IT'S WITH GREAT HESITATION.....

It's with great hesitation that we write this post to discuss the Mayor's recent assertions in The Record. We say that we hesitate because unlike the Mayor, we don't want to embarrass the Mayor for our own personal gain.

From the Pulse of the People:

First, the title - Trail of Deception, Ineptitude.

We'll give him that one. That is an accurate description of his actions, abilities and the legacy of his Administration.

"It is with great hesitation that I write this letter to discuss the first month of City Council inaction. I say that I hesitate because unlike my legislative branch counterparts, I do not want to embarrass the city for my own personal gain."

Inaction? The Mayor may not like the action taken by the Council but they have passed several pieces of legislation. As for not "embarrassing the city for my own personal gain," where was that sentiment in December when the Mayor gained personally by a post-election, $10,000 pay hike?

"Perhaps the City Council is in need of a history lesson. Back in 1994, Troy residents, the same ones that elected them, voted to change the charter and transform the government from a city manager-run, council-controlled entity, to a strong mayor leadership role. I am elected by the people to make decisions every day. I suggest you give the City Charter a read for the job duties you hold."

Relax, Mayor. You're so tense. How about a backrub? You are a big, strong Mayor. You're our big, strong Mayor. Now, lets do what the Mayor suggests:

§ C-21. Powers of City Council.

A. All legislative power of the City shall be vested in the City Council, except as otherwise provided by law or this Charter. Specially, the Council shall have power:

(1) To determine all matters of City policy, subject to the powers of the President to determine such policy as provided in § C-48 herein;

(2) To amend this Charter by local law in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Home Rule Law except that any local law which abolishes, transfers, or curtails any power of the Mayor shall be subject to mandatory referendum.

(3) To act by local law under the provisions of any optional state law authorizing the City to assume additional powers or duties;

(4) To adopt and direct the enforcement of penal ordinances;

(5) To direct by ordinance the construction of any public or local improvement and, in the case of local improvements, to fix the percentage of the total cost to be assessed against benefited property and the district within which such percentage shall be assessed, which such percentage shall be assessed;

(6) To appoint and to remove the City Clerk, Bingo Inspector and the Administrative Assistant to the City Council and to set the salaries of the Council members, the President, the City Judges, the Police Justice, the Mayor, the City Clerk, and the Administrative Assistant to the City Council; [Amended 10-3-2002 by L.L. No. 8-2002]

(7) To authorize the issuance of bonds or notes of the City in accordance with the provisions of the Local Finance Law and in accordance with applicable provisions of the General Municipal Law;

(8) To adopt or to amend and adopt, subject to the veto powers of the Mayor, the annual budget of the City;

(9) To make all appropriations and, except as otherwise provided herein, all reappropriations of City funds, subject to the powers of the Mayor as enumerated in §§ C-48 herein; [Amended 10-2-2003 by L.L. No. 5-2003]

(10) To adopt and to amend a capital budget, subject to the line item and general veto power of the Mayor; [Amended 10-2-2003 by L.L. No. 5-2003]

(11) To fill any vacancy in any elective office of the City except as limited by § C-7.

B.This enumeration of powers shall not operate in any way to restrict the general powers granted by §§ C-4, C-36 and C-38 of this Charter.

You know what else the Council can do? And this is really cool:

§ C-22. Requests for reports, information or estimates.

Any officer of the City is required to furnish reports, information or estimates to any Councilor of the City of Troy.

§ C-23. Investigative powers.

This Council may make investigations into the affairs of the City and the conduct of any City department, office, or agency and for this purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony and require the production of evidence. Any person who fails or refuses to obey a lawful order issued in the exercise of these powers by the Council shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

The Council can also order new furniture and the President gets to choose where they get take-out.

So, when the Mayor says:

Earlier this month, the Council transferred budget funds without the request of my office. They cannot do that.

He's either lying or misinformed....unless budget amendments can't .....amend the budget.

OK, that's enough for today. We'll try and finish up tomorrow. Unless Code Enforcement stops by and we have to use the safe house.

SPEAKING OF PUNISHMENT

One of the characteristics of a Fascist government is the use of government departments to silence or retaliate against political opponents. Mayor Tutunjian has selected Code Enforcement for that function.

Less than twenty-four hours after the Finance Committee voted to place rescinding the 2008 pay raises on the February agenda Code Enforcement raided the home/office of Legislative Assistant Vic DeBonis.

Sound familiar? Less than three days after requesting the resignation of three Tutunjian appointees, Jim DeSeve was slapped with a Code violation. That Code violation didn't exist so another code violation had to be issued.

In the case of DeSeve, the Administration was quite clever. They offered three different explanations on how Code came to issue the ticket to DeSeve. The Code Enforcement Officer had one story (he was just following orders), Commissioner Mirch had another and when those explanations looked dicey, the Mayor chimed in with the third explanation.

The DeSeve matter appears to be languishing in the courts because DeSeve fought back. The Administration wants the matter to dry up and go away.

No doubt Code raided DeBonis' home/office by way of an "anonymous tip." The "anonymous tip" has long been a staple of fascism (although in Mussolini's time many anonymous tips arrived via telegram and not by phone).

There other stories out there waiting to be told. More than one Code worker has registered discontent with the departments use for political retaliation.

You may point out that DeBonis did have code violations. We don't know and don't care. DeSeve clearly did not. That's irrelevant for our purposes. Even if code violations exist, Code Enforcement cannot be used for retaliation.

It would be nice if the Fourth Estate could devote more than a paragraph to City Hall's blatant abuse of municipal departments.

Eurasia is at war with Oceania. Eurasia has always been at war with Oceania.

THE CITY CHARTER

We read the Mayors measured Pulse of the People letter (The Record - Sunday, January 27, 2008) with great interest. Our first response was to laugh. Then, we actually read the Charter, unlike the City Council. As much as it pains us to say, the Mayor is correct. Many of the actions taken by the Council are not authorized by the Charter.In fact, we believe that Council members can actually be removed by the Mayor so tread lightly, guys.

For those sceptical of our analysis, we offer you the relevant Charter provision which we received from the Mayor's Office last night pursuant to our Freedom of Information request. Please note: This excerpt is from the official Charter and not the bootleg version commonly cited.



Clearly, the City Council does not have the power to set the salary of the Mayor or its legislative assistant. The Council does not have the authority to transfer funds via budget amendment. We have no idea what the Council is doing but we advise them to be careful.

BE BACK SOON

We're taking the day off. Be back on Monday to discuss recent events.

Talk amongst yourselves if you're so inclined.

Have a good and safe weekend.

THE BIG STORY

All right, class. Settle down and take your seats.

People seem to want to discuss the recent incident involving some members of the Troy Police Department and two young gentlemen that took a scenic, multi-jurisdictional car ride on Friday night.

According to the initial story:

Troy city police officers beat two suspects with batons as the men lay face down on the ground late Friday, while as many as six other cops watched, according to a family who witnessed the incident.

Terry Kindlon, representing the two suspects, wanted the District Attorney to investigate. The Albany County District Attorney said he would investigate.

Before we start choosing sides like this is some type of sporting event, lets take a deep breath (but not inhale).

It does no one any good to automatically believe the police used excessive force. Several witnesses believe they did use excessive force. Sometimes witnesses who catch a portion of an event are not seeing what they think they are seeing.

One witness appears to be something of an activist for some progressive causes. Just because someone may be an activist for progressive causes does not mean they have poor eyesight.

It does no good to describe the two suspects as "scumbags" or "dirt balls" or .....Police rarely have to chase choir boys. The issue is whether excessive force was used, not who it was used on.

Now, feel free to discuss the issues surrounding the incident. We will not publish comments that attack the personal lives of those involved or unfounded rumors of a potentially defamatory nature. There's plenty of real issues to discuss here without fanning flames. We do not want to be even partially responsible for Al Sharpton showing up on Troy's doorstep.

Otherwise, we'll take a wait and see attitude. The process is in motion.

THANKS BUT NO THANKS

Not too long ago we complained of the Times Union's sparse coverage of Troy and Rensselaer County politics. Well, they've certainly made up for it in the past few weeks.

THANKS BUT NO THANKS

The two token Democrats on Troy's Charter Review Commission will not be reporting for duty. Council President Clem Campana and 4th District Councilman William Dunne informed Mayor Tutunjian that, "We'd love to but we're washing our hair that night."

Normally, not showing-up is a bad thing. Ask the Anti-Federalists about that. Here, the Commission is so loaded with Tutunjian cronies, employees and contributors that it won't make a difference.

