CANDIDATES REACT

We meant to post this yesterday but we kicked it down the road. Or, we punted. Any ubiquitous phrase will do.

The four mayoral candidates reacted to the proposed 9.3% tax hike unveiled by Troy Mayor Lou Rosamilia. One even swooned. The reactions are a fascinating study.

First, however, it should be made clear that the tax hike was not a surprise to anyone on the City Council. The hike is being used to cover $1.9 million in pension fund costs owed to the State. The money was due last year and we deferred payment until this year under the Wimpy Doctrine of  "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." Now, they'll break our legs if we don't pay.

Last year, the Council asked the Mayor to have department heads submit  department budgets with a 3% cut. This would have resulted in over twenty-five layoffs, including eight in the TPD and ten in the Fire Department. Obviously, these cuts were not adopted. All of this was in hopes of addressing what we face today. The Record covered the story back in November, 2014.

So, a significant hike was inevitable,  this year or last year. Everyone knew it. After the Tutunjian Administration ($12,000,000 over seven years) looted the reserve fund to avoid large tax increases, citizens are finally realizing that shit costs money and costs go up. Couple that with the fact that 86% of the budget is spent immediately for salaries, pensions, benefits and debt service, and you know taxes will almost always go up (unless you dip into the rainy day fund, now depleted to $600,000). So, Lou got caught holding the bag.


So, what do the candidates have to say:

Wiltshire:


Wiltshire, who is City Council president, said he did not see how the council could approve the increase. “[This tax increase] is terrible and it’s the result of kicking the can down the road and playing politics with Troy’s government,” said Wiltshire, a Democrat running on the Working Families Party line.

 Wiltshire criticized the Industrial Development Agency for “too many giveaways” and the current administration for not filling the position of city auditor.

“For me, we need to cut on our expenditures in areas we have control over,” said Wiltshire, identifying energy conservation as one area of possible improvement.

Well, either Wiltshire helped to kick the can down the road or he didn't know the can was being kicked down the road. Either way he's being disingenuous. As for not voting for it, Wiltshire may or may not know that the proposed budget will go into effect if the Council doesn't vote for it (or vote a revised budget). Not showing will not cut it this year.

Wiltshire offered no examples of how 'playing politics' or the IDA resulted in the proposed tax hike. We know, and so does Wiltshire, why the money is needed. Apparently, the reporter did not ask the follow up question. Wiltshire, in the past, has demonstrated an astounding ignorance of the IDA and PILOT programs. Although, he recently told the Reddit Community that he would work with the IDA to keep Troy's economic engine motoring.

The Tutunjian Administration understood the benefits of the IDA when it vigorously pushed tax breaks to bring Dinosaur-Bar-B-Que to Troy. The total package was over $600,000. This to a company whose majority owner is a hedge fund controlled by multi-zillionaire George Soros.

Now to Jim Gordon, the other candidate currently on the Council:


“This year, possible, the mayor presented a more realistic budget, unlike in past years when he presented a smoke-in-mirrors budget,” said Gordon. He said the tax hike, requiring council approval, punted the ball to the city council.

“Last year they kicked the can down the road and this year they punt the ball,” said Gordon.

Apparently, Gordon was not on the Council last year. And, the Charter actually punts the ball to the Council. That's the process. Gordon may not know that.

Under Section 70 of the Charter, the City Council has the authority to recommend changes to the proposed budget. Did either Gordon or Wiltshire make specific recommendations last year that might have lessened the looming tax hike? Gordon, like Wiltshire, buried his head in the sand for an entire year. Now, the have sandy heads. We don't have to tell you what that means.

The silver lining? We get to see two mayoral candidates in action as they roll up their sleeves and trudge through the budget quagmire. We can hear what they would do and what cuts they recommend. We get to see their leadership skills; Not just talk. Here, they can act. If they can provide Lou with enough cuts to lower the proposed tax increase 4-5% then they'll be heroes.

The candidates not currently in government get a free pass on this. They can say what they want, sound wise, self-righteous, conciliatory, etc. There is not anything they could have done in the past few years, or ever, to prevent the large tax increase.

Madden:

“Everybody had varying predictions of where the number would fall and I’m grateful it’s not double digits -- however it is very close to double digits and I think it’s a very difficult pill for people to swallow.”

Madden, the executive director of the Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program, said hopefully, the council will engage in the process this year and come up with some ideas. “But I also know if there were any easy fixes, the mayor wouldn’t have proposed a 9.3 percent increase,” he said.

Madden asked why the council had not addressed the anticipated hole in the 2016 budget from a deferred payment in 2015. “Where’s the council been on this question?”

He advocates for changes in the budgeting process, like forecasting beyond 12 months.

“We’re not doing the hard work that we need to be doing, we’re not acting strategically, we’re kicking the can down the road year after year,” he said.

Cox:

Jack Cox, Jr., who is running as an independent candidate on the Revolutionary Party line, said he was glad he was not on the City Council, like Gordon and Wiltshire, “because I don’t have to vote on this budget.”

With a 3.8 percent tax increase in 2015, the city taxes will increase about 13 percent in two years, said Cox.

The tax hike, he said, “clearly shows that the current administration, including Rodney and Jim Gordon, have a lack of understanding on how to manage money.

“At the end of the day, these people are making deals and doing things with the understanding that its others peoples money and there’s no end to the revenue stream and that’s public sector thinking,” said Cox. “We need private sector influence.”

With some deft maneuvering, the tax hike will be less. Perhaps 6%. Not great but better than what we face now. Lets watch and see what they do. If the men who would be mayor can't straighten this out, there's no choice but Madden.

Whether it's settling suits caused by the previous administration or making up for their raid on the reserve fund, we will be cleaning up Tutunjian's mess for years.

SUNDAY PROFILES ON PARADE

In the first of a continuing series (but probably not) we profile one of those brave enough to expose themselves to the Troy voter.



Today...ANASHA CUMMINGS.

New to running for public office, Anasha Cummings is not new to getting involved. In fact, for someone who actually wants to be on the City Council, this guy is actually impressive. And hard to miss.

Sure, his name sounds like something one might shout while climaxing (say it three times fast), but Cummings is in Troy by choice, not because he can't sell his house. Born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Cummings attended RPI, graduated in 2012, and stayed in the Collar City.

In 2012, Cummings was named RPI's Person of the Year. That's impressive and not just because he's not Asian. We grew exhausted just reading the list of Cummings activities. According to The Record:

Cummings was born in Santa Fe, N.M., and moved to Troy to study Design, Innovation and Society* at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. It was during that time he became involved with bridging the gap between college students and the rest of the city.

He has worked as an intern for U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, a VISTA sustainability coordinator for Troy Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (TRIP), and as a project coordinator with Empire Solar. He is also an organizer for Transition Troy.

Cummings snagged the Working Families Party and Green Party  endorsement for an At-Large seat on the Troy City Council. He also ran for the Democratic line but lost. Currently, he is deciding whether to actively campaign or withdraw from the race. To that end, Cummings has created The People's Primary, an on-line petition that will decide the political future. At least for 2015. Cummings will let the people decide whether he continues his campaign. If Cummings receives 1,000 votes by October 9, 2015, he will remain in the race.

You see, Cummings doesn't want to be a spoiler and will only run if he believes he has an actual shot at winning. He doesn't want his supporters throwing away their vote.

For those Republicans in the audience, to vote you have to leave your name and contact information to vote. So, don't bother trying to thwart the purpose of the petition.

