SIGNS - PART II

The following is Part II of our interview with Joe Cavallaro.

When we last left our hero, he had been arrested by the New York State Police. His crime? Trying to speak with someone in John Faso's Albany Office. Warning! The content of this interview may not be suitable for those over eighteen years of age or older.

TP: So they took you to Hunter.

JC: Yes, I was fingerprinted and all that.

TP: Did they say what you were charged with?

JC: Well, after everything was done at Hunter, they transported me up the throughway. It was a whole big production. Another trooper met us about halfway and I was transferred to that car and taken in. It was some special trooper unit, the Executive Unit. Like the Gestapo.

TP: What were the charges?

JC: Aggravated Harassment in the 2nd Degree. Judge Herrick came and arraigned me. It was the only time I've ever been arrested so I didn't know anything at all. Then, a sergeant comes in to talk with me. He says, 'You know why you were arrested, don't you?' It was for calling Faso's house. He said, 'You're not being charged with that but that's why you were arrested.' The trooper looked surprised when I told him that Faso's phone number was in the phone book. He also said that since I had no record they'd probably give me something called an ACD or ACOD.

TP: He tells you that the phone calls to Faso's house caused the arrest but that's not part of the complaint? So you have to go up to Albany, where the office was located rather than stay in Greene County?

JC: Exactly. Afterwards, I was released.

TP: How many court appearances did you make?

JC: I had to go up there seven or eight times. The trial was adjourned once, at my request. It was scheduled for June but I was working with the Sheriff Department's D.A.R.E Program on an event for kids. I guess I'm a real menace to society.

TP: Who was your lawyer?

JC: Mark Mishler, a civil rights attorney. I spoke with a few lawyers. Many of them said I would lose and they didn't want to get involved. I went to a few lawyers who didn't want to get involved.

TP: What were your legal fees?

JC: About $5,000. My business also took a hit.

TP: Did the prosecution ever make you that offer? The ACOD?

JC: Yes, an ACD. Something where if I stayed out of trouble for six months the charges would be dropped. I said I couldn't do that. I wasn't brought up that way.

TP: This circus actually went to trial?

JC: About a year later. A day or two before the trial, my lawyer calls and is nervous. He had just found out that Paul Clyne was going to prosecute. I didn't know the name but my lawyer said that Clyne had the law in his blood, was Mr. Justice or something like that. One of the top guys in the office. I was light-hearted about it and actually ended up helping him relax.

TP: Who was the judge?

JC: Judge Duncan. Great guy.

TP: How long was the trial?

JC: It went into a second day before the prosecution ended its case.

TP: Did you have to put on a defense?

JC: No. The judge dismissed the case.

TP: Was Faso there when the case was dismissed?

JC: Yes. Because we subpoenaed him. In fact, we subpoenaed eveyone involved. Everyone that spoke to me at the office, the trooper, everyone. The only person I didn't subpoena was Mrs. Faso. She was the only one that didn't hang-up on me. She was nice and I wanted to show her more respect than Faso showed my wife.

TP: Why did you subpoena Faso's staff? Weren't you afraid they would lie?

JC: No. I just knew that they would tell the truth. I just had a feeling that under oath, they wouldn't lie.

TP: Did they lie on the stand?

JC: No. They all told the truth. They said I was polite and courteous. And the tape they played showed that also. Linehan made a terrible witness for the prosecution. At one point she testified, about me calling the Albany Office, "You don't call the White House and ask to speak with the President. It doesn't work that way." Can you believe that?

TP: You're fucking kidding me?

JC: No, I'm not. She also said that it was office policy that, because of my geographic location, that I speak with Elaine Martin, in the Coxsackie Office. Harry Spector, a spokesperson for Faso, later said that there was no such policy.

TP: What was your sense of Paul Clyne in all of this. Was he enthusiastic or did he look embarrassed?

JC: Embarrassed. He wasn't into it at all. I figure he's probably got murder and rape trials to prepare for and his boss tells him to go do this. No, he didn't want to be there.

TP: Did Faso ever apologize?

JC: No.

TP: So Faso is in the courtroom, at least one day. Presumably, and he's a lawyer, he could have brought this nonsense to an end. He didn't?

JC: No.

TP: Did Judge Duncan admonish the prosecution or did he just dismiss the case?

JC: No, he kind of went after them. He did say my phone calls were for a 'legitimate constituent concern.'

TP: Did you ever get the signs?

JC: Yes. I called my state senator, Senator Bonacic. Had the signs within the week.

TP: Did he have you arrested first?

JC: No.

TP: Has anyone contacted you about putting up a 'Faso for Governor' sign?

JC: No.

TP: Have you contributed any money to the Faso campaign?

JC: Yeah, I'm taking out a second mortgage so I can contribute.

TP: If Faso is elected governor, do you think there may be an increase in anti-sign behavior?

JC: Absolutely. It might be very difficult to drive to New Jersey, unless you already know the way.

TP: Has this effected your business?

JC: Yes. I've lost customers, especially customers from the local area. You see, in a small place like this, no one wants to rock the boat. The politicians control everything and no one wants to get on their bad side. A lot of people here have jobs with the town and county and no one wants to be on the bad side of any politician. Even the Democrats. I went and spoke with the Democratic Town chair a few days after my arrest. She wasn't interested in what had happened.
On the other hand, the further you get from Hunter, the more support I got. People will stop in and tell me they respect me for standing up for myself and not rolling over. The story was in a lot of the papers and people remember.

TP: Is contacting your elected representative a gateway crime? If you're willing to do that what's next? Leaving the room without turning off the lights?

JC: I don't think so. I've been clean ever since.

TP: Any advice for someone who may want a sign?

JC: Make sure your re-dial button works.

TP: What type of governor would Faso make?

JC: Can you imagine? Look how he treated me when he was only an assemblyman.

TP: Thanks for your time.

JC: Thank you.

TP: Never call us again or we'll have you arrested.

PART II

Due to overwhelming demand and great feed-back (plus a family emergency), we'll be posting Part II of our interview with Joe Cavallaro tomorrow. Stay tuned.

SIGNS

Joe Cavallaro resides in Haines Falls, in the Town of Hunter, Greene County. He has lived there since 1973, after moving there from Brooklyn. Mr. Cavallaro owns and operates the High Peaks Motel and the Twilight General Store.

In 1998, Joe Cavallaro was arrested for the first and only time in his life. His crime? Trying to speak with someone in John Faso's Albany office.

We were lucky enough to sit down and discuss this incident with Mr. Cavallaro. We thank him for his time and hope you enjoy this glimpse into the character of John Faso, a man who wants to be our next governor. So sit back and enjoy the show. And now.....




TP: To start off, are you a Republican, Democrat or other?

Joe Cavallaro: Registered Conservative.

TP: Have you ever voted for Mr. Faso?

JC: Yes.

TP: Why did you initially contact Mr. Faso's office?

JC: I had been approached by someone about my store being a designated Official Forest Preserve Information Station for the Catskill Forest Preserve. I'd get two signs. People hiking, camping or whatever, could stop in and get information about where to go, things like that. You know what the signs are? Two pieces of wood with yellow lettering. One for the store and one would go on the road. I thought it be good for business and for the area.

TP: How soon did you expect to get the signs?

JC: A few days before all this happened, I was talking with some Schenectady big shot who said, 'Joe, it'll take months for you to get those. Call someone.'

TP: Who did you call?

JC: My Assemblyman, John Faso. I called his Albany office. I thought someone in the Albany office could get something done.

TP: Who did you talk to on that first phone call?

JC: A staffer. I never even got the word 'sign' out of my mouth. Before I was arrested, if you asked anyone in Faso's office what I was calling about, they couldn't tell you. They wouldn't have even known about the signs.

TP: So, as far as you know, Mr. Faso does not have any irrational hatred of signs? No childhood sign traumas?

JC: I couldn't tell you.

TP: What did the staffer say?

JC: I was directed to call the Coxsackie office but I didn't want to call that office. A few years back I had called about something to do with an ice skating rink and the lady at the Coxsackie office and she was....I don't want to sound mean....like a box of rocks. You’d get nothing done with that office.

TP: So what happened?

JC: The staffer said they'd get back to me. A while later, Nancy Linehan, Faso's Staff Director calls me. She said, "You don't tell me who you are going to speak with. I tell you who you're going to speak with.”

TP: Charming.

JC: I said, 'the only person who talks like that to me is my 82 year-old mother. Then, click. She hung up on me.

TP: How many Faso staffers did you talk to when all is said and done?

JC: Two, the first lady and then Linehan. Then when I called, they hung up on me. I even sent a fax to make a complaint. I probably called thirty times and out of the thirty times, twenty-seven were hang-ups.

TP: The phone calls to the Albany office took place all in the same day?

JC: Yes. I just wanted to speak to someone. I'm a constituent. I wanted to speak with someone in the Albany office.

TP: Other than Mr. Faso, have you harassed any other assemblymen?

JC: Believe it or not, he's it.

TP: Would you like to harass my Assemblyman?

JC: Sure, give me his number.

TP: Did you ever talk to anybody in the Albany office again?

JC: Well, once, when I called back, a lady tried to talk with me. I think she felt bad about what was happening. Then, and this staffer testified to this at the trial, Linehan figured out who she was talking to and grabbed the phone and hung it up. Then I called back and I thought I was getting somewhere. They put me on hold and the next thing I hear is, "This is Trooper Roger Leavitt.” Honestly, I thought lines had been crossed.

