Board of Ethics Report - 1/11 & 1/26 Meetings

    The following report is courtesy of Board Member Jack Conway.

    The Board of Ethics held meetings on January 11 and January 26.  Due to the amount of work involved in drafting a new Code of Ethics we have agreed to meet twice each month in order to expedite the process.  The January 11 meeting was attended by Jim Breig, Jack Conway, Joseph Slater and Dave Youmans.  Before the January 26 meeting Justine Spada was appointed to the board and so at that meeting we had the full board for the first time.

    The January 11 meeting featured a discussion with Town Attorney Joe Liccardi.  We asked Mr. Liccardi to attend and provided him with a list of questions before the meeting so he had time to prepare.  He very graciously spent two hours with us discussing issues that we raised.  Mr. Liccardi agreed with the board's position that anonymous complaints should not be allowed since the accused should have the right to face his accuser.  He also convinced us that non-residents will be allowed to file complaints with the Board of Ethics since someone doing business in the town may not be a resident but could have a legitimate complaint that concerns the town.  He didn't feel that the Town Attorney should represent the Board of Ethics since he would have to represent town officials against complaints made to the board and this would present a conflict of interest.  The board agreed and will have to arrange for outside counsel on an as-needed basis.

    A major issue raised was when and how confidentiality can be granted to people who file complaints.  Mr. Liccardi walked us through his understanding of this issue and outlined our options.  The board is still struggling with this issue as we try to understand how we can encourage the filing of legitimate complaints while reducing the fear of retribution.  Since most of the business of the Board of Ethics must be public, it is hard to see how this can be achieved.  Mr. Liccardi also clarified the issue of FOIL requests about board activities.  He feels that nothing is available to be FOILed while a case is in process but all final determinations are public information.  Joe Liccardi's participation was greatly appreciated.

    The January 26 meeting was the first with a fully constituted board.  Justine Spada, an attorney, was the fifth appointee and the second lawyer on the board.  This meeting began the work of drafting a new Code of ethics.  The sections of the draft code discussed were Disclosure of interest in legislation and other matters; Recusal and abstention; Situations where disclosure, recusal and abstention are not required; Investments in conflict with official duties; and Private employment in conflict with official duties.  We will re-draft these sections based on the discussion and each of the five members has a new section to review and re-draft for the next meeting.

    The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 7th at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall.

GET REAL, MIKE!!!

Cristo should drop the "?" from his newest column.  It should be "Double Standards, Double Talk and huh by Michael Cristo" not "Double Standards, Double Talk and huh?" by Michael Cristo.

Double-dipper?  GET REAL, MIKE!!!  Stop crying about choosing the County over the Town when double-dipping was ruled illegal by two courts!!!  That dog don't hunt!!!

Consultants?  GET REAL, MIKE!!!  Whine about EG hiring back 3 retirees who didn't "train or plan for a replacement".  They'll provide critical services to the Town.  By the way, you need someone to train in order to "train or plan for a replacement"!!!

Three police officers?  GET REAL, MIKE!!!  EG didn't appoint one of his friends - oh well!!!

Rensselaer County Taxes?  GET REAL, MIKE!!!  The folks mentioned by Mr. Slawson rank Rensselaer 82nd out of 792 counties reported in terms of 2009 total median property taxes paid -  almost the top 10 percent in the NATION and 13th out of 38 New York Counties reported!!!  Up from 110th out of 793 counties NATIONWIDE and 15th out of 38 New York Counties reported for 2006!!!  How's that 2.5% County property tax increase thingy working for ya, Mike???

Phil Malone?  GET REAL, MIKE!!!  Don't rag on Phil for not solving in THREE MONTHS the very same problems YOU not only ignored for THREE YEARS but helped create!!!!

Deputy Chief?  GET REAL, MIKE!!!  You whine about EG hiring back 3 retirees who didn't "train or plan for a replacement" and now whine that the Town Board appoints an Assistant Police Chief?!?!?!  No ill wished here on Chief Lavin ... may he live long, prosper and serve well, but GET REAL, MIKE!!!  

The only true words in his entire rant are the last three "Maybe I'm wrong"!!!!  NOW THAT'S REAL, MIKE!!!

Win - Win!!!

Folks, EG CSEA recently ratified an MOU with the Town for 6% in raises over 3 years.  0% for 2011!!  Win - Win,??  Yes - Yes! 