Maybe we should back up and check this out. Is the Commission loaded with cronies, hacks and employees? The obvious answer is yes. How about contributors?

A quick trip to the NYS Bd. of Elections website will reveal the following:

Peter Kehoe: $1,200 to Tutunjian; $175 to Troy GOP;
Bob Mirch: $3,000+ to Tutunjian: $175 to Troy GOP;
Flora O'Malley: $219 to Tutunjian: $180 to Troy GOP;
Patrick Russo: $99 to Tutunjian: $180 to Troy GOP;
Jack Smith: $99 to Tutunjian: $180 to Troy GOP;
Jim Walsh: $500 to Tutunjian: $75 to Troy GOP:

We are not including Crawley or Bauer's contributions nor what these folks have sent to the County GOP (we all know it's more important to court the County Chairs than the City Chairs).

People can contribute to whomever they choose. It's doesn't make them qualified or unqualified to sit on a Charter Review Commission. It does make the entire Commission suspect however, when they'll be teaming with the Deputy Mayor, Jeff Buell, GOP candidate Beverly Traa and up-and-coming GOP hack, Jason Scholfield. It's as if Tutunjian isn't even making an effort any more.
The Democrats had originally proposed this for the February agenda. As soon as Harry got word of it, he formed his own Commission. Our bet? There will be two Charter Review commissions.


MEANWHILE....

While the the mayor engages in a partisan masturbatory commission frenzy, what are the Democrats doing?

They are considering a Landlord Registry that would target negligent absentee landlords. Apparently, it was a hit.

The landlord registry legislation drew support from both homeowners and landlords during the Planning Committee meeting. - Kenneth Crowe

The Democrats also appointed the four remaining members of the City Hall Committee.

Robert Anderson, Charle-Pan Dawson, Robert "Sid" Whitaker and Patrick Quinn were named to the nine-member committee that will study whether City Hall should be sold or repaired. The appointments were announced by Councilman Ken Zalewski, the Planning Committee chairman.

The Democrats have made a mockery of this Committee. The Mayor chose Dan Crawley and Mark Wojcik. Who do the Democrats choose? Patrick Quinn? Mr. Quinn's "qualifications" to analyze whether City Hall can be repaired or should be sold? He was the Dean of Architecture at RPI. It's grossly irresponsible of the Democrats to introduce expertise and competence into the process.



And finally, At-Large Councilman John Brown received sharp criticism from the Mayor when he proposed helping the Mayor keep a 2004 State of the City promise.



Kind of sad when the Mayor gets slapped around by a freshman Councilman.

FRIDAY FOLLIES

CRIME DOWN?

Now that the Division of Criminal Justice statistics show violent crime dropping, guess who is citing statistics?

Or, to use Tutunjian's theory: Is crime really down or are fewer people reporting crimes?

CITY HALL SALE

The Deputy Mayor thinks it's taking too long to get the City Hall Sale Committee up and running.

It's a shame. If only Harry had been open about this entire process back in the Fall the deal might be done. Instead, the Mayor's election year stunt backfired. It may have cost him a GOP majority on the Council. At the very least, City employees are still toiling away in a building with a structural integrity that has become emblematic of the Tutunjian Administration's integrity.

PAY RAISES

This issue has a tortured chronological history. By now, it is clear that the retroactive raises will not be touched. That's seems best. We can imagine that would be a nightmare scenario in terms of paperwork, budgeting etc.

The 2008 raises are back on the table, according to this article, if they were ever off the table.

According to DPW Commissioner and pay raise expert Bob Mirch:

"I just hope that all members of the majority are willing to tell the truth under deposition of how they met at Democratic headquarters with Chairman (Thomas) Wade and discussed punishing the administrative employees of Mayor Tutunjian," said Mirch. "In a court of law we will definitely hold them accountable. It’s illegal. They’re not judges. We will definitely file a lawsuit because no one is elected to punish people."

We once had a dog like that. You never, ever reached for his bowl while he ate. Good luck with that suit, Bob.

Mirch also threatened to sue the city for violating the Rensselaer County Legislature's post-election pay raise copyright.

WE GOT GIP'D

The South Troy Gateway Project has been less than a success among many South Troy residents. Those same residents may know be happy to learn that they may pay twice for the project.

The City awarded the contract to the lowest, qualified bidder. Then, the Administration gave the contract to another company. Needless to say, the low bidder was displeased. He's filed a Notice of Claim and a 50-h hearing was conducted this week. A suit is expected to be filed in the near future.