TP: Because you hadn't called the troopers?

JC: Right. I honestly thought there was a connection problem. So this trooper starts telling me that I have to stop calling and If I don't, I will be arrested. This conversation is on tape and it was played at the trial. I started lecturing the trooper on the Constitution and all sorts of things. He even asked if the conversation was being recorded. I was like, 'do you realize what you're telling me? I can't call my elected representative's office? I was courteous, but I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I actually asked him how he could take a politician's word over mine. I told him that in a recent poll, politicians ranked below used car salesman for trustworthiness. When they played the tape at trial, the Judge said that I had been right on the law. Both the Judge and the jury laughed about that tape. Anyway, I even gave the trooper directions to my home.

TP: At some point, you call Mr. Faso's home?

JC: Right. The next day, I'm in my store and I think, 'what do you do when an office is out of control?’ You call the top dog.

TP: Woof, woof.

JC: So I called Faso's house.

TP: How did you get his phone number? Did you contact some underground network or pay big money for it on the black market?

JC: I used the phone book. A friend mentioned that he had had a problem and called Faso at home. I asked him for the number and he said, “I think it’s in the phone book.” We looked it up.

TP: What kind of phone book? A special, secret phone book?

JC: Just a big, yellow phone book. The kind everyone has. A third grader could have found his number. Faso's phone number was even pre-fixed with the letters, C-A-L-L.

TP: Pretty tricky on your part.

JC: Wasn't it? He wasn't home. His wife answered the phone. I just said, I'd like to speak with John about a problem. She said he wasn't home but she would give him the message. She was very nice.

TP: Did you get the sense that Mrs. Faso was being held against her will?

JC: Maybe. Probably.

TP: How many times did you call Mr. Faso's house?

JC: Well, the next day, he hadn't called me back so I phoned again. Mrs. Faso answered and said that he wasn't there but that he had been home and received the message. Later that day a trooper comes into the store, handcuffs me and carts me away. My wife started crying. I told her it would be fine.

TP: Did you go peacefully or did you contemplate some type of desperate last stand, like “you’ll never take me alive, copper!”

JC: I expected it. I wasn't really surprised. We drove to Hunter where I was finger printed and lodged. They call it ‘lodged’ like they’re taking you to the Holiday Inn. This is funny. On the way to Hunter, the trooper, and I'm not joking, stopped at The Hole Donut in Catskill to get some donuts. I couldn't believe it.

TP: In all fairness to Mr. Faso, he was a Republican Assemblyman in an overwhelmingly Democratic Assembly. Couldn't he have been very busy not getting legislation passed?

JC: True.

TP: Did you ever once, during this whole time, stop thinking about Joe Cavallaro the constituent and think about John Faso the public servant? Did you ever stop and think about how you could help serve John Faso?

JC: I did think about getting his staff some donuts from The Hole Donut.

Part II of the interview will be published on Wednesday. Stay tuned.

BLOGS OF INTEREST

BLOGS OF NOTE

Upstream did an excellent series of posts on the saga of Ralph Tortorici. The posts are worth the time and underline the problems our justice system has in dealing with people who are clearly insane but do not meet the current standard of legal insanity.

Part 1;

Part 2;

Part 3;

There's also a post on Ms. Coleman, the prosecutor.

The posts are worth a look.

Luckily, the closest we've come to a Tortorici is John Romano, another sad case.

WITCH HUNT

The witch hunt is on! It looks like the authorities are coming down hard on Doyle Middle School English teacher Brian Switzer. Switzer was arrested for engaging in on-line conversations with a 14 year-old student. He is charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Minor.

In a time when teachers are the subject of great criticism, do we really need to arrest the good ones? How many teachers are dedicated enough to use their own private time to get to know their students? It looks like Switzer really wanted to get to know his students, so much so that he even inquires about sexual preferences, puberty and personal hygiene. That's dedication and that's why Switzer wins our Teacher of the Year Award!

The victim's mother also gets a thumbs up. So many parents fail to get involved with their teenager's lives. Not this one. Not only did the mother know her daughter was 'chatting' on-line with Switzer, once the story broke, she swung into action and decided to find out what they were chatting about. That's called "pro-active" parenting and it's damn refreshing.

WORD ON THE STREET

By Huggybear

Word on the Street is that the City, in tearing down the Cinema Art Marquee, violated a court order. Looks like the CA's owner hired super-attorney Terry Kindlon. TK obtained a court order prohibiting the wrecking ball from swinging (or in this case sledge hammers). The city ignored the order. Not sure what the order was based on but it may have been something to do with the historical nature of the building. That's what we hear, anyway.

Funny, judges don't like it when their orders are ignored. Could be big trouble for someone.

Word on the Street is that the Feds will fine, sanction or otherwise spank the County for their Weed & Seed screw-ups. Not sure if they'll just have to cough up the $50,000 they "lost" or whether an actual sanction will be handed down. Wonder why the County won't have much to say and do with Weed & Seed anymore?

Word on the Street is that a 1st Street landlord has had numerous code complaints made against her building. The City has taken zero action. Could that be because she's a big GOP contributor?

Word on the Street is that Congressman John will not run for re-election. Seems he may be taking a job with Verizon. It will pay more and be a bit less stressful for the Congressman, who has recently had some medical issues.

Huggybear out!

HAPPY EASTER

We wish all our readers a Happy Easter, Passover and weekend.

We'll leave you with a few thoughts for the weekend.

SCHOOLS

There are two unaddressed items that will prevent Troy from it's supposed comeback, irregardless of which party or person controls the city: schools and the commercial tax base.

Today, we'll discuss the public schools. Troy's public schools, overall, suck.

Check out the Times Union site. Compare cost per pupil, teachers salaries, and academic achievements. Doyle Middle School and Troy High do not measure-up to schools like Shaker, who spend less per pupil and have a lower median teacher salary. Also, at Shaker, the poor students do almost as well, and sometimes as well, academically, as the 'economically advantaged' students.

That's just one school report. Although different school reports use different formulas the evidence all points in the same direction: Troy Schools are inadequate. And now, this!

We don't really know if the Troy Schools suck. That is the perception and as long as that perception remains, middle-class families will not move to Troy. These are the people you want. They work, they get involved in their children's schools and they own homes. They're not coming to Troy and they won't until something is done about the schools. If you do not think young couples with school age children research this topic, you're wrong.

Except for Schenectady, Troy residents have the highest tax burden in the area. What do you get for these outrageous rates: poor schools, garbage pick-up, some street maintenance and a park or two. That's about it. You get basic services at an overpriced rate.

A large part of Troy's future is not in the hands of City Hall or the City Council. Until the school situation is addressed, along with the deteriorating commercial tax base, Troy will, on a good day, do nothing more than tread water.

Have a nice weekend.

MARINA OPERATIONS TO CHANGE

Oh....Sit right back and you'll hear a tale....



Last Thursday, the Troy City Council voted to award the rental of the marina to Joseph Berlino. The marina is currently operated by Rob Goldman and Tim Dufel.

The change in operations comes at a bad time. The canal system opens on May 1, giving Berlino less than a month to get up and running. We also understand that much, if not all, of the equipment and other accoutrements is owned by Goldman and Dufel, who will not be leaving it behind for Berlino.

The Mayor's issue with the marina was that it operated as a port/shipyard rather than a recreational marina. Berlino will also pay Troy $1,000 plus 5% of the profits, more than Goldman and Dufel paid in the last 10 years. Goldman and Dufel also offered to pay $2,500 a year, but have only paid $5,000 and have missed some payments.

That last bit is misleading. An "offer to pay" is not a contract to pay. The City never signed the contract and Goldman and Dufel stopped payment. Why pay anything if you don't have to? Also, one would believe that Goldman and Dufel were not operating a profitable business. Again, this is not accurate. The City never made a deal to share in the portion of the business that made money.

We don't care who runs the place, but the timing is inopportune to say the least. Even someone in the business, Richard Powell, told The Record that it was too close to the May 1 date to switch operations. An amendment was put forth to table to vote until next year. It was denied. Apparently, Harry and the City Council, with years of salty, maritime experience under their belts, felt otherwise.

Seems like they're looking to squeeze out a successful business so they can rummage through the couch cushions to find some spare change. The money's running out folks. It's not an election year so prepare for a tax hike.

No matter. The Troy Marina has, and will continue to, play second-fiddle to Waterford's waterfront. That's the destination for recreation on the waterfront. Once again, Troy has let an opportunity slip away. No one administration is to blame for this lost opportunity. It's decades of mismanagement. When jails, public buildings and parking garages are built on waterfront property, there's a distinct lack of vision.

NIX ON THE FIX

Reform-minded county legislators, acting in the public interest, have killed Fasoldt's attempt to reform the process that led to the legislative pay raise last December.

Raise your hand if you didn't see this one coming. If your hand is raised you must be one of those people that is shocked that O.J. hasn't found the "real killer". The fact that Mirch was on the committee should have been a tip-off to everyone that Kelleher did not take reform seriously. The committee has accomplished exactly what it was intended to accomplish: nothing.
Republicans also refuse to concede that the pay raise was not public knowledge before their votes were cast. If, by public knowledge, Kelleher means that he opened his back door and whispered, "we're getting raises," then he's correct. Does he mean it was out in the open, debated and highlighted in area newspapers? No, it wasn't.

