PRIMARY

Congressman Mike McNulty has his first primary challenge since 1996. His opponent is Tom Raleigh. Here's his website.

Raleigh.....

....is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel. His twenty-two years of service as an Infantry Officer, military diplomat and Russian and Eurasian specialist included troop assignments in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East with mechanized, motorized, and airborne Infantry units, and concluded with consecutive diplomatic postings in Moscow as an Assistant Army Attaché, and in Vienna, Austria at the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. As a soldier and military diplomat, he has nine years of international experience in Europe, Russia, Central Asia, the Balkans, Egypt, and Africa.

Frankly, Raleigh's CV seems a bit light. After all, up until he resigned in disgrace, Congressional Republicans were led by an ex-cockroach exterminator. Now that's a useful background for a congressman. So, the big question for Raleigh is, "Why does he hate America?"

Needless to say, Mr. Raleigh has impressive credentials. He's been to places that Sweeney can't locate on a map and the President can't pronounce. Given his background, perhaps we may at least listen to some of the things he has to say on national security issues.

Raleigh is no lightweight. But, why is he challenging an incumbent Democrat? Well, in his own words:

Today we launch the first congressional primary campaign in this district since 1996. Between now and the Democratic Primary on 12 September, we will convince Democrats to convince fellow Democrats--neighbors, family, friends, and co-workers--that it is time for change in Washington. We will convince fellow Democrats that it is time to end the disproportionate importance of money in political campaigns, to end the unhealthy, sometimes sinister, influence of money in legislative decision-making. We will convince Democrats that it is time to send to Washington someone who will put the national interest and the common good above politics when it comes to addressing pressing domestic challenges; it is time to send to Washington someone who will choose cooperation and solutions over blame and gridlock. And during a time when the nation finds itself in the midst of a prolonged, complex, and extended war, we will convince Democrats that it is time to send to the Congress someone who has served in the Armed Forces, someone who has served in the intelligence community, someone who has served in embassies overseas, someone who understands--or at least appreciates--the complexities of the post-911 security environment, the post-Cold War world, and the nature of the threats confronting America and her allies. We will convince Democrats to choose leadership over complacency. We will convince Democrats to vote in the 12 September Democratic Primary and to vote for Tom Raleigh because they want their vote to count.

That's an interesting message. Some think that Raleigh is trying to 'Lamont' Mike McNulty. Only there, Lamont ran against Lieberman by criticizing the Connecticut Senator's lack of partisanship. Here, Raleigh is claiming Mike is too partisan.

We do not take sides in primaries. However, it seems a bit inaccurate to accuse McNulty of being too partisan. McNulty's record is very moderate, which accurately reflects the district. He's not generally known for being a partisan grenade thrower.

McNulty, despite being in the minority, has a proven knack for bringing home the bacon to the Capital Region, whether it's for the Watervliet Arsenal, the Stratton Air Force Base, the Port of Albany or other area projects. And despite what people say, when it comes to Congressional Representatives, it's all about the other white meat. Also, to his credit, he didn't duck a debate with his opponent like some incumbents are wont to do.

It looks like the Democrats in the 21st Congressional District have two good choices. The odds are against Raleigh. If Raleigh does lose, we hope he doesn't abandon seeking office in the future. He's a serious, credible candidate.

Why doesn't a serious Republican primary the doofus we have on this side of the river?

HILLSIDE BLUES

By Politicus Ebonus Abyssus

During the last local campaign cycle, Republican city council candidates touted the drop in the City’s crime rate as a reason for continuing to vote Republican. Indeed, they gushed like school girls over Harry’s exemplary leadership. Unbeknownst to Troy voters, the information presented was problematic. As with most politicians in Troy, it is what they were not telling us that was significant.

First, the crime rates were going down all over New York State, all over the country, and in most metropolitan areas, including New York City. What occurred in Troy, at least in the short term, was no different, and surely was not a result of Harry’s leadership. Secondly, crime in Troy was down in 2004 from 2003 but up from 2000. So what is the truth? At best, the statistics are inconsistent, not indicating a true trend.*

So while we are spoon fed only good news on the City’s crime level, which seems to be misleading at best, the City’s administration has been characteristically quiet about bad crime news, more specifically, a rash of burglaries in the Hillside area of Sycaway.**

Dubbed as the Hillside Burglar, an individual has been breaking into houses for a number of months, stealing purses, wallets, and other small items. While this crime spree has been going on for months, the City administration has done nothing to let the citizen’s of the neighborhood understand the extent of the problem. In fact, a private citizen has been going around the neighborhood posting signs, alerting the residents to the problem.

Good or bad, the citizens have a right to know the truth, Harry. Show leadership rather than cowardice, and do the right think, not what is politically expedient.

Remember, if you see this man:

Contact the police, immediately.

THUMBS UP

This week's thumbs up goes to The Record's own Jim Franco for christening Congressman Sweeney with a new, more appropriate, nickname. Sweeney will probably win but being able to call him Congressman Candy Ass for the next two years kind of makes it all worthwhile.

* In fact, Fred Dicker of the New York Post, hardly a member of the sinister 'liberal' media, has devoted more than one radio show to the fact that violent crime is on the rise, especially Upstate.

**Sycaway is the Japanese word for the Algonquin word for Sycaway.

PREMO REVISITED

A few readers took our Bruno v. Premo election result predictions a bit too seriously. We predicted a huge landslide for Uncle Joe. After all, the man does have his own baseball stadium. When is the last time someone went to The Brian?

The chastisement we received also included a litany of Mr. Premo's prognostication abilities. Apparently, Premo can predict the future. This still leaves unexplained why he couldn't predict the screw-ups that led to the recent court loss. Nor does it explain why he still practices law instead of living off lottery winnings.

Of course, we jest and hope Premo can run against Bruno. After all, this is not just about a candidacy. It is also about sending a representative to the senate. Premo is smart and articulate. We have no doubt he would be a worthy successor to Ucle Joe.

The Bruno folks fought tooth and nail to get Premo off the ballot because Bruno is vulnerable. Premo was (and still may be) a credible candidate and a credible candidate can make life very difficult for the powerful Senator. The GOP is bracing for a Spitzer juggernaut. They know Democrats will flock to the polls this November. Area Republicans also know that Democrats in Rensselaer County are salivating at the thought of all those juicy patronage jobs ripe for the plucking. Turnout will be high and that bodes ill for Bruno.

Of course, Bruno's people claim they had little to do with the election law fight. Like any powerful family, their actions were masked by using 'buffers'. Bruno has a lot of buffers. The Record photo told the story. County chair Tom Wade sat alone while the large GOP contingent looked like carrion waiting to swoop down and gnaw on a carcass.

If the law says that Premo is out then we support that decision. Unlike many in the area, our respect for the legal system doesn't hinge on the political consequences of a judicial decision. However, Joe's decision to use his buffers and eliminate Premo was disappointing. It would have been nice if Joe welcomed the challenge of an opponent; welcomed the debate; welcomed the chance to defend his role in New York's current political cluster@#!*.

Our problem with Premo, if you can call it a problem, is the little issue of party enrollment. Frankly, we're not sure if Premo is a Democrat, Republican or some curious hybrid. Here, however, such chameleon-like qualities are hardly a cardinal sin. In fact, it's more like a rite of passage.

If he can't make the senate run, Premo should set his sights on the DA's race. DeAngelis, if she is able to get the nomination, is as vulnerable as an alter boy at a bishop's convention.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

The Appellate Division has overturned Christine Wilhelm's murder conviction and has ordered a new trial. In 2002, Wilhelm drowned her four year-old son, Luke. The Assistant District Attorney that prosecuted the case was.........Patricia "Second Time's a Charm" DeAngelis. Apparently, she screwed up again. Judge McGrath also erred in his ruling.

The reversal hinged upon the testimony of two Child Protective Services witnesses. The two CPS workers testified to admissions made by Wilhelm during the course of interviews for the CPS investigation. However, the District Attorneys Office failed to give notice pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law 710.30 that they intended to offer the admissions at the time of trial. That's the crux of the problem. There are more complicated issues involved and the decision can be read here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).

Perhaps someone versed in criminal law can tell us whether or not notification of intent to use the admissions (pursuant to CPL 710.30) would have cured the problem. If so, why didn't DA's office do that? Better safe than sorry, after all.

The last paragraph of the decision is interesting. The Court does not reach the issue of (what else?) 'prosecutorial misconduct' but does state that comments made during the prosecutor's summation were within the 'broad latitude' allowed prosecutors when responding to a defense summation. That's not the interesting part.

The interesting part is that while they say they need not address the issue of prosecutorial misconduct because a new trial is ordered on other grounds, they go on to caution the District Attorney. In fact, they provide a laundry list of what a prosecutor is forbidden to do in summation, concluding: "We caution the People to abide by these well-settled principles upon retrial."

We hope this puts the end to anyone's belief that Ms. DeAngelis is a good prosecutor and a good courtroom attorney. That's not to say she's a poor one, either. With a 95% conviction rate, our District Attorneys Office stands toe-to-toe with just about every other DA's office, with the exception of the Bronx and Erie County. Everybody has a high conviction rate. It's just not a big deal. To say that the office has a 95% conviction rate is like a professional ball player bragging about hitting .280. In this day and age, you had better hit .280 just to keep your job.