This guy cares about Troy and has the energy to help guide Troy in to the future. He is a great example of the Creative Economy on the rise in Troy. We hope he runs again. As a Democrat. And wins.

We hope to be able to post an interview with Cummings in the near future

* Yes, yes, he minored in Care of Magical Creatures. We get it.

GORDON CAUGHT DOING LINES

If you want to bitch and moan about the proposed tax hike, and who doesn't, feel free to use yesterday's post as an open thread on the issue. Today, we'll take a look at one particular third party line.


Third parties, minor parties, call them what you will. The fight for, or co-opting of, these ballot lines underscores our jaded, cynical, unprincipled politics, particularly in Rensselaer County.

We have no problem with the existence of such parties. That is their right. We also have no problem when a major party candidate is endorsed by a third party if that third party's general philosophy overlaps with the philosophy of the candidate's actual party. But, when things like this happen, it...

Rodney Wiltshire could run on the Democratic line and the Working Families line without any major contradictions. Ditto Jim Gordon running as a Republican and Conservative. Gordon is currently a Republican Councilman for District 1 and the County's Stop John Sweeney Coordinator.

Now, in addition to his other lines, Jim Gordon will be running as the Green Party candidate for mayor of Troy. No, really. We know, we thought the same thing.

Lets take a look at a few planks in the Green Party Platform. Come on, it won't hurt. Promise.

1. The Green Party honors and seeks to follow the teachings of the Haudenosaunee who implore us to consider the impact of our decisions on the well being of the next seven generations* in our deliberations of policy and practice in all areas of live (life?), and in particularly, with respect to the environment.  Toward this goal, NY should establish a goal of being carbon neutral by 2030.

2. No hydrofracking for natural gas (fracking, same-sex or otherwise, is permitted).

3. Implement the rapid phase-out of nuclear power for environmental as well as economic reasons and the replacement of that power with clean renewable sources so that nuclear power has no future in New York State.

4. It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society's current patterns of violence. We will work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction (and establish a new pattern of violence).

5. We call for the immediate legalization of the growth, sale and possession of cannabis and hemp under NY State law, and for legal opposition to Federal prosecutions for the same. Prohibition and the resulting “drug war” have unjustly incarcerated countless individuals and scarred communities, often along racial and class lines, while draining resources from society (obviously the Greens are in bed with Frito Lay and part of the Marijuana-Munchy Industrial Complex ).

6. Women’s rights must be protected and expanded to guarantee each woman’s right as a full participant in society, free from sexual harassment, job discrimination or interference in the intensely personal choice about whether to have a child. Women’s right to control their bodies is non-negotiable (we will not deploy troops to stabilize your vagina).

 7. The Green Party affirms the rights of all individuals to freely choose intimate partners, regardless of their sex, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The Green Party recognizes the equal rights of persons who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, intersex, transsexual, queer, or transgender to housing, jobs, marriage, medical benefits, child custody, and in all areas of life including equal tax treatment. We support legislation such as the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw discrimination gender identity or expression; GENDA also expands the state’s hate crimes law to explicitly include crimes against transgender people (intersex? we'll bring the frosting).**

8. Fully funded, full day, and developmentally appropriate Universal Pre-K and Kindergarten with certified and unionized educators (another giveaway to those little Pre-K fuckers).

9. Establish a publicly funded single payer health insurance program covering all residents in the state.

10.The Green Party stands firmly for social justice for all those living in this country regardless of their immigration status (and before you ask, yes, even undocumented Canadians).

11. Reject life without parole sentences: They fail to recognize the human capacity to change and fully appreciate the value of each human life (we can all appreciate the value of Lemuel Smith's or Bucky Phillips' capacity to change).

12. Provide the equivalent of a living wage income and adequate benefits to those who are not able to work (yes! Finally, my fibromyalgia comes in handy). 

 Granted, a candidate never agrees fully with their party's platform. There are always disagreements. But, does Gordon support half of the Green Party platform? A third? A fourth? If so which planks does he support and how will he help implement the planks he supports?

Would some enterprising journalist ask Gordon which of these positions he supports. No doubt  Franco will have Jim on his radio program once more before the election. Will Franco ask what Green Party positions Gordon supports? If none, will Franco ask Gordon why he accepted the Green Party line? We know the answer, of course. This is not a Gordon problem. They all do it. In this instance though, the platforms are so antithetical to one another a justification for running on both is impossible. We just want the politicians that accept lines antithetical to their party enrollment to confess that its all bullshit.

Ah! Screw it! Nothing changes.

 

* Because 6 generations is obviously too few and 8 generations  is just ridiculous.

** Intersex? Seriously. No clue what  that means. Jim, it's your party. Help us out here. 

 

NINE

Looks like 9 percent

NEWS DUMP

GORDON GETS BIG BOOST

GOP candidate for Mayor, Jim Gordon, received the coveted endorsement of former Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rob Astorino.  Astorino lost the 2014 race for Gubernator to Andrew Cuomo. On a scale of 1-to-10, how many political influence points is this endorsement worth?

a) 1-3
b) 4-7
c) 8-10
d) Rob Who?

Said Gordon: "I am honored by this endorsement. I used to own a '78 Astorino. Best car I ever had. Went from 0 to 60 in twelve minutes."


HOP-ALONG ABELOVE

District Attorney Joel Abelove is encouraging his assistants to carry concealed weapons. Abelove has already shot himself in the political foot a number of times and now wants his people to have the same opportunity.

Abelove issued the statement, saying he doesn't want to deprive his staff of their 2nd Amendment Rights. No word if he is encouraging staff to publicly criticize him, in honor of the First Amendment.

Lawyers with concealed weapons: What could possibly go wrong?

Abelove did not comment on dismissing, or failing to act on, charges against political supporters.


TAXES

Big day today. We should learn what the proposed tax hike will be. Some say up to 20%. Others say high single digits. We'll know soon enough. Place your bets.


FIREARM SEIZURES UP

Police Chief John Tedesco announced that firearm seizures are up 68% in the City of Troy. Surprisingly, shooting are trending down. There have been twenty-three shootings this year compared to forty-seven in 2014. But it's only October. We have three months to go. Lets do this! If we focus and put our minds to it, we can beat last year's numbers.

Maybe Abelove's staff can help.

M0R3 NUMB3RS

First off, the TROY NY facebook page has some great, vintage photos of Troy. Hat tip to Andrew Cooper.

Now, on to our story.

More numbers for people who care. We know many of you like to crunch the numbers, so here's a few. If you don't, settle down, take out a book and read to yourselves.

We  have the enrollment numbers for Troy from 2014. These won't be exact. People move out, move in, die.* The numbers should be roughly similar today. We suspect the WFP numbers have gone up a bit.We might be able to track down the up-to-date number but, screw it.

Democrats - 8,457
Republicans - 3,617
Independent - 1,474
Conservative - 1,237
Working Families - 481

Blanks - 6,603

There's a smear of Green Party enrollees but barely enough to notice. There's an even smaller number of 'other' parties, so small that they're not even named.

The total number of enrolled voters for Troy is 20,395, roughly twice the number that actually vote.

What's this tell us? No idea, really.

Based on our last post we no that Mayor Lou received 5,000 votes and Mantello 4,100. We know Mayor Tutunjian, in 2007, received 5,400 to former Deputy Mayor Conroy's 4,100.

