Oh, good. When I saw the recent rain I was very concerned that we were still dumping, When did we stop? Why wasn't it announced? Anyone know how the new treatment plant is coming along?
The Town's been addressing the problem by slip-lining sewer lines and cleaning out, repairing or replacing catch basins. Importantly, En Con has been allowing sewer hook-ups to resume as mitigation occurs.
Unfortunately, the new Waste Water Treatment Plant, like all good things, will take time. EG's $12 million project is pales when compared to the $36 billion, yes BILLION, the article says is needed over the next 20 years.
So, I afraid we'll have to put up with your garbage a while longer.
You mean the sky over E.G. is NOT falling?? The rest of the state has problems with waste water?? E.G. is actually better than most in regards to Waste Water spills?? My o My, I wonder if the Gadflies will have anything to say about this. How about Dwight......anything to say?? I'm sorry maybe?? What, other things to deal with, Mr. Holyer than thou.?!?!?
Don and Dwight could care less anymore. They are now fully focused on disparaging the Dem. board members in preparation of November and getting Defruscios candidate in. Rumor is Maryann Matters intends to run to "preserve her husbands legacy "..LMAO does she also steal from the NYSTA and have to appear in front of their ethics board to save her job? People will know exactly what " Mr. Ethics" is really all about ! The judges decision against Matters was priceless !
Looks like Rick Matters has his own "Senior Investigator" type problem? Is Mrs. Matters prepared to answer questions about this part of "her husband's legacy?" Is Chris Defruscio prepared to answer questions about he and Sean Mulvey go about selecting their Republican candidates for Town Board?
For those interested in reviewing the Rick Matters Court Case... The cite is "Matters v. Estes" United States District Court, Second Circuit. Decided on May 31, 2013 by Thomas J. McAvoy, Senior District Judge. Judge McAvoy's written decision is quite informative. For example "Defendants (New York State Thruway Authority, NYSTA) had sufficient reason to believe that Plaintiff (MR. MATTERS) would 'abuse his position' or 'neglect his duties because of his (political) aspirations.'" This determination "was based on legitimate considerations of Plaintiff's (MR. MATTERS')ability to carry out the duties of his job without abusing NYSTA time and equipment."
We should make this a post in the Advertiser ! DOn and his gaggle of googles are always saying that they want to write in. Its about time the people read something thats factual and truthful and exposes these "righteous" people for exactly what they all are - A FRAUD ! With Cherubino and Matters stealing from the taxpayer- should make for interesting reading ! Ole Ercole has some "splaining" to do ! Dimartoni is doomed !
This really puts a damper on the upcoming Repooblican campaign ! Mr. Ethics isn't nearly the KNIGHT in SHINING ARMOUR they all purport him to be huh ?!?! And the laugh of the day: Maryann Matters wants to run to "preserve her husbands legacy" ! What a gas !!
Let me see if I totally understand the most recent revelations about the Republicans in East Greenbush; Randolph Cherubino- resigned under controversy about his alleged misappropriation of $20,000+ dollars that he was responsible for overseeing , oh and it just happens to appear in his personal checking account, deposit slip signed by him as evidence! Rick Matter Jr.: stupidly tries to file suit against his boss alleging violation of his rights - AFTER he was found guilty of bilking over $3500 in unauthorized uses of Thruway resources, AFTER he was expressly advised and SIGNED a document stating he understood the restrictions ! WOW!! WAY TO GO ERCOLE ! Who's next ? Torino?! Oh wait - he was supposed to be the police commissioner ! What a laugh ! Where's the "moral majority" - Dwight-Mooney-Mulvey-Lester now ???
As I read the decision, Mr. Matters reimbursed his agency. I don't see any rush on the part of those identified as taking the illegal disbursements listed by OSC to reimburse the Town. Do you? That amounts to something in the neighborhood of $140,000.
and....neither has Don Johnson rushed to reimburse the Town the legal costs incurred as ordered by a sitting Supreme Court Magistrate for his failed lawsuit !
Sword, Mr. Matters was ordered to reimburse his agency . He didn't volunteer . The Federal Judge agreed with the Thruway Authority that if Matters was to run this year he was likely to rip off the taxpayers of New York State once again !
Just wondering how the Rep. candidates for County Leg. are feeling about their Rep. running mates for Town Board and their Campaign Managers Chris DeFruscio and Sean Mulvey right about now??
Langley has no credibility anymore. His alliance with Defruscio has even old-guard Republicans running in the opposite direction. Matters and his wife are done- stick a fork in them both. Mulvey- well you fill in the blank !
Yeah- we'll do real well with her on the Board ! She has some skeletons in her closet and she sold her soul to Langley and Defuscio. Makes hr a viable candidate in my mind - NOT !
She has a tough road ahead. She has ALOT of serious questions to answer and she'd better be ready to shun Defruscio and his band of merry morons. Otherwise she's doomed in November.
"The Ann Taylor situation is the only example of an innocent party being maligned for no reason by a political wrong-doer. The horrible things said about her had nothing to do with any job or political performance. Ms. Taylor did not violate any rules or regulations." #1- NO REASON? are you f-ing kidding me? Wake up ! #2 - "the horrible things said" - really? Do you ever read what she used to blog about/people she maligned? Taylor and her boy-toy started this entire mess - DEAL WITH IT and the fallout that is sure to follow !
Ann Taylor was campaigning while @ work. Its that simple, she was abusing her time at work. She deserved everything she got and then some ! All the gagflies complain about Joe LamOuntain- I call bullsh*t ! - Taylor was just as bad and actually - worse !
I believe that Ms. Taylor was employed in private industry. The employer had every right to deal with her as they pleased. The other people were working for the public. The public trust is a public matter. There should be clear, sure procedures for employees or public who steal services from the public (read you and me). Public employees can and should be held to a very high standard.
Mr. "Ethics" was very fortunate he wasn't asked to resign from his NYS job like the "Senior Investigator." BTW doesn't Ms. "Ethics" also work for NYS like Ms. "Senior Investigator" does? Hope she's more attentive to her job than her "ethical" hubby.
Mr. Ethics is a fraud like the rest. Cherubino should have been arrested ! They have the evidence! He stole over $20k of money that should have went to the taxpayers of NY. And thats the "tip of the iceberg" !
On the subject of your Post.... It wasn't until Dwight and company woke DEC up on the poop in the Hudson and got the Feds interested enough to put the pressure on the State that any attention was paid to what has been going on. The State has been completely negligent until the Feds started leaning on them.
OK - maybe - but highly doubtful that Dwight had any leverage at all. Regardless- it looks like EG is a minnow in the big pond of poop and all you Gadflies and Gideons were way off base
I feel like the parent of a pre-teen forced to point out that if everybody else is doing it, that doesn't make it right. Dumping sewage into the Hudson was/is wrong and ignoring the consent orders was wrong. My mother always said if Johnny walked off the Dunn Memorial Bridge, would you follow him?
Yeah-yeah-yeah! Bottom line - Dwight and Don wanted everyone to think that ONLY East Greenbush was at fault, and ONLY East Greenbush should be punished and held accountable and ONLY East Greenbush current Board members are responsible ! They went to the media to embarrass and try to ridicule Board members- well lookie what else! You were WRONG and many~many others are ALOT worse and it isn't ONLY East Greenbush ! Once again- fruitflies shown as idiots !
I think the sewer project is def the right thing to do. The TB made the right decision to take it away from the county. But is anyone else worried that Langley is the one in charge of making sure the project is done right? I sure am. Langley doesn't seem to be smart enough to manage it. Hopefully he won't be listening to Defruscio about how to spend EG taxpayer money. That would be a disaster.
Dwight and Don tried to make a case out of EG not going with the County. As it turned out- the county was and still is , unable to handle the increased amount of dirty water. Rich Crist will need to find a different municipality to fund the much needed upgrades to the county system !
I'm also very concerned about Langley and DeFruscio being in charge of the $12 million sewer construction project, but what can be done? After all, Langley was elected Town Supervisor and DeFruscio is his political boss.
The project will be financed by NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation and the Town has retained Delaware Engineering and Chazen Engineering to respectively oversee, among other things, contract administration and construction administration.
This was posted on the fruitfly blog, and of course Don disissed its author as not knowing what they were talking about, but it sure as hell makes sense and clearly there is no reason for all the hype of the grand-standing gadflies. read: it was addressed to Jack Conway;
"I am very surprised that a man as smart as you would be sucked in by such an irresponsible piece of garbage political article like that. First, the list is in alphabetical order, in case you didn't notice. He has EG , with 2 mil in debt.(its actually much less) listed ahead of cites with billions. 2nd, how does East Greenbush get included on a list of Major U.S. Cities? 3rd, just about every municipality has debt and most larger than EG. Finally, if you want the real story, go to State Comptroller Tom Dinapoli's website and look at the report he put out in June. It lists the municipalities in NY and their stress level. For one example, Colonie is listed as under considerable stress. EG is on the no designation list, meaning it is not under stress. EG is listed at 37% level and Colonie is in the 65% area, which puts Colonie on the list and EG not even close. Plain and simple, Someone got to that blogger on the very conservative Newsmax.com site and it is very irresponible for whomever did this, as it is causing the people of this town to think we are going under....all for politcal reasons. I would tend to believe the lists that DiNapoli put out before that Newsmax.com idiot."
and here's a real gem from Don: "OSC has failed as an oversight agency to really "nail" what has been going on here in EG, and thereby has in effect "licensed" what has been going on. They have treated our politicians with "kid gloves."
OMG- Don should be the NYS Attorney General or Comptroller - he clearly knows more than the professionals and when they fail to blindly agree with his tainted point of view, they are at fault ! GOOD GRIEF !!
You should do some research - available on the OSC site - as to how the list is generated. OSC says in its recent audit that EG's financial data is faulty. If it is, how can it be used to support a finding that things are hunkey dorry?
and exactly on the contrary Don, how can any data be used to support any accusations of exactly how horrible things exactly are? The man who wrote the over the top article on a conservative blog is wrong. He's not even an analyst- just some writer who gets paid to review whatever literature is out there and to write about it. Exactly what are his qualifications to generate such cacophony ?? Good Grief !
They're falling all over themselves on the Gag, but DJ1 is unwittingly debunking the arguments.
Quoting Gadfly 12:32 PM: “And OSC just finished saying in its last report on EG that the numbers were in such a shambles that the Town couldn't determine its financial position.”
Correct Gadfly! Thus the dire prediction in Moore's Newsmax article is based on the same inaccurate records or summaries thereof.
Again, Quoting Gadfly 12:32 PM: “Isn't that why Wojeski was recently hired to compile records for Toski?”
Correct again! So let’s all step back, take a deep breath and await the results of Wojecki’s work and Toski’s audits of 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The actual OSC audit quote is: "Due to the poor condition of the Town’s accounting records, Town officials could not determine with any degree of certainty what the Town’s fund balances actually were at the end of the 2010 fiscal year or for most of 2011."
Now, riddle me this Batman. What happened in 2010?
Correct! The Cristo-Danaher-Matters takeover of the Town Board and appointment of THEIR people in Town Hall.
Excellent Response: So are you saying there's nothing to worry about? Even if the list is alphabetical why are we on a list with places like Oakland and Providence? The fact is that we have been in junk bond status for four years and not a single thing has been done to change that. Stephen Moore has no political axe to grind with East Greenbush, he was simply analyzing numbers. Why was Wojeski brought in to help Toski, a professional firm that couldn't make sense of our books? Why did we receive two scathing audits and do virtually nothing to address the findings? Why did it take 12 years to begin to address the wastewater treatment issue? Why are our taxes out of control? Why was the reassessment botched? Why is there no Code of Ethics? Why does the town board continue to hire as if we are in perfect fiscal health? And on and on.
Don't get me wrong, I don't believe anything would change with a republican majority. But clearly the 'way it's always been done' is no longer working, if it ever did. Just to take the theme of this thread: if ignoring a major problem for 12 years is being 'ahead of the curve' we are utterly and totally lost. The Moore article is a devastating blow to the reputation of this town. Like it or not (and I don't) it's consistent with every other professional analysis done of our town's finances. Better we fix things than continue to deny certain stark realities.
To 3:58 PM I agree with you. It would also be very helpful if Supervisor Langley would issue a public statement or comment about this situation. A statement from him clarifying the town's financial condition would go a long way towards cooling down the overheated rhetoric over on the gadfly blog.
The gadfly himself is so far out in orbit that descerning reality from his little fantasy is becoming hard. YNN is to be commended for ferreting out this conservative blogger on that little read conservative page for sensationalizing very old and inconsequential facts to get a rise out of the freak show known as the reform movement. The entire scenario has been blown way out of proportion. Jack: yes this town is far from out of the woods, but not nearly as degraded as people want to think. Careful and pointed future planning and guidance from a committee of concerned folks would be helpful. The continual interference from people like Don Johnson, Dwight Jenkins and Ray Mooney is actually counter-productive because they can't be trusted or open minded enough to look outside the box. Don takes cheap shots at the Hart family-( allows them on his trash page) when he can't hold a candle to them for bettering this town. People with a very tainted agenda are exploiting small tidbits of data- albeit old data, to inflame the electorate needlessly. I really don't care if Dwight or Don disagree with me, I clearly stand in the majority - they stand in the minority and will remain there until they stop their rhetoric and the "fanning of the flames" and decide to get off their soapbox and come down to reality. Is East Greenbush perfect? Nope- but the bullsh*t coming out of the gagfly movement is nothing more than that - BULLSH*T!
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. – “Municipal bankruptcies are rare,” said Christine Chung, Associate Professor of Law at Albany Law School.
That fact made it even more shocking when the City of Detroit filed for one three weeks ago. A recent list by national economist Stephen Moore names theTtown of East Greenbush as being a potential candidate to follow suit.
Chung described, “It's no different than an individual or corporation. If you can't pay your bills when they're due, you may have to consider bankruptcy.”
East Greenbush was put on the list in Newsmax after the results of a state audit came out last year. The state found the town had $2 million in deficits, partially due to suspicious employee contracts and illegal payments to some of their workers.
However, the state comptroller's office says it's their list you should pay attention to. The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System is a guideline based on fiscal and environmental factors that rates each community’s stress level. Based on these numbers, East Greenbush doesn't need to worry.
New York State Assistant Comptroller Nathaalie Carey explained, “In order to reach into our fiscal stress categories, which would've been ‘susceptible to stress,’ which is the lowest category, you have to have at least 45 percent. They're at 35.”
When asked about the town’s fiscal history, she replied, “We have seen them get into a better financial situation now than they were in in years past."
The Comptroller’s office has a number of resources online and local officials can reach out directly for financial advice.
Of the 900 municipalities studied under the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System, only 24 fell into the three 'stress' categories. The goal is to keep those numbers low.
“We have a state government that has been very proactive to make sure none of their municipalities face the same fate that Detroit faces today because it weakens us all,” said Carey. “There has been no municipality in New York state that has ever gone bankrupt."
“It can have a consequence for other cities and towns,” said Chung of municipal bankruptcy. “That city or town is going to find it more difficult to raise money from public markets.”
We reached out to the East Greenbush town supervisor about the Newsmax article.
In a statement, Kevin Langley cited a fiscally conservative approach but also mentioned opposition from the board majority.
We also spoke with a board member who says they've worked in a bipartisan effort to improve the town's finances. Democrat Phil Malone echoed the comptroller's office's assessment.
I realize that this over-dramatization is playing directly into J-J-and M's hands. I also have read everything that there is to read. The NewsMax article is done in bad taste and really is the poorest journalistic example of how little the author really knows about the topic! He's grossly under-educated and takes great liberty with some of his "facts". The Town is no longer 2 + million in debt. There obviously is a plan in effect to continue to reduce the debt. Let me guess: this plan isn't what Ole Donnie boy wants - not nearly enough people being terminated- not nearly enough benefits being taken away and taxes weren't slashed by at least 50 % . Am I close Don ? Let us know when you come back to reality and want to discuss real solutions and stop the bashing and grand-standing.
How do you know that the Town is no longer in 2+ million in debt? OSC says that the records are in such a mess that the Town had to hire Wojeski to compile the financial records so that Toski could do an audit on 2010. This also goes to the question of the OSC "stress" list.
Where is the obvious plan which is in effect to continue to reduce the debt. It would be helpful if it were published in English somewhere.
“Municipal bankruptcies are rare,” said Christine Chung, Associate Professor of Law at Albany Law School. The state comptroller's office says it's their list you should pay attention to. The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System is a guideline based on fiscal and environmental factors that rates each community’s stress level. Based on these numbers, East Greenbush doesn't need to worry."
ENOUGH of the Gagfly and throwing gas on the campfire !
