The North Greenbush Pipeline

Organizational Meeting Tonight

2010-01-05T08:00:00.005-05:00

The new Town Board is set to meet tonight, January 6th at 7PM for its Organizational Meeting. As of yet there is no agenda posted for the meeting but past practice has included the routine appointment of various officials and designations of official banks, newspapers etc.

One area of past controversy was the appointment of two deputy town attorneys, neither of whom reside in the town and one of which lives in Albany County. Their appointments reflected political clout and in one case an IOU but it remains to be seen whether the new board is at all enamored with the political baggage each carries. One is a former judge removed from the bench by the State's highest court and the other, well, read for yourself below why he's the last guy the town should have representing us prosecuting cases in town court.

It's a new year and a new board so we'll give all the benefit of the doubt and see whether its business as usual or a new look for the new board and year with higher standards than in the past.

We do wish the incoming board members well and hope they will use their own independent judgment when making decisions.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T11:53:00.002-05:00

All of us who contribute to the North Greenbush Pipeline wish you a happy and safe new year.
PS: Would someone please remind the town clerk to sign the oath book tomorrow!

Unwanted Attention To Start a New Year

2009-12-28T06:48:00.009-05:00

If there's one thing we've noticed in dealing with Al Spain, he does not accept criticism well, no matter how well deserved or delivered. He seems to be one of those folks who believes he is above being criticized for inappropriate actions as a public official, no matter how egregious the mis-step.

Earlier this month when he engineered a town board resolution to retaliate against the new Supervisor by cutting her one and only officer worker forcing the office to remain closed to the public for half of the normal weekly business hours, he probably didn't calculate the long term political costs to himself or his colleagues. Never mind that the retaliation is childish and against a fellow board member who has nothing whatever to do with the legal action under way by county politicians challenging the legality of Lou Desso holding two elective offices simultaneously. His retaliation and demands that the new Supervisor call back a legal action over which she has no control or involvement demonstrates exactly what the lawsuit contends occurs by holding both a town and county elective office. Namely that it creates a conflict of interest.

Telling the new Supervisor to stop the lawsuit or suffer the political consequences embroils the town board in county politics. Al Spain and his colleagues should know this and take a step back before the town suffers from his misguided course of action.

Much progress had been made by Spain and the incoming board members in healing some of the divisions that exist on the board and in the town. That progress begins with building trust and keeping lines of communication open.

Today's Troy Record column gets it just as easily as the public gets it with regard to the retaliation against the new Supervisor. An office such as this is supposed to be open during normal business hours. That's 40 hours a week in which the public, potential business interests and public officials should be able to come to the town offices with a reasonable expectation that the Supervisor's Office is open for business. Al Spain's action to slash the only office worker in the budget to staff that office reflects poorly on him and on each board member who voted for te measure. It places politics ahead of the public interest. If the Talespin staff gets it, so will the public. Let's hope cooler heads prevail before this one starts the year off with controversy instead of the cooperation which had been under way.

You can read the column here.

Happy Holidays to All!

2009-12-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

From all those who contribute to making this publication the most viewed of any political blog in North Greenbush, we wish our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And to our Jewish friends, a very Happy Hanukkah!

Troy Politics Front and Center in NG

2009-12-17T06:00:00.004-05:00

Anyone who thought there was no conflict of interest by having a county legislator serving on a town board should just ask Al Spain, the man who proclaims himself in charge of 4 votes on the North Greenbush Town Board.

Spain is apparently upset that Councilman Lou Desso may be on the wrong side of a State Law which prohibits County elected officials from serving on town or city elective bodies. As a result, he sponsored a budget amendment last night at the Town Board meeting to retailate against the new Town Supervisor by slashing the one and only staff member of the Supervisor's Office, a confidential assistant, to a part time job and salary. That means the Town Supervisor's Office will be CLOSED 20 of the 40 hours the office is suppposed to be open for business, serving the public.

Spain is demanding, lets say EXTORTING a demand from the new town supervisor that she order what he perceives as her puppets in Rensselaer County, to withdraw threatened litigation that would enforce County Laws which prevent a Legislator from serving on a Town Board and require that the Town Board seat be vacated once a Board member assumes a County elected office.

Never mind that this is a question of law that is yet to be settled by a judge, and never mind that the new Supervisor has no control over those threatening the litigation. What matters is that Al Spain claims to control the votes of both new board members, his personal puppets, as well as the vote of Lou Desso, the Councilman who may be in violation of the law in question once he takes office on January 1st. Both Desso and Spain changed their votes from a week ago in order to retaliate against the new Supervisor.

Last time we looked, extortion is not the way to deal with demanding action from town board members. Spain is letting his well documented temper stand in the way of rational decision making. We can only hope that new board members Hoffman and Bott have more sense and maturity than to allow Al Spain and Lou Desso to order them to follow them off this political cliff.

Troy's Budget

You might have been reading about the budget war in Troy where Democrats control 7 of 9 votes on the City Council. That's a two thirds majority plus one and Democrats enraged the mayor by cutting the mayor's spending plan along with some of his more politically connected staff. The mayor says he's going to court and Democrats are said to be looking at more ways to save money by closely examining other positions in the city that may be unnecessary.

One area on the the list is a possible consolidation involving the City Civil Service Commission with the Personnel Director. Seven votes means the city council can further amend the city budget and decide whether to eliminate, say, the Civil Service Commission or the Personnel Director. Folks point to Rensselaer County which has always governed with either a Civil Service Commission or Personnel Director, but never with both departments.

You may recall that a few years back, the County Legislature amended the Charter to eliminate the County Civil Service Commission in favor of a Personnel Director. The person appointed to that job under then County Executive Henry Zwack was Christina Mahoney. Mr. Zwack didn't like Ms. Mahoney after just a short time on the job. She was a bit miffed at political interference and threats made against her if she did not perform certain discretionary acts to benefit political deals being made by Zwack.

Eventually, Zwack was indicted, in part because of Zwack's threats against Mahoney or her staff. After the trial, The County Legislature decided they didn't like a Personnel Director and instead returned to the Civil Service Commission to manage personnel for the county.

Troy, incredibly, has both a Civil Service Commission and a Personnel Director. Clearly the City does not need both. Which way the Council will go is anyone's guess. But did we mention that the Personnel Director doesn't even live in Troy. No, he lives in North Greenbush where he boasts control of 4 votes on the North Greenbush Town Board. Last night, he was one of 3 votes cast to cripple the new Supervisor's ability to keep her office open to the public during the normal 40 hour work week, cutting the Supervisor's assistant to a part time 20 hour a week job..

For what its worth, our recommendation to the City Council is hire from home. Since those on the Civil Service Commission live in the city, make the cuts where they don't hurt Troy residents. You have to wonder if Troy's Personnel Director is paying much attention to the details of his job, especially residency laws which are being ignored by a certain friend. Perhaps the time being spent on the North Greenbush Board is distracting him from his duties or letting council members know of residency law violations right under his nose.

Maybe as a bonus, Al Spain will learn a badly needed lesson in civility as he counts his 4 votes and the Troy City Council counts its 7 votes.

Trouble In Paradise?

2009-12-16T07:06:00.002-05:00

Looks like Lou Desso may have miscalculated the legality of holding two elective municipal offices at the same time. We've documented the potential for a conflict of interest in this publication on numerous occasions. The more obvious example occurred when Desso injected himself into contract negotiations with Poestenkill to sell them water through our overbuilt pipeline, overbuilt so we could sell water to neighboring towns.

Desso was so anxious to suck up to Poestenkill voters since he was a candidate for legislature which included that town in the district, he neglected to aggressively represent his real constituency in North Greenbush where he was elected to the town council.. In the end, Poestenkill took its business elsewhere and North Greenbush is holding the bag for all those extra expenses in overbuilding the water system.

Now apparently, an attorney has been retained to enforce a section of law that legally prohibits a county elected officer from holding a town elective office simultaneously. According to a post in the Times Union, East Greenbsh officials were notified of the issue and intent to litigate the matter should two of Desso's running mates take the oath as Legislators and not choose to step down as council members in East Greenbush. The same would apply to Desso here in North Greenbush and we can only guess that North Greenbush may have received a similar warning letter from the attorney in question.

We'll research the matter further but until we do, maybe we can get Lou to weigh in on hiring defeated legislator Neil Kelleher as a consultant to help poor Martin Reid learn how to be a Chairman of the Legislature. We doubt Lou Desso would be in need of such remedial assistance but perhaps Mr.Reid is not as streetwise and requires someone to hold his hand while picking taxpayers pockets for $15,000 as a consultant fee. You can read about this gem in today's Record.

As they say, its the season for giving!

Comp Plan Passes 4-0-1

2009-12-11T06:56:00.001-05:00

It was goodby night as Board members said their thank yous at the last regular meeting of the term. The hot topic was the Comprehensive Plan "tweaked " to the benefit of a particular landowner and by the way, contributor to the Desoo campaign. The potential benefit to the landowner would only occur if the Planning Board somehow allowed a high density commercial project to be approved in the space that would then damage the surrounding neighborhoods on Bloomingrove Drive by forcing traffic from the potential mall onto their streets.

Of course the Board also saw none of this impact on the neighbors and voted to approve a Negative SEQR declaration. News 13's Dan Bazille covered the story which was the lead at the 11PM newscast. You can listen to the debate here on our Pipeline Radio.

Lou's Comptroller

2009-12-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we received an anonymous comment stating that Lou Desso was busy drumming up votes to appoint his personal Comptroller to replace the current appointee who unlike Lou's choice, was selected after a rigorous search using trade publications and newspaper advertising.

The process for finding and appointing someone to fill this budgetary position was actually professionally thought out. It gave North Greenbush residents an opportunity to apply for the position as well as a broader field of potential candidates. Numerous parties answered the ads and the candidates selected for interviews were tested with face to face questioning by each member of the town board.

Why so much effort was put into the hiring process is pretty obvious, except perhaps to Lou Desso, who apparently sees this position as nothing more than an opportunity for him to score political points, not with the voters of North Greenbush, but with his other constituency in East Greenbush which he will soon represent as a County Legislator.

No interviews needed here, no search or advertising, no screening, no rigorous questioning by the town board, no opportunity to retain a qualified town resident, no, none of that, just a political hire for Lou Desso. Seems Lou's political campaign plans never mentioned his hiring process. Remember that full page flier, Back to Basics"?

Well we do, and basics in hiring for a position that is supposed to be apolitical with enormous responsibility and confidentiality with regard to town finances and personnel issues requires at a minimum the process followed by the town board in appointing the current comptroller.

Whether the current appointee is doing or good job or not is hard to access here. About all we can say is that there have been no comments from the board criticizing his work and to the contrary, many comments praising his work. But neither he or his performance is at issue here. The manner in which such an important professional position is recruited and retained is the issue, the only issue and Lou Desso appears to be trashing professional management for political expediency.