Mike McDermott prosecuted the Porco case in a calm, cool, systematic manner. He allowed the evidence to be the star of the case, not himself. Passion is well and good but DeAngelis' hysterics have given defendants to many second chances. That's not what got her in the end here but the Appellate Division sure did talk about misconduct even though the issue did not have to be discussed.

Maybe Mike can return to Rensselaer County and take up his old job with the DA's office. They could use someone like him.

Judge Jacon drew a roadmap for anyone that wants to run against DeAngelis in '07. Her opponent would be wise to use that map. Put on the defensive, DeAngelis was thrown off her game and never recovered. That can be done again and the Wilhelm case can now be added to the list of her screw-ups.

GOT NOTHING

Got nothing.

Oh, Premo is out. Now Joe will win by 100% instead of 78%.

Again, we'll presume Hummel, a Republican, followed the law. We like it when judges follow the law. It's neat. We wish Bauer had done that and that Spargo would do that and move to our fair city.

One good thing may come out of all this: the end to the Democratic Co-Chair nonsense. The Democrats decided upon the Co-Chair system (if you can call it that) to save friendships. They should have taken a lesson from the GOP who sacrifice everything, including friendship, family and integrity to win. That's how the game is played here and that's what you have to do to win.

Oh, by the way, there a few new people leaving comments. Keep them clean and try to stay away from personal attacks. If you cannot compose a rational, relevant comment, perhaps it's time to get that GED you've been talking about all these years.

Good luck and God Bless.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG...WENT THE TROLLEY

TROLLEY DAYS

Our long nightmare has ended. We finally have a trolley (courtesy of John Hedley). According to Mayor Tutunjian, the trolley will be used for "tourism." All we can say is, 'it's about time!' The city is just far to crowded during tourist season. We might even get a summer home somewhere else and rent out our place for the season.

It was a nice gesture on Hedley's part. The mayor was right about one thing: Hedley has done a lot for Troy. Maybe Hedley should consider running the city for a few years.

GERMAN FEST

Brunswick had it's German Fest this weekend. Now that was crowded (like Troy, 'in season'). In fact, it was so crowded, the German Fest had to invade and occupy the Polish Fest just to handle the overspill.

BRUNO V PREMO

If you care about this saga, you can read Kate Perry's piece, here. If you really care about this, you can follow Franco's coverage (in chronological order) here, here and here.

Judge Hummel will decide on Tuesday if voters will have an actual choice. Now, we do not know the legal ins-and-outs of this mess. We do know that if the positions were reversed, the Republicans would be screaming that 1) Hummel is a Republican and 2) Hummel is the guy Bruno pushed for the Supreme Court. Conflict anyone?

But, since were not Republicans, will say that Hummel is a judge first and a Republican second and is more than capable of making the fair and right decision.

In fact, Premo may be holding his breath waiting for his candidacy to be derailed, courtesy of Democratic incompetence and in-fighting. That frees Premo up for the race he really wants to undertake, Rensselaer County District Attorney.

City Council President Henry Bauer has also expressed great interest in becoming our next District Attorney. Now that would be interesting. Bauer and Premo share office space and are good friends.

CITY TO HIRE NEW ASSISTANT CORPORATION COUNSEL

According to reports, Harry may be hiring a new, assistant corporation counsel.

ENFORCE THE LAW

A Primer for Harry

What is the job of a chief executive? Well, the job of a chief executive, be it the President, the governor or a mayor, is to enforce the law and make sure campaign contributors get lucrative contracts. Yes, that right. To enforce the law (and hand out those contracts). It's not to make us feel good, it's not to tell us what we want to hear, it's not even going to fires. It's to enforce the law.

This is not to be confused with the job of a legislator. A legislator's primary role is to come out strongly against child molestation and violent crime.

So, how seriously can we take an administration that refuses to enforce the residency laws? Not very. As a matter of fact, we can't take them seriously at all. Selective enforcement of the city's laws is worse than no enforcement because opens of a law to be used as a political weapon.

So, here's the challenge. Harry, please let us know if Tom Spargo is in compliance with the residency requirements. It doesn't matter how Spargo's position (Assistant Corporation Counsel) is classified, at the very least he must reside within Rensselaer County.

How about Corporation Counsel David Mitchell? Why hasn't he been punished by being forced to live in Troy? With an $80,000 salary he can certainly afford our outrageous taxes.We think he lives in Ballston Spa, his old stomping grounds. He hasn't voted in Rensselaer County, which is odd. Also, donations to Harry from Mitchell have been by way of two $1,000 money orders. Why? There's no address on money orders and no address shows up when those contributions are listed in the Tutunjian campaign's financial disclosure statements.

In fact, will Harry make a public statement that every member of his administration, whether public officer or not, is in compliance with the residency requirements?

People get very angry when it comes to police not living in Troy. The theory being: if they live here, they'll care more about Troy. Maybe we should start at the top.

Perhaps asking the chief executive of Troy to enforce the law is over the line, but we're kind of picky about stuff like that.

McNULTY ENDORSES DEMOCRAT

In a blatant, shameless display of partisan politics, area Congressman Mike McNulty has endorsed Kirsten Gillibrand in her bid to unseat Congressman John Sweeney, (R-20th Cong. District).

What could have motivated Mike, a longtime Democrat, to make such a move?

"Representative McNulty is supporting an opponent of Congressman Sweeney's that would have no ability to bring home any dollars to the 20th, or 21st district, for that matter," she said. "Representative McNulty is on the wrong side of this race, and he owes his constituents an explanation as to why he put politics over their interests. Gillibrand and McNulty will make a great team of not returning any of New York's tax dollars." - Sweeney Campaign Spokesperson, Maureen Donovan.

We realize that politicians and their people get a bit crazy during election season, but Ms. Donovan really needs to stop chasing her Flexeril with Wild Turkey.

Ms. Donovan's boss is one of the most partisan hacks to ever sit in Congress. Who can forget his shameless, infantile antics during the Florida recount (stopping election officials from removing sample ballots from the room)? He's unabashedly supported the most uncompromising and incompetent partisan administration in the history of the nation. For anyone from Sweeney's gang to call anyone else partisan is like Donald Trump calling someone else tacky.

We wish the reporter had asked Ms. Donovan how many Democratic Assembly candidates Sweeney has endorsed? After all, it's the Democratic Assembly members that can "bring home the dollars." That appears to be the rationale for Donovan's criticism of McNulty (so much for the 'small government' GOP).

Republicans always pull this horsesh*t. Whether it's Sweeney or Tutunjian, their pat response to anything a Democrat does is, "they're playing partisan politics." They never actually address the issue raised and they're never called on it by anyone in the media.

That Sweeney's people would even comment on this is telling. While we believe Sweeney is relatively safe, his people are following the trends. Since the beginning of the year, the Democrats chances to take back the House have grown. We still think it more likely than not the GOP maintains control of the House, but there is now a real chance for the Democrats.

Wouldn't that be the irony of ironies for Ms. Donovan? McNulty has been a good congressman, doing his best under a GOP majority and President. If the Democrats do win back the House, Mike will have plenty of seniority (he has to be one of the senior members by now) and will have his pick of chairmanships. A McNulty in the majority would be a major asset to the area and a powerful ally in the fight against the Emperor.

ALL'S QUIET

It's been quiet around town. Not much to write about. Feel free to use this as an open line and rant and rave about anything you want.

Rensselaer County Legislator Martin Reid, who is running for New York State Assembly, now has a website. It even has photographs (but no butt shots).

On his page at the County's website, Reid has this to say:

Both my parents helped teach me the importance of listening and being ready to serve their neighbors when needed. I have tried to follow those lessons during my service in the Legislature, said Reid.

We'd like to ask Mr. Reid the following:

Did you vote yes on the $5,000 pay hike for County Legislators? (We know he did)

Why?

Did you inform your constituents that there would be a pay hike vote?

If so, did you listen to them on that issue?

Will you sponsor a repeal of the $5,000 pay hike?

Why no butt shots on the website?

We'd like those questions answered, especially the last one. Reid doesn't mention the pay hike on his website, although he admits to the far more embarrassing fact that he worked for John Faso. By all accounts, that pay hike is still on the minds of Rensselaer County residents. If you see Marty, ask him about it and don't be satisfied with some political-speak answer. Or, shoot him an e-mail at mreid@rensco.com. Until Reid comes clean on the pay hike, he doesn't deserve to be our Assemblyman.

Next week, we hope to have more information on the Mayor's plan for up to 80 public housing units slated to be built in Lansingburgh.

And Hey! Lets be careful out there.

PAY TO PLAY

Municipal contracts are generally quite lucrative. They're good gigs for private firms. How does one get a municipal gig? Well, a firm needs to be the best in the business to secure such work. Politics rarely enters into it (sarcasm alert).

Well, almost never.

For instance, Goldberger & Kremer, the City's attorneys, have contributed $400.00 to Harry. Not a bad investment for the lucrative retainer they receive every month. Goldberger & Kremer are well-known in the Labor field and were supposedly hired to work on contract negotiations, especially negotiations with the police. Word has it that both the city and the police have dispensed with their respective attorneys and the two sides are negotiating directly. We have no problem with that but do wonder why the city needs Goldberger & Kremer at all.

