Here I sit, deep in the green cushions of the Senate lobby couches. This is one of my favorite places in the world as long as I have my computer and air card with me. While most people hang out with their friends at the bar or church or, you know, someplace more traditional, I hang with my friends at the capital. It's a tight group. This symbiotic crowd that runs our world.
I ran down here to see if I might catch history in the making with the passage of the marraige equality bill. I didn't hold out much hope and, after a tweet from Liz, heard that she didn't have much hope either. Seems there weren't enough votes. The moment I emerged on the business end of the lobby, on of my favorite Staff Chiefs (a Gopper! Don't tell anyone!) let me know that there weren't enough votes so the powers pulled it...it wouldn't be hitting the floor. If this fave is to be believed, the bill is up that creek without a paddle.
Lobbyists perch and laugh on queue as the Senators stand at ease, (I love standing at ease!) and the chants from the rent control wackjobs fill the lobby...I'm beginning to hate these red shirted folks. What a pain they can be. Do they just have some cut rate fare from Brooklyn to Albany and everyone wearing red jumps onboard for the trip? They certainly don't seem to know much about calendars and such.
So, no weddings today (I'll be tweeting if that changes). I'm running over to the county courthouse (16 Eagle) to see what's going on with the Orange Club demolition. Honestly, I don't have much love for the buildings and, honestly, I belive that people should be able to do what they want with their own property. This Albany is the only place I've ever lived that places such restrictions on private citizens. Anyway, I don't think I'll be on the Orange Club's side (unless there's a free membership in it for me) but I don't fully support the anti-Orange Club stance. How's this...I'll be supporting.
Oh, and for all of you that are being driven crazy by my typos...the new blogger "upgrade" doesn't have spellcheck in it so I'm worse off now than I was on the old system. Thanks for your patience. You know I'll run my words through a word processor if I do some "special posts." The fasts ones are just that...down and dirty.
UPDATE: I was mistaken...the screamers are the Marraige Vote folks...they seem persistent..think I'll meander over.
UPDATE 2: The state troopers guarding the doors of the senate lobby from the very rowdy chanters were directed to close the glass doors in the faces of the marraige equality supporters. Glad I didn't get that job. I'm over at the county court house where I thought there was something going on with the demo of the Washington Street buildings but I've discovered since that there is just a filing of papers. Course, it's always nice to visit with Sal Ferlazzo. I'll keep ya posted!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Another Night with the County Legislature
I walked right by the Monserrate cameras, showed my face at the Albany Council Chamber which was packed to the gills with foks all "up in arms" about the Waste Management "special variance" to accept some squishier waste than normal. Hey, I'm all for it unless the make a path down State Street to deliver the stuff. Let them eat cake...or something similar.
So, guess where I ended up....bingo...the County Leg, or what I like to call the Nursing Home Cheerleading squad. This Monday wasn't as packed as the normal meetings but the number of speakers was still rather large. Funny, there were two women, one of them the crazy Harriet Comfort, wearing sandwich boards but I couldn't read them. That seems to fly in the face of the bery reason for wearing a sandwich board.
Another funny, these folks are so "regular" at these meetings that the legislators and "protesters" are on a first name basis and chum it up as they bad mouth Mr. Breslin together. Heck, some of the legislators even prompt the speakers to say "now...don't you think that Mr. Breslin should come to us rather than us to him?" "Oh yeah" the speaker says. This has become a pissing contest and one side is making sense while the other is pandering to a block of voters called the union.
One woman makes her case for a nursing home by saying that "the nursing home used to be a fun place to work." Big woop says ACO, join the club. Work ain't fun. And, being a writer and PR type, I'm the first one out the door when there's a layoff...and, girlie, they don't owe you an explanation. Hey, who moved that cheese?! I just don't understand how these folks can come down here week after week and say that they just "don't understand" why they are being layed off...listen!! You are being told every single day...LISTEN! Oh, and the crazy screamer, I don't care to remember her name, is urging the County Legislature to vote down the contract with RSS to coordinate (triage) "outpatient care. Why, because she believes they should train the NH folks to do it. Hey, chickeepoo, if they were capable that might have been considered way back when the RFP was issued.
I sat in the back and watched the parade of speakers, each one sadder than the last tell the same story they've told for a couple of years. It's old folks, you probably could have found a decent job by now. All the while, I was pleased that I wasn't the only cold heart in the room. Ya see, the financial hatchet guy calmly sat chewing a wad of gum as he listened to the parade. I love this guy....cool as a cuke...and the voice of sanity in our economic climate.
Resolution 393 uathorizing a lease agreement with Lenox Realty for office space for th eboard of election and the coutny clerk's office drew some fire as several (Bullock) want to make a point that "if money can't be spent on a nursing home it shouldn't be spent on this building." Fortunately for Lenox, the county clerk and the board of elections, the resolution passed with only three no votes (Googoo Ethier, Bullhorn and Mr. McCoy) Mr. Steck abstained.
We've hit another bump in the road with Rez 411 which involves the acceptance of stimulus money in the amount of $112,721 for an Early Intervention Program. Seems that Mr. Nichols, after receiving the budget for the program saw $50K in the budget that he is concerned about. SOOOO...he put together an amendment which would provide some transparrency and oversight in the resolution. Mr. Steck stands "I've never seen anything this bizarre in all my years." The "no" votes are claiming that this is micromanaging. Naw, this is being responsible. Wanda makes a good point...all programs should be audited...we shouldn't target just this program. I'm voting in favor of the amendment (35 up, 4 down) and the resolution. (Rez passes unanimously.) Sorry Lucy Goosy.
THEN, we hit Rez 418, authorizing an agreement of $400K for coordination of Rehabilitative Support Services regarding short term and transitional care coordination for the long term care program. Now, seems that Bullhorn must have made some calls over the weekend and convinced a few to hold this piece a hostage in the Nursing Home negotiations. Mary Lou....my favority apple lady, seems to have flip flopped, I swear she noted last week that the RFP was put out prior to the Nursing Home debate...tonight, she says that he knew when he put out the RFP that he was closing it. Seems they may have gotten to my apple lady.
Mr. Morse, one of my faves says rises to support the Rez because they've made a commitment to assist all our county residents....we can't use this as a bargaining chip to force the CE to "chat" with them. Good on ya, Mr. Morse. Mr. Domalowitz rises to ask where the money is coming from....I ask...why isn't that question asked with each contract rather than just the contracts that will gain you a bit of applause from our union audience of nursing home dolts.