So Mr. Desso, what say you get back to basics in the hiring process. You're not happy with the current comptroller. Maybe because he refused to pay one of your favorite Conservative water contractors until he finished all the work he agreed to complete. Maybe because the contractor lost his temper in town hall making the Town Supervisor and the Comptroller feel threatened causing the arrest of the contractor and the issuance of a Court ordered Order of Protection against the contractor. Time for a new Town Comptroller, right?

Whatever your reasons, try to follow some "basic" principles in recruiting and hiring. Tell your political buddy from East Greenbush that North Greenbush follows basic guidelines in hiring someone for an important professional position. Tell your friend to wait for the ad, answer it and prepare to be interviewed by the entire town board. Tell him you were wrong to have offered him the job because the title of the job is Town Comptroller, not Lou's Comptroller. Basics Lou, just basics.

Town Board Moves to Consider Passage of Controversial Comprehensive Plan

2009-12-09T06:00:00.002-05:00

The North Greenbush Town Board is preparing to vote on a controversial revision of the proposed Comprehensive Plan Thursday night at 7PM at Town Hall. The revised plan was redone with a $40,000 no bid contract which was characterized by serious violations of the State’s Open Meeting’s Law which states:

§106. Minutes.
1. Minutes shall be taken at all open meetings of a public body which shall consist of a record or summary of all motions, proposals, resolutions and any other matter formally voted upon and the vote thereon.
3. Minutes of meetings of all public bodies shall be available to the public in accordance with the provisions of the freedom of information law within two weeks from the date of such meeting except that minutes taken pursuant to subdivision two hereof shall be available to the public within one week from the date of the executive session.

This new Comprehensive Plan Committee was supposed to “tweak or amend” the completed draft plan of December 2006. In order for this Committee, as a “Public Body”, to ACT on a resolution to amend the document, there must be a quorum present and a written record of the roll, quorums, motions etc.

A review of the Minutes of this new Committee demonstrate a shocking lack of compliance with the basic requirements of the Open Meetings Law. Through 11 sets of minutes provided for 2008 and 4 in 2009 up to the June 2, 2009 meeting, there is nothing to indicate that a resolution was voted on to change in any way the plan delivered in 2006. Yet at the June 2, 2009 meeting, with a non quorum of 5 members present, the plan was declared finished and ready to be sent to the town board. It was only after this meeting, when their lack of compliance with the law was exposed, did the CPC begin to insure their meetings were properly documented.

The Records Access Officer has also added to the controversy by refusing to obey the FOIL Law by “certifying” copies of minutes she provided under FOIL as “true copies”. The minutes of June 2, 2009 were obtained after several months. They contain 35 words. They list no attendance whatsoever, no record of the discussions of votes taken that day in total defiance of the Open Meetings Law. The Town Clerk has thus refused to CERTIFY this document or any other set of minutes pursuant to FOIL which reads: Section 87(3)(a) “…the entity shall provide a copy of such record and certify to the correctness of such copy if so requested, or as the case may be, shall certify that it does not have possession of such record or that such record cannot be found after diligent search.

There is one reason the Records Access Officer might refuse to certify a record she provided as a true copy and that rests with the fact that the document was falsified and proof of the CPC’s disregard for compliance with the Open Meetings Law requiring accurate minutes.

This Town Board will be acting to consider a Comprehensive Plan done in defiance of the Open Meetings Law when it meets Thursday night. They will do so after refusing to seek an unbiased opinion from the State’s foremost authority on the Open Meetings Law, Robert Freeman, and instead will rely on a opinion generated by the Town Attorney who must depend on the Town Board for reappointment to his job in January.

Finally, there is the most controversial change in this revised Plan, a decision to permit high density retail development in an area of RT 4 which is bordered on one side by a residential street and neighborhoods. The Town Board intends to pass a “Negative Declaration on SEQR” which will state there is no negative impact by any part of this plan on the town. Clearly a plan which would allow hundreds of cars off a residential gateway to access a large retail complex approved by this land use map will have a huge negative impact on the neighborhood surrounding Bloomingrove Drive. A full environmental impact review should take place to protect these residents from any negative impact resulting from the future approval of a large big box retail complex in this area.

We can't help but note that Supervisor Evers and Councilman Kern voted against passage of the first plan submitted to them in December 2006. They cited a belief that it was "hurried" but never once suggested that it was produced in defiance of the Open Meetings Law or any other statute. Since that time, the plan has been the baby of Councilman Spain who chaired the new committee and who has opposed Evers on many fronts, including his re-election bid.

How will Evers and Kern vote Thursday? They opposed a plan without any suggestion of the legal mis-steps documented in this one. Will they now leave office by supporting a plan created in clear defiance of the Open Meetings Law with the cloud of falsified minutes hanging over it like a vulture?

We don't know, but wouldn't it be interesting to see some folks twisting in the wind and two public officials demonstrating a degree of integrity many don't expect from them? Your last chance to speak about this plan comes Thursday night at 7PM.

Budget Blues

2009-12-01T14:06:00.000-05:00

One point that seems loud and clear with regard to staffing in the Building Department in Town Hall is that there are more staffers than there is work to justify the continuance of many of the jobs. As a result, many are concerned that the new Supervisor will soon become aware of the lack of work, supervision and management of the employees and take steps to correct the situation, not only to protect town finances, but to provide supervision that is answerable to the town board and not to the union which currently represents the so called management employees and rank and file.

It remains an incredible example of poor judgment that the Town Board failed to eliminate the position of a $46,000 Utilities Inspector who has no more water inspections to perform and is now being given other work which is not a part of his job title's duties just to look "busy". One Fire Marshall position in the 2010 budget has been eliminated but its fairly clear that there is not enough work to continue to justify either position. Which employee will be dismissed remains unclear as the criteria for that decision with both hired on the same Town Board resolution, may be the result of some obscure Civil Service regulation.