And how about Creighton Manning Engineering? They just landed a nice job as the consultants on the new project for Congress Street. How much did they give to Harry? Over $900.00. Another great investments, seeing as they look to make over $400,000. They also threw Senator Bruno $3,000. That'll grease the skids for you.

Harry's done a good job at raising money for his re-election bid in '07. He's raised about $90,000 and spent about $40,000. Over 20% of what he has raised has come from contributors outside of Troy, many of them contributing $1,000 or more. We guess those companies know they'll get a good rate of return from City Hall.

We're just over a year out from the '07 elections and Harry has raised enough to scare off any potential Democrat. If this is any indication, he won't need half that amount. Oddly, Trish DeAngelis has raised nothing. Makes you wonder if she's seen the handwriting on the wall.

PLANNING BOARD FUN

Some Planning Board fun to brighten up your Thursday.

By Politicus Ebonus Abyssus

As many of you know, the Troy Planning Board unanimously voted down the proposed Hudson Mohawk Recovery Center on Congress Street. While the Troy Record reported the vote and some of the background of the meeting, it left out the juicier parts of the meeting. Who would have thought? Lucky for you, the Troy Polloi was there. Lucky for us, Spargo and Ryan were part of the meeting and continue to provide us with fodder.

First, the vote. As the paper reported, the Board voted against the proposal. What the Record did not report was the warm, congenial aftermath of the vote. After the vote, the Board members discussed tabling the motion to work with Hudson Mohawk to find a suitable location. People, you cannot table a motion once you have already voted on that motion. This is basic Robert’s Rules of Order. Once a motion is voted on, it’s over.

This then led to the citizens of Troy, who had already voiced their displeasure over the project, to question vehemently what really occurred at the meeting. Once they were calmed and left the meeting, Deputy Corporation Council Tom 'Shake down" Spargo followed them out to the street. He proceeded to yell at them in front of City Hall for their conduct in the meeting and for not making their monthly bribe payments. Tom, Tom, Tom. Before you go yelling at the citizens of Troy for exercising their civic rights, make sure the Polloi isn't around. By the way, did you advise the Board that they could not table a motion once it is voted on? Or were you just going along to get along (to ensure your pension)? Something for you to think about as you drive back to your home in Albany County. Oh well, I digress.

Where is Matt Ryan in all this? He was at the meeting, obviously protecting his interest, or more importantly to Ryan, his $450,000 payday. Also being circulated at the meeting was a list of the properties that Ryan currently owes tens of thousands of dollars in back property taxes to the City on. After the vote to decline the proposal, Ryan was overheard muttering that he is just going to let his properties go to waste and let the city take them over. How redundant! The City was going to sell several of his properties for being in default a few years ago, but agreed to payment plans once Ryan took them to court. After making a few payments, Ryan stopped making payments and again is in default. If nothing else, Ryan is consistent and entertaining.

And so, like sands in an hour glass, these are the Days of Our Lives.

DEMOCRATS MASTER PLAN IN FULL SWING

Democratus is back after a nice, relaxing vacation. After reviewing the comments from last week it looks like everyone stayed on their medication. Bravo!

Jim Franco, of The Record, has been busy writing about the recent moves made by the Democratic Party. However, Franco is missing the big picture.

The Democratic Party has stepped it up and their master plan has now been activated. As best as we can piece things together, the Democratic Party, finally tired of getting it's ass kicked, is lulling the GOP into a false sense of security. By allowing the GOP and it's operatives to take control of the Working Families Party, the Democrats now have the GOP in their sights.

The minor party takeover is merely the penultimate phase of the plan. Ultimately, the Democrats plan on having the GOP take over the Democratic Line. Then, while the GOP is brimming with hubris, the Democrats will strike.

As for the Premo debacle, all this may be the best thing for him. Premo, in all likelihood, really wants the nod to run for District Attorney in '07. If he can't run against Bruno, Premo can't lose. He can't be accused of running a half-hearted campaign. He'll be fresh as a daisy for a run against Trish.

And people say the local Democrats are disorganized, lazy and leaderless.

If you don't believe us, just ask Troy City Chair.....ummm....you know....what's his/her name...just ask them, they'll tell ya'.

One item in last Sunday's TU did catch our attention. According to the Legal Notices for Rensselaer County, John Hedley officially transferred ownership to 433 River St LLC (Hedley Place address is 433 River). The properties included Hedley Place, Flanigan Square and the parking lots associated with them. The purchase price, you ask? Most people might say 5,6 7,8 million......As Bob Barker likes to say..."the price is" $88,470. That's right, 88k for all that property. Not a bad deal! Is it a misprint or is it some complex shell game? For a second, we thought DPW workers might have purchased the property in order to sell it to Father Young.

WHERE'S OUR FAUX LIGHTHOUSE

Tim O'Brien, over at the Times Union, had this to say about all the empty promises we get from our leaders. It's a good piece.

We still like the idea of the faux lighthouse. It's rather emlematic of this entire administration. It's fake, useless and spherical.

Maybe the "in-house" people should be working on something real instead of working on Harry's dreams. Sure, every mayor dreams of lighthouses, unicorns and sweet candies but maybe they can get that 'Hoosick Street as another Wolf Road" thing going. Or perhaps they can make Lansingburgh a 'destination.'

Guys, Troy is like a crackwhore. You don't just throw a fancy dress, heels and pearls on her. You have to clean her up, get her some medical attention, send her to school. Then you can start to get fancy.

No one has a true, cohesive vision for Troy. No one wants to do the necessary job of rebuilding our tired infrastructure before slapping all that finery on the crackwhore . Everyone wants to skip to lighthouses and unicorns.

We need to start rejecting politicians that have risen through the ranks of the local politicial parties and bring in some new blood. We need people who can set forth a vision of what Troy should be in the 21st Century.

CARIGNAN, AGAIN

It's day 9 of Carignanpalooza. We haven't yet explored any possible procurement policy violations. That's mainly due to watching the Yankees sweep Chicago (and the Playboy Channel). But Hestia Republicus is on the case.

PROCUREMENT POLICIES FOR DUMMIES
By Politicus Ebonus Abyssus

Issues around the Carignan insurance bid continues to dominant this blog, although I would have loved to have seen the Gary Coleman interview. One issue that has been discussed though not in depth is to what extent did the City followed its own procurement policies in issuing the insurance contract. In short, the City is required to follow certain procedures in procuring services or commodities, in this case insurance.

Based on the level of the contract, the insurance bid process required competitive sealed bidding (Section 3-101.F of the City’s procurement law). While I don’t want to bore readers with the entire content of the procurement law, competitive sealed bids require a purchase description and all contractual terms and conditions (section 3-102.b), must be opened in a public place at a time and place designated in the invitation for bid (section 3-102.g), and that the invitation for bid must include the criteria under which all submitted all bids will be evaluated (section 3-102.h).

Listen to the drum roll as the suspense heightens. The City’s insurance bid violated at least these sections of the procurement policy. The City sent a two-page bid for quotes to seven different insurance companies, rather than a request for bid. While we could debate the semantics of quote versus bid, requests for bids generally have much more detail than the City provided. The request for quote also did not list the time and place for the bid opening and did not include the evaluation criteria as required for by procurement law. The bid for quote, however, did allow potential bidders to send in a letter if they could not provide quotations on the coverage.

As has been discussed, Carignan sent in a bid and Nicoll & MacChesney sent in a letter stating that they could not respond to the request for bid but could match Carignan’s bid. This begs a major question. If bids were sealed, how did Nicoll & MacChesney know they could match the Carignan bid? Oh well, that is a question for the lawyers.

Once the contract is approved by the City council, the mayor then issues a Broker of Record letter which is sent to all parties recognizing who the agent representing the city in insurance matters is. And as we know, the City Council did not vote on the contract at all and a Broker of Record letter was issued indicating that Nicoll & MacChesney held the City’s insurance.

Responses to this blog and comments from the City administration have rationalized the process by stating that it saved the City $65,000. But as we now know, the savings was less then $10,000. Talking about savings is a red herring, however. In the bid for quote, the City gave potential bidders multiple options (four for liability, three for self insured retention, and three for city buildings) to develop quotes for. Based on these options, there are 36 possible combinations. The only way to determine any savings would be to match the specific combination from the two different insurance companies. After reading Harry’s sworn testimony, I doubt that level of analysis was undertaken. And even if it was, Harry’s poor grasp of detail make it highly unlikely he would have understood the differences or been able to articulate them.

This is how the administration works. And now it is costing taxpayers more money because of the time and cost of defending the lawsuit. I wonder how that stacks up with whatever savings actually occurred?

* A ritual blood sacrifice and specific Druidic Incantations are also required

METROLAND GOING DOWNHILL

Metroland, the region's alternative newspaper, has sunk to new lows.

They recently named The Troy Polloi....

Best Blog on Local Politics

Troy Polloi

The Troy Polloi is exactly what you want from a blog about local politics: A place where rumors are swapped, dirt is dished and a small but dedicated readership leaves regular comments. Although this routinely updated blog often trends toward the cheesy, with its Photoshopped swipes at officials and ham-fisted humor, we have to give it its props. Democratus, the blog’s author, has demonstrated a doggedness with certain issues that can only be called admirable. Plus, we think the Gillibrand banner ad is just plain funny.

I hope that all the teachers that told me being a smartass wouldn't payoff could see me now. This is also my option year. Now I'll be able to up my asking price.

