Well today at high noon we’ll see if the rumors come true, county Republican icons attending the swearing in ceremony for Democrat Jeff Spain’s town board slate. With no Organizational meeting yet called or noticed, it’s clear the infighting over appointments is far from over. Tom Connolly, the so called chairman of the Independence Party which was taken over with the help of State Senate employees sent out by Joe Bruno to gather signatures for committee seats, is pushing hard for his Senate sidekick Josh Ehrlich as town attorney. Trouble is Ehrlich does not even live in Rensselaer County, never mind North Greenbush. My what an interesting addition he would make to the already colorful past of Lou Desso and the continuing out of office activities of Evers.
After Evers refused to support two of GOP County Chair’s choices for attorney positions, Jack Casey got a taste of the Mark Evers many Democrats have experienced for the past two years. Many of the folks who were on the list of potential appointees have refused or wanted far more money than the position has budgeted. One of those was a former town attorney Fred Kirwin.
But if the sourcing mill is accurate, there are some key Republicans who were supposed to be on the other side of the fence from Evers coming to this ceremony. These are some of the folks who helped run the GOP campaign against him through his then GOP endorsed opponents Bob Ashe, Joe Stycznski and Lou Desso. But with Desso pushing for Stycznski to be placed on the Planning Board and Katie Connolly going bonkers trying to stop it, there is a behind the scenes war preventing scheduling of that first meeting in January. Katie has apparently enlisted Al Spain to try and stop the board from appointing for former GOP councilman, just as she is trying to stop the re-appointment of former Comptroller Tyler Sawyer to his old job. That was a Bruno Office effort that is stirring up dissent between the factions that make up this unholy alliance of Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives and the Independence Party. Come on Katie, Tyler would be a great choice who can always be counted on as a pro at covert operations, especially when a careless clerk leaves her vault door wide open while she grabs a cigarette outside. (It’s a nasty habit you really should kick.)
One appointment won’t happen when that big meeting occurs. The gang was whooping it up in the belief that Planning Board member Brian Dwyer could be removed from the board and replaced by another one of their lackeys. The hope rested on the belief that Dwyer did not complete his 4 hours of State mandated training since he had turned in no proof of completion. Well much to the dismay of the folks doing all that hoping in town hall, Dwyer completed that training and filed the certificate in town hall last week.
Regardless, don’t be surprised by the presence of key County Republicans at this Democratic “victory” party today at noon. Folks like Richard Crist who ran the GOP campaign against Evers and his slate in 2005 along with his Victory Lane protégé, County Legislator Bob Mirch. From the look and feel of this ceremony it should become clear that while Spain, Connolly and the rest of the Democrats who ran for party committee seats promised “Reform”, they instead gave us Republicans. It might also cause the new town board members to realize that the decisions on appointments should not be subject the consent of the town clerk, something Joe Stycznski figured out during his term on the town board.
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