Do these tea leaves really tell us anything? It tells us Trojans are true Americans, with our 50% voter turnout (which includes forged absentee ballots). We do not have the breakdown of how many of each party, or how many blanks, voted for whom. So, we guess the best questions to ponder are:

1. Can Gordon get as many votes as Tutunjian? Mantello? Tutunjian was an incumbent whose image didn't get tarnished until his second term. Half of Tutunjian's budgets included a 0% tax increase (because he raided and depleted Pattison's reserve fund, we now face a double-digit tax increase). Mantello's name recognition is much higher than Gordon's as she had been around Troy politics for 73 years.

2. Is the Democratic vote evenly split?  Wiltshire ran the type of campaign that does create strong support among his supporters. The type of voter that will vote in a blinding downpour or raging snowstorm (or vice versa). That type of support has a ceiling. It is interesting to note that Rodney secured just about as many votes in the primary as 'likes' on his facebook page.

3. Does Wiltshire support slowly shrink (you know about shrinkage?) as the prospect of a Gordon administration grows? That is another phenomenon with third-parties. People will start to lay-off the Wiltshire bubbly for fear of a Gordon hangover.

4. Will Gordon's refusal to request, and disclose, the 911 tape hurt him?

Our best guess, and it is only a guess, is that the election will break down as follows:

9,250 votes

Gordon 3,600
Wiltshire 1,500
Madden 3,900
Cox 250

We may be generous in almost doubling Wiltshire's support.

Now on to our newest feature, GUESS WHO'S THE DOUCHE

Which area politician has their bowels in an uproar about the newly painted crosswalk mural at Fifth Avenue and 101st Street?

We'll give you three guesses, but you're not going to need them.

This bone-chilling, sinister sturgeon is another manufactured micro-aggression in the mind of:

a) Ken Zalewski
b) Carmella Mantello
c) Mark McGrath
d) Gary Galuski

The answer is here.

What's next? Stripers! Salmon! We must resist!**


* Yes, they may still be eligible to vote

** According to the artist the intent is to resist McGrath's descent into an Alzheimers-like nuttiness. 

NUMB3RS

After downing a half a bottle of Nyquil, 2 Darvocet and some Skittles, we decided to take a look at the Mayoral and At-Large races for the past few cycles. We did it for you, you political/numbers junkies. You can thank us later. After you crunch a few of these digits, send us your theories, your analysis your predictions.



2007

MAYOR

R-Tutunjian 5,422
D-Conroy 4,145

CITY COUNCIL AT-LARGE

D-Campana 4565
D-Brown 4361
R-Bauer 4177*
R-Talarico 4089*
R-Ciccarelli 4077*
D-Foy 3398



The WFP ran three candidates that received a total of 567 votes

* Each Republican candidate also had the Independence and Conservative lines.



2009

CITY COUNCIL AT-LARGE

D-Campana 3837
D-Brown 3654
D-LoPorto 3526
R-Bauer 3086
R-Miner 2663
R-Rogers 2777




2011

MAYOR

D-Rosamilia 5,030
R-Mantello 4,163

CITY COUNCIL AT-LARGE

D-Kopka 4,801
D-Nichols 4,655
D-Wiltshire 4,207
R-Gordon 3,826
R-Greene 3,756
R-Killips 3,304



2013

CITY COUNCIL AT-LARGE

D-Rodney Wiltshire 3,605
D-Erin Sullivan-Teta 3,405
D-Lynn Kopka 3,155
R-Carmella Mantello 3,132
R-Christian Lambertsen 2,070
R-John Cubit 1,863
G-Jessica Ashley 501



The first thing that jumps out is the turnout during a mayoral election year. One expects turnout to be higher when there's a race for mayor. We didn't expect the difference to be so big. In 2011, Gordon could not win an At-Large seat with 3,800 votes. Not even close. He was 500 votes behind the third place winner, Rodney Wiltshire. In 2011, Mantello almost won a seat with 3,100 votes.

In off-year election, you can expect 18,000 votes cast for At-Large candidates. In Mayoral election years, 24,000.  Numbers for the mayors race - expect between 9,000-10,000.

The other observation is that the At-Large race has been the Democrats to lose. Since 2007only Bauer (an incumbent) won. After Hank, the only Republican to come close is Mantello, who enjoyed a much higher name recognition than her Republican colleagues. Conclusion: relatively unknown Democrats will win. Republicans need incumbency or high name recognition. Or, a split Democratic vote.

The numbers also show the waning influence of the Independence and Conservative lines. The Democrats are consistently beating Republicans who hold the Independence and Conservative lines. Once upon a time, those lines would make the difference in many races, Now. not so much.

THE PARTY PARTY

First, hope you like the new look. We decided that it's no longer 2005 and it was time to jump into 2009, with both feet. We painted, got new siding and knocked down a few walls for an open floor plan. Enjoy. Now, back to the show.

Say what you want about failed Democratic mayoral candidate Ernest Everett: He was the pawn of Tom Wade, the Dark Prince of machine politics; He was used to sabotage the Wiltshire campaign; He is a forgery master and can file a false instrument like nobody's business.

All or some of the above may be true. Still, if we had to join a campaign there is no contest. We would have hitched a ride on the Ernie Train.

We recently reviewed Everett's financial disclosures. Just to see who might have contributed to the campaign. We weren't looking for anything in particular. Then we saw his January 2015 Periodic Report. December 15, 2014 must have been quite a day.

First, we start at Kokopellis for a cocktail or two. Then, it's off to Pfeil's Hardware to purchase what? We're thinking a rubber tube and a funnel. Armed with our Pfeil purchases, we're off to Hooters! We scoot over to the Confectionary where we drop a cool $377 and change. Then, a nightcap at the Black Bear Inn and another at the Elbow Room. And that's what we remember. Finally, we return home and try and take our pants off over our head.

Madden may have the D nomination and Wiltshire the WFP, but they never had a Monday night like that!

Which probably explains:

That million dollar smile.

You just don't see campaign pub crawls like that anymore.

OTHER NEWS

In other news, the Troy Police Department has unveiled a new, on-line system to report non-emergency crimes. A good step forward in to the information age. We hope it's not abused because people basically suck. We were invited to review some of the lesser complaints coming from Troy residents:

"Help, come quick, I just saw a squirrel."

"I was killed two days ago and no one has found my body yet."

"My tum-tum hurts."

"Some guy just stole my nomination."

"My kid lost the remote."

"I just saw some dude with a tube and a funnel."

VOTER FRAUD ROCKS TROY

Ernest Everett, who sought and lost the Democratic nomination for mayor, has been charged with forgery and filing a false instrument. Everett is also being sued by former councilman John Brown for failure to pay royalties.

District Attorney Joel Abelove announced: "We have checked the voter registration cards and Mr. Everett is not a registered Republican. Therefore, I have the authority to prosecute this matter."

Why is it always people of color with the voter fraud? First John Brown, now Ernest Everett.

Its too bad he has been charged and it will be too bad if he did it. He seems like a fine young man and it is such a waste if he stooped to crime. Especially this. Frankly, it's just not a cool crime. Bank robbery with a daring get-away; a DB Cooper-style sky-jacking, where he parachutes out the back of the plane into a cold, dark night and then....he's gone. How does one explain this crime in prison:

Cell Mate: Watcha' in for?

EE: Huh?

CM: I said, what you in for?

EE: Fmmf?

CM: What the...

EE: Fmmfmmf

CM: What you say you mumblin' motherf$#&*r?

