tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111081512024-03-14T00:44:05.497-04:00The Troy PolloiA TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE SINCE AUGUST 8, 2015Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.comBlogger841125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-48607362490224537562016-08-02T07:19:00.002-04:002016-08-02T07:19:44.822-04:00BETTER LATE THAN NEVERHere's one from the 'better late than never' files. According to The Record, Jack Cox, owner of Jack's Auto Sales on River Street, was fined $81,000 by City Court Judge Chris Maier. The reason? Keeping a junked car on the property. We know, we never would have guessed.
Cox has to pay $1,000 a day for each day a vehicle was illegally stored on the property. This is just one battle in a veryDemocratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com171tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-46198448503329695672016-07-13T06:39:00.001-04:002016-07-13T06:39:06.196-04:00SUMMER BREAKSummer Break time. Nothing much going on. We've had an indictment and another water main break. Ho-hum. It's all rather tiresome. Really nothing all that fun to write about. See you next week.Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com64tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-73098749774781098632016-07-06T05:29:00.001-04:002016-07-06T05:29:46.783-04:00CHARTER ISSUESTroy's new City Charter is now operational. However, according to one newspaper account, there are issues. It looks like some things were overlooked, creating potential issues for the future. This, after a commission worked on this for quite some time.
We suppose it is not unexpected that one or two things were overlooked. It happens and we all know that committees and commissions produce Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-22796979768167758592016-06-30T06:41:00.001-04:002016-06-30T06:41:27.371-04:00GORGE FATALITYThe Poestenkill Gorge claimed another victim on Tuesday. Connor Reynolds, who would have entered his senior year at Brittonkill this fall, died on Tuesday. He fell, hit his head, and drowned.
It seems like this happens every year or two. Someone is drowned or paralyzed or otherwise severely injured while at the Gorge. Of course, there is really nothing realistic that can be done. People swim Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-69463847888674563412016-06-27T06:26:00.000-04:002016-06-27T06:26:05.534-04:00ACTING COMPTROLLER PASSES AWAYJoe Mazzariello, the City of Troy's acting Comptroller, passed away yesterday due to a heart attack.
Mazzariello had worked for the City for more than thirty years and was set to retire on today. He had been working on a part-time basis. he was sixty-four years old.
RIP, Joe.Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-70987768758598525752016-06-22T06:20:00.001-04:002016-06-22T06:20:42.813-04:00HONORING SAMUEL WILSONBy now, everyone has heard the tragic news: No Uncle Sam Day parade.
But no one should despair yet. According to The Record a replacement event is in the works:
It might be a block party, or it could be a hot dog-eating contest, or maybe even a classic car show, but about 25 people who came out for a community meeting Monday night vowed to find some way for the city to honor the 250th Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com51tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-80480500011550623522016-06-20T06:24:00.000-04:002016-06-20T06:24:48.260-04:00NEWS DUMPJim Walsh dies last week. Walsh was a long-time figure in Republican politics in Rensselaer County for years. He was a former county legislator, Chair of both the Troy and county Republican Committees as well as a State Board of Elections Official. Walsh was 76 years old.
Walsh was brought into the Tutunjian Administration early on as a Co-Deputy Mayor in order to babysit Dan Crawley. Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-55793702399007664312016-06-15T06:55:00.004-04:002016-06-15T06:55:59.296-04:00POLICE UPGRADESThe Troy PD will get several upgrades including original, Troy PD badges. Until now, police badges have been refurbished NYC badges that eventual fall apart.
We had no idea. That sounds a little sad. As if we buy our badges off of EBay or the Dollar Store.