Once again - Don and Dwight have proved how incompetent they are ! Can you say MORONS !?!
"When asked about the town’s fiscal history, she replied, “We have seen them get into a better financial situation now than they were in in years past."
Anonymous August 9, 2013 at 8:19 AM over on the gagfly is putting the blame for the $2,000,000 in debt on Rick McCabe, Kate Bennett and Laura Ingolsby and asks if theres something else we should understand in order to have a factual knowledge of what led our town into this financial disaster?
YES ... past Town Boards including, among others, Cristo, Danaher, Matters.
to 4:19 PM Isn't Mrs "Ethics" Matters running for Town Board and Mr. Danaher running for County Leg. Might be some good questions to ask them about during their campaigns?
CHANNEL 13 - RIGHT ON THE $$$ !! Gadflies are full of $h*t !!! $h*t stirrers is all they are.
Jack Conway - while your certaintly entitled to your opinion, I'm losing respect and faith if you continue to cry wolf over on the gagfly. I always thought more of you than to jump on that flaming bandwagon being pulled by Johnson,Jenkins and Mooney. And...Anonymous I am - get over it !
I find it utterly impossible for the gadflies to even show their faces any longer. They slight Phil Malone and blame him for just about everything. Langley is the CFO and Supervisor he's mostly to blame - yes , the one who listens to Ercole Christopher Defruscio. That right there is the issue with exactly why nothing has been accomplished the past 18 months in this Town. The Democrats have established the recovery plan thus far that has paid down the debt- not the reformers, not Cristo and Co, not Don Johnson, not Jack Conway, and certainly not Jenkins,Mulvey,Taylor or Defruscio. You reformers-(gadflies) and the crowd you run around with are the true ones causing all the "mischief" and are counter productive to anything positive happening in East Greenbush.
No argument here regarding your assessment about Langley, Mulvey, Cristo and DeFruscio. During their limited careers in town employment they did little good and caused great damage.
CRISTO-DANAHER-and MATTERS are complicit in this entire scenario. Trying to blame Malone is irresponsible and immature. Bottom line: Cristo and Danaher think they got away with it when in all reality they caused most of this...they were the majority ! That is a fact ! Not made up - undeniable fact !
You guys think I'm crying wolf when your defense is that we don't really know how bad things are because the books are so screwed up. Are you people listening to yourselves? In the world of finance it is NO defense to argue that things can't really be that bad because we have no idea what the numbers are. Do you really think that with an accounting disaster like this there is a random chance that things are really alright? Mention of a financial recovery 'plan' is simple denial: there is no plan, there is no strategy, there doesn't even seem to be that much concern that we live in a town that has ridiculously high taxes and a huge debt. How is possible to have both of those things at the same time? I'll give you a hint: mismanagement, excessive patronage hiring and no concern about the effect of the actions of a few on the taxpayers of this town.
I hope you guys are listening to people talking in the shops and supermarkets. You can rationalize this stuff any way you like but our town has taken a devastating hit in the court of public opinion. People are pissed and rightfully so.
"Our Defense" is simple: #1 - its not a defense, its a point of view that differs from yours. #2-the books are being audited/straightened out by Wojeski by order of the Town Board - not Don Johnson or the gadfly crod. #3- the debt is reduced and has been reduced over the past 18 months by actions of the finance director, previous comptroller and town board. Simply ask Jim Breig - moves were made in 2012 to reduce the debt. #4- 2 million as the starting number - it is not the current amount. #5- hiring , while not glamorous is necessary. What gadfly applicant got skipped over? hat Republican applicant got skipped over? As far as I can see, they wern't lining up for the job ! #6 ridiculously high taxes ? School taxes-YES! Town taxes?? compared to who? I don't give damn about yours or the gadflies anxiety issues - I choose to not make a nightmare out of this irresponsible reporting. I know the Town isn't on stable ground, but I also know we are far from the doomsday that you all think is right around the next corner !
Dear 3:06 PM, You make some excellent points. But here is my worry. After talking to a couple of neighbors, the recurring concern seems to be that Supervisor Langley might not be up to the task of supporting the rest of the Town Board's efforts to reduce the debt without raising our taxes by a very large amount. Folks are worried that since Langley is the Supe, he has the power to overrule the plans of the Town Board. We have gotten the impression, after talking to Mr. Langley, that he doesn't seem to understand how important it is to stay on top of this and work with the Town Board to get the Town through this situation without the taxpayers paying through the nose. I hope we are wrong about this.
Lets be honest folks - Langley is clearly NOT up to this ! Langley listens to and confides in Defruscio - what more needs to be said. Gadfly likes to malign Malone . Malone notarized something he shouldn't have - paid his dues and its over- much to the chagrin of fruitflies everywhere. Defruscio commited a malicious crime and was never held accountable.
Jack sorry to see you crying wolf like your new pals,you know situations are not always as they seem. This is all part of Johnson's revenge against the town and McCabe.
Will someone please explain to Johnson that the stipends were going on since the 80s he's so bitter that he was scolded in court and he blames McCabe for the problems of the world let alone his pathetic existence . He was even against the Miracle League good grief so sad
Langley is an avid reader of ALL blogs and takes comments personally.
So this is for you Keith:
STAY AWAY FROM DEFRUSCIO !! IF YOU WANT CREDIBILITY, IF YOU WANT PEOPLES RESPECT - WALK AWAY - NO, RUN AWAY FROM ERCOLE. HE'S YOUR BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO ANY CREDIBILITY IN THIS TOWN. CHRIS IS THE BIGGEST POLITICAL FARCE THIS TOWN HAS EVER SEEN. GADFLY AND HIS CROWD DON'T LIKE MALONE - OK - BUT PHIL CAN'T HOLD A CANDLE TO THE JUVENILE DELINQUENT STUNTS ERCOLE PULLS !
9:52 AM I've never understood why Langley would want to throw everything away by associating himself with Defruscio. Def has a long history of letting the people down who have befriended him. You are right 9:52, Def is absolutely killing Langley's cred. When they are seen riding around in the truck together, pointing and laughing at Town workers it really rubs people the wrong way. Malone isn't perfect, nobody is, but he has been making an effort to listen to what people are saying. Message to Keith and Chris-- "sometimes it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." Keith and Chris have been speaking a lot in recent days and the voters have had enough of their foolish messages and threats.
From what I can tell, Chris "reinterpreted" the election results for Keith. Keith had (maybe has) an opportunity to "take back the night." He could fashion a reform agenda yet.
To Sword... Chris will discourage Keith from doing anything that doesn't benefit Chris. That's how Chris rolls. Just ask the people who have associated with Chris. Keith doesn't really want to get involved with anything that involves working hard. That's how Keith rolls. Just ask the people who see Keith at Town Hall every day.
Richard K. Matters Jr. vs. William Estes and NYSTA.
GOOGLE IT FOLKS - talk about mischief !?
GOOD GRIEF !!!
Then lets ask Matters the hard questions about his ethics proposal @ the next Town Board meeting !! Lets ask Defruscio how he plans to deal with it - lets ask LANGLEY how he plans to deal with it !?! Hypocrites ! ALL three of them !
As far as anyone knows, Rick Matters is the only resident of East Greenbush specifically PROHIBITED FROM RUNNING FOR POLITICAL OFFICE by a Senior Federal Judge. I wonder if that is covered in the Mr. Matters ethics proposal?
Proof that Matters isn't all the gadflies want him to be. So not surprised by this at all. Never liked him and never voted for his do-nothing b*tt ! He is worthless .
Here's a laugh !; "Funny thing happened this last week. We got an invitation to the Republican Fund Raiser at Melvin Roads in June. This is especially amazing in the context of the explicit instructions to “keep away from the reformers” which went out from “Republican Headquarters” after the last election. And even more amazing after the “pow-wow” requesting that Mooney, Jenkins and I stop any potential criticism and wait for the roll out of the new Supervisor’s “plan."
Defruscio and Langley were in bed with the reformers and had to beg them to give some space! LMAO - flaming idiots! And you fell for it !! Thats the best part !
Who's the flaming moron now Don? Dwight? Ray? You suckers fell right into Old Ercoles foolish game plan.
Pssst: I've got a beautiful piece of property out on Burden lake I'd like to sell you ! ROFLMAO !!!