EE: Uhm, filing a false instrument! That's right, how you like me now!

CM: Son of a ....

EE: No! Wait..wait! Guard! Guard!

As always, the vultures are circling. And who is the first to deny Everett the presumption of innocence, the presumption we'd all like? You got it. Republican Jim Gordon. No, wait a minute. We got that wrong. It's Patrick Madden, the Democratic...no. Wrong again.

The Working Families Party candidate for Mayor, Rodney Wiltshire had this to say just hours after the charges were brought:

I'm saddened, but not surprised, to read with the rest of my fellow Trojans how desperate Tom Wade and the Democratic machine are to hold on to power. Troy doesn't need the embarrassment of yet more felony voter fraud. It's time we move beyond this, as myself and my supporters and voters have been saying.

Voters were deprived of a true primary when a candidate who had clearly submitted fraudulent signatures was allowed to remain on the ballot.* Now, sadly, rather than simply being off the ballot, a young person with a promising future caught up in this machine has a warrant out for his arrest.
Elections have real consequences, and Trojans are sick and tired of theirs being rigged. The BOE owes voters an honest explanation of why, after being presented with hundreds of incorrect ballot signatures, many obviously fraudulent, they refused to do their job and enforce the rules.**
The Madden/Everett campaign have been explicit in their mutual support, and its obvious that Madden is a 'Wade Democrat.'*** Tom Wade himself said that Madden never would have won the election without Ernest.****

The choice on November 3rd is now crystal clear.***** It's time to end crony politics once and for all so we can focus on the very real challenges our city faces. My campaign has always put honesty, hard work and integrity****** above all and If elected my administration will be ethical, transparent and work for a better Troy for all of us.

That is the Working Families Party candidate. The party of social and criminal justice, criminal and judicial reform. The party that fights to strengthen the rights of the accused.

We get pissed at Rodney because there is a lot of promise there. It just hasn't been fulfilled at this time. He has tried and convicted Ernest Everett based on an allegation. He has implicated Patrick Madden and Tom Wade based on what? Mere hope? He stumbled over himself to deny Mr. Everett the presumption of innocence to try and score political points. It disappoints us because this tactic has the Tutunjian stink all over it. This is what Tutunjian and his thugs would do. Gordon (Jesus Christ, can't believe we said that) and Madden have treated this matter with respect and appear willing to let the criminal justice system kick in. Everett may be guilty. So be it. Maybe not. So be it.

God forbid anyone that reads this, Republican, Democrat or blank is charged with a crime or even non-criminal wrongdoing. Do we want the mayor issuing a statement that pre-judges us? Is that mature, thoughtful, responsible leadership? Damn, Rodney. Your not supposed to act like a twitterer (twitite? twitteronian?), a blogger, Record reporter or just an average Joe.******* You have a responsibility to treat the rights of the accused and the criminal justice system with respect, not as political sport. You need to walk this back.

If you are accusing Patrick Madden of being an accomplice to a crime do it. Not in vague, wishy-washy political statements made on facebook. Hold a press conference, bring your proof, file a criminal complaint with the police. Right. Didn't think so. Just another politician.

That brings us to our next point. Gordon may be mayor because the Democratic vote will be split. We believe Gordon should not be mayor. We believe he would lose if he faced Madden or Wiltshire one-on-one. But, Madden can't drop out. The Democrats have to run someone on their line. A major party cannot sit the election out and hand things over to a minor party. They have to have people pulling the actual, Democratic lever (OK, fill out the Democratic bubble).

Rodney, you ran a great primary race. Well-organized and enthusiastic. There are problems with the system. They can be changed but you need a seat at the table to do that. If you stay in the race, Gordon will win and there won't be a table to sit at anymore.

As an aside, Everett's campaign handlers were out of Albany with links to the Brown family. Tom Wade did not run Everett's campaign. Tom Wade encouraged Everett to run for a council seat. Everett insisted on the mayoral race. Why wouldn't those who support Madden want Everett in the race? Do you think that Rodney wouldn't have loved it if a more establishment-type Democrat siphoned votes from Madden. Or is Rodney somehow entitled to face only one opponent in his races? Any other special rules we need to know about, Rodney? Tom Wade isn't perfect but he's not Keyser Soze. If he was, you would have lost by more than 50 votes.   

* Wasn't your challenge to the petitions late? Didn't your campaign fuck-up

** The Commissioners are supposed to know Everett wasn't a witness to the signatures and then unilaterally toss him off the ballot? Either you don't know the rules or don't care about them.

*** Didn't you recently accuse Madden of being a closet Republican?

**** An obvious and true statement. Now you criticize Wade for being honest? 

***** A vote for Wiltshire is a vote for Gordon

****** Until now

******* Sorry Joe.

GOT US!

An observant reader called us out on bullshit. We accidentally posted another Cox rant that should not have been posted. It was supposed to be sent to spam. We are fallible.  It happens to be posted elsewhere and probably should be taken down there as well. We have let Cox rant because it exposes him. But no more. Can't take it.

We'll review the posts more carefully. If you want to chastise us, have at it.

GORDON CAMPAIGN UPDATE

FUNDRAISER

The Gordon Campaign held a fundraiser at the Old Daley Inn, out to Crooked Lake, on September 22. A very nice place. The exposed stone work is to die for. Really, a cool place. We might run for office just to hang there.You can go to Jim's facebook page for the photos.

One question: Does the crowd look a little thin, even for a Tuesday night? Sure, you could argue that there was a new episode of 'Sex Sent Me to the E.R.' on that night, as well as the Breaking Bald infomercial. Still, not exactly elbow-to-elbow.

On the upside, no police were called to the fundraiser.

DIVIDE THE CITY?

Gordon also commented on the recent tax bill clusterfuck.

In a facebook post, Gordon stated:

Another example of our floundering city government. This "mistake" may end up costing taxpayers more and jeopardizing school district funding, I wonder if the Troy School District will be affected just as the Lansingburgh?

There's plenty to criticize in the tax bill mess. Isn't that one of the few things you need to get right? Hell, borrow a calculator if you need to. Take off your socks if you need extra digits.

However, Gordon's attempt to divide the city, Lansingburgh vs Troy proper, seems counter-productive. Far be it from us to stop him from being pro-burgh, anti-rest of the city. It just seems a strange campaign technique.

On the upside, no police were called to his facebook page post.


This has been your Gordon Campaign Update.

WE'LL TURN THIS BLOG AROUND

First, we are proud to unveil our newest feature. The Jim Gordon Countdown Clock. This clock shows the number of days Gordon has to consent to the release of the 911 call from his home* made by his wife- when she overreacted - and then later regretted making the call. It's an easy thing to do and it would make all the voters feel much better.

Second, we have stored up a number of comments that will not be posted. A number of them attack Mr. Gordon with unverified rumors. They will not be posted. Again, we will not post comments that accuse a candidate or another of something that is potentially defamatory.

We have also refused to post a number of comments about Mr. Cooper as well as former Mayor Tutunjian and a few others. Again, some of these comments are fine except for the addition of an unverified accusation: such as so-and-so molests lemurs. Ain't going to post it.

And no, we are not going to allow the old city hall crowd to viciously attack Mr. Cooper or anyone else for that matter. Mr. Cooper did not view us as an interloping competitor in the political/social media world when we re-entered the fray. He re-posted some of our posts which drove visitors to the Troy Polloi. We do not agree on all things with Mr. Cooper but we are not going to allow people to throw unsubstantiated accusations his way. Ain't going to happen.

Why? Cooper is a citizen who has opinions. He is not in office. He is not running for office. He is not gnawing away on the public teat like Chris Christie attacking a carnivore platter for two at Dakota. He also doesn't need us to defend him. He appears quite capable of that himself. But, we will. Cooper doesn't like Mr. Tutunjian. In that, judging by the last two elections, he is hardly on an island.**

On the other hand, Tutunjian is on the public teat. Tutunjian is one of Jim Gordon's primary backers and chief advisors. It's not really Gordon's fault. Tutunjian is the GOP equivalent of the elder statesman of the party. Sometimes you draw a royal flush. Gordon drew 2 of a kind. Why is this a big deal? Tutunjian, as mayor, used his position to punish people who publicly criticized him or his administration. In particular, he wielded the code department like a tin-horn dictator. This is a demonstrable fact. The Jim deSeve incident is only the most notorious of these efforts. That effort failed (go figure) but it is well documented. The fact remains, we cannot countenance any candidate associated with someone who illegally attempted to intimidate the opposition. It is not about taxes, budgets, charters  and all that silly crap. It is about someone who would have been more at home in  some Central American palace than in the mayors office of an upstate New York city. It cuts to the very heart of our democracy.

So yes, we will not allow Mr. Cooper to be defamed. We take care of our friends. That's how we'll do it. That's fair. After all, it's not like we're giving Cooper and his family county jobs because they can't find work in the private sector.

If you don't like it, we don't know what else to say. There are other political sites out there. Feel free to visit them. Or start one. Attack us all you want. Bash our chosen candidates. Criticize public officials. Question authority. Lets dial back the craziness. But not too much.

*It may also be the number of days before Gordon is elected.

** Unless its a very large island, maybe like Australia***

*** Australia is actually a continent so maybe like New Zealand****

**** If it were as big as Australia

THE TPD NEED TO CLEAN UP THEIR ACT...

...but maybe not. Councilman Doherty just can't decide.

On Thursday night the City Council Finance Committee tabled a vote to approve a $23, 000 settlement in a civil rights case. Got the Times Union story is right here.

Councilman Robert Doherty, chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, pushed to temporarily halt the settlement.

"I have some concerns about this," Doherty said about approving settlements without reassurance that the issues raised in the lawsuits are addressed internally by the police department. He said it's important to avoid same situations in the future.

So, here's the lineup: Voting to approve: Gordon, Bodnar, Kopka, Galuski. Voting to table were Wiltshire, Teta-Sullivan, Doherty, Robertson and Zalewski.

Corporation Counsel Ian Silverman recommended settlement and suggested this would save the City some cash. Now, Silverman isn't running the show on this. He's getting a recommendation from outside counsel, hired by the insurer. John Bailey usually handles the police cases. He's good and he knows how to fight. Ask some of the cops he has successfully defended.  If Bailey recommends settlement its not because he's rolling over. In fact, a trial just lets Bailey bill a ton of hours.

In addition, lets not forget, if the plaintiff prevails, her attorney will receive attorney fees. In this case, probably considerable more money than his/her client will see. I know, fuckin' lawyers, right?

The idea that Councilman Doherty wishes to table the vote and not settle a case that the lawyer believes should be settled, "without reassurance that the issues raised in the lawsuits are addressed internally by the police department," is absurd. Doherty seems like a nice individual. But, he sometimes acts like  a guy with Attention Deficit Disorder mixed with Tourette's.

Why would Doherty and crew expose the taxpayers to a potentially high verdict unless the police address the issues raised in the suit? They are two separate issues. Either it should settle or it shouldn't settle. Police Department issues, if any, can be addressed  at a later time. Doherty is essentially saying, 'We may take a verdict we shouldn't take unless I'm satisfied that the police fix what they did wrong."

What did they police do wrong? Maybe Doherty should ask the police. They'll tell you how they screwed up and how they're fixing things. Well, Doherty did:

From: Bob Doherty
Date: 09/17/2015 11:19 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: Tedesco Chief John , "Ian.Silverman" , Rosamilia Lou
Cc: "Liccardi Joseph B."
Subject: Doherty Ordinance 92 - proposed settlement of violation of civil rights - Federal Court

Chief,
I know you are on vacation and sometimes read your email.  I’d like to avoid avoid delay in settling this manner, if answer is available before the City Council Finance meeting tonight. 
I asked in the Mayor’s public safety, meeting, if management actions to prevent re-occurance of violations had occurred.  There was no information available.  Deputy Chief McAvoy did provide details about the seriousness of events that motivated the department to take spirited actions in fact finding and attempts at interrogation.
My concern in settlements is, to a degree reasonably possible, assure preventive or remedial steps have been taken. In part, this is to avoid increasing penalties for future or continuing violations.  In today’s climate of scrutiny of Police/Community relations, I also do not want to gain attention to matters in this area as well.
Ian said he does not run the Police Department. I said in the absence of prevention or corrective action, i would want to table this until you can provide that information. The Mayor told me I could to that if I wanted. The discussion ended on that note.
Reading the Memorandum in Support, reviewing the imposition of charges for impounding a car for investigative reasons might be an opportunity for revision, in cases where there are no charges or violations forthcoming.  Although the more serious aspect of the case appears to be unlawful detention.
Has there been any management actions to remedy or prevent additional violations or settlements?  Thank you, Bob Doherty

Tedesco then comes clean, setting forth all the remedial measures that have been taken:

On Sep 17, 2015, at 8:05 PM, John.Tedesco wrote:

Bob,

 

I personally witnessed the detention of the plaintiff while in the Detective Bureau. Her claim of being handcuffed while there is a lie. She was transporting known shooters and the detectives would have been derelict not to detain and questiontion her.

 

As for her vehicle, Jessica Ashley (plaintiff's morher) has been seeking reimbursement of the tow and storage charge in numerous public settings for several years. The vehicle was legally towed and held until the detective deemed the release appropriate.

 

There have not been nor will there be any revisions in policy as the fault lies with the system, not the actions of the officers.

 

In my opinion, this action is nothing but a money grab.

 

John

Then:

From: Robert Doherty
Date: 09/18/2015 9:41 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: "John.Tedesco"
Subject: Re: Doherty Ordinance 92 - proposed settlement of violation of civil rights - Federal Court

 

If there is no fault or any concern of treatment, why pay out taxpayer's money?  Bob

 

 

Councilman Bodnar finally chimes in:

 

On Monday, September 21, 2015 5:45 PM, Dean Bodnar wrote:

 

OK, somebody needs to say this, so I will.

We wouldn't need this damn Special Finance Meeting if not for the nonsensical vote to table this at Finance last week. We could've voted to approve this, and then those who had concerns had two weeks to get their concerns addressed. It's time to let the professionals run  the police and law departments. Council members who chair committees don't have the legal authority to "supervise" the pertinent departments. Deal with it!

Dean Bodnar  

 

 

Doherty responds:

 

From: Bob Doherty

Subject: Fwd: Doherty Ordinance 92 - proposed settlement of violation of civil rights - Federal Court

Date: September 21, 2015 at 11:51:08 PM EDT

To: Troy All City Council

Cc: Tedesco Chief John

 

Dean, 

First of all the vote carried, so it was not only a Committee Chair.  