But in Troy, where the badges are refurbished from New York City-area agencies, not all are made the same. In fact, sometimes they Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-19859172382481388832016-06-13T06:04:00.000-04:002016-06-13T06:04:11.370-04:00RESIDENCY EXEMPTION SURVIVESRevoking the residency exemption for Troy's public officers will not make it to a vote in the State legislature. The Council had previously approved a measure:
The City Council narrowly approved a resolution at their May 5 meeting to seek legislation overturning the exemption. State Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Albany, and Assemblyman John McDonald III, D-Cohoes, had agreed to sponsor the legislation inDemocratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-24385600304763666452016-06-08T07:16:00.002-04:002016-06-08T07:16:25.655-04:00THIS SOUNDS LIKE A FUN SATURDAYAccording to the Times Union:
The Troy City Council will hold a rare weekend meeting 10 a.m. Saturday at City Hall. The topic is the passage of a Home Rule Message to send to the State Legislature asking to end an exemption for appointed public officers from living in the city.
The move comes from the Republican majority. Requiring city employees to live in town has been a topic Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-56866056189355756342016-06-06T07:17:00.000-04:002016-06-06T07:17:13.061-04:00VEGA VERDICTThere is much chatter about the Vega verdict. Gabriel Vega was accused of the 2nd Degree murder of his girlfriend, pregnant at the time with his child, and then burning down the crime scene. The victim, Vanessa Milligan, was nineteen years-old when murdered. Vega was twenty years-old.
The jury deliberated for four days before finding Vega guilty of Manslaughter, a lesser crime than 2nd Degree Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-79016854441920559112016-06-02T06:00:00.000-04:002016-06-02T06:00:29.125-04:00MAHAR'S REIGN......THE GIFT THAT KEEPS GIVING.
According to the Times Union:
Attorneys for Rensselaer County agreed to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit against former sheriff Jack Mahar — just two days after a judge issued a ruling that would have allowed a jury to hear a racist remark allegedly uttered by Mahar's successor, Patrick Russo.
county's lawyers, John W. Bailey and Crystal Peck, agreed to Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-17703856317499098582016-05-29T08:04:00.000-04:002016-05-29T08:04:50.585-04:00ANOTHER SPECIAL EPISODE OF...
We were pleased to see that the New York Times, the nation's paper of record, points out the same issue the Troy Polloi pointed out: District Attorney Abelove's actions are a strong argument for Governor Cuomo's Executive Order granting the Office of the Attorney General jurisdiction over cases of police shootings that involved unarmed civilians.
The New York Times has called for the removalDemocratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com78tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-62639270873386297572016-05-26T06:48:00.000-04:002016-05-26T06:48:01.342-04:00NEW COMMISH......CONTINUED
James Franco (loved him in Freaks & Geeks) dug-up some good background on the presumptive Commissioner of Planning & Economic Development. According to the Talk 1300 Report:
According to The Gazette, James Livingston bashed Strichman, a zoning officer, at a public comment section of a Council meeting for not enforcing the city code in a strict enough manner.
Strichman, in Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-25060261633401876382016-05-25T06:04:00.001-04:002016-05-25T06:04:06.102-04:00NEW COMMISHAccording the Times Union:
The city's new commissioner of planning and economic development will get a $15,000 boost in his salary under a unanimous vote by the Troy Local Development Corp. at its May meeting.
Steve Strichman will receive the additional compensation as the TLDC's CEO in addition to his budgeted city commissioner's salary of $76,485, bringing his total income to $91,485.
"The Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-30312170928750018182016-05-23T07:40:00.000-04:002016-05-28T09:15:54.364-04:00FRENCH IMMUNIZED
On a very special episode of...
It looks like D.A. (disaster area?) Joel Abelove declined to obtain a waiver of immunity from Troy Police Sergeant Randall French before French's grand jury testimony. A grand jury that gathered to determine if French committed a crime.
The district attorney's unusual decision not to require the officer, Sgt. Randall French, to waive hisDemocratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-14946197711722312282016-05-19T06:32:00.002-04:002016-05-19T06:32:53.470-04:00NEWS DROUGHT IINot much in the way of fun news. Joel hasn't had another case yanked from him and Ms. Mantello hasn't had a press conference in hours. The good people of Troy did pass a school budget and a Capital Project:
Troy City School District residents have approved a $112.9 million budget for the 2016-17 school year as well as a $23.3 million Capital Project – both with a 0-percent tax levy Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com86tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-18017052436770934202016-05-16T06:17:00.001-04:002016-05-16T08:27:35.046-04:00INDEPENDENT AUDIT SAYSTroy has fiscal problems.