"Matters is not running for re-election this fall and said he would like to see a law passed before the end of his term. His wife, Mary A. Matters, is running for his seat."
check this one out - http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/USCOURTS-nynd-1_13-cv-00578/USCOURTS-nynd-1_13-cv-00578-0/content-detail.html
Matters is not running for re-election this fall because a Federal Judge told him was forbidden to run due to his unethical behavior at the Thruway Authority and now he wants an ethics law passed? You can't make this stuff up. What a disappointment he must be to those who bought into his Mr. "Ethics" lies. He's no better than Defruscio with his unethical behavior.
"The company that did the work, M. Cristo, Inc.out of East Greenbush, said they did the work under the direction of the fire chief. However, the mayor's office in Troy said M. Cristo had a private arrangement with the building's owner, well know local attorney Don Boyajian.
"According to fire chief Tom Garrett, Cristo was hired directly by the property owner to complete the work once it was deemed an emergency demolition. There is no existing contract between the city and Cristo for any portion of the work," said Jessica Sibley, deputy director of public information for the city of Troy.
The labor department's notice is directed at both the city and M. Cristo, Inc.
"The bottom line is somebody knowingly released toxic asbestos into the air. We have a daycare right down here for Unity House," McGrath said. "He didn't say there was a little asbestos. He said it's filled, it's full of asbestos," McGrath said. "My concern was how could they tear this building down with people eating at a restaurant with a building attached," said Troy Council Member Mark McGrath.
McGrath is one of only two Republicans on the council. He said he filed a complaint with the labor department about how the demolition job was handled. He said the city's planning commissioner, Bill Dunn expressed his concerns long ago about the presence of asbestos in the buildings."
WOW !! Little prince Michael screwed up AGAIN !! Incompetence at its highest level ! Hey Ercole - you paying attention to what your "advisor" is doing??
"the people we pay to run our town have been squandering the money on themselves, their friends, and on bankrupt or non-existent policies. See, the game is rigged. The left wing of Town politics is in bed with Albany and the State; the right wing is in bed with Troy and the County."
WOW!! The sky is falling !!! Mooney,Jenkins and Johnson are euphoric thinking they are the only ones in advising the financial future of our fine hamlet !
Talk about arrogant,egotistical fools ! Wow Donnie - you've actually outdone your maniacal self !
Dear 7:52 PM, I agree with you. But I just wish somebody other than Langley was the one in charge of the finances of EG. Langley and DeFruscio, if left unchecked, will put us all in a bad place.
They’re going gaga on the Gagfly over “Some History on "Detroit East"
Gadfly fails to mention:
1. Resolution 40-2010, February 2010 was to be introduced by Rick Matters and that NOT EVEN CRISTO OR DANAHER THOUGHT IT HAD ENOUGH MERIT OR THEY’D HAVE ADOPTED IT!
2. The 1/4/10 Organizational Meeting where CRISTO, DANAHER, MATTERS INSTALLED THEIR OWN INEXPERIENCED PEOPLE IN TOWN HALL AT. Quoting Gagfly, “The Comptroller and Supervisor were both singled out, by title, as responsible.” KATE BENNETT WAS NOT THE COMPTROLER DURING 2010, 2011 OR 2012. Kate Bennett was the Comptroller through 2009.
3. The UHY finding that “IN OUR OPINION, THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS REFERRED TO ABOVE PRESENT FAIRLY, IN ALL MATERIAL RESPECTS, THE FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE GENERAL FUND, SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS AND CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND OF THE TOWN OF EAST GREENBUSH, NEW YORK AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2009, AND THE CHANGES IN FINANCIAL POSITION THEREOF AND THE RESPECTIVE BUDGETARY COMPARISON FOR THE GENERAL FUND AND SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS FOR THE YEAR THEN ENDED IN CONFORMITY WITH ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES GENERALLY ACCEPTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
According to its web site, “UHY ADVISORS IS ONE OF THE TOP 20 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRMS IN THE US, AND UHY INTERNATIONAL IS ONE OF THE LARGEST ACCOUNTING NETWORKS IN THE WORLD.” I doubt they’d put their reputation on the line for East Greenbush!
Again, let’s all step back, take a deep breath, take a walk, or whatever and await the results of Wojecki’s work and Toski’s audits of 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Don has no idea of half of what he writes. His complete and total dedication to embarass and harass any of the sitting Democrats- especially McCabe,OBrien, Mangold and Malone! The jacka** who wrote that irresponsible article for NEWSMAX should be castrated for his irresponsible journalism. He needlessly got people to think the Town is going bankrupt , when the ABSOLUTE TRUTH is quite the opposite. But, that doesn't fit into Dons,Ray,Dwight,Mulvey or Defruscios game plan - does it ??
JOHNSON HAS PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN THAT HE IS ANTI-ANYTHING EGB. HE IS THE MOST ARROGANT FOOL THAT BELIEVES HE'S THE ONLY ONE PAYING TAXES. NONE OF THE REST OF US COUNT - HUH DON?? MY SUGGESTION IS THAT YOU PACK UP AND LEAVE - QUICKLY !
One fact all the 'honorable' Gagflies conveniently overlook is that Ginny O’Brien took office in January, 2010. Phil Malone and Sue Mangold in November, 2010.
So don't hold them accountable for the Town's problems. They're trying to resolve them.
Ray Mooney ALWAYS labeled Phil a "punk" and alot of other pet names. Funny how the king of carpetbaggers found it necessary to malign a lifelong resident while he attempts to bolster his own standings. The recent publishing on the fruitfly basically mirrors Mooneys ignorant rants by some one who purports to know Phil. Thats a laugh ! What they wrote fits Cristo to a tee - not Malone ! Once again you gagflies got it wrong...but hey - who's counting anyway
Jack is looking at the financial issue open minded and Johnson and company are tearing it up as this once again doesn't fit into his plan to diassemble everything that exists. Wojeski is working feverishly to produce accurate financial records. Clearly not fast enough for Johnson and crew who are looking to embarrass and discredit anyone who currently serves the town. Way to go Don . Your a real asset to the town - NOT !
Oh, good. When I saw the recent rain I was very concerned that we were still dumping, When did we stop? Why wasn't it announced? Anyone know how the new treatment plant is coming along?
ReplyDeleteThe Town's been addressing the problem by slip-lining sewer lines and cleaning out, repairing or replacing catch basins. Importantly, En Con has been allowing sewer hook-ups to resume as mitigation occurs.
DeleteUnfortunately, the new Waste Water Treatment Plant, like all good things, will take time. EG's $12 million project is pales when compared to the $36 billion, yes BILLION, the article says is needed over the next 20 years.
So, I afraid we'll have to put up with your garbage a while longer.
You mean the sky over E.G. is NOT falling?? The rest of the state has problems with waste water?? E.G. is actually better than most in regards to Waste Water spills?? My o My, I wonder if the Gadflies will have anything to say about this. How about Dwight......anything to say?? I'm sorry maybe?? What, other things to deal with, Mr. Holyer than thou.?!?!?
ReplyDeleteThey're far too busy googling quotes to fit support (hak kaf) their positions.
DeleteDon and Dwight could care less anymore. They are now fully focused on disparaging the Dem. board members in preparation of November and getting Defruscios candidate in.
ReplyDeleteRumor is Maryann Matters intends to run to "preserve her husbands legacy "..LMAO does she also steal from the NYSTA and have to appear in front of their ethics board to save her job? People will know exactly what " Mr. Ethics" is really all about ! The judges decision against Matters was priceless !
Looks like Rick Matters has his own "Senior Investigator" type problem? Is Mrs. Matters prepared to answer questions about this part of "her husband's legacy?"
ReplyDeleteIs Chris Defruscio prepared to answer questions about he and Sean Mulvey go about selecting their Republican candidates for Town Board?
For those interested in reviewing the Rick Matters Court Case... The cite is "Matters v. Estes" United States District Court, Second Circuit. Decided on May 31, 2013 by Thomas J. McAvoy, Senior District Judge.
ReplyDeleteJudge McAvoy's written decision is quite informative.
For example "Defendants (New York State Thruway Authority, NYSTA) had sufficient reason to believe that Plaintiff (MR. MATTERS) would 'abuse his position' or 'neglect his duties because of his (political) aspirations.'"
This determination "was based on legitimate considerations of Plaintiff's (MR. MATTERS')ability to carry out the duties of his job without abusing NYSTA time and equipment."
We should make this a post in the Advertiser ! DOn and his gaggle of googles are always saying that they want to write in. Its about time the people read something thats factual and truthful and exposes these "righteous" people for exactly what they all are - A FRAUD ! With Cherubino and Matters stealing from the taxpayer- should make for interesting reading !