So, while we here thank Metroland we do have a bone to pick. We don't appreciate the description of our artwork as cheesy or our humor as ham-fisted. Our professional photographers work hard on those photos and pride themselves on producing shitty photos, not cheesy photos.

I'd like to thank Albany Eye and Democracy in Albany for alerting us to our selection. We never would have known about this honor without them.

Finally, I'd like to thank my former wives for allowing me the time to write.

Because things are slow, very slow, we'll be taking some time off next week to shut down and perform maintenance on the presses. We may post once or twice. Maybe not. We will be back the week of July 29th.

Be safe and have fun.

FROM THE X-FILES

By F. Mulder

Democratus took the day off to testify in front of a Grand Jury. I'm filling in until he returns. If he returns.

According to sources at the Capital, the Budget Bill contains a tasty, little morsel for building contractor U.W. Marx. Marx will not have to pay any taxes on their City of Rensselaer project. Marx is building the city a new school and will then be acquiring the old school, located on prime, Hudson River front land. It's not known who introduced the provision. Alien involvement is suspected.

In a completely unrelated matter, does anyone know who built Ken Bruno's estate?

H&V Collision Center in Troy had a grand re-opening recently. Senator Bruno was there. Coincidentally, so was the Action Team, cleaning and scrubbing the street prior to the arrival of the VIP's. The Action Team's uncanny ability to scrub down the precise area where Senator Bruno will be arriving is well documented in literature. The coincidence is spooky.

Finally, has anyone ever seen Mary Donohue and Kathy Jimino in the same room together? I didn't think so.

MORE FROM THE TRANSCRIPTS

The Carignan issue has struck a nerve. Visits are skyrocketing. Therefore, we've cancelled the Gary Coleman interview in order to bring you more of the Administration's Greatest Hits from the Carignan lawsuit.




We've already delved into the fleshy, meaty part of the case. Now we'll focus on a few side issues, just for kicks. Or maybe they're not side issues. Who knows.

For instance, who knew how the $64,000 in question would be saved? Where did that number come from? In the State of the City, Harry said $100,000, in the press release it was 64 G's. How many stories does the Administration have about the savings?

Anyway, without further ado:

Mayor Tutunjian

Q. And did you suggest to the administration
any particular way in which to get the best
cost for the coverage?

A. Any way that they could to get more --
different prices from different agents, if need be.

Q. And it would do that by approaching many
different agents and asking for really the
best offer they could get for the City?

A. Correct.

Q. And do you know approximately how many
different insurance agencies were
approached and asked to provide quotations
for the City to provide coverage for the
City for 2005?

A. No.

Q. And do you know how many agents responded
to the Request For Quotations that provided
quotations to the City?

A. Not exactly, no.

Q. Do you know approximately how many?

A. No. A handful, I'm guessing. I don't
know.

So, Mayor Tutunjian puts the word out: Get more quotes from more agents. Get the best price possible. So far, makes sense.

Witkowski:*

Q. So how many responses did the City receive
to its Requests For Quotations?

A. Responses like this?

Q. How many quotes -- how many agents
submitted any quotes in response to the
RFQ?

A. The only thing that I know was that
Carignan submitted quotes and that Nicoll &
MacChesney wrote -- it wasn't a quote, but
wrote a letter, I guess, stating that -- I
don't know -- my recollection of what it
states is that there would be -- they would
be able to use the same insurance companies
at lesser amounts or something to that effect.

So, Carignan secures the insurance and N&M writes a letter. But, does the letter guarentee a $64,000 savings?

Q. Is there anything in Exhibit 12 that
indicates that Nicoll & MacChesney would
save the City $64,000 below the quotes that
were submitted by R. J. Carignan?

A. Not in the letter, but there was a meeting
by which they came to -- there was actually
two meetings, one where Carignan came and
kind of ran through their quotes, Dave
Mitchell who is one of the City attorneys
and myself, Matt was there, and somebody
else from his organization, I can't
remember who it was --

A. And then there was another
meeting, myself, Dave Mitchell, and again
unfortunately, I can't remember -- I know
Marty Keary was there and there might have
been one or two other gentlemen from Nicoll
& MacChesney or Marshall & Sterling, and at
that meeting, they verbally agreed that
they could save the City at least -- I
don't remember if it was $64,000, but it
was at least in the sixty-something
thousand dollars range.

Q. And was Nicoll & MacChesney provided an
opportunity to give the City a written
quotation in response to the RFQ like R. J.
Carignan did?

A. Yes.

Q. And were they able to provide a written
quotation?

A. I don't know if they were able to or not.

Q. Did they provide a written quotation?

A. They didn't provide it, no, except for this
letter.

So, we go from a letter, to a verbal promise. And who's at both meetings? Dave Mitchell. Who failed to show for his deposition? Three guesses. Here's a clue: his initials are David Mitchell. Witkowski goes on to state that there was a big saving but that saving was because of the new policy (the one secured by Carignan).

Will bring you more later this week. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this, just ask. After all, we seem to know more about it than the mayor.


*Keep in mind, we are in no way poking fun at Ms. Witkowski. In fact, we feel she's probably the only credible source the city has in this case. She is just not an insurance expert and cannot be expected to know all the nuances of that world.

SUMMER HOURS

Summer is here. Things are quiet and posting will be reduced.

It does look like the Carignan issue is gaining traction. We received a response to our hissy fit and would like to thank the editor for, at the very least, exploring the issues we've set forth. We don't expect that the paper in question will run the story. We hope it does. We do appreciate that someone is at least willing to make an informed decision on whether to cover the issue.

It also looks as if the Administration is making some desperate counter-attacks. They're worried now. You can see it whenever this issue comes up. They drop their usual 'no-comment' and begin to rant and rave. It's very humorous.

The administration has even threatened legal action against the three Democratic councilmen who want an investigation into possible violations of the city's procurement policies. That's right, some type of suit against people acting in their capacity as elected representative on an issue of public concern. Our legal analyst described the very idea of suing the councilmen as "the zenith of Mongoloid thought."

It is also suspected that the have reached out to area papers for a favorable story on the issue. We love good fiction, so a story like that would be fun.

What's on tap for next week?

1) We'll explore the possible procurement policy violations involved in the Carignan matter;
2) More highlights from the deposition transcripts;
3) Sit down for a heart-to-heart interview with former child star Gary Coleman;

LAMONT, YOU BIG DUMMY

Fred and his son Lamont just made a bundle by selling their junkyard to the City of Troy for $400,000. But don't worry, it's not actual money. It's 'taxpayer money.'

The city plans to build a municipal park on the 3 acre plot and the Cinema Art marquee will be incorporated into the park entrance. The city plans to use the park for special events including, The Crack Whore regatta and the Level Three Sex Offender Jamboree.

The park will be situated along the Hudson River, at 25 President Street. Just one more piece of real estate off the tax rolls. The lesson? Be a sloppy land owner and a thorn in the side of the city and you'll get paid off.

One can only hope that Cox will fail to clean the site up so at least we'll take it for free.

"Lamont, you big dummy. I just made$400,000.

PLEA TO THE MEDIA

PRETTY PLEASE!

We perused the areas two papers Sunday morning to find stories on:

1) Library satisfaction (we sincerely hope you're not stuck in a loveless library relationship):

2) Exit 12 (Northway) construction ahead of schedule;

3) Albany's salt-readiness for the upcoming winter.

These are all worthwhile stories and we're not criticizing the reporters. There are good reporters in this area even if they do not always focus on what we might want them to focus on. Puff-pieces in newspapers and on television news are part and parcel of today's media (and, if you look at old editions of newspapers, you discover that puff-pieces are hardly new).

What we cannot understand is the lack of coverage on the Carignan lawsuit. One would think that a reporter, or an editor, might find the time and space to publish a few columns on the issue.

It's a good story just waiting to be told to a wider audience. Why is it good:

1) Two sides tell two different stories;

2) The actual facts are verifiable;

3) It's a matter of public concern.

Did a mayor lie (wittingly or unwittingly) when he told the taxpayers how thier money was saved? This story will write itself. Both sides have made statements and both sides have been deposed. It's now more than just a 'he said/he said' type story.

It doesn't matter where you come down on this and we don't expect a journalist to take sides. What we do expect is that some responsible reporter will look into this issue with a critical eye. It's a story and if the local media can't or won't investigate a possible lie concerning the fiscal matters of an area city, exactly what are they doing?

Please, cover this story. Hell, we've set forth the issues in numerous posts. Copy them, use them, whatever. We'll e-mail you the transcripts from the depositions. The story may just be a bit more important that youngsters and seniors taking a boat trip on the canal.

PORCO

The trial of Christopher Porco resumes today. Since we're not on the jury, we are free to voice our opinion on this matter. Yes, Porco is innocent until proven guilty and a jury will make that determination. Others are free to speculate.

If the prosecution's evidence is as damning in the courtroom as it sounds in the Times Union coverage, this guy is going away for a very long time. Of course, the defense hasn't even started so things may change but we'd lay down good money that a) He's guilty and b) He'll be convicted.

Kindlon's line about the murders being a "mob hit" just screams "Hail Mary" pass to us.

MAYOR CRANKYPANTS

With the pressure mounting, Mayor Harry has turned into a regular Mr. Crankypants.

