MAYOR "ON THE ROCK'S"

Tuesday’s Council meeting really started when the Public Comment section began.  Before that the Mayor and Commissioner Scirocco were seen leaving the bar at the Mayor’s establishment Circus Café.  The Mayor loves being under the Big Top.

There were quite a few interesting comments, one of which has been started by Johnson.  He has ordered DPW to remove all political signs because most areas have the Vote Yes signs out and they do not quite fit in his martini glass.

The next comment voiced by Saratoga Citizen Spokesperson Pat Kane, congratulated the Mayor for finally announcing, after 3 years of citizens voicing concerns over his inability to bring a signed contract to the table on the leased National Grid property, that he has one in hand (contract).  Kane for years has pointed out that the City has been getting paid at the rate of 2002’s  monthly rental fees even since the contract expired in 2008 and the City lost approximately $300,000.00 in income if the deal had been signed 3 years ago.  He had backed up his figures in prior Council meetings with realtor estimates.

Now comes the funny part.  The Mayor who it has been said has been tipping the rock glass a little too much lately has the symptoms to basically prove the point (cotton mouth).  When he finally could get his tongue off of his upper palate during his part of the agenda he was quick to point out that Kane’s statements over the last 3 years regarding lost revenue was Charter Change driven, he then smacked his lips and continued that this was just a game of politics. This is a funny statement from the Mayor, not just because it isn’t true but the political spin is being dished out by him.  Many people know that National Grid has been trying to get the Mayor to the table to sign a new lease for over 2 years and the Mayor and Shauna have been ignoring the Grid.  Just think how much money we could have had in our coffers (that’s ‘in the treasury’ just so a guy from Milton will understand), it probably is close to figure that Kane uses.

Now Hizz Honor, citing that all these facts are political hay really takes the cake.  This is from the man (I wish), who we will now call ‘Mayor on the Rocks’ who for a better part of 4 years (gee, that’s when Saratoga Citizen formed) promised to appoint a Charter Commission to look at ways to improve the current Charter, then spends close to $100,000 in court and attorney costs (he lost twice in court) to keep the citizen backed Charter Change off the ballot and in those 4 years said he would appoint a Commission not less than 20 times.  Fast forward to 6 weeks before the election and he proclaims that after the election he will appoint a Mayoral Commission to see if the Charter can be tweaked, now 4 weeks before the election he signs a lease agreement for 5 years after a group of citizens forced him to do so after 3 years of sitting on his throne doing nothing about it.  He has the nerve to tell people that they are playing political games when he is the Master of Games.

Oh well,  thank the stars there was a presentation by Izzo and the Director of the Rec Center as the Mayor was struggling mightily to pry that tongue off the roof of his mouth.

I also want to applaud Commissioner Mathiesen for voting his conscience and not the Party line on the water issue.

One last thing, if you are going to the ‘Party on the Roof’ on top of the new parking garage, please bring a parachute, just in case the deck starts to crack and fall, you can run like hell and jump off the side and pull the rip cord, but please, not with a 16oz. soda.

Just one more item, this blog writing is tiring work.  I can't keep it going without your support, so would you please donate to a food pantry of your choice?  That will make me happy and those that will benefit from the food.

CAN MISINFORMATION HELP OR HURT SUCCESS??

Is SUCCESS is in trouble.   Saratoga Citizen and voters are asking this question, if spreading misinformation and it back fires will SUCCESS be in trouble?  They have no facts to back up any of their claims.  In a hand out on pretty pink paper they had some information that you can get off of their website.

BEGINNING of SUCCESS STATEMENT

“Radical Change Proposed for 
Saratoga Springs Government 
Let’s not surrender control of our city government to a stranger. We don’t know either the new City Manager czar or how the City Manager form of government will really work.

Commission: VOTERS WIN

Proven. Look at how successful Saratoga Springs has become,  
Efficient government.  
Mayor and all Commissioners are elected and accountable to voters every two years.  
Direct responsibility. 
No tax increase. Large reserves. 
Strong, knowledgeable council 

City Manager: VOTERS LOSE

Unsuccessful. Used by many depressed upstate New York cities.

Bigger bureaucratic government costing more.

*Undemocratic. City Manager is unelected and unaccountable to the taxpayers. 
All city administrators are appointed by city manager. 

Council members denied contact with department heads and employees.   
*Significantly higher cost/taxes. Total cost still unknown. *Strong, knowledgeable council Weak council, completely isolated from the departments

 Commissioners are accountable to the voters every two years. Four year staggered terms mean it could take 4 years to clean house of bad council members.”  End of partial SUCCESS STATEMENT!

