The City of Troy, New York, "Where Henry Hudson Turned Around."

Thursday, November 30, 2006

MAYOR STRATTON - A KLEPTO?

Does Collier have a crush on Clem Campana?

What else explains this warm, fuzzy e-mail:



From: Carolin [mailto:skistow@nycap.rr.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 12:25 PM
To: 'Clement Campana (E-mail)'
Cc: Citycouncil.; Deb.Witkowski
Subject: HOME monies

Dear Clem,

I am in receipt of your fax sent to the City Clerks office at 5:04 PM on November 27, 2006. I have had discussions with Comptroller Deb Witkowski regarding the HOME monies that Mayor Stratton feels he is entitled to take away from us. I am also very aware of what theses monies are used for and its importance to our city. What you are not aware of is that Mayor Stratton has tried to steal Troy’s monies in the past and was called to task on it then by Congressman McNulty. Comptroller Witkowski has agreed to update everyone on this situation at our Finance meeting this Thursday. If you are not happy with the results of this meeting, I will be calling a planning meeting in the near future for further updates and discussions into this matter. I do not feel at this time that representation from TRIP or CEO is needed or required as they have nothing to do with what Mayor Stratton is proposing to do. The questions you should be asking as a elected official of the City of Troy is does Mayor Stratton have the right to take contractual monies away from Troy and why is HUD allowing him to continually undermined their process.

If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact me or Comptroller Witkowski.


Sincerely,

Councilwoman Carolin Collier

Clem, didn't you receive the memo? The one that authorizes Collier to determine what questions you should be asking? Only Ministry approved questions are allowed.

Here's a few:

1. If Stratton is stealing money from Troy, why hasn't he been arrested?

2. Has Stratton confessed and if so, was his confession obtained after he requested counsel?

3. Does losing out to Schenectady damage a city's self-esteem?

Of course there's no need to have representatives from CEO or TRIP present, they might keep saying things like this:



Karen Gordon, CEO's executive director, said that was untrue.

"All the money I had under contract with the city to rehab property, I spent," she said. "I also think it is very ironic because a month ago the mayor came to visit me and asked if I could help him spend the money so he wouldn't lose it."

Gordon said she developed a plan and thought as of Friday that she would be working with the city to make sure the funds were not lost.

Patrick Madden, executive director of TRIP, said he received a letter from Troy's comptroller at least a year-and-a-half ago requesting TRIP to stop spending all program funds because the city would no longer allow it.

"There's got to be some confusion at City Hall," said Madden, noting he was surprised at the mayor's remarks. "It sounds like the mayor is saying one thing, but the comptroller asked us to stop spending the money."

Caroline Collier represents South Troy (the 6th ED). For those unfamiliar with South Troy, think of it this way, if Troy is the United States, the 6th ED is Arkansas. True, there's fewer cases of ricketts and less Nascar. Point is, it could use this money. As an elected representative from Arkansas, Collier may want to see the letter Madden received, may want to meet with Gordon, may want to find out how Troy found itself in this position. She may even want to ask Harry for any documentation he may have (from '04) setting forth this issue. We bet there's at least one, maybe two.

Instead, she blames a mayor that actually has a plan to use the money for his city.

This e-mail, combined with Harry's rapid response in assigning blame elsewhere leads us to only one conclusion: Business at the Dept. of F*ck-ups is still booming.

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