number of potential customers.  We needed additional parking downtown and it seems we are creating businesses where we will be creating more of a mess than before.

        I guess that’s progress, but in the end we the citizens will be footing the bill.

Saratoga Springs own Groundhog's Day

This year's Fourth of July, the day we celebrate the founding of our nation, we should   take a moment to think about where we would be if not for the men & women that fought so hard to gain their Independence.

Okay, I've thought where we would be if the men and women of 1776 were not so brave and couldn't decide what side of the fence to be on.

I'm thinking of our own Mayor Johnson.  He would be wearing one of those white powdered wigs one day and playing a fife the next day.

After netting about $27 million dollars (his share) of the tobacco lawsuit, and no he didn't sue because it stunted his growth, the next thing you can only desire to satisfy your hunger is POWER, especially when you think you are above everyone else because you feel no one is right except you.  Anyone following Saratoga politics can see the progression of power he is assuming in this Commission form of government.  The Mayor has virtually stopped all public information from being obtained by the citizens who have a legal right to have it.  He has turned his department into the most tightly closed government office in the city's history (or so I have been told), as I am not as old as our original native Saratogian, Remiga Foy.  Here is a list of basically the same statements he has made over the years regarding Charter change, which he is still possibly thinking of starting a Mayoral Committee some 4 months before the election.  Now tying this all back to 1776, if he was the people's General, we would all be speaking with an English accent and stopping mid-day for tea and crumpets.

Published: Saturday, June 30, 2012

By LUCIAN McCARTY

“Thursday, Mayor Scott Johnson said he is still publicly undecided about whether he will create a mayoral commission to explore charter change.”

“I don’t want to unduly delay it,” he said. “There are reasons why I’ve delayed my announcement.”

“He would not divulge the reasons.”

Published: Wednesday, June 27, 2012

posted by Lucian at 11:32 AM

“I'd ask him again today (about the Mayor’s plans), but I've left him three messages in three days to talk about the SSHA and I haven't heard back.”

Published: Saturday, May 19, 2012

By LUCIAN McCARTY

“Although the City Council voted Tuesday night to move forward the charter change proposal based on Saratoga Citizen’s 2010 petition, Mayor Scott Johnson has left open the possibility of blocking the initiative before it appears on the November ballot.”

“All options are on the table,” Johnson said Friday, maintaining he has the “sole authority” to create a charter change commission. “I don’t need any consent or votes from the council.”

Johnson said he will discuss the creation of a mayoral charter change commission “in fairly short order” but would not elaborate on a timeframe.

“I haven’t ruled anything out,” he said.

 

 

Saratoga Citizen wins legal challenge; court rules charter change should be on the ballot

By LUCIAN McCARTY

Published: Thursday, April 05, 2012

“I am not going to stand in the way of this initiative,” Johnson said. “I have always been viewing this as my legal obligation as the mayor.”

Published: Saturday, February 19, 2011

By Pat Donges

“While admitting that two competing charter referendums (which is what could appear on the ballot this year if the council appoints a commission and Saratoga Citizen’s proposal is approved) would be potentially confusing, Johnson said he believes there is still time to form a new commission to discuss how the current charter could be “clarified” or “tailored.”

“At this point the landscape has obviously changed,” he said. “I’m still considering all options.”

Now does this sound like something out of the movie Groundhog Day?



Our Mystery Groundhog



                                                      



Is this man a Tory?



Charter Change, or Damn the Citizens

saratogamoosetracks.blogspot.com


Let's get one thing straight, for better or worse Charter Reform is on the ballot and you can cast your vote for or against the Proposal that is presented.  One thing about Saratoga Citizen the organization that has been around for 4 years and holding monthly meetings is that everything has been out in the open and discussed before the public in their monthly meetings.  In today's Saratogian, Mayor Johnson who has spent at least $80,000.00 to $100,000.00 in outside attorney fees (that's taxpayer monies), and has lost twice in court, once in County Supreme Court and then in NY State Appellate Court by a 5-0 decision in favor of the Citizen's group, is quoted as saying 'he still has the option of appointing a Charter Review Committee'.  This some 4 months before the election. 