One of these employees is still permitted to work unsupervised in a special 4 day 10 hour a day work week so he can also hold a second full time job as a Troy fireman. No one punches a time clock or can even affirm what work is done after normal business hours, 4 days a week. This employee cost the town a pretty bundle when he was not only allowed to opt out of the town's health insurance policy which he was never in it to begin with, (He also double dips, getting his health insurance from Troy), but he was allowed to grab an even bigger buy out check by opting out of the more expensive family coverage which pays out $6000 a year to each employee receiving the buyout. In January, we will likely see another round of those buy out checks go out to door thanks to a poorly written Union Contract that is being interpreted so as to screw the town as much as possible by allowing these excessive buyouts, allowing special people to work after normal business hours unsupervised, allow 10 hours of credit for a holiday for this employee instead of the 8 hours everyone else gets, never allow a time clock in the building as a management tool and safeguard, and allow management employees to be part of the Union Bargaining Unit which permits them to receive the insurance buyouts they otherwise would not have been eligible for. Those second round of big annual $3000 plus buyout checks are due to be released this month to the employees. They are the second equal payments for each employeeduring the year. That means the Fire Marshall who gets his health insurance from Troy gets an inexcusable double dip from taxpayers in North Greenbush while the Assessor gets a similar dip, but for the less expensive single coverage, while collecting health insurance as a State retiree. All because of a poorly written or poorly interpreted union contract.

Remember too that revenue from building permits is way down here as it is in most municipalities. Without a demand for inspections as created by the issuance of permits, the need for staff to perform inspections is reduced. I wonder if the folks in town hall would, perhaps Mr. Evers, could drop us a note and tell us how much revenue has been generated this year verses last year for permits. Also, could we get some numbers disclosing the number of inspections performed weekly by the Building Department staff for the last 8 weeks? These numbers would certainly tell the story of supply and demand and might just let the rest of the Board know that the Supervisor may have had a point at the last Board meeting when he complained that he could not get these permit numbers from the Building Department. Perhaps the Comptroller has the revenue numbers which the Supervisor could share.

With the State facing a 20 Billion Dollar deficit over the next two years, significant increases in local contributions to the State Pension System being forecast and potentially dramatic cutbacks in State Aid to local governments being planned for the years ahead, neither North Greenbush or any other locality, can continue to spend money so irresponsibly or manage its employees and resources as if there were no economic crisis impacting our town, county and state. Like it or not, the Town Board is going to have to take steps to dramatically reduce spending, first to eliminate a 2009 operating General Fund Deficit of at least $50,000, perhaps more and second, to prevent its recurrence on the spending side in 2010.

Like it or not, that's the challenge facing this Town Board. Time will tell whether they have have the intestinal fortitude to take some difficult steps.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T07:27:00.000-05:00

From all who contribute to this publication, we wish you a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Budget Crisis Solution:Keep Spending!

2009-11-20T10:28:00.003-05:00

It was a marathon meeting last evening at town hall as the Town Board listened to proposals to deal with the town's current 2009 deficit which was estimated at $64,000 and assemble a spending proposal that not only erased the deficit, but structurally prevents its recurrence.

The Supervisor offered, albeit far later in the year than he should have, cuts in positions in town hall that would certainly deal with the deficit and the structural spending which caused it in 2009 and will cause it to reoccur in 2010 if spending remains unchanged.

That solution involved unfunding several town hall positions including a Utilities Inspector making over $40,000, and a laborer position. These would have been added to the elimination of one Fire Marshall position in Building Department that currently employs 4 code enforcement positions. These positions are funded despite the fact that the demand for their services is dramatically down from past years due to the soft economy which has caused the number of permit applications to plummet. Permits are the feed for the demand for services from code enforcement officials and as demand drops, so to does the need to fund these positions.

Not apparently in North Greenbush after last nights 3-2 votes to continue funding and spending on these positions and instead take $105,000 from the Highway Department's revenue stream and use that money to pay for General Fund expenditures, including salaries.

The Highway Superintendent made it clear to the Board that taking these funds from his so called Pilot revenue will come at a cost down the road as the ability to use these revenues to fund a needed garage to house town trucks will cost taxpayers at a future date with bonding that otherwise might not have been necessary. While that bill looms in the future, the practical effect of using $105,000 from the Highway Fund to continue General Fund spending as usual is more immediate. The decision leaves unaddressed a General Fund structural deficit that will require the town to reassign these Highway funds every year to fund a shortfall in the tax revenue needed to spend in the General Fund at current levels. The failure of the town board to address the General Fund revenue shortfall by reducing GF spending will impeded the town from building a needed garage to house equipment and trucks without costly borrowing.

All of this shows that the town simply does not need all of the code enforcement personnel currently on the payroll. Even eliminating one of the positions leaves us with three full time code enforcement officers to do less and less work. To make matters worse, the Utilities Inspector's job is simply no longer needed or justifiable. Two full time people can handle the work load the town is asked to manage in this soft economy.

One also has to question the need for the seemingly large clerical staff in this office. To listen to the arguments presented last night, you would think a secretary to answer phones was vital and that a billing clerk or perhaps two of them, also in this office, can't possibly answer a telephone. It's the "Not my job mentality" that causes taxpayers to fund far more jobs than we need or can afford and that has to be honestly examined and addressed.