My girl Lucy makes a stand for RSS and her contract. Hey, I've got to say the legislature should be voting based on the recommendations of the committee....that's how this works. The committee supported it unanimously...stop with the politics. Okay, so some guy (Timmons?) rises to be the voice of reason. This adds some order and accountability to the distribution of patients....can you imagine? This is crazy....Bullhorn got all dramatic and oddly, I guess because the union folks were intrigued with my abitlity to type without looking at my fingers, the audience forgot to clap when he finished grandstanding. OH...so funny, Scavo, after sticking his finger in the air to feel the political hot air rises to say he wants his name removed from the resolution...then sits and rises...and sits..Lucy offers to take it back to committee. They then start shouting for a roll call vote...which, dude, doesn't happen when the chair retracts legislation. Read the rule book.
Adjourned.
So, guess where I ended up....bingo...the County Leg, or what I like to call the Nursing Home Cheerleading squad. This Monday wasn't as packed as the normal meetings but the number of speakers was still rather large. Funny, there were two women, one of them the crazy Harriet Comfort, wearing sandwich boards but I couldn't read them. That seems to fly in the face of the bery reason for wearing a sandwich board.
Another funny, these folks are so "regular" at these meetings that the legislators and "protesters" are on a first name basis and chum it up as they bad mouth Mr. Breslin together. Heck, some of the legislators even prompt the speakers to say "now...don't you think that Mr. Breslin should come to us rather than us to him?" "Oh yeah" the speaker says. This has become a pissing contest and one side is making sense while the other is pandering to a block of voters called the union.
One woman makes her case for a nursing home by saying that "the nursing home used to be a fun place to work." Big woop says ACO, join the club. Work ain't fun. And, being a writer and PR type, I'm the first one out the door when there's a layoff...and, girlie, they don't owe you an explanation. Hey, who moved that cheese?! I just don't understand how these folks can come down here week after week and say that they just "don't understand" why they are being layed off...listen!! You are being told every single day...LISTEN! Oh, and the crazy screamer, I don't care to remember her name, is urging the County Legislature to vote down the contract with RSS to coordinate (triage) "outpatient care. Why, because she believes they should train the NH folks to do it. Hey, chickeepoo, if they were capable that might have been considered way back when the RFP was issued.
I sat in the back and watched the parade of speakers, each one sadder than the last tell the same story they've told for a couple of years. It's old folks, you probably could have found a decent job by now. All the while, I was pleased that I wasn't the only cold heart in the room. Ya see, the financial hatchet guy calmly sat chewing a wad of gum as he listened to the parade. I love this guy....cool as a cuke...and the voice of sanity in our economic climate.
Resolution 393 uathorizing a lease agreement with Lenox Realty for office space for th eboard of election and the coutny clerk's office drew some fire as several (Bullock) want to make a point that "if money can't be spent on a nursing home it shouldn't be spent on this building." Fortunately for Lenox, the county clerk and the board of elections, the resolution passed with only three no votes (Googoo Ethier, Bullhorn and Mr. McCoy) Mr. Steck abstained.
We've hit another bump in the road with Rez 411 which involves the acceptance of stimulus money in the amount of $112,721 for an Early Intervention Program. Seems that Mr. Nichols, after receiving the budget for the program saw $50K in the budget that he is concerned about. SOOOO...he put together an amendment which would provide some transparrency and oversight in the resolution. Mr. Steck stands "I've never seen anything this bizarre in all my years." The "no" votes are claiming that this is micromanaging. Naw, this is being responsible. Wanda makes a good point...all programs should be audited...we shouldn't target just this program. I'm voting in favor of the amendment (35 up, 4 down) and the resolution. (Rez passes unanimously.) Sorry Lucy Goosy.
THEN, we hit Rez 418, authorizing an agreement of $400K for coordination of Rehabilitative Support Services regarding short term and transitional care coordination for the long term care program. Now, seems that Bullhorn must have made some calls over the weekend and convinced a few to hold this piece a hostage in the Nursing Home negotiations. Mary Lou....my favority apple lady, seems to have flip flopped, I swear she noted last week that the RFP was put out prior to the Nursing Home debate...tonight, she says that he knew when he put out the RFP that he was closing it. Seems they may have gotten to my apple lady.
Mr. Morse, one of my faves says rises to support the Rez because they've made a commitment to assist all our county residents....we can't use this as a bargaining chip to force the CE to "chat" with them. Good on ya, Mr. Morse. Mr. Domalowitz rises to ask where the money is coming from....I ask...why isn't that question asked with each contract rather than just the contracts that will gain you a bit of applause from our union audience of nursing home dolts.
My girl Lucy makes a stand for RSS and her contract. Hey, I've got to say the legislature should be voting based on the recommendations of the committee....that's how this works. The committee supported it unanimously...stop with the politics. Okay, so some guy (Timmons?) rises to be the voice of reason. This adds some order and accountability to the distribution of patients....can you imagine? This is crazy....Bullhorn got all dramatic and oddly, I guess because the union folks were intrigued with my abitlity to type without looking at my fingers, the audience forgot to clap when he finished grandstanding. OH...so funny, Scavo, after sticking his finger in the air to feel the political hot air rises to say he wants his name removed from the resolution...then sits and rises...and sits..Lucy offers to take it back to committee. They then start shouting for a roll call vote...which, dude, doesn't happen when the chair retracts legislation. Read the rule book.
Adjourned.
Monserrate Investigation Committee
Now I'm torn, do I go to the Monserrate meeting, the demolition meeting or the County Leg meeting...or coast down hill and hit all three.
Remember me calling Ms. Fahey's legislation "pretty?" Well, it was but that's beside the point...that chick's got some muscle if she's already forced them into a committee meeting on her behalf...go Ms. Fahey!
From the Senate Blogger:
Remember me calling Ms. Fahey's legislation "pretty?" Well, it was but that's beside the point...that chick's got some muscle if she's already forced them into a committee meeting on her behalf...go Ms. Fahey!
From the Senate Blogger:
By unanimous vote, the Senate passed a resolution today approving the Special Committee of Inquiry, chaired by Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, to investigate the conduct for which Senator Hiram Monserrate was convicted by the State Supreme Court of Queens County. The committee’s first official meeting will be held today at 5:00 PM in Capitol Room 124, open press.
The full text of the resolution, offered by Senate Majority Conference Leader John Sampson, is as follows:
SENATE RESOLUTION PROVIDING for a Select Committee of the Senate to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the conviction of Senator Hiram Monserrate on October 15, 2009
WHEREAS, On March 23, 2009, Senator Hiram Monserrate was indicted in State Supreme Court in Queens on felony and misdemeanor charges of intentionally and recklessly causing physical injuries to another person; and
WHEREAS, On October 15, 2009, Senator Hiram Monserrate was acquitted in State Supreme Court in Queens of all felony charges, and convicted of the misdemeanor charge of recklessly causing physical injury to another person; and
WHEREAS, A conviction for such misdemeanor offense does not result in the automatic forfeiture of office upon conviction under the Public Officers Law; and
WHEREAS, The seriousness of these domestic violence charges and the circumstances surrounding them warrant further investigation by the Senate, and may warrant the imposition of sanctions by the Senate; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That a Select Committee of the Senate to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the conviction of Senator Hiram Monserrate is hereby established, to consist of nine Senators to be appointed by the Temporary President of the Senate. Four of such members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the Minority Leader of the Senate. The chairperson of such committee shall be appointed by the Temporary President of the Senate; and be it further
RESOLVED, That such committee is hereby authorized and directed to investigate the facts and circumstances relating to the conviction against Senator Monserrate; and be it further
RESOLVED, That such committee shall have the same authority as
committees constituted under Article 4 of the Legislative Law and Senate
Rule VII; and be it further
RESOLVED, That such committee shall ensure a full and fair investigation, ensure fairness in the hearing process, specifically providing Senator Monserrate and his counsel with notice of all public committee proceedings, as well as ensuring opportunities for Senator Monserrate to be heard; and be it further
RESOLVED, That such committee shall report to the Senate with its recommendations; and be it further
RESOLVED, That upon the delivery of such report to the Senate, such committee shall cease to exist.
You can watch a live video stream of the committee's first meeting here beginning at 5pm.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Lights in the Park....Fundraiser?
I worked all day...which means that I had the radio on "Channel 9" all day, which means I got to hear the voice of Lenny Ricchuiti all day long telling us how wonderful the "Lights in the Park" was for the youth of the city....over and over and over. Don't ask me why I didn't get up and change it, you know, sometimes it just didn't get my attention until that voice came on there...that voice which makes me think of sexual harrassment.
So, around noon I decided to take a break and stroll on over to the park to say howdy to Lenny. Not much going on there, some lights were up, there were trailers placed throughout the park which, I'm assuming, held the display...boxes were under the trailers and a woman sat by one of the pickup trucks shuffling through the yellow leaves looking for, I assume, walnuts. (Are there other types of nuts here? I'm used to paper shell pecans...say that the right way, even in your head...pakahns.)
I remembered back to the pre-primary (pre my meeting with Lenny's accuser) and thought about my discussion with Mr. Ricchuiti in reference to the amount of money brought in by the event. He told me he just outsources it now, as a matter of fact...it's not even worth the trouble anymore. Hindsight, I assume it wasn't worth the trouble since he planned on changing jobs at that point in his life. Didn't happen...and now we have another year with Lights in the Park.
So, I pulled his brand spankin' new 990 which, oddly, states that the mission of the organization is to provide lights in the park. I think it's an error but it's rather distracting to someone who reads 990s rather often. So, seems that Mr. Richuitti paid Midwest Display $129,850 for, well, the display. I also see that the City of Albany provided $20,000 inkind support (though I'm assuming that's for the use of the park for 7 weeks...including the Playhouse which I had to pay $250 to use for a couple of hours.) Oh yeah, and I was required to pay the police officers for my event...oh, and I had to bring my own generators...couldn't use the City's power....wonder if Ole Len got comped on all that too?
Now, remember, I'm just assuming that $20K from the City was for this event which leaves me wondering if that covers PAL's use of the park for the summer movie series also. Nice deal if ya can get it. Oh yeah, and the lights are erected by volunteers, none of which were very visible when I hit the park and it's sponsored by Hannaford...I know this because the name Hannaford is all over the display.
Now, my problem with this is that I would never support any organization with which Mr. Ricchuitti was associated and I'm part of the city. Oh, AND, even with the City's support, PAL is charging people for entry! At least when the park is tied up by the city we all have free entry to spend our money. So, we are providing free space for PAL to outsource its fundraising. Ya see, a "for profit" organization is getting use of our park to make some money and the "leftover" goes to PAL. Now, lots of nonprofits consider this okay...I don't. It kind of reminds me of the telemarketing companies that call around for charitable donations and give the "left over" to the charity they are representing. Actually, based on the other NY PALs they would be clearing a larger percentage of the take had they gone with the telemarketers. That is, of course, if they have a clean database which I'm betting they don't.
Oh, yeah, and each time I hear that all the money from Lights in the Park will be going to PAL, I cringe...ya see, when you look at the revenue and the expenses, 68% of the revenue goes to "for profit" companies. That's not including the city's kicking in $20K for 50 days (or so) use of a majority of our park, police for safety for those same 50 days...oh, and you can bet there's some benes that go along with volunteering for PAL.
And while I'm on a Lenny rant....who the hell is that Christmas Tree sale over in Lincoln Park benefitting?(Wonder how much we the people donate for that brightly lit real estate. Yeah, I got a call on it...rumor has it that the money spent on Christmas trees isn't making into any of Lenny's nonprofit organizations. Now, you can imagine what the speculation has been so I pulled the Little League's 990 (Informational form) as well as PALs. I'm not seeing anything there either. So, where is this money going? I used to do tree sales for a small nonprofit and the profits were always recorded. What gives? Now, I'm not accusin' anyone, I'm just sayin'....if you're selling trees to help the little league, show how much revenue is generatin' in your annual report. And, I understand I could be completely off...so, Mr. Ricchuiti, if you are raising money for some other organization, let me know...I don't have any issues pulling any 990s to clear this up.
Here's a tip, Len, my man...don't give inerviews that will run long enough to make me put on my research hat to find out what's really going on with your fundraising antics....and don't tell ACO that you are cancelling the event because you don't have time and because it didn't benefit the organiztion enough to consume your time only to run it anyway. Oh hell, maybe I'm just in a mood...check that...no, this is wrong.
So, around noon I decided to take a break and stroll on over to the park to say howdy to Lenny. Not much going on there, some lights were up, there were trailers placed throughout the park which, I'm assuming, held the display...boxes were under the trailers and a woman sat by one of the pickup trucks shuffling through the yellow leaves looking for, I assume, walnuts. (Are there other types of nuts here? I'm used to paper shell pecans...say that the right way, even in your head...pakahns.)
I remembered back to the pre-primary (pre my meeting with Lenny's accuser) and thought about my discussion with Mr. Ricchuiti in reference to the amount of money brought in by the event. He told me he just outsources it now, as a matter of fact...it's not even worth the trouble anymore. Hindsight, I assume it wasn't worth the trouble since he planned on changing jobs at that point in his life. Didn't happen...and now we have another year with Lights in the Park.
So, I pulled his brand spankin' new 990 which, oddly, states that the mission of the organization is to provide lights in the park. I think it's an error but it's rather distracting to someone who reads 990s rather often. So, seems that Mr. Richuitti paid Midwest Display $129,850 for, well, the display. I also see that the City of Albany provided $20,000 inkind support (though I'm assuming that's for the use of the park for 7 weeks...including the Playhouse which I had to pay $250 to use for a couple of hours.) Oh yeah, and I was required to pay the police officers for my event...oh, and I had to bring my own generators...couldn't use the City's power....wonder if Ole Len got comped on all that too?
Now, remember, I'm just assuming that $20K from the City was for this event which leaves me wondering if that covers PAL's use of the park for the summer movie series also. Nice deal if ya can get it. Oh yeah, and the lights are erected by volunteers, none of which were very visible when I hit the park and it's sponsored by Hannaford...I know this because the name Hannaford is all over the display.
Now, my problem with this is that I would never support any organization with which Mr. Ricchuitti was associated and I'm part of the city. Oh, AND, even with the City's support, PAL is charging people for entry! At least when the park is tied up by the city we all have free entry to spend our money. So, we are providing free space for PAL to outsource its fundraising. Ya see, a "for profit" organization is getting use of our park to make some money and the "leftover" goes to PAL. Now, lots of nonprofits consider this okay...I don't. It kind of reminds me of the telemarketing companies that call around for charitable donations and give the "left over" to the charity they are representing. Actually, based on the other NY PALs they would be clearing a larger percentage of the take had they gone with the telemarketers. That is, of course, if they have a clean database which I'm betting they don't.
Oh, yeah, and each time I hear that all the money from Lights in the Park will be going to PAL, I cringe...ya see, when you look at the revenue and the expenses, 68% of the revenue goes to "for profit" companies. That's not including the city's kicking in $20K for 50 days (or so) use of a majority of our park, police for safety for those same 50 days...oh, and you can bet there's some benes that go along with volunteering for PAL.
And while I'm on a Lenny rant....who the hell is that Christmas Tree sale over in Lincoln Park benefitting?(Wonder how much we the people donate for that brightly lit real estate. Yeah, I got a call on it...rumor has it that the money spent on Christmas trees isn't making into any of Lenny's nonprofit organizations. Now, you can imagine what the speculation has been so I pulled the Little League's 990 (Informational form) as well as PALs. I'm not seeing anything there either. So, where is this money going? I used to do tree sales for a small nonprofit and the profits were always recorded. What gives? Now, I'm not accusin' anyone, I'm just sayin'....if you're selling trees to help the little league, show how much revenue is generatin' in your annual report. And, I understand I could be completely off...so, Mr. Ricchuiti, if you are raising money for some other organization, let me know...I don't have any issues pulling any 990s to clear this up.
Here's a tip, Len, my man...don't give inerviews that will run long enough to make me put on my research hat to find out what's really going on with your fundraising antics....and don't tell ACO that you are cancelling the event because you don't have time and because it didn't benefit the organiztion enough to consume your time only to run it anyway. Oh hell, maybe I'm just in a mood...check that...no, this is wrong.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Haddad Saga Continues
Today was what I thought would be my last day with Attorney Galvin and Ed Haddad, ROPless, landlord. Halfway through the proceedings while watching the "Enforcer" question a witness for the defense, I anticipated the title of this post...."Haddad Gets Spanked"...think of the visual.
You'll notice, that is not the title of this post. (Though the visual is still a little fun, huh?)
I walked into the courtroom at 2 minutes after 1PM and both the defendent's and prosecution's tables sat in silence. Kevie, the law and order type, scowled and judgie was going through endless papers. I wasn't sure what was going on so I slid into the silence. So, seems that the defendents had once again misplaced their witness even though it was his second time to this court room he seemed to have lost his way inside the building. Yeah, this is who we want maintaining our building.
As Mr. Haddad leaves the courtroom in search of his witness, the Enforcer sighs, she's had enough and asks to strike the witness' entire testimony since she can't question him. Judgie agrees and then we seek Haddad...who is lost again. Judgie sighs and Kevie goes to look for him. Judgie looks up to a missing Haddad and Kevie and says "nobody else leave." Unfortunately, it was at that moment that I realized I left my notebook upstairs. I leaned over to Mr. DiLello and told him that, if judgie's looking for me, I'll be right back. I might be spending too much time in codes court.
With Haddad in the room, the witness list is changed and Haddad again leaves the room to tell the second (or third) witness to be an hour earlier. Sadly, Haddad has not asked judgie's permission and is severely reprimanded for leaving the court several times and delaying the start. So, the second witness answers two questions and the missing witness shows up. So, we chat again and the Enforcer agrees to let Mr. Hunter, witness for the defense, take the stand. Something's up.
The unsuspecting Mr. Hunter takes the stand and in a rapid fire questioning, leaving the defendeant's table slackjawed, the Enforcer gives Ms. Galvin a lesson in lawyerin. First, she establishes that the witness was there because he wants to be. (Let's say, your boss told you to testify.) Sheila's only choice is to object....constantly. With each objection the Enforcer's head spins on Galvin somewhat reminiscent of Linda Blair's twisting head scene from the Exorcist. Galvin, with her continued air of arrogent ignorance says....badgering...leading...with a spin of the neck, the Enforcer says "badgering...this isn't badgering...it's cross examining." No wonder Galvin didn't recognize it.
Galvin's doing her best imitation of a Cathoolic on Sunday...up and down and up and down...."objection"..."over ruled." Man, this Enforcer chick might be a worthy opponent in ACO banter! At one point, the witness is shown an affidavit that states that Haddad had him put in double pane windows..."nicer than he was required to install" the witness proudly claims that he had indeed made that statement...the Enforcer says "without a permit" and spins on her heels. Mission accomplished.
So, Galvin attempts to follow this demonstration of fine lawyerin with "So, what does 'replacing windows" mean to you?" and "can you define 'window'?" When judgie stopped that silliness Galvin claims that she is entitled to ask what a "window is." Hmmm.
Mr. Van Schoik takes the stand and Galvin continues her "questioning" over and over and over. Judgie says, "Ms. Galvin, do you hope to come away with anything other than a primer on code enforcement?" Galvin: "I'm laying the groundwork." Oh, dear lord, please revoke her license to "practice law!" Aside: Seems between judgie and the enforcer, Ms. Galvin is getting a primer on lawyerin.
Seems that Haddad's best defense is that the city didn't remind him to renew his ROP. So...the last question for this witness..".Mr. Van Schoik, do you know when your driver's license needs to be renewed?" Sigh....his answer: "I can tell you when I look at it."
The moment I've been awaiting...Haddad takes the stand and bellows out his credentials...how many classes he's taken, taught...how long he's been in business...he goes on and on...sing songing his CV. Then he launches into, as prompted by Sheila the lawyer, how he relied on the city to remind him and practically blames Mr. DiLello for single-handedly being responsible for his forgetfulness in this matter. (Mr. Dilello had left the room for a moment. Also, seeems that Mr. DiLello would have been a good witness if that were the case...huh?)
Haddad and Galvin danced the dance of the well-rehearsed with one mistake.....Haddad was leading. What a performance! Unfortunately, it was a little over the top. When shown a picture from his attorney, he'd ponder, scratching his head...sincerity dripping from his furrowed brow...he'd utter while deep in thought "give me a moment...please" while he gathers his full spidey powers to recollect where that photo (just presented him by HIS attorney) is placed in his mind.
He soon goes into a speech which ends by not answering the question of where the photo was taken. Seems that he could have answered it if he had his notes. You see, he said he left his notes at his office as he didn't think the trial would move along so quickly. Geesh..I was on a murder trial that took less time than this trial.
Our defendent seems to be directing from the witness stand as he responds to the prosecuter (the Enforcer)'s objection and even, after he realized he didn't get the reaction he wanted from his previous question directs his attorney to go back to it. (Boy, is she in trouble when they get home!) Judgie assures him that he is quite capable of running his own courtroom. This guy's a real winner...I don't care if he does know how to sing!
So, at 4:15...we are all dazed and confused with a method of lawyerin',which can only be described as moronic drones, goes on beyond the 4PM shut down. Oh, I can't forget one particularly interesting note, Haddad answers a question as he had "qualified himself as an expert" in previous testimony. I could barely control myself as judgie and I exchanged raised eyebrows.
Proceedings are suspended as we stumble back to real life and returning phone calls...next week...maybe Mr. Haddad will get an ACO award nomination for most over the top performance for a homegrown screenplay.
You'll notice, that is not the title of this post. (Though the visual is still a little fun, huh?)
I walked into the courtroom at 2 minutes after 1PM and both the defendent's and prosecution's tables sat in silence. Kevie, the law and order type, scowled and judgie was going through endless papers. I wasn't sure what was going on so I slid into the silence. So, seems that the defendents had once again misplaced their witness even though it was his second time to this court room he seemed to have lost his way inside the building. Yeah, this is who we want maintaining our building.
As Mr. Haddad leaves the courtroom in search of his witness, the Enforcer sighs, she's had enough and asks to strike the witness' entire testimony since she can't question him. Judgie agrees and then we seek Haddad...who is lost again. Judgie sighs and Kevie goes to look for him. Judgie looks up to a missing Haddad and Kevie and says "nobody else leave." Unfortunately, it was at that moment that I realized I left my notebook upstairs. I leaned over to Mr. DiLello and told him that, if judgie's looking for me, I'll be right back. I might be spending too much time in codes court.
With Haddad in the room, the witness list is changed and Haddad again leaves the room to tell the second (or third) witness to be an hour earlier. Sadly, Haddad has not asked judgie's permission and is severely reprimanded for leaving the court several times and delaying the start. So, the second witness answers two questions and the missing witness shows up. So, we chat again and the Enforcer agrees to let Mr. Hunter, witness for the defense, take the stand. Something's up.
The unsuspecting Mr. Hunter takes the stand and in a rapid fire questioning, leaving the defendeant's table slackjawed, the Enforcer gives Ms. Galvin a lesson in lawyerin. First, she establishes that the witness was there because he wants to be. (Let's say, your boss told you to testify.) Sheila's only choice is to object....constantly. With each objection the Enforcer's head spins on Galvin somewhat reminiscent of Linda Blair's twisting head scene from the Exorcist. Galvin, with her continued air of arrogent ignorance says....badgering...leading...with a spin of the neck, the Enforcer says "badgering...this isn't badgering...it's cross examining." No wonder Galvin didn't recognize it.
Galvin's doing her best imitation of a Cathoolic on Sunday...up and down and up and down...."objection"..."over ruled." Man, this Enforcer chick might be a worthy opponent in ACO banter! At one point, the witness is shown an affidavit that states that Haddad had him put in double pane windows..."nicer than he was required to install" the witness proudly claims that he had indeed made that statement...the Enforcer says "without a permit" and spins on her heels. Mission accomplished.
So, Galvin attempts to follow this demonstration of fine lawyerin with "So, what does 'replacing windows" mean to you?" and "can you define 'window'?" When judgie stopped that silliness Galvin claims that she is entitled to ask what a "window is." Hmmm.
Mr. Van Schoik takes the stand and Galvin continues her "questioning" over and over and over. Judgie says, "Ms. Galvin, do you hope to come away with anything other than a primer on code enforcement?" Galvin: "I'm laying the groundwork." Oh, dear lord, please revoke her license to "practice law!" Aside: Seems between judgie and the enforcer, Ms. Galvin is getting a primer on lawyerin.
Seems that Haddad's best defense is that the city didn't remind him to renew his ROP. So...the last question for this witness..".Mr. Van Schoik, do you know when your driver's license needs to be renewed?" Sigh....his answer: "I can tell you when I look at it."
The moment I've been awaiting...Haddad takes the stand and bellows out his credentials...how many classes he's taken, taught...how long he's been in business...he goes on and on...sing songing his CV. Then he launches into, as prompted by Sheila the lawyer, how he relied on the city to remind him and practically blames Mr. DiLello for single-handedly being responsible for his forgetfulness in this matter. (Mr. Dilello had left the room for a moment. Also, seeems that Mr. DiLello would have been a good witness if that were the case...huh?)
Haddad and Galvin danced the dance of the well-rehearsed with one mistake.....Haddad was leading. What a performance! Unfortunately, it was a little over the top. When shown a picture from his attorney, he'd ponder, scratching his head...sincerity dripping from his furrowed brow...he'd utter while deep in thought "give me a moment...please" while he gathers his full spidey powers to recollect where that photo (just presented him by HIS attorney) is placed in his mind.
He soon goes into a speech which ends by not answering the question of where the photo was taken. Seems that he could have answered it if he had his notes. You see, he said he left his notes at his office as he didn't think the trial would move along so quickly. Geesh..I was on a murder trial that took less time than this trial.
Our defendent seems to be directing from the witness stand as he responds to the prosecuter (the Enforcer)'s objection and even, after he realized he didn't get the reaction he wanted from his previous question directs his attorney to go back to it. (Boy, is she in trouble when they get home!) Judgie assures him that he is quite capable of running his own courtroom. This guy's a real winner...I don't care if he does know how to sing!
So, at 4:15...we are all dazed and confused with a method of lawyerin',which can only be described as moronic drones, goes on beyond the 4PM shut down. Oh, I can't forget one particularly interesting note, Haddad answers a question as he had "qualified himself as an expert" in previous testimony. I could barely control myself as judgie and I exchanged raised eyebrows.
Proceedings are suspended as we stumble back to real life and returning phone calls...next week...maybe Mr. Haddad will get an ACO award nomination for most over the top performance for a homegrown screenplay.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
County Budget Cuts: Part 1
Tonight we couldn’t have squeezed one more person into the committee room at 112 State Street. Now, mind you, we left a huge room with the caucus to go to a tiny room with most of the legislators, two spectators and the staff of 13 departments. Now, I’m juss sayin…seems there’s only one reason to have a budget meeting in a room that crowded…you don’t want too many people knowing what’s said in that room. Don’t worry folksies, I wrote it all down.
Now, from what I’m hearing, the departments were assisted by Mr. Rodat to work to trim fat off of their budget…here are the results and some comments. In order of appearance:
Sheriff’s Department: Looks like there is one eliminated position but it was so crowded I couldn’t see or hear too well so I don’t know if it was a vacant position or a layoff (and I had a GOOD seat!). At any rate, the missing position is that of clerk ($27,500). Seems the Sheriff is a rather soft spoken man, not much of a push back here…hey, you wanna be responsible for cutting the sheriff’s office? Nope.
County Clerk: Seems that the Clerk’s office is the only office that is self-supporting. There will be no layoffs here but some changing job titles. When asked if they have room in one of the offices to put relocate another office to save some money, Mr. Clingan said that he promised that he would not ask to expand for a certain number of years and that “space” is targeted for his expansion. Hmmm….is that a no? Seems like Mr. Clingan may have a few wrapped around a finger.
Comptroller: Seems that I’m a little unclear on this (and the two previous) as what is in the distributed literature seems to conflict with the actual proposed budget. Now, does that mean that Mike did his own thing? Anyway, Mr. Conner seemed to indicate that his department might have been targeted. Seems has 14 personnel and it looks like he’s losing three part time administrative aides. He was told to figure up the savings with the elimination of the Nursing Home beds and that might be used to put back his staff. Interesting.
District Attorney: In case you’re wondering…he still is getting cuter and cuter every day. Okay, so now we have some real cuts, someone following instructions…the receptionist position is proposed for lay off, three ADA positions are proposed for elimination, the Senior Prosecution Coordinator position will not be filled and the records clerk position will be eliminated with the person in that position becoming a confidential secretary. Under programs lost, the community prosecution unit will lose functionality with the elimination of the Senior Prosecution Coordinator but the program will not be eliminated. The Road to Recovery position will be eliminated as a result of lost grant funding.
Mr. Soares cut 3 ADAs, a Coordinator, a receptionist (reducing personnel by 17%), he reduced equipment by 71% and contractual expenses by 14%, there is no room to trip any more. Per Soares, to reduce spending by an additional 3% (as directed by the County) will put the safety of Albany County in serious jeopardy. Interestingly, the DA received no Stimulus funding so the departments receiving the funding will be overloading the DA’s skeletal department with their enforcement.
Veteran’s Services: This poor guy only has control over $3000 in his budget…talk about a skeleton! He is in danger of losing accreditation due to funding cuts in this time when VA claims are going up (as Mr. McCoy points out.) Ms. Benedict says what I’m thinking…what about volunteers? There’s no room for them, Mr. Pollicino says, “We have one person sitting out by the elevator.” Seemed like he was having a tough day…I have a feeling it’s going to get tougher. Sadly, this guy still has to lay off one part timer ($13,604)
County Attorney: Mr. Denning..hmm…my first time to meet him and I think I could have defended his departmental budget better than he did. (Aside: Almost midnight here on State Street and it seems there’s a party going on below my window.) You ever worked with someone that throws so much information at you that you can’t find the “bottom line?” I mean, besides Big Betty? Well, I know how much Mr. Denning pays for a box of paper clips but I can’t find what he pays his people. (Well, I can if I go to the actual budget.) This guy has 15 staff and pays $718,920…now get this…seems he outsources his legal stuff…at half a million more. Hmmm…so, legal is outsourcing legal. I must say, I would not want to work in this department. High turnover, they are not reimbursed for travel, large caseload and, from what I saw tonight, not very inspiring leadership. Course, it may have been an off night.
Public Defender: Peter Tomcello…hey, I like this guy. He’s leaving a few positions vacant and one employee took the Voluntary Separation Incentive. He took over in 07 and he is doing more with 6 less attorneys. He is anticipating 600 additional cases this year and seemed to look forward to the challenge. Since Mr. Soares had already left the room, and since the legs were giving him kudos, he noted that the public defender’s office routinely kicks the DA office’s butts.
I’m skipping one office here…Alt. Defender’s office…mostly cause I’m not sure of the relevance. I think they could have removed the entire office from what I heard tonight. Sorry if it was just late…I may visit my notes in the morning.
Board of Elections: Hanging with the undertaker, Mr. Clyne and Mr. Graziano, who I actually rather liked. So, they are cutting four positions, two laborers and two programmers for the voting machines. Seems that leaves us vulnerable to voting issues. Well, maybe we’ll be a little better off by the next election. Mr. Higgins asked if we had any money left over from the HAVA funds….well, yes indeed, we do…we have $300K left over but we don’t know what we can do with it so it sits in an account. (Hopefully earning interest for the peeps.)
Mr. Graziano note that the budget probably doesn’t have enough funds to meet federal mandates. Yeah, that’s what we need, fines. Mr. Commisso notes that there is no fuel line item and asks how they pay for gas. Mr. Graziano won my heart with “a credit card.” Mr. Commisso has no sense of humor, he adds, “who paid the credit card?” and Graz says “I don’t know, Mother County?”
Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center: Hey, how ya gonna beat up on this chick. There’s not a lot of funds to take from this group. So, they cut one part timer at $28K but, with that, they lose $22K in revenue so they only reduced bout $6K. Whatcha gonna do?
Probation: Looks like we’ve got 9 vacant positions and we will be laying off one receptionist who has been with the department 12 years and a probation assistant with an 8 year tenure…Merry Christmas. Well, that’s what happens in tough times. (Reminder…this is “proposed” not adopted.) Here’s one for ya, I learned tonight that probation officers have guns…unfortunately, last year the County had to borrow money for ammo. I’m not sure where they will be getting their ammo from this year.
General Services: Okay, well, first question was an expected one…why $122K in overtime? Mr. Lynch answers…for security. Reponse: “Then why are we laying off 4 security guards?” Well, it seems that there are different security guards for different areas of services. I don’t know what this guy did but they seem to like to beat up on him and his budget. Mr. Commisso says, “we’re doing trash pickup in the cities, why don’t we pay the cities to do this instead? That way the cities can make money and it doesn’t cost us as much.” Make sense. Here’s another….we are paying $14K for furniture storage…why don’t we put it over at the vacant Ann Lee and save the storage. Duh.
I’d love to be wide awake enough to add a little more humor or entertainment to your read but it’s almost midnight and a half and I’ve been with my legislators since 5:50…I’ve had me enough. I must say though, that some departments made a huge attempt to tighten their belts...some didn't seem to take it as seriously and, I should add, that Management and Budget seemed more than fair in the figure they arrived at...but I must say that every department seemed to take the economic crisis much more seriously than any one of the City of Albany's departments. (Cept maybe my sweetie over at AFD.) I can tell you though, the fat wasn't trimmed at the city like it was at the county...good on ya Mr. Breslin...and team!
Now, from what I’m hearing, the departments were assisted by Mr. Rodat to work to trim fat off of their budget…here are the results and some comments. In order of appearance:
Sheriff’s Department: Looks like there is one eliminated position but it was so crowded I couldn’t see or hear too well so I don’t know if it was a vacant position or a layoff (and I had a GOOD seat!). At any rate, the missing position is that of clerk ($27,500). Seems the Sheriff is a rather soft spoken man, not much of a push back here…hey, you wanna be responsible for cutting the sheriff’s office? Nope.
County Clerk: Seems that the Clerk’s office is the only office that is self-supporting. There will be no layoffs here but some changing job titles. When asked if they have room in one of the offices to put relocate another office to save some money, Mr. Clingan said that he promised that he would not ask to expand for a certain number of years and that “space” is targeted for his expansion. Hmmm….is that a no? Seems like Mr. Clingan may have a few wrapped around a finger.
Comptroller: Seems that I’m a little unclear on this (and the two previous) as what is in the distributed literature seems to conflict with the actual proposed budget. Now, does that mean that Mike did his own thing? Anyway, Mr. Conner seemed to indicate that his department might have been targeted. Seems has 14 personnel and it looks like he’s losing three part time administrative aides. He was told to figure up the savings with the elimination of the Nursing Home beds and that might be used to put back his staff. Interesting.
District Attorney: In case you’re wondering…he still is getting cuter and cuter every day. Okay, so now we have some real cuts, someone following instructions…the receptionist position is proposed for lay off, three ADA positions are proposed for elimination, the Senior Prosecution Coordinator position will not be filled and the records clerk position will be eliminated with the person in that position becoming a confidential secretary. Under programs lost, the community prosecution unit will lose functionality with the elimination of the Senior Prosecution Coordinator but the program will not be eliminated. The Road to Recovery position will be eliminated as a result of lost grant funding.
Mr. Soares cut 3 ADAs, a Coordinator, a receptionist (reducing personnel by 17%), he reduced equipment by 71% and contractual expenses by 14%, there is no room to trip any more. Per Soares, to reduce spending by an additional 3% (as directed by the County) will put the safety of Albany County in serious jeopardy. Interestingly, the DA received no Stimulus funding so the departments receiving the funding will be overloading the DA’s skeletal department with their enforcement.
Veteran’s Services: This poor guy only has control over $3000 in his budget…talk about a skeleton! He is in danger of losing accreditation due to funding cuts in this time when VA claims are going up (as Mr. McCoy points out.) Ms. Benedict says what I’m thinking…what about volunteers? There’s no room for them, Mr. Pollicino says, “We have one person sitting out by the elevator.” Seemed like he was having a tough day…I have a feeling it’s going to get tougher. Sadly, this guy still has to lay off one part timer ($13,604)
County Attorney: Mr. Denning..hmm…my first time to meet him and I think I could have defended his departmental budget better than he did. (Aside: Almost midnight here on State Street and it seems there’s a party going on below my window.) You ever worked with someone that throws so much information at you that you can’t find the “bottom line?” I mean, besides Big Betty? Well, I know how much Mr. Denning pays for a box of paper clips but I can’t find what he pays his people. (Well, I can if I go to the actual budget.) This guy has 15 staff and pays $718,920…now get this…seems he outsources his legal stuff…at half a million more. Hmmm…so, legal is outsourcing legal. I must say, I would not want to work in this department. High turnover, they are not reimbursed for travel, large caseload and, from what I saw tonight, not very inspiring leadership. Course, it may have been an off night.
Public Defender: Peter Tomcello…hey, I like this guy. He’s leaving a few positions vacant and one employee took the Voluntary Separation Incentive. He took over in 07 and he is doing more with 6 less attorneys. He is anticipating 600 additional cases this year and seemed to look forward to the challenge. Since Mr. Soares had already left the room, and since the legs were giving him kudos, he noted that the public defender’s office routinely kicks the DA office’s butts.
I’m skipping one office here…Alt. Defender’s office…mostly cause I’m not sure of the relevance. I think they could have removed the entire office from what I heard tonight. Sorry if it was just late…I may visit my notes in the morning.
Board of Elections: Hanging with the undertaker, Mr. Clyne and Mr. Graziano, who I actually rather liked. So, they are cutting four positions, two laborers and two programmers for the voting machines. Seems that leaves us vulnerable to voting issues. Well, maybe we’ll be a little better off by the next election. Mr. Higgins asked if we had any money left over from the HAVA funds….well, yes indeed, we do…we have $300K left over but we don’t know what we can do with it so it sits in an account. (Hopefully earning interest for the peeps.)
Mr. Graziano note that the budget probably doesn’t have enough funds to meet federal mandates. Yeah, that’s what we need, fines. Mr. Commisso notes that there is no fuel line item and asks how they pay for gas. Mr. Graziano won my heart with “a credit card.” Mr. Commisso has no sense of humor, he adds, “who paid the credit card?” and Graz says “I don’t know, Mother County?”
Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center: Hey, how ya gonna beat up on this chick. There’s not a lot of funds to take from this group. So, they cut one part timer at $28K but, with that, they lose $22K in revenue so they only reduced bout $6K. Whatcha gonna do?
Probation: Looks like we’ve got 9 vacant positions and we will be laying off one receptionist who has been with the department 12 years and a probation assistant with an 8 year tenure…Merry Christmas. Well, that’s what happens in tough times. (Reminder…this is “proposed” not adopted.) Here’s one for ya, I learned tonight that probation officers have guns…unfortunately, last year the County had to borrow money for ammo. I’m not sure where they will be getting their ammo from this year.
General Services: Okay, well, first question was an expected one…why $122K in overtime? Mr. Lynch answers…for security. Reponse: “Then why are we laying off 4 security guards?” Well, it seems that there are different security guards for different areas of services. I don’t know what this guy did but they seem to like to beat up on him and his budget. Mr. Commisso says, “we’re doing trash pickup in the cities, why don’t we pay the cities to do this instead? That way the cities can make money and it doesn’t cost us as much.” Make sense. Here’s another….we are paying $14K for furniture storage…why don’t we put it over at the vacant Ann Lee and save the storage. Duh.