If Jane Weihe is one of the best SUCCESS can put forward in a debate, they have a problem.  A well respected former Mayor Ken Klotz made more sense.  Also, he agreed at times with statements made by Kane & Martin but did tell why he felt this form we have provides some of the same points.  One big agreement he had was, and you must remember that Mayor Klotz appointed a Commission that passed a tweaked Commission Charter in 2000.  He said one weakness of this government was that the tweaked Charter mandated some very important departments in the City.  A full time Human Resource position and a Director of open land a spaces to name a few that can’t even be implemented. 

Jane said that as drawn up she couldn’t live under this proposed new Charter.  Let’s hope if the new Charter passes we don’t lose Jane as a Saratogian, she’s too funny.

                                                   

HIDE AND SEEK, A SUCCESS TACTIC

The League of Woman Voters cancelled the debate between 2 members of Saratoga Citizen and 2 members of SUCCESS scheduled for 9/19 because SUCCESS could not field 2 people to debate against Saratoga Citizen.  SUCCESS had also backed out of a scheduled debate at the library scheduled for the 13^th of this month for not being able to field a person for the debate.  This would seem odd as Remiga’s group has been spreading a lot of information lately and if anyone has read the Proposed Charter knows, it is misinformation they are spreading.  The debate would bring this out into the forefront and they can’t get caught in a venue like this without facts, something they just don’t have.

If you were at the evening of discussion they held with SUCCESS members Scott Johnson, yes our own Mayor (has anyone but me noticed how blood shot his eyes look all the time)?  How can he be holding office and be a card carrying member of this group and his partner Joe Dalton, who it is said, upon arriving in Saratoga to start his job declared a statement regarding Saratoga as being a city in the sticks.  This is the same Dalton, who was making $190,000.00 in salary and $25,000.00 in other income from the Chamber plus retirement and all the other benefits.  Anyway, Remiga did have the sense to take questions from the audience, but only from SUCCESS members.  She advertised it as an open public meeting, although she never recognized many of the hands raised by Saratoga Citizen members or regular citizens who had just woken up from the Mayor’s speech.

Well some news on a Saturday, the League of Woman Voter’s has announced that a debate on October 25^th from 7:30 – 9:30 will take place at the Saratoga Springs High School Auditorium.  Those in the debate for the group against Charter Change (SARATOGIANS UNITED TO CONTINUE THE CHARTER ESSENTIAL TO SUSTAIN OUR SUCCESS), again they can’t remember their name so they use SUCCESS, will be Ken Klotz & Jane Weihe and representing Saratoga Citizen (Saratoga Citizen) will be Pat Kane & Batavia City Manager Jason Molino.  Pass the word around.

This event will go on said a spokesperson from the League, no matter if SUCCESS is there or not.  Captain America feels that former Mayor Karen err I mean Ken Klotz or Jane Weihe will pass on the spotlight.  Expect some red faces when they can't come up with anything but 'look at wherre we are now'.  Pass on the information, you will want the truth and this will be the place to get it.

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?

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.

MAYOR'S JOHNSON & SUTTON SINK SARATOGA

Since as far back as your Captain can remember I have never seen the Mayor’s office taken down to the low level Mayor Johnson and Shauna Sutton have taken it to.  Under their stewardship they really have sent the office into the slime at the bottom of Saratoga Lake.  Let’s look at the Recreation Center debacle and the firing of a building inspector because he wouldn’t do as commanded by the dynamic duo and sign off a part of the job when it was unsafe and illegal.  The two then hired an engineer from Albany to inspect and sign off for them and she walked away and went back to Albany without putting an initial on the paper.  They also opened the facility without a certificate of Occupancy.  Next when the two put their heads together to plan the project, they left out parking spaces and showers for those using the building.

The next item that citizens of the City paid dearly for was the Mayor’s intentional delays and court battles with the citizens group Saratoga Citizen.  Scott spent nearly $80,000.00 of our money playing one-upmanship with costly court and appeal delays.  He lost every point in court and in the State Appellate Court.  So much for his prowess as a great litigator, (in his humble opinion), and taking the advice of the great West Side Dive Bombers, Elliott Massie and Remiga ‘who needs ya’ Foy.  Ok, I couldn’t resist a swing at Ms. Foy but she makes herself such a great target.

This just scratches the surface.  Next, The Mayor and his Deputy, give free reign to Sonny Bonacio to reshape the landscape of Saratoga Springs.  If you check the records you will see that Sonny get’s his projects through the various Boards faster than a speeding bullet.  One thing I’ll never understand is why doesn’t the City’s boards make Sonny put a Victorian look to his condo buildings?  I thought we wanted to project a certain look of a past era.

The Lillian’s parking lot was sold to Sonny for about ½ its worth by the Mayor and the sale price was used in 4 budgets and the City hasn’t received a penny yet.  Beware when the Mayor says ‘it will be taken care of within the month’ (remember the statements regarding the Waterfront Park).

The new parking garage which was recently built has its own prints by the dynamic duo on it.  The Mayor contracted out much of the work that the DPW could have done for more than ¾ in savings (hooking water lines etc.), but 2 engineer’s were hired to see that the jobs were carried out by another firm, probably with ties that can go back to the Mayor and Shauna.  Again, when the Mayor and Shauna couldn’t force the building inspector to put his ok on part of a job that was unsafe, you guessed right fired, gone, thrown out.  We now have no building inspector.  It is being said at City Hall that Scott Johnson is studying to become a building inspector, but as Mary Zlotnik has proved most employees don’t know the whole story.

These are just a few tidbits that the Captain has now, but we will be exposing more costly follies and possible actions that have put the City and its citizens in financial peril.  Until next time, superhero’s.

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?

GROUND BREAKING NEWS, I GUESS

In ground breaking news it seems that there is a story spreading around local coffee shops and in downtown restaurants’ that a local blogger that we won’t mention (the one with the red nose, blood shot eyes and beard) has been getting his funding from a local businessman who we won’t mention (his name rhymes with Daisy with an M) and that his ‘cancer screenings) are a way to so solicit funds for his trips to Double Vision in Clifton Park.  I want to tell you right now that I have no hard proof of this but the story is getting more steam behind it every day.  He has also posted on his site that Saratoga Citizen is behind (a.) funding Lee Harvey Oswald. (b.) Saratoga Citizen cut Ted Kennedy’s brakes before going over the Chappaquiddick Bridge and (c.) That Saratoga Citizen has buried Jimmy Hoffa’s body under the monstrosity ‘Tempered by Steel”.  I guess that Big Sugar told him to demonize Saratoga Citizen any way he can, it may be worth $20,000.00 for him to go a little more overboard, that might be why he was wearing an aluminum foil cap with a 6” antenna and hopping on one leg on Broadway the other day.

Mayor Johnson will officially open the Waterfront beach this week.  He will cut the ribbon so you can drive up to the property.  You may not swim, boat, raft or go water tubing yet as the place isn’t finished, as a matter of fact it’s only about 20% finished, and this is after our Little Caesar Mayor Johnson told us last year it would be complete by May of 2012.  He was waiting and salivating hoping for a lawsuit to feed his buddies in Glens Falls but since there was no lawsuit he got a little behind (now don’t think dirty, not that kind of little behind).  Here it is the end of August and he will open the beach for swimming from Nov.1 thru March 31.  I just can’t wait until he cuts the ribbon for the Grand Opening of the Public Toilets in the Spring.  Saratoga was #2 in Some Great City Magazine for best ribbon cutting for public toilets in the lower 48. #1 was a his and hers igloo in Nome.

Well it’s time to go out and do some crime fighting or look for Tamara; I bet that makes you all happy.

If you can think of anything else that Saratoga Citizen is responsible for let me know.  The one about Saratoga Citizen making blouses for Mary Zlotnik with those plunging necklines is already taken.

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.

A Barbara Lombardo Interview????

I went online tonight and saw where Barb Lombardo had interviewed The City Manager from Beacon New York.  I haven’t made any meetings of Saratoga Citizen and only get information from their website which has some very good articles and video pieces.

When I found out that Ms. Lombardo’s interview with the Manager from Beacon could be seen on video from a click from the article, I said to my self, a great chance to hear a City Manager explain what the job entails.  Holy crap, Batman.  It took longer for the piece to load up than the time the interview took (1.34)  I thought it was 1 hour and 34 minutes, but zowie, it was 1 minute and 34 seconds.  I hope Ms. Lombardo doesn’t interview many people because it wouldn’t pay to sit down for her interview.  So, since that was a Saratogian bomb I’ll have to hope that Saratoga Citizen outs her discussion at the Library on their site or wait for another Manager to visit.  However, this time I won’t relax in my chair with my popcorn and Pepsi in anticipation of a good interview.  Heck, it took 2 minutes to microwave the popcorn!  Until later, same Bat time, same Bat blog.

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?