And why not? The rationale for the raise was that the legislature had not received a raise for many years. Supporters of the GOP majority also point out that the Rensselaer County Legislature may be one of the world's greatest deliberative bodies, second only to the Anglo-Saxon Althing. If true, why wasn't this case made to the voters before the election? Why did they lie to Talespin? Why did they do the deed during one of the busiest weeks in the year?

On the upside, according to Shawn Charniga's article (The Record, April 6, 2006, p. 8), Kelleher "shushed" Mirch at the meeting. That's priceless. On the otherhand, Kelleher said it would be unfair for a legislator to have to run in November on the lone issue of whether or not they voted for a pay raise. We'll file that complaint in the 'boo-fucking-hoo" file.

Good government marches on!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

We all enjoy Letters to the Editor in the area papers. Sometimes, though, it helps to know who's writing those letters: concerned citizens or political flunkies? Please welcome our newest staff member.....

By Politicus Ebonus Abyssus (bonus points for those of you who remember your Latin)

In last Tuesday’s Times Union, Shawn Van Wert had a letter to the editor on the recent pay raises, stating that Democrats in the fall election promised to work to reduce costs, yet voted for the pay raise. With appropriate moral indignation, he stated that the Democratic legislators would never get his vote again. Since Shawn is from Troy, I am sure that Peter Grimm, the lone Democratic Legislator from Troy, is shaking in is boots.

Yet, what does Peter have to worry about? Shawn has had several letters in various papers throughout the last few years, most likely penned by Crist, Buell, Mirch, or some other Republican operative. We know that Shawn worked for the Troy Department of Public Works and enrolled in the Working Families Party in 2004 at the behest of Mirch. At least while Mirch still controls jobs and these minor party lines, it is unlikely Shawn will take a step or put his name to a letter without Mirch’s approval.

More important, however, the analysis in the letter is faulty, regardless of who wrote the letter. None of the Democrats Shawn supposedly voted for in the last election voted for the pay raise. The pay raise was voted in prior to Peter taking office, when six Republicans represented the City of Troy. If you are going to be morally outraged, Shawn, direct it to those representatives of yours that actually voted in the raise.

If Shawn wants to feign moral indignation, maybe he should look at what has been going on with “Flora’s Law.” The Rules Committee killed it based on the potential impact it would have on county judges and the district attorney, whose salaries are set by the State, as Mirch pointed out. The truth is Mr. Mirch that a minor language revision, indicating that salaries not set by the county are not affected by this legislation, would remedy the issue. The truth is Mr. Mirch, that you are hiding behind word-smithing rather than doing what is morally and ethically right. Shawn, why are you not morally indignant about this game playing? Shawn, another thing. When you found out that Mirch made a total of $125,000 from three different government entities, where was your letter to the editor with appropriate moral indignation? Oops, I am sorry. Mirch would not have had you sign that letter.

CASALE MAY FACE PRIMARY

CASALE CHALLENGED

Everyone knows that area Assemblyman Pat Casale is, in many ways, challenged. Now he may face a primary challenge. The challenger is from Bethlehem and one has to wonder if the newer, more sophisticated part of Casale's district is trying to flex it's muscle. Casale is probably safe, which is a good thing. Casale does good work. Or did. Who can forget the days when you could buy cheap pints and loose cigarettes from his liquor store (not to mention over-priced Chianti).

We'd like to see Mayor Tutunjian eventually replace Casale so we hope the primary challenge fails. We feel, in all honesty, that Harry embodies all the traits and qualities that would make him an outstanding New York State, GOP, Assemblyman. And we really mean it.

JUNK CAR ORDINANCE

Looks like the City Council will vote on the new Junk Car Ordinance this week. And, it looks like the ambiguous language has been removed, meaning that it will pertain to junk cars, not all cars. Sounds like some people thought about it and didn't want to give His Mirchness carte blanche. Or maybe it was that whole pesky, property rights thing. Anyway, congratulations on a job well-done.

COLLAR CITY

Dowd has a piece on Troy's iron industry heritage. He doesn't suggest changing Troy's nickname, The Collar City, but does want to honor our iron heritage. As everyone knows, Troy is called "The Collar City" because of the number of arrests that occur each year.

That's not true. Troy is called "The Collar City" because the city was once a leading manufacturer of..............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Dowd's wrong. Let's change the nickname. Collar City sucks. Personally, we like City of Big Shoulders but our legal department says that's taken.

Let's change Troy's nickname. Please choose one of the following. The selection that gets the most votes will become the new city nickname.

1) The Gateway to Lansingburgh;

2) Dworsky's Folly;

3) The Iron Collar City (covering both bases);

4) Where Henry Hudson Turned Around;

Leave your suggestions in the comments section or in an e-mail and we'll announce the winner whenever we feel like it.

JUDGE GOES DOWN

ANOTHER AREA JUDGE REMOVED

Another area judge has been removed from the bench. Here's Michelle Bolton's story.

The nail in the coffin was the allegation that Spargo pressured lawyers (lawyers with cases pending before him) to contribute to his defense fund. An ugly business.

Spargo was an excellent election lawyer, the go-to guy for Republicans in the area. If his license isn't endangered, he can certainly find work. Not that he needs to. According to sources, Spargo is from a very wealthy family, Revere Ware being one of the family's "minor" business concerns.

By all accounts, Spargo is a decent guy, but a poor judge. One local attorney lamented that since the allegations have been pending, Judge Spargo "seemed completely uninterested in being a judge. He was lazy and apathetic about doing his work."

Spargo's removal came as a shock to no one, including Spargo.

Pataki now gets to make an appointment. Will Chris Hummel, who was lost in the politicial shuffle last year between county GOP chairs and Bruno, get the nod? Hummel will make a good Supreme Court judge. Or will Pataki reward an area flunkie before he leaves office? We're hoping for Hummel but putting our money on flunkie.

AREA SALARIES

The Times Union had an interesting piece in Friday's paper on average salaries in the area. Here's a PDF file with the complete U.S Labor Department report.

Police Officers came in at an average of $45,429 (presumably, overtime not included) with middle school teachers checking in at $55,180. We thought that odd until we remembered how dangerous it is being a middle school teacher in many area schools.

WHAT?

Monday's Talespin was only slightly more confusing than the Linear B tablets (and we're not talking about the writing).

First, the ordinance:

"285-67 D Enlargement: Non-conforming uses may be enlarged only through the granting of a special use permit by the ZBA."

We thought the ordinance was ultimately for paving the way for jail expansion. We were wrong, bringing our accuracy rate down to 98.4% The ordinance is for anyone that qualifies for a special use permit. However, it looks as if it was introduced to allow the Taylor School to expand. The ordinance was introduced at the request of the Administration. The ordinance passed, 7-2, after an amendment, limiting the special use permit to those who hadn't expanded in the past five years, was added.

Harry vetoed the ordinance.

Why did Harry veto an ordinance introduced at the request of the Administration? Because of the amendment. The amendment would make the Taylor School ineligible for a special use permit.

The first issue is, why did no Council members ask what the ordinance was all about? It looks like they blindly voted for it. Then, the Council amended it in such a way that it was no longer useful. Hence the veto.

So, Dunne then asks DuBois if the ordinance can be rewritten to accommodate the Taylor School. Big deal. Dunne was only asking for what Harry wanted in the first place. Mayor Pattison's sister, Wendy, is the Executive Director of the school. Big deal. If the Taylor School is successful and wants to expand, why not write legislation that cuts them a break? Others could apply for the special use permit. It's not as if the ordinance would be written so only the Taylor School could get a special use permit. It's also not as if there's a huge stampede of Troy businesses looking to expand.

Sources close to the mayor also tell us that Harry wanted the legislation. Again, if the Taylor School needs to expand, he wants to help out. Why wouldn't the Mayor want to help a business that wants to expand?

Here's where things get bizarre. Dunne also suggested that the extra money that would come from the CDBG shell game be used to help out those damaged by the flooding of Old Sixth Avenue. It's an interesting suggestion. Maybe something can be done, maybe not.

Here's where we give Franco credit. It's rare when a reporter can get a quote from a public official that has his head so firmly wedged in his own ass (the acoustics tend to be bad). Crawley, of course.

Crawley calls Dunne 'partisan' because Wendy Pattison runs the Taylor School. The Deputy Mayor then goes on a rant that could only have been induced by a handful of valium and some fish paralyzers:

In response, Deputy Mayor Dan Crawley accused Dunne of engaging "in partisan politics."

"After talking to the planning people we did not think the ordinance was a good idea either, so Councilman Dunne was right, but now he wants to change it for one of his friends," Crawley said. "Here is Bill Dunne looking to help out a school that charges $8,000 per year when $8,000 would help out that whole (Old Sixth Avenue) neighborhood."

No, Dan. You have a private business that wants to expand. Why wouldn't everyone want to help out? Talespin opens with Dunne suggesting that you allocate a large chunk of money from your CDGB shell game to help people on Old Sixth Avenue. What does the tuition at the Taylor School have to do with it? Will you allocate that $8,000 from your precious CDBG money?