ReplyDeleteOle Ercole has some "splaining" to do ! Dimartoni is doomed !
I googled "Matters v. Estes" this is unbelievable !
ReplyDeleteThis really puts a damper on the upcoming Repooblican campaign ! Mr. Ethics isn't nearly the KNIGHT in SHINING ARMOUR they all purport him to be huh ?!?!
ReplyDeleteAnd the laugh of the day: Maryann Matters wants to run to "preserve her husbands legacy" ! What a gas !!
Let me see if I totally understand the most recent revelations about the Republicans in East Greenbush; Randolph Cherubino- resigned under controversy about his alleged misappropriation of $20,000+ dollars that he was responsible for overseeing , oh and it just happens to appear in his personal checking account, deposit slip signed by him as evidence! Rick Matter Jr.: stupidly tries to file suit against his boss alleging violation of his rights - AFTER he was found guilty of bilking over $3500 in unauthorized uses of Thruway resources, AFTER he was expressly advised and SIGNED a document stating he understood the restrictions ! WOW!! WAY TO GO ERCOLE ! Who's next ? Torino?! Oh wait - he was supposed to be the police commissioner ! What a laugh !
ReplyDeleteWhere's the "moral majority" - Dwight-Mooney-Mulvey-Lester now ???
As I read the decision, Mr. Matters reimbursed his agency. I don't see any rush on the part of those identified as taking the illegal disbursements listed by OSC to reimburse the Town. Do you? That amounts to something in the neighborhood of $140,000.
ReplyDeleteand....neither has Don Johnson rushed to reimburse the Town the legal costs incurred as ordered by a sitting Supreme Court Magistrate for his failed lawsuit !
DeleteSword,
DeleteMr. Matters was ordered to reimburse his agency . He didn't volunteer . The Federal Judge agreed with the Thruway Authority that if Matters was to run this year he was likely to rip off the taxpayers of New York State once again !
What say you Mrs. Town Board candidate Matters ?
Just wondering how the Rep. candidates for County Leg. are feeling about their Rep. running mates for Town Board and their Campaign Managers Chris DeFruscio and Sean Mulvey right about now??
Deleteit'd be a little hard for rm & kl to sponsor a resolution, eh
ReplyDeleteLangley has no credibility anymore. His alliance with Defruscio has even old-guard Republicans running in the opposite direction.
ReplyDeleteMatters and his wife are done- stick a fork in them both.
Mulvey- well you fill in the blank !
Rick Matters made a FEDERAL CASE OUT OF IT and he lost lol.
ReplyDeleteThere's still Debbie Dimartino !
ReplyDeleteYeah- we'll do real well with her on the Board ! She has some skeletons in her closet and she sold her soul to Langley and Defuscio. Makes hr a viable candidate in my mind - NOT !
DeleteShe has a tough road ahead. She has ALOT of serious questions to answer and she'd better be ready to shun Defruscio and his band of merry morons.
DeleteOtherwise she's doomed in November.
"The Ann Taylor situation is the only example of an innocent party being maligned for no reason by a political wrong-doer. The horrible things said about her had nothing to do with any job or political performance. Ms. Taylor did not violate any rules or regulations."
ReplyDelete#1- NO REASON? are you f-ing kidding me? Wake up !
#2 - "the horrible things said" - really? Do you ever read what she used to blog about/people she maligned?
Taylor and her boy-toy started this entire mess - DEAL WITH IT and the fallout that is sure to follow !
Ann Taylor was campaigning while @ work. Its that simple, she was abusing her time at work. She deserved everything she got and then some !
DeleteAll the gagflies complain about Joe LamOuntain- I call bullsh*t ! - Taylor was just as bad and actually - worse !
I thought Former DPW Commissioner, Chris DeFruscio , was the only one who didn't abuse time at work .
DeleteI believe that Ms. Taylor was employed in private industry. The employer had every right to deal with her as they pleased. The other people were working for the public. The public trust is a public matter. There should be clear, sure procedures for employees or public who steal services from the public (read you and me). Public employees can and should be held to a very high standard.
DeleteMr. "Ethics" was very fortunate he wasn't asked to resign from his NYS job like the "Senior Investigator."
DeleteBTW doesn't Ms. "Ethics" also work for NYS like Ms. "Senior Investigator" does? Hope she's more attentive to her job than her "ethical" hubby.
Mr. Ethics is a fraud like the rest.
DeleteCherubino should have been arrested ! They have the evidence! He stole over $20k of money that should have went to the taxpayers of NY. And thats the "tip of the iceberg" !
On the subject of your Post.... It wasn't until Dwight and company woke DEC up on the poop in the Hudson and got the Feds interested enough to put the pressure on the State that any attention was paid to what has been going on. The State has been completely negligent until the Feds started leaning on them.
ReplyDeleteOK - maybe - but highly doubtful that Dwight had any leverage at all. Regardless- it looks like EG is a minnow in the big pond of poop and all you Gadflies and Gideons were way off base
DeleteI feel like the parent of a pre-teen forced to point out that if everybody else is doing it, that doesn't make it right. Dumping sewage into the Hudson was/is wrong and ignoring the consent orders was wrong.
DeleteMy mother always said if Johnny walked off the Dunn Memorial Bridge, would you follow him?
Yeah-yeah-yeah! Bottom line - Dwight and Don wanted everyone to think that ONLY East Greenbush was at fault, and ONLY East Greenbush should be punished and held accountable and ONLY East Greenbush current Board members are responsible ! They went to the media to embarrass and try to ridicule Board members- well lookie what else! You were WRONG and many~many others are ALOT worse and it isn't ONLY East Greenbush !
DeleteOnce again- fruitflies shown as idiots !
Why don't you try to apply the facts.....just the facts.?
DeleteI think the sewer project is def the right thing to do. The TB made the right decision to take it away from the county.
ReplyDeleteBut is anyone else worried that Langley is the one in charge of making sure the project is done right? I sure am. Langley doesn't seem to be smart enough to manage it. Hopefully he won't be listening to Defruscio about how to spend EG taxpayer money. That would be a disaster.
Dwight and Don tried to make a case out of EG not going with the County. As it turned out- the county was and still is , unable to handle the increased amount of dirty water.
DeleteRich Crist will need to find a different municipality to fund the much needed upgrades to the county system !
I'm also very concerned about Langley and DeFruscio being in charge of the $12 million sewer construction project, but what can be done? After all, Langley was elected Town Supervisor and DeFruscio is his political boss.
DeleteThe project will be financed by NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation and the Town has retained Delaware Engineering and Chazen Engineering to respectively oversee, among other things, contract administration and construction administration.
ReplyDeletePlenty of oversight!
Thanks, 4:51 PM. It's good to know Langley will have little, if anything, to do with this important project.
DeleteThis was posted on the fruitfly blog, and of course Don disissed its author as not knowing what they were talking about, but it sure as hell makes sense and clearly there is no reason for all the hype of the grand-standing gadflies. read: it was addressed to Jack Conway;
ReplyDelete"I am very surprised that a man as smart as you would be sucked in by such an irresponsible piece of garbage political article like that. First, the list is in alphabetical order, in case you didn't notice. He has EG , with 2 mil in debt.(its actually much less) listed ahead of cites with billions. 2nd, how does East Greenbush get included on a list of Major U.S. Cities? 3rd, just about every municipality has debt and most larger than EG.
Finally, if you want the real story, go to State Comptroller Tom Dinapoli's website and look at the report he put out in June. It lists the municipalities in NY and their stress level. For one example, Colonie is listed as under considerable stress. EG is on the no designation list, meaning it is not under stress. EG is listed at 37% level and Colonie is in the 65% area, which puts Colonie on the list and EG not even close.
Plain and simple, Someone got to that blogger on the very conservative Newsmax.com site and it is very irresponible for whomever did this, as it is causing the people of this town to think we are going under....all for politcal reasons.
I would tend to believe the lists that DiNapoli put out before that Newsmax.com idiot."
Kudos to you - whomever you are !!
and here's a real gem from Don:
Delete"OSC has failed as an oversight agency to really "nail" what has been going on here in EG, and thereby has in effect "licensed" what has been going on. They have treated our politicians with "kid gloves."
OMG- Don should be the NYS Attorney General or Comptroller - he clearly knows more than the professionals and when they fail to blindly agree with his tainted point of view, they are at fault !
GOOD GRIEF !!
