Talespin

In the end, just KISS

2012-02-11T13:36:00.001-05:00

PULVER

I don’t think anyone is too sure what the hell happened Friday when Judge George Pulver abruptly cut off Dan Brown’s testimony while he was being questioned by attorney Brian Premo, who represents Ed McDonough, the Board of Elections commissioner on trial along with former Councilman Michael LoPorto for their alleged role in voter fraud.

One thing is for certain, there was something funky going on, either with inconsistencies between what Brown said in front of the grand jury and what he said at trial, or between what he said under direct examination and what he said under Premo’s cross.

What everyone seems to agree upon is that Brown got confused – be it intentionally or by accident – over whether he was mailing absentee ballot applications or actual ballots just before the ’09 primary. In other words he perjured himself – again, either by accident or intentionally. I’m not sure of the significance of that but there are a couple possibilities:

JOHN BROWN

- He is trying to cover for his brother, former Councilman John Brown, who pled guilty to a felony and is looking at six months in jail but that doesn’t technically kick in until he is sentenced at an undetermined future time.

- When Trey Smith brought him in front of the grand jury he did testify with immunity, which means he was not culpable for anything possible wrongdoing in ’09. But, what he admitted doing may not have been the same thing he admitted to doing on the stand Friday. I honestly have no idea since I’ve not seen the details of the cooperation agreement and am not privy to the grand jury testimony.

- Or he simply screwed up by saying he mailed applications rather than ballots, which is understandable. Everyone is doing that.

In the end, I don’t see how it helps or hurts the two guys on trial for more than 100 felonies. Even if Pulver decides Brown did intentionally commit perjury and tosses his entire testimony … so what. As far as I can tell, Brown did more damage to former City Clerk Bill McInerney by telling the jury he mailed whatever he mailed at McInerney’s request. Thing is, McInerney already pled guilty and presumably told Smith as part of his own cooperation agreement what actually transpired.

In other words, if we follow the tried and true KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) rule of thumb, the question still remains whether or not McDonough and LoPorto did what they are accused of doing or they didn’t.

Astute readers, then, may wonder then why Smith would bring Brown and DeFiglio, who also didn’t directly implicate LoPorto and/or McDonough, in as witnesses. The only thing I can come up with is he is setting the scene for the jury on how the whole scam transpired. Yes, I know the two men on trial are presumed innocent, but four have pled guilty so there is, or was, a scam afoot.

I guess we’ll hear what Pulver rules about Brown’s testimony on Tuesday – which is appropriately Valentine’s Day. Remember … in the end, it's just KISS.

Blame the COs

2012-02-10T22:57:00.000-05:00

The comments were getting so nasty that my boss made me moderate all of them before they are posted and I can’t blame her. I wasn’t doing too bad with taking them down as they went up until the COs got going again.

My God, don’t you guys have anything better to do than stay up all night anonymously posting about other guy’s wives and kids and businesses.

Anyway, I will moderate the comments before they are posted just to make sure someone’s wife, sister or mother doesn’t jump me in the parking lot for missing a post or two about their son.

Now, they are messing with real people

2012-02-09T11:29:00.001-05:00

KOPKA

Tonight’s special meeting of the Troy City Council was cancelled and rescheduled for next Thursday because as near as I can tell, there wasn’t proper notice given for the meeting - again. If you remember, last month, the Council cancelled its organizational and regular meetings for the same reason.

Screwing things up once unequivocally falls within the arbitrary honeymoon period, especially since they really didn’t miss out on doing much outside of appointing a pro temp to President Lynn Kopka. And I’d even be willing to stretch the grace period out to twice, but this time they are messing with real people who likely don’t care too much about who is on the Council or who is running City Hall but just want to do business in the city.

The lone item on tonight’s aborted agenda was to abolish the Planning Board and replace it with a Planning Commission. The notice for next week’s special meeting does not specify an agenda but I’m assuming it will include the same change. That’s fine, Mayor Lou Rosamilia wants his own people in charge of directing the direction of development in the city and that’s his prerogative.

ROSAMILIA

Thing is, the special meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., and there is a Planning Board meeting slated for 6 p.m. that same night with what appears, according to the city’s website, a full agenda that includes proposals from eight people who either want to open a new business or expand an existing one, and a site plan review to construct 74 units of senior housing on House Avenue and Ninth Street.

I’m told, since Rosamilia was asking for resignations, there is only one member of the Planning Board left, and while I’m not sure I don’t think one member constitutes a quorum. So, even if the board were to meet I’m not sure what can possibly get accomplished since the Council won’t even create the new Planning Commission until an hour after the Planning Board is supposed to meet.

Obviously, I’m being a bit cynical since I’m sure the administration and/or the council informed the applicants of the snafu. But, then again, not giving proper notice to the public for the second time is not a good indication of a well-oiled machine so who knows.

The history behind voter fraud

2012-02-06T15:41:00.003-05:00

ALDRICH

Tom Aldrich was on the stand today in the voter fraud scandal and said the Working Families Party never ran their own candidates but instead endorsed mainly Democrats and even a Conservative.

Well, no kidding. That’s at the root of the voter fraud scandal. The WFP has few, if any, of its own candidates and was a creation of the Democratic Party to give voters another place to cast a ballot for those in the Democratic Party – plain and simple.

It's nothing I haven't written before, but here’s a little bit of history for those who don’t know.

A while back, when he was still a Democrat, former Department of Public Works Commissioner Bob Mirch took over the Conservative Party by first enrolling a bunch of his friends, who then elected the committee, who then elected an executive committee who then endorsed candidates of Mirch’s choice – for a while the Democrats but in the last decade or so they’ve been all Republicans.

MIRCH

A few years later, his buddy Tom Connolly did the same thing to the Rensselaer County Independence Party and its chairwoman at the time, Wanda Chenot.

Fast forward a few years, the WFP saw Mirch and Connolly doing the same thing to their party so they changed the bylaws and took away the power to endorse from the local committees and put it in the hands of the state.

So, when Brian Premo, the attorney for Board of Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough, asked Aldrich just a few minutes ago about the Dems taking over the WFP in 2009, it’s really not an accurate way to put it because the Democrats already had and always had control of the party.

The thing they didn’t control was line and by that I mean the candidates and the handful of faithful voters enlisted in the party and who would vote for the candidates Mirch and company put up to run.

Maybe it’s better understood if I use an example.

OBAMA and CINSUELLO

Chris Consuello was working at Jimmy’s Pizza in the ‘Burgh and since he was a working class kind of guy and had a family to boot, he was the perfect candidate for the WFP. That, and he was bucking for a job at the DPW.

He ran WFP primaries for Troy Council, Troy mayor, state Senate and State Assembly and since it only takes a handful of voters to win a minor party line, Mirch and company would make sure the people he enrolled in the party showed up to vote and Consuello won every primary he ever ran in thereby stealing the WFP line from the Democrats.

Consuello, thankfully, had no chance of winning the general election but every vote he got on the WFP line was one less the Democrats got and that in turn it helped the Republicans.

And it wasn’t just Consuello, Mirch and company would run entire slates of shadow candidates and they had a near perfect record of winning the primaries.

After a while, the Democrats and the WFP got frustrated - understandably so - and in 2009 they resorted to forging absentees in an effort to get the line back. I base that fact on the four guilty pleas so far and it is not meant as commentary on the guilt of McDonough or his co-defendant former Councilman Michael LoPorto or the other two who pled not guilty, former Council President Clement Campana and Councilman Gary Galuski.

Forgery is illegal, obviously, but winning with shadow candidates, while unethical, is well within the law and might be defined more as an effective get out the vote operation.

Spaghetti against the wall

2012-02-02T10:43:00.000-05:00

Well, that was an interesting twist yesterday in the trial of Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough and former Councilman Mike LoPorto.

Some voters, like Jolene VanVranken, said it wasn’t their signature on the affidavits they gave to authorities in which they pretty much said someone forged their absentee ballot applications and/or absentee ballot envelopes. If you have a tough time following that, they said it wasn’t their signature on the document that said it wasn’t their signature on other documents. What can I say, a cut and dry murder trial this is not.

FEIT

PREMO

Anyway, I’m not sure who would sign the documents or exactly what specific documents they are talking about but I’m assuming it was the statements voters gave to the State Police.

While the State Police certainly opened themselves up to scrutiny in how they conducted this investigation - specifically by arresting former City Clerk Bill McInerney without the knowledge of Trey Smith, the special prosecutor, and by having some unorthodox communication with the FBI – I find it highly unlikely anyone in the State Police would forge a potential witness’s signature or anything else for that matter.

But, the defense attorneys, Mike Feit for LoPorto and Brian Premo for McDonough, will jump at anything out of the ordinary to raise doubt in the minds of the jury. I think in legalese it’s referred to as “throwing spaghetti against the wall.”

The bottom line is most voters are telling the jury they signed the absentee ballot applications, never filled in the rest of the information including why they would be out of town on Primary Day, 2009 and that they never saw an actual ballot. The question is if LoPorto and McDonough had a hand in that or not. I don't know if they did or not, but it’s really that plain and simple – provided you can see the pasta through the spaghetti.

At least spell the names right

2012-01-27T20:15:00.003-05:00

We’ve completed one week of the much anticipated voter fraud trial and while I refrain from delving too much into an analysis of what happened so far – mainly since I wasn’t there for most of it – a couple things stand out more for their entertainment value than any profound legal maneuvering.

For starters, much has been said about how the Dems got caught doing what they did when people have been manipulating absentee ballots since Christ was a carpenter - and I don't mean McDonough and LoPorto but the other four who pled guilty. Those reasons include but are not limited to: the fact the Dems were sick of seeing the Working Families Party line stolen by the GOP and they were so desperate to get it back they got sloppy; Bob Mirch knows how the game is played since he spent many years playing it himself and knew what was going on; the Dems got greedy towards the end of the 2009 primary and turned too many ballots too close to actual Primary Day.

But, the kicker as far as I’m concerned, is someone spelled two of the voters names wrong as they allegedly forged their name on the absentee ballots.

According to testimony last week given by the two voters who weren’t even sure they voted or for who or in what primary, Darnell Paterson’s name was spelled with two Ns, “Darnnell” and Thurman Jones name was spelled with an O, “Thurmon.” At least they got “Jones” right.

My guess is that it must be pretty difficult to forge someone’s signature so it looks like it was done in that person’s hand so the least you can do is get all the letters right and in the right order.

Also, Mary Ellen LaPlante testified against her former boss Board of Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough last week. She is former, by the way, because she has since retired not for any reason related to voter fraud.

In and of itself it’s not odd as we can expect more BOE employees to take the stand but she also testified against McDonough’s father back in the 90s when she was working for the Democrats at the county Legislature. McDonough senior, then the party chair, was thrown in prison after a jury found him guilty of using his position to basically extort money from municipalities who purchased insurance from his firm.

Like more than a couple decades ago, LaPlante also broke down on the stand as she gave some incriminating evidence. Can’t blame her really, she was just an employee trying to do her job and wasn’t about to lie while under oath, then or now.

Jim Gordon to take spot as STOP DWI coordinator

2012-01-23T17:32:00.000-05:00

GORDON

Troy Republican Chair Jim Gordon was recently tapped to be the county STOP DWI Coordinator. He will replace Chuck Wojton, who will get promoted and replace Tim Holt, who is retiring after a long stint as the county’s director of central services.

The STOP DWI coordinator has been the epitome of a political patronage job for years. Though, Wojton seems to have broken that mold and actually did do some work towards curtailing DWI in the county - which is pretty much what the job description says he’s supposed to do.

But, before Wojton, who will make $75,000 in his new gig, there were three who were pretty much political animals. In order they are:

- Jason Kippen: who is now in charge of human resources for the state Senate. In other words he is the gatekeeper for a bunch of jobs.

- Dan Crawley: who served as deputy mayor under Mayor Harry Tutunjian and is now executive secretary of the Troy Housing Authority. Some say he is one reason Tutunjian, one of his best friends, was ever elected mayor.

SWEENEY

- John Sweeney: Who went to serve in Congress earning himself the moniker “Congressman Kick Ass.” It’s no secret Sweeney was attending law school full time in Massachesuetts while he was the STOP DWI coordinator and maybe he should have paid more … at this point I think I’ll say I’m going to refrain from any cracks about Sweeney’s driving record or other ironies related to him being the STOP DWI coordinator. Safe to say, Sweeney is a political genius and he didn’t earn the moniker for being a nice guy about it.

And now we have the city GOP chair moving into the $50,000 spot.

Another thought is since Gordon was lobbying hard for the open seat on the Legislature and he can't do that and work for the county, it narrows it down to two: former mayoral candidate Carmella Mantello and former Troy Council candidate Tom Killips. Council candidate Seamus Donnelly has tossed his name in the ring but I think the other two have a better shot at it. Those are the only names I’ve heard but those who will make the pick must be nervous because whoever it is will have to run in November during an “Obama year” in the overwhelmingly Democratic City of Troy.

I was trying to find a way to correlate the Gordon appointment to the ongoing battle between the Legislature and the county executive but I really can’t so I’m guessing it’s a wash and the two branches of government will go on with their feud. Maybe it will heat up a bit when it comes time for the Legislature to confirm Wojton’s appointment as a department head.

We don't want a McDonalds on Hoosick Street

2012-01-20T09:46:00.001-05:00

That’s what the move means by the administration of Mayor Lou Rosamilia to abolish the Planning Board and replace it with a Planning Commission.

Na, I’m just kidding. I honestly don’t blame Rosamilia for getting his own people onto the panel that will control the direction of development in the city. I think former Chair Peter Kehoe said it best in his resignation letter: “As chairman I have seen it as one of my duties to support and promote the development policies of Mayor Tutunjian. I am sure you will have your own policies and priorities to put forth and it seems right to me that you should have as chairman someone whom you are confident will support and promote your own ideas.”

Tutunjian did the same thing when he came into office eight years ago by replacing the Planning Commission with the present Planning Board configuration. The two bodies do have different criteria for membership, but the bottom line is it’s about getting you own people on them.

I remember one of the more controversial proposals before the then Planning Commission in Pattison’s time was an idea by Joseph’s House to convert the old Phoenix Hotel into apartments for the chronically homeless. The ‘Burgh blew a gasket and cited all sorts of bad and evil things like property values plummeting, panhandlers scaring customers away from businesses and watching the wretched homeless wandering around their neighborhoods urinating on everything that didn’t move and some that did.

Truth be told, I don’t think anyone has heard too much about the Phoenix Hotel since the crowds packed the Planning Commission meetings to air their fears that are, as far as I know, unrealized. The proposed McDonald’s on Hoosick Street wasn’t as lucky as the project is pretty much dead, but my guess is if it did forward we’d be saying the same amount of nothing about the Golden Arches despite the cries of it ruining the smooth flow of traffic on Hoosick Street. (There is a hint of sarcasm in the last part of that sentence for those of you who have a difficult time keeping up.)

ROSAMILIA

In the end, Rosamilia is the mayor, it’s his administration and they earned the right to take development in whatever direction they choose. It would be a whole bunch simpler if the current members of the Planning Board followed Kehoe’s lead, resigned and allowed Rosamilia to put his own people on the board. They, like Kehoe, did a job well done and it’s time to let someone else have a chance.

An informal voter fraud witness list

2012-01-16T18:43:00.001-05:00

LOPORTO

MCDONOUGH

State Police were busy on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday delivering subpoenas on behalf of the special prosecutor, Trey Smith, to potential witnesses in the trial of Board of Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough and former Councilman Michael LoPorto.

While I’m sure there is a formal witness list I haven’t seen it. It is, however, easy enough to figure out who Smith will call based on who copped a plea and who testified in front of the grand jury that handed up 116 felonies against the two Democrats.

SMITH

Those who copped a plea:

- Former City Clerk Bill McInerney: He was supposedly one of the masterminds behind the scheme and as such probably knew what everyone was doing because he was telling them what to do. He pleaded guilty to one felony, though there is sufficient evidence that he committed numerous others over numerous years so the fact he gets off without any jail time means he will be spilling his guts.

- Tony DiFiglio: A longtime Democratic Party operative who used to work at the Troy Housing Authority also pled guilty to one felony and avoided jail time. I’m not sure what he can tell anyone about anyone else but he did pretty much sum up voter fraud in Rensselaer County with the memorable statement about how both major parties have been engaged in voter fraud since Christ was a carpenter.