Despite the aesthetic quality of the project, we think it's important to remember that the contractor doing the work did not conceive or design the project. The contractor was hired to do the work. Although there may be some differences in what the low bidder would have done, we doubt the result would be significantly more pleasing.

The point is, there's a very good chance we'll be paying twice for the GIP.

MORE CONDOLENCES

Our sincere condolences to the Cholakis family and their friends.

It's been a bad 6/7 months for area political types: Riley, Swartz, Bruno, Blakeborough and now Tom Cholakis.

Here's to hoping that '08 will be better.

SURGERY SUCCESSFUL

We are happy to announce that Mayor Tutunjian's recent surgery went fine. The recovering pol even displayed the extracted specimen that had blocked oxygen from reaching his brain to a Times Union photographer.

CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION

Troy's mayor continues to display an utter lack of originality by announcing a Charter Review Commission. A intriguing idea that had been proposed for the City Council's February Agenda less than 48 hours before the Mayor's announcement.

That's not to say that the commission's composition isn't original. Outside of the token Democrats and with the possible exception of Mr. Tyson, each person works for, or has contributed t,o the Mayor.

We could take the Commission a bit more seriously if the following people were chosen instead of Harry's posse:


David B. Mitchell

Patrick Morphy

Art Judge

Peter Kehoe

Henry Bauer

Mark Pattison

Jack Mahoney

Mark McGrath

Clem Campana

Bill Dunne

Then, toss in a resident or two as well as a few people who have worked for other municipalities.
What's the point? Individuals that currently or formerly work with the Charter. Right now, it looks like a Tutunjian contributor circle jerk. Or, maybe the Council should just set-up their own review commision.

It's not yet known when they'll begin to commissionate.

WATER DEAL

Newly elected At-Large Councilman John Brown has proposed a deal to settle the disputed water bill between Troy and Rensselaer:

Democratic Councilman John Brown wants to consider an upfront $600,000 payment from Rensselaer toward settling the debt, which includes penalties and interest. A further repayment schedule would follow, he said.

Brown has invited Rensselaer Mayor Dan Dwyer, a Democrat, to explain the proposal to the City Council's Public Utilities Committee later this month.

The issue of water payments from Rensselaer has languished under two city administrations. Councilman Bill Dunne pushed the idea of a settlement for years while in the minority but the idea fell on deaf ears.

It's about time someone moved this issue forward. The numbers can be changed but it's a start. There's an amount of money Rensselaer can afford to pay. Find that number and structure it into a lump some payment and periodic payments over time. Harry has had years to close this deal and has failed. May as well let someone else try.

The idea that the two municipalities will go to trial over this is silly. All that does is give Troy a useless judgment that Rensselaer may not be able to pay. A settlement agreement will include safeguards for Troy's interests in case of a default. It's not that complicated folks.

Additionally, another detail the media chose to ignore:

The City of Rensselaer would have a designated account to stay current on all future service which would net Troy over $700,000 a year they are not collecting as of now. So in total Troy would receive around $1.5 million in 2008 from this deal and anywhere from $700,000 to $900,000, or more, every year going forward.

They may want to find an arbitrator or mediator to help hash out the details, including what Rensselaer can reasonably afford to pay in the lump sum. Settlements are compromises. Troy is not going to see the full amount. On the other hand, Rensselaer will no longer pull a dine-and-dash.

Maybe Troy can use some of the money to pay its 911 debt to the County.

THE CLERKS OFFICE

When the incoming Troy City Clerk and his staff reported for duty, something was amiss. Items were missing, templates had been deleted from computers and documents shredded. No word yet as to who may been so childish as to destroy city property.

TROY NEWS

Let us begin by saying that the e-mail posted yesterday was.....not real. We received e-mails asking us about its authenticity. The header on the e-mail was real. Those were the addresses on Dunne's e-mail. The text of yesterday's e-mail was pure fiction, as far as we know.

Moving on...

MEETING

Harry and Chappy met and will continue to meet periodically. Not a bad sign at all.

Tutunjian agreed the meeting when well.

“I explained to him the importance of having good communication,” said the mayor, who’s pointed out repeatedly that the Democrats haven’t talked to him in the past.

It's quite breathtaking, isn't it? Harry still throws out that old canard that "Democrats wouldn't meet with him." And the media still prints that mantra. Now, of course, good communication is important....for Harry.