            As stated in my remarks, the Chief is top flight in running the TPD and therefore we should know why we are paying out tax payer dollars. Or, if there is cause, it has been corrected by supporting and acting on the Chief’s recommendations.

             The Chief seems puzzled as to why we would make a settlement in a well handled particularly serious crime investigation.  These matters deserve our attention and the Chief worthy of our attention and support. 

            Given the type of issue involved here- investigation of gun violence- it needs cool heads, civil and thorough discussion, and support for TPD. Continued cash settlements to persons involved in criminality of this nature may open up a flood gate and actually make the police job more difficult, particularly investigations.  Bob Doherty

Bodnar says it best: You came to class unprepared and then waste everyone's time.

 

Isn't it curious that Doherty starts out assuming that the police did what the Plaintiff says the police did. He wants the police to clean up their act and address the issues raised in the suit so it doesn't happen again.

 

Then, one e-mail from Tedesco and Doherty is almost offended that the case might settle. One gets the impression that if the Plaintiff e-mailed Doherty her version of events, Doherty would call for Tedesco's resignation and the abolition of the department. So much flip-flopping. He'll show up at the next council meeting in a back brace and cervical collar. It's almost as if its election time.

 

Wiltshire and Zalewski also went along with Doherty. Why not have the Council use its investigatory powers and hold hearings on possible civil rights abuses by the police department?* They're fond of hearings. Are civil rights abuses more or less important than demolishing a building? 

 

Perhaps Council District 4 deserves a representative that does his homework before the meetings. One who doesn't waste his colleagues time or disturb the Police Chief while he is on vacation.**

 

* Sarcasm intended.

 

** We are not fans of Tedesco but should Doherty be asking the Chief to do Doherty's job late in the game?

 

 

BOLD PLAN TO FIGHT CRIME

The Republican At-Large candidates for Troy City Council (Carmella Mantello,* Kim Ashe Hyphen McPherson and the other one) announced a bold new plan to fight the crime sweeping the streets of Troy.

It's a Five (5) Point Plan. Ready...

1) restore the Street Crimes Unit; 2) have police officers park their patrol cars and walk the neighborhoods; 3) reapply for the COPS grant the city turned down as too expensive to get three more officers on patrol; 4) demolish city-owned buildings that are vacant and burned out; and ... there was another one, right? We did say five. Oh, right. 5) create a permanent City Council Standing Committee on Violent Crime.

Carmello went on to add a 6 in the five point plan: River Boat gambling. "And then, of course, you need to elect me," said Kim Ashe Hyphen McPherson, "so that's really 7 points."

"Elect me too," said the other one. "Guess that's 8 points."

"Nine," added Mantello, who fired a warning shot at Ashe-McPherson. Ashe-McPherson returned fire striking that third candidate.

This visionary plan was unveiled in front of the Fallon Apartments Rainbow Center. Two people were wounded but are reported to be in stable condition.

There is nothing wrong with this highly unoriginal plan. There was also no price tag included. Three more officers is only one more per shift. You'll need more police on the streets than that. Especially if their walking.

* The Troy Polloi hereby endorses Carmella Mantello for one of three At-Large seats if she'll stop running for shit. We kind of feel sorry for her.

FEELING A BIT SUPRESSED

Following City Council President Rodney Wiltshire's recent primary defeat for the Democratic nomination for mayor, accusations of voter fraud and voter suppression have been lodged (mostly on facebook).

Here's one:

Voter fraud, as we are well aware, and voter suppression are serious allegations. Former Working Families Party operative Sara Couch has said she witnessed "incredible voter suppression and voter fraud to the point I was sickened."

Couch also worked tirelessly for Wiltshire.* We understand that a certain bitterness occurs after a close election. When you're in the echo chamber, surrounded by people who  all support your candidate, you cannot believe it when the candidate loses. There are still hundreds of Harvard alumni who waited for a Dukakis landslide. Remember Presidents Dole and Kerry? We have all been there. Yes, it sucks. However...

If Couch witnessed a sickening** level of fraud and suppression we need to know where and when. Did she collect the names of those suppressed? Did she take the names of those committing fraud? Did Wiltshire have legal counsel on-call to intervene  and move to impound the ballots or take other measures to ensure a fair vote?

What was the nature of the fraud? It is one thing for a few clowns to forge signatures on absentee ballots to win a primary (John Brown et. al) or have all but one absentee ballot returned in your favor (North Greenbush) but what was the fraud at the polling locations? What was the voter suppression? We hate to say it but our polling place did run out of ballots and we had to wait a while to receive more. It happens. It also happened two years ago at a different polling place and we waited once again. One shouldn't jump to sinister conclusions when  mere human error will suffice. Madden, Russo and Ryan supporters would have been equally effected by a lack of ballots.

Of course, Ed McDonough pointed out that when the polling place is a school, it is going to be locked down during the day. And, today, unlike decades ago, just about everyone is walking around with a camera. Did anyone...anyone at all....bother to film any suspicious  irregularities? Just one photograph or video? Perhaps, people trying to get into a building that is locked, people being turned away without the chance to vote.

Furthermore, there was more than one primary on September 10. Pat Russo faced Scott Ryan in the GOP primary for Sheriff. Did Ryan's people report irregularities? In addition, there are poll watchers, Board of Election volunteers (that all seem to have been a few years ahead of Methuselah in high school) and others. Larry Bugbee is involved, as is Ed McDonough.

Then there's the ignorance factor (notice we did not say stupid).  Some people are just...well... fucking ignorant. They may not be registered democrats or registered at all. They just want to vote, figure they're old enough and live in Troy so they'll meander on down and vote.

Point is, its easy to allege voter irregularities, fraud and suppression after a loss. It validates a cause: We would have won but they didn't play fair. So, get time, place and names. Get affidavits. Go to the District Attorney. He'll prosecute non-republicans, we know that.

Sara Couch is an interesting messenger for voter fraud. She was involved, as a witness, in the LoPorto case.  In fact, Couch was at both infamous meetings at LoPorto's.***

At the meeting, "Michael LoPorto, a candidate for Troy City Council whom Ms. Couch knows personally, handed her a newspaper folded in half, which contained approximately 30 absentee ballots, and asked her to deliver them to the Rensselaer County Board of Elections," Ogden said. "Ms. Couch said that she thought it was odd for Mr. LoPorto to make such a request."

The second meeting:

Couch told police other attendees at the restaurant meeting included Caird, John Brown, LoPorto and McDonough. She said McDonough started the meeting by stating: "I don't want to be a (expletive) but I want to make sure that this conversation isn't being recorded. ... This is really bad and needs to go away."

When the meeting ended, Couch told police, LoPorto picked up the tab for their meals and walked her to her car. He gave her a hug and said: "I never gave you those ballots," she told police.

Forgive our naiveté but, you're handed absentee ballots in a newspaper and you think it odd? McDonough wants to know if a conversation is being recorded (according to Couch) and says things are bad and it needs to go away. Then, LoPorto says he never gave you those ballots.  Did Couch go to anyone with any suspicions? If not, why not?

The cries of voter fraud and suppression feel like a convenient, easy answer to a disappointing loss. Or, is this about the Working Families Party? In the past few election cycles you can subtract the votes received by Democratic candidates on the WFP line and the Democrat still wins. Now, the WFP has an actual candidate on their line that has a track record of getting votes city wide. A candidate that has a following. Is this a last-ditch effort to be relevant? To hold the Democratic Party hostage to the WFP in the future? Or is are the WFP trying to get Rodney to drop out to avoid a Gordon-Tutunjian administration? Surely Madden would be a better candidate to advance WFP goals than Gordon.