The Democratic City Council minority submitted a resolution calling for an investigation into the city's procurement practices. Typically, the City will respond with a "we can't talk about pending litigation."

Not this time.

"The resolution is riddled with errors. That's what happens when you rely on rumor and innuendo," he said. "As always, we welcome any questions. I only wish these three people had taken time to ask the questions before taking this foolish step." The statement fairly bristles with panic.


Mayor Crankypants



He sounds pissed. But, lets look at what he actually said.

1- Riddled with errors. What errors? Aren't resolutions submitted to Corporation Counsel first to work on any "errors". After all, the three Council members are not attorneys.

2- Rumor and innuendo? Actually, the minority was relying upon Harry's deposition transcript as well as Witkowski's. Then again, using Harry's own words may in fact be relying upon rumor and innuendo as he was "out of the loop" on just about everything. Must have been a fire that day. We guess his pledge to personally review procurements for more than $500 has fallen by the wayside.

3- Ask questions? Harry, read your own transcript. The only thing you could answer was a question about your favorite color (it's plaid).

Buell must be on vacation because they let Harry off the leash and, as usual, his statements were nonsensical. Unfortunately, reporters, on both the national and local scene, never follow-up after they get nonsense answers. Why is that?

But it gets better. The resolution was kept off the agenda last Thursday night and not addressed. The procedure has always been to submit the proposed resolution for inclusion on the agenda. The Democrats did that. Why wasn't the resolution put on the agenda? After all, they "welcome any questions."

Then, Harry, safely ensconced in his office, calls Dunne, Ryan and Campana ( a real class move seeing as Camapana's brother died that day) cowards for not raising the issue. If they had, Mr. Mitchell would have assuredly told them that the item was not on the agenda.

Mayor Harry's feeling the heat and he's really not the kind of guy you want in a pressure situation.

If the administration truly has nothing to hide, they'll make copies of the transcripts from the Carignan depositions and make them available to the citizens of Troy. If, they have nothing to hide. Looks like Fredo is in charge of The Family.

Now, to the opposite extreme. A genuine hero from nearby Catskill has passed away.

And, if you're interested in the Porco Saga, this is the blog for you.

LONG WEEKEND

A quick note: Jerry Campana, Councilman Campana's brother, passed away. We send our condolences out to the Campana family.

The rest of you, have a safe, happy and dry* holiday weekend.

*Dry refers to the weather and not choice of beverage

CAMPANA SMACKDOWN

Everyone wants to talk about Clem Campana and certain events that may or may not have taken place the other night. Campana allegedly mixed it up at a recent neighborhood meeting. Franco has the story, here.

Nice story, except, it contains nothing but mere allegations against Mr. Campana. That's not to say it isn't news. It's just good to remember one person's allegations are not necessarily true.

Matt Ryan wants to sell the Hudson Mohawk Recovery Center certain property on Congress Street. The deal would net Mr. Ryan approximately $450,000. Except, word is, Ryan doesn't actually own the property. He's sort of a middle-man and his exact relationship to the property remains shadowy.

Neighbors do not want the recovery center in their neighborhood. Thus, a meeting was called in order for recovery center representatives to better explain the nature of their work. Mr. Ryan (not too popular with the neighbors) was specifically asked not to come to the meeting. He failed to honor that request.

The upshot is that Mr. Ryan has accused Councilman Campana of using "foul, disgusting and abusive" language. According to some, Mr. Campana accused Mr. Ryan of being a "poo-poo head."

In actuality, one has to wonder if Mr. Ryan knows what Mr. Campana looks like. Reliable witnesses say that Mr. Campana was never near Mr. Ryan although one neighbor did get in Ryan's face.

Lets see: one man has a cool $450,000 riding on a deal. Another is known for conducting himself like a gentleman and does not have a track record of such behavior (not to mention numerous witness that say Ryan is wrong). A non-story in our opinion.

Except, an area reporter received an anonymous letter describing the events. A letter that accused Mr. Campana of violating the ethics law for speaking in front of the Planning Board. We ask: what does that smell like? Smells like a BM.

Speaking of Bobby. The Democrats on the Council are introducing a resolution requesting an investigation into the City's procurement policies and the possible violation of same. Within a few hours of releasing that information, one councilman received a call from Bobby Mirch (we hope he wasn't driving at the time), asking if that councilman had signed off on the resolution. Bobby didn't sound pleased and hung-up.

Which Mirch called? In what capacity? Why is the DPW Commissioner calling legislators about a proposed resolution that has nothing to do with the DPW? Is this Bobby's fourth job?

As for the resolution, let us guess: Harry will fall back on his typical lament: "I wish they had talked to me...." When Democrats do make inquiries they receive no response. Asking Harry questions is like talking to Sergeant Schultz.

In fact, Councilman Campana did send a letter to Harry asking for information on the Spargo matter. No reply. Others have done the same. No reply. Ryan's allegations are likely payback. We suspect Peter Ryan is now on the payback list.

Maybe Harry can have Spargo conduct the investigation. It'll be expensive but you'll get a guaranteed outcome.

THE LIBERTARIANS ARE COMING!

How many times have you heard people complain that there are not enough choices in any given election? We're sure you've heard that. Maybe you've said it. Well, many times there are more choices. It's just that the mainstream media doesn't give them much play. We believe that every candidate, from every party (except for the Vegetarian and Prohibition Parties), deserves to be heard.

In the 20th Congressional District, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is taking on incumbent John Sweeney. But, there is another candidate.

Eric Sundwall is running for Congress in the 20th Congressional District on the Libertarian line.

Born in California in 1967, Eric graduated from Ichabod Crane High School in Columbia County in 1986. While attending The State University at Albany he worked as a field and logistics tech at Unisys Corp. After experiencing the first round of late eighties downsizing he traveled abroad and studied at The Denmark International Studies in Copenhagen. After an Occidental dose of philosophy and the fall of the Iron Curtain, the return home involved continued work in the computer field. Completing a senior thesis about George Orwell for a B+, he came up .6 short on an honors degree in political science. The IT business proved more fruitful.

Partnering with former Unisys employees, Eric became involved in Adirontech Computer Services. In 1994, he and his father John, started Old Kinderhook Integrated. Providing systems solutions, design and consulting. During the dot boom era they enjoyed retail locations in Kinderhook, East Greenbush and Red Hook. In 1998 they consolidated their operation at the old Hudson City Savings at Rt. 9 & 9H in Valatie, NY. Providing jobs, sales tax revenue and service to the community. They recently wrapped up the retail end of things deferring to the monolithic corporations and resellers. They still provide service to a wide array of businesses and individuals.

Mr. Sundwall attended a year of law school in 2000 at Concord University, the first accredited Internet law school. After marrying his life long friend Kathryn in 2001 and the tragic events of that September, he deferred further commitment to concentrate on business and family. Kathryn is a pharmacist at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany. In August of 2005 they welcomed the addition of Anna Gabrielle to their family. Her brother Samuel turns 4 this June.

Eric served as a committeeman for the Columbia County Conservatives during the tenure of his father's chairmanship (circa 1995). They helped negotiate the current DA's success during a contentious nominating process. Having realized that the Conservatives are a rubber stamp party for the Republicans and it's job mill, he cast his lot with the national LP in 2001. Registering in 2003 after the successful ruling for the Greens. Becoming active in 2005 he hopes to stand with the Party of Principle against illegal occupations and abusive taxation. Unfortunately his wife thinks running for Congress is a good idea in this respect. If elected he would go to Washington and vote no on most legislation in the spirit of Ron Paul R-TX. He would also commit half his salary to free lunches for constituents when they came to visit.

-From Sundwall for Congress

Mr. Sundwall was good enough to take some questions from The Troy Polloi.





In a recent Zogby poll, Mr. Sundwall captured the support of 2.4% of those polled. That's just 2.4% more than we got and we're not even running. Nonetheless, it's a start. There's a lot of obstacles out there for a third party candidate in New York State. The Troy Polloi won't be one of them. This is not an endorsement of Mr. Sundwall.

We will be submitting questions to the Gillibrand and Sweeney camps in the near future. We'll see how willing they are to respond. Mr. Sundwall was a good sport and we appreciate him taking some of his valuable time and spending it on our insightful queries.

NORTH GREENBUSH SAGA

NORTH GREENBUSH

So far, things in North Greenbush have gone about as smooth as the Lee Harvey Oswald prison transfer. Nonetheless, at least one part of the drama is over.

Former Town Attorney, Linda Mandel-Clemente has accepted an ACOD. If Ms. Mandel-Clemente refrains from holiday/weekend theft, the charges will be dropped in six months. We guess that whole 'ethics compelled me to steal' argument didn't really fly. We wish Ms. Mandel-Clemente all the best and good wishes on her rehabilitation. We're sure she can once again become a law-abiding citizen if she makes a real effort.

Speaking of North Greenbush, from Politicus Ebonus Abyssus:

During the last several weeks, The Record has run several articles on the supposed infighting in the Democratic Party in North Greenbush on who will control the town committee. While it might seem at face value as Democrats being Democrats and their usual tussles amongst themselves, there is much more to the story than what was reported.

While long-time Democrats are obviously listed for committee positions, behind the scenes are Bob Mirch, a member of the Conservative Party and a resident of Troy, and Tom Connolly, a member of the Independent Party. Connolly also has gotten his sister (the same one who “forgot” to sign her oath of office twice!) and mother involved. Other Democrats who have decided to sell their souls to side with Mirch and Connolly include John Harken, Lou Catrona, and Jim Germano.