So North Greenbush has approved a budget for 2010 that carries over a large deficit for 2009, spends roughly the same as usual, permits an overstaffed Building Department without a non union manager to supervise the workers and manage as well as identify clearly, the workload they have and taxpayers, well, they are getting ready to pay for more of those absurd health insurance buyout checks for the gang thanks to an equally absurd union contract that apparently allows people who were never in the town's insurance to get a buy out check at taxpayer expense and at the highest coverage level possible, (family verses single coverage).

It's just not a management plan this town board can brag about. You can listen to the public comment of this meeting here on our Pipeline Radio Channel.

The entire meeting was too long to upload, suffice to say that the Board voted not to terminate the unneeded positions being debated in the resolutions, including a Utilities Inspector and laborer. The budget does, however eliminate a part time clerk's job in that department by splitting the time of a clerk in the Comptroller's Office. That position in Building has been vacant for some time due to an illness.

A Moment of Class

We left unstated this morning a moment of class at last night's meeting when the Supervisor walked over to his newly elected successor to offer congratulations and a promise of a smooth transition. An equally sincere comment came from other board members including Al Spain. With so much uncivil behavior occurring at these meetings, it was refreshing to know that moments of civility can blossom, even in the political turmoil that engulfs town hall and town government.

Budget Meeting Tomorrow

2009-11-18T06:00:00.005-05:00

The Town Board is poised to pass the 2010 budget Thursday evening at a special meeting which begins at 7PM.

The budget is still shepherding a deficit accumulated in 2009 which was last estimated to be $64,000. Look for some possible fiscal sleight of hand as efforts to erase deficit without a tax hike would require substantial cuts, many of which are needed anyway, or an effort to illegally transfer Highway Fund monies into the General Fund to pay for the deficit. State Law forbids the "co-mingling" of such "dedicated funds" which would make an effort of this nature amending the budget unlawful.

We should also look to see if any serious effort is made to eliminate jobs in town hall and reorganize things in a manner which would provide independent supervision in the Building Department through the hiring of a non union Town Engineer whose duties would presumably include supervising the employees in that Department.

We'll keep you posted with the results.

North Greenbush School Spending

This graphic lists school spending in our region and we thought you might be interested to see how much we spend and where we rank verses other communities.

Contractor Charged Again

2009-11-17T16:35:00.006-05:00

"Cuff 'em Dano".

This article was posted on the Troy Record website late today and details yet another harassment complaint filed against the beloved water contractor of Water District 14 fame. At this rate, the courts may run out of paper, both greenbacks and restraining orders required to keep the contractor both happy and under control.

Read it here.

Public Access To Town Board Meeting Found Here

2009-11-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Needless to say, the Town Board continues to do nothing about putting its meetings back on public access cable. So the Pipeline will continue to keep these meetings accessible by posting the audio.

Here's our commitment to open government. Where's the commitment of the town board?

Responding to a Fiscal Crisis

2009-11-11T07:00:00.002-05:00

We had to take a second look at this week's agenda for tomorrow evening's Town Board meeting. There it was like a bad spelling error, "Appointment of a part time Building Department Secretary". It seems whomever added this to the agenda was not the least bit concerned that the town has a projected 2009 deficit estimated at $64,000 that is going to require some tough decisions on personnel services.

Then the gossip mill started talking about putting another unneeded job back on the payroll with Conservative Party Committee person Judith Wos rumored as being put back on the payroll. There's a position that was never needed in the first place and which added to the town's deficit.

Whatever is going on behind the scenes with regard to spending money the town does not have, it's clear folks are not grasping the gravity of the fiscal crisis confronting the town. It's time to take a hard look at the staffing at town hall with an eye towards eliminating any position which the town can do without. These will not be easy decisions, but the economic times we face demand them. Town officials need to ask themselves whether we need two Fire Marshalls complete with "special vehicles". Do we need to keep a Utilities Inspector on the payroll long after the job he was hired to do, supervise construction of Water District 14, had been completed? Can we do more with less by rearranging the schedules of clerical personnel dividing their time between two departments rather than working in just one?

Also, the town board appeared to see the need to retain a new Town Engineer to run the Building Department and supervise the unionized staff. The current set up has the union supervising itself, and people allowed to work after normal business hours with absolutely no one to supervise their activities.

Like it or not, the Town Board will need to take a long, hard look at the way things were managed in town hall. We hope they will work together towards that end.

What Kind of Transition?

The biggest change in town hall will take place in the Supervisor's Office. Mark Evers has taken his share of criticism from this publication and others, but he has a chance to demonstrate that he can put the interests of the town ahead of any past political agenda by ensuring a smooth transition for his successor and the incoming Board members.

Evers well remembers how difficult his predecessor made it for him in 2005 refusing all cooperation and with holding vital fiscal cooperation as to the true state of town finances. The prior town comptroller was told to offer no cooperation with the incoming administration and was helping to conceal a significant deficit created by failing to make a required payment to the State Retirement System. It took several months to get a grip on town finances which affected many decisions on that incoming town board.

We sincerely hope that Mark Evers will put aside the campaign and work with his successor and incoming Board members offering full access to information they need to effectively deal with town finances and other issues facing the town in 2010.

It's Veterans Day

All of us pause today to honor those who have served our country.

Comprehensive Plan May Go To Vote Under Cloud

2009-11-10T06:00:00.003-05:00

The Comprehensive Plan, redone to favor certain development interests and created in apparent violation of the State's Open Meetings Law, will likely go to a post election vote before the end of the year. When it does, the Board will do so without any apparent legal guidance on the repeated failure of the Committee to take minutes and record votes as required by the Open Meetings Law.

A suggestion to seek the opinion of Robert Freeman of the Open Government Committee on the adequacy of the official minutes for compliance with the law has apparently gone unheeded. Al Spain, the Committee Chairman, is pushing for a vote this week and the only question is whether Supervisor Evers is willing to give him a victory after all Spain and his allies did to defeat Evers re-election bid.