SALARIES

At Monday's Finance Committee meeting, Councilmen Mark Wojcik and Mark McGrath (hereinafter The Marks) questioned the $5,000 raise proposed for Legislative Assistant Vic DeBonis.

A Legislative Assistant who is also an attorney is worth an extra $5,000. The Council can always pay for it with a budget amendment that moves money from, say, the Mayor or Deputy Mayor's office.

As for The Marks questioning the raise? Good. You know what? When you're in the minority it's your job, your duty, to ask questions and keep an eye on those in power. We're not going to devote The Troy Polloi to whacking three Councilmen who have little or no collective power. It's stupid. In fact, since this blog has always been more interested in sticking-up for the little guy, we may just keep an eye on how the minority councilmen are treated. With Campana running the meetings we have no reason to doubt they'll be treated with the respect elected officials deserve. We watched the Administration and certain GOP council members act irate when the Democratic minority dared to speak. It was wrong then and it would be wrong now.

We know the example will be lost on the Administration but perhaps it won't be lost on future council members.

CITY HALL COMMITTEE

According to The Record and the Times Union, Deputy Mayor Dan Crawley is one of Harry's picks to sit on the Committee that will review the sale of City Hall.

We like this pick. Crawley, if he takes it seriously, can add a lot to this process. After all, he works in the building day in and day out. He may also be able to move the process along.

It's inconceivable that they won't determine the building should be sold. The real issue will be how.

Finally, we hate to pile on this guy but we are only 9 days into '08 and may already have the headline of the year.

ANOTHER "EXPLOSIVE" E-MAIL

It looks like the "Rescind the Pay Raises" movement may be dead. We're not sure why. It may have something to do with another "explosive" e-mail sent by Councilman Bill Dunne (4th District).

As you know, Dunne sent an e-mail to the Democratic members of the Troy City Council that attached a proposed resolution that would amend the Non-Rep policy and rescind the 2008 pay raises the outgoing Council doled out to political appointees.

Dunne referred to this as the "Punishment" version. We are not sure why Dunne referred to this as the "Punishment" version of the Non-Rep policy. It may have something to do with the fact that rescinding a pay raise is not a reward.

Now, another explosive e-mail has surfaced. One where Dunne actually describes the "punishment." If there are children in the room, please ask them to leave. It ain't pretty:

On a more serious note, this entire episode screams for an investigation. Perhaps a Grand Jury?

Why?

1) The City Council has no authority over the budget or salaries;
2) Civil Rights were violated by a proposed change that singles out one person;
3) Mirch, Crawley, Mitchell...are employees....

Of course, we joke because Mirch's righteous indignation is joke-worthy.

We can't blame the media for running with this as it's great fun. It would be nice if they pointed out the various ways that this Administration has "punished" people and business such as Carignan, DeSeve and others. Particularly DeSeve, who was singled-out for punishment days after after he criticized three Tutunjian appointees. Of course, the DeSeve incident involved the First Amendment not something as important as appointed officials and their money. A follow-up story on what's going on with the Code violation issued to DeSeve would be nice. Has it died "on the vine" to avoid a Civil Rights suit against the City?

Also, keep an eye on the bidding process in the South Troy Gateway Project. We won't make a Federal case out of it but could that be more "punishment?"

UPDATE

We have one more day remaining on our punishment and will resume our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

In the meantime, our sincere condolences to Senator Bruno for his loss.

BOBBY'S FIGHTIN' MAD!

It takes a lot to get DPW Commissioner Bob Mirch fired-up. One thing that does bring his passion for public service to the surface is....his money.

From The Record:

As the City Council sat down for its first meeting of the year, tension among several officials was tangible mainly due to a controversial email that was recently uncovered that implied that a Democratic council member believed several Republican officials should be “punished” by having their retroactive raises rescinded.

A retroactive pay raise expert was brought-in to discuss the issue.

Initially, the expert considered using a County employee to discuss the issue by by anonymous robo-call. Instead, with his tax-payer induced lifestyle on the line, he decided to whine in-person.

“The reason I stand here tonight is because of this email I received from Councilman Dunne,” said Mirch. “This is clearly an example of Dunne seeking political revenge and violating my rights as an employee. Only the city’s judicial system has the right to ‘punish’ people and that is dictated by the law.”