- Tony Renna: He also pled to a felony without jail time so what he does know he will be talking either in this trial or against the other indicted two- former Council President Clement Campana and Councilman Gary Galuski.

- Former Councilman John Brown: He pled to a felony and is looking at six months in jail. Brown probably has some dirt on at least McDonough as at least one statement put him in a room when McDonough allegedly committed forgery. Considering the felony could have been worth as much as five years in prison, I have to believe Brown will give something up against someone.

MCGRATH

Those who testified and might have copped a plea:

- Councilman Kevin McGrath: It’s hard to know what he said behind the grand jury room door but in his statement to the State Police, he said McDonough filled out a bunch of information on a bunch of absentee ballot applications including dates and the reason voters were out of town. Many are looking forward to what McGrath says on the stand.

- Kevin O’Malley: The Board of Elections employee testified at the first grand jury twice – the first time without an attorney and the second time with one in tow. Since he is known as McDonough’s right hand man, my guess is he knew a bunch of what was going on at the BOE and will probably have a bunch to say against McDonough.

- Sara Couch: The Working Families Party operative is the one to whom LoPorto allegedly handed a bunch of absentee ballot applications to wrapped up in a newspaper with directions to take them to the BOE. After the story broke, Couch told the State Police, LoPorto told her to forget about the ballots.

- Other WFP operatives: Tom Aldrich, Brandt Caird and Jim Welch also testified in front of the grand jury and it’s a safe bet they will testify again in front of the jury.

The voters: And let’s not forget the voters who were allegedly defrauded. Once they take the stand, are shown absentee ballots and/or applications and asked if they wrote what is actually written on them, attorneys Brian Premo and Michael Feit are going to have their work cut out for them.

Nichols is pro temp

2012-01-13T18:48:00.000-05:00

NICHOLS

Newcomer Nina Nichols, D-at Large, is now the president pro temp after beating out her colleague Ken Zalewski last night by a count of 5-2.

The nine-member body initially picked Councilman Gary Galuski, D-District 6, for the post that doesn’t do much outside pick up an extra $2,500. But, between the time the Council voted for Galuski by secret ballot and when they actually met to formally appoint him he hit a little speed bump – he was indicted on four felonies for his alleged role in voter fraud.

ZALEWSKI

Zalewski was none too happy last night when he didn’t get crowned pro temp and said, and I paraphrase, he has been maligned over the years for not playing party politics and what not. That much, I guess, is true. He’s not necessarily a party-proper loyalist but there is also a legitimate gripe among the party that he’s not much of a results-minded leader either. For example, a couple years back, he decided to head up a committee to study the old City Hall and after months of doing whatever, he came up with the profound conclusion the city should either fix it up and stay, or tear it down and move.

County Chair Tom Wade was also at the meeting and he’s not a big Zalewski fan either, which goes back to the aforementioned point since Wade is the party proper in this county. We haven’t seen enough of Nichols to determine if she is a Wadeite or not, but Wade and city Chair Jack McCann were big Nichols fans when she was toying with the idea of running for mayor. Like it or not I can't blame Wade for not liking someone loyal to him.

A couple other things come to mind:

-The position of pro temp was initially established back when there was a city manager form of government. The mayor, or today’s equivalent of a council president, was the At Large candidate who got the most votes which upset a district candidate, Frank Lamiano, so they established the position of pro temp and gave it a $2,500 stipend. Even back then the parameters of the job were never really established outside of filling in for the president, and they are no clearer today.

-If the issue against Nichols was her lack of experience then why not go for Kevin McGrath, who is starting his third term on the Council and represents a district – see above.

-As one person pointed out, it’s kind of ironic that Kevin McGrath, D-District 1, voted for Nichols instead of Zalewski or even didn’t stick with Galuski. He served four years with each and is intimately tied to Galuski through the voter fraud scandal. Not that McGrath stands indicted of anything but he did twice testify on behalf of the prosecution.

-Mark McGrath, R-District 2, took a shot at Zalewski and called his style of representation: “Leadership by Laptop,” which is a line stolen from former Mayor Harry Tutunjian in reference to Zalewski’s penchant for emails and social media.

KOPKA

-Councilman Dean Bodnar, R-District 2, broke from his two person caucus and voted against Nichols. Or maybe M. McGrath broke from it but either way the caucus is fractured. Yes, it’s easy to say the same thing about the Democrats but a 50-50 split is much worse on paper than whatever split the Democrats have going and it’s much easier to quantify.

-Newly elected Council President Lynn Kopka said there is no training wheels for the job and that’s painfully obvious given the abrupt cancelation of last week’s meeting and the near-chaos of last night’s meeting. But, she’s held the spot for a whole 13 days so the honeymoon is still on.

And Galuski makes 8; pro temp is up in the air

2012-01-12T15:02:00.004-05:00

GALUSKI

Amazing really. Eight indictments in voter fraud including a sitting councilman, three former councilmen, an elections commissioner and a former city clerk.

As we know, four plead guilty to felonies, four plead innocent and the first trial – that of Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough and former Councilman Michael LoPorto – is set to kick off Tuesday.

With seven other indictments – and four pleading guilty to felonies and one, former Councilman John Brown, looking at jail time – the selective prosecution theory put forth by Ed McDonough’s attorney Brian Premo is a much much harder sell. Sure, there are some who think the only reason others outside of McDonough and LoPorto were indicted is because of Premo’s theory, which he presented in a slew of motions and letters, and while that may or may not be the case the fact remains eight Democrats were indicted.

I suppose Premo could continue to push his belief the investigation was orchestrated to protect party higher ups and more prominent elected officials but again, that’s been a tough sell from the get go and I just don’t see it becoming any easier now that everything is in front of the judge and not left to unanswered motions and/or letters.

The latest casualty, though he can’t be called a casualty yet because he did plead not guilty and he’s innocent until proven guilty, is Councilman Gary Galuski, D-District 6. Ironically, Galuski got a job at the Board of Elections alongside McDonough after he was implicated by Trey Smith, the special prosecutor more than two years ago. So, of the five or six Democrats working at the board, two stand charged with defrauding voters.

ZALUSKI

As I’ve mentioned before, if any of the four who pled innocent decide to plead guilty or are found guilty they will certainly be looking at jail time since former Councilman John Brown set the bar and is now looking at six months in jail.

Also, the Council was set to elect Galuski as pro-temp, which comes with a $2,500 stipend, but now it's up in the air between one of his two colleagues: Councilman Ken Zaluski, D-District 5, who was vying for the position earlier, or Councilwoman Nina Nichols, D-At Large.
Honestly, I’m not sure what the pro-temp does or is expected to do. It was created to placate then Councilman Frank Lamiano a couple decades ago when there was a city manager form of government and it just kind of carried over as did the extra $2,500.

Another indictment coming in voter fraud

2012-01-11T13:07:00.000-05:00

GALUSKI

Well, it looks like the special prosecutor, Trey Smith, will hand up another indictment this afternoon and everyone thinks it’s going to be Councilman Gary Galuski, D-District 6.

A couple things, one if the indictment is handed up that means Galuski didn’t plead out to anything and the only other option he has is to go to trial. Former Council President Clem Campana opted for the same route and retained high-powered attorney E. Stewart Jones to defend him against five felonies and other charges related to the now infamous 2009 Working Families Party primary.

If Galuski did follow in the footsteps of his former colleague, ex-Councilman John Brown, former City Clerk Bill McInerney or two operatives who also plead guilty, Tony Renna and Tony DiFiglio, he would have likely had to have pled to a felony and that means he has to give up his seat on the Council.

There is a chance Galuski can still take a plea and if he does the Democrats on the Council pick his replacement, then there will be another election in November and another one in 2013 for a full two-year term. If he’s found guilty of a felony at trial he’s automatically off the Council as well. I have no idea who the Democratic majority would even consider for that seat and am unaware of any names even interested but should either scenario play out I’m sure they can find someone.

Galuski would not, however, under either scenario, automatically have to give up his job at the Board of Elections because in that role he is not a public officer. Through, it would be kind of difficult to get convicted of defrauding voters and then keep a job where part of the description is to ensure honest and fair elections.

I’ll probably write more on this later this afternoon or maybe tonight.

LaPosta saga is over

2012-01-10T16:45:00.000-05:00

LAPOSTA

The Frank LaPosta/Civil Service Commission/city clerk saga is over.

LaPosta, who was appointed to the commission by then Mayor Harry Tutunjian on Dec. 31, his second to last day in office, attended his first meeting on Tuesday.

He hasn’t yet signed the oath book, however, since the new city clerk, Karla Guererri, isn’t officially the city clerk yet. She was supposed to get the necessary approvals last week but the Council abruptly cancelled the meeting because it didn’t provide the proper, 72-hour public notification.

If you remember, then City Clerk Michelle DeLair refused to allow LaPosta to sign the book because … well, nobody is really sure why that is but she did refuse.

Also, LaPosta’s term was modified by Mayor Lou Rosamilia from the original six years to three to round out the remainder of an existing term which is what it should have been from the get go.

LaPosta has 30 days from his appointment to formally sign the book so he should have no problems filling that obligation, provided of course the Council actually holds a meeting sometime within that time frame to confirm Guererri’s appointment.

The Council had to cancel first meeting because of LaPosta (UPDATED 5:16 p.m.)

2012-01-05T16:33:00.001-05:00

They are still in the honeymoon stage, so I won’t bash the Troy Council for having to cancel its first meeting of the New Year, the first with Lynn Kopka as president and the first of Mayor Lou Rosamilia’s tenure because it didn’t give proper notice.

It is a pretty important meeting, though. During the organizational section of the first meeting all of Rosamilia’s appointments – such as deputy mayor, spokesman and director of the Planning Department – are confirmed by the Council. Also confirmed are the Council hires like city clerk and city auditor and the councilmembers are given their committee assignments.

It would be easy to bash them for screwing up it up but there is a lot going on in City Hall right now. As I mentioned there is a new mayor, a new Council president and a new city clerk, or at least the new one is doing the job of the old city clerk.

My guess is the wires got crossed between the new city clerk, Karla Guererri, and the old city clerk, Michelle DeLair.

To give each the benefit of the doubt, Guererri is new to the post and might not even be officially serving in that capacity depending on how you interpret the abandonment of the meeting where she was supposed to get appointed. And DeLair had more pressing concerns right before the long New Year’s weekend, like dodging Frank LaPosta while he tried to sign the oath book after being appointed to the Civil Service Commission by outgoing Mayor Harry Tutunjian on Dec. 30.

So, one can easily conclude since it is still honeymoon time for the newbies, it’s LaPosta’s fault the Council had to cancel its first meeting.

I just spoke with Kopka, and she said there was some confusion as to the notice and she is simply erring on the side of caution and will hold the meeting Jan. 12. The above post is completely tongue and cheek for those of you who might think I really thought it was LaPosta's fault.

Commission cancelled, meeting called

2012-01-03T19:08:00.000-05:00

LAPOSTA

It looks like the last minute appointments Mayor Harry Tutunjian made in his second to last day in office is still causing some fireworks over at City Hall.

First there was the to-do about former City Clerk Michelle DeLair not allowing the newest member of the Civil Service Commission, Frank LaPosta, to sign the oath book. Though, now there is some question as to whether LaPosta’s term is supposed to be for six years, as Tutunjian appointed him for, or three years, which is what is left of the term of Tom Mathews, a former commission member and longtime Democratic operative.

Regardless of whether LaPosta is a full-fledged member or not, Tuesday he did attempt to earn his $6,000 and attend the first meeting of the commission since he was appointed - which in and of itself surprised a number of people – but it was cancelled and nobody told him about it. He showed up and saw the sign on the door, and it’s didn’t say “Welcome Aboard Frank.”

But that’s nothing.

On Monday, the newly appointed personnel director, Nancy Matthews, called the newly appointed registrar, Heather Mahoney, and asked her to resign. That was told to me on Monday and confirmed to a reporter by Mahoney’s father, Jack “Jacko” Mahoney, on Tuesday.

Tutunjian appointed Heather Mahoney off a legitimate Civil Service list while he still had the power to make the appointment so for Rosamilia and the Democrats to do anything about it now will be difficult if not impossible.

Evidently - even though the elder Mahoney did serve briefly on the Council as a Democrat and not a Republican as I mistakenly reported - the Democrats in power now want someone else for the $66,473 position. Heather Mahoney may have scored No. 1 on the Civil Service test, but those doing the appointing can pick among the top three and at least someone on Rosamilia’s team wants one of the other two.

There was a meeting called Tuesday with Mahoney, Heather not Jacko, the city’s Civil Service Employees Association President Paul Carroll, Deputy Mayor Peter Ryan and others to discuss the issue. I’m hearing after Carroll laid it all out for the administration, they realized that it was a legitimate appointment and Mahoney is still on the job for the foreseeable future.

As I wrote Monday, the appointments are the administration’s first headache.

Tutunjian makes last minute appointments

2011-12-30T09:53:00.004-05:00

TUTUNJIAN

In one of his last acts as mayor, Harry Tutunjian made a few appointments Thursday to positions either protected by Civil Service or that are required by the City Charter. It’s an underhanded move, really, and he should have left it up to his successor, Mayor-elect Lou Rosamilia, who will be sworn in Sunday.

But, anyway, he appointed Nancy Matthews Personnel Director replacing Al Spain, who retired and is now the supervisor in North Greenbush.

Matthews is the wife of longtime Democratic Party operative Tom Matthews, who used to work for Gov. Mario Cuomo, is a former aide to U.S. Rep. Mike McNulty, the former Rensselaer County party chair and who worked on the campaigns of then Mayor Mark Pattison. Yes, the fact Tutunjian gave one of his last jobs to give, and a good one protected by Civil Service at that, to a Democrat seemed odd to me too.

He also appointed Heather Mahoney as registrar replacing the retiring Cyd Breaton. Mahoney is the daughter of Jack “Jacko” Mahoney who was on the Council briefly and toyed with the idea of running a write-in campaign for mayor earlier this year. His most recent accomplishment, however, is getting the fountain going at Frear Park. It’s also a Civil Service position.

LAPOSTA

Also, and this one is the oddest of the three, he appointed Frank LaPosta to the Civil Service Commission for six years at $6,000 a year. LaPosta is the former Democratic city chair who was elected to the Council as a Democrat a few years ago, then flipped to the Republicans, then was enrolled as a Conservative and then, at one time or another, was an enrolled member of the Independence Party. It’s tough to keep track of what LaPosta’s enrollment history without some sophisticated computer program but it is easy to gauge where his loyalty lies – nowhere.

What makes this appointment all the more unusual is that LaPosta ran against Tutunjian for mayor in 2003 - as a Democrat.

The only thing I can figure is LsPosta is not a favorite son of the Democratic Party, at this point in time anyway, and in particular Rensselaer County Chairman Tom Wade. That’s my guess as to why LaPosta got the gig. The charter calls for a three-member Civil Service Commission and now we’ll have to see if LaPosta shows up to the meetings.

(UPDATE)
Outgoing City Clerk DeLair refused to give LaPosta the oath of office so Tutunjian did it instead.
"I asked her if I could sign the (oath) book and she screamed 'No' at me. I mean she really screamed it," "LaPosta said. "She said I couldn't and to talk to the next mayor."

The last legislative seat is still up for grabs

2011-12-30T09:27:00.000-05:00

MANTELLO

GORDON

Word is, now that Mayor Harry Tutunjian is pretty much a shoe-in for the legislative seat being vacated by the guy who will take his spot in City Hall, Lou Rosamilia, there is a ton of maneuvering for the second seat being vacated the new deputy mayor, Peter Ryan.

I’m hearing the Republican Troy Chair Jim Gordon sent out an email to the Executive Committee asking the members who they would like to see appointed to the seat. The questionnaire included four names: his own, of course, mayoral candidate Carmella Mantello, At Large Council candidate Tom Killips and District 6 Council candidate Seamus Donnelly.

Whoever the GOP picks, as I’ve mentioned before, the candidate will have to run next year and then again for a full four-year term in 2013 so there is an eye on who can win citywide. Tutunjian has proven he can do it and left office with a 67 percent approval rating. The other three are coming off November losses.