Equally concerning is the refusal of the Town Clerk to certify a set of minutes of the CPC as a true copy despite repeated requests made under the FOIL statute. Town Clerk Connolly has refused to obey the statute requiring her as Records Access Officer to certify the minutes she provided under FOIL as a true copy, a requirement that would take all of a minute to provide. Her refusal to do so raises serious questions as to whether she fabricated a set of minutes that were never taken in order to provide cover for Committee Chairman Al Spain.

Spain's meeting of the CPC of June 2, 2009 was attended by only 5 committee members including an incoming town board member. No one was observed taking any minutes at this meeting in which a non quorum-ed majority voted to declare the plan done and ready for the town board to schedule a public hearing which was later canceled due to the embarrassment created by disclosure of their failure to comply with the Open Meetings Law.

How can a town board vote to approve a Comprehensive Plan when the Town Clerk as Records Access Officer cannot certify a set a minutes as a true copy? How can they proceed with a vote knowing that the only reason a Records Access Officer cannot certify a set of minutes rests with the possibility that she fabricated them to protect a political ally?

We'd love to invite you to review the minutes of the CPC on line, but hey, the Town Clerk hasn't bothered to post any of the CPC minutes since March 24, 2009.

Council or Coucil?

Let's fix this mistake boys and girls, it's the town's official web site!

Ashworth Wins Supervisor Post

2009-11-09T11:16:00.000-05:00

Josephine M. Ashworth was declared the winner of the 2009 general election for North Greenbush Town Supervisor this morning after a recanvass of the tallies and counting absentee ballots.

The official numbers are Ashworth 1325, Evers 1283, Miner 1028.

Ashworth becomes the town's first woman elected to the Supervisor's post.

Update

2009-11-06T09:10:00.009-05:00

Republicans retain City of Rensselaer Legislative seat by 26 votes

Desso Addresses Deficit with Attention Deficit

The town has concluded its Public Hearing on the town budget complete with its unaddressed $64,000 deficit which the Board has done nothing to eradicate. Perhaps one of the reasons Councilman Lou Desso has done nothing to address the deficit is his own case of attention deficit disorder.

The GOP Board member was observed pulling out a map, opening it full spread while public comment about the deficit was taking place. It caused Al Spain to comment, "You've got to stop that" in an overheard whisper. Even Evers was taken aback with his action offering a quizzical look as CB Smith could not resist the opportunity to ask aloud if Desso needed some help with directions, noting he'd be happy to help after the meeting. He also can be heard commenting that it's obvious Mr. Desso is not capable of comprehending the subject at hand.

This is apparently how Desso has decided to react when people he dislikes have the microphone at town board meetings. In the hallway, after the meeting, Desso was overheard expressing his anger over the zing he received and tried to ignore. "Nobody should speak with him", was Desso's mantra, reflecting his total paranoia with his political nemesis.

Perhaps his paranoia will extend to trying to fire town officials and employees who even speak with his political adversary. What a rip! But the councilman should also be aware that the New York Courts take such conduct at Public Hearings very seriously. There is a body of case law where courts have nullified the votes of elected officials on matters where there is documentation that they were not paying attention at public hearings where they are required to do so.

Map reading classes have not yet been scheduled for the ADS afflicted councilman, but we're working to get him the help he clearly needs, beginning with a class on common sense.

You can listen to the hearing here on our Pipeline Radio.
NG Public Hearing 2009 Budget

Election Results

2009-11-04T07:18:00.001-05:00

Unofficial results for North Greenbush are posted above as seen on the official county website. Results of last night's county and town elections are posted in their entirety on the Rensselaer County BOE web site here.

This one has many long time political observers wondering what drove voters throughout Rensselaer County's towns to lift the county and town Republican lines to surprising victories. The effect was seen throughout the county's towns where Republicans swept every legislative race and voters stayed on the Republican line as they entered the town races.

All four seats on the county legislature in District 2 which includes North Greenbush, went to the Republican column as did the only other town incumbent in Sand Lake. Equally shocking was the defeat of every Republican, all six, holding seats in the legislature from Troy. The Rensselaer City seat is a toss up separated by just 4 votes with more than 100 absentee ballots uncounted.

Because of the Republican victory in the legislative races throughout the county, they retained a majority of at least 12 of the 19 member legislature. Every incumbent in the county legislature save one Troy Democrat appears defeated with only Rensselaer undecided.

The impact in North Greenbush of the GOP legislative victory was immediately seen at the town council level with the two Republicans gaining a victory and the GOP backed Supervisor, showing a surprising second place victory despite his baggage. Had it not been for the three way race waged by Michael Miner, Evers would have won re-election. Miner gained a respectable 1000 votes in the unofficial tally. Enough to deny Evers another term and make Josephine Ashworth the town's first woman elected Supervisor.

On the judicial side, Raymond Elliott and Joshua Sabo won defeating Republican opponents Dell and Piel while Kathryn Connolly defeated Jan Liberty in a hotly contested race.

The Greenbush Party was not a factor outside of two election districts in a surprising reversal from the strength exhibited two years ago. This certainly contributed to the GOP council victories.

We congratulate all the winners.

2009-11-03T05:00:00.008-05:00

Update: 2PM
A higher than normal voter turnout is reported in North Greenbush in Districts 1,2,3,4,5,6.

No problems reported with the machines.