Mirch, who has already talked with his attorney and plans to see the district attorney today, asked that the city launch an investigation to answer questions such as who is deciding this “punishment” and why anyone should be “punished” to begin with.

“These are questions that need to be answered,” Mirch continued. “I don’t deserve to be ‘punished.’”

Ironically, Mr. Mirch has never stood to tell us why he deserves the raise. Mirch also failed to speak publicly about why he deserved a post-election raise as County Legislator after raising the taxes of Rensselaer County residents.

Despite righteous indignation, Mirch did misspeak. Mirch did not receive the e-mail from Dunne. He received it via a third-party, something the Democrats may want to look into. Mirch is also not an employee. He's a public official. There's a difference.

As for illegality and violating the Charter? An expert on those issues weighed-in:

In response to Dunne’s email, the mayor said, “I am shocked by the contents of the e-mail and the intention of Councilman Dunne to carry out ‘punishment’ of members of my administration. This action would violate the City Charter and, more importantly, it would violate the rights of these employees. Here we are on Jan. 3, and we are already reading about illegal political punishment.”

Mayor Tutunjian is correct. Only the Mayor and his appointees can violate the law.


Let the good times roll.

WINNERS & LOSERS

The Record's Jim Franco gives us his Winners & Losers of 2007.

Among the winners:

Democrats on the Troy City Council: They will have a veto-proof majority for the next two years. Deserving their own nod in the win column are Councilman Ken Zawleski, D-District 5, who defeated incumbent Bob Krogh by a record breaking margin, 1,498 to 704 and Councilman Gary Galuski, D-District 6, who defeated three-term incumbent Carolin Collier. Newcomer Councilman John Brown also won an at- large seat in his first bid for public office.

Richard McNally: The Valley Falls attorney squeaked by Republican Greg Cholakis by 1 percent of the vote and is now the Rensselaer County district attorney.

Among the Losers:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer: From “Day One” the governor has had a tough first year. “Troopergate” all but enveloped state government and while the governor had a popularity rating of more than 70 percent when he took office a year ago that same number of people now don’t think he is telling all he knows about “Troopergate” and think he should testify under oath.

Speaking of Winners, Richard McNally took the oath of office for District Attorney on Tuesday, January 1, 2008. He's the first elected Democrat to hold the office in eighteen years. His first day on the job was yesterday. The big question?

Do You Approve or Disapprove of How Rich McNally is Handling the Office of District Attorney?*

McNally enjoyed a lengthy honeymoon period from 9:15 AM until lunchtime. Then his approval numbers dropped precipitously only to rebound by the close of business on Wednesday.

*222 people were questioned from 9:05 AM to 5:15 PM, January 2, 2008.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We hope everyone had a safe and Holiday Season.

There will be a lot of changes coming in 2008.

The Democrats now control the Troy City Council.

Who will they hire? According to Talespin:

It looks like they will appoint Vic “Bud” DeBonis, an attorney who ran unsuccessfully against Councilman Mark Wojcik in District 1, as their legislative assistant. It’ll do two things: avoid having to create a new position, an attorney for the council, through the sticky Civil Service system while still giving the council their own attorney on “day one” so they don’t have to rely on the corporation counsels office.

The city clerk will be Bill McInerney, a former state Assembly employee and a longtime committeeman, and the city auditor will be Mary Beth Quinn, wife of former clerk Larry Quinn. Robert Martiniano, who ran for council a few years ago, will be the confidential secretary to Council President Clement Campana.

Initially, it looked as though the Council would hire it's own attorney (under the Charter provision that allows them to hire consultants). The choice of Bud DeBonis as Legislative Assistant kills two birds with one stone.

Rumors did spread that North Greenbush Town Attorney Josh Sabo would be hired as the Council's attorney. Those rumors proved unfounded. However, there will be a Troy-North Greenbush connection. It is rumored that Troy City Councilman Hank Bauer will become an assistant town attorney for North Greenbush. If Bauer decides to take the position, we wish him well.

NO VITO-PROOF MAJORITY

Despite the 6-3 lineup, the Democrats will not have a Vito-Proof majority. More from Talespin:

We also hear Vito Ciccarelli, the former legislative assistant who ran for the council but lost, as of tomorrow, will get a job as events coordinator for the city and former Councilwoman Carolin Collier, who lost her District 6 seat, will get a job in the Planning Department.

Congrats to Vito and Carolin.