Troy's Deputy Mayor comments

Did Harry want to help the Taylor School expand? If yes, great. Or maybe Harry vetoed the ordinance because it would help out a business managed by a Pattison. Is that not partisan? Personally, we think the ordinance was bad because it gave too much power to non-elected officials. That's beside the point. It's a private business that looks to be successful. For the record, we don't think Harry vetoed it because of any Pattison connection. He vetoed it because Taylor would no longer be eligible. It doesn't really matter. Either way, Crawley's comment suggests a man in acute distress. It's completely nonsensical and it explains why he's been kept on a short leash lately.

The 'partisan' comment is classic Crawley and one has to wonder why any reporter continues to print the nonsense that spews from the hole below Crawley's upper lip. Crawley's denigration of partisanship is also confusing. After all, it's the only way he stays employed.

PROPERTY RIGHTS

Enough about poverty and on to something more serious.

The City Council will soon vote on a "Junk Car" ordinance. There's no link to The Record story or we'd post the link.

Based on what we've read, this ordinance is troublesome (caveat: we haven't seen a copy of the ordinance so this is based on the story). The City Council wants to give the Mirch Department authority to remove vehicles that are not parked on the property's "official" driveway or in a garage. Essentially, cars located in backyards can be removed. We imagine that two neighbors in Lansingburgh are in a pissing contest and one went to their Councilperson looking for legislation (or, in the alternative, Mirch wants to break someone's balls).

Although the story refers to "Junk Cars" it would seem to apply to any car. There is a difference between a "junk car" and a car, is there not?

What happened to property rights in this city? Doesn't a person have the right to do with his property what he or she wants? We're not suggesting no limits on private property use. If there's a health or public safety issue, then limitations should be set. For instance, overgrown backyards can attract rodents that will affect surrounding properties. But, according to Mirch:

"There's no reason to have a car in the backyard." - His Mirchness, The Record, March 23, 2006

Hey, Bob, it's not your business who has what in their backyard. We hardly need to legislate your asthetic sensabilities.

If someone is going to fix-up a '68 Mustang and is doing it in their backyard, who is Mirch to say otherwise?

Is this about looks? Sure, it looks crappy. Collier was going to propose legislation that would keep satellite dishes off the front of homes because it looked crappy. She was right. It does look crappy. So what? Two-thirds of Troy would be removed if an anti-crappy ordinance was passed. Many Trojans would not be allowed on their front porches.

We don't even have a problem if it was limited to "junk cars." By that, we mean old cars, up on blocks, rusted out, unusable. At least some standard should be set.

Now, you'll have Mirch entering private property to remove a resident's personal property simply because they don't like it.

Remember when Republicans at least payed lip service to individual liberty and property rights. We guess that only applies when the Democrats are in power.

Besides, until the infrastructure problem is fixed, until new sources of revenue are found or developed, these cosmetic measures are just putting a new dress on a broken down whore

UPSTATE GIRLS - II

Monday's post, which frankly was done on the spur of the moment, has generated a lot of dialogue. Although not all the comments furthered the debate, many were quite interesting.

Here's some of our thoughts.

The link was posted because a photographer won an award for photos involving Troy. Of course, those scenes could have been played out in any city in the United States. One person asked: "How are these photos supposed to make me feel?" They are supposed to make you feel any way they make you feel. A viewer has no control over how or what they feel upon first glance. Not only can one viewer feel sadness while another viewer feels disgust, it is possible that the same viewer can feel an entire spectrum of emotions simultaneously, each one justified. That, in many ways, is more powerful than evoking a single emotion. Such is art. One the one hand, it's hard not to feel for the subjects. It must be a hard life, without any hope in the future. On the other hand, who doesn't feel disgusted by some of what's depicted? One photo shows two young ones with nebulizers. In another, the "adults" smoke in the presence of the children, despite one child having been hospitalized for asthma.

The photographs were powerful and the accompanying prose was blunt and disturbing.The photographs truly captured the cycle of poverty. We found ourselves frustrated that people live in such a way. There is also frustration that many of the subjects seem incapable or unwilling to make choices that, while not ending the cycle, could certainly lead to a better existence.

Despite what many may feel towards the adults depicted, the children are the great tragedy here. By the time those children can make independent decisions, the game is lost. How can years of such an existence be overcome? A few exceptions may escape the cycle, but not many. Imagine growing up in a world were many of the fathers are not only in prison, but such circumstances are nothing more than part of the everyday landscape.

Ironically, today we feel pity for the children in those photographs. Yet, in less than a decade we will feel other, less charitable emotions. There will come a point in time where we throw up our hands and say, "sorry you had a rough childhood but you are now an adult. Make better decisions. Contribute to society." We hope that even when we feel that way, some small part will remember what little chance they had when still young.

We offer no realistic ideas on how to fight poverty because we have none. We'll leave that to the experts. There have always been poor people and there always will. Perhaps we can reduce their number. Perhaps not. We do know that treating the poor with a modicum of respect and dignity, showing kindness and compassion, elevates us all. Treating them as somehow apart from humanity diminishes us.

Posting may be light over the next few weeks. We're trying to finish a novel. It's called Moby Dick, but the the print is really small and it's tough to read.

UPSTATE GIRLS

Found via Albany Eye. An award-winning series of photographs by Brenda Ann Kenneally depicting the life of some Trojan women. It isn't pretty but it is powerful and depressing. It makes you wonder: is this how many people see Troy? Unfortunately, we think so.

Not much else going on. See you Wednesday or Thursday.

CDBG $

Franco does a good job of summing up our own thoughts on this issue. We did have a good time at the meeting. It was very entertaining.

Despite our support, the numbers that are thrown around does give it the whiff of a "shell-game." Only time will tell.

One thing to watch: who becomes the program monitor. Will it be someone who has experience working with complicated government grants and programs? Or at least someone with some management and executive experience? After all, the area does have many people who worked at mid-level and high-level state jobs. People who were responsible for big budgets and overseeing complex programs. Maybe someone from the private sector. It should at leats be someone who doesn't think of high-school as post-graduate work.

Or will the job go to the son, daughter, nephew or niece of a Troy Republican or Conservative. Someone with no experience in such matters. A younger person who will be no more than a yes-person.


POOR JEANINE

PIRRO VEERS OFF THE MAP
By FREDRIC U. DICKER

March 16, 2006 -- ALBANY - Gaffe-prone Republican attorney-general candidate Jeanine Pirro has done it again - bragging about her knowledge of upstate areas while erroneously claiming New York has a border with Ohio.

Pirro's bumble occurred during an interview on Albany's WROW-AM, as she bragged about her upstate credentials: born in Elmira and educated at SUNY Buffalo and Albany Law School. "I've been to Chautauqua County, which is all the way on the west coast, I should say the west end, of New York, bordering Ohio," the ex-Westchester DA said.

In fact, Chautauqua borders Pennsylvania. New York has no border with Ohio. Pirro later offered up another malapropism after acknowledging her geography mistake: "Am I better than that? Absolutely not."

Vandenburgh did nothing but serve up softballs to the hapless Pirro. The guy is shameless. Once again, Pirro called the Attorney General the "state's highest law enforcement official." She's wrong. It's the State's Legal Department, it's not a super-DA's office. Jeanine, please read the statute that created the office. It's in The Executive Law.

Pirro also claimed to have "vast experience in rooting out fraud and corruption." Unfortunately, she couldn't root out her own husband's fraud and corruption.

Have a safe Saint Patrick's Day.

NOT-FOR-PROFITS - II

Apparently, many of our MENSA readers missed the point of Monday's post.

MAPTAF can buy or sell whatever property they want for as much profit as possible. We wish them well. We wish they had received $263,000 on that sale. This is America after all.

But, for those who have expressed such disdain for Not-For-Profits, your enthusiasm for this random act of capitalism is perplexing. Many of you have expressed the opinion that NFP's are destroying Troy. Now, Mirch's righthand man, is selling property to those same NFP's that are destroying Troy.

Simultaneously, Joseph's House wants to use property it owns to shelter the homeless. Well, heaven forbid, that will bring ruin upon the city: fire, brimstone, a plague of locust (cats and dogs living together). So, it is fine to sell to the NFP's but when the NFP's want to use their property the end of the world is at hand?

Mirch, MAPTAF, our County Legislators, all of them, are laughing their way to the bank on your dime (where do you think Vesta gets its funding). More and more NFP's come in to Troy while your taxes go up. We're happy for them and we hope they milk dry all of their loyal supporters. Someone once said, "It's a sin to let a sucker keep his money." We're very much opposed to sin.

Now, if a house on Douw goes for $163,000, imagine what a house on Woodrow Court goes for. Nice neighborhood, School 18 for the kiddies. Hell, Deputy Dan lives right around the block.



That house, 8 Woodrow Court, is listed at $163,900. At first we thought we'd use it for a comparison. Then we thought, what the hell. Great neighborhood, a decent price, in the best school district. Hopefully, one of you are looking for a place and this might suit your needs. It ain't Douw but it ain't half bad. Call a broker.

There's another nice looking home on Rankin at #53. They're asking under $155,000. If you're interested, call a broker.

Why does God hate our water mains?

NOT FOR PROFITS

The current administration has made it a point to attack not-for-profits and things such as public housing. The common thread throughout this hostility is the cry, "we don't need property taken off the tax rolls." In fact, many people that read the Troy Polloi echo that same sentiment. Without passing judgment on why it's poor form to attack the weakest in our society, lets look at what members of the administration are doing to keep property on the tax rolls.