Our Endorsements 6:AM

The higher standards are on Row A in North Greenbush. If you're looking to for thoughtful candidates who understand the stakes for this town with development, candidates who seek progress that adds value to the tax base rather than simply traffic, Democrats offer our community a clear vison that protects our quality of life.

It takes three votes, however, to make a change on the town board. So if you want the policies and concerns of the Democratic and Greenbush Party candidates implemented at the town level, you must elect three new Board Members.

Of course this ballot reflects only candidates for the county legislature and town offices. There are also other important races for Supreme Court, County Court Judge and Family Court Judge. We believe the Democrats hold the edge here as well in qualifications and professional standards.

There are ballot proposition as well in this election. Familiarize yourself with those propositions by reading them when you go to the polls. They are posted on the wall for you to read or you can read them here.

Help has arrived after a difficult 2 years of rule by a Board Majority created from a corrupt political bargain of cross endorsements. In this election, the voters and not the party bosses will make the decisions.

2009-11-02T06:00:00.004-05:00

Update:11AM

Lou Desso has recorded a robocall which is running today, apparently in response to a call which opponents ran exposing his status as a convicted felon. Stay tuned, this could get interesting!

Mama To the Rescue 6AM

When your campaign is out of gas, faltering against a surging effort by an opponent who striped you of your party line and forced you to take a life jacket from the opposition party which despises you, who you gonna call? Why Mama of course!

That's exactly what Kathryn Connolly has done with a last minute Hail Mary mailing and robo call from her mother, a long ago disgraced Democratic County Clerk and Party Chairman who defied the County Ethics Law to run for Party Chairman. Never mind that as County Legislator, she co sponsored the law that prevented elected county officials, such as herself, from holding a party chairman's post. Never mind that her campaign for county clerk against Tom Cholakis, who was the Republican Chairman at the time, promised to keep "Politics out of the county clerk's office", referring to , we presume, her opponent's status. Doreen Connolly forgot all about the law and her promises to keep politics out of the County Clerk's Office and ran for County Democratic Chairman, winning in a close vote.

Once there, she was taken to court by fellow Democrats and just nine months into her Chairmanship, resigned just before a court decision would have stripped her of the paying job as county clerk for her blatant violation of the County Ethics Law.

Now mom is infuriated, throwing accusations about her daughter's opponent, that she made false accusations about the town clerk's sterling reputation and record. Sorry Doreen, no matter what you contrive in the eleventh hour, town Democrats understand that your daughter lost her party nomination at a caucus, just like she lost an election for a party committee seat a year before. She has no one to blame but herself that before she lost the nomination, she accepted the Republican endorsement. She did this knowing that her own mother, had voted with the entire Democratic Committee, not to endorse any one who accepted the Republican line.

That action was to prevent another Jeff Spain style assault on the party's integrity and purpose as a counterbalance to the GOP and a party which must offer a choice to voters at the polls rather than attempt to seize election day as a meaningless exercise where the same candidates are endorsed by all the political parties, leaving voters with no choice at the polls.

Doreen and her daughter were part of that sad demise of the Democratic Committee in 2007. She and her daughter participated with Jeff Spain in a trial of Democrats who opposed their edicts demanding total loyalty to their policies and tolerating no dissent. Ironically, today, you will find the Connollys and the Spains, including the so called former town chairman Jeff Spain, displaying Republican signs on their lawns. Now that's party loyalty for you. Their party opponents, however, are not responding by holding a trial of these so called Democrats for "disloyalty". Instead, they respond with facts about the record and actions of the candidates. That record of facts was nicely documented by Democratic Chairman Dan Ashley in a timely ad placed in this week's Advertiser which countered mom's letter perfectly.

Tomorrow, Connolly and her GOP running mates face a test in which VOTERS, not the party bosses or her mother, make the decision. That may not be the way the Connolly's want to see an election conducted, after all they did try again to deny voters a choice by running and loosing in the Democratic Caucus after taking the GOP line, but that's the way it is and should be.

The "Confusion Party"

We had to laugh at the GOP's effort to cannibalize the Greenbush Party's language as a truly independent group of people whose signature base represents all areas of town and all political parties. They are calling themselves a "Fusion Party". The slate of endorsed candidates consists of Conservatives, the Conservatives rejected, Democrats, the Democrats rejected and Republicans scratching their heads wondering who their running mates are? Are they running with Mark Evers, a Conservative rejected by Democrats and taken by Republicans thanks to his vote for their judicial candidate, or are they running with Conservative Water Contractor candidate Mike Miner, the endorsed candidate of the Conservative Party which is chaired by the town's water contractor. That's why Democrats refer to the GOP not as a "fusion party" but as the "Confusion Party". No, you can't find them on Row C for Confusion or on Row E where the real fusion party has a ballot line. Rather, you'll find confusion if you're a Republican trying to figure out which candidates are Republican backed and which are Conservative backed. Let's put it this way, if you're confused, the higher standards are on Row A.

Town Conservatives Hiding Financial Information
Just a day before the General Election and Town Conservatives have still failed to file their 11 Day Pre General Financial Report with the NY State Board of Elections. This would have included contributions to their recent fund raiser at the Legion Hall in Wynantskill held days before the filing was due.

Of course their treasurer is probably busy helping with an alternative blog site known for its mis-spellings and vulgar commentary allowed without any concern for civility or the standards of libel for which federal courts have now deemed applicable for commentary which is often posted without regard by the owners of internet publications.

The State Board of Elections has been very aggressive with enforcement of filing requirements with active committees issuing significant fines in the last two years to treasurers missing filing requirements on line.
Election Eve

The end of the road for Decision 2009 has arrived as voter prepare to make their choices at the polls tomorrow. Polls open at 6AM and close at 9AM. Polling places continue to be the same as last year with Districts 1 and 7 combined at the Main Ave Town Offices and Districts 2 and 6 combined at Bloomingrove Church.