Plus, whoever the GOP picks will certainly alienate those it didn’t.

My guess is it comes down to Mantello and Gordon and honestly I have no idea which way the GOP will go. I guess the same things apply now as when Mantello was jockeying for the mayoral bid against Mark Wojick – she has more money in the bank, some $17,000, and a fire in the belly while Gordon (like Wojick a few months ago) has been working hard for the local party for years and has a ton of friends there. Though, I am aware of some animosity by those same people because Gordon ran for office and focused on his candidacy rather than acting as chair and focusing on the entire Republican ticket.

And no, I don’t know the results of the Executive Committee vote solicited by Gordon. Since he is the chair and he conducted the survey I’m guessing he got more votes than anyone else but it’s just a guess. Another guess is that the GOP will put as much stock in that poll as this column. Another guess is that it will be decided by a coin flip.

How republicans are spending your money, Part II

2011-12-29T12:03:00.002-05:00

JIMINO

REID

Shortly after my last post about how Republicans are spending your money - if you scroll down you’ll see is about the Legislature giving out bonuses to appointed employees - I got the agenda for next month’s meeting that on the surface shows the county executive also wants to give raises to appointed employees.

But, I’m told that one $9,330 “raise” is part of a “lateral transfer” and isn’t any new money. The other “new” $37,080 position was initially slashed from the budget as part of the overall package of cuts that were supposed to take effect in April but is now delayed until at least the end of the year. So, the position isn’t new, whoever has it just got a reprieve for a year while the county waits on how much mandate relief comes out of Albany before it starts cutting programs and jobs.

There was also a scathing letter by the Legislature’s majority leader, Ken Herrington, ripe with innuendo and less than subtle jabs at County Executive Kathy Jimino for her, according to the letter, less than frugal oversight of the county’s finances that includes mention of a $10,000 raise to Chris Meyer when he was promoted to deputy county executive.

The bottom line is there is a battle brewing between the county executive’s office and the Legislature. There have been token skirmishes between the two GOP controlled entities about budgets and tax rates over the years but by and large the two have played nice largely because they pretty much ignore each other. I’m not sure if that’s by design or convenience, but it seemed to work well enough for them and for the third leg of the triumvirate, the county clerk’s office.

MEROLA

Things started to get rocky between the Legislature, headed up by Chairman Martin Reid with the power behind the throne being spokesman Rich Crist in one corner, Jimino in the other corner and County Clerk Frank Merola in the other corner, right around the time came to pick candidates for Troy mayor and county sheriff. They seemed to coalesce around the candidates who eventually got the nod and I honestly can’t tell if this latest round is remnant of that or if it’s still from the leadership vacuum created when former state Senator Joe Bruno left the scene a few years ago.

It’s going to be interesting to see if it continues, and if it does who comes out on top. Or, a more likely scenario is the three will just hunker down back into their respective corners and ignore each other.

One indication could be who they choose as the next chair. Right now it’s John Rustin, undoubtedly a legislative guy, but there are calls being made – one by Merola to mayoral candidate Carmella Mantello – soliciting interest from potential new chairs. If Rustin steps aside before his term ends next year, we’ll have to see what camp the new chair comes from. It will tell us who the de facto head of the party is: Reid (Crist), Jimino or Merola.

How the Republicans are spending your money

2011-12-27T09:35:00.000-05:00

REID

Last week, the Legislature voted to give a 2 percent, one-time bonus to its employees and those working at the Board of Elections.

That “bonus” equals four times what the county executive just negotiated for the United Public Service Employees Union so now who knows what the standard is when the rest of the unions sit down at the negotiating table.

While the BOE employees may be split down the middle as far as Democrats and Republicans go, the GOP has many more employees in the Legislature where there are 13 Republican members to six Democrats – which will jump to 15 to 4 sometime shortly after the first of the year when two, Mayor-elect Lou Rosamilia and his deputy Pete Ryan, jump to city government.

The move is eerily similar to the across-the-board raises the Legislature gave to themselves and about everyone else in county government a few years back when they modified the budget after it was already passed and right before Christmas.

JIMINO

The difference, according to Rich Crist, the Legislative liaison, is that this is a one-time bonus which won’t be factored into the employees’ pensions. The one-shot Christmas gift is easy to understand, but I can’t figure out how any bump in public pay isn’t factored into a public pension.

Another difference, as far as I can tell, is that unlike the raises few years ago, County Executive Kathy Jimino came out strong against the bonuses. If I were more cynical I’d say because she and her staff weren’t included in the largess this time around but there’s more to it.

According to Deputy County Executive Chris Meyer – who is taking a front and center role in bashing the bonuses on behalf of his boss County Executive Kathy while Crist is taking a front and center role in defending them on behalf of his boss Chairman Martin Reid – the executive’s staff is smaller than Legislature’s and the Legislature spends three times that of the executive on its office. While I don’t doubt those numbers, if there is any rationale behind them it’s beyond my comprehension since the Legislature does little but pat Little League teams on the back for coming in fourth in the Eastern Rensselaer County Under-12 division.

The bottom line is this: The employees in the Legislature and Board of Elections are political appointees and that means they are expected to spend their evenings doing such things like lit-drops and making phone calls on behalf of party candidates. They are also expected to donate some of their paycheck to political campaigns. While none of those rules of thumb are in writing, it’s as true as death and taxes. And speaking of taxes, you’re paying for these games with yours.

2011 Winners and losers

2011-12-26T11:11:00.000-05:00

Since it's the day after Christmas and I'm engrossed in a John Grisham novel about a newspaper guy in Mississippi I'm just going to link to the print version of this week's Talespin. Yes, I'm being lazy, but I'll post something more in depth about the raises to the Legislature's staff and that working at the Board of Elections either tonight or tomorrow.
Until then, this is all I got.

Happy holidays to everyone.

Jim Franco

Rosamilia picks Ryan-Cassidy and Christopher

2011-12-23T13:16:00.000-05:00

CASSIDY

CHRISTOPHER

Mayor-elect Lou Rosamilia made a couple more picks for his administration recently and I hear they include Kathleen Ryan-Cassidy as his confidential assistant and Vic Christopher will stay on in the Planning Department.

Ryan, a county legislator from Troy, will take the place of Prudence Pechenik, who was more of a chief of staff for Mayor Harry Tutunjian through the better part of eight years – I say the better part because I’m not sure if she was hired on Tutunjian’s Day One or not, but I know she’s been a fixture in the office for the better part of eight years.

I don’t know Ryan-Cassidy all that well, but I know she was toying with a run for mayor before the nod eventually went to Council President Clement Campana. And, well, we all know how that one turned out.

Also, word is Christopher, the economic development coordinator who was brought on by Tutunjian but is in a Civil Service position, will stay on. It would be easy enough to get rid of him if Rosamilia so chose by just eliminating the position but, after letting Sondra Little go as planning director, it’s wise to keep someone intimately involved with the development that’s going on - both that’s underway and, perhaps more importantly, those projects still in the preliminary stages.

Christopher’s direct boss will be Bill Dunne, who was picked to replace Little and who will also head up code enforcement and engineering. It’s no secret Dunne and Christopher failed to see eye-to-eye on a number of things so we’ll have to see how that relationship evolves, or maybe goes the other way.

When they failed to see eye-to-eye - which is a nice way of putting screaming at each other at public meetings - they were on opposite sides of the fence and a number of high profile issues like moving City Hall into the Dauchy Building, something Dunne was adamantly in favor of and Christopher, as an extension of Tutunjian, was as adamantly opposed. Now Christopher is an extension of Dunne who is an extension of Rosamilia.

It will be interesting to see if that chain of command is honored. If it’s not, my guess is we will see some changes.

Dunne to head up the Planning Department

2011-12-22T09:05:00.001-05:00

DUNNE

Mayor-elect Lou Rosamilia picked Councilman Bill Dunne as the director of Planning and Community Development and I’m sure there is a bunch of anxiety within the development community as well as within the Planning Department.

He is also charged with consolidating the Planning Department with engineering and code enforcement. On paper it makes sense, but if that all comes together it will make Dunne one of the more powerful people in Rosamilia's adminsitration.

As I wrote Monday, Dunne, an eight-year councilman who is term limited out, was an effective check and balance to Mayor Harry Tutunjian and the Republicans when they controlled the Council. That combative attitude carried over to his last four years when the Democrats ran things but I don’t think he will bring that “just say no” mantra to the administration – at least I hope not.

Even his detractors concede Dunne is no dummy and he knows that Troy, like all older, industrial cities in upstate, desperately needs private development to not only increase the tax base and help offset the cost of owning property, but to bring people in. Say what you want about Mayor Harry Tutunjian but he did a pretty good job towards that end.

I am of the belief Dunne is smart enough to put on a different hat when it comes to dealing with the developers who either currently have a project underway or those who are toying with the idea. At least I hope so, because in today’s business climate if he “just says no” the developers will return the favor and go to Schenectady or Albany or further away.

He takes over for the popular Sondra Little, and while I don’t expect him to follow in her footsteps - as Dunne is definitely his own man with undoubtedly some ideas of his own as to which direction development should take in the city – working with developers rather than against them is one example he should emulate.

So, Rosamilia has a deputy mayor, Pete Ryan, a deputy director of communication, Mike Fraser, a corporation counsel, Ian Silverman, and now a planning director, Dunne. His administration is getting there.

Campana pleads not guilty, Brown gets six months, DiFiglio and Renna plead guilty with no jail time

2011-12-20T17:29:00.001-05:00

I'm not going to say too much about this since I'll be writting my column on it for Thursday but it's pretty big news so here is a link to what we have up online so far and I'll update it when I can.

Here's what I wrote about voter fraud. After more than two years, the scandal suddenly became very real for a number of people and I think Trey Smith sent a pretty solid message - work with him and take your licks and you'll be OK. Fight him or the investigation, and if you did something wrong odds are you're going to see some jail time.

A token Republican in City Hall

2011-12-20T07:48:00.004-05:00

FRASER

Mayor-elect Lou Rosamilia hired Mike Fraser as his new deputy director of public information, which is a fancy name for a spokesman but the job entails more than being a mouthpiece.

As an aside, I’m wondering too what happened to Steve Napier, the guy who worked as Rosamilia’s spokesman through what turned out to be a very successful mayoral campaign and has been in that capacity through the transition.

Anyway, Fraser comes with a pretty solid resume. He worked at The Record as a sports reporter and then a copy editor and then went to work for the administration of Gov. George Pataki as spokesman for the Department of Environmental Conservation, one of the more high profile flak positions in the state, and then as spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services. After leaving the state, he went to the Hospital Association of New York State.

Most recently he worked for Denise Sheehan in her unsuccessful bid for Colonie supervisor.

If you haven’t figured it out yet … yes Fraser is a Republican. He might not be a rock-ribbed Republican, but he is a guy who made a decent living off the Republicans for a good many years. In other words, he's the token Republican in Mayor Lou’s Democratic administration, and one with a solid resume.

Perhaps more important than party affiliation is the fact Fraser, who was born and raised in Troy, went to Sacred Heart, a parish near and dear to Rosamalia’s heart. Perhaps even more importantly than that is Fraser worked under Erin Crotty when she headed up the DEC and she’s now a wheel at RPI. If you remember, Rosamilia made a campaign issue of wanting to improve the near-dismal relations between the college and the city.

SILVERMAN

Another recent appointment hails from the same parish and school, Ian Silverman, an assistant district attorney who will serve as Rosamilia’s corporation counsel.

I really don’t know too much about Silverman. I only saw him work once, when he argued the state’s case against Barton Jeffrey Hunter in front of the Court of Appeals a few years back. He got crushed by attorney Cheryl Coleman, but it really wasn’t his fault. That case was a boondoggle going back to the days when Trish DeAngeles was an ADA so you can’t hold that one against him.

I do know some Democrats, especially some who worked hard for Democratic candidates, are grumbling about Rosamilia hiring a Republican. And I know too some observers are wondering if Silverman, who is only 36, is up to the task of heading up a municipal law department.

The concern a number have is that Rosamilia will try to please all the people all the time. He’s not even in office yet and some aren’t all that happy with some of his decisions.

I’d say he’s off to a good start.

It's crunch time for City Hall employees (UPDATED 5:20 p.m. with a partial list of the soon to be unemployed)

2011-12-16T09:58:00.003-05:00

ROSAMILIA

It’s crunch time for a number of those in the administration of Mayor Harry Tutunjian .

I’ve heard from a number of people who have been employed by the city, that a number of employees are expected to sit down today (Friday) with Mayor-elect Lou Rosamilia and probably his new Deputy Peter Ryan to see if they will still have a job come Jan. 1.

I’m not sure if Rosamilia and crew are just going through the motions as a way to make it easier on those who have given a number of years to the city. In return, of course, they got a paycheck, health care and time in the pension system for those same number of years which is why I’m expecting a pretty big turnaround with it comes to City Hall employees.

It’s a new administration of a different party and while political affiliation shouldn’t be the determining factor when it comes to hiring, it certainly plays a role. And there are a lot more Democrats in Troy than Republicans. Democrats, I might add, who have been largely been left out of the loop when it comes to jobs in their hometown government.

One thing I will say about County Chair Tom Wade and City Chair Jack McMann – they are all about jobs. And not just because seeing people gainfully employed helps the individual and society as a whole, jobs are the most surefire way to build a party, or if the party is ticking along pretty well as the Democrats are in Troy, jobs make the party stronger. There is nothing like giving the ground troop grunts a paycheck to motivate them the next time it’s time to canvass a neighborhood with a lit-drop or to spend an evening making phone calls.

I’ve come to know and grew to like a number of the employees in City Hall and know they take pride in the job they do and have done. But, it’s all part of the game when you’re appointed by a politician. I know it and my guess is so do they.

At their respective meeting with Rosamilia and company the following employees have been let go as of Dec. 30, or at least that's the date on the letter which is kind of odd since Rosamilia doesn't take office until Jan. 1 but here is what I know so far.
- Sondra Little, the head of the Planning Department, sent an email to a number of people telling them her 13-year career with the city is over as of Dec. 30.
- Jeff Pirro, the city spokesman, is gone too.
- And so is Corporation Counsel Charles Sarris. His deputies, however, did not get the axe.
- Prudence Pechenik, the mayor's secretary, who I understand was more like a chief of staff, was also let go.
That's all I know for now. Anyone else with any information let me know.

Could the grand jury be voting?

2011-12-15T13:48:00.000-05:00

Could this finally be it?

The grand jury investigating alleged fraud in the ’09 Working Families Party primary has been behind closed doors all day (Thursday) and no witnesses were seen coming or going.

SMITH

That means one of two things: They hit it off so well they decided to get together and play pinnacle for the day, or they are deliberating what charges to bring against … well, I guess whoever they want. Or more accurately put whoever the special prosecutor, Trey Smith, wants them to bring charges against. You know the whole relationship between the grand jury and a ham sandwich thing.

It could be Council President Clement Campana. It could be Councilman John Brown. And it could even be Brown’s brother Dan, despite a press release sent by his attorney, Phil Steck, declaring his client innocent and done with the proceedings.

I guess time will tell. As Smith cared much about time or the passage thereof. But, the investigation stage of the more than two-year-old scandal does seem to be winding down.

Is it going to be the chief or the Indians?

2011-12-13T15:02:00.001-05:00

FITZGERALD

Bob Fitzgerald won another two-year term as president of the Police Benevolent Association by trouncing the challenger, Tom Hoffman. It comes as no surprise really, and judging by the comments already made it’s not anything new.

Fitz is known to fight for the best interest of his members, regardless of how miniscule the battle or costly the issue ends up being to the city. He usually wins every time he goes to court - which is often - thanks to the generous contract the PBA has with the city and there is no indication the PBA will give anything back regardless of whether it makes economic sense, like less overtime, or sense in a logical kind of way, like the inane seniority clause.

He is also one of the more politically astute people and has proven he can pick a winner. What that means now that Mayor Harry Tutunjian is out of the picture come Dec. 31 and Mayor-elect Lou Rosamilia takes the throne is anyone’s guess.

