We can’t tell you how the new insider blog Albanyamp.blogspot.com came to our attention, but we can tell you that it is clearly sourced from deep within the ranks of the GOP conference of the NY State Senate. Joe Bruno appears to be in trouble and State Senators are worried about the writing on the wall.
First the loss of a GOP seat in western NY and then the unforgivable blunder committed by a key budget staffer who was fired after senators learned he had mistakenly left in all of the member item requests for the new budget from a Democratic Senator, Andrea Cousins, who barely defeated GOP Senator Nick Spano in a district carved as a GOP seat down state.
These member items are dished out by the senators and help them get re-elected. So this oversight may prove critical in a presidential election year in a deep blue state where marginal GOP districts may be overcome by a Democratic wave at the polls.
The leaks from the staff and conference have been driving the Senator crazy because they are accurate and embarrassing. Grand Jury subpoenas disclosed, firings before they are public and other tantalizing excerpts which spell eroding support for the Senator who has had his hands in the politics of North Greenbush by endorsing a slate a candidates tied to his friend Jim Germano, who continue to keep developers in the drivers seat in town hall.
Sources say 18 subpoenas were delivered by FBI agents to Bruno and Senate staffers from the Labor and Finance Committees and Albanyamp.blogspot.com gladly disclosed the worrisome news before any local newspapers reported the story.
So with Bruno and his loyal sidekick, Jack Casey, the Rensselaer County GOP Chair who signed off on the cross endorsement of the Evers-Desso candidacy while selling out the registered Republicans vying for their party’s nomination, practice damage control, and plug leaks, a Federal Grand Jury continues to gather information that ultimately could have a profound impact on North Greenbush. If indicted, Bruno’s hold on North Greenbush and his county organization will slip away as will Evers and Desso’s Godfather who helped engineer their endorsement by all four parties in last year’s election. Bruno’s operatives control the two minor party lines, the Conservative and Independence Parties. His operatives, Robert Mirch and Tom Connolly have Senate jobs although there seems to be no office hours for Mirch given his full time job in Troy as Public Works Commissioner.
First the loss of a GOP seat in western NY and then the unforgivable blunder committed by a key budget staffer who was fired after senators learned he had mistakenly left in all of the member item requests for the new budget from a Democratic Senator, Andrea Cousins, who barely defeated GOP Senator Nick Spano in a district carved as a GOP seat down state.
These member items are dished out by the senators and help them get re-elected. So this oversight may prove critical in a presidential election year in a deep blue state where marginal GOP districts may be overcome by a Democratic wave at the polls.
The leaks from the staff and conference have been driving the Senator crazy because they are accurate and embarrassing. Grand Jury subpoenas disclosed, firings before they are public and other tantalizing excerpts which spell eroding support for the Senator who has had his hands in the politics of North Greenbush by endorsing a slate a candidates tied to his friend Jim Germano, who continue to keep developers in the drivers seat in town hall.
Sources say 18 subpoenas were delivered by FBI agents to Bruno and Senate staffers from the Labor and Finance Committees and Albanyamp.blogspot.com gladly disclosed the worrisome news before any local newspapers reported the story.
So with Bruno and his loyal sidekick, Jack Casey, the Rensselaer County GOP Chair who signed off on the cross endorsement of the Evers-Desso candidacy while selling out the registered Republicans vying for their party’s nomination, practice damage control, and plug leaks, a Federal Grand Jury continues to gather information that ultimately could have a profound impact on North Greenbush. If indicted, Bruno’s hold on North Greenbush and his county organization will slip away as will Evers and Desso’s Godfather who helped engineer their endorsement by all four parties in last year’s election. Bruno’s operatives control the two minor party lines, the Conservative and Independence Parties. His operatives, Robert Mirch and Tom Connolly have Senate jobs although there seems to be no office hours for Mirch given his full time job in Troy as Public Works Commissioner.
The Albany County DA has been assigned the role of Special Prosecutor in a case that includes allegations against Mirch and his Legislative staffer Richard Crist that involve use of county and city staff to conduct private political work including the use of county and city staff and facilities to record “robo calls” at Troy City Hall. The investigation also will examine Victory Lane, the private political consulting company run out of the county office building which was behind the infamous absentee ballot scam in the 2005 primary elections in North Greenbush where candidates like Lou Desso, Leon Fiacco and Robert Ashe gathered questionable ballots and harvested more straight GOP votes when they were opened than people who voted on the machines.
Now perhaps the Albany DA may want to check on another issue within his geographic jurisdiction, the $30,000 Senate job Mirch holds and exactly what he does for the money. That’s kind of like the questions asked of Joe Bruno about his “consulting” company, what he does for the money paid to the firm and who are the clients? Questions, the new blog may be in a position to help answer.
Meeting Sought to Explain Audit
Here is a link to a letter published today in the Record by Dan Ashley which makes a good case for Mark Evers to do some explaining.
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