CSEA could've fought for the sweetheart deal HVCC Faculty just got - 11+% over 3 years (Happy Valentine's Day, love Mike C.), but showed concern, conscience and compassion for the Town and taxpayers!  McCabe held the line, despite confidence that things will get better in the Town over the next three years.

Other items in the MOU are one added personal day, no cap on compensatory time accruals and a 40 day increase in the sick leave bank cap.  

These cap increases will help keep OT costs down - workers can bank more time rather than use it (or lose it) forcing OT coverage.  The Quarterly Sick Leave Incentive was changed, but details are sketchy. 

Remember, these folks are out in all kinds of weather, plowing our streets, and keeping our sewer and water lines running. 

Congrats and thanks to both CSEA and McCabe!!

Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee Meeting

The Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee Meeting, originally scheduled for 7:00PM on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 and postponed due to inclement weather, has been rescheduled for 7:00PM on Monday, January 31, 2011.

Board Of Ethics Meeting Rescheduled

Board Of Ethics Meeting Rescheduled

Board Of Ethics Meeting Rescheduled

The Town Board of Ethics Meeting scheduled for Monday, January 24th has been rescheduled for Wednesday, January 26th at 7:00 p.m.

It's all Good !!

 Last  evening , in a  historic positive move forward, the  Town Board  placed three new Police Officers  in service and promoted  one of our own.

 In a packed room, Sgt. Michael Condo , a  26 year veteran of the  Police Department , was  promoted to Assistant Police Chief.   This  promotion follows  at least 5 years of  discussions on the matter and  after receiving  approval from Rensselaer County Civil Service and the  appropriate  Town Resolution, the new  Assistant  Chief  placed his hand on the bible and  took the  oath of  office!    Right after  that, the  Town Board  welcomed three new  officers,  John Martyn, Christopher Adams, and  Nicholas Peter.  

 Exciting and  electric  describes the atmosphere in the  room as these officers  were  sworn in.  The  room was  full of  well wishers  and  family and  after it was  all over, many  remained  just outside the  room for a  long time.

 After  all the  hoopla  about  overtime, these  appointments  should greatly  curb the overtime and the  much needed middle management position of  Assistant  Chief  will greatly  assist and  ease the  burden  on many legal and professional requirements of the  Police Department.

 All of us at East Greenbush Talks  are  extremely  pleased with this most positive move by the  entire board.  It is clearly a  move in the  correct  direction and one  East Greenbush should be  proud  of.    We  wish  all the   best to all four of our  officers  as they progress forward with their  responsibilities and  duties.

Town Hall Closing Early, 1/18/11 AND Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee Meeting*POSTPONED*

Town Hall Closing Early, 1/18/11

Due to inclement weather, Town Hall will be closing at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Town Hall Closing Early, 1/18/11

Due to inclement weather, Town Hall will be closing at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Town Hall Closing Early, 1/18/11


Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee Meeting*POSTPONED* This meeting has been postponed due to inclement weather.
The first meeting of the Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee has been scheduled for 7:00PM on Tuesday, 1/18/11.  The meeting will be held in the Community Room in Town Hall.Due to inclement weather, Town Hall will be closing at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 18, 2011.

A thought and a suggestion

Once again, we find ourselves writing back and forth over what some feel are important, and yet others see as somewhat less important.

The name/cat calling over the past few days accomplishes NOTHING! EastGreenbushTalks suggests that since readers and believers of the Taylor/Cristo blog have their opinion which is apparently 180 degrees from the opinions of readers here, save yourselves a few blood pressure pills, and simply stick to the Taylor/Cristo blog! Of course, feel free to chime in on EastGreenbushTalks, but realize that more often than not there will be an argument and tempers seem to flare easily over the craziest topics. Also realize your comments might not get published here.

EastGreenbushTalks was started to give people that didn't agree with the campaign platform of Cristo/Taylor, a place to feel like they were being heard. The uproar came when writers from the Cristo/Taylor blog realized that not everyone bought into their platform. Then the nastiness got worse. Taylor will never agree with anything posted here, and likewise, not many readers or supporters of this blog will ever agree with her opinions or perspectives. It's kinda like her latest attempt at not printing anything political for a month. Many of us knew it was bogus and wouldn't last, but importantly - she never abided by her own game rules! The Cristo/Taylor blog - she can do as she pleases. Likewise - when we publish something here that you Cristo/Taylor People don't like - quite frankly - TOO BAD - it's our blog and we publish what we want! No bad feelings, it's exactly the same rules the Cristo/Taylor blog practice. That all being said - if you're not pleased with what's written here - blog your brains out over there, we'd tell you to blog on East Greenbush Prays but comments aren't allowed there.

Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee

The first meeting of the Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee has been scheduled for 7:00PM on Tuesday, 1/18/11. 

The meeting will be held in the Community Room in Town Hall.

The members of the Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee are:

Rob Feldman
Connor Laverty 
Heather Mowat 
Fred Nero 
Maura Ryan 
Pete Stenson
Jim Breig - Town Comptroller

Let's pause to remember in our thoughts and prayers the victims and families of yesterday's senseless and brutal attack in Tuscon, AZ that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition and took the lives of six individuals.

• John M. Roll, 63, a federal district court judge.
• Gabriel Zimmerman, 30, Giffords' director of community outreach.
• Dorwin Stoddard, 76, a pastor at Mountain Ave. Church of Christ.
• Christina-Taylor Green, 9, a student at Mesa Verde Elementary.
• Dorthy Morris, 76.
• Phyllis Schneck, 79.

According to the New York Times, "The shootings raised questions about potential political motives, and (Pima County) Sheriff Dupnik blamed the toxic political environment in Arizona. There were immediate national reverberations as Democrats denounced the fierce partisan atmosphere in Ms. Gifford’s district and top Republicans quickly condemned the violence. " - NY Times 1/9/11

Sheriff Dupnik's statement: "When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," the sheriff said. "And unfortunately, Arizona I think has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry." - msnbc.com news services.

"A Turning Point in the Discourse, but in Which Direction? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09bai.html?ref=politics

"Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics" in today's NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09capital.html?hp

Pete Stenson

Let's Start the New Year Right!!!

The following was submitted by Pete Stenson.

Jack Conway penned the following in reaction to an article forwarded to him by Nate Hans.  That article, entitled "The art of non-persuasion" by Tom Asacker, can be found at http://www.acleareye.com/sandbox_wisdom/2010/12/the-art-of-non-persuasion.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+acleareye+%28A+Clear+Eye%29. 

Asacker's article refers to an interview with screenwriter Robert McKee in which McKee maintains there are three ways for business people to persuade someone: Rhetoric, Story and Coercion and concludes that Story is the most effective.

* * * * *

Jack's eloquent observations (shared with his permission) are as follows:

Persuasion in politics is different from persuasion in the business world because the bottom line has as much to do with perception as reality. 

There is a book by Murray Edelman called 'Constructing the Political Spectacle' in which he breaks the political process down into three related components:

1. identifying social problems,

2. constructing leaders and

3. constructing enemies.

He uses this framework to show how politics works in an age of mass media and diverse new forms of communication.

This is only one way to look at politics but it is a useful way to think about the last year in East Greenbush. In Edelman's framework, problems are evoked to assign blame and praise and lay the groundwork for the construction of leaders and enemies.

Was junk bond status caused by mismanagement or the downturn in the economy and the rising cost of government, including energy costs, health and other benefit increases, rising contractual obligations, etc. If mismanagement, was it the responsibility of the supervisor or the town board or both?

Activists on both sides try to affect the perception of voters by identifying problems in such a way that blame and praise can be used to construct a vision of leaders and enemies that will resonate with residents. The most important part of Edelman's book for East Greenbush is his argument that contemporary politics requires leadership to be defined in opposition to perceived 'enemies'.

The public spectacle of politics now seems to require that those who disagree with you are seen as 'enemies' rather than opponents and I can think of no better example than our town and this last election. Emotions ran so high because both sides perceived that to lose would yield power to people of a virtually malevolent nature, not just those with different technical solutions to the problems of government.

This is why I argue for civility and a perception that we are all neighbors at the end of the day. The division of the political landscape into leaders and enemies has been a profoundly counter-productive development in American politics and has poisoned our political discourse. Persuading people who see you as the enemy is nearly impossible. I think the solution to our problems lies less in a formula for persuasion than in a reinterpretation of those with whom you have differences.

We have to learn to concede the same humanity to people who disagree with us as we do to ourselves.

* * * * *

Thank you for allowing us to share your observations, Jack. 

I’d like to add this quote from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Inaugural Address:

President Lincoln said in this city on his way to his inauguration, “Citizens may swear allegiance to one party or the other and believe with all their might that they are right, but once an election is passed, and until the next election, they should be one people.”

Pete Stenson