The East Greenbush Town Board has scheduled a Public Hearing at 6:30 PM on August 17, 2016 on a Local Law to eliminate the residency requirement for the Commissioner of Public Works.
The Town Board has previously bypassed NYS Town Law §23 by resolution. §23 requires that every officer “shall be an elector of the town” and lists numerous town- and position-specific exclusions, enacted into Law by the NYS Legislature. There is; however, case law to support the Town Board’s proposal. Ditto informal Attorney General opinions.
Evidently no one in East Greenbush is qualified to fill the position, despite the fact that at least three former DPW Commissioners and two former Deputy DPW Commissioners live here. Whether they applied for the vacant position is not known by me at this time. Some did their job better than others and could do so again.
When you write ‘gold standard’ position qualifications, you may have to go beyond the Town’s border to find qualified applicants. On the other hand, Town residents are vested and invested in their towns.
The rumored non-resident appointee, who shall remain nameless, earned far more in 2015 than previous EG DPW Commissioners. Will we taxpayers have to pony up more than the $60,000 approved by the Town Board at the 1/4/16 Organizational Meeting to achieve the ‘gold standard’?
I do not know the individual and this is not about him or her. Do we want East Greenbush to outsource its jobs?
I left the 8/3/16 Special Meeting with the impression that the Town Board may move to eventually eliminate the residency requirement for all non-elected Town positions.
East Greenbush is the largest town in Rensselaer County. Surely our residents are qualified to work for our town. Pete Stenson
East Greenbush
This entire scenario is a circus.
ReplyDeleteScott Gallerie comes from Rensselaer County Highway.
He is no more qualified than the men you mentioned above and quite frankly he is not deserving of the rumored $87k the Board has apparently agreed to give him.
Combined with the added gift of being able to live out of town, this is a cirus that is completely unnecessary.
I heard they offered another guy $110,000! but he turned it down. They are pretty generous with taxpayers money.
DeleteWhy would he go from the county to the a small town like East Greenbush? And why are we trying to pay him at a county salary versus a small town salary that we can afford?
ReplyDeleteThats exactly what alot of folks are asking 933
Deletesupposedly he'll make a cool 10 grand more in EG.
Deletecome to the public hearing and maybe we'll find out.
Why do they not promote from within ? Do they not have any confidence in the men who have been there for years and years ?
ReplyDeletethe men of DPW worked under Dems and Reps - JTT would rather spend $25K more of our money to prove they're not political but they are and that's why contract talks are at a standstill
DeleteMaybe the men who have been there for years and years didn't apply. It's a very hard job, if it's done right.
ReplyDeleteMaybe - and yes , it is a extremely challenging position.
DeleteDoes anyone know if any of the former Commissioners or Deputy Commissioners applied?
ReplyDeleteEven in the sweltering humidity yesterday, councilman Tom Grant, his wife, and Scott Gallerie was seen at the republican fundraiser at the Elks. Doesn't EG1st hate everything the major party Dems and Repubs stand for? Isn't Grant part of EG1st? So, why is he and his wife at a Repub fundraiser? Can anyone explain that?
ReplyDelete2:36. an even better question is why wasn't EG County Leg. Phil Danaher there?
ReplyDeleteSo what if Grant, Matters, and Gallerie were all at the same republican fundraiser. It's probably just a coincidence. As for Danaher, he doesn't have to attend anything anymore. He's too big to fail.
ReplyDeleteI see no reference to the Matters. I 2:36 stalking these folks?
DeleteWord on the street is that VanWormer would return as DPW Commissioner for $65K.
2:46, because EG1st wasn't a political organization, all 3 candidates were registered to 3 different parties, at no point did any say they were leaving their party affiliation. Did you ever think that about the fact they, even knowing could win without their parties, didn't give up and are trying to make them better, because they don't fice up or give in? Especially in the blistering heat? Your "blistering" comment is confusing because while trying to take them down you actually gave them credit.
ReplyDeleteStop trying to create drama, there's enough real drama.
To clarify, I did apply for my old position, a position, by most accounts, I did very well for over 3 years.
ReplyDