The Langley Letter

This is Supervisor Langley's letter in today's Advertiser.  Comments are invited. 

Resident Forum next Wednesday......

Oligarchy and Uppity citizens.

Not long ago, a member of the Town Board stated in an open meeting that the citizens of East Greenbush were getting too much power.  Look at that statement in the context of the following definition.

ol·i·gar·chy

ˈäləˌɡärkē/

noun

noun: oligarchy; plural noun: oligarchies

1. a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.

"the ruling oligarchy of military men around the president"

• a country governed by an oligarchy.

"the English aristocratic oligarchy of the 19th century"

• government by oligarchy.

The political term, oligarchy, comes to English from the Greek with its meaning intact - a form of government run by a small number of people such as the wealthy ...

An Oligarchy is a form of government controlled by a group, council, or board of directors. Oligarchies typically have no constitution or charter.

Ring any bells?  I heard a lot of talk and comment when the casino initiative was first advanced by the Town Board that the Board was in place and had every right to make the policy which would advance the casino without “checking” with the electorate.  But if you take the time to think about it for a while, and apply the definition to the way government seems to happen around here, I think you’d have to conclude that East Greenbush is run by an oligarchy.  That recent comment by a current Board member about citizens having too much power is the perfect example – attributed to an oligarch. Makes me wonder about the content of Civics classes locally.

But if you throw into consideration the "evolution" of 1 Cooper Ave. and the illegal Plat approval for the Thompson Way development, it's easy to conclude on the Oligarchy argument.  (See the link below for Dwight Jenkins' report on 1 Cooper Ave.)

https://eastgreenbushdreams.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/planning-and-zoning-boards-abolished-as-unnecessary/

Some of the same "players" are active in the Plat approval as in 1 Cooper.  Some simple questions:  how does a sewer connection happen during a moratorium on connections?  How many kitchens are in a duplex with four front doors?  

Who "owns" East Greenbush......the citizens, or the insiders? 

Guest Editorial....

CP Mary Ann Matters, March 18, 2015 Board Meeting, Opening Comments:

FOR A WHILE NOW, SEVERAL BOARD MEMBERS, MYSELF INCLUDED, HAVE BEEN QUESTIONING THE STATE AND STABILITY OF THE TOWN’S FINANCES, MOST RECENTLY THE PAY-BACK AMOUNTS OF THE INTER-FUND BORROWING DEBT, BEFORE WE CAN JUSTIFY RAISING WATER AND SEWER RATES. IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RELIABILITY OF OUR PRESENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEM, WE HAVE BEEN GETTING THE SAME RESPONSE FROM THE COMPTROLLER FOR THE PAST 15 MONTHS, WHICH IS THAT THE TOWN’S ACCOUNTING SYSTEM IS “BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR” BUT THAT WE HAVEN’T “EARNED THE PRIVILEGE YET OF BUYING NEW ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE.” THE PROBLEM WITH THIS RESPONSE, AS I SEE IT, IS THAT SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS ARE APPARENTLY BEING GENERATED BY THIS BROKEN SYSTEM AND CLAIMS ARE NOW BEING MADE IN THE ADVERTISER ABOUT DEBT REPAYMENT “ESTIMATES” THAT WE ARE BEING EXPECTED TO ACCEPT AS TRUE AND CORRECT, WHILE OUR COMPTROLLER, BY HIS OWN ADMISSION, CONTINUES TO “LEARN AND DISCERN OUR TRANSACTIONS SO THAT HE CAN UNDERSTAND THEM CLEARLY.” MEANWHILE, A TOSKI ACCOUNTING FIRM LETTER DATED NOVEMBER 18, 2014 DROPPED US AS CLIENTS AND ADVISED US THAT THE FOLLOWING NEEDED IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: “CORRECTIONS TO THE INTERNAL ACCOUNTING SYSTEM TO ENABLE THE TOWN TO GENERATE ACCURATE AND TIMELY FINANCIAL INFORMATION WITH APPROPRIATE INTERNAL CONTROL CHECKS AND BALANCES.” THIS MEANS THAT WE DON’T HAVE THAT NOW, YET NUMBERS ARE BEING REPORTED THAT THE INTERFUND BORROWING DEBT HAS GONE FROM $2.3M TO $1.6M IN THREE YEARS. IN ORDER FOR THE BOARD TO BE RESPONSIBLE AND EFFECTIVE STEWARDS OF THE TOWN’S FINANCES, WE MUST RECEIVE MONTHLY FINAL (NOT DRAFT) OPERATING STATEMENTS, AND OTHER REPORTS, IN WRITING, THAT ARE SIGNED AND DATED BY THE COMPTROLLER AND THE SUPERVISOR/CFO OF THE TOWN, DETAILING AND EXPLAINING BUDGET LINE TRANSFERS, THE STATUS OF THE INTERFUND BORROWING DEBT IN THE HIGHWAY, GENERAL, WATER AND SEWER FUNDS, OUR CREDIT AND BOND RATINGS, AND THE AUDIT BY OSC THAT IS PRESENTLY ONGOING.  HOWEVER, WE ARE UNABLE TO TRUST THIS BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR ACCOUNTING SYSTEM TO PROVIDE ACCURATE NUMBERS AND INTERNAL CONTROLS THAT ARE NECESSARY FOR EFFECTIVE OPERATION.  PROPERLY DESIGNED AND FUNCTIONING ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE INCLUDES CONTROLS THAT REDUCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF SIGNIFICANT ERRORS AND/OR FRAUD GOING UNDETECTED, HOWEVER, WHEN I ASKED MR. PHILLIPS JUST LAST WEEK IF HE THINKS WE WILL BE READY TO GRADUATE TO A NEW ACCOUNTING SYSTEM BY THE FALL, HE SAID, TO MY DISMAY, “NO, NOT THIS YEAR.” THE TOWN OF EAST GREENBUSH NEEDS RELIABLE ACCOUNTING, RECONCILIATION, AND REPORTING SOFTWARE, AND WE NEED IT NOW!

Feathers' Last Stand: A Parable - By Jack Conway

In June of 1876, decorated Civil War hero General George Armstrong Custer led the 7^th Cavalry Regiment into battle against the Lakota nation.  Shown the way by Indian scouts hoping to make a fast buck, Custer refused offers of heavy artillery (a Gatling Gun) and failed to link up with several other companies because of a lack of respect for the Lakota warriors.  Unaware that Sitting Bull had dreamed of “soldiers falling upside down into our camp,” a prophecy he would have dismissed as savage superstition anyway, Custer believed that the Lakota people lacked the knowledge and sophistication that made his regiment unbeatable in a confrontation like this. Receiving advance information from his Indian scouts, Custer learned that he should launch a sneak attack before his position was discovered.  On the morning of June 25^th, Custer and his men rode over the ridge near the Little Big Horn – known to the Lakota as the Greasy Grass – expecting a relatively small band of local yokels to offer at best token resistance to not only his soldiers but to his dreams of power and fortune.  Instead he rode into the better part of the entire Lakota nation, and not a few Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho.  The rest is well known to history except perhaps for the Lakota myth about what happened to his dead body as he lay vanquished on the battlefield.  According to native custom, two old Lakota women took bone awls and cut holes where Custer’s ears had been.  They did so, it is said, so that he would hear better in the next life.

In April 2014, renowned power broker Jimmy Feathers led the Saratoga Casino Regiment into the Town of East Greenbush.  Shown the way by local landowners hoping to make a fast buck, Feathers disregarded the need for heavier artillery and failed to link up with the true representatives of the native community, shunning them out of a lack of respect and falling for the myth that the surrender of their discredited ‘chiefs’ was all he needed.  Feathers believed that the people of East Greenbush lacked the knowledge and sophistication that had made him invincible in previous battles.  Receiving advance information from his landowner scouts, Feathers learned that it was best to mount a sneak attack with a generic resolution before anyone knew he was coming.  These local yokels would be fending off an army of addicted gamblers before they knew what hit them.  But when Feathers and his crew rode over the ridge on Thompson Hill expecting to find at best token resistance, not only to his casino but to his dreams of more power and greater fortune, the whole East Greenbush nation, and not a few North Greenbushers and Schodackians, were waiting for him.  The rest is now well known to history.  We cut no holes where his ears had been but we did send a message to other corporate predators who think we won’t defend our territory: East Greenbush is not for sale.

The Times Union is reporting today that the Casino PDD application has been withdrawn.  The land on which it was to be built is for sale.  Apart from cleaning up a few legal details and paying the SEG attorney, the Battle of Thompson Hill is over.

What's with that Pesky PDD?

Seems a mystery that the PDD application related to the Capital View Casino attempt on Thompson Hill hasn’t been withdrawn, rescinded or neutered.  There appears to be some sort of “tap-dance” going on, but no one is stepping forward to explain anything.  The last I heard was that there was a resolution in the works to extend the PDD “by mutual consent.”  That just doesn’t make sense, given the statement below from a friend of mine who has the experience to know what he is talking about…..

“I do not see how they can extend the PDD re-zoning for anything other than a casino. The resolution specifically made reference to, and was based on, the state law that preempts casinos from local zoning. If they plan to develop anything other than a casino, they will need to start the entire process over.

In addition to the above issue, the only reason amenities (restaurants, hotel, parking garage and lots etc.) we're included in the PDD was the claim by the applicants that they were called for in the Request For Applications (RFA) issued by the State Gaming Facilities Location Board for casinos. Again, without a casino, none of these things can be included in a PDD, where the underlying zoning is Residential Buffer (RB).

Finally, the vote of at least one ZBA member to re-zone was based on the strange definition that a patron of the casino was a "resident" of the PDD. I am not sure how such an absurd concept can be applied to any other use.”

It just might be time for the Town Board, where the ultimate authority resides, to assert its authority and put the matter to rest. 

Community Advocacy Continues.......

One thing we have learned with the casino fiasco, the illegal Plat approval, construction and sewer connections without building permits is that the political machines in this Town on both sides of the fence consider governing to be playing the "footsie fix" with the insiders and the players.  The public interest be damned.  In this connection, here's the letter from Thursday's Advertiser by Tina Tierney addressing part of the problem.  

By the way, a bunch of us will be bringing our $50 checks for Save East Greenbush to the Library meeting on the 10th - in "honor" of Phil Malone's fundraiser at an out of state casino.  The guy is just tone-deaf to his constituents.  

 "To the Editor,

The residents of East Greenbush learned many hard lessons in 2014, beginning in April when the Town Board quietly passed a resolution to support the siting a casino on a parcel of land zoned Residential Buffer.  Throughout the year the hard lessons continued when the majority of our elected officials continued to accommodate developers over vocal opposition from citizens. The approval of the developer's Planned Development District allowed Residential Buffer zoning to be changed to accommodate the proposed casino, and that PDD is still in effect. If our home is our greatest purchase, shouldn't these homes be protected from arbitrary zoning changes that accommodate developers?

The hard lessons learned taught us that we cannot rely on our elected officials to represent the best interests of homeowners. We learned that we must advocate for ourselves. Citizens should not be forced to hire attorneys to assure that we are represented, or to assure that developers are required to follow zoning laws. Since the Facility Location Board failed to license the proposed casino, why hasn't the PDD application for the proposed casino been withdrawn? 

Recently, the moratorium on all new sewer connections in East Greenbush has been lifted and the Waste Water Treatment Plan is fully operational.  Supervisor Langley wrote in this publication,  "With the order lifted, the Town has great potential for growth and development, simply put; new business, residential developments and communities can now be connected to the WTP."  How can we be assured that contortions to zoning won't occur throughout our town? 

On Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at 7 pm, please join your neighbors at the East Greenbush library. Let's work together to advocate for our future, and plan community-based fundraisers for legal expenses that were incurred due to our lack of representation.

Christine Tierney, East Greenbush"