Last time a Commission was formed (by a Democratic Mayor) this late (2006) in the year the Mayor and his Party cried foul saying it's a rush job.  I guess he feels that when he uses his golden scepter all past statements will disappear.  Just some information to add to all of this, The Saratoga Springs Charter Proposal was put on the ballot by a 4-1 Council vote.  I'll let you guess who voted no.  Keep the vote away from the people. 

Remember this is the same Mayor that will not allow any of his department’s employees answer any citizen’s questions.  The department's under his office are the following:  City Attorney, Asst. City Attorney, Building Department, City Civil Service Commission, The Ethics Committee (ha-ha), Community Development and City Planner, these are most of the major ones and there are some minor ones as well as some Charter mandated positions he arbitrarily eliminated.  His motto of "Charter be Damned" is the reason he doesn't want citizens to be more active in THEIR government. 

By the way, I haven't seen Cozmo the Magician or Shauna Sutton around.  I hope both reappear by Tuesday’s court date or tongues will be wagging that Shauna is Cozmo's new assistant.

CAN YOU TELL WHICH ONE IS MAYOR OF SARATOGA SPRINGS?

        

Cozmo the Magician

 saratogamoosetracks.blogspot.com

This Cozmo the Magician guy is something else.  According to a Saratogian article in Saturday's paper Coz gets issued a ticket for performing in Congress Park without a license.  The basis for getting a performer's license dates back to the early 1900's in which an Ordinance contains a section for showing “moving pictures.”  This is probably one of the little gems that was put in the Charter when this form of government started back then.  Now back to Cozmo, he goes to City hall to obtain a license and is told no such license exists, he then spoke to Asst. City Attorney Tony Izzo, who handles all the important cases like this and he told Cozmo the Magnificent that panhandling has not been illegal in Saratoga Springs since 2010.

So Cozmo, not Tony, goes back to the park to resume his magic tricks and lo and behold as he starts doing a rope trick (probably getting ready to hang himself at what was coming), yes you guessed right, it was another Police Officer who this time gives old Cozmo a ticket for vending without a license, this charge was dropped but he Cozmo not the police Officer, is due back in court Tuesday.  Let’s hope he can make himself appear in court.  Cozmo said it all by exclaiming "I’m in violation of not having a license the city doesn’t even give out.”  One thing I don't like that Cozmo did however was pass a hat to kids for donations.  He should have had a monkey with a tambourine there so people could throw change in it, you don't ask kids for money.
When asked about the incident Mayor Johnson said, he did not know much about the issue.  By the way, when Cozmo was in City Hall he made Shauna Sutton disappear, has anyone seen her?

Why do citizens have to FOIL every bit of information they are entitled to see because it is public information?  It seems that Mayor Johnson has taken us back to the 'Dark Ages'.  The path to find out anything has become near impossible.  I am putting up two quotes from 2 of his State of the City addresses.

A statement made by Mayor Johnson at the 2008 State of the City Address

“I will operate a transparent government, not one where decisions are made in the shadows.

I believe that every citizen, whether Democrat or Republican that is civically minded and wants to be involved on a committee or commission to file an application and come in for a talk with me and you will be put on a list to be called on when needed.

It’s time for both Party’s to start working together for the benefit of the City.  Saratoga Springs is at a crossroads and petty politics will not benefit the City nor its citizens.”

From his State of the City address in 2011

Pg. 10 of 12

“So as we enter this New Year, we must ask ourselves how to be better

prepared against future fiscal impacts from dysfunctional and inefficient State and

Federal governments? We must continue to conduct performance reviews of each

governmental function, impose transparency in the process, improve productivity, and promote fiscal efficiency. We have taken steps in that direction over the past few years, in the face of the great economic recession, and must continue the process because we cannot possibly be fiscally stable without first getting our spending under control.”

This man is smiling because he is pulling the wool over your eyes.