The appearance of Jack Conway's letter in the Advertiser this morning was fortuitous in the context of last night's Town Board meeting. I think one of the things Jack is getting at is that East Greenbush has
no healthy government traditions, rules and mores to which it can turn in crisis or
need. "Institutions" are supposed to help sustain a community. Our
governmental culture has been about tearing up and exploiting "community" for a very
long time. Looks to me like we need to learn some things which have not been a part of the governmental culture for a very long time.
Jack's letter was excellent, a cut above the rest, just like he is. He hit on all the most serious problems our town is facing: secrecy and failure to consult the public, lack of trust in our public officials, backroom deals, a purposeful lack of openness and transparency, the dire need for collaboration between residents and officials, etc. Jack is clearly an educated man of class and character. Jack is a man we can TRUST with our tax dollars. I find Tina and Tom to be likewise intelligent and trustworthy. To anyone reading this post, please mark your calendar and make a concerted effort, especially this year, to VOTE. We have a rare opportunity to sweep in an educated, qualified, trustworthy group of candidates...the EG1st candidates...who are ready, willing, and able to transform our town from a Moody's rating of direction uncertain (booo!) to direction certain (yea!)...full speed ahead. THE TIME IS NOW to sweep the true public servants in and the truly self-serving people OUT. If you read this blog with any regularity, you know who the self-serving people are as well as anyone. Remember, please, THE TIME IS NOW!
ReplyDeleteI was shocked and dismayed to open today's Advertiser and find a message from Mrs. Supervisor Langley asking us to join her in voting to re-elect her husband. The "shocked and dismayed" part stemed from the fact that the Langley's actually played the family tragedy card and told the town about the accident in the 90s that left Mrs. Langley paralyzed. While I am not without compassion, I fail to see the relevance of this information unless they're going for the sympathy vote. Is this the level of confidence our supervisor has that he will be re-elected? Why not take out an expensive color ad and list his accomplishments since 2012 when he took office? At last night's board meeting Supervisor Langley voted NO to stick a postage stamp on an envelope and mail out a letter asking the recipients of illegitimately disbursed stipends to return the money ($141,000) to the town. He isn't even willing to do something that simple to show the taxpayers of EG that he disapproves of the misappropriation and squandering of their tax dollars. Meanwhile the state OSC won't go after the pensioners who are benefiting from their ill-gotten gains until the monies are recovered. So, an individual like former supervisor Rick McCabe who awarded himself stipend and longevity payments that bolstered UP his Final Average Salary (FAS) will benefit from his FAS in his pension for the rest of his life and WE the taxpayers of EG will pay for every bit of it. But Supervisor Langley wasn't moved. He voted NO for ALL of us, including the ones who took the extra money without blinking an eye. So, while we feel for the Langley's in one respect, Mr. Supervisor Langley still has a dismal record of accomplishments the past almost 4 years that cannot be allowed to continue on past 2015. Thank goodness there is another alternative to the underground railroading the residents have been subjected to for decades now by the major league takers. It's time now for the major league GIVERS.
ReplyDeleteVote for Jack/Tina/Tom 2015!
6:41- what does you post criticizing Mrs. Langley's supportive letter about her husband have to do with Jack Conway's Advertiser letter. I'm also a supporter of Jack, Tina and Tom and will not be voting for Mr. Langley.
DeleteHowever, let's give Mrs. Langley props for telling us things about her husband that many of us were unaware of. The fact that Mr. Langley is loved and respected by his family is a credit to him. Let's stop these personal attacks and keep the focus on the important issues facing our Town and how the candidates plan to address them.
Again, I'm voting for Jack, Tina and Tom on November 3rd.
Jack also practices everything he said in his, as always, well written piece. As the chair of the Ethics Board Jack ran the best, by far, public meeting the town has ever seen. I was there for almost every meeting. No other resident can say that. Jack's meeting were open, fully participatory, friendly, serious, well researched and highly productive.
ReplyDeleteJack Conway is the real deal, through and through. I learned something from every conversation I had with Jack. Why? Because is a unique combination of smart and caring.
The reality is that most levels of government throughout the country are corrupt to a certain degree and the system is prone to it. For the most part, it can be tolerable even though it may not be preferred. You may not like or agree with the party in power, but they are for the time being in charge and to the victor goes the spoils. The problem with East Greenbush though is that the corruption took on a life of it's own. People stopped thinking, they stop having healthy debates and they stopped putting the needs of the town first. At some point it became about the party and people were told what to do, what to think and how to get it done. They allowed the power to be in the hands of the few and no one was willing to challenge the power. They stuck together in cult like fashion to ensure that pensions credits were accrued and projects were passed and the few got wealthy and the masses got... well screwed. Power in East Greenbush has been controlled in dictatorial fashion because not enough people learned how the system is supposed to work and residents got fat, lazy and self involved. Civic duty fell by the wayside as we focused on our own lives.
ReplyDeleteYou can hyper focus on this election all you want, but truth be told, most residents couldn't name the board members and most don't know we only have four right now and guess what... they don't care. It's an interesting election year and could go any way. I agree the Jack is a sincere, honest and dedicated guy and the Town would be much better off under his leadership. Any failed attempt for victory will not be for lack of effort. It would be for strict adherence to politics. The people who need the victory the most will vote and most people, the majority in fact, will stay home. They always do. Who would have ever dreamed that getting people to care enough about the quality of their own lives would be so difficult. Well done Jack, but be prepared for politics to sucker punch you. The people who vote will vote to protect themselves and the town will be a casualty of apathy.
8/20 @ 8:50 p.m. CP's Matters and DiMartino "challenged the power" and brought down a majority. Because of their unwillingness to support corruption, disloyalty, and incompetence, we have a total of 10 candidates this year competing for seats on the board. Had they followed along in stepford like fashion, who knows where we'd be today. My point is that these board members are not "prone to it." They don't find it "tolerable" and Langley has been getting zero "spoils" for months now. In fact, he's been sat on until real change can occur on Nov 3. My point is that "the people" are back in part because two board members said no. And we now have an unprecedented slate of candidates because of it. So, if you're trying to reassure yourself that Supervisor Langley may well survive his poor and very disengaged leadership since he took office in 2012, think again. The wolves have circled-up, the target is marked.
Delete12:08: You have got to be kidding me. You think that people are engaged because Matters and DiMartino are "challenging the power"? NO. Many people are engaged because all of the sitting board members voted for a casino behind our backs. And we woke up to see how many times they did it and how often they did it. Matters and DiMartino voted for the casino TWICE. They followed along with Langely then and they will follow along with Poorman if he wins. Give me a break.
Delete@ 8:59 AM- You hit the nail squarely on the head. ALL of the current Town Board members have been acting as selfish children and have accomplished little, if anything, positive for the people of East Greenbush. We expect ALL Town Board members, INCLUDING MARY ANN MATTERS AND DEB DIMARTINO to put their personal dislike for other Board members aside for the good of the people of EG.
DeleteOne of the many reasons I am supporting Jack, Tina and Tom is that they are each strong, confident and capable people who have the maturity to be able to disagree without being disagreeable when considering issues of vital importance to the people of East Greenbush.
12:08- You shouldn't be so proud of Matters and DiMartino bringing down a majority. They should be devoting their energies to work to achieve consensus through collaboration with other board members whether they like them or not. Nothing is gained by refusing to work with your fellow board members. Remember, we are talking about peoples tax dollars here.
DeleteThis is just another example of the dysfunctional governmental culture we have here. The whole mind set is to be "driving the bus" or calling the shots. I heard a comment attributed to one of the "shot callers" in the Dem establishment saying "if Jack wins, we don't get anything." It's all about getting and bossing on the current scene. That has to be over ASAP.
Delete11:17 a.m. Guess not everybody reads the Advertiser or attends board meetings because you appear to have no clue about what MA and Deb have been through because of Langley's relentlessly autocratic style of governing. They are not refusing to work with him. In fact, it's quite the opposite. When confronted with the issue of repairing strained relationships, he said "No, I'll just form a new majority." So, yes, yes, yes they voted for the casino twice when they were brand new to politics and faced with an impossibly controversial and stressful situation but how come there's no mention of MA's brave and public withdrawal of support for the casino and the cost to her of refusing thereafter to walk in lockstep with Langley? She has made every effort to work for the good of the people but once again you talk like you have blinders on. MA and Deb could have been a couple of Ed Gilberts and followed Langley to the gates of hell but instead they have broken away, found their voices, and have asserted their independence. Anyone would think that would make you happy but no, there's always something to criticize. Bet if just one or two EG 1st candidates win on Election Day, you'll be singing a very different tune about Deb and MA.
Delete10:39pm- Give us a break about "MA's brave and public withdrawal of support for the casino..."
DeleteBy her own words, as reported in multiple media accounts , she withdrew her support only when the Casino developers downsized the project.
To sum up, MAM was strongly supportive of a HUGE CASINO PROJECT placed in a residential area which would have caused almost constant immense traffic jams on Route 4 and our nearby neighborhoods.
As for your "brand new to politics" comment, let's not make that mistake again. We need to elect thoughtful and intelligent people to the Town Board who aren't afraid of asking questions and doing research during what you term to be "impossibly controversial and stressful situation(s)."
As for me, I will be voting for the ENTIRE slate of EG 1st candidates, not just one or two of them.
Jack, Tina and Tom on election day.
10:45 a.m. Just exactly how are Jack, Tina and Tom not brand new to politics? They've never served on the TB before. We can only hope that they won't be faced with a nightmare of a project like the newbies were faced with after being onboard for only four months! And MA and Deb have demonstrated way more than Langley, Malone and Mangold ever did that they are "thoughtful and intelligent people who aren't afraid of asking questions and doing research." The chances of the entire slate of EG 1st candidates getting elected the first time out is slim to none, so you should think about filing down your talons on the two board members who, like it or not, ARE on the board until 2017.
DeleteFirst of all, all of these personal opinions about Deb and Mary Ann really don't matter. They are both not up for reelection, so like it ou not we have two more years with them. Our energy should be focused on the vacant spots that need to be filled with competent candidates (key word "competent") that do not have any personal agendas.
DeleteWith regards to coming into office during a stressful time, this is not a free pass for neglecting to do their due diligence and doing their own research, and to think for themselves.
I think you need to take a look as some background experience and education information at http://www.eg1st.org/. To make a statement like Jack, Tina and Tom are "new" to politics is patently absurd. They're smart, educated, experienced and ethical.
DeleteGadfly, what I said is they've never before served on the town board, which is 100% irrefutably true. Because of the brutality of politics, they will find that it's the hardest job they've ever had and that they'll be challenged like never before in their lives. Once in office, ALL of their staunchest, most dedicated supporters won't agree with 100% of the decisions they make. There will be controversy and disagreements. It won't be political paradise...guaranteed.
DeleteThe two things that have harmed East Greenbush the most via government are corruption and self-dealing. Remove those two dynamics and you have an avenue to transparent and open government in which all can participate. When you get to participate, you don't have to agree with every decision.
DeleteIt should be interesting, I'll give you that.
DeleteThe last two administrations in East Greenbush have been given ample advice and guidance about what needs to be done related to the "culture" of government in the Town from the State Comptroller's audits. Neither has seen fit to implement any one of the recommendations. It's all been about the self-serving and pension padding operations. We'll be making a list later on of the activities. But we'll start with the stipends, the longevity and sick-leave, the illegal Plat approval and the paving of Thompson Hill Road.
ReplyDeleteThe other sad reality that has made our local government the way it is is the level of disrespect and immaturity, which I blame those in charge for allowing. By doing nothing, they are encouraging it. This is painfully exemplified at each Town Board meeting, then add the honest fact that there is some intellect lacking, not necessarily by all.
ReplyDelete10:10 p.m. I agree with you. At Wed night's bd mtg, I watched as Supervisor Langley allowed ankle biter Ed Gilbert to launch a personal attack at MAM that was definitely worse than anything we've seen yet. It appears that especially since Sue Mangold left in May, Langley has been so disempowered by MAM and Deb, too, that he has nothing left but to sit quietly and enjoy it while his boy Elroy rips into her. She did the right thing by walking out until it was over. Surprisingly, Phil Malone followed her out. Could it be that young Mr. Malone is more mature than the supervisor? Possibly so in some ways. What the town needs is a grown up supervisor who knows how to communicate with people, all kinds of people, from all walks of town life. The present supervisor falls woefully short of that skill and his spit crew are no better. It's time for a change. The time is now.
ReplyDeleteVote Jack/Tina/Tom 2015
Since we've apparently gone off the original topic of this blog post, let me highlight another item discussed at this week's TB meeting. Namely, the long abandoned and hazardous Chris DeFruscio owned property located behind the first used car lot coming up from Rensselaer on Columbia Turnpike. You know the used car lot I mean. It's the one with all of the Republican Town Candidates Campaign signs in front of it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, during the public comment portion of the TB meeting, a prominent local resident and business owner stated that this burnt out and abandoned property wasn't boarded up in the back in apparent violation of the building code, thus allowing animals, vagrants and even small children, easy access to its squalid interior.
In response, the Town's Building Inspector, Joe Cherubino, (who just so happens to be the cousin of the building's owner, Chris DeFruscio) said "that as far as he could tell" the DeFruscio owned eyesore "appeared to be boarded up." When shown a copy of a photo clearly illustrating the unboarded up back side of the property, Mr Cherubino response was simply... "You Got Me."
Well, now that you've been "gotten" Mr. Cherubino, do you plan to do ANYTHING at all about your cousin Chris DeFruscio's run down property?
9:11 a.m. Dr. Tucker has been dealing with this for 10 years! I guess being the cousin and next door neighbor of the Bldg Inspector has it's advantages. Ironically, our Bldg Inspector took stipend money over three years totalling $10,200 for being "Safety Manager" but he allows unsafe, burned-out structures to sit rotting for years. Some Safety Manager.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the town employees who took stipends did so for "extra duties." I get extra duties at work all the time but not a penny more for it. My boss assigns it and I do it. If the town forgets about the stipends much like they want to close the books on the unauditable years 2010, 11 and 12 and conveniently "go forward," then we as a town are doomed to make the same mistakes again. All this sweeping of dirt under the rug can't be good...or tolerated.
ReplyDeleteJack, Tina, Tom 2015!
The worst example of stipend phony baloney was Kevin Tuffy's. No explanation. In addition to his super self awarded theft taxpayer money Rick McCabe gave his daughter a generous amount of stolen taxpayer money.
ReplyDeleteWe need people of intelligence and character in office. That's Jack Conway and his team!!!
Does two grand for a golf outing in the Carolinas ring a bell?
DeleteWith the Rep machine we get the Dem machine because the Dem insiders controlled Langley in the casino fiasco. With the Dem machine we get McCabe again who's running the campaign for DVW. Same old same old. If we don't get rid of them, we're up the creek.
ReplyDeleteGadfly... If you think the casino was a mockery of the town master plan, wait till you see the next act. Poorman has been brought out of moth balls for a reason. It's because Langley won't cooperate with a greedy deal being floated that will be negative to the town benefitting an already rich group. Don't believe for one minute Matters is with you and the Eg1st group. She's a Trojan horse, and DiMartino is just a tag along so her husband and son will be given jobs. You are simply not focused. Matters persistent distractions are an attempt to cloud Poorman's real agenda. Poorman is being brought forward to make the rich, richer.
ReplyDeleteYou have incompletely LOST your mind on every issue you put forward in sad, pathetic & untrue post...The lengths people will go to to make up lies is besides me. MAM & Deb would be a great fit with EG1 or Poorman & would work well with both, There's NO hidden MASTER PLAN as you state to make the rich, richer. Neither lady is on the take or would associate themselves to the people who are. Nice try Langley, Gilbert etc. thanks for playing~ IDIOTS!
DeleteDon, Does the fact that Bob Seward, & Jeff Pangburn are supporting Mike Poorman raise an eyebrow to anyone here. They are both on our zoning board. Hind sight will be 20/20 in the months to come.
ReplyDeleteThe "connected" are behind Poorman hedging their bet. They win either way with Poorman. The zoning board is bought and paid for, and that's all that really matters to achieve their next strike. Wake up folks.
An insiders deal using MAM and Deb as dupes, willing or unwitting would surprise me a bit. Look how quickly MAM and Deb supported the Casino without doing any research whatsoever. Check out the Gadfly's FOIL on the minutes of the one on one meetings with the Casino developer if you have any doubts.
ReplyDeleteThis is why we need people like Jack, Tina and Tom. They have my vote on Election Day.
Actually, either Jack Conway or Mike Poorman would work well as Supe. but 8:19 a.m. deserves the prize today for spot on truthfulness and accuracy. Neither MAM nor DD are in cahoots or on the take or anything else like that. Caught in an impossible situation with Langley, Poorman got to know them when Langley, in his infinite wisdom, appointed him as Deputy Supe. Of course, Poorman, who is no stranger to town politics, saw an opportunity that he could not pass up. He formed a business relationship with the two fairly inexperienced CPs and has been working well with them ever since. He has been nothing but helpful, respectful and appropriate in his dealings with them. If Langley treated them like Poorman treats them, the majority would not have imploded and failed. Regarding secret deals and other such nonsense, Poorman has had to incur the expense of primarying Langley because the EG repub cmtte and the county supports Langley for re-election although it's impossible to understand why. When you see posts like 7:03 a.m., 8:26 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., figure it's Langley's ankle biters panicking, if not Langley himself, as Primary Day approaches. I'd love to see Poorman win the primary. It will make it that much sweeter when the tidal wave of EG1st supporters convirge on the polls to sweep their candidates right into office.
ReplyDeleteGadfly, Do your homework as you normally do an remember if looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck......in politics everything happens for a reason. Mike Poorman resurfacing after all these years is no coincidence.
ReplyDelete9:23 Yes, it actually is! After Gilbert resigned, Langley needed a dpty supe but they couldn't find anyone who would do it, so THEY went to Poorman and begged him to do it. The man was happily retired and enjoying the fruits of his lifelong labor when they appeared on his doorstep. When Langley fired Poorman for wanting his job, he had to assign the job of dpty supe to his Director of Finance, who is already way over worked, because still no one else would do it. Get your facts straight.
DeleteWait till everyone finds out who Poorman is in bed with. It's called pulling the wool over your eyes.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you tell us. I can't stand the suspense.
DeleteWhat you don't get is we might already know who he is in bed with, we might not. It really doesn't matter. This is exactly why a good portion of us are supporting EG1st because of whom everyone else is in bed with.
DeleteDear AnonymousAugust 25, 2015 at 12:58 PM---most of us really don't care who Poorman is in bed with because we aren't voting for him or Langley or VW. We are supporting EG1st--the whole slate of their candidates. Play your little game of "I know something you don't know," all you want. It only gives us more reason to support EG1st because EG1st offers a slate of GROWN UP candidates that do not engage in playground, schoolchildren games. Alot of us detest games which means EG1st are the ones we can support.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the confirmation regarding the childish behavior of the other candidiates! It's always nice to have verification when you're right!
How do we know that EG1st candidates aren't "in bed" with anyone unsavory. There's this notion that EG1st candidates are the second coming, the perfect utopia of people/candidates. Well, no such thing exists and what's childish 2:12 p.m. is that you think it does. You could stand to grow up a bit, too, in your thinking and in your expectations of other people.
ReplyDeleteWe know this because this is America and we are all innocent until proven guilty. Nobody is perfect but the EG1st people are far better than the other choices. If you have any specific questions, EG1st will answer them.
DeleteGadfly, The picture should becoming clearer by the day with a trailor advertising elect Mike Poorman on it, sitting on the front lawn of the Whitbeck homestead. Anyone know the Grandson of George Whitbeck who works for Platform Realty? Anyone know the realtor who put the casino deal together? Small world isn't it. Time for you all to get your heads out of your asses and pay attention to what Mike Poorman stands for.
ReplyDeleteLike we've been saying for a long time, both "machines" do their political "playing" using an old political model - that of insider wheeling and dealing. It's the pay to play model so loved by the boys and girls across the river in the Governor's mansion and the legislature. It's corrupt. I think that's one of the reasons that Jack, Tina and Tom have refused to identify with any of the parties, because what goes with that is a quid pro quo which destroys fair and transparent government. Poorman, Langley and DVW have their backroom guys who haven't yet learned that this is now the 21st century and we're not going to put up with the kind of crap that brought the casino caper to East Greenbush. The only rational and sensible choice in November is EG1st.
DeleteOn a separate note, but kind of to do with this discussion in away, does anyone know if cage fighting was approved in the Kmart parking lot? The NAI platform for lease sign is still up, but the posting on their website has been removed and there have been people working in the parking for a few weeks drilling holes. At one point there were solar things there.
ReplyDeleteThe cage fighting applicant showed up to one PRT meeting but hasn't been back since. Word out is that K-Mart won't agree to lease the building for that kind of event.
DeleteSpeaking of the Project Review Team, do you think it might be helpful if the Administration published the meeting schedule and the agenda for each meeting on the Town's website?
DeleteDear Gadfly:
DeleteThis is yet another long festering issue TB Member Mary Ann Matters has remained silent about What gives? Could this also be connected to topics like illegal Plat approvals?
Did anyone notice the NAI platform Realty sign on the casino property? Does anyone see a pattern here?
ReplyDelete(NAI Platform Realty) and (Poorman,Corellis, Matters and DiMartino)
Better keep your eye on that Thompson Hill Road property. They need Poorman to make another deal of the century.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with good efforts at development, as long as the playing field is level and the processes transparent. Where we get into trouble is when the Planning Board and Zoning Board and Town Board are influenced by unhealthy loyalties and arrangements which don't see the light of day. I'll just mention that Plat approval signed by the PB chairman a year ago last January without a meeting or a resolution by the PB. Just plain illegal, but the PB and the Town Board produce nothing but blank stares when confronted with the reality. The only way to solve it is to get them out of there.
DeleteDear Gadfly 7:52 PM- We know why Supervisor Langley and TB Member Malone haven't take any action or made any public statements regarding the illegal Plat approval.
ReplyDeleteBut why hasn't TB Member Mary Ann Matters had anything to say about this? We do know she has supported at least one HUGE commercial development project up on Thompson Hill in the past.
My goodness 9:06 a.m. whatever is your worry? Come January the EG1st superstars will have been swept into office by the 1,600 people who signed their petitions and then all of your issues will be thoroughly investigated and promptly resolved. They won't need MAM or DD for anything because they will have the votes needed to rule the town. Naturally, the three superstars (Father Jack, Brother Tom, and Sister Tina) will agree on every good and right course of action for the town and even the Gadfly will be able to retire his blog and move to Florida safe and secure in the knowledge that EG has been saved. Glory be, hallelujah, and pass the biscuits!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good start, but I don't predict lock-step agreement and voting. I do predict open, objective, rational and transparent government however. (You sound like you just sucked a lemon.) And I don't think it's "rule" were talking about. More like "representation" I'd say.