For some background, check out this post.

MAPTAF Properties LLC, is a limited liability company with offices at 466 Sixth Avenue, Troy , NY. It was founded in April of 2002.

In November of 2003 MAPTAF properties, LLC purchased 80 Douw Street (near the DPW compound) for $63,000. The sellers were allowed a life estate in the property, rent free! Good deal that.

Approximately 3 months ago, MAPTAF sold the Douw Street property to Vesta Community Housing Development Board (Father Young's outfit) for $160,000. Vesta is the same outfit that owned 3215 Sixth Avenue, where the sex offenders were living. Remember how so many cheered when 3215 was closed. Anyway, the sellers made one hell of a profit. The fella's at MAPTAF must be quite the gamblers. Imagine, a nearly $100,000 profit in two years! Or perhaps it was just the luck of the draw. You know, buy a property in such a great neighborhood and then suddenly....a not-for-profit with juice wants to purchase the same building.

All of the principles of MAPTAF remain, at this date, unknown. However, the LLC's offices share a 466 6th Avenue address with a Michael A Picarillo (the MAP in MAPTAF?). We believe a Michael Picarillo works for the DPW. In fact, we've heard that Mr. Picarillo is Mirch's right-hand man (again, not sure what that means, but that's what we've heard). Rumor has it that Mirch is grooming Picarillo for bigger and better things in Rensselaer politics (passing on the Mirch knee-pads, as it were). We've also heard that Mirch is close to Father Young and, in fact, may wish to work for Father Young after he retires from his public sector jobs.

The principle at MAPTAF that signed the deed was Thomas Fucci, another DPW employee (perhaps the TAF in MAPTAF?).

It's all so interesting, isn't it? Getting a nice return on a run-down Douw Street property? Your boss knowing the boss at Vesta? It all makes you wonder.

The other irony is that this administration and it's mouthpieces constantly bemoan not-for-profits. Now, their own employees are making a tidy profit selling to not-for-profits. Do as we say, not as we do might be their new motto.

Note also that someone must have wanted the property pretty bad to offer the elderly lady that lived there a life-estate. Why would someone consider the property so valuable? Valuable enough to let someone live there for free?

In any event, if you want some real estate investment tips, feel free to call Mr. Picarillo. He's in the book. We hope all Trojans can make such profits in such a short space of time.

Remember when parents used to hope that their children became physicians, lawyers, businessman etc? Now it looks like public employment is the road to financial success. "My dream is that little Johnny and little Janey can one day work for the DPW."

Maybe the administration can explain why their own people are selling Troy to the not-for-profits. Hell, now we're thinking of selling our properties to VESTA.

RENSSELAER COUNTY SECURITY

In an effort to aid Renssealer County, we've added a Homeland Security Terror Alert Code over on the right. Now, you can tune in to the Troy Polloi in case of an emergency. Just doing our part to help keep America safe.

GO SEE A PLAY

Actually, it's a staged reading of a screenplay written by Jack Casey.

The event, open to the public free of charge, will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday at Revolution Hall, 425 River St. A $5 donation is requested, with the money being split among the cast and stage director. Gary Brown, owner of Brown's Brewing Co. and Revolution Hall, has produced a special red ale for the occasion.

Hey, it's free, entertaining, you'll be supporting a local author and there's beer. With Troy's theater closed you want have anything else to do anyway.

GUEST POST

Someone has taken us up on our offer to be a guest columnist. Please welcome Reformus Publicus. He's a guest in our blog so we expect him to be treated with the same respect you show us.....forget that. Treat our guests with respect, please.

The offer still remains open to all so feel free to e-mail us if you're interested. Without further ado, Reformus Publicus.

While giving themselves a pay raise during the lame duck session may have been legal, the morality of the actions of the Rensselaer County legislators is exceedingly questionable. Only Mayor Stratton of Schenectady showed any moral fortitude in this political climate by rescinding his raise.

Rather than dwell on who said what to whom, or how the raise came about, let us discuss the current situation. The Republican leadership believes that knowledge and participation in government is not necessary. They believe as long as services continue, nobody cares how laws are made or the debate surrounding these laws. Jefferson and Madison must be spinning in their graves. And stopping the proposed law in the Rules Committee seems disingenuous. The Republicans can hide under all the rules and procedures that they like, but at the end of the day, the truth remains.

If Democrats (and brave Republicans) wish to make a moral stand and show that this government is of the people, then both the pay raise legislation and changing the debate process must go forward. More importantly, the elective process must be revised to ensure more appropriate representation and accountability to the citizens of Rensselaer County.

First, county legislative terms should be reduced to two years and should be term limited to no more than 16 years. Secondly, to ensure better representation, each county legislator should come from a specific district. Rather than having six at-large legislators in Troy, there should be one from each of the council districts. Representation from the towns should be along traditional political boundaries and based on the current population. One man one vote.

Be brave. Take a step toward democracy.

JOSEPH'S HOUSE

Joseph's House held a community meeting on Monday night and explained their plans for the former One Pocket Billiards at 202 4th Street. Steve Couse had the story for The Record. Most of you already know the background to the story.

Opponents of Joseph's House have latched on to a fairly specious argument.

But to many in the room, that was the problem. They see the Little Italy area of the city as a community on the upswing and want the property to remain commercial."Little Italy is developing," said Jean Krueger, owner of a business across the street. She stressed the need to preserve commercial properties. "It's the lifeblood."

That arguement does not ring true.

Would opponents be worried if someone wanted to convert the old pool hall into eight, high-rent condominiums or apartments? Doubtful. After all, New York's Little Italy and Boston's North End combine both commercial and residential, resulting in unique, vibrant communties.

No, they don't want a homeless shelter in their neighborhood. It makes them uneasy. And you know what, it's hard to find fault with their uneasiness. The problem is the "Not in My Backyard" mentality.

We have an ethical and moral obligation to help those on the fringes of society. Such charity is a traditional American value. Some may not know it, but the early American colonies (particularly those in New England) took this obligation quite seriously. Many of the early New England townships had three public offices: a constable; a public works official to maintain the roads; and an Overseer of the Poor. The basis of this obligation was originally the Congregationalist's dedication to charitable deeds.

So please, all of you good conservatives that pay such endearing lip service to traditional values, or those of you who parrot back the fallacy that the United States was founded on Christianity, act like it.

Does the shelter belong at 202 4th Street? We don't know. It belongs somewhere and aside from a few cranks, Trojans tend to have an innate sense of fairness and decency. But, if the NIMBY attitude continues, the weakest of our population suffers.

Not so long ago, you could encur the wrath of the neighbors by selling or renting to African-American. Before that it was Italians and before them, the Irish. Haven't you read those wonderful turn-of-the-century sociologists? You know the ones: the ones that proved that the Irish, the Italians the take-your-pick, were congenitally disposed towards crime.

MORE SCREWING IN PUBLIC

While one form of public screwing was stopped at the Cinema Art Theater last week, another public screwing occurred just down the block at City Hall.

The City Council, by a vote of 7-2, approved Ordinance #3.

Ordinance #3 - Ordinance Amending the Troy City Code of Ordinances Chapter 285-67 "Zoning District Regulations" is hereby amended to read:

"285-67 D Enlargement: Non-conforming uses may be enlarged only through the granting of a special use permit by the ZBA."

Sounds innocuous enough on it's face. The amendment also sounds strikingly similar to a Viagra commercial, but that's not the point. What the amendment really does is pave the way for jail expansion and a royal screwing for the residents of South Troy. And it all happened in public. Collier and Krogh, of course, voted for the ordinance. Talk about your deviant behavior.

This gives the Zoning Board of Appeals a lot of power. The county wants the jail to stay put and they want expansion. Does anyone in the County Legislature have any influence with anyone on the Zoning Board of Appeals? We wonder....

TROY PLANNER AT ODDS WITH HARRY

Walgreens has plans to build a store on Hoosick Street, between North Lake and Wayne. The store would be in both Troy and Brunswick. Harry likes the idea:

It's something I am excited about because it means jobs," said Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian. He added he also wants to hear any concerns residents have about the proposal.

How likely is it that Brunswick residents will scream and shout about this project? They shouldn't waste their time. The commercialization of Hoosick Street is a done deal and the addition of a Walgreens will likely have a negligible impact on existing conditions. Some towns would kill to have the tax base that has developed on Brunswick's Route 7.

The interesting part of the story is the comment by Harry's own planner, Judy Breselor:

"I don't find it acceptable," Breselor said Monday, adding she had just finished looking at the plans and intended to examine the site. "It's really got to go before the Planning Board. I had some issues with it and have to go see how it fits."

We don't know anything about Breselor and we wish her well. Still, it seems she may lack certain self-preservation skills necessary in Troy politics. Skill number one? Only "yes" men (persons)need apply.

COUNTY LAWMAKERS MEET ON REFORM

Looks like Task Force 5 has swung into action. You in the back, stop laughing.

Except for Fasoldt, this is like a bunch of hookers arranging a vice-squad party. Until they rescind their pay raise, and Crist's and Kathy's, it's all a big joke.