Yes, the independent audit, which cost $19,000, has told us that Troy's finances are a mess and that the city receives less revenue than it spends. Money well spent, that.
Council members agreed that nothing could be left off the table for them to consider, including layoffs, although Mantello stuck to her pledge not to support any mid-year property tax increase.
So, Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-61613800259656126902016-05-13T06:33:00.001-04:002016-05-13T06:33:55.559-04:00PIVODA GOES FREEOn another episode of.....
On April 14, 2016, after less than one hour of jury deliberations, Anthony Pivoda was found not guilty of sexually abusing a 3 year-old. The events occurred in 2012.
Pivoda's assigned counsel was Holly Trexler.
If we have the basics straight, and we'll try to be gentle, DNA was found in the victims mouth and other areas. DNA was also found on a Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-64347142949528917702016-05-11T06:38:00.000-04:002016-05-11T06:38:10.817-04:00JOEL BLINKSJoel Blinks.
A settlement filed late Monday in Albany will settle a court petition the attorney general filed last month accusing Abelove of violating an executive order when the district attorney presented evidence in the fatal police shooting to a grand jury that cleared the officer of wrongdoing.
<!-- fixed-asset perfectPixelWide --><!-- hearst/item/standalone.tpl -->
<!-- mid:freeform.Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-67609307181190076452016-05-09T05:48:00.000-04:002016-05-09T05:48:20.955-04:00MONUMENT SQUAREA big congratulations must go out to the We Care About the Square crowd. The Kirchoff project is dead. Kirchoff blames the City.
"Kirchhoff said the problems go back to Troy's original request for proposals that failed to reveal the site's true conditions.
"The RFP was materially inadequate and misleading in terms of providing mapping and information regarding the presence of significant Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-1592562137882913522016-05-04T06:42:00.000-04:002016-05-04T06:42:23.245-04:00CURIOUS AND CURIOUSER District Attorney Joel Abelove's race to the Grand Jury with the Thevenin death just gets more interesting each day.
The Times Union had this story on Saturday and this story yesterday.
From Saturday's story:
"Two civilians who witnessed the fatal shooting of a DWI suspect by a Troy police sergeant were not called to testify before a Rensselaer County grand jury that cleared the officer Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-37629087749202154012016-04-29T06:23:00.000-04:002016-04-29T06:23:04.971-04:00UnAbelove? We've been following this story but waiting for a bit more information. No need to rush to judgment.
So, last year, Governor Cuomo issued an Executive Order pursuant to the Executive Law that would allow the Executive Branch jurisdiction over police shootings that involved unarmed suspects.....Whether District Attorneys like this or not, it is lawful. Governor Pataki issued a similar order Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-51831511408493794042016-04-27T07:43:00.005-04:002016-04-27T07:43:46.308-04:00WHAT IF....Forrest Gump and Sean Penn had a child. Would that child be District 2 Councilman Mark McGrath?
We can never tell if Mark McGrath is simply a dumb individual or simply cannot grasp a reality that does not comport with his own fantasy world.
In a recent tirade, Councilman McGrath ranted that Spring Little League received a grant for a façade facelift from the LDC. McGrath's issue seems Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11108151.post-75627239232335629572016-04-25T06:44:00.000-04:002016-04-25T08:47:35.687-04:00FIRST IMPRESSIONSNewly minted District 6 Councilman John Donohue would like Troy to make a good first impression on people. In particular, he would like the Gateways to Troy to look better. The gateway closest to Donohue's heart is the area near the Menands Bridge. What greets people entering the city via the Menands Bridge? Not much. Some houses, a billboard or two and a pathetic hill partially covered in some Democratushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08025330956677004415noreply@blogger.com47