* According to Couch Wiltshire the only man who can move Troy forward. The only person in a city of almost 50,000 people? He also turns water into wine at LoPorto's.

** Sickening is greater than nauseating but less than feverish.

*** Try the veal. It's to die for.

SIDE BAR

We recently received a comment about a candidate. We won't name the candidate (Jim Gordon). That comment arguably went 'too far.' It was funny, but we chose not to publish the comment. Later, that same person admitted they went too far and understood why we chose not to publish said comment.

We'd like to thank him/her for the admission that there are lines that one should not cross. It showed a maturity that is not always found on comment threads.

Our policy of not posting potentially defamatory statements is designed to protect the person making the comment as well as ensuring this publication doesn't devolve into nothing more than a juvenile pissing contest. Juvenile pissing contests are fine but we would like substance as well.

Unfortunately, we've had to block otherwise worthy comments due to one word or sentence that we believe steps over the line. We acknowledge that the line is not always clear. Lets see if we can come up with a few rules:

1) Racial, religious, ethnic, sexual preference slurs - out (once again, Belgians and United Methodists excepted);

2) Stay away from candidates spouses, children etc. unless they have joined the fray, which means more than being by the spouse's side;

3) Rumors of any the candidate's (all 73 of them) marital problems, infidelities or out-of-wedlock children, drug use, participation in Dungeons and Dragons games, Zamfir CD collection... won't be published. Now, if they are funny, clever, subtle and not directed to a specific candidate, we'll think about it. We're only human;

4) Obviously, allegations of political machine corruption, dirty tricks etc. are fair game. As is a candidate's temperament for the job.

5) We reserve the right to be arbitrary and capricious.

6) Comments about the Tutunjian Administration are now (wink, wink) strictly prohibited (wink, wink) and any such commentators will be blocked (wink, wink) from posting anything (nudge, nudge) so don't even try it! We dare you!

The white elephant in the room, or in the post, is the infamous 911 call made from a certain house, to a certain Police Department. What appeared in the press is fair game. The spouse of a candidate felt the need to utilize city resources to intervene in a domestic dispute. That is all we know. It's fair to comment but going beyond what is reported would be mere speculation and at this juncture unfair to all involved. We do think it would be good to clear the air and reassure voters. To that end, perhaps the participants involved in the police visit could consent to the release of the 911 tape. Voters can see that the events reported in the press match the actual events recorded and we can put this all to rest. That benefits not only the Gordon campaign but all the campaigns. We don't know why the Gordon camp wouldn't want to take that step.

DEADWOOD ON THE HUDSON

Two more shootings in the Collar City. As for the Corliss Park victim:

"Police initially identified the victim as Jerome Johnson, 22, of Troy, but have since said they are skeptical of his identity.

Johnson has a trial scheduled for next week in Rensselaer County Court for a charge of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon stemming from a 2013 incident. In August, a trial for that charge began but ended in mistrial after jurors saw a man attack Johnson with a chair at a Dunkin Donuts during a lunch break."

Then we have the River Street victim:

Detectives are also looking into an earlier shooting on River Street to see if the two shootings may be connected. Around 4:40 p.m. on River Street near Bond Street, police responded to what residents described as a “gun fight.”
Police located one male victim, who they’ve identified as Quaron Gordon, 19, of Troy.

The Mayor has announced that the City has now exceeded its shooting budget for the year. Any further shootings will need to come from the contingency fund. The Mayor went on to say: "Next year's budget will need to address the need to include more shootings."

Council President Wiltshire agreed: "If I'm not in Florida when the budget vote comes up, I will look into this issue."

Republican candidate Jim Gordon thinks we need to work closer with the police. "I will discuss the rise in gun violence with the police, the next time 911 sends them to my house."

District Attorney Joel Abelove announced that once it is determined that the suspects are not Republican legislators or Republican operatives, they will be prosecuted.

Democratic mayoral hopeful Patrick Madden could not be roused for comment.

LOOKS LIKE A THREEWAY

It's not as if we never thought about a threeway, its just that we had something else in mind. Instead, of what we had in mind, this threeway is more like this...

Patrick Madden has secured the Democratic nomination by a mere 50 votes. Rodney Wiltshire has the Working Families Party nomination. James Gordon has the GOP nod. Wiltshire, a good Democrat, has pledged his support to the party's nominee, thereby securing the mayoral for Mr. Madden.

Or not. Just a few hours after barely losing the nomination, Wiltshire stated he would actively campaign and win the mayor's race. This is unfortunate and reinforces some of the negatives people see in Rodney.

1. Wiltshire made this statement after the narrowest loss. A more mature politician may have taken a day or two to absorb the loss. Losing sucks. Losing by a such a close margin sucks X2. You shouldn't make any major decisions for at least a day or two. The knee-jerk reaction doesn't allow for reflection on unintended consequences. Wiltshire needs to ask himself: is he a Democrat; does he want a Republican to win; does he want a future in the party.

2. What does it say about someone who plays by the rules until he loses? Wiltshire is reinforcing his detractor's belief that he is petulant and more interested in self-promotion than what is best for Troy.

3. Wiltshire has a smart option here. What he could do is withdraw from the race, campaign his ass off for Madden and then in four or eight years, he will have the credibility to argue for the endorsement of the party. And, he would have a good argument. Wiltshire's support will diminish as November 3rd approaches. Many of his supporters will know a vote for Wiltshire is a vote for Gordon. That's not what they want and many won't waste their vote.

If Rodney runs and costs the democrats the election, he's done. His future will lie with the Working Families Party and can someone name a win they have achieved in this county? They are not the equivalent of the Conservative Party. They are not as strong, not as organized and not as effective.

We are also happy to report that three of our endorsed candidates prevailed. The much sought after Troy Polloi  endorsement not only lifted Madden to victory, but Lynn Kopka and Carey Dresher. Our only fail was Anasha Cummings and you really can't blame us for that one.

In our Monday morning post we suggested there might be a surprise. Well, the Kopka victory surprised everyone, except us. We figured that the 5th Council District would have a decent amount of absentee ballots and most would go to Kopka.*

The Troy Polloi is back and your patronage is appreciated. Good night and good luck.

*All bullshit really. We figured Kopka was toast.

NOW IT'S WEDNESDAY

Absentee ballots will now be opened on Wednesday, according to the Times Union.

The delay was requested by Rodney Wiltshire who wanted more time to prepare. The candidate did not detail what preparations were necessary. It's not budget time so he's not on vacation.  Apparently Madden is prepared. Everett as well.

Wiltshire may be looking for someone who has been through the absentee ballot opening process, a very formal ceremony usually conducted in medieval Latin, requiring conical hats and lots of incense. There is a strategy to this: what ballots to challenge and when. It is wise to have an experienced person or two with you.

In recent years, the 2007 and 2014 District Attorneys races went to absentee ballots, the former taking a few days. In 2007 McNally retained attorney Jim Long. Tom Kenney was also present to help. GOP candidate Cholakis had an army of attorneys from the New York State Senate Campaign committee, paid for by Joe Bruno. Wiltshire can't afford Long and Kenney was at Ryan's Wake with Madden.

Not sure who the 2014 candidates retained.

We'll check in Wednesday night. Good luck to all three candidates.

MEANWHILE....