You should do some research - available on the OSC site - as to how the list is generated. OSC says in its recent audit that EG's financial data is faulty. If it is, how can it be used to support a finding that things are hunkey dorry?
Deleteand how can it be used to support a finding that things are bankruptcy bound?
Deleteand exactly on the contrary Don, how can any data be used to support any accusations of exactly how horrible things exactly are? The man who wrote the over the top article on a conservative blog is wrong. He's not even an analyst- just some writer who gets paid to review whatever literature is out there and to write about it. Exactly what are his qualifications to generate such cacophony ?? Good Grief !
DeleteThey're falling all over themselves on the Gag, but DJ1 is unwittingly debunking the arguments.
ReplyDeleteQuoting Gadfly 12:32 PM: “And OSC just finished saying in its last report on EG that the numbers were in such a shambles that the Town couldn't determine its financial position.”
Correct Gadfly! Thus the dire prediction in Moore's Newsmax article is based on the same inaccurate records or summaries thereof.
Again, Quoting Gadfly 12:32 PM: “Isn't that why Wojeski was recently hired to compile records for Toski?”
Correct again! So let’s all step back, take a deep breath and await the results of Wojecki’s work and Toski’s audits of 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The actual OSC audit quote is: "Due to the poor condition of the Town’s accounting records, Town officials could not determine with any degree of certainty what the Town’s
fund balances actually were at the end of the 2010 fiscal year or for most of 2011."
Now, riddle me this Batman. What happened in 2010?
Correct! The Cristo-Danaher-Matters takeover of the Town Board and appointment of THEIR people in Town Hall.
Excellent Response: So are you saying there's nothing to worry about? Even if the list is alphabetical why are we on a list with places like Oakland and Providence? The fact is that we have been in junk bond status for four years and not a single thing has been done to change that. Stephen Moore has no political axe to grind with East Greenbush, he was simply analyzing numbers. Why was Wojeski brought in to help Toski, a professional firm that couldn't make sense of our books? Why did we receive two scathing audits and do virtually nothing to address the findings? Why did it take 12 years to begin to address the wastewater treatment issue? Why are our taxes out of control? Why was the reassessment botched? Why is there no Code of Ethics? Why does the town board continue to hire as if we are in perfect fiscal health? And on and on.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I don't believe anything would change with a republican majority. But clearly the 'way it's always been done' is no longer working, if it ever did. Just to take the theme of this thread: if ignoring a major problem for 12 years is being 'ahead of the curve' we are utterly and totally lost. The Moore article is a devastating blow to the reputation of this town. Like it or not (and I don't) it's consistent with every other professional analysis done of our town's finances. Better we fix things than continue to deny certain stark realities.
To 3:58 PM I agree with you. It would also be very helpful if Supervisor Langley would issue a public statement or comment about this situation. A statement from him clarifying the town's financial condition would go a long way towards cooling down the overheated rhetoric over on the gadfly blog.
ReplyDeleteThe gadfly himself is so far out in orbit that descerning reality from his little fantasy is becoming hard.
ReplyDeleteYNN is to be commended for ferreting out this conservative blogger on that little read conservative page for sensationalizing very old and inconsequential facts to get a rise out of the freak show known as the reform movement. The entire scenario has been blown way out of proportion.
Jack: yes this town is far from out of the woods, but not nearly as degraded as people want to think. Careful and pointed future planning and guidance from a committee of concerned folks would be helpful. The continual interference from people like Don Johnson, Dwight Jenkins and Ray Mooney is actually counter-productive because they can't be trusted or open minded enough to look outside the box. Don takes cheap shots at the Hart family-( allows them on his trash page) when he can't hold a candle to them for bettering this town.
People with a very tainted agenda are exploiting small tidbits of data- albeit old data, to inflame the electorate needlessly.
I really don't care if Dwight or Don disagree with me, I clearly stand in the majority - they stand in the minority and will remain there until they stop their rhetoric and the "fanning of the flames" and decide to get off their soapbox and come down to reality.
Is East Greenbush perfect? Nope- but the bullsh*t coming out of the gagfly movement is nothing more than that - BULLSH*T!
Couldn't have said it better 10:58 !
DeleteEAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. – “Municipal bankruptcies are rare,” said Christine Chung, Associate Professor of Law at Albany Law School.
ReplyDeleteThat fact made it even more shocking when the City of Detroit filed for one three weeks ago. A recent list by national economist Stephen Moore names theTtown of East Greenbush as being a potential candidate to follow suit.
Chung described, “It's no different than an individual or corporation. If you can't pay your bills when they're due, you may have to consider bankruptcy.”
East Greenbush was put on the list in Newsmax after the results of a state audit came out last year. The state found the town had $2 million in deficits, partially due to suspicious employee contracts and illegal payments to some of their workers.
However, the state comptroller's office says it's their list you should pay attention to. The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System is a guideline based on fiscal and environmental factors that rates each community’s stress level. Based on these numbers, East Greenbush doesn't need to worry.
New York State Assistant Comptroller Nathaalie Carey explained, “In order to reach into our fiscal stress categories, which would've been ‘susceptible to stress,’ which is the lowest category, you have to have at least 45 percent. They're at 35.”
When asked about the town’s fiscal history, she replied, “We have seen them get into a better financial situation now than they were in in years past."
The Comptroller’s office has a number of resources online and local officials can reach out directly for financial advice.
Of the 900 municipalities studied under the Fiscal Stress Monitoring System, only 24 fell into the three 'stress' categories. The goal is to keep those numbers low.
“We have a state government that has been very proactive to make sure none of their municipalities face the same fate that Detroit faces today because it weakens us all,” said Carey. “There has been no municipality in New York state that has ever gone bankrupt."
“It can have a consequence for other cities and towns,” said Chung of municipal bankruptcy. “That city or town is going to find it more difficult to raise money from public markets.”
We reached out to the East Greenbush town supervisor about the Newsmax article.
In a statement, Kevin Langley cited a fiscally conservative approach but also mentioned opposition from the board majority.
We also spoke with a board member who says they've worked in a bipartisan effort to improve the town's finances. Democrat Phil Malone echoed the comptroller's office's assessment.
Key Phrase Jack: There has been no municipality in New York State that has ever gone bankrupt!"
DeleteI realize that this over-dramatization is playing directly into J-J-and M's hands. I also have read everything that there is to read.
DeleteThe NewsMax article is done in bad taste and really is the poorest journalistic example of how little the author really knows about the topic! He's grossly under-educated and takes great liberty with some of his "facts".
The Town is no longer 2 + million in debt.
There obviously is a plan in effect to continue to reduce the debt.
Let me guess: this plan isn't what Ole Donnie boy wants - not nearly enough people being terminated- not nearly enough benefits being taken away and taxes weren't slashed by at least 50 % . Am I close Don ?
Let us know when you come back to reality and want to discuss real solutions and stop the bashing and grand-standing.
Just a couple of questions......
DeleteHow do you know that the Town is no longer in 2+ million in debt? OSC says that the records are in such a mess that the Town had to hire Wojeski to compile the financial records so that Toski could do an audit on 2010. This also goes to the question of the OSC "stress" list.
Where is the obvious plan which is in effect to continue to reduce the debt. It would be helpful if it were published in English somewhere.
Gagfly see August 08, 2013 3:58 PM
DeleteMaybe Stephen Moore should’ve read the full audit before he sensationalized. He’d have seen “due to the poor condition of the accounting records”.
Moore's dire prediction is based on these inaccurate accounting records. He’s got all you folks going ballistic over faulty figures!!!
Do we thank C-D-M for all the hoopla?
Again, let’s all step back, take a deep breath, and await the results of Wojecki’s work and Toski’s audits of 2010, 2011 and 2012.
“Municipal bankruptcies are rare,” said Christine Chung, Associate Professor of Law at Albany Law School.
ReplyDeleteThe state comptroller's office says it's their list you should pay attention to. The Fiscal Stress Monitoring System is a guideline based on fiscal and environmental factors that rates each community’s stress level. Based on these numbers, East Greenbush doesn't need to worry."
ENOUGH of the Gagfly and throwing gas on the campfire !
Once again - Don and Dwight have proved how incompetent they are ! Can you say MORONS !?!
"When asked about the town’s fiscal history, she replied, “We have seen them get into a better financial situation now than they were in in years past."
DeleteENOUGH SAID !!
Anonymous August 9, 2013 at 8:19 AM over on the gagfly is putting the blame for the $2,000,000 in debt on Rick McCabe, Kate Bennett and Laura Ingolsby and asks if theres something else we should understand in order to have a factual knowledge of what led our town into this financial disaster?
