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.