Examinations Before Trial (also known as depositions) reveal interesting things.

When former Corrections Officer Kevin Rogers, currently being prosecuted for embezzlement, was rehired in 2004, he received...special treatment. Rogers had not worked for the County for eight years when he was rehired but was able to retain his seniority and all the perks that come with seniority.

We do sympathize somewhat with Rogers. The Troy Polloi was gone for almost eight years but was also able to retain its seniority among local political sites. Although we are not under indictment. Yet.

DEAR RODNEY, KEN & JOE....

First, sorry for the shitty images. We're still working with 2008 technology with no plans on changing. Also, we didn't get the best facsimile. If this is impossible to read, let us know and we'll just forget the whole thing.

We received this letter a day or two before the primary. We chose not to publish at that time because, frankly, we were unsure of the motive. The timing was suspicious. Was Lou 100% sincere or did the establishment Democrats feel Madden was in trouble and this might help? Or both. We have no opinion one way or the other.

In other news, big day tomorrow. Absentee ballots opened.* Get plenty of sleep. There may be a few surprises.

*Just putting the finishing touches on the last ones this morning.

HANGING WITH MR. COOPER

We need to apologize. We accidentally deleted a comment and invite the submitter to resubmit the submission. We did this a week or two ago as well. Typically we approve comments from our e-mail but this time we did it from a phone and out big fingers hit delete and not submit.

The comment accused the editors of responding to a comment because of some time stamp. We do not respond to comments as we do not feel it appropriate. We do approve many at one time, typically in the morning and the comments are time-stamped when written, not when approved.

The comment also accused us of being in league with Mr. Randall Cooper and Mr. Cox.

We do enjoy Cooper's facebook postings and find him a straightforward, no BS kind of guy. We do not agree with everything he says but certainly respect his right to believe and support who and what he wants. We can disagree without getting nasty or personal about the disagreement. As for being in league with him? Odd, seeing that he wanted Wiltshire and we supported Madden. Maybe one of the most incompetent conspiracies ever. We simply forgot to coordinate. Sorry, Randy, we thought you said Madden.

We would ask that if the comment is resubmitted it refrain from accusing named individuals of utilizing pipes and gerbils for recreational purposes. Perhaps a case of projection, perhaps not.

We do not approve comments that potentially defame people. Unfortunately, we have had a number of comments that did so. That is why we activated comment moderation which has actually decreased the number of posts that are potentially defamatory.

What do we mean by potentially defamatory? Well, you can't accuse people of crimes. You can't accuse people of drug dealing, pederasty, DWI's, spousal abuse, racism....You could very well be right but we need some level of confirmation. Throwing around baseless accusations isn't our style. We do have a reputation for integrity, professionalism and high ethical standards.

You may accuse people of being:  Druids, vegans, Free Masons, polytheists, Scientologists, game show hosts, fundamentalists, activists, hipsters, urban farmers, Whigs, Belgian and the like. While annoying, they are not, technically, crimes.

POST MORTEM

Sure, the body is still warm, but what the hell. Pass the scalpel.

The general consensus among those in-the-know is that Patrick Madden has enough absentees to maintain his infinitesimal lead in the mayoral primary. Honestly, this surprises us. Why?

WILSTSHIRE CAMPAIGN

Wiltshire ran an A+ campaign in terms of organization. He got his people to the polls. He went door-to-door numerous times and sent out personalized e-mails that included the recipient's first name as well as their polling location. They know social media. A smart campaign from an organizational standpoint. We figured they would have had the absentee ballot angle covered.

MADDEN CAMPAIGN

A C+. He only gets the + because the conventional wisdom is that he'll eke it out. Madden's campaign lacked energy and in the internet age Wiltshire's campaign is facebook and Madden's was Myspace. One imagines Madden's people had a Commodore 64 with a DOS operating system. They need to revamp and hire or get volunteers under the age of 40.

EVERETT

Ernie proved a class act by stopping by Ryan's Wake on Thursday night. That is old school, and gracious. Hopefully, when (if?) Madden wins he'll have Ernie next to him at the press conference announcing his primary victory.

This campaign exposed the painful truth that both candidates have their strengths but also their weaknesses. Madden did not have people running to the polls for him. Rodney did, but not enough. Madden appears reluctant. Wiltshire overeager. Both could learn something from the other.


GOING FOWARD

Some free advice (Hey, you get what you pay for):

Madden - update your campaign, find a good energy drink and hit the pavement. Find a few kids who know social media and start working it. Don't forget to run as the 'outsider' since you are actually the real outsider. You have not been on the City Council and have not been enrolled in any party. Your position with TRIP prevented your involvement in partisan bullshit. Use that to your advantage now. You are the political outsider.

Madden needs to widen his circle of advisors. To date he has relied far too much on former Troy Mayor Mark Pattison and operative Mark Streb. Those are fine people to rely on for campaign advice, but expand it to include people that are currently in City Hall or have run in an election in the last few years. People who really know the current lay of the land.

Rodney, it would have been great if you had two lines.  You won't. If you are a Democrat, you need to endorse Madden and campaign for him. Put aside your hatred of Tom Wade and do what is right for the party but more importantly do what is right for the city. You'll have a future if you stop taking your ball and going home every time you don't get your way. Also, you may want to consult an attorney about those recorded conversations with the Everett supporter. They may have gone over the line. We'll discuss that later, not in front of company.

Ernie, campaign hard for Madden. You have a future in politics.

ODDS & ENDS

Funniest line heard at Ryan's Wake: "Wiltshire must be in trouble." Said when former County Court Judge candidate Amy O'Connor walked in to Ryan's Wake around 9:30. That said, O'Connor would be a good choice for corporation counsel in a Democratic administration.

Sneaky Move: The Wiltshire Campaign attempting to co-opt the Dresher campaign in e-mails. Dresher was not amused. Another ethical issue with Wiltshire's campaign.

Corey Jenkins will not campaign in District 6 (D'Arcy needs to get him on board). A pragmatic decision that the other Team Troy members should follow. Anasha will survey his supporters about whether to campaign or not. Peggy is moving forward with her campaign. If the losing candidates are democrats, they need to campaign for the winners. And yes, that means Kopka and Higbee should help Bissember and Doherty.

Finally, where's Jim Franco?  T-Spin looks like its been abandoned.

A REAL SQUEAKER

Congratulations to last night's winners and a 'nice try' to those that didn't make. If its your first time running, don't be discouraged. Many of those who eventually win lost their first race.

The Democratic primary for mayor isn't over yet. Five votes separate Rodney Wiltshire and Patrick Madden so it will come down to...wait for it...absentee ballots. There are 116 absentee ballots* and we'll just have to wait.

When absentee ballots decide a race we get treated to the usual challenges and cries of fraud etc. Good times, good times.

It shouldn't be this close. Wiltshire ran a very good get-out-the-vote operation. If Madden's was as good he would have walked away with a win. Now, we predict a Wiltshire win. We could be wrong,** but we find it hard to believe Madden worked the absentee's as well as Wiltshire.

If it is Wiltshire, Gordon is doomed. It will be hard for the Republican to compete against a Democrat with two lines. Which leads to another interesting set-up. Wiltshire could be stuck with a council that is less than friendly. There will be no Team Troy winner in Council District 1,2,3,6 or At-Large.

Typical Troy. At least you can't say it's predictable.

* Not including those being filled out as we speak

** The last time we were wrong was three years ago when we said we were wrong