CINEMA ART IN A STICKY SITUATION

Authorities Raid Cinema Art Theater

The City of Troy, aided by New York State Police, has shut down another "for profit" Troy business. By all accounts, a highly successful business.

Troy's only theater, the venerable Cinema Art Theater, was shut down for health violations and five people were arrested for Third Degree Ickiness. The raid was uneventful and no weapons were discharged.

Troy has long been known as an art-friendly city and the seems to have benefited from that reputation. According to the Times Union article, by Kate Perry, on some nights, there were forty to sixty people engaged in "audience participation."

The investigation was prompted by an "anonymous" letter received by Mayor Tutunjian. A woman believed her boyfriend was prostituting himself for drugs at the theater. Since no prostitution charges were brought, it seems that "anonymous" might still be having relationship troubles. A second letter to the Mayor, from Anonymous, asked the mayor to set up an intervention.

The Mayor has announced that the City will be starting a "relationship hotline."

Tutunjian himself deserves some kudos here. According to the Cristo article, Harry spent some time on-line, in chat rooms. He was so upset by what he read that he could not go back to the chat rooms a sixth time.

"Troy is not the place for illicit activities and crimes. ... It's not a dumping ground," said Tutunjian.

Mary Elacqua might disagree.

Authorities refused to comment on what further charges might be brought until a detailed, splatter analysis is completed. Such forensic reports can greatly aid in prosecutions and this case is no different.

"back and to the left...back and to the left!"

However, we believe that District Attorney Patricia DeAngelis summed up all our feelings. It was not just our expectations that were violated, Pat's expectations were violated as well.

"When you go into an adult establishment, you expect to find people having sex on screen, not in aisles," said Rensselaer County District Attorney Patricia DeAngelis.

That's the real crime. Pat, if you find a good theater where we can just sit back and enjoy the show, please let us know.

In the meantime, Mary Donohue might be elevated to the Federal Bench. Remember, you heard it here first.

Also, as soon as the Cinema Arts story dies down, we'll have news on a new resolution passed by the Troy City Council that paves the way for jail expansion.

Stay tuned. We'll be covering the important Cinema Arts bust all week, with "On the Street" interviews, opinions and movie reviews.

WORD ON DA STREET!

By Huggy Bear

Word on the Street is that the rift between the Boss-Man (Bobby M) and Harry/Dan is growing as fast as Mirch's pension. Don't know all the details yet but things are getting real ugly. This time it's not about who ate the last slice of pizza. Why the Mayor would take crap from Bobby is beyond me. The Conservative Line? For a man, some things are more important than ballot lines.

Word on the Street is that certain members of the Troy GOP(not with the initials MD) and certain Democrats have been approached about a possible run against Harry. Also, with the highly probable Democratic sweep this fall, certain Conservative Party leaders, as well and Independence Party leaders, are now cozying up to Democrats. It never hurts to have a back-up plan in politics. We won't say who's behind it all, because that's a big secret. Let's just say...



Word on the Street is that a certain former council member, with the initials Jack Mahoney, is being considered for an administrative position. What position? Commissioner of Public Works. That's right. Although the odds are against it, the Conservatives could lose their automatic ballot line this fall. Things could really change around here. Remember, you heard it from HB.

TROY EXPORTS

The closing of 3215 Sixth Avenue has once again generated talk about sex offenders living in Troy. The common theme in many of the complaints, including letters to the editor in The Record and comments on the Troy Polloi, is Loudonville!

Apparently, many Trojans want Loudonville to be the destination of choice for sex offenders.* What isn't discussed is how Loudonville residents feel about such a solution. We thought we'd find out.

The Troy Polloi surveyed 210 Loudonville residents. The finding are startling.

1. How do you feel about convicted sex offenders living in Loudonville?

56% - Ick!
32% - Eeewwww!
9% - Fine, as long as they don't live in Loudonville
3% - It's Okay as long as they're from Troy

2. Would you want a convicted sex offender living in your neighborhood?

97% - No
3% - Yes, if they're from Troy

3. Would you want a convicted sex offender living next door to you?

95% - No!
5% - Hell no!

The results indicate that an overwhelming majority of Loudonville residents do not want convicted sex offenders living in Loudonville, not even if they're from Troy. Perhaps we're not doing a good enough job of "selling" our sex-offenders. Maybe we need a professional Ad Campaign.

Guess that gets us back to square one and we can forget about the ridiculous notion of "sending" offenders to Loudonville. First of all, do you know how much that would cost in postage? The average sex offender weighs 176 lbs. That's a lot of postage.

Secondly, convicted sex offenders can live where they want. If you don't like that, start contacting your State Legislators.

No one wants sex offenders in the neighborhood, but the "Not in My Back Yard" mentality gets us nowhere. Most sex offenders have a difficult time finding, and keeping, employment. That conviction does not look good on a resume. Do you really think they're going to rent a condo in Loudonville or invest in a home off of Route 9? No, they're going to live where they can get more bang for their buck: Troy, Watervliet etc.

What we can do is ignore some of our knee-jerk reactions and listen to the experts and law enforcement on how to mitigate they dangers they pose, even if those suggestions appear to look like they accommodate the offender. That means keeping them together when possible, in order to maximize law enforcement resources, not hounding them from their jobs (if they have a job) and driving them further underground and ensuring they're in a monitored program.

Loudonville is not an option.

*Whence the animosity towards Loudonville? Perhaps it stems from the days when Loudonville troops occupied Troy during Reconstruction.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Yesterday, the Troy Polloi celebrated its First Birthday.


Thanks for all the cards, gifts and gift certificates to the Union Street Bed & Breakfast. Most of all, thanks to Bob Mirch. He knows why...wink, wink.

Here's an article that escaped our attention last week. It looks like Troy's Renaissance Prince hasn't been paying his bills. Lorenzo the Magnificent he ain't.

If you listen to Paul Vandenburgh, that's all well and good, we do too. However, the guy really is a tool. From the Albany Eye. Who's retarded here, Paul?

CITY SETTLES LAWSUIT

UPDATE: We thought we had scooped everyone on this but The Record article can be found here. As expected, Crawley attacks Fitzgerald but not Owens. This bodes well for contract negotiations.

No. Not Joseph's House, the Brian Owens Federal suit.

According to the May 13, 2005 Record article, damages were alleged to be approximately $2000.

The lawsuit does not specify a dollar amount, but the total allegedly being withheld is estimated to less than $2,000."They want to offer him a pro-rated amount for time he was working as a police officer and not the time he was deployed," said Troy Police Benevolent Association President Robert Fitzgerald. "We are embarrassed for the city that Brian has had to go this route."

Last May, after the story broke, Councilman William Dunne introduced a resolution to authorizing the city to pay Owens the money being withheld. The resolution did not make it out of the Law Committee. Dunne was accused of being partisan and doing nothing more than looking for headlines.

Also, according to the article:

"Hank Bauer is dealing with the problem, and he was listening to us. But for some reason the city opted to not have him handle the case any longer."

So, Dunne is ignored and Bauer is pulled off the case. That's all well and good because now the case is settled (we wonder where Mitchell's "No pay position" was on this case).

Owen's attorneys, Gleason, Dunn, Walsh & O'Shea will receive $7,500:

Owen's will receive $7,500.

Let's do the math!

$7,500 + $7,500 = more than $2,000.

Finally, we'd like to hear Deputy Dan's take on all this. Recently, he had this to say about Joseph's House suit against the city:

If Joseph's House is suing the City of Troy, the only people who will pay are the people who own homes, and the taxpayers will get hurt." - The Record, February 24, 2006

Let's see what words he has for Brian Owens, a police officer that sued the city.

COMMENT RULES

Alright, kids, unfortunately we have to lay down some ground rules. If you don't listen, well turn this blog around right now and you'll be grounded.

Recently, a number of people who comment here have used the names of real people. Those comments are obviously not from the person they claim to be from. They're obviously done in jest. That's fine. If you want to post a comment from Dick Cheney, feel free.

However, some comments may contain information that make it appear that they were posted by the person who signed the comment. For instance, we have it on good authority that a recent comment regarding "Rooming Houses" was not written by anyone in Code Enforcement. The information in the comment was good: attributing that comment to someone who's livelihood might be placed in danger because of the comment was not good. It was bad....very bad!

Please, do not sign a comment with an alias that may get someone into trouble.

Secondly, we will not be attacking family members of politicians. If a family member holds office or is an appointed official, fine. They can be criticized for their public actions. What we don't want to see is someone attacking Harry's wife or Chappy's wife or any family member who is an innocent civilian. Capiche?

Hey, these things have to happen every ten years or so. It gets rid of the bad blood.

Check back later today or tomorrow for some lawsuit updates. It'll be pretty good.

GOP LEADERS STRICKEN

A PLAGUE UPON THE LAND

With Governor Pataki and Congressman John Sweeney both stricken with unknown maladies the question must be asked: who benefits?

Police are not giving out much information but according to sources, someone has been named a "person of interest".





BUELLISMS

Recently, City Spokesman Herr Buell made this comment about 3215 Sixth Avenue:

The configuration led the city to classify the building as a "rooming house," which is not legal in the city, said spokesman Jeff Buell

However, an alert reader actual read the City Code* and points out that Buell is wrong.

According to the Code, a Rooming House is defined thusly:

ROOMING HOUSE Any residence building, or any part thereof, containing one or more rooming units, in which space is let by the owner or operator to more than four persons who are not members of the same family. (See "dwellings," "boardinghouse.")