Isn’t it bad enough that Evers, a registered Conservative, who the Democrats supported for Town Supervisor, is a plant for Mirch and Connolly, but now Mirch and Connolly are attempting to control the Democratic Party in North Greenbush.

Mirch’s and Connolly’s motives are transparent. With the Democrats poised to win statewide in the fall, the Conservative Party and the Independent Party will lose considerable influence if not their ballot positions. Efforts like this keep them as players in frontline politics, rather than the sideshow attractions that they really are. We thought we’d help them out with an idea for a marketing campaign:

SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

A concerned reader has requested our opinion on the School Board election. We apologize. We've been too busy with that trivial Carignan mess and have had little time to focus on the people's preferred candidate to screw up our school system.

Here's some background for those of you who suffer from insomnia.

We really don't know what there is to say. The machine broke. There should be a revote (if they debate will it be a rebate?). The loser of the revote will take the school board seat, cursed to spend a term wedged between parents and teachers. The winner will move on and enjoy life.

Is it just us or are school boards like the minor leagues? They're packed with older people with no political future or younger people hoping to get to the majors.

A LITTLE MORE CARIGNAN

Some more the Carignan files. Back to Harry again.

17 Q. Did you know at the time you executed the
18 Broker of Record Letter whether any of
19 those responses would save the City money
20 compared to the insurance costs for the
21 year 2004?

22 A. From the information that was provided to
23 me, I believed that we would be saving
24 money.

1 Q. As a result of quotations received through
2 the Request For Quotation process?

3 A. Whether it was quotations or communications,
4 I'm not aware. I was just -- I was led to
5 believe by my staff that we'd be able to
6 save money by executing this letter with --
7 what was it, Marshall & Sterling or
8 whoever, and working with Nicoll &
9 MacChesney.

13 Q. At the time, meaning late 2004, were you
14 under the belief that Nicoll & MacChesney
15 or Marshall & Sterling was offering the
16 City different insurance policies at
17 different costs than that offered by R. J.
18 Carignan?

19 A. I don't know the details. I just know that
20 we were going to -- I was told that we were
21 going to save money and we weren't going to
22 be altering the policies in any major way,
23 so that was my goal, to save money.

12 Q. Okay. Were you involved in coordinating
13 with Marshall & Sterling or Nicoll &
14 MacChesney a scheme in which you would
15 provide a Broker of Record Letter to
16 replace those agents as the insurance agent
17 for whoever responded with the best
18 quotation in response to the City's Request
19 For Quotations for 2005 insurance?

22 A. As a Mayor, I have the ability to enter
23 into a Broker of Letter Record (sic) with
24 an insurance company regardless of any RFQ,
1 that's what I was told by my corporation
2 counsel, and that's what we elected to do.

3 Q. And when did you first start working with
4 these agents to plan on providing them with
5 this Broker of Record Letter?

6 A. I'm not aware of the exact date.

7 Q. Can you give me an approximation?

8 A. No. Sometime before this time, but I don't
9 know when.

10 Q. Was it early 2004, the first quarter of
11 your administration?

12 A. The goal was to save money after the
13 increase in late 2003, early 2004, and my
14 staff, the corporation counsel,
15 comptroller, was working towards that goal,
16 I don't know when they began working
17 towards that goal, so that in 2005 we'd be
18 able to save money. And that's what we did.

19 Q. And was the goal to get the City the
20 cheapest insurance that it could or was the
21 goal to replace the insurance broker for
22 the City?

23 A. The goal was to save money, but keeping in
24 mind that as the Mayor, I have the right to
1 elect -- to choose whichever firm I want to
2 provide the City with insurance with.

3 Q. And did you choose to have the insurance
4 broker for the City of Troy be an insurance
5 agent who you viewed as more friendly to
6 your administration?

7 A. I chose somebody that I trusted and felt
8 comfortable working with him.

9 Q. And why did you trust Marty Keary?

10 A. Because I knew him -- I knew him from
11 speaking with him and I felt that they
12 would provide the City with an honest
13 estimate of what our insurance costs would
14 be.

15 Q. And when did you first meet Marty Keary?

16 A. Maybe two years ago.

17 Q. Approximately May of 2004?

18 A. Maybe early -- maybe 2003, probably. My
19 years are going by quick.

20 Q. Mine, too. And what was the context of
21 your meeting with Marty Keary?

22 A. I had seen him at different events
23 throughout the City.

24 Q. What kind of events? Political events?

1 A. Some political events, yeah.

2 Q. And what did Marty Keary say or do to earn
3 your trust in him and Nicoll & MacChesney
4 as the insurance agent for the City of
5 Troy?

6 A. Providing me with any kind of questions we
7 had and I felt comfortable with the guy,
8 that's all, his firm and -- and the comfort
9 stems from having a sudden increase in our
10 policy in 2003 which made me uncomfortable,
11 and I said that before, and I asked my
12 administration to keep their eyes open for
13 someone else, and when the opportunity
14 arose to make the change, that's what we
15 did.

16 Q. Regardless of whether or not the change
17 saved the City money?

18 A. Well, I believed that the change was going
19 to save us money on the information that I
20 was provided, and that is another reason
21 why we made the change.

22 Q. Through better packaging, that was your
23 understanding?

24 A. That's what was told to me.

1 Q. And as far as you know, that information
2 was all verbal about the better packaging?

3 A. As far as I know, yeah.

All that savings and nothing was put into writing. So, who made these verbal assurances that led the Mayor to believe there would be a $65,000 savings? Isn't that something you'd like to see in writing?

Once again, it's clear that Harry doesn't really know anything. He's relying upon others for this guareenteed savings. Specifically, he says it was the Comptroller and Corporation Counsel.

Later this week, we'll see what Ms. Witkowski has to say about all this.

So, let us sum up:

1- Carignan secured the policies;
2- Harry signs a broker of Record Letter so someone other than Carignan will receive the commission;
3- By suggesting options contained in the policy, Witkowski says the City saved under $10,000;
4- Harry did this because he felt comfortable with Marty Keary, having seen him at political events;
5- Harry announces that N&M saved the city $65,000;
6- N&M put nothing in writing.

You know what this smells like? You got it!

WHAT DID THE CITY SAVE

We continue with Carignan fun week.

Today, we'll simply cut to the chase. We can go over the fun details later.

If you recall, Harry said that all this great savings came through 'repackaging.' Apparently, N&M can't secure the actual policy but they're a real whiz at 'repackaging.'

Remember, that's what Harry said. The savings came through 'repackaging'. The Comptroller and Corporation Counsel know the details. Not our words, Harry's words.

Lets see what Ms. Witkowski had to say about the savings.

Q. Do you know in your role as comptroller
whether Nicoll & MacChesney saved the City
any money as a result of the repackaging of
insurance proposals performed between late
December and January 1st when these
policies -- when the insurance policies
went into effect?

A. Yes, they definitely did, yes.

Q. And do you know how much?

A. Because as a matter of fact, there was an
invoice that came in to me from Nicoll &
MacChesney which was a budgeted number, and
when I had Mike Dinova call them, they sent
in less than that. Off the top of my head,
I don't know what it is -- what it was or
what the amount was.

Q. Was it approximately $100,000?

A. No. No. It was a lot less than --

Q. Was it approximately $50,000?

A. No.

Q. Was it approximately $10,000?

A. It was probably less than $10,000.

Q. Was it approximately $1,000?

A. It was less than $10,000. I don't know off
the top of my head.

Q. But it certainly wasn't close to --

A. But the invoice was --

Q. Is it fair to say it certainly wasn't close
to $60,000?

A. No. Not -- no. No.

There you have it. A savings of less than $10,000 (by picking an option already suggested by Carignan).

Harry said Witkowski knew the details and Witkowski testified to the details. It wasn't even close to the $65,000 Harry stated in his press release.

In all fairness, we do not believe Harry knew what he was talking about. He did say that he was out of the loop. He merely repeated what his handlers told him to say. We think Witkowski was telling the truth to the best of her knowledge. So, who led Harry astray?

You don't have to like Carignan, you don't have to dislike Harry and the administration. This is a simple issue. The administration took someone's work and gave it to someone else. They can do that, but the commission is earned when the quote is secured. Carignan secured the quote and deserves the commission. To top it all off, the administration couldn't keep it's mouth shut, tried to make Carignan the bad guy and show how much they had saved by switching brokers. It was all bullshit.

Switch brokers. Who cares? Just don't steal. We didn't like what Conroy did with HUD. It smelled bad and was ill-advised. We don't like this. We wouldn't like it if Pattison did it and we don't like it now. Sometimes partisanship should end where ethics and fair dealing begin. That goes for everyone, on both sides.

And a word about lawsuits. How many times have we heard Republicans talk about "suing the city only hurts the tax payers." or some variation on that these. That's not the issue. What hurts the taxpayers is when officials give someone a valid cause to go to court to right a wrong. That's the issue. Some people are not doormates for political thugs.

WHAT DID HARRY KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?

More on the Carignan suit.

Based on Harry's press release (see previous post), one would conclude that Mayor Tutunjian knew what he was talking about. The press release is detailed and specific. So, what exactly was Harry's basis for the press release? Here's some excerpts from the Mayor's deposition. Remember, he's under oath.