ReplyDeleteYES ... past Town Boards including, among others, Cristo, Danaher, Matters.
to 4:19 PM Isn't Mrs "Ethics" Matters running for Town Board and Mr. Danaher running for County Leg. Might be some good questions to ask them about during their campaigns?
DeleteCHANNEL 13 - RIGHT ON THE $$$ !!
ReplyDeleteGadflies are full of $h*t !!! $h*t stirrers is all they are.
Jack Conway - while your certaintly entitled to your opinion, I'm losing respect and faith if you continue to cry wolf over on the gagfly. I always thought more of you than to jump on that flaming bandwagon being pulled by Johnson,Jenkins and Mooney.
And...Anonymous I am - get over it !
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ReplyDelete6:25 PM - no need for that.
ReplyDeleteI find it utterly impossible for the gadflies to even show their faces any longer. They slight Phil Malone and blame him for just about everything. Langley is the CFO and Supervisor he's mostly to blame - yes , the one who listens to Ercole Christopher Defruscio.
ReplyDeleteThat right there is the issue with exactly why nothing has been accomplished the past 18 months in this Town.
The Democrats have established the recovery plan thus far that has paid down the debt- not the reformers, not Cristo and Co, not Don Johnson, not Jack Conway, and certainly not Jenkins,Mulvey,Taylor or Defruscio.
You reformers-(gadflies) and the crowd you run around with are the true ones causing all the "mischief" and are counter productive to anything positive happening in East Greenbush.
No argument here regarding your assessment about Langley, Mulvey, Cristo and DeFruscio. During their limited careers in town employment they did little good and caused great damage.
DeleteCRISTO-DANAHER-and MATTERS are complicit in this entire scenario. Trying to blame Malone is irresponsible and immature.
ReplyDeleteBottom line: Cristo and Danaher think they got away with it when in all reality they caused most of this...they were the majority ! That is a fact ! Not made up - undeniable fact !
In charge for all of 2 months......Get real airhead.
DeleteYou guys think I'm crying wolf when your defense is that we don't really know how bad things are because the books are so screwed up. Are you people listening to yourselves? In the world of finance it is NO defense to argue that things can't really be that bad because we have no idea what the numbers are. Do you really think that with an accounting disaster like this there is a random chance that things are really alright? Mention of a financial recovery 'plan' is simple denial: there is no plan, there is no strategy, there doesn't even seem to be that much concern that we live in a town that has ridiculously high taxes and a huge debt. How is possible to have both of those things at the same time? I'll give you a hint: mismanagement, excessive patronage hiring and no concern about the effect of the actions of a few on the taxpayers of this town.
ReplyDeleteI hope you guys are listening to people talking in the shops and supermarkets. You can rationalize this stuff any way you like but our town has taken a devastating hit in the court of public opinion. People are pissed and rightfully so.
"Our Defense" is simple: #1 - its not a defense, its a point of view that differs from yours.
Delete#2-the books are being audited/straightened out by Wojeski by order of the Town Board - not Don Johnson or the gadfly crod.
#3- the debt is reduced and has been reduced over the past 18 months by actions of the finance director, previous comptroller and town board. Simply ask Jim Breig - moves were made in 2012 to reduce the debt.
#4- 2 million as the starting number - it is not the current amount.
#5- hiring , while not glamorous is necessary. What gadfly applicant got skipped over? hat Republican applicant got skipped over? As far as I can see, they wern't lining up for the job !
#6 ridiculously high taxes ? School taxes-YES! Town taxes?? compared to who?
I don't give damn about yours or the gadflies anxiety issues - I choose to not make a nightmare out of this irresponsible reporting. I know the Town isn't on stable ground, but I also know we are far from the doomsday that you all think is right around the next corner !
Dear 3:06 PM,
DeleteYou make some excellent points. But here is my worry. After talking to a couple of neighbors, the recurring concern seems to be that Supervisor Langley might not be up to the task of supporting the rest of the Town Board's efforts to reduce the debt without raising our taxes by a very large amount. Folks are worried that since Langley is the Supe, he has the power to overrule the plans of the Town Board. We have gotten the impression, after talking to Mr. Langley, that he doesn't seem to understand how important it is to stay on top of this and work with the Town Board to get the Town through this situation without the taxpayers paying through the nose. I hope we are wrong about this.
I'm worried about Langley's not being up to this. He only listens to defruscio.
DeleteLets be honest folks - Langley is clearly NOT up to this !
DeleteLangley listens to and confides in Defruscio - what more needs to be said.
Gadfly likes to malign Malone . Malone notarized something he shouldn't have - paid his dues and its over- much to the chagrin of fruitflies everywhere.
Defruscio commited a malicious crime and was never held accountable.
Jack sorry to see you crying wolf like your new pals,you know situations are not always as they seem. This is all part of Johnson's revenge against the town and McCabe.
ReplyDeleteWill someone please explain to Johnson that the stipends were going on since the 80s he's so bitter that he was scolded in court and he blames McCabe for the problems of the world let alone his pathetic existence . He was even against the Miracle League good grief so sad
ReplyDeleteBy the way, last Thursday when Langley was riding with Defruscio McCabe was with the Governor. Just saying
ReplyDeleteNow you know why he's not in jail.
DeleteWho?? Defruscio ? For writing the Marta Andiego letter??! Langley is a fool for trusting Defuscio and Defuscio shoulda went to jail for that letter !
DeleteVandenburgh is washed up !
ReplyDeleteHe's a Republican/Conservative sympathizer with no grasp on reality.
Maybe someone should call Vandenburgh about Defruscio's stunts.
DeleteLangley is an avid reader of ALL blogs and takes comments personally.
ReplyDeleteSo this is for you Keith:
STAY AWAY FROM DEFRUSCIO !! IF YOU WANT CREDIBILITY, IF YOU WANT PEOPLES RESPECT - WALK AWAY - NO, RUN AWAY FROM ERCOLE. HE'S YOUR BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO ANY CREDIBILITY IN THIS TOWN. CHRIS IS THE BIGGEST POLITICAL FARCE THIS TOWN HAS EVER SEEN. GADFLY AND HIS CROWD DON'T LIKE MALONE - OK - BUT PHIL CAN'T HOLD A CANDLE TO THE JUVENILE DELINQUENT STUNTS ERCOLE PULLS !
9:52 AM
ReplyDeleteI've never understood why Langley would want to throw everything away by associating himself with Defruscio. Def has a long history of letting the people down who have befriended him. You are right 9:52, Def is absolutely killing Langley's cred. When they are seen riding around in the truck together, pointing and laughing at Town workers it really rubs people the wrong way. Malone isn't perfect, nobody is, but he has been making an effort to listen to what people are saying. Message to Keith and Chris-- "sometimes it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."
Keith and Chris have been speaking a lot in recent days and the voters have had enough of their foolish messages and threats.
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DeleteA little too harsh - true - but harsh. Clean the remainder up and re submit.
DeleteFrom what I can tell, Chris "reinterpreted" the election results for Keith. Keith had (maybe has) an opportunity to "take back the night." He could fashion a reform agenda yet.
ReplyDeleteTo Sword...
ReplyDeleteChris will discourage Keith from doing anything that doesn't benefit Chris. That's how Chris rolls.
Just ask the people who have associated with Chris.
Keith doesn't really want to get involved with anything that involves working hard. That's how Keith rolls.
Just ask the people who see Keith at Town Hall every day.
Richard K. Matters Jr. vs. William Estes and NYSTA.
ReplyDeleteGOOGLE IT FOLKS - talk about mischief !?
GOOD GRIEF !!!
Then lets ask Matters the hard questions about his ethics proposal @ the next Town Board meeting !! Lets ask Defruscio how he plans to deal with it - lets ask LANGLEY how he plans to deal with it !?!
Hypocrites ! ALL three of them !
As far as anyone knows, Rick Matters is the only resident of East Greenbush specifically PROHIBITED FROM RUNNING FOR POLITICAL OFFICE by a Senior Federal Judge.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that is covered in the Mr. Matters ethics proposal?
Proof that Matters isn't all the gadflies want him to be.
ReplyDeleteSo not surprised by this at all. Never liked him and never voted for his do-nothing b*tt ! He is worthless .
Deb Dimartino has alot to oversome as well. She can't run fast enough from her past. Too many people remember Deb.