DeleteBTW, Florida's out.
Mike Poorman is going to hang all of you by your toes.
DeleteGadfly,
ReplyDeleteWhat 12:40 PM (MAM?) fails to understand is that unlike the SWF group, EG 1st is supportive of open and transparent government based on public participation and collaboration.
The SWF ticket was based on blind support of whatever Keith Langley ordered them to do.
The SWF ticket has given us a totally did functional town board that is unable to agree on any substantive issue.
I'm willing to give Jack, Tina and Tom a chance to get our government working again. Admittedly, I was taken in by the SWF empty promises.
I will be watching Jack, Tina and Tom very closely if they are elected, but I am confident that they will serve us much better than the SWF disaster.
@1:28 SWF also ran & wished upon the same...it wasn't their demise that it didn't came to affirmation. We have Langley to blame for that, he's the one with his own agenda & to say that they (MAM & Deb) cave to what Langley wants is completely asinine?!?!?! have you not been paying attention to what's been going on in town? When writing the truth it makes your posts sound more creditable ...so, lets stick to writing truths oppose to spreading more lies.
ReplyDelete3:25pm. We were paying very close attention to when the SWF team immediately backed Langley and C. Def at the 2013 Organizational meeting. And we were also paying close attention when the SWF team voted TWICE to put a HUGE Casino in a residential community up on Thompson Hill
DeleteThis little exchange provides a glimpse into the workings of machine politics, and why they have been so destructive to our Town. It's deals and pressure and leverage to do the will of those shot-callers behind the scenes. They'll do almost anything to keep folks from straying off the reservation. I had a personal taste of it when Langley was first elected. Even though I believe that I had some influence (along with people like Dwight Jenkins and Ray Mooney) in the Langley victory, the pressure and cajoling started and the message was to "shut up." First it was Dwight, Ray and me at Gilbert's house for the "message." Then it was Langley, DeF and me in DeF's basement for the "message." Then it was DeF and Mulvey and me at the Gateway Diner for breakfast and the "message." That kind of thing only works when they have some sort of hook in you like maybe "party loyalty" or a job or something similar. So I can imagine the extreme pressure on MAM and DD as new board members. Some of it must have still been there at the last Org Mtg when they went along in re-appointing the PB chair. What we have to remember is that the casino fiasco was a CO-CONSPIRACY between Dem and Rep insiders, some of whom chose the current major party candidates.
DeleteWhat's refreshing about East Greenbush First is that (picture this) who they are "in bed" with is for starters the 1600 petition signers who came on board with more than a week to go in the petitioning period. They're not on the ballot as the choice of a committee or caucus of insiders.
Now who sounds like they just sucked a lemon 1:26 p.m? The "SWF disaster, " as you call it, happened because King Langley doesn't know the first thing about democracy; he's an autocrat through and through. DD and MAM were as much casualties of the SWF farce as anyone. They have done the best they can under impossible circumstances. They would relish the chance to work with anyone but King Keith and DVW. If they get that chance, it will all work out just fine.
ReplyDelete3:38pm, The SWF "disaster" was self inflicted. They couldn't vote fast enough to approve everything Langley wanted during the crucial casino period. Remember, MAM voted 2 times for the casino when it counted! She only switched her vote when Feathers and company downsized the project.
DeleteImpossible circumstances? All MAM had to was ask questions and demand information from Langley before voting on resolutions. What in heaven's name took her so long to figure this out?
DeleteThere are more candidates than ever before running in this upcoming election. Why does everyone continue to obsess over Mary Ann and Deb, when like it or not they're with us for the next year and a half? Be better than Gilbert people.
ReplyDelete