In the following section, we learn that you can operate a "rooming house".

§ 176-27. Rooming houses.

Every person who operates a rooming house, or who occupies or lets to another for occupancy any rooming unit in any rooming house, shall comply with the provisions of every section of this chapter, except as provided in the following sections....

So, where exactly does it state that a "rooming house" is illegal?

No big deal really but it makes you wonder, what else do they get wrong and why people take what they say as gospel?

*For an updated version of the City Code of Troy, go here. Do not go here, to the City Page. Their version is from 2003 and still lists Pattison as Mayor.

YEAH, BABY

Looks like City Hall is changing it's image. And there's no better way to change your image than....Stick People Porn. About the paintings:

One is a large painting at the top of the first flight of stairs that clearly shows a red person performing a sex act on a blue person while the blue person does the same to the red person.* The second is a smaller painting about half way up the stairs of two stick figures that are anatomically correct below the waist.

We like it! We're also glad to see that age-old taboo about blue and red race-mixing is finally ending. About time those stuffy Republicans got into the swing of things.

If City Hall's 'A Rockin', come on in and jointhe Republican Party

*The writer seems unwilling to assign a numerical value to this position

PLAYING POLITICS WITH OUR SAFETY

Last week, the City of Troy shut down 3215 Sixth Avenue for code violations. The address is one of the properties owned by Vesta, one arm of Father Peter Young's Rehab Empire. The City's pretext for shutting down the home was code violations. However, the address also housed four sex offenders (2 of them level three sex offenders). This was no secret. The NYS sex offender website contained this information and it was even discussed here, a few posts back, in the comments section.

So lets talk about what happened here: Harry wanted to look tough by rousting four sex offenders. The idea that this was about code violations may convince someone as sophisticated as Bo & Luke Duke, but we know a PR event when we see one. If it was just about code violations then the next building boarded up by Code Enforcement would be City Hall.

Afterward, there's headlines and Harry looks like a guy that "gets things done."

We have sex offenders in Troy, in Rensselaer County, in the region. They have done their prison time and live here. It's not nice, it's not comforting, it is a fact. This is not about whether they are evil or sick, it's not about whether they should ever be let out of prison. This is about doing our best to ensure they will not harm anyone again.

Until Harry's little PR show, four of the offenders could be found at one location. As one parole officer said to us, "that was great for headlines but it makes our work a lot harder." Now, they're scattered about the city and region.

The other fact is that sex offenders are 50% less likely to repeat offend if they are monitored and in a program. That does not make good headlines for politicians and it's not viscerally pleasing to the large portion of our population that is as politically sophisticated as Ernst Rohm.

This wasn't about code violations. This was about headlines. It makes law enforcement's job more difficult and all of our children less safe.

If you want to get angry, perhaps you should look at who is selling property to Father Young and Vesta. Lead by example? Not if a hefty profit is involved.

A COMMITTEE! YIPPEE!

COUNTY REFORM

New elected county legislator Laura Fasoldt has a good idea:

Newly elected County Legislator Flora Fasoldt, (D) District 4, together with Minority Legislators, today filed a Local Law to amend the Rensselaer County Charter's budget process to prevent any future post election pay raises for elected officials, as occurred after the 2005 Legislative Elections.

According to Fasoldt, "This local law will force any proposed salary increases for elected officials to be specifically identified in the tentative budget released by October 20th and then subject to two public hearings."

Fasoldt, whose term in the Legislature began January 1, went on to state, "While I was not part of the Legislature when these raises were approved, I believe elected officials must have the courage to tell the voters BEFORE an election that they are supporting raises for any and all elected officials. The manner in which the Majority avoided public review and comment is simply wrong and should not be allowed to happen again."

Fasoldt worked with Minority Counsel, Thomas Kenney, in preparing the charter amendment language that adds to Section 5.03 (A) (3) "Such tentative budget shall include all proposed increases in compensation for all elected officials. No increase in compensation for elected officials shall go into effect unless it has been specifically identified as a line item in the tentative budget."

Recently re-elected county legislator Neil Kelleher has a really good idea. A committee! Damn, that's exciting. The committee will have five members, three from the majority and two from the minority. It will be called, "Task Force 5" and each member will be given special super powers.

Neil, give us a break. You can reform the legislature tomorrow if you wanted to. First, retract your noses from the trough and rescind the pay raise. Second, get rid of that un-American requirement that you must register by 2:00PM on the day of a meeting if you want to address the legislature. Third, stop violating the Open Meetings Law by allowing Mirch to Caucus with the Republicans. You violate the law every time you caucus and you're going to talk to us about reform?

We love your new-found virginity but you're so full of Mirch your eyes must be brown.

AID TO CITIES IN DOUBT

Awhile ago we mentioned that you can't claim fiscal health when you're dependent upon state and federal grants. Looks like that may come home to roost.

Troy may take a hit and Albany could lose $1,000,000.

F-ASSHOLE AND MANNING IN CAT FIGHT

According to Fred Dicker, Assemblyman Pat Manning, a GOP hopeful for the governor's office is leaving his wife and kids for one of his campaign staffers. Always fun to watch the Family Values Party at work. However, Manning's private life is not our business (although it looks like business is good for Mr. Manning). The real fun is that he's accusing former Assemblyman John Faso of blackmail. According to Manning, a Faso staffer has told someone on Manning's staff that unless Manning withdraws from the race, Faso will make Manning's private life an issue.

Life is not without a sense of irony. Faso and Manning are competing for the same voter niche, conservatives. Although, one could argue that infidelity and blackmail are two traditional American values.

THIS AND THAT

E-MAIL WARS

According to yesterday's Talespin, Councilpersons Dunne and Collier engaged in a bit of hi-tech back and forth over last weeks resolutions.

Dunne e-mailed a variety of people indicating that by tabling rather than referring Resolutions 1 and 2, Collier essentially stalled the process for bringing the CDBG money 'in-house' (currently it is 'out-house').

Collier then referred Dunne to the "Am Not, You Are" provision in Roberts Rules of Order (Chapter IIV, Sec 2). Dunne responded by invoking the "I'm Rubber You're Glue" motion.

Collier, safely ensconced behind her computer, also told Dunne to stop hiding behind his computer.

Good Times!


JOHN MADDEN

Our condolences go out to the Madden and Jimino families. John sounded like a decent man.


HARRY WANTS THE POOR OUT OF TROY

Ever notice that Republicans need a scapegoat? Their scapegoat DeJour lately is public housing.
In a speech at RPI, Harry admitted that he wants to reduce Public Housing by 50%. Where everyone will go is your guess.

He has a point and it's a good one. With all the great jobs flooding Troy, there's no reason why anyone should be using public housing. Especially those damn seniors.

The best line was, "Public housing is supposed to be a temporary phase in someone's life and not a permanent way of living," Tutunjian said. "That's what we've got to move back toward."

You have to love these politicians that leach off the tax payers lecturing other people about leaching off the tax payers.

Home ownership is grand but how many people in Public Housing can qualify for a mortgage and pay Troy taxes, especially after all of Harry's tax hikes?

JOHN FASO FOR GOVERNOR!

JOHN F-ASSHOLE

John Faso wants to be our next governor. The former GOP Assemblyman and Assembly Minority Leader is being set-up as the "conservative" alternative to former Massachusetts Governor William Weld. Faso ran for Comptroller against Hevasi in 2002. Hevasi won easily but the race was closer than many thought it would be.

Lets flashback to 1998. Joseph Cavallaro was a motel owner and a Greene County resident. Cavallaro wanted the installation of a State Park sign hastened. He believed it would help his, and other, businesses in the area. So......he phoned his Assemblyman. That was his first mistake. He phoned a few times, then some more.

Cavallaro was later interviewed by Dan Lynch. We don't have the transcript but wish we did. Cavallaro said he was treated quite poorly by Faso's staff and in particular by staff director Nancy Linehan. All in all Cavallaro made a dozen or so calls to Faso's various offices in a Quixotic attempt to beg an audience with his elected representative. Good help is so hard to find these days.

Since he couldn't get through to Faso, he called Faso's home (Faso's number was in the telephone book). Mr. Cavallaro stated that Mrs. Faso was very pleasant and agreed to pass the message along to Faso.

Cavallaro was then arrested, charged with Aggravated Harassment and hauled before Albany City Court Judge David Duncan.

We all know what happened here. Cavallaro became frustrated that he wasn't allowed to speak with Faso. Perhaps the dozen or so calls were overdoing it a bit, but Faso was a Republican in the NYS Assembly. How busy could he have been? What was he doing, drafting legislation that would never see the light of day? He should have called the guy back. But, that's not what makes John Faso a tool. Faso was so impressed with his importance that he failed to calm things down so they didn't get out of hand.

Do you ever get the feeling that all these guys stick together regardless of party? Instead of putting a halt to this nonsense, Cavallaro was prosecuted for aggravated harassment. The trial occurs over the course of two days and some of the taped phone calls are introduced. Sounds like a trial perfect for a young DA cutting his/her teeth, right? Who shows up to prosecute a misdemeanor in Albany City Court? Future District Attorney Paul Clyne. That's right, one of the DA's top trial attorneys shows up for the case.

The case was dismissed after the prosecution rested.