Q. Do you know what relationship, if any,
there is between a Broker of Record Letter
and an ability for an agent to receive a
commission and an insurance policy?

A. I don't know for sure.

Q. Do you know whether signing a Broker of
Record Letter on behalf of a particular
agent precludes or keeps another insurance
agent from performing that same function
for the City?

A. I don't know that for a fact. (p. 8)

Q. Is it your understanding that the insurance
policies were for one-year periods?

A. I believe so, yeah.

Q. And was it your understanding that any
increase or decrease in the cost of
insurance in a given year for the City of
Troy would be at or around the time those
policies were renewed or expired and
replaced?

A. No.

Q. Okay. Are you familiar with a term Request
For Quotations as opposed to Request For
Qualifications?

A. I've heard that recently.

Q. Is it your understanding that a Request For
Quotations is a request for written
proposals for insurance quotes that the
City may or may not choose to use?

A. I'm not aware of that. I wasn't aware of
that.

Q. And do you know approximately how many
different insurance agencies were
approached and asked to provide quotations
for the City to provide coverage for the
City for 2005?

A. No.

Q. And do you know how many agents responded
to the Request For Quotations that provided
quotations to the City?

A. Not exactly, no.

Q. Do you know approximately how many?

A. No. A handful, I'm guessing. I don't
know.

Q. In late 2004 -- let me just withdraw that.
Do you know if any insurance agents had
provided the City with quotations for
insurance in 2004 before you executed a
Broker of Record Letter?

A. I don't know that for a fact.

Q. Did you believe that any had provided
quotations for insurance before you executed
the Broker of Record Letter?

A. I believe there was responses to the
Requests For Proposals, but I never -- I'm
not aware of who or what the proposals were
or the details of them.

Q. Did you know at the time you executed the
Broker of Record Letter whether any of
those responses would save the City money
compared to the insurance costs for the
year 2004?

A. From the information that was provided to
me, I believed that we would be saving
money.

Q. Mr. Mayor, do you know whether the
insurance policies that were obtained by
the City of Troy were the same policies
that were quoted by R. J. Carignan as a
result of the Requests For Quotation
proposal that was issued by the City of
Troy?

A. I didn't know that.

Q. Do you know whether that is the case -- as
you sit here today, do you know whether or
not that's the case?

A. I'm told it is, but I didn't know that at
the time, yeah, I'm told it is.

Q. And what was your understanding in late
2004 how the Nicoll & MacChesney and
Marshall & Sterling insurance product would
save money as opposed to the policies that
had been identified by R. J. Carignan
through the RFQ process?

A. Again, my comptroller and corporation
counsel identified that they were able and
willing to save us money, and I was okay
with that, and that's why we went with them.

Q. That Nicoll & MacChesney and Marshall &
Sterling were able and willing to save the
City money compared to the work that had
been performed by R. J. Carignan?

A. At the time, I wasn't aware of any work or
anything of that nature. I just -- I'm not
-- I wasn't involved at that level of who
did what and how the process works.

Q. And who was involved at that level?

A. The corporation counsel and the
comptroller.

So, the policies that Troy eventually obtained were from the quotes received by Carignan. N&M did not secure the policies, but in some magical fashion, were able to save the City 65 large. That's some powerful mojo.

But, does Harry know if any money was saved or how it was saved?

Q. As you sit here today, do you have any
understanding as to whether or not the City
saved money by issuing a Broker of Record
Letter changing the insurance agent from
R. J. Carignan to Nicoll & MacChesney and
Marshall & Sterling?

A. I believe we saved money in our insurance
costs.

Q. And how?

A. How? The cost of our premiums. That's the
information I was given and that's what I
believe.

Q. So you believe as you sit here today that
Nicoll & MacChesney and Marshall & Sterling
were able to procure an insurance policy
for the City for insurance coverage for
2005 that saved the City approximately
$60,000?

A. From the information I've been given, the
policy, the way it was packaged, is the
word I'm using, I don't know what it means,
was able to save the City, you know, some
-- approximately $60,000.

Q. And was this information in writing at all?

A. I don't believe -- I don't know. I don't
know if it was in writing. It was
information I was given by my comptroller.

Wow! He believes they saved money because.....he was told they saved money. Harry got word from Corporation Counsel and the Comptroller that there would be a $65,000 savings and now merely parrots that back when questioned. A hands-on kind of guy to be sure.

The first problem for the city is apparent. Whoever obtained the quotes earned the commission. Thus, Carignan is entitled to the $30,000 commission that N&M received. But, we still have to clear up what Corporation Counsel and the Comprtoller told Big H.

Corporation Counsel Mitchell was scheduled to testify on the Thursday that depositions took place. He failed to show due to a "family emergency." A family emergency that still allowed him to be present for the City Council meeting that evening.

The Comptroller did testify. She tells an interesting story and is a bit more knowledgeable than the Mayor. We'll look at what she had to say, later this week. The "savings" by switching brokers, according to the Comptroller, is slightly more modest than $65,000.*

*The repackaging idea sounds good but what they are really talking about are options contained within a given policy: options that are available regardless of the broker. Incidentally, Carignan recommended the same options that N&M suggested a week before the Broker of Record Letter was signed.

CARIGNAN...HERE WE GO AGAIN

We said we'd be getting back to the Carignan issue and here we are.

For those that know nothing about this, go here and here for background.

Now, before we dig into this more, let us go back and look at what Mayor Harry said concerning the city's insurance. These are his words, not ours.

By repackaging insurance coverage’s, the new broker, Nicoll & MacChesney, Inc., has saved the City a minimum of $64,712 over the 2004 year, and expects to save additional money as it delves deeper into the policies.

“We just saved a lot of money on our insurance coverage,” Tutunjian said. “All joking aside, this represents a savings of 15 percent for the upcoming year. That is much better situation than the beginning of 2004 when we saw a $75,000 increase at the last minute from our prior broker.”

“When I first decided to run for mayor, I promised that I would do what is best for the residents of Troy,” Tutunjian said. “We got to a point where it was clear that insurance brokers needed to be changed, particularly when the available savings became so clear. Instead of an increase, we now see a decrease, with an additional pledge for more savings once the policy is looked at more closely.”

Nicoll & MacChesney, Inc., located at 14 Second Street in historic downtown Troy, has set the premium for the City’s insurance at $380,000. In 2004, that number was well above $444,000.

“It is important to do business with people inside of Troy,” Tutunjian said. “In this case we got the best of both worlds. The insurance agent is in the City, and saved us a significant amount of money at the same time.”

First, let us be clear: we do not care who the city retains as an insurance broker. The mayor can pick and choose who he wants. What we do care about is whether or not our public officials a) lie and b) know what the hell they're talking about.

WHAT IS HARRY SAYING

By repackaging insurance coverage’s, the new broker, Nicoll & MacChesney, Inc., has saved the City a minimum of $64,712 over the 2004 year.

OK, Nicoll & MacChesney 'repackaged' insurance coverage. What coverage? Who obtained that coverage?

That is much better situation than the beginning of 2004 when we saw a $75,000 increase at the last minute from our prior broker.

But Harry, hadn't that coverage been locked-in for the three previous years? We all know that municipal insurance coverage skyrocketed after 9/11. Hadn't Carignan obtained two years of pre-9/11 rates by having locked-in the previous rates? How much did that save?

“We got to a point where it was clear that insurance brokers needed to be changed, particularly when the available savings became so clear. ”

Harry, if your dealing with the same policy, that contains a variety of options, doesn't the city have the ability to choose any of those options no matter who the broker happens to be? How does changing brokers affect your options under the policy?

Nicoll & MacChesney, Inc., located at 14 Second Street in historic downtown Troy, has set the premium for the City’s insurance at $380,000. In 2004, that number was well above $444,000.

Harry, the policy sets the premium, does it not? What policy did Nicoll & MacChesney obtain for the city? If N & M obtained the policy for the city, why did you need to change brokers?

So, we'll be taking a look at these issues and more this week. And you won't have to take our word for it. You'll be able to read what Harry and others said, while under oath.

WORKING FAMILY LINE ENDANGERED

By Political Ebonus Abyssus

Bobby Mirch is at it again. No, he does not have his fourth government-funded job – he is still at only three, as far as we know. Mirch is continuing to exert his political influence in Troy by attempting to control another political party in Troy, the Working Families Party.

To rehash history, prior to last year’s primaries, Mirch had Troy residents, who were not enrolled in any political party, enroll in the Working Families Party. Many of these individuals were city workers whose jobs were controlled by Mirch. Additionally, Mirch and friends told these same city workers to vote in the Working Families Party primary for the candidates that Mirch put up, rather than those that the party endorsed.

With no primaries in site this year in Troy, Mirch has taken a different tactic. Long-time city residents who were registered in the Republican or Conservative parties are now switching to the Working Families Party. Several reliable sources have indicated that the number is well over 100 and climbing. We could assume that these individuals have had epiphanies and decided that their conservative core values were not serving the needs of the people, but we know that is not the case.