There is already a bunch of chatter – a bunch of it coming from Fitzgerald himself in a letter to PBA members looking for their support - about how Rosamilia will roll back many of the more unpopular changes made by Chief John Tedesco as a return for PBA support last month. The changes, I might add, are designed to get more bang for the buck when it comes to deploying troops while at the same time cutting down on overtime.

The latter is a big one, and Tedesco all but said there is a state agency looking into the possible abuse of overtime by some sergeants in an effort to pad their overtime which in turn pads their pension. Padding OT is a one shot deal that can be absorbed by the taxpayers, but the pensions cost money for years and years.

INDIANS

CHIEF

As I’ve mentioned, we’ll have to see if Rosamilia will let the chief be the chief or if he’ll let the union president steer the ship. Nothing against Fitz or his motives. It’s what he’s paid to do by the taxpayers and it’s what his members expect of him since he represents their best interest, not those of the people who pay his salary or those of his members.

So, as is the case of any mayor in any town, it’s up to Rosamilia to decide which direction he wants the department to take – one run by the chief, or one run by the Indians.

City could "occupy" Pigeon Park

2011-12-08T15:05:00.002-05:00

HEDLEY BUILDING

All the old ideas on a permanent location for City Hall are still being kicked around, talked about and are still on the proverbial table, but here are a couple new ideas as the lease at the Verizon building is set to expire on Dec. 31, just 23 days from this writing.

Move into a floor of Hedley Park Place or the Flanigan Building. It appears more than likely the buildings will have some open space since Gov. Andrew Cuomo is dead set on following through with his “restacking” plan and pulling some 600 workers out of leased space in Troy and into empty, state-owned space over in Albany.

The city will have between $2 and $3 million to work with, depending on how the sale of the Dauchy and River Triangle buildings and the riverfront home to the old City Hall on Monument Square goes, and something tells me that’s more than enough to purchase a floor of either building. Something tells me too that First Columbia would jump at the opportunity.

PIGEON PARK

Or, the city could hop on board the “Occupy Movement” and set up shop in Pigeon Park, where City Hall used to be until it burned to the ground in the 30s. Pfeil Hardware is right across the street, and I’m sure if it doesn’t have the necessary supplies in stock it can get tents and lanterns and generators and portable heaters and what not.

We can put a whole new twist on the occupy movement, and think of the money the city would save.

While the first idea is feasible and the second obviously more of a joke, where the city will find a home is still a question answered by more shrugs than definitive statements.

The one common thread is that a ton of the answers to that question rests in the hands of Verizon’s owner, Sam Judge. He pretty much has the city over a barrel, or the city put itself over a barrel, and he is calling the shots.

JUDGE

If the city continues to rent past Dec. 31, it either has to genuflect to Judge, meet his demands – which include dropping a lawsuit and some sewer work on his River Street buildings – and beg him for a new lease or pay, as the old lease clearly states, an extra 125 percent per day over the agreed upon rent for the first 90 days and 175 percent for each day after that.

Or the city could still purchase the Verizon building and the council gave Mayor Harry Tutunjian permission to negotiate a price, but that again comes down to Judge and what kind of offer he will accept.

In other words, Judge is holding all the cards when it comes to the Verizon building.

I suppose the Dauchy building is still an option since it hasn’t been sold yet and so is sharing space with the county, but that idea never really got off the ground.

In other words everything is still up in the air.

Some things about the voter fraud trial

2011-12-06T08:22:00.002-05:00

LOPORTO

MCDONOUGH

Well, it seems as if Judge George Pulver finally set a trial date in the case of The People vs Ed McDonough and Michael LoPorto.

According to the judge, who’s been about invisible as far as voter fraud is concerned, the trial of county Board of Elections Commissioner and councilman At Large will commence on Jan. 17. If it comes, and I have my doubts, it will begin just shy of a year when the two were indicted on a combined 116 felonies for their alleged roles in defrauding voters in the ’09 Working Families Party primary. Murder cases go before a jury in a more expedient manner, but that’s beside the point. At least there is a trial date, and that’s a start to the end.

That said, here are a few things I expect to see happen:

- There will be at least one continuance or delay in the start of the trial for one reason or another. I’d be shocked if this one kicks off as scheduled.

- This one is not mine but it’s what everyone else expects – McDonough’s attorney, Brian Premo, will find some kind of a conflict and bail out of the case.
- Bob Mirch’s name will be brought up at least 1,000 times, likely with a bunch of unflattering expletives and/or adjectives attached, while he watches pelicans in Florida.

SMITH

- If Special Prosecutor Trey Smith's investigation means anything to the pace of the trial, it will be taking Christmas off next year.

- It won’t be nearly as exciting as the buildup and will feature a bunch of documents, voters who didn’t vote and a bunch of boring Election Law.

And here are some things I would like to see happen:

- I would like to see Michael LoPorto testify. Not that I have any ill will towards LoPorto, actually I like him and I do think his heart is in the right place and he ran for public office for all the right reasons. That said, he’s famous for dropping F-Bombs and has an Italian temper. So, you can bet cross-examination will be a highlight.

- I hope Premo, despite what I said under the “expect” portion of this entry, stays on and represents McDonough for the duration of the trial. Given the conspiracy theories he has going, and the people mentioned in them, it would be great to see him bring it all into open court.

- Someone from the Working Families Party is held responsible for something. It’s their party that’s been hijacked for years and they are the ones who were so frustrated by the hijacking that I find it hard to believe nobody from that party knew what was going on, or actively participated.
- Someone realizes this is all a debacle and a huge waste of money, and that anything remotely close to similar could be prevented if New York joined the vast majority of states and banned minor parties from endorsing major party candidates.

Police Chief Bob Fitzgerald?

2011-11-29T22:31:00.003-05:00

FITZGERALD

TEDESCO

In a letter obtained by this paper, Police Benevolent Association President Bob Fitzgerald is telling his members that Mayor-elect Lou Rosamilia has promised to pretty much roll back about every change Chief John Tedesco has made since he was appointed by Mayor Harry Tutunjian.

They include: Reinstating the Emergency Response Team, putting officers back in the schools full time and expanding the SIU/SOS, the traffic unit and community police.

Tedesco was appointed in front of two other fine members of the police force - Richard “Buddy” McAvoy and Tony Magnetto - because Tutunjian knew Tedesco would actually be the chief and run the department instead of letting the PBA run the show, which it has been doing for as long as I’ve been here and probably for at least a couple decades before that. In other words is Fitz going to be the next chief of police?

Under Tedesco, crime is down and in Troy there just aren’t the seemingly daily shootings, stabbings and muggings that happen over in Albany and Schenectady. More importantly, overtime is down because Tedesco is taking a common sense approach what he thinks is the most economical and effective way to deploy his manpower.

Now, there is a new mayor come Jan.1 and a bunch of new faces on the Council as well. And, you have to give Fitz credit for his political prowess. He backed Rosamilia early on, and backed a bunch of Democrats who won seats on the Council too. You gotta give the guy credit for picking winners.

Now, however, Fitz expects a payback and that comes in the way of getting what he wants for his members. That too is a job he does well and he is not afraid to take the city to court towards that end, even over the most trivial matters. Thing is, the contract is so pro-PBA, he usually wins.

So, I guess one of the things the new administration and Council will have to decide is whether to cower to 120 or so members of the PBA, most of which, I dare say, don’t live in the city, or if they want to look out for the city’s best financial interest as a whole. Another question they have to ask is whether or not the Chief of Police should actually run the department, or if a professor from HVCC and a minister should make the decisions.

ROSAMILIA

NICHOLS

Councilwoman-elect Nina Nichols is likely the next Public Safety Committee chair and she is a minister at Christ Church. Rosamilia spent the last three decades teaching math at HVCC. Fine professions both, but my guess is the only thing either know about running a police force is calling 911 gets you a patrol car.

We’ll have to see what transpires next year, but a more recent battle happens on Dec. 13 when Fitz will run against Tom Hoffman for PBA president. In a five-page letter, Fitz does praise Hoffman … for one page … and then goes on to pretty much bash him for hanging out with the guys too often, being too tight with the chief and for being a less than stellar vice president.

I don’t know Hoffman at all and this is not about the upcoming PBA election. It’s about what the next mayor and Council do next year when it comes to the Police Department, which together with the Fire Department make up about half of the city’s entire budget.

Galuski is the council's pro temp

2011-11-25T13:01:00.000-05:00

GALUSKI

ZALEWSKI

Looks like Councilman Gary Galuski, D-District 6, will be the council’s next pro-temp.

There were two veterans who wanted the spot, Galuski and Councilman Ken Zalewski, D-District 5, but word is Council President Lynn Kopka wasn’t too keen on having Zalewski as her right hand man. The council voted for Galuski on Wednesday.

Actually, I’m not sure what the pro-temp actually does outside of earn an extra $2,500 per year.

Technically, the president sets the council’s agenda for each meeting, which means deciding which items will be brought to a vote at the monthly meetings. But in years past, that responsibility was largely left to the entire council at its monthly meeting of the Finance Committee. So the president really doesn’t have all that much additional power outside of a fancy title, being the de facto mouthpiece for the body and making an extra $5,000 a year.

Also, I need to clarify another rift within the Democratic majority, which probably doesn’t mean as much as the one mentioned above because two of the three councilmen responsible for trying to extend the terms of two city marshals, Rich Mason and Jack McCann, which don’t expire until March, are gone in about a month.

I’ve heard from a high-ranking Democrat that outgoing President Clement Campana put legislation forward to extend Mason’s term at the Finance Committee meeting because there is some doubt as to whether or not the Democrats will appoint him next year. McCann, the Dems city chair, was lumped in as cover, but the council still voted 6-3 to deny both men, at least for the time being, the job that can bring as much as $20,000 a year.

Campana, Councilmen Michael LoPorto and Kevin McGrath voted to extend the terms and Campana and LoPorto will be out of office come Dec. 31 “leaving McGrath to stand alone on the issue,” according to a high-ranking Democrat.

Dems had a hell of a year

2011-11-21T08:38:00.000-05:00

NAPIER

One guy who I was kinda hard on at the beginning of the campaign, but given the results deserves some credit, is Steve Napier.

He came pretty much out of nowhere to work on Council President Clemente Campana’s campaign and then picked up where he left off to work on Mayor-elect Lou Rosmailia’s campaign and also worked on the campaigns of Council President-elect Lynne Kopka and At Large Councilwoman-elect Nina Nichols. In case you didn’t know, they all won handily.

WADE and McCANN

I’ve been around long enough to know that county Chair Tom Wade and City Chair Jack McCann and a bunch of other people had something to do with the wins but Napier’s name was on about every press release sent out so he did play a pretty big role.

And I hear Napier might stay on as Rosmailia’s spokesman, which makes sense. He obviously knows Rosamilia and he is close with a number of members of the Council so he seems like a logical choice.

Anyway, it was a hell of a year for the Democrats in Troy. The fact they hold an overwhelming enrollment advantage certainly had something to do with it, but they were able to take advantage of that and they had a hell of a year.

Dunne is making them sweat; smooth sailing for Crawley

2011-11-18T08:48:00.001-05:00

DUNNE

It looks like Councilman Bill Dunne, D-District 4, is not going away quietly. And, honestly, I would expect nothing less.

MCCANN and MASON

At last night’s Finance Committee meeting, Dunne refused to extend the terms of two city marshals, Rick Mason, a longtime Democratic Party operative, and Jack McCann, the party’s city chair, because, Dunne said, their terms don't expire until March.

Be that as it may, the Troy Housing Authority board is poised to give former Deputy Mayor Dan Crawley a two-year extension as executive secretary, and his term isn’t up for another four years.

I guess it all depends on who is asking for the extension, who has the power to grant it and the relationship between the two.

Crawley, of course, has a sympathetic board since all the members were appointed by his longtime friend Mayor Harry Tutunjian. If you remember, the board appointed by then Mayor Mark Pattison, a Democratic, did the same thing for his buddy then Executive Secretary Mario Musolino.

LOPORTO

Dunne, however, has butted heads with members of his own party including Councilman Michael LoPorto, A Democrat who sits in an At Large seat until Dec. 31 and who earlier this month lost a bid in District 4 on the WFP line.

MCGRATH

Dunne backed the Democrat, Robert Doherty, for the seat he is term limited out of so let’s just say LoPorto and Dunne haven’t seen eye-to-eye on too much lately. And LoPorto is close to McCann, despite the fact he didn’t get the Democratic nod this year because of that little thing called voter fraud and the fact LoPorto is indicted on scores of felonies. But, I’ve heard McCann and other Democrats sat on their hands in District 4 in an effort to help LoPorto out, which probably didn’t sit too well with Dunne.

And Mason is tight with Kevin McGrath, D-District 1, who crushed Frank LaPosta earlier this month to win another term. I’m not sure if there is a beef between Dunne and McGrath, but I’ve heard McGrath rubbed some of the party hierarchy the wrong way this election season.

My guess, since McCann is the party chairman who just had a good year in the city, he will get re-appointed to the post that can be worth as much as $20,000 a year and so will Mason, since McGrath will be back on the council come Jan. 1. But, Dunne is making them sweat a bit.

More names for Rosamilia's seat

2011-11-15T21:38:00.003-05:00

GORDON

A few more names are being bantered about to take over the Legislative seat Lou Rosmailia will vacate when he becomes mayor on Jan. 1 or shortly before. About the only thing for sure is that it will be a Republican since they control the chamber 13-6.

Jim Gordon, the Republican city chair who ran an unsuccessful bid for an At Large seat on the council is said to be “foaming at the mouth” over the possibility. Gordon has done a bunch up in the ‘Burgh and city wide for that matter, but the fact remains he didn’t finish in the top three and that sends a signal to the powers that be in the GOP since whoever gets the spot will have to run next year and then again in 2013.

KILLIPS

Tom Killips, who also ran At Large, is said to have thrown his name into the hat but he has the same problem as Gordon – he didn’t finish in the top three. And, honestly, finished six of six which probably doesn’t boost the GOP’s confidence given next year is an “Obama year,” as the GOP is calling it, which will turn out the Democrats even more than this year.

Then there are two young council candidates – Seamus Donnelly and Dan Mahoney - who stuck their neck out there and if the GOP wants to revive itself after the trouncing the Democrats gave it on Nov. 8, it’s going to need some new blood. And Debra Lockrow ran as a Republican in District 4 as well, though she initially wanted to run with the Democrats so at best she is a long shot.

TUTUNJIAN

John Mainello, who worked hard for the Republican mayoral candidate Carmella Mantello, is said to be interested in the spot. And Mantello is said to want it too.

My bet is, though, it’s Mayor Harry Tutunjian who is term-limited out and an extra $20,000 for not a lot of heavy lifting is appealing to anyone but it’s especially appealing to someone who needs a job. More importantly, he is leaving with a 67+ percent approval rating and has already won city wide twice.

Whoever the GOP picks, i.e. Rich Crist, will be someone who has a shot at winning next year because right now the party holds a super majority, but if they lose next year, the “veto-proof” adjective before their caucus goes away. CORRECTION: If the Democrat wins next year it will still be 13-6. My bad. I failed math.

Who's going to be Lou's deputy (Updated 10:05 a.m., Friday)

2011-11-10T23:30:00.001-05:00

ROSAMILIA

Everyone is convinced Mayor-elect Lou Rosmailia is a nice guy with a good heart but nobody is convinced he can run the city without some help.

He said he wants to be the ambassador, so to speak, to get out there and market the city he loves with all his heart. That’s nice.

But who is going to make sure the roads are plowed and the garbage is picked up? Who is going to court developers to expand the tax base and create jobs? Who is going to make sure code enforcement remains vigilant? And who is going to stand up to the unions when it comes time to sit down and negotiate contracts. Governments across the board are trimming labor costs but most labor unions don’t want to give anything up. Troy’s unions are no exception, and all the contracts are either expired or about to expire.

DUNNE

There are a few names floating around about who Rosamilia will pick as deputy mayor. Councilman Bill Dunne’s name has been out there for a least a month and a half, but I’m not sure if the GOP was putting it out there or it was coming from within the Democrat’s camp. I’ve covered Dunne for eight years and always thought he was a very smart guy and a decent sort but he just has a way of rubbing people the wrong way. I’m not convinced he would be a good deputy mayor because he does rub people the wrong way and when that happens, people just dig in the heels.

RYAN

Peter Ryan’s name is also out there. The Legislature’s minority leader is pretty tight with Rosamilia in and out of politics but I’m not convinced he would be a good deputy mayor either. A solid deputy is the one out front taking the heat for the unpopular decisions any mayor, or any administration, will have to make. If you try to please everyone all the time you please no one … or something like that.

Then, there is Deputy Chief Richard “Buddy” McAvoy, but honestly I haven’t heard his name in a while.

Rosamilia would be wise to not listen to anyone within the political realm when he picks his deputy and looks for someone with book and street smarts, a whole lot of common sense and someone who isn’t afraid to piss some people off once in a while. Not that whoever gets the job should necessarily go out of his or her way to do piss anyone off, it’s just that it’s inevitable when you are trying to run an old poor, upstate former industrial city.

Two more names are out and about:
- Ed McGrath: brother to Councilman Kevin McGrath who just trounced Frank LaPosta in District 1 and brother to Supreme Court Judge Pat McGrath. Safe to say the McGrath name is pretty strong in Troy.
- Jim Conroy: The eight-year deputy mayor under Mayor Mark Pattison who lost his own mayoral run to Tutunjian in 2003.

Let's talk about Election Day

2011-11-07T14:27:00.000-05:00

Join me tonight from 6 to 7 p.m. and tell me what you think about this year’s election.

Obviously, we can talk about the mayor’s race, which has been razor thin before Democrat Lou Rosamilia opened up a 10.9 percent lead according to our last poll thanks to the guys from Gramercy Communications.

However, we didn’t take into account the minor party lines and Republican Carmella Mantello does have the Conservative and Independence parties next to her name. In year’s past, those two lines have been worth as much as 10 to 15 percent.

I think it’s going to be close. Let’s hear what you have to say.

Or we can talk about any of the council races across the city, some I think are going to be close, some not so much.

Or, we can talk about the sheriff’s race between incumbent Jack Mahar and his Democratic challenger Gary Gordon. I thought this one was going to be close until the embarrassing tape recordings were released last week that captured Gordon, who works in the DA’s office, talking about what sure sounded like he was planning to fix tickets for political supporters.

Or the DA’s rave between incumbent Rich McNally and his challenger Republican Joel Abelove. I thought this one was going to be a blowout but it’s been a rough two weeks for McNally. Is it to little too late for Abelove?

In addition, there are some contested town races as well. While I admit I’m less familiar with some of the towns I’d like to hear what you have to say.

So, pop in for a while anytime between 6 and 7 p.m. tonight and tell us what’s on your mind with Election just about 12 hours away.

What are they thinking?

2011-11-04T08:59:00.001-04:00

MAHAR

GORDON

The last post was entitled “I can’t believe he put it in print.” This one could have been “I can’t believe they didn’t know the jail phones were tapped.” Or, “Use a cell phone stupid.” Or simply “Let’s talk about it over coffee.”

But instead, the Democrat, Gary Gordon, looking to take out Republican Sheriff Jack Mahar, talked to some corrections officers about what sounds like ticket fixing and campaign promises over a jail phone, and of course those conversations were taped.

It’s no secret some COs do not want Mahar and now it’s clear there are some who do. Evidently those in Mahar’s camp were savvy enough to realize the tapes, made between July and September, and would be useful down the stretch run.

And, the stretch run is where such things seem to resonate the most. Sure, there is always the risk of people just turning a blind eye and saying “it’s all political.” But that doesn’t happen when the issue is real. And this certainly seems pretty real. Gordon works as an investigator in the District Attorney’s office and would certainly have the ability to fix a ticket should he choose. I’m not saying he did, and he denies doing it but the tapes are pretty damning.

When Gordon won the Conservative Party primary, everyone said it was going to be a close race. Having the C line gives Republicans a place to go other than the D line should they want to vote against Mahar. There are some who say the C line alone could have been worth up to 7,000 votes for Gordon – 3,500 Mahar would not get and 3,500 Gordon would.

However, as one pretty smart operative said, a campaign is a two-pronged process. First you have to drive voters away from one candidate and then you have to pull voters into your camp. Gordon has done a decent job of pointing out Mahar’s missteps over the past eight years but he really hasn’t done too much to explain why voters should pull the lever for him.

While I may stand corrected, taped phone conversations between political supporters who work in the jail and ticket fixing really doesn’t to a long way towards that end either.

I can't believe he put it in print

2011-11-01T08:04:00.000-04:00

Wow.

That’s about all I can say about the latest bombshell by Brian Premo, the attorney representing Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough in the ongoing voter fraud scandal.

Somehow Premo got his hands on an Aug. 3 email from the special prosecutor Trey Smith to two State Police investigators where Smith just slams an FBI agent who presumably wanted to look into the role District Attorney Rich McNally played in the whole thing as a way to bolster his career. Smith also claims the FBI agent, Alexander MacDonald, is in cahoots with Premo.

“Premo has a willing instrument in MacDonald, who appears to suffer from a number of defects, notably judgment and ambition,” the email states. “I assume that McDonough has maintained his innocence in the WFP matter to SA MacDonald and that MacDonald has bought into it.”

“MacDonald is a very strange individual and I do not trust him,” the email continues. “Anything in his presence may be repeated to Premo.”

I won’t waste time quoting too much of the email as it is attached (scroll to the end.)

Premo Letter 10/31/11

But I have to wonder how Premo got his hands on it. It’s an email from the special prosecutor to the State Police investigators said special prosecutor is supposed to be working hand-in-glove with. It had to come from the State Police and that tells me what some others have been saying is true – some in the State Police don’t like Smith. I guess that was proven when they went ahead and arrested former City Clerk Bill McInerney without Smith’s knowledge.

Also, I’m not really sure, but I’m guessing the FBI doesn’t like to be bashed around by a special prosecutor in Rensselaer County. That’s just a hunch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they take a more active role in the whole thing.

Smith even has a veiled threat for the State Police regarding what to do about “the possibility, however slight, that McNally has committed a crime or crimes” and what direction to take the case back in August.

“… you both need to think long and hard and draw your own conclusions about how to proceed going forward.”

I can’t believe he would put something like that into print, even if it’s in the supposed confidence of the State Police who are supposed to be on your side.

More TV

2011-10-24T19:42:00.000-04:00

I don’t know what TV spots are going for nowadays but it seems like it’s the thing to do.

As I reported earlier, CB Smith is going up today in his bid for North Greenbush supervisor against Al Spain and I’ve never seen a candidate for any town, outside of Colonie which is huge, go up on TV.

Also, starting Tuesday, At Large candidates Nina Nichols and Lynn Kopka are starting their TV commercials.

A preview of which can be seen

Here
And here

The At Large races are going to be a battle ground this year and the winners of which will probably determine which party controls the majority. As I see things shaking out, the Democrats have a 3-2 lead in the districts with District 4 being a tossup so it’s going to come down to who wins the three At Large seats.

There are six candidates for the three open seats but I see it coming down to four as of right now: Kopka and Nichols for the Democrats or Tom Killips and Jim Gordon for the GOP. Billie Jean Greene, who is running with the GOP and Rodney Wiltshire, a Democrat, just don’t seem to be getting the same amount of traction as the other four.

Minor party lines are a sham

2011-10-22T01:44:00.000-04:00

John Haggerty, an Independence Party operative, was indicted for what amounts to stealing close to $1 million from the campaign coffers of the bizzionaire New York City Michael Bloomberg.

Well, that’s a shocker. I thought he would get off, despite the testimony of North Greenbush’s own Tom Connolly, the party’s state vice chair, who said there is, and I paraphrase: “A certain amount of faith given to consultants.” Connolly came across as a choir boy. But Haggerty was found guilty and that’s a good thing.

Bloomberg gave the Independence Party more than a $1 million dollars. There is only one reason for that, in my humble opinion, and that was to buy the line. And yes, the Independence Party and the rest of the other minor party lines are for sale, be it as blatant as this instance or with jobs given to cousins of those who control lines. The minor party lines are bought and sold in this state and this type of thing has been going on forever.

This whole thing backs up my years-long contention that third parties should not be allowed to cross endorse major party candidates. Nobody is listening, but if they did, it would eliminate a bunch of the bullshit and patronage and otherwise the ability to mess with the electorate.

The Independence Party has a catchy name, so does the Working Families Party and so does the Conservative Party. It’s all a scam to get the major parties to get their cousin a job.

The minor parties stand for nothing … nothing … and yet they are worth at least 10 percent of the vote. People go into the voting place and see “Independence” or see “Working Families” and they pull that lever because odds are that’s who they are.

But it may not be what that candidate represents and they might just taking advantage of your neighbors, plain and simple. I would say they take advantage of you, but since you read this blog, you’re a junkie, and you know better. So tell your neighbor.

C.B. on TV

2011-10-19T22:53:00.003-04:00

C.B Smith is going on TV to promote his bid for the supervisor of North Greenbush.
I can’t remember when a candidate in a town race in a town of 11,000 or so went on TV.

He’s running against Al Spain, a member of the Town Board, and I have no idea how close it is or isn’t. North Greenbush is a tough town to get a grip on since everyone kind of crosses party lines to forward their own agenda, which means getting elected or re-elected.

Not so much for Smith though, who is a Democrat through and through, and won the town’s first ever primary against Spain for the line – in years past it was done by caucus and honestly, in years past it was rigged. Rigged maybe too strong of a word but the deck was a bit stacked to say the least. A caucus depends on what proxies you have, a primary depends on who you get out to vote. Needless to say, a primary is more democratic of a process.

Spain, a Democrat, has the GOP, the Independence, Conservative and Working Families Party lines. Smith has the Democratic so it’s going to be a tough go for Smith. He’s been around for a while, ran for the county Legislature and twice for county exec. The fact he's been around a while may help or hurt him but he does know the game.

So without further ado, here is Smith’s TV ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRW--ARA9wg&feature=share

What was Cox doing on stage?

2011-10-18T00:18:00.001-04:00

MANTELLO

ROSAMILIA

I went over to the Troy 100 mayoral debate last night for a little while and was surprised to see Jack Cox Jr. still included in the mix.

Mind you, he has a right to be there, but the Appellate Division, by unanimous decision, tossed him off the ballot and he is now waging a write in campaign. It’s his right, but that right is open to every other Trojan in the city so I don’t get why he was allowed to participate.

I was all in favor of him staying on the ballot, as he collected a boat load of signatures but got hung up on some technicalities, and probably rightly so got bounced. Once that happened, he is as much of a candidate as the other 50,000-plus Trojans and should not have been allowed a premiere spot on the stage unless it was granted to everyone else.

His presence only worked to take time away from the two major party candidates – Democrat Lou Rosamilia and Republican Carmella Mantello, who are in a nail-biter of a campaign.

Also, the moderator, Dan Bazille, of WNTY, was asked not to ask questions about voter fraud. Granted, voter fraud isn’t a big deal when it comes to setting a road map for the city, but it is a relevant question to ask since it’s been a cloud over the city for more than two years. Like it or not, it’s there and shouldn’t be unilaterally cut out of the discussion.

In other words, if you put those two things together, the debate was slanted towards Rosamalia.

As an aside, I got bashed tonight by Democrats across the board as being pro Republican. And my across the board response was the GOP bashed me across the board when Mark Pattison, a staunch Democrat, was mayor and those operatives accused me countless times of trying to get a job with his administration.

My other across the board response is … I call it as I see it.

Should have left the guy at home

2011-10-15T10:06:00.001-04:00

ABELOVE

It was a pretty nifty move Friday by DA candidate Joel Abelove, bringing out a jury in the high profile, emotionally charged trial of Joe McElheny, who was acquitted of killing his 4-month-old child Ina. But it would have worked better if they left the juror’s significant other home.

MCNALLY

The juror, Tina Price, was upset with District Attorney Rich McNally reaction to the jury’s decision, which she described as short, abrasive and demeaning. McNally, of course, describes it differently as does one of his investigators who I’ve gotten to know over the years and who I don’t think ever lied to me. What transpired I have no idea. It was at the end of probably one of the most emotionally charged days at the Rensselaer County Courthouse in a long time.

So, Price gets on the Melody Burns show and bashes McNally. Abelove, wisely, calls a press conference the following day to take advantage of the fact a juror willing to speak about the awesome power of deciding the fate of someone’s life she just had in her hands and the fact said juror was more than willing to bash the DA, his opponent.

Abelove said he never met Price. Price said she never met Abelove. That much I can see and if there was nobody else present it would have gone over a whole lot better.

But, also at the press conference was Price’s significant other, Carl Gottstein.

I never met the guy before, but TU reporter Ken Crowe asked him if he was for the former City of Rensselaer City Chairman of the Republican Party and turns out he was. News Channel 9 reported that he posted on Facebook in favor of Abelove’s campaign in August.

As I said, I have no idea what transpired between McNally and Price and it really doesn’t matter. She was pretty convincing and she was a juror – a hallowed charge we all could be responsible for but few are willing to talk about publically. But, it would have been a much event if they left Gottstein, a GOP operative, at home or at least kept him in the background.

Now it just smacks of politics.

Cox is off the ballot

2011-10-14T01:29:00.000-04:00

The courts tossed Jack Cox Jr. off the ballot but despite him becoming a somewhat credible third party candidate – who had no chance of winning, but credible just the same - I see it as a wash between who he would have stolen more votes from, Republican Carmella Mantello, who brought the action that got him bounced, or the Democrats pick Lou Rosamilia.

Yes, he got 4 percent of the vote in our past poll after he got enough signatures to start a third party, the Revolutionary Party, but waging a write in, which he’s vowed to do, is about an impossibility despite the fact the process is easier today than it was on the old voting machines.

I still don’t think bouncing a candidate off the ballot who collected nearly twice the number of signatures necessary plays well for Mantello. The guy did go out and busted his butt to get the signatures. The Appellate Division agreed, in that he got enough of them that were valid but said he shouldn’t have signed the petition as a witness after admitting some of them were bad and that he didn’t see the people actually sign their names. It’s a technicality, and one reason I like the Cox family is they aren’t one’s big on technicalities.

As an aside and a heads up, which may be too late since the first round of calls for our fourth poll I’m sure are over by now, Cox won’t be included. Cox can say he’s waging a write in, but so can any of the other some 50,000 Trojans.

Who is next in voter fraud??

2011-10-08T00:44:00.004-04:00

Well, the grand jury checking out voter fraud met earlier this week and I think it’s only a matter of time before more indictments are coming down.

CAMPANA

BROWN

Who’s going to be on the receiving end of that, is anyone’s guess. Councilman Kevin McGrath testified again as did Rensselaer County Working Families Party Chair Jim Welch and a number of employees at the Board of Elections and allegedly defrauded voters.

I have to say allegedly because nobody has been convicted of defrauding them but the evidence seems pretty strong, despite what the special prosecutor, Trey Smith, might think. I’m not a prosecutor, obviously, so he’s probably right but if it isn’t there, it isn’t there so let’s move on with it one way or another.

So who’s next? Or does Smith orchestrate a no bill? As the saying goes: “A prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich.” And I suppose the opposite is true: “He can no bill a ham sandwich.” Who do you think?

There are some who say it’s going to be Council President Clement Campana, Councilman John Brown and his brother Dan, a political operative. McGrath pretty much threw McDonough under the bus with his statement to the State Police on March 29, 2010 and, to me, he does the Browns too.

Also, word is Mike Rebel was subpoenaed and that is the one ballot Campana admittedly handled. Rebel works with Campana at Hudson Valley Community College and while the two might be friends, after agreeing to the: “Is what you say is the truth and nothing but the truth,” or whatever they say when put under oath, odds are people are going to say what’s actually went down.

Who else?

Brian Premo, the attorney representing Ed McDonough, who is charged with scores of felonies, has been dropping bombs on just about everyone in the Democratic Party, including Smith, for what Premo claims is selective prosecution. I’m still not buying his whole conspiracy theory, but he is dropping bombs.

A recipient of one of the bombs is longtime Democratic operative and the Troy City Council’s Legislative liaison Tony Renna. Another is District Attorney Rich McNally, who admitted to talking to former City Clerk Bill McInerney – a guy at the center of the entire voter fraud and who recently pled to a felony in exchange for his cooperation because it could have been a bunch worse for him if he didn’t cooperate – after the voter fraud scandal broke and talked to McDonough too.

PREMO AND MCDONOUGH

MCNALLY

McNally’s opponent, Joel Abelove, a former prosecutor in the same DA’s office, is making a stink about it and he should. It’s a legitimate issue. McNally beat out Greg Cholakis in ’07 by the narrowest of margins. Out of 38,500 votes case it went down to absentees and other paper ballots. And this scandal is all about absentees. And yet McNally talks to a target of the investigation and another who probably spearheaded it?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I for one am tired of waiting and seeing but it’s not my call.

KiKi has the WFP

2011-10-04T22:55:00.002-04:00

In a surprising move, the Working Families Party endorsed Katherine “KiKi” Cholakis in her bid for the state Supreme Court, and that means the Republican who beat out Columbia County Judge Jonathan Nichols, in another surprising move, will have three lines in November.

It’s surprising because the Democrat who didn’t get the line is Albany County Judge Tom Breslin. The Breslin brothers - Judge Tom, County Executive Mike and state Sen. Neil - have had a pretty good relationship with the WFP over the years and, well, Cholakis is a Republican. The WFP doesn’t usually play too well with the GOP.

Some are saying it was Rensselaer County Chairman Tom Wade’s doing so he can get rid of a Republican judge and get the governor to appoint someone of his party to the bench. I’m not sure if I buy that one. Wade may have some juice with the WFP in this county but I don’t think he has much with Karen Scharff, who pretty much calls the shots for the WFP on anything going on with the party in the Capital District and certainly would have a say, if not the most say, in who the party endorses for a state Supreme Court judge. And, needless to say, the WFP on this side of the river are kind of in disarray thanks to voter fraud.

My guess, and that of some other pretty smart people I’ve talked to, is the WFP over in Albany County are trying to remain relevant and again become the tail that wags the dog. In this case, the dog is the Democratic Party. Minor parties do tend to flex their muscle once in a while – and the cynic in me is saying a second cousin of one of the party’s hierarchy needs a job.

That’s one scenario. The other is that former Rep. John Sweeney, who worked behind the scenes to get Cholakis the Republican and Conservative lines over Nichols - who everyone thought was going to get them - could be working some of his magic too. Financials are due on Friday, so we’ll have to see who donated what to the WFP.

Both of those make sense to me, and if the first scenario is true, then I don’t get why the WFP bailed on Breslin and backed North Greenbush Judge Ray Elliott. While Elliott is popular in this county his name recognition isn’t that of a Breslin.

As it stands, Elliott will have the Democratic, Independence and WFP lines, Breslin will have the Democratic and Independence Party lines, Albany attorney Guy Roemer will have the Republican and Conservative Party lines, and Cholakis will have the Republican, Conservative and WFP lines.

How’s that for a mixed bag.

Voter fraud is ticking along ... again

2011-09-26T22:46:00.002-04:00

Trey Smith, the special prosecutor, has maintained anyone who benefitted from the alleged fraud are the ones he is targeting. Winning a seat on the city Council is a benefit, last I knew.

So, voter fraud could be coming to an end … how many times have I written that same sentence I have no idea but I’m pretty sure it’s too many. But this time it really could. Well, if not to an end, then at least we’ve reached the halfway The next round of subpoenas went out in the ongoing, never-ending voter fraud scandal to witnesses called on to testify in front of the second Grand Jury.

SMITH

At least three went out, and while I have a pretty good idea of who they went out too, I have no confirmation and therefore won’t print the names but safe to say former City Clerk Bill McInerney will be one, if he hasn't already. Also safe to say Council President Clement Campana and Councilman John Brown have something to worry about.

The point in that we still have two guys – Councilman Michael LoPorto and Elections Commissioner Edward McDonough – indicted on 116 felonies – and who knows what comes out of this Grand Jury.

You gotta believe there will be indictments. Whether there will be any pleas is anyone’s guess. If I had to guess, I’d say there will be. Campana was running for mayor but bailed in part because of voter fraud and Brown, who had ambitions for a mayoral run, isn’t even running for council again so I’m guessing they just want to get on with their lives.

Meanwhile, LoPorto and McDonough are showing no signs of backing down and all indications are they are going to trial. At least that’s the impression I got from LoPorto and McDonough’s attorney, Brian Premo. That could change but as of right now, it’s not.

I’ve said all along, Smith’s Plan A was to get everyone to plead to something. That didn’t work. Now it’s on to Plan B, which is to indict more people. What other choice does he have? And I have no idea what judge George Pulver is doing - The LoPorto and McDonough indictments came down in January, the alleged infractions happened over two years ago and yet we don’t have a trial date.

Let’s get on with it already. I don’t know how many times I’ve written that sentence either.

Sweeney must still have some juice

2011-09-23T04:17:00.000-04:00

SWEENEY

The Republican and Conservative Party judicial delegates picked Rensselaer County Family Court Judge Katherine “KiKi” Cholakis and Albany attorney Guy Roemer as their candidates for Supreme Court judges for the Third District yesterday. And this is after the two presumed candidates – Roemer and Columbia County Court Judge Jonathan Nichols – have been actively campaigning for months.

I’m hearing former U.S Rep. John Sweeney, who was working for Cholakis, didn’t even start the backroom maneuvering until late last week yet managed to get Albany and Ulster counties to back her over Nichols. In Albany County, it was probably thanks to his buddy Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings and Rensselaer County, of course, went with one of their own. I’m not sure how he got Ulster County on board, but fact of the matter is he did.

Once that happened, why wouldn’t Nichols get thrown under the bus? Roemer is an Albany County guy and Cholakis is a Rensselaer County gal. Not a lot of people care about Columbia County in the seven-county, Third Judicial District where delegates from each have a weighted vote. The fact Nichols is a well-respected judge, and probably has as much or more relevant experience than anyone in the race doesn’t really matter much in the way judges are picked.

One guy who can’t be happy is John Faso, the former Assembly minority leader and one time gubernatorial candidate from Columbia County. Nichols was his guy.

I’m not saying I agree with how operatives cut backroom deals to pick judicial candidates but it worked out slightly better than the past-practice of swapping cross-endorsements between the two major parties. At least now we’ll have an election in November, and the people will get to choose two between Cholakis and Roemer and the presumed Democratic candidates: Ray Elliott, a longtime North Greenbush judge, and Albany County Judge Tom Breslin.

I don’t expect anything to change with the Democratic candidates when their convention is held Friday, and delegates from the Working Families Party will meet Monday to endorse Elliott and Breslin - who already have the Independence Party nod.

So, if everything stays the same, Roemer and Cholakis will have the R and C lines and Elliott and Breslin will have the D, I and WFP lines. In other words, it’s a battle for the robes.

Sweeney is back in the game

2011-09-21T20:59:00.001-04:00

SWEENEY

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the annual - I’m not sure what to call it, but one person described it as being similar to an animal gnawing off its leg - process of picking candidates for the Third Judicial District is that former Rep. John Sweeney is back in the game.

For weeks, if not months, Republicans in the seven-county district seemed settled on Guy Roemer, an Albany County attorney, and Columbia County Judge Jonathan Nichols for the two open seats. However, nothing is set in stone until delegates meet at the nominating convention, which the GOP will hold tomorrow (Thursday.)

Every indication, as of 7 p.m., is that Rensselaer County Family Court Judge Katherine “KiKi” Cholakis will get the Republican nod and Nichols gets kicked to the curb. I couldn’t get anyone to comment on the record, but I’m told one of the guys brokering the deal behind the scenes was none other than Sweeney.

Once the powers that be decided on Cholakis, either Roemer or Nichols had to go and since Albany County carries the most weighted vote they stuck with their own. Ulster and Rensselaer counties signed on and it was all over for Nichols, as of 7 p.m. Thursday anyway.

The way it works is the party nominates delegates to send to the judicial convention and they in turn nominate who the bosses want. For years, rather than run an expensive race that spans several counties to only yield two patronage jobs, the parties would cross endorse each other’s candidates on a rotating basis. That fell apart in 2008 when the Democrats, behind Rensselaer County Chairman Tom Wade, refused to endorse incumbent Judge Anthony Carpinello and Rensselaer County Judge Pat McGrath went onto defeat Carpinello in the general election.

The gnawing at the limbs thing happens annually, but Sweeney’ presence is what stands out this year. He was a rising star in the national GOP who once had the president’s ear until he lost his seat to now Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2006 because of what were self-inflicted wounds. The frat photos stand out, but the State Police domestic violence report probably did him in.

After a 17-day stint in jail for an April 5, 2009 DWI last year, Sweeney has said he has been proudly sober since April 6, 2009.

The fact he wants to get back in the political game isn’t really a surprise. The former state GOP executive director’s tactical prowess at the behind the scenes stuff is near legendary. Also, it’s not surprising he would get into this race. He and Cholakis were partners in a Troy law firm back in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, the Independence Party endorsed the two Democrats, long time North Greenbush Judge Ray Elliott and Albany County Court Judge Tom Breslin.

The GOP meets tomorrow (Thursday) at 1 p.m. and the Conservatives will meet at 6 p.m. to pick their candidates. While there was some grumblings the Conservatives may endorse Elliott or even Nichols in retaliation for the Cholakis nomination, the last word I heard was they were going with Roemer and Cholakis too.

But there is a ton of time between now and 1 p.m. so who knows what will happen. I’m pretty sure cell phone batteries are dying at a pretty good clip.

We got ourselves a horserace

2011-09-19T22:45:00.000-04:00

ROSAMILIA

MANTELLO

According to our latest poll, thanks to the guys at Gramercy Communication, we got ourselves a mayor’s race. Democrat Lou Rosamilia is leading Republican Carmella Mantello 37 percent to 35.1. That’s within the 2.8 percent margin of error.

That means it’s anybody’s ball game.

Rosamilia has a huge enrollment advantage and it seems to me like Democrats are starting to realize who he is and they like him. As an aside, I’ve heard nothing but good things about the guy from both sides of the aisle. Mantello is way ahead in getting an organization going and raising money – a recent fundraiser netted her more than $20,000 and I’ve heard as much as $40,000. It’s probably somewhere between the two, but it’s a good chuck of change none-the-less and Troy has had a Republican mayor for the last eight years so enrollment only goes so far.

If you remember, Mantello was up 20 in our first poll while she was running against Council President Clement Campana. Campana might have better name recognition than Rosmailia but it was for all the wrong reasons – namely voter fraud and questions about how his father got into a Troy Housing Authority apartment while his own family said he didn’t meet the income threshold.

Once Campana stepped aside and Rosamilia, who doesn’t come with any baggage, stepped in our second poll in August had Mantello up 7 points. Now, it’s a statistical dead heat.

Key to both camps is, obviously, the 23 percent with no party affiliation and that’s where Rosamilia has an edge, 37.8 to 31 percent, over Mantello. More than 26 percent of those voters are undecided too, which is a huge number.

Also, thanks to the poll, we now know why Mantello is challenging the candidacy of Jack Cox Jr. According to the poll, if the election were held today, he would get 4 percent of the vote. Four years ago Elda Abate got about 150 votes and that equates to about 1 percent of the expected turnout of 10,000 or so. The margin of error of this poll was 2.8 percent, which is, since I have a knack for the painfully obvious, is less than 4 percent.

We got ourselves a horserace.

Blogger had a hiccup

2011-09-18T17:36:00.006-04:00

Blogger had a hiccup and a bunch of posts that were sent could not be seen on the blog for some reason. I’ve cut and pasted them below, or at least the one’s that didn’t denigrate someone’s wife or other BS. I did post the one’s denigrating me, however. I don’t care what you guys say about me but try to keep it clean when it comes to people who really don’t have a stake in the matter. Ohh, and yes, I too liked the chicken marsala recipe. Thank you.

Jim Franco
Here are the posts fit to publish:

- Mr franco the only problem your going to have if you make people sign on with real identity is the sheriffs boys will stop blogging and then only a few people left. This is to much fun . On a serious note will someone please investigate the shooting in Poestenkill . GORDON 2012

- Jim if you make everyone register, this blog will get pretty quiet! lol We all know too many people run their mouths ONLY because it's anonymous. To the one posting the recipe's, Ty, I never made chicken marsala! lol Have a great day!

- A plea to all of my supporters:
After much consideration, I feel the need to respond to the comments in this blog. This election is very important to the people of Rensselaer County. I do not support nor do I condone personal attacks made on this blog. This race is about issues that affect our communities. It is about public safety. It is about our committment to every single resident in Rensselaer County. Please EVERYONE refrain from personal attacks. They serve no purpose and are hurtful to everyone involved amd more importantly, those that are not. I continue to urge my supporters to engage in thoughtful, insightful and engaging comments. We must however, remember that comments directed at individuals that do not involve any of the real issues in this race are counterproductive. Thank You, Gary K. Gordon

- Gary Gordon squeaked out the Conservative Party primary by six votes over incumbent Sheriff Jack Mahar after officials at the Board of Elections counted the 42 absentee ballots submitted for last Tuesday’s primary
WOW! ALL THAT HARD WORK. SLANDER, THEFT AND ONLY SIX VOES!
MAHAR FOR SHERIFF!!

- I am looking in from the outside and you people are a bunch of nitwits!

- haha Jim what did you honestly expect when you posted a blog called "Sheriff's race is gettin nasty"
Well, then again, you might as well do that seeing there probably won't be a troy record come 2013, middle school newsletters have more pages and writing

- after reading these postings i cant believe all of you freaking nitwits in the sheriffs dept.

- MAHAR FOR SHERIFF 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The sheriff's race is gettin' nasty

2011-09-15T23:40:00.002-04:00

I heard a story today from before my time about Sheriff Warren McGreevey who served back in the early 90s and it reminds me of what’s going on today.

McGreevey had a pretty good two-term run but lost the Conservative Party line and lost the election to Republican Dan Keating. Sheriff Jack Mahar is poised to also lose the Conservative Party primary to challenger Gary Gordon, an enrolled Conservative running with the Democrats.

Unlike Mahar, though, McGreevey did have one “scandal” the GOP at the time successfully exploited. But the fact of the matter is the guy who embezzled a bunch of money was hired under Sheriff Gene Eaton, a Republican, and not McGreevey. The GOP spun it the other way and Keating was elected sheriff.

Mahar has flown under the radar but when he does stick his head up, there is no scandal attached to it.

That said, McGreevey lost the Conservative Party line during his bid for a third term and Dan Keating got some 3,500 votes on that line alone. Some say that means it was a 7,000-vote shift because it was 3,500 votes McGreevey didn’t get and Keating did but that’s far from exact because you have no idea who votes on what lines for whatever candidate for whatever reason.

Anyway, I’ve always found Mahar was a straight shooter both when he was a Troy cop and after he was elected Sheriff nearly eight years ago. The problem I have with him is I can’t talk to him, and reporters have a tough time getting anyone from the Sheriff’s Department to talk to too. And this is after he put a spokeswoman on the public payroll.

The fact the union is against him – Mark Piche and Kevin Rogers are the driving force judging from the comments on this blog and from what I’ve heard independently – really doesn’t mean much to me. Unions tend to not like their bosses.

Gordon has been a straight shooter too, as a cop and as an investigator for the DA’s office. He tells you what he can and doesn’t tell you what he can’t. That’s all someone in my shoes can expect.

Honestly, I don’t care too much who is sheriff. You make sure nobody escapes from jail, nobody is aabused while they are there and patrol the vast miles of empty roads that is Rensselaer County with the scant resources you have and that’s it. Mahar has done a decent job, as far as I know, and I’m pretty sure Gordon would do a decent job as well.

But, judging from the posts on this blog there are people who care a whole lot more than I do so it’s going to be a wild, nasty ride from now until November. And it's going to be close. Might not even be decided on Election Day.

Primary Day

2011-09-14T02:17:00.003-04:00

Gary Gordon leads incumbent Sheriff Jack Mahar 546-522 with 42 absentee ballots yet to be counted in the Conservative Party primary. That’s a pretty good showing for Gordon given Mahar is an eight-year Republican incumbent in what is known as a Republican county.

This one will come down to the lawyers and maybe a judge too. But, Gordon needs this line if he has a shot at winning.

In District 4, incumbent At-Large Councilman Michael LoPorto lost the Democratic primary to Robert Doherty. Doherty is a newcomer but he had some people working for him who have been around for a while, namely Councilman Bill Dunne I was right though. I won a lunch on that race from a pretty smart guy.

It might have had something to do with this obviously doctored flyer. He wasn’t even endorsed by the Democrats in his own city – provided you believe he lives in Troy and not Brunswick – let alone party leaders state and even country wide. Troy voters ain’t stupid. Or it might be the fact he stands indicted on scores of felonies in the ongoing Working Families Party voter fraud scandal.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/64962305/Flyer-2
http://www.scribd.com/doc/64962258/Flyer-1

He’s still on the ballot on the WFP line, however. Gotta to love it.

I thought District 1 was going to be a decent race and it still might, but not if the I and C primaries are any indication. Incumbent Kevin McGrath, an enrolled Conservative who runs with the Democrats, crushed challenger Frank LaPosta in the C primary 78-17 and is ahead of him in the I primary 13-11 - in a write in.

Despite the fact McGrath was implicated in the ongoing voter fraud scandal and testified for the prosecution, if he hangs on to all three lines he’ll be tough to beat.

Over in District 5, it looks like incumbent Ken Zalewski won the write in campaign against Seamus Donnelly for the I line but the C line is too close to call with Zalewski just a vote behind, 53-52, in that write in campaign. Absentees have yet to be determined.

Write in campaigns ain’t easy. While the numbers might be small, it’s like corralling cats, enrolling them in a party, taking them to a polling place and showing them how to sign “Felix” in the appropriate spots..

In District 6, challenger Dan Mahoney, a Republican, fended off a write in challenge by incumbent Democrat Gary Galuski’s attempt to get the I and C line. At least that’s how it stands now. I’m not sure how many absentees are out there but they could change how it stands now given only 30 people voted in the I primary and 78 cast a ballot in the C primary.

I won’t go into the absentee thing with the Democrats. Today was Primary Day, second only to Election Day for people, junkies, like you and me and the democratic process worked – damn it. What that all means is open for debate.

Jack Cox is on the ballot

2011-09-11T11:51:00.000-04:00

Good for him. I don’t see him being much of a factor in the grand scheme of things but he wants to run, put in a good faith effort getting the signatures and Judge Robert Jacon made the right decision in tossing an objection to those signatures by Republican candidate Carmella Mantello.

Mantello’s campaign has been ticking along with not so much as a little hitch but to try to bounce someone who wants to run for mayor - and put in the time and effort to do so by collecting, or writing, more than 900 signatures – was a mistake.

Let the guy run. It’s the democratic way.

Jacon made the right decision by letting Cox stay in the race.

Let Cox run

2011-08-29T01:49:00.001-04:00

All I know is that since Jack Cox Jr. filed more than 942 signatures, about 400 more than necessary to get start a third party, the Revolutionary Party, and get himself in the mayor’s race we’ve had an earthquake, a hurricane, a mudslide on Brunswick Road that destroyed at least two homes and flattened the Clement Garage business and two 150-pound propane tanks break loose from the Brunswick Barbecue and floated down the Poestenkill towards Troy. (A the time of this posting, I have no idea if they made it down or not, but Troy firefighters were evacuating people along the Poestenkill as a precaution.

And that’s not to mention the flooding that started tonight and will get nothing but worse on Monday.

Or maybe it’s because the Republican camp of Carmella Mantello are now trying to get his signatures bounced because of some technicality.

The guy said he got 800 of those 942 signatures on his own, and that’s a lot of work. He wants to run. It’s America and the last I knew it’s his right to run. He shouldn’t get bounced off because of some technicality. It wouldn’t surprise me, though, if the GOP has a leg to stand on. If Jack Cox Jr. is anything like his father, he doesn’t pay much mind to technicalities.

Again, let the guy run even if he didn’t follow the letter of the state’s byzantine Election Law, he certainly followed its spirit.

No really, honest to God

2011-08-26T00:13:00.000-04:00

Today, Bill McInerney is widely expected to plead guilty, and along with that guilty plea comes, I am sure, an agreement to share what he knows about voter fraud.

MCINERNEY

It’s going to be kind of neat to see what he has to say, though, we may not know when he pleads today. We’ll have a better idea when the Grand Jury meets the next time, which I’m hearing isn’t too far down the road. Voter fraud could be coming to an end. I know I’ve written that before but this time it seems like it’s the real deal. I know I’ve written that before too but this time it does – no really, honest to God.

So what does McInerney spill? That’s the $64,000 question. My guess is he knows a ton of what was going on since he pretty much ran the party’s absentee ballot operation in ’07, ’08 and ’09. No, as Chair Tom Wade pointed out, it wasn’t party sanctioned, but it was on behalf of the party.

There are all sorts of scenarios out there. If you really want to get conspiratorial, McInernery and DA Rich McNally are pretty tight and if you remember it was the absentees that put McNally over the top in the ’07 race against Greg Cholakis, days after the polls closed. Also, McInerney is county Chair Tom Wade guy, he brought him into the mix. And a Grand Jury investigation into allegations of Wade extorting Democratic appointed employees for campaign contributions was allowed to time out after McNally took office.

Those things are nothing new, and not of my making, despite what some may say, and doesn’t even touch on the other seven Democrats implicated, including those who testified for the prosecution in the indictment of Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough and Councilman Michael LoPorto, who together stand charged with 116 felonies of forgery in the ’09 Working Family Party primary.

So, the question is what does McInerney know? And what’s he going to tell the special prosecutor and, more importantly, the grand jury? My guess is a whole bunch.

I think I’ve written that before too but now I think it’s for real – no really, honest to God.

Good candidates, nice people, bad PR

2011-08-24T22:01:00.008-04:00

CASALE

I do think both mayoral candidates, Lou Rosamilia for the Dems and Carmella Mantello for the GOP, are good people and will run good, clean campaigns, but I’m not too crazy about who they have surrounded themselves with.

Vince Casale, of the Mantello campaign, tried to tell me Mantello actually resigned from the Canal Corp. and gave up a $150,000 gig so she can run for mayor and make $95,000. I’m not stupid. Mantello's term was up, there's a strong, Democratic governor who appointed Brian Stratton to her post and, well, she needs a job.

NAPIER

On the flip side of things there is Steve Napier, who once forwarded a press release from Councilman Bill Dunne with a tagline that said something like: “Send out soon, Let Clem know.” And he, or a company he is affiliated with, made some $11,000 in about two months from the aborted campaign of Council President Clement Campana.

Then, the campaign decides to hold a press conference about keeping the cops in the schools fulltime but doesn’t check with the district first. The new superintendent, Brian Howard, called up county Chair Tom Wade and tells him “no politics on school grounds” so they had to hold it on the sidewalk in front of School 12. It’s a legitimate issue, but you’d think someone would have called the district, and wouldn’t hold the press conference at an elementary school that was just closed down.

Marshal Mason isn't happy

2011-08-22T22:18:00.000-04:00

MASON

The Democrats appointed Legislator Ed Manny as a city marshal and it greatly upset another city marshal and party operative, Rick Mason, the longtime, now retired head of security at the Troy Housing Authority. Jack McCann, the city’s Democratic Party chair is also a marshal.

Mason wasn’t implicated in the voter fraud scandal but he did testify during the court proceeding that saw a judge, Michael Lynch, bounce scores of Working Families Party absentee ballots in the ’09 primary. During that testimony Mason said, under oath, the two questionable absentee ballots that were supposed to be released to him were picked up at the Board of Elections by Councilman Kevin McGrath, who testified on behalf of the special prosecutor, Trey Smith.

MCGRATH

I think it’s worth mentioning that McGrath’s plea deal - which includes no criminal charges and allows him to run for council again in District 1 - is contingent on what he said to the Grand Jury was truthful. It’s also worth mentioning a number of THA residents were allegedly defrauded. Tony DeFiglio, who also used to work for the THA, pretty much said they were targeted in his affidavit because they wouldn’t care or know any better.

That said, word is Mason isn’t too happy with Manny’s appointment to city marshal and has reached out – not sure if it’s with the threat of a jab or a roundhouse – to party leaders expressing his displeasure. As I understand it, the marshals get paid per eviction notice they deliver and there is only so much work to go around.

Why Manny, a retired firefighter with a pension who makes an extra $20,000 as a county legislature – and that doesn’t include a whole lot of heavy lifting outside of congratulating softball teams - would want to deliver eviction notices is anyone’s guess. But he does get three public paychecks. While “Three Job Ed” doesn’t have the same ring as “Three Job Bob,” the principle is the same.

I feel the need to too say I’ve always like Mason. If there is one guy who lets you know where you stand it’s Mason. He once told me if he ran into a former Record reporter Carmen Napolitano - who did some not so flattering stories about the THA that eventually led to some people going to jail - in an alley alone he would shoot him. Classic.

Voter fraud as a campaign issue (UPDATE 11:08 a.m. Thursday)

2011-08-17T23:23:00.003-04:00

LAPOSTA

It’s amazing how quiet everyone is about voter fraud.

About the only person saying anything is Frank LaPosta, who is running with the Republicans for Council District 1. He once ran for mayor with the Democrats and then ran as an Independent. I think. And then was a registered Conservative for a while before becoming chair of the Democratic Party. I think. It’s hard to keep up with what party LaPosta is affiliated with.

This year he’s running with the GOP against incumbent Democrat Kevin McGrath, who cut a deal and testified for the prosecution in voter fraud but faces no charges. District 1 is one of the more interesting in the city. That and District 4, where Michael LoPorto is running on the Working Families Party line, the same line he stands accused of stealing in 2009, are the two to watch.

NO NEED FOR A CAPTION

LaPosta does make a good point. Heading into this year’s primary, which is within three weeks, there are some people who may or may not have some things to answer to working for the Dems at the Board of Elections.

Ed McDonough, the elections commissioner, faces scores of felonies for possession a forged instrument and outright forgery. Kevin O’Malley, widely seen as McDonough’s right hand man, testified for the prosecution in front of the grand jury – twice. The first time evidentially wasn’t truthful enough because the second time he showed up with an attorney. And just about everyone else working at the board testified too.

GALUSKI

And then there is Councilman Gary Galuski, D-District 6, who was implicated and gave up a sample of his DNA, who works there too.

It might or not be a campaign issue, but I’m guessing this is the cleanest election in this county – since both parties have been goofing around with minor party lines since Christ was a carpenter- since Christ was a carpenter.

I know I’m perceived as being pro Republican, but I don’t make this up.

Jim Gordon, the GOP city chair running for an at large council seat, also critisized the Dems mayoral candidate Lou Rosamilia for accepting the WFP line in light of the ongoing voter fraud scandal. Rosamilia likely had no idea the absentee operation was going on but there is a chance he benefited since he ran for and won a seat on the Legislature in 2009.
His Dem counterpart, Jack McCann sent out the following statement: "Jim Gordon is showing his true partisan colors. Lou Rosamilia is in no way linked with this scandal but Jim Gordon is grasping at straws in an attempt to tarnish the name of a good man and steadfast public servant. This is an indication of what kind of Councilman Mr. Gordon will be: The kind who is more focused on making political attacks against the mayor, than affecting real change for the people of Troy. Any voter who was considering a vote for Jim Gordon might want to rethink that decision."

Changing the Ethics Law

2011-08-11T12:11:00.001-04:00

I have no idea what the Republicans on the county Legislature are doing. As governmental bodies around the world are strengthening ethics laws, the GOP are weakening them here. Or so it seems.

The argument is that Hudson Valley Community College should not be considered a county agency and therefore should not be subject to the provision in the Ethics Law that says a political wheel can’t be involved in the inner workings of the college – for example, a county chair can’t serve on the board.

REID

The logic behind changing the Ethics Law is that the college should be separate and distinct from the county government to avoid any conflicts of interest and so it doesn’t turn into a patronage mill. That was the logic back some 20 years ago, when the Ethics Law was implemented in the wake of the Ed McDonough scandal – no, not the voter fraud scandal going on now, the one involving the election commissioner’s dad of insurance scandal infamy.

The entire thing stems from Neil Kelleher, the longtime chairman of the Legislature, getting appointed to the board while he was the county GOP chair. Under the old Ethics Law that was a no-no. Under the new one, I have no idea, but I think he would be eligible.

The new law goes into effect Nov. 15. So we’ll see what happens to Kelleher, who gave up the chairmanship to keep his spot on the HVCC board. I guess we’ll see how genuine the GOP is in the coming months and whether or not they re-elect Kelleher as their chair.

By the way, the quote from the Chairman of the Leislature Martin Reid about how many on the Legislature fell the Ethics Law should have been changed long ago was classic: “But we kind of did forget. So, oops.”

Oops? Really?

The waiting game is over

2011-08-08T19:45:00.001-04:00

Well, it looks like the State Police are sick of the waiting game.

In the print edition of Talespin I said “the waiting game that is voter fraud” but today the State Police arrested former City Clerk Bill McInerney on 10 felony counts of possession of a forged instrument. Looks to me like they got sick of waiting, or they are putting the squeeze on McInerney to get him to cough up everything he knows – and by everything I mean everything.

Last week, plea-deal talks broke down between McInerney and the special prosecutor Trey Smith because the FBI wouldn’t give McInerney immunity. While I’m not sure the FBI has the authority to grant immunity, I’m pretty sure they knew what was up and weren’t too happy with what was going down.

And, evidently, neither were the State Police and the pace things are going in the two-year-old investigation.

So, my guess is McInerney better start talking or he’ll find himself behind bars.

There are two others charged in the investigation – Councilman Michael LoPorto and Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough – and the attorney for the latter, Brian Premo, has maintained this investigation should go way higher than those two.

If anyone knows who that is its McInerney. So, as I said, if he doesn’t start talking he’ll find himself behind bars.

What's going on with voter fraud?

2011-08-05T20:53:00.000-04:00

Well, that’s a neat little twist on things isn’t it?

MCINERNEY

According to reports, former City Clerk Bill McInerney was finalizing a plea deal with Trey Smith, the special prosecutor investigating voter fraud in the 2009 Working Families Party primary, until the FBI showed up and McInerney’s attorney, Jim Long (Ball), opted to end the conversation because the Feds refused to give his client immunity for alleged improprieties in not only ’09, but ’07 and ’08 too.

No kidding, Dave Canfield reported that in March and it’s nothing new to Smith or the Feds or Long. It should be a pretty straight forward request by Smith to ask Judge George J. Pulver, to expand his authority beyond ’09 and include ’07 and ’08, but as of this posting it’s still working its way through the process.

MacInerney resigned his post as City Clerk effective Aug. 1, and it was widely expected it was part of a plea deal he reached with Smith that presumably included MacInerney sharing what he know about others implicated in the scam and maybe those already indicted – Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough and Councilman Michael LoPorto.

And, this is the kicker everyone’s been talking about, maybe even share some stuff on those who haven’t been implicated yet. If you remember, Brian Premo, McDonough’s attorney, has been pounding the theory Smith selectively prosecuted his client and is ignoring the bigger picture. In essence Premo claims the conspiracy goes deeper than Smith is willing to take it. There has to be some reason the FBI didn’t sign off on the deal, and I just don’t know what that is. Or maybe they did? I honestly have no idea but there has to be some reason McInerney resigned when he did.

SMITH

One thing I’m pretty sure of, the State Police and the FBI have more important things to worry about than people cheating to get a minor party line in the City of Troy and want the whole thing put to bed. Yes, there is the whole “clean and honest election thing being the foundation of our democracy” but really – it’s going on two years now. I’m pretty sure Smith wouldn’t mind seeing the whole thing over with as well.

It was supposed to take a major step towards that end on Friday but somehow or another, something changed. I’m not sure what that is exactly, but something definitely changed. Whatever it was, you can bet a bunch of Democrats are not sleeping too well.

Earlier in the post, I said “reports” but the TU’s Brendan Lyons wrote the story and to him I tip my hat.

RIP Steve Nelson

2011-08-01T12:32:00.008-04:00

It’s a sad day.

The founder of Talespin, Steve Nelson, died at his apartment here in Troy. The circumstances I’m not sure of, but the MS had gotten progressively worse over the years.

In his prime, Nelson was one of the best, toughest reporters in the Capital District. “A reporter’s reporter,” as one guy said, “it was instinctual for him.” Up until just a few weeks ago, he would still give me crap about typos or other shortcomings he saw in the paper when I used to run into him over at Francesca’s.