ReplyDeleteHere's a laugh !;
ReplyDelete"Funny thing happened this last week. We got an invitation to the Republican Fund Raiser at Melvin Roads in June. This is especially amazing in the context of the explicit instructions to “keep away from the reformers” which went out from “Republican Headquarters” after the last election. And even more amazing after the “pow-wow” requesting that Mooney, Jenkins and I stop any potential criticism and wait for the roll out of the new Supervisor’s “plan."
Defruscio and Langley were in bed with the reformers and had to beg them to give some space! LMAO - flaming idiots! And you fell for it !! Thats the best part !
Who's the flaming moron now Don? Dwight? Ray? You suckers fell right into Old Ercoles foolish game plan.
Pssst: I've got a beautiful piece of property out on Burden lake I'd like to sell you ! ROFLMAO !!!
5:03-
ReplyDeleteWhat's the deal with Dimartino? Langley is really pushing for her election. He wants her to win much more than Matters.
Dimartino is a Langley disciple and former classmate of Keiths. Basically someone he can bullsh*t and get to follow him around.
DeleteNot my first choice to represent our Town or to make and type of financial decisions.
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ReplyDelete"Matters is not running for re-election this fall and said he would like to see a law passed before the end of his term. His wife, Mary A. Matters, is running for his seat."
ReplyDeletecheck this one out - http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/USCOURTS-nynd-1_13-cv-00578/USCOURTS-nynd-1_13-cv-00578-0/content-detail.html
Matters is not running for re-election this fall because a Federal Judge told him was forbidden to run due to his unethical behavior at the Thruway Authority and now he wants an ethics law passed?
DeleteYou can't make this stuff up. What a disappointment he must be to those who bought into his Mr. "Ethics" lies.
He's no better than Defruscio with his unethical behavior.
Matters IS a fraud !
ReplyDeleteNo wait !!! : Cristo is a FRAUD!! Read:
ReplyDelete"The company that did the work, M. Cristo, Inc.out of East Greenbush, said they did the work under the direction of the fire chief. However, the mayor's office in Troy said M. Cristo had a private arrangement with the building's owner, well know local attorney Don Boyajian.
"According to fire chief Tom Garrett, Cristo was hired directly by the property owner to complete the work once it was deemed an emergency demolition. There is no existing contract between the city and Cristo for any portion of the work," said Jessica Sibley,
deputy director of public information for the city of Troy.
The labor department's notice is directed at both the city and M. Cristo, Inc.
"The bottom line is somebody knowingly released toxic asbestos into the air. We have a daycare right down here for Unity House," McGrath said. "He didn't say there was a little asbestos. He said it's filled, it's full of asbestos," McGrath said.
"My concern was how could they tear this building down with people eating at a restaurant with a building attached," said Troy Council Member Mark McGrath.
McGrath is one of only two Republicans on the council. He said he filed a complaint with the labor department about how the demolition job was handled. He said the city's planning commissioner, Bill Dunn expressed his concerns long ago about the presence of asbestos in the buildings."
WOW !! Little prince Michael screwed up AGAIN !! Incompetence at its highest level ! Hey Ercole - you paying attention to what your "advisor" is doing??
Richard K. Matters Jr. vs. William Estes and NYSTA
ReplyDeletegoogle it people....read and learn about the "ethics" of Mr. Matters !
Jack Conway - have you read this yet? Gadfly won't acknoledge it on his page because then he would be admitting his savior Matters , is flawed !
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DeleteProve your allegations with something that even slightly resembles a fact and we'll print your post.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise not a chance !
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DeleteHey Defruscio - where's that apology for the Martha letter ?
ReplyDeleteYeah - I didn't think so !
Hey Rick Matters - have you apologized to your co-workers at the Thruway Authority for your unethical behavior?
ReplyDeleteMatters is busy drafting his version of an ethics policy...what a freakin laugh !
DeleteF-A #2 submits the following to the fruitfly;
ReplyDelete"the people we pay to run our town have been squandering the money on themselves, their friends, and on bankrupt or non-existent policies. See, the game is rigged. The left wing of Town politics is in bed with Albany and the State; the right wing is in bed with Troy and the County."
WOW!! The sky is falling !!! Mooney,Jenkins and Johnson are euphoric thinking they are the only ones in advising the financial future of our fine hamlet !
Talk about arrogant,egotistical fools ! Wow Donnie - you've actually outdone your maniacal self !
Dear 7:52 PM,
DeleteI agree with you. But I just wish somebody other than Langley was the one in charge of the finances of EG. Langley and DeFruscio, if left unchecked, will put us all in a bad place.
Time to cut down on the sauce, I'd say.....
ReplyDeleteCat got your tongue???
ReplyDeleteThey’re going gaga on the Gagfly over “Some History on "Detroit East"
ReplyDeleteGadfly fails to mention:
1. Resolution 40-2010, February 2010 was to be introduced by Rick Matters and that NOT EVEN CRISTO OR DANAHER THOUGHT IT HAD ENOUGH MERIT OR THEY’D HAVE ADOPTED IT!
2. The 1/4/10 Organizational Meeting where CRISTO, DANAHER, MATTERS INSTALLED THEIR OWN INEXPERIENCED PEOPLE IN TOWN HALL AT. Quoting Gagfly, “The Comptroller and Supervisor were both singled out, by title, as responsible.” KATE BENNETT WAS NOT THE COMPTROLER DURING 2010, 2011 OR 2012. Kate Bennett was the Comptroller through 2009.
3. The UHY finding that “IN OUR OPINION, THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS REFERRED TO ABOVE PRESENT FAIRLY, IN ALL MATERIAL RESPECTS, THE FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE GENERAL FUND, SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS AND CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND OF THE TOWN OF EAST GREENBUSH, NEW YORK AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2009, AND THE CHANGES IN FINANCIAL POSITION THEREOF AND THE RESPECTIVE BUDGETARY COMPARISON FOR THE GENERAL FUND AND SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS FOR THE YEAR THEN ENDED IN CONFORMITY WITH ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES GENERALLY ACCEPTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
According to its web site, “UHY ADVISORS IS ONE OF THE TOP 20 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRMS IN THE US, AND UHY INTERNATIONAL IS ONE OF THE LARGEST ACCOUNTING NETWORKS IN THE WORLD.” I doubt they’d put their reputation on the line for East Greenbush!
Again, let’s all step back, take a deep breath, take a walk, or whatever and await the results of Wojecki’s work and Toski’s audits of 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Don has no idea of half of what he writes. His complete and total dedication to embarass and harass any of the sitting Democrats- especially McCabe,OBrien, Mangold and Malone!
DeleteThe jacka** who wrote that irresponsible article for NEWSMAX should be castrated for his irresponsible journalism. He needlessly got people to think the Town is going bankrupt , when the ABSOLUTE TRUTH is quite the opposite. But, that doesn't fit into
Dons,Ray,Dwight,Mulvey or Defruscios game plan - does it ??
a shortened version of Anonymous August 20, 2013 4:39 PM was submitted to the Gagfly.
DeleteBet it never sees the light of day!
JOHNSON HAS PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN THAT HE IS ANTI-ANYTHING EGB. HE IS THE MOST ARROGANT FOOL THAT BELIEVES HE'S THE ONLY ONE PAYING TAXES. NONE OF THE REST OF US COUNT - HUH DON??
DeleteMY SUGGESTION IS THAT YOU PACK UP AND LEAVE - QUICKLY !
One fact all the 'honorable' Gagflies conveniently overlook is that Ginny O’Brien took office in January, 2010. Phil Malone and Sue Mangold in November, 2010.
ReplyDeleteSo don't hold them accountable for the Town's problems. They're trying to resolve them.
Submitted to Gagfly but likely won't be posted.
Ray Mooney ALWAYS labeled Phil a "punk" and alot of other pet names. Funny how the king of carpetbaggers found it necessary to malign a lifelong resident while he attempts to bolster his own standings. The recent publishing on the fruitfly basically mirrors Mooneys ignorant rants by some one who purports to know Phil. Thats a laugh ! What they wrote fits Cristo to a tee - not Malone ! Once again you gagflies got it wrong...but hey - who's counting anyway
ReplyDeleteJack is looking at the financial issue open minded and Johnson and company are tearing it up as this once again doesn't fit into his plan to diassemble everything that exists.
ReplyDeleteWojeski is working feverishly to produce accurate financial records. Clearly not fast enough for Johnson and crew who are looking to embarrass and discredit anyone who currently serves the town. Way to go Don . Your a real asset to the town - NOT !