Why is Mirch doing this? The Conservative Party is losing its numbers and influence. Mirch can only continue his influence in Troy politics if he has something to offer the major parties, in this case, minor party lines. We cannot assume, however, that this line will automatically go to the Republicans. With Spitzer heading to an almost certain victory and the Democrats in the state poised to take control of many parts of government, Mirch’s instinct for self-preservation and ability to prostitute himself may lead him to sell the line to the Democrats. Only time will tell.

SECURITY UPDATE - WE ARE NOW ON ERNIE

It looks like the residency requirement has become a hot-button issue. Yesterday we had over 200 visitors and plenty of comments on the issue. The issue also cropped up in Sound Off. This prompted us to change the Security Level to Ernie....we repeat...we are now at DefCon Ernie! Please go about your regular business and be sure to report any suspicious activity.

Lets take a look at who has to live where under the residency ordinances.

EMPLOYEES

First, The Code:

§ 60-5. General requirement. All employees of the City of Troy, except those expressly exempt by the Public Officers Law of the State of New York, shall be residents of the City of Troy at the time of their employment or shall become residents within 90 days after their employment and shall remain residents of the City of Troy as a condition of their continued employment. Except as hereinafter provided, any employee of the City who does not comply with the mandatory residency requirements of this article shall be subject to immediate termination by the Mayor.

It could be argued that an employee who does not reside in the City of Troy must be terminated by the mayor. The wording is "shall be subject to"....not "may be subject to"....

Of course, to even potentially fall under the Public Officers Exemption on must be a Public Officer. There, employees must be residents of Troy. Except:

§ 60-6. Exceptions. The residency provisions of this article shall not apply to any City employee who is employed by the City on the date of the adoption of this article, but shall apply to persons whose employment with the City of Troy commences after the date of adoption of this article, except those persons expressly exempted by the Public Officers Law of the State of New York.

Or:

§ 60-7. Waiver of requirements. In the event the Mayor shall certify to the City Council that, after a reasonable recruitment period, he/she has been unable to fill a vacancy in any City position covered by this article by appointing a qualified resident of the City or a qualified nonresident who is prepared to become a resident within 90 days of his or her employment, then the Mayor may waive the residency requirements for said position on the grounds of "difficulty of recruitment." Such waiver shall apply to such specific appointment only as certified and waived by the Mayor.

An initial question must be: Has the current Mayor gone through this certification process for any current employee. If not, the Waiver does not come into play. We know that some of our public officers probably should be certified.

PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW

The applicable provision can be found in Art III, Sec. 30, sub 6. Essentially, the residency requirements do not apply to Public Officers (except the City Manager), if those officers reside in Rensselaer County.

So, employees must reside in the city unless there is a waiver and Public Officers must reside in the County.*

The City is also empowered to maintain an action to enjoin violations of City Ordinances:

§ C-41. Actions to restrain violations. The City may maintain an action to restrain by injunction the violation of any City ordinance, notwithstanding that such ordinance may provide a penalty for such violation.

Finally, the issue involving the Police Department.

§ 79-4. Residency requirement for members of Police Department. [Added 12-22-1995] The City Council believes that it would benefit the citizens of Troy if the members of the Troy Police Department resided within the City limits. Therefore, the police officers of the Troy Police Department are hereby required to reside within the Troy City limits. This provision shall take effect immediately, except that it shall not apply to any current police officer of the Police Department who currently resides outside the City limits.

One could read this as prohibiting Police Officers hired prior to 1995 from leaving the city to reside elsewhere as well as new hires having to reside in Troy.

This legislation was challenged in Troy Police Benevolent and Protective Association Inc. v. City of Troy, 299 AD2d 710 (2002). Robert Hayden was reappointed to the police department in 1997, while residing in Troy. Thereafter, he purchased a home in Pittstown. An assistant chief advised Hayden that he was required to live in Troy and that any failure to abide by the requirement "may ultimately result in dismissal from service."Mayor Pattison had also instituted a practice requiring officers subject to the law to sign a form attesting to any change in their residences.

This situation is ripe for disaster (and not the good kind). All it takes is one crazy taxpayer and an Aretakian attorney and he/she** could turn a lot of lives upside down. Our solution is simple: Repeal the law mandating that police officers live in the city. Then, pass a less ambiguous law mandating that all new hires, from the date of passage, must reside in the city. Allow anyone hired before that date to live wherever they would like.

We do not like residency laws applied to police or firefighters. It's the local municiplaity version of jingoism. However, we appear to be in the minority and the above suggestion would be a good compromise.

In any event, if residency requirements are going to be enforced, start at the top, not with rank and file police officers. Make sure the Corporation Counsel, the City Assessor etc., reside in Troy.

As for Spargo,*** we believe his position makes him an employee rather than an officer. However, the administration claims he's covered by Public Officers Law. So be it. He should get his ass to Rensselaer County or be fired. There's no waiver in the Public Officers Law like there is for City employees.

And hey! Lets be careful out there.

* Ironically, Crawley moved to Troy but didn't have to. It worked out well for Brunswick. They received two players to be named later.

** This is not to imply that Aretakis is a He-She or She-Male. Please don't sue us.

***Spargo is a great example. When he shook down attorneys in the Third Judicial District he had to reside within the Third Judicial District. If he's going to shake down people in Troy, he should live in Troy.

A LITTLE THIS, A LITTLE THAT

By Politicus Ebonus Abyssus

The Spargo hiring has led to another suit against the City of Troy. Maybe we were wrong about the hiring of Spargo. The City obviously needs additional deputy corporation councils to help fend off all these suits against the City that are a result of poor management and capricious and arbitrary decision-making.

Be that as it may, the Mayor has not been accountable for the hiring to the taxpayers of Troy, who are paying Spargo's salary, or to Councilman Campana, who sent a letter to the Mayor weeks ago requesting information about the hiring of Spargo and who has not received any response. This lack of accountability cannot continue and cannot be tolerated.

If the Mayor had any sort of brains or balls, he would remove Spargo before the suit went too far. The bottom line is that there was little or no process used in hiring Spargo, and Spargo does not live in Rensselaer County, a clear violation of the Public Officers Law.

The city can ill afford to use precious tax dollars to pay salary for a political appointee and for damages from the suit due to bad politics and bad decision-making, while the City continues to need so many things. The Mayor also needs to stand up to the State Republican Party and let them know that the City will not become a dumping ground for every Republican in Pataki's administration looking to get in a few more years in for retirement.

As usual, Politicus Ebonus Abyssus cuts to the quick.

Another law suit resulting from ignoring the rules. The Mayor justifies himself referringing to Public Officers Law, but without citing any particular section (Record Reporter James Franco has written about this issue a number of times but we'll be damned if we can find the link to the stories). The Administration's interpretation of the Public Officers Law is hampered by the fact that it's difficult to read when your head is up your ass.

With Aretakis involved this is bound to be a circus. Grand entertainment for all.

It looks as if Spargo, at the very least, has to live in Rensselaer County. He doesn't. Case closed. But, we don't really care where he lives. We're not very supportive of the "city employees must live in the city" mentality. The real reason Spargo must go is because of the disgraceful way he left the Supreme Court bench. Why Tutunjian wishes to reward unethical behavior is a mystery.....unless....the city plans on shaking people down and they wanted a professional on staff with experience.

Speaking of living within the city.....

FIVE COPS NOT ABIDING BY THE LAW

It looks like five police officers are violating the law. We're outraged by this gross flaunting of.....where were we?

Residency requirements never really did it for us. They're usually passed to keep the simple-minded peasants happy. We could care less where anyone lives as long as they're capable. Hell, look at the last mayoral race. We'd have gladly taken two out of town candidates over our home grown boys.

Still, it's the law. It was passed by the representatives of the people. Get it off the books or abide by it.

Another interesting Cop story which we alluded to earlier. It will be interesting to track the origin of the weapons involved. Were they purchased from someplace like Wal-Mart, where a record would be kept or are their origins a bit more mysterious?

TROY P.D. BLUE

CORPORAL -IT'S NOT JUST FOR RADAR AND KLINGER ANYMORE

It's not often we get to write about Troy's fine police force. Unlike some of their local brethren, the Troy Police are generally a good lot: able and professional.

We recently learned that our police department will soon be adding the rank of........(drum roll)...Corporal! That's right, we'll have corporals. Or, at the very least, a corporal. They had considered creating a First Mate position but no one wanted to wear the nekerchief.

Of course, we immediately thought of the M*A*S*H episode when Hawkeye created the rank of Corporal-Captain so Radar could obtain entrance to the Officer's Club.



"Captain's bars and Corporal's stripes-No I don'tlike it. Not one bit!"
No one knows who the first Corporal of the Troy Police Department will be. There is a complex civil service formula that takes a variety of factors into consideration. Luckily, we just happen to have a copy of that formula.




Who gets the stripes is anyone's guess but being able to run errands is considered a plus.


Proposed uniform for Troy PD's newest rank

Discussions are also underway to creat the rank of Field Marshall.

AREA LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER IN HOT WATER?

We won't mention which department but lets just say the initials are Troy Police Department.

Seems there was a break-in at the home of an officer recently. The Rensselaer County Sheriff's Department handled the investigation. Some guns and credit cards were taken. The perps were apprehended and the booty was returned. One problem: the guns had been altered. There was at least one shot gun that had morphed into a sawed-off shotgun and the serial numbers on several weapons had been erased. Altering firearms is a Federal Offense.

It could be serious. No, not as serious as having a bike without a horn, but serious nontheless.