Nelson was not known to hold his tongue - and he was not known to care if you liked what his tongue said either.

So, some 25 years ago after coming to this paper from The Gazette, Nelson was looking to start a reporters’ notebook type column and was searching for a name. He went to his mom, an English teacher, and Talespin was born.

Through the years, the column has been through a number of changes with countless reporters contributing on a weekly basis. It was started as a way to provide insider, street level information that didn’t necessarily warrant a full-blown story. And it was meant, as the name implies, to provide a humorous spin on such tales.

After leaving the paper, Nelson became spokesman for then-County Executive Henry Zwack – a thankless job if there ever was one. At the time, Zwack was either being investigated, dogged by the likes of C.B. Smith or under indictment. Nelson stuck by him though, and through it all did the best job he could under what were near impossible circumstances.

Nelson might not have been the nicest guy in the world, or the warmest, or the cheeriest but what you saw is what you got.

RIP Steve Nelson

The Independence Party is a sham (UPDATE 7/29)

2011-07-27T23:03:00.001-04:00

CONNOLLY

Finally got a look at the lawsuit and had to make some changes, but the premise of the post is still the same.

There is a legal battle going on over the Independence Party and at the center of everything is none other than Tom Connolly, the one-time Rensselaer County Democratic operative who now serves as the party’s state vice chair.

The way I understand it, the Independence Party recently changed its bylaws, stripping endorsement power away from some county committees and giving it to the state committee. Two days after that change taking effect, the Tom Connolly, on behalf of the county committee, filed a slate of candidates that included all Republicans except Joel Abelove, the DA candidate. Instead it went to Democrat Rich McNally.

The state committee then filed their slate of candidates that included Abelove and not McNally.

The Democrats in turn filed a lawsuit, in the name of Ed McGrath, a former Troy councilman and brother to the District 1 representative Kevin McGrath, against the county slate of candidates.

Anyway, it raises more than a few eyebrows for a number of reasons.

One: Ed McGrath may be an enrolled member of the Independence Party but he’s been out of the game for a while now and I’m fairly certain it matters little to his life which DA candidate get the “I” line so who is paying his attorney – Jim Long.

Two: Long represents embattled City Clerk Bill McInerney, who recently submitted his resignation as part of a plea deal with the special prosecutor investigating voter fraud, Trey Smith. Kevin McGrath also cooperated with Smith, even testified in front of the grand jury.

WADE

Three: Connolly is the party’s vice chair, and was at one time tight with Chair Frank McKay - until that little thing in New York City went down – and my guess is McKay cares less than Ed McGrath who gets the “I” line in Connolly’s home county.
I think it’s fair to mention at this point in time that Connolly’s all but no-show state job hinged on delivering the Independence Party line to Republicans and that now he’s out of a job I think it’s fair to mention his sister, Katie, the longtime clerk in North Greenbush, was going to face a primary by who would be a formidable candidate, Jan Liberty, but no longer is. To me that means a deal was struck somewhere along the line by someone who really wants McNally to win

Four: Someone has more juice to get the unscrupulous Independence Party to endorse McNally at the state level and that some on the street still hyper-loyal to the Republicans wanted Abelove.

The whole thing is just further proof the Independence Party is a sham and the state should do away with the ability of minor party lines to cross endorse.

Well, the ball is a’rollin’ now

2011-07-26T11:41:00.001-04:00

MCINERNEY

Bill McInerney’s resignation comes as no real surprise. He pretty much had to give it up in order to stay out of jail. It will be interesting to see what else he had to give up as far as information goes. My guess is everything he knew.

One thing I’m pretty sure of is that since McInerney ran the whole 2009 WFP absentee scam – and, according to reports in this paper also had some shady stuff going on in 2007 and 2008 – he knows quite a bit.

So far just Councilman Michael LoPorto and Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough are the only two who stand charged with anything - a combined 116 felonies for forgery and possessing a forged instrument. I find it hard to believe McInerney will be offered the opportunity to get out of this one with anything less than a felony or two.

BROWN

CAMPANA

My guess is the next one to take a plea will be Councilman John Brown, D, At Large, who isn’t running again and has been about invisible since the whole thing broke nearly two years ago. Given what Trey Smith, the special prosecutor, said about Council President Clement Campana I’d be surprised if he doesn’t plea to something too.

As far as LoPorto and McDonough go, every indication is they are taking their case to trial. Now that should be fun.

Clarifying the mayoral odds

2011-07-22T21:49:00.006-04:00

MANTELLO

After talking to a few people, I guess I have to clarify my Thursday column a bit.

I said Republican mayoral candidate Carmella Mantello was running because she needs a job. Turns out, according to her spokesman Vince Casale, she resigned from the Canal Corp. and gave up the $150,000 paycheck just to run for mayor of her hometown, maybe win and make $95,000.

CASALE

It had nothing to do with the fact her term was up at the end of last year. Nothing to do with the fact Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a staunch Democrat and she’s a Republican. Nothing to do with the fact he appointed former Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton, a longtime loyal Democrat. Mantello resigned, according to Casale, to run for mayor.

Sorry for the confusion. My bad.

I think it’s only fair that I make mention Casale’s office is in Cooperstown since I made mention Steve Napier – the guy who worked for Clement Campana before he dropped out and is apparently working for Rosamilia - is from Cohoes but now lives in Troy.

ROSAMILIA

I also said Thursday the Dems candidate, Lou Rosamilia, worked in the private sector his entire life. What I should have said is he hasn’t had a political or government job because Hudson Valley Community College is indeed funded with public money and he’s in the state retirement system. That means he can collect a pension and the mayor’s salary should he retire from HVCC and beat the Republican candidate Carmella Mantello come November. I’m not sure what those two add up to, but I bet it’s a pretty good chunk of change of taxpayer money he’d be getting every year.

I almost put the double dipping thing in Thursday’s column but backed off when I learned he was taking a leave of absence rather than retiring.

All that said, Mantello still has a 3-1 shot and Rosamilia has a 4-1 shot.

Lay some odds on the Troy mayor's race

2011-07-20T13:28:00.001-04:00

MANTELLO

ROSAMILIA

As of 1 p.m., it’s official. Rosamilia is the Democratic candidate for mayor and will take on the Republican Carmella Mantello in November.

I’m laying odds in my Thursday paper. Feel free to lay your own odds on the race and the reasons why.

Looks like it's gonna be Lou Rosamalia

2011-07-19T18:41:00.004-04:00

ROSAMILIA

Everyone is saying the Dems are going with Legislator Lou Rosamilia as their mayoral candidate. Or better said, the Dems talked him into it.

It was down to he and Legislator Ed Manny, who wanted it but the party wasn’t too keen on him, obviously.

Rosamilia starts out about 10 miles behind the Republican candidate, Carmella Mantello, but he is clean as a whistle and from what everyone says is a pretty decent guy. He of course takes over for Council President Clement Campana who was chased out of the race by the ongoing voter fraud scandal and the whole thing with his father getting into the Troy Housing Authority while by his family’s own admission didn’t meet eligibility requirements.

That’s not confirmed yet, but that’s the chatter from some pretty good sources. Who knows, though, I was wrong about Doris Day’s signatures and that was only yesterday.

Turns out it was a good Day for Doris

2011-07-19T11:47:00.001-04:00

Larry Bugbee, the Republican commissioner at the Board of Elections, said the Democrats candidate in District 2 turned in 90 signatures instead of the 75 initially reported.

When they were making copies of the petition, one of the pages containing 15 signatures got caught up in the machine.

So, she has 90, she needs 73 and while the general objection preserves the right for specific objections it doesn’t appear any will be filed.

Also, and this one is my bad, Mark McGrath, the enrolled Conservative running with Republican support, did not collect signatures for the Independence Party line.

So, Day will have the Democrat and WFP lines while McGrath will have the GOP and Conservative.

Not a good Day for Doris

2011-07-18T21:42:00.000-04:00

MCGRATH

Doris Day, the Democratic candidate for City Council in District 2, only filed 75 signatures and she needs 73 good ones. It’s not rocket science, but there are always mistakes made. So many in fact, the general rule of thumb is for candidates to get double the required number.

There is already a general objection filed at the Board of Elections – by Linda Foy, wife of former Councilman Democrat Wayne Foy – with objections to the specific errors on Day’s petition due at a later date.

In other words, it looks like the Mark McGrath, the incumbent Republican in District 2, will have a much easier time come November. Day, a political newcomer, will still be on the Working Families Party line. McGrath, despite an inter-party squabble, will have the GOP as well as the Conservative and Independent Party lines.

ABELOVE

MCNALLY

One interesting little development is that District Attorney Rich McNally got permission to run on the Independence Party line rather than his Republican opponent Joel Abelove. It’s unclear why McNally would get the nod since the line is controlled by Tom Connolly, the party’s state vice chair, and he’s in the Republican camp and Republican candidates generally get the I line. Same thing for the C line, which went to Abelove.

A bunch of Republicans were none too happy about it and were considering taking the whole thing to court because the permission, called a Wilson Pakula, was granted unilaterally by Connolly and not the state committee.

CAMPANA

Also, as of 9:26 p.m. Monday, as far as I know, nothing has changed for the Dems in the mayor’s race. Legislator Ed Manny wants the nod but the party would rather go with Legislator Lou Rosamalia. But, they need to pick someone by Friday or the Republican candidate, Carmella Mantello, will have a much easier time in November too.

Her first Democratic opponent, Council President Clement Campana, dropped out amid the ongoing voter fraud scandal and the one about his father moving into the THA despite not meeting income requirements and is instead gearing up for a run at county executive or county clerk.

Ed wants it, Lou might too

2011-07-15T17:28:00.000-04:00

ROSAMALIA

MANNY

Word on the street is Legislator Ed Manny is telling everyone he has the Dems Mayoral nod but that the party wants Legislator Lou Rosamalia, who, as of today, is a definite maybe. Or maybe a bit stronger than a maybe in that he’s seriously considering it.

I met Rosamalia just once at the Hook a Kid on Golf tournament and I’ve heard nothing but good things about him from both sides of the aisle.

A couple things deserve mentioning. The longtime professor at Hudson Valley Community College is probably the Dems strongest candidate at this point in time and there just isn’t any dirt there. The former candidate, Clement Campana, was battling voter fraud and the whole THA/father scandal right out of the gate. Whether or not Rosamalia has the stones to wage a mayoral campaign – which includes getting an organization off the ground and raising a bunch of money – though is anyone’s guess.

CHAPPY

One thing about the money part of it, I learned today that Mayor Harry Tutunjian spent some $230,000 in his successful re-election bid against Jim Conroy. That’s a bunch of money and as I’ve stated before, whoever the Dem candidate ends up being will have a hard time catching up with the Republican candidate Carmella Mantello, who has raised more than $81,000 as of the latest filing.

Another thing about the stones thing, at least the party will unite behind Rosamalia. There were some wheels – namely county Chair Tom Wade – who weren’t all that crazy with Chappy as a candidate given the aforementioned problems he brought along with his campaign. It’s one thing for party’s to throw dirt, but Chappy’s wounds were self-inflicted.

So who's it going to be??

2011-07-14T15:38:00.000-04:00

Who’s going to take Chappy’s place?

Ed Manny? Kathleen Ryan-Cassidy? Lynn Kopka? Lou Rosamallia? A dark horse?

I can see the first two wanting it but I don’t think the party wants them. The third and fourth I think the party would like to see but I don’t think they want it.

The fifth is a distinct possibility though I don’t know who it is.

Anyone with any information can please feel free to drop me a line at jfranco@troyrecord.com or 478-5343.

Chappy's out

2011-07-13T21:39:00.000-04:00

CAMPANA

Chappy’s out. He announced he was bailing at his fundraiser tonight (Wednesday.)

Wow.

His campaign has been dogged by voter fraud and the ongoing THA scandal and while the latter probably matters more to voters the first did heat up a bit when Trey Smith, the special prosecutor, said Campana lied and faces a good chance of getting charged with his role in defrauding voters in the 2009 Working Families Party primary.

Who runs now for the Dems is anyone’s guess. Lynn Kopka, the Dems number two pick, doesn’t seem interested in it as she is running for an At Large council seat she stands a good chance of winning. She’s also not stupid and knows how hard of a race it would be against Republican candidate Carmella Mantello. And while Legislator Ed Manny, a retired firefighter, wants it he really doesn’t stand a chance.

WADE

MAYOR MANTELLO

I don’t see anyone who does at this point in time. Legislator Kathleen Ryan-Cassidy is recently out of a job and was one of five interviewed by the Dems so my guess is its down to her and Manny.

Tom Wade, the Dems county chair, soured on Campana earlier this week and now he has a tough call to make but my guess is it’s gonna be his call to make and not the committee’s. The committee picked Campana and well, we know how that one turned out.

Barring any unforeseen bombshells, it’s Mayor Mantello come Jan. 1 2012.

Wade doesn't want Campana

2011-07-11T12:23:00.000-04:00

WADE

Tom Wade, the Rensselaer County Democratic Party chairman, has been around a while. So have I. But not as long as Wade. To say we’ve had our differences over the years is an understatement, but he is anything but a stupid man and is looking for his party’s mayoral candidate, Council President Clement Campana, to get out of the race.

Campana wasn’t Wade’s choice from the get go, but to his credit he didn’t twist any arms or muscle anyone. Campana is the committee’s pick, and well, we’ll have to see the fallout from that one.

No, Campana is not indicted in the ongoing voter fraud scandal but, according to papers filed last week, it is a very real possibility. And the whole Troy Housing Authority thing and whether or not his father is income eligible and jumped a bunch of people on the waiting list is still in flux.

CAMPANA

In other words, Wade is right. Campana can’t win. No way, no how. And because of that Wade asked Campana to get out of the race some 10 days ago.

Who can win against the Republican candidate Carmella Mantello at this point in time is anyone’s guess. Wade wouldn’t say who he has in mind who at this point in time would face what is now a near impossible battle, but safe to say he has someone in mind other than Campana.

Petitions are on the streets. They are due at the Board of Elections on July 14. By July 18 Campana has to withdraw, if he’s going to, and by July 22 the Committee to Fill Vacancies has to pick a successor. The committee consists of Wade, city Chair Jack McAnn and Kathy Conroy.

I’m not convinced Campana backs out though. It’s the whole South Troy against the world mentality. Not to be judgmental because I like that attitude, but it hasn’t really worked all that well for South Troy now has it.

How long until Chappy drops out? (UPDATED 9:18 p.m.)

2011-07-08T14:18:00.002-04:00

CAMPANA

Campana blew off his 4 p.m. appointment Friday to film his part of a video series The Record is doing on the mayor's race, which led everyone in the newsroom to think he was out, but later on that night called to say he would do it on Saturday so it can be up on our website Sunday. His campaign manager, Steve Napier, said there are no plans for Campana to drop out at this point in time.

So, anyway, how long do you think it will be before Council President Clement Campana drops out of the mayor’s race?

WADE

Or do you think he will just put his head down and plow through the campaign, whether he’s indicted or not?

Personally, I don’t see how he can run. And if he does, I don’t see how he can win.

Our last poll had him down by 20 points to Republican Carmella Mantello. As I said then, I don’t see how he can dig himself out of that hole and that was before the latest revelations regarding voter fraud and the real possibility he might stand indicted.

I’m hearing that the powers that be, including county Chairman Tom Wade, are asking him to step aside.

KOPKA

If that happens, the next logical question is who steps up to take his place. Back when the party was making its pick, it was between Campana and Lynn Kopka, of the Washington Park Association, who is now running for an At Large seat on the council.

While she is free and clear of any and all voter fraud accusations, whether or not Kopka wants to give up a run she has a pretty good shot at winning to run for a tainted mayor’s seat is up in the air. Plus Carmella Mantello, the Republican candidate, is about 10 miles ahead of Campana and probably a dozen miles ahead of anyone who gets in the race now. She is expected to have between $70 and $80,000 in the bank when filings are due next week and it's only July.

Prosecutor Trey Smith, in court papers, said new information became available that led him to conclude Campana might not have been truthful. I guess that, in part, answers the question I asked in the last post “What’s Mac going to say.” My guess is everything.