2009-10-30T06:00:00.004-04:00

Halloween in North Greenbush

No political season would be complete in North Greenbush without the assortment of caricatures and cartoons our town is famous for. This year there were many submissions, most of which depicted the Supervisor in one embarrassing predicament or another, either dancing with developers, looking for his deficit or debating himself.

But readers choose this one as the most talked about and creative entry of the 2009 Election and Halloween Season. The 2009 North Greenbush Pipeline Best Dressed for Halloween Award goes to our own Town Clerk, Kathryn Connolly.

Whether fudging overtime reports, concealing reports in violation of the FOIL law or refusing to certify a document she falsified to protect her comrade, Councilman Spain, Clerk Connolly has found herself at the center of a hotly contested campaign.

After loosing the Democratic Party endorsement, largely due to burning too many bridges with people in her party who saved her political butt from her own mis-steps, Connolly is finding out that not focusing on her job, and trying to run her party and the town, can come back to bite you.

So on this Halloween Eve with the weekend res-bit dawning for the Pipeline, we wish all a happy and safe Halloween.

Democratic Election Rally

The Town Democrats are holding their Election Rally tonight at 7PM at the American Legion. The cost is $30.00 a person and $50.00 a couple. You can pay at the door and the public is invited to attend and meet all of the candidates from the Democratic side as well as several county candidates, including Judge Andrew Ceresia, Family Court Judge candidate Beth Walsh, and an expected visit by State Supreme Court candidate James G. Gilpatric.

Officials Threatened At Town Hall

2009-10-29T06:00:00.003-04:00

The scuttlebutt coming from town police is that the Conservative Contractor was at it again last week. This time at town hall demanding more money from the Town Supervisor and Comptroller. Apparently two police reports were filed, one by each official, after the contractor for Water District 14 showed up demanding more money.

A very angry contractor apparently got into the faces of both the Supervisor and Comptroller, who refused to release another payment . Casale sued the town and won a "settlement" that was supposed to require him to finish all remaining work, including restoration work of driveways and lawns. That million plus deal was imposed on the entire town, even though the work was for Water 14 only.

Apparently its just not enough for the contractor whose brother is also the Chairman of the Conservative Party which has taken the step of endorsing a slate of town board candidates, including two of his Committee members , one for Supervisor, Michael Miner, head of the Building Department and Kelly Hoffman, a council candidate. Casale has also endorsed Joe Bott and if he has his way, Conservatives will have a new majority in town hall that will surrender payments on demand for the never ending water contract that keeps on giving millions to the contractor.

According to sources, Miner has also been applying inappropriate pressure on the Comptroller to make payments to his Chairman's company. When all else seems to fail, send in the owner who has a history of getting himself arrested over his mix of business and politics. He suffered a conviction in Schaghticoke Town Court over a harassment episode of CB Smith which caused a three year Order of Protection to be placed on him. Perhaps the Supervisor and Comptroller need the same type of protection before verbal abuse turns into another violent episode.

If Casale wins even one of the three seats his Conservative Party is supporting for control of the town board, it's likely they will fire the Comptroller and write all the checks they want, on demand. Stay tuned as this story develops and take a look back at Metroland to refresh your memory on Casale's political escapades.

Desso's 3 Guilty Pleas in a Day

2009-10-27T06:24:00.009-04:00

Some of our readers have asked us to publish known convictions of Lou Desso as well as known arrests. There are several in the pages of local newspapers like this one from the Troy Record of May 22, 1976.

At a time of year where many kids were graduating from high school or college, Mr. Desso was adding more ink to police blotters. Here, the candidate pled guilty to three charges in a single day, including DWI and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Again we invite Mr. Desso to fully disclose all of his arrests and convictions because it's impossible for us to know whether the mound of newspaper print provided to the Pipeline details every arrest or conviction. Republicans want answers from Democrats on their nonsense concerning the military discharge of a Desso opponent. We think what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

To those asking why they are having delays loading the page of our site, it may have to do with the demands made on the sight at any one moment in time. The peak periods are between 9 am AM and 12 NOON. If you log on during that time period, you may experience a delay. Just try again later when the traffic is lighter.

A New Era in Town Government?

We had to laugh at the template Republicans in North Greenbush used to market their blank check development team, all of whom, the exception being Mark Evers, are also endorsed by the water contractor who runs the Conservative Party. The Contractor wants even more money to finish the work in Water 14, more than even his legal settlement provides. So much more that he even dumped the Supervisor for his committeeman and Building Department head as his candidate for Supervisor. Even Evers has had enough of the contractor's endless demands for more money and has stopped paying him until all the work is finished.

He needs a couple of more votes on the Town Board to get those checks rolling out the door again, so he's endorsed Michael Miner, Kelly Hoffman and Joe Bott to take care of things.

We'll save this mess for another issue, but we did find it humorous to see the town clerk's palm card declaring her to be part of a "New Era In Town Government". Last we looked, something "new" does not include the election of an incumbent with 18 years in office as the bottom of the same palm card declares. Another thing that isn't new is the photo. It's at least a decade old shot from campaigns past, perhaps as old as Desso's charges.

Perhaps this card should have a new header, like "It's the same old song". Hit it Rod!

Town Conservatives Miss Financial Disclosure Deadline

The Conservative Committee led by the local water contractor has missed their filing deadline for 11 Day Pre General which was due last week at the State Board of Elections. You can see their reports here. Lou Desso did file his report for this period, albeit late.