Republicans (once they have cleaned the vomit from their clothes, completed rehab, divorced their first spouse and completely alienated their children) like to talk about character. Faso has none. He's a two-bit punk that forgot he was supposed to work for the public. We bet he'll return calls if you're writing a check for his campaign. And remember, if he is elected, don't bother him too much. One man's constituent inquiry is another man's aggravated harassment.

Faso, an alleged reformer, now works for the lobbying firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

CITY OF THE STATE

STATE OF THE CITY

We finally watched Mayor Tutunjian's State of the City Address on that cable access channel. A few observations.

- Public speaking often tops the charts of anxiety studies. It also tops the charts in polls of what people most fear, often beating out death as the number one fear (which must make eulogies a bitch*). Harry is clearly uncomfortable speaking in public. He looked like a fifth grader about to spoil his pantaloons while delivering a book report. He obviously dislikes speaking in public. We don't know if it's because he's bad at it or if he's bad because he doesn't like it.

Harry, from the heart, a few tips:

1. Where's the fire? No pun intended. We're sure that 90% of the people present were there to hear your speech. Slow it down, take your time, have fun with it. Those people weren't there to watch the City Council meeting. That was, if possible, more dull than the speech.

2. Make eye contact. Stop reading the damn speech. This was your chance to communicate with an audience of actual people. Talk to them, not at them. If you're going to read the speech you might as well have copied it and handed it out at the door. Example: That story about the couple from New Jersey. You know that story, you don't have to read it. Have some self-confidence and tell the story.

3. Three words: Hooked-On-Phonics.

CEO & TRIP

On the grants: as we said earlier, we think bringing the grants 'in-house' is a promising idea. Removing layers of bureaucracy is rarely a bad thing. It looks like CEO and TRIP have some things to say about the administration and it won't be pretty. Still, Harry has asked HUD for permission to bring funds "in-house" and their answer will probably not depend upon the efficiency of CEO or TRIP.

We know they're doing it to consolidate power, dole out patronage jobs and pad the budget but that doesn't mean it won't be more efficient. That's the sad part.


SOME HARD TRUTHS

Back to the 'Couple from New Jersey' story. Nice story, good plot, happy ending. Except, the entire premise is wrong. People are not moving to Troy. Don't believe us, check out the projected Census data from 2004. It has been projected that Troy now has less than 48,000 people. Troy, Albany and Schenectady continue to lose population. East Greenbush, North Greenbush, Brunswick, Saratoga Springs etc. keep gaining population. Troy is not the place to be. Alas, the northeast is not the place to be. According to actual facts (as opposed to political cant), Arizona, Florida, Texas, Nevada and New Mexico are the places to be, or at least the places where people are going. Why wasn't this hard truth addressed? For every "New Jersey" couple, there are many more stories of people leaving. Plus, we're not sure we want people from New Jersey moving to the area. Have you seen the way those people drive?

This leads us back to the TRIP-CEO issue. What seems lost in this picture is the fact that people are not debating how to spend new revenue created by a blossoming private sector. They are debating how to spend money gathered by the state or feds through taxation. That's particularly alarming. Instead of finding new revenue sources, local municipalities are merely grabbing what they can from other layers of government. That's a strong step towards socialism. Would Troy be able to balance the books without grants from the State or Federal government? No.

Yes, Troy has wonderful architecture. So do other places. Troy is in many ways a wonderful place to live. Well, there are hundreds of other wonderful places to live in the northeast. They're dying too.

Harry should cheerlead for Troy. That is part of the job. Just don't take it too seriously. Troy needs visionary leaders that are prepared to discuss hard truths about where the state and city are headed. They also need leaders that understand that things must change if Troy is to to do more than merely survive. As long as we keep electing political lighweights who appoint political hacks, Troy is going nowhere. Maybe it's time to turn to those in the private sector for leadership. People who haven't spent one minute leeching off the tax payers.

*We may have heard that one on Seinfeld.

TRIPPIN'

Looks like the Feds found some problems in the way CEO was administering Federal grants within the City. The City followed up, so as not to be caught with their pants down (sorry for that disturbing visual image). After all, who's minding the store? Franco has the story, or what looks like just the beginning of the story.

Now we expect the blame-game to begin. We'll wait and see how this shakes out. It does underscore what is likely a nationwide problem. How many cities have had the same problem? How much of our money was involved? Why do these programs seem so unwieldy, so complex, so laced with bureaucratic nonsense? More to the point, was there nonsense above and beyond the typical problems faced by these agencies? We've all learned that just because this administration says it's so, don't necessarily make it so.

Harry wants to bring these grants "in-house", to be administered by the city. In theory, we think it's an idea worth pursuing. In practice? How many people will they hire to 'administer' the programs? What will they be paid, how much in pensions, benefits etc? What percentage of the grants will go to administering the programs as opposed to actually filtering down to the people who are supposed to be getting the money? Will they hire experts or hacks? Right now it looks as if approxiamately $480,000 will go to administer $580,000. Not a very good bang for our buck! We are willing to reserve judgment.

In fact, regardless of any "problems" with CEO (Harry's hand-picked agency) or TRIP, a good argument can be made that this is an experiment worth trying.

Has they City actually reviewed all relevant documents? Frankly, we just can't trust an administration so bent on concentrating power in it's beefy fingers. What they say and what's true may be quite different as it so often is with this crowd.

As an aside, how many of the people eligible for this aid (regardless of who administers the program) are eligible for a mortgage?

DID I DO THAT?

We apologize for the lack of posting. That trip over to Union Street in Schenectady really wears you out.

OOPS, DID I DO THAT?

Looks like Carolin Collier and Dave Mitchell combined for one of those "Steve Urkel" moments.

The centerpiece of Mayor Tutunjian's State of the City Address was bringing "in-house" certain Federal grants designed to aid low income homeowners or those aspiring to become homeowners. It's a promising idea, in theory.

After the Mayor's State of the City Address, two companion resolutions were brought to the floor. These resolutions pertained to the CDBG* money Harry wants "in-house".

Unfortunately, City Council President Bauer introduced the resolutions and then asked for a second, rather than referring the matter to a public hearing. An amendment was offered by one Council member and it was then withdrawn.

Corporation Council Dave Mitchell swung into action, passing a note** to Carolin Collier which Collier then parroted back.

For some odd reason, Collier tabled the resolutions. Now, the resolutions cannot be acted on until next month's meeting, when they have to go do it all over again. Seems an odd way of doing things, especially since Mayor Tutunjian made this the centerpiece of his State of the City Address and it is not a bad idea.

So, why is Mitchell scripting for Collier? Who did we elect?





Did I do that?
STATE OF THE CITY

As for the Mayor's State of the City....O'Brien had a good piece leading up to the speech. The State of ....anything speech is nothing more than a PR, media event. Nothing important is ever really said and hard truths are never discussed. That's not to single out Harry, it goes for mayors, governors and presidents. The only thing we will add is that it seemed that many of the accomplishments mentioned occurred in 2004, not 2005. We really liked the part....about.....zzzzzzzzzzz. Actually, more on the State of the City later this week. And our opinion may surprise you.

AS THE TOWN TURNS

North Greenbush is simply the best. Better than Peyton Place. What do you get the town that has everything....Stalking.

* If it wasn't CDBG money forgive us. This crap gets complicated. It was some type of grant money

** The note stated, in part, "I know somebody who likes you."

STATE OF THE BLOG ADDRESS

*Welcome, City Council members, County Legislators and distinguished guests. After 11 months of blogging, our ability to offer up a complete State of the Blog Address is much stronger than it was 11 months ago. For almost a year, coming to this blog each and every day has been a joy and we want to begin today by thanking each and every one of you that has made this blog the most popular one in Troy.

It may sound ridiculous to some, but we give you our word that the state of this blog is positive. But, the Troy Polloi faces a crossroads. One road leads to complete sarcasm and the other to complete satire, let us hope we have the wisdom to choose the right path.

First, a Blog is nothing if it doesn't have the proper staff. We'd like to thank our Action Team who have been responsible for the great upkeep of each post. No matter the weather, the posts are always free and clear of snow and ice. The Action Team is also responsible for keeping the posts clean and our blog posts have never looked better. Thank you Action Team!

What have we accomplished in this first year? We have had over 44,000 visitors, more than Troy and Schenectady combined. In November, we tipped the charts at over 5,000 visitors. During the week, 160-170 people visit. During the weekends, 70-90. Some people are even bringing their families, making the TP a family destination.

Under a new pilot program, we have condemned over 30 area politicians and have demolished over 15 politicians that have refused to stay up to code. In addition, we implemented an absentee politician registry and are working diligently to penalize negligent, absentee politicians.

Although we can't please everyone (a few have likened our work to canine feces), feedback has been positive. Other area blogs have taken the time to recognize the Troy Polloi (see, Upstream, Albany Eye, Albany Girl....). We even coined a new word, 'Schenectoid', that received NYCO's prestigious Word of the Week Award.

Finally, the TP has appeared in Talespin twice as well as the Times Union.

We have accomplished all of this while only raising the price of this blog 8.5%, most of which was necessary due to healthcare costs, overtime and pensions.

Most of all, we want to thank the area's public officials: without you, this blog would not be possible. Thank you and God Bless.

- Democratus



* Sorry, but we are mandated by the Code to give this address