I’d love to be wide awake enough to add a little more humor or entertainment to your read but it’s almost midnight and a half and I’ve been with my legislators since 5:50…I’ve had me enough. I must say though, that some departments made a huge attempt to tighten their belts...some didn't seem to take it as seriously and, I should add, that Management and Budget seemed more than fair in the figure they arrived at...but I must say that every department seemed to take the economic crisis much more seriously than any one of the City of Albany's departments. (Cept maybe my sweetie over at AFD.) I can tell you though, the fat wasn't trimmed at the city like it was at the county...good on ya Mr. Breslin...and team!
County Legs Talk Strategy
I headed on down to the County Legislative Budget meeting an hour or so early just cause…well, you know how sometimes you just need to be in a different place to re-gear? Maybe not. Maybe that’s just me. So, I had expected to do some research while I waited and discovered the legislators having a caucus in the Cahill Room….my quiet space at 112 State. So, wanna know what the caucus talkus was tonight? Okay, I’ll tell you and then I’ll fill ya in on the budget. I’m sure you can’t wait.
While there was a lot of legislation up for discussion tonight, I didn’t get the backup to the legislation…why? First, let me explain what I mean by backup. Ya see, the folksies must put the stamp of approval on all contracts, while there is a “title” on the agenda (like at the city) the back up is also distributed so you can read the actual contract. Seems that the legislators only get the “backup” information when they walk into the caucus and they must decide their position that evening. Right, no public discussion…then, if they read the info between caucus and the meeting and they decide to vote another way they are criticized. Oh, and the “backup” isn’t released until the public (you and me!) until the night of the meeting. So, it seems that the legislators are, in many cases (unless they attend every committee meeting that convenes..if they convene) asked to make decisions on “stuff” they’ve just seen a few minutes earlier. Hmmm…do I smell something?
While there were a couple of items of interest tonight, the discussion that held the most interest for me was the discussion about the RSS contract. So, it seems that RSS (Rehabilitative Support Services) responded to an RFP to coordinate services regarding short term and transitional care for the long term care programs in Albany. Now, one legislators, Timmy (sorry, don’t know him, not looking him up and Mr. Morse kept calling him Timmy…which was very distracting because two of my Irish Setters were named Timmy), wanted to draw the line in the sand with this legislation stating, this in home care stuff is what Mr. Breslin is pushing as an alternative to the nursing home, he says, we should make a point and vote it down. “
Ms. McKnight quickly corrected him stating that “this has nothing to do with the nursing home and, even if it did, it was the piece of the plan with which we agreed with the County Exec.” She went on to explain the project…this woman is well prepped!
Bullhorn’s hand shoots up, he’s feeling irrelavent. (That’s what happens when that bullhorn is taken out of your hands.) “We need to stop this contract and stop being ignored, we need to kill it to make a political point.” Yeah, I think my initial judgment of this guy was correct…I’m good…what can I say.
Though I’m not a Steck fan, he did make my point “Holding this good program hostage as a political pawn is just wrong. This is not the right thing to hold hostage to make our point to the County Exec.” Mr. Morse adds, “I can feel your frustration,” clearly directed at Bullhorn, “BUT, this is the one part of the plan we all embraced…we as a body made this commitment to take care of all of our people.”
By this time I had the giggles as Mr. McCoy, the “step child” has been waving his hand in the air to speak for nearly 20 minutes. Is he not playing nice? What’s up with that? So, round and round we go until everyone, cept Bullhorn who remains silence after sticking his foot in his mouth, signs on for approval of the contract. Geesh, at some point you have to stop stepping into that trap.
And, the close includes a note of relief that political strategies can be discussed in a “relatively” closed caucus. (I felt a glance toward the audience of four.) Oh yeah, here’s a funny, the meeting scheduled for December 8th is tentatively moved to December 7th because Billy Joel and Elton John will be in town. I don’t know, I just think it’s funny when the work of the peeps is detoured by the peeps.
While there was a lot of legislation up for discussion tonight, I didn’t get the backup to the legislation…why? First, let me explain what I mean by backup. Ya see, the folksies must put the stamp of approval on all contracts, while there is a “title” on the agenda (like at the city) the back up is also distributed so you can read the actual contract. Seems that the legislators only get the “backup” information when they walk into the caucus and they must decide their position that evening. Right, no public discussion…then, if they read the info between caucus and the meeting and they decide to vote another way they are criticized. Oh, and the “backup” isn’t released until the public (you and me!) until the night of the meeting. So, it seems that the legislators are, in many cases (unless they attend every committee meeting that convenes..if they convene) asked to make decisions on “stuff” they’ve just seen a few minutes earlier. Hmmm…do I smell something?
While there were a couple of items of interest tonight, the discussion that held the most interest for me was the discussion about the RSS contract. So, it seems that RSS (Rehabilitative Support Services) responded to an RFP to coordinate services regarding short term and transitional care for the long term care programs in Albany. Now, one legislators, Timmy (sorry, don’t know him, not looking him up and Mr. Morse kept calling him Timmy…which was very distracting because two of my Irish Setters were named Timmy), wanted to draw the line in the sand with this legislation stating, this in home care stuff is what Mr. Breslin is pushing as an alternative to the nursing home, he says, we should make a point and vote it down. “
Ms. McKnight quickly corrected him stating that “this has nothing to do with the nursing home and, even if it did, it was the piece of the plan with which we agreed with the County Exec.” She went on to explain the project…this woman is well prepped!
Bullhorn’s hand shoots up, he’s feeling irrelavent. (That’s what happens when that bullhorn is taken out of your hands.) “We need to stop this contract and stop being ignored, we need to kill it to make a political point.” Yeah, I think my initial judgment of this guy was correct…I’m good…what can I say.
Though I’m not a Steck fan, he did make my point “Holding this good program hostage as a political pawn is just wrong. This is not the right thing to hold hostage to make our point to the County Exec.” Mr. Morse adds, “I can feel your frustration,” clearly directed at Bullhorn, “BUT, this is the one part of the plan we all embraced…we as a body made this commitment to take care of all of our people.”
By this time I had the giggles as Mr. McCoy, the “step child” has been waving his hand in the air to speak for nearly 20 minutes. Is he not playing nice? What’s up with that? So, round and round we go until everyone, cept Bullhorn who remains silence after sticking his foot in his mouth, signs on for approval of the contract. Geesh, at some point you have to stop stepping into that trap.
And, the close includes a note of relief that political strategies can be discussed in a “relatively” closed caucus. (I felt a glance toward the audience of four.) Oh yeah, here’s a funny, the meeting scheduled for December 8th is tentatively moved to December 7th because Billy Joel and Elton John will be in town. I don’t know, I just think it’s funny when the work of the peeps is detoured by the peeps.
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