Monday, August 2, 2010

East Greenbush upcomming elections

The fall elections are quickly coming upon us. For those of you who have followed the last years shenanigans, bear with my while I recap. Last year two board seats were filled through the constitutional process of voter preference. This gave the conservative/Republican group a majority for the first time in quite a while. In an effort to circumvent the voters wishes, the democratic party chair (Town) filed a lawsuit to disallow two people currently elected to the Board who also were elected to the County Legislature to hold both seats. The committee chair, rightly cited a law that didn't allow this practice, even though they allowed it in the past when it was a Democrat who held both seats. The lawsuit was upheld (by a Democratic judge) but the County legislature (Republican) quickly passed an amended law to make it legal to hold both positions. A Town Board member from North Greenbush was also caught up in this lawsuit, but when the County Legislature passed the bill and the County Executive signed it into law, the North Greenbush Town Board quickly reseated their Board Member. It was an outright political move to undo the voters wishes in East Greenbush and keep the Democratic stronghold on the Town Board. The current seated Democratic Board members, Supervisor McCabe and Ginny O'Brien refused to entertain (that is second) any attempt of the lone Republican, Rick Matters, to reseat the duly elected individuals. They instead chose to keep putting up Democrats for Board seats. Rick Matters stood his ground and kept them from being able to usurp the voters wishes. This stalemate kept the Town Board to a nonfunctioning 3 members instead of the five it should have had. If you need more information on these events, please refer to the Cristo/Taylor blog; the Story (blog); the Advertiser and the Town's website. The Democrats also launched a very nasty campaign against Ann Taylor, who was running for a seat last year. So much for history, and actually the present as the nastiness has started again!

Today, there are four people who are running to fill the two "vacant" seats on the Town Board and to fill the remaining time of those two seats. The two from the right, (Conservative. Republican,etc.) are Mike Cristo and Ann Taylor. Both have been very vocal in the recent eight months about the issues facing this Town. They are, a $2.6 million debt; gas-gate missing records of who got gas from the Town pumps and for what vehicles, scrap-gate, the missing checks for scrap collected at the Transfer station and carted off to a vendor, stipend-gate where certain individuals in Town, both elected and appointed, received stipends in addition to their salaries for what would appear to be their regularly assigned task. We really will never know in that there isn't any job descriptions written for these positions. Ann and Mike have been very open in discussing what they would do to get East Greenbush back from the junk bond status we current have, how to get a balanced budget and an open and accountable government. Many citizens have also been asking very hard questions (simple ones really) but have not been given satisfactory or even consistent answers from supervisor McCabe.

The other two candidates are Rick Hendricks and Phil Malone. Both are Democratic candidates sponsored by the Democratic party that has given us the junk bond status, unanswered questions and all the other issues I will lump into McCabe-gate for brevity. Well, I am curious as to where exactly Rick Hedricks and Phil Malone stand on the issues? Neither have broken their silence except a small article in the Advertiser where Rick Hendricks clarified a reporting error from the Democratic party that stated he is a life long resident of East Greenbush. Congratulations Mr. Hendricks, I applaud your honesty. In full disclosure, I have know Rick Hendricks for many years. We were both employed by the City of Albany at roughly the same time, he as a police officer, me as as a firefighter. I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Hendricks and always found him to be forthright and honest. I have no disillusion that he still holds these qualities dearly to his heart. With that in mind, I ask you Rich, where do you stand on the pressing issues facing this Town? (I also lump Phil Malone in these questions as well). Are you McCabe-lite, wishing to practice the same old policies, regardless of their legalities and/or perception of wrong doing? Mr. McCabe has had a full seven months to present his financial plan to the public about balancing the budget and digging our way out of junk bond status and $2.6 million in debt. but hasn't said anything specific. All he stated was he has a seven step plan and the first five have been implemented. Really? what are they? Do you, Rich and Phil, have a financial plan? Mr. McCabe has not been forthright in answering questions from citizens about the stipends, salary increases (without benefit of a Board vote) or whatever you want to call the $60,000 that appeared in select Town officials, elected and appointed, bi-monthly checks and reported as pension counting income. Do you have answers as to why this practice was abruptly stopped after being brought to light or are you going to continue the same old policy, McCabe-lite? What about all the other issues facing this Town? Why haven't we heard anything from you, Rich and Phil? Please get your plan out to the public and discuss what you intend to do about these pressing issues, or are we going to be left in the dark and get more McCabe-gate from the two of you? You have an active and inquisitive voter public that wants to know where you stand on these issues and more. Without you addressing them, our only choice is to vote for what appears to be very sound, businesslike financial planning or more of the same old McCabe-lite. What will it be? Rich? Phil? hello? anyone there? hello......

17 comments:

  1. Hal, thank you for your outstanding summary and your requesting that candidates for political office seek support by sharing with the public their stand on the issues confronting our town.
    I am one of the people who tried to get Ms. O'Brien and Mr. McCabe to stand on principle and not partisanship. I failed.
    I am also one of the people who asked, through a letter in The Advertiser, to get Ms. Halloran and her candidates to address our town's citizens and the issues facing us. I have failed in that as well.
    No response is, of course, a response. The utter lack of a response from any of the candidates supported by Ms. Halloran sends a very strong and clear message to the good citizens of our town - and that message has to be that we don't matter. Perhaps the Democratic Party's strategy is to attempt to steal the upcoming election as they tried to steal the last one in East Greenbush and as they are alleged to have attempted to do in Troy and Rensellear County. Perhaps the strategy is along the lines of "Why seek votes when you can more easily steal them?"
    If the voters of East Greenbush are insulted by the silence of Hendrick, Malone and Halloran it is with a great deal of justification.

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  2. I'm insulted by the Democrat's silence. Yes Hal, the questions are quite simple and yet there is no response. There are many GATES in this town that need to be addressed. An answer of I don't know would be better than silence.

    Let's be honest here, it would appear these issues are too overwhelming for the Democratic Candidates to respond to. They may run on hey I'm a nice guy who will do all I can to serve the good residents of EGB. We want more than lip service. Why should I be happy with a candidate winning because they have the most money? Where is the substance in that?

    Sooner or later you will have to give an account for why you are not speaking out concerning the status quo. What would you do to improve our town government? Would you be in favor of an ethics committee that would hold people accountable for past and present improprieties? What is most important to you, is it the party or the people who entrusted in you if elected to service US to the best of your ability?

    Are you your OWN person, or do you belong to another? Will you take out town into an era of LET'S DO THINGS THE BEST WAY WE POSSIBLY CAN? No more same old, same old. Can you do that?

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  3. Hal, Ray and Bonnie, all of the above articles are wonderful and right on target. I only wish that more people will read them and understand what is going on in this Town. Please consider Hal's letter and the responses to be entered into the Advertiser or the Troy Record for all to see and read. It is so important to get this message out to as many people as we can. Thank you for your support.
    Rose Cristo

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  4. There is a mini revolution going on right now in East Greenbush. There are people questioning WHAT has been done here in town and HOW things have been done. And the picture that consistently emerges is deeply disturbing. If things were as they should be; if the current administration and the majority party in power were doing the right things the right way public scrutiny would be welcome. Openness to the public is, after all, intended as a critical component of our democratic form of government. In the case of the current party in power we are seeing and hearing defensiveness, hostility, arrogance, personal attacks, dismissive attitudes and the like. Or, as we are seeing with Halloran, Hendrick and Malone we, the people, are being utterly and blantantly ignored. Taxpayers, citizens and voters are universally smart. We can tell who cares and who does not. If candidates supported by Ms. Halloran don't care enough about us to express themselves we can and should express how we feel about that by voting for those who do care. We have candidates who do care enough to be open, to share, to express themselves on issues, to step out into the public spotlight and to work hard. Those are the candidates who can and should earn our respect and our votes.

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  5. I am glad to see Hal blogging on local issues again as he always has interesting things to say. I do feel, however, that the Cristo-Taylor crowd have lost their legal bearings in the rush to blame everything on the 'administration'. According to NYS Town Law, the "executive, legislative and administrative responsibility" for the town lies with the town board, not the supervisor. The 'administration' in this town is the town board and they bear ultimate responsibility for everything done by our town government. Junk bond status was not created by the 'democrats' but by a town board consisting of Rick McCabe, Dean Kennedy, Michael Cristo, Phil Danaher and Rick Matters. All five bear equal responsibility under the law for the fiscal mess we face. And unlike the people who have commented on this thread I was at every board meeting for the three years of the Cristo-Danaher-Matters majority. There was not a word of dissent from them as this town slid into oblivion. So whereas the democrats may have much to answer for (and they do), so do the republican/ conservatives whose Bart Simpson defense - "It's not my fault, I'm innocent, man" - is revisionist history of the worst sort. They could have legislated every one of Rick McCabe's practices out of existence had they been doing their jobs but they failed to do so. Hiding behind 'we didn't know what was going on' only means they were negligent in the conduct of their offices. If elected officials are supposed to represent us, than ours have a long way to go to be worthy of the good people of East Greenbush. And that goes equally for both factions. We need a new politics and new people but most importantly we need a financial recovery plan and despite Mike and Ann's promise to deliver one (in segments, at some future date), we have not gotten a plan from ANY of the four candidates, or Rick McCabe, or Ginny O'Brien, or Rick Matters. So if you're asking where are the democrats? I'll add to that where are the republicans? All I'm hearing is partisan bickering based on a distressing lack of knowledgde of civics and the legal basis of our system of town government.

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  6. Nice try Jack, but the methodology employed in concealing the stipends added by the Supervisor to the salaries of selected employees (6 of whom are or were members of the East Greenbush Democratic Committee) gives rise to some questions about who should have known what about what was going on in Town government. If the Supervisor can slip additional lumps in to budget appropriations and not inform the Board that he was doing it – and having it actually accomplished by employees appointed by him – it certainly raises a real question about what was going on “under the radar” to fool the public and the Board. Folks in public office do take an oath, which I believe would preclude nefarious activities not in the public interest.

    You really need to be able to trust your colleagues in government. Mr. McCabe and company have demonstrated in concealing the stipend disbursements from the Board and the public that another nefarious agenda was operating which persons would not normally be required to ferret out. I would think it a fair assumption that one would enter government with the assumption that one’s colleagues are honorable. This has proven to be not the case. Mr. McCabe actually manipulated budget numbers without telling those responsible with him for the Town’s budget.

    In the case of the stipends, great care was taken to conceal what was taking place. If it was to be in the open and legal, the Supervisor should have provided a resolution raising salaries of those he chose to be passed by the Board in public. But instructions went to members of the EG Democratic committee in the employ of the Town who were receiving stipends. If concealing was done with the stipends, a serious question is raised about what else was concealed by those who had access and control of day-to-day operations.

    Jack, you are right, they could have legislated every one of Rick McCabe’s practices into oblivion ----- but only if they knew what he was doing ----- and he was concealing a lot of it ……”F------ie has that covered.”

    Bottom line Jack, in the last 3 years $144K got disbursed to favorites without the required resolution of the Board. Maybe more!! And it is clear that steps were taken to insure that the disbursements were not public knowledge. Do we have to have a situation in which citizens and Board members have to monitor the Supervisor’s every move to insure compliance with the law?

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  7. Jack---it's very funny that you continually tell Mike and Ann they need to do more and say more. Now you are pushing Ann for the FRP. Yet your candidates say nothing other than, "Hi, I am running."
    Just this once push YOUR guys and the Dem Cmt to take a stand first. Let's see your candidates present a FRP. Ann and Mike have been first (and the only) on every other issue. Quite frankly I hope Ann holds onto the FRP until others submit. As I recall last year, the Chamber contact and business contact for the town was Ann's idea and yet somehow it ended up on Dean Kennedy's "list of things to do". Ann submitted a Loan Program to help businesses in this God For Saken town. Let's see what your guys can come up with. Let's see if your guys can think outside the box.
    One more thing Jack--Mike and Ann have proven they do not need to falsify documents for their petitions--your cannot say the same. So I guess your "new faces" are really the same old faces from the parent company of Democratic Committee. What a shame.

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  8. Wasn't Jack Conway the guy who made a plea or a call for civility this election at the last board meeting? Mr. Conway, your post seems to contradict your own plea for civility.

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  9. Mr Conway, I think you are confused to what you have said in the past. I remember you saying that you would vote for Ann, at one of the meetings.
    Now you have a problem, with Ann because why? Be honest. As your counter parts have not had a good history of that in the past.
    YOu appear to be leaning to the opposing side.
    Your writings show that.

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  10. If you read my post it is not pro-democrat or anti-Ann, it is a call for ALL of our representatives and candidares to focus on the issues and respect the primary power of the town board. When I read republican commentators on the blogs it makes the supervisor seem all-powerful and makes me wonder what difference it would make to elect Mike and Ann to such an ineffectual, powerless figure-head apparatus as the town board since the supervisor is not going anywhere. The town board runs this town and bears legal resposnibility for everything our government does. I agree that the democrats have a lot to answer for and I am very hopeful that we will hear from them soon because we haven't heard from them yet. My point is that the 'Rick McCabe is responsible for all of our problems' argument is convenient for republicans because it ignores their complicity in everything he has done. The town board rules this town, not Rick McCabe, and Mike Cristo, Phil Danaher and Rick Matters sat on that board for the three years leading into junk bond status. That's a fact. What this says to me is there is ample blame to go around so let's say that what is past is done and focus on the future. The blame game leaves us angry and bitter and is counterproductive to straightening out our affairs. I have been consistently critical of both political factions in this town and I'm not going to bend to people who only want to see one side. And, if our elected representatives and nominated candidates are not going to participate in debate than I am going to wade in and create one by myself if need be. Ann Taylor and Mike Cristo have been accessible and forthcoming but their followers are now deep into a kind of tunnel vision that is offering nothing new and simply rehashing the same arguments. It's time to shed some light on the issues and open up the discussion. What is their plan for the future? It is not partisan to ask them the same questions I will be asking Phil Malone and Rich Hendricks, it is only fair. We need ideas, vision and leadership, not excuses, revisionist history or villification.

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  11. I read with great interest the Phil Malone article in the August 19 edition of The Advertiser. It is a somewhat spun version of his resume. For the voters, citizens and taxpayers of East Greenbush today's Malone article has to be a disappointment. I, for one, am not interested in what he has done in the past. A couple of months as a senate aide does not impress me that he has what it will take to confront, strategize, analyze, decide, and, most importantly, to lead. I am deeply interested in what he might do in the future. His article utterly lacks his views or positions on our town's multiple and serious issues. We have no clue what he supports and what he opposes. We can only guess and the best guess is that as a member of the same political alliance as the current majority party he would continue business as usual. Many of us here in town have tried all manner of means to get Malone and Hendrick to express themsleves on the issues. Nothing has been successful and today's Malone article is another disappointment from a political party that has done nothing but disappoint the voters of East Greenbush repeatedly for all too many years now.

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  12. Jack,

    I completely agree.

    we seem to be replacing blind faith in the Democrats with blind faith in the Republicans.

    it seems Mike and Ann aren't interested in issues, so much as playing politics.

    I don't know about everyone else, but I'm sick of politics

    it seems to me the only thing we are really reforming is who does the attacking, and who reaps the benefits of the attacks.

    Jack, I applaud your efforts. I for one am extremely glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like the taste of Mike's Kool-Aid.

    -Nate

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  13. Nate.... Sorry, but I just can't seem to figure out where you are coming from. We've had some rather serious departures from what the law requires related to the use of public money. And we've had some activities by the local Democratic Committee in an attempt to prevent those activities from coming to light. Taking money and attempting to conceal the activity and the methodology does not create a confidence that it will not be done again.

    What we have encountered here is not uncommon. Please take the time to read the report of the State Comptroller released this month related to fraud in local governments.

    http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/preventingfraud.pdf

    By the way, I think Ann Taylor and Mike Cristo are Conservatives and Rick Matters is a Republican. I'm a Democrat. I think Tom Grant is Working Families and Ray Mooney is an independent. This is not a partisan movement. I think you've got to get it into your head that should a reform majority be achieved in November, there will be just as much new citizen oversight as we have begun to do already. I have enough experience to know that if the ability to do mischief is not removed from those who have done the mischief we know about, it will continue. It would be very nice if we could all just get along, in the immortal words of Rodney King. But if human nature permitted that, we wouldn't have laws or cops.

    There are all kinds of people volunteering to improve things in this Town. We are not going to permit another fiefdom to develop. But we've got to get rid of the current one. And it's not easy. They've got a lot to loose.

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  14. Jack, my friend,

    I know you sometimes see things through rose colored glasses (what I love about you!), but Apparently you have filters on your ears as well. Ann and Mike are not taking cheap shots at those in power and the Demoocratic candidates. They are simply questioning inaccuarcies and misleading statements to make sure the public hears the truth, not their version, but fact based. If this appears to be mud slinging, I am sorry you can't see the difference. Take Mr. Malone's posting in the Advertiser today. He states that he attended law school. That part is true, but for hoow long? Did he graduate? did he pass the courses he took? Truth is he is not a lawyer, which is what you might believe seeing that he attended law school. He mistakenly signed the wrong petitions to get on a primary ballot (Independents I believe). He withdrew the petitions so that none of the signatures counted for him. If he is a lawyer, how could he make that simple mistake, in fact he and his mom are both Notoray Publics, how could they BOTH make the mistake of signing the wrong forms as notories? Sorry Jack, but this hand picked candidate of Mr. McCabe is more of the same, McCabe-lite. Both have been caught in making mistatements, changing their story and/or doing things outside of the proper way. Remember, Ann and Mike have not gone after anyones job by calling their boss! Mike and Ann have stated platforms they are running on. They want a full audit, they want clear and concise accounting of Town Finances, and transparency in government. What do your candidates stand for? Mr. Hendrick cleared the air about where he grew up and Mr. Malone restated and reinvented his resume to make it appear he is more than he is. His vast experience in State Government, how long? Why did he leave? Come on guys gives us something. What do you stand for? What is your position on the many issues that face this town?

    Jack, I love you, but take off the glasses and the headphones.

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  15. Jack, my friend,

    I know you sometimes see things through rose colored glasses (what I love about you!), but Apparently you have filters on your ears as well. Ann and Mike are not taking cheap shots at those in power and the Demoocratic candidates. They are simply questioning inaccuarcies and misleading statements to make sure the public hears the truth, not their version, but fact based. If this appears to be mud slinging, I am sorry you can't see the difference. Take Mr. Malone's posting in the Advertiser today. He states that he attended law school. That part is true, but for hoow long? Did he graduate? did he pass the courses he took? Truth is he is not a lawyer, which is what you might believe seeing that he attended law school. He mistakenly signed the wrong petitions to get on a primary ballot (Independents I believe). He withdrew the petitions so that none of the signatures counted for him. If he is a lawyer, how could he make that simple mistake, in fact he and his mom are both Notoray Publics, how could they BOTH make the mistake of signing the wrong forms as notories? Sorry Jack, but this hand picked candidate of Mr. McCabe is more of the same, McCabe-lite. Both have been caught in making mistatements, changing their story and/or doing things outside of the proper way. Remember, Ann and Mike have not gone after anyones job by calling their boss! Mike and Ann have stated platforms they are running on. They want a full audit, they want clear and concise accounting of Town Finances, and transparency in government. What do your candidates stand for? Mr. Hendrick cleared the air about where he grew up and Mr. Malone restated and reinvented his resume to make it appear he is more than he is. His vast experience in State Government, how long? Why did he leave? Come on guys gives us something. What do you stand for? What is your position on the many issues that face this town?

    Jack, I love you, but take off the glasses and the headphones.

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  16. I'll be at the next CARE meeting. We'll discuss it then. Maybe i can convince Jack to come.

    -Nate

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  17. Jack - Phil Malone has the "write" stuff...just like the Democrats in Troy.

    C'mon, are you really supporting someone who falsifies election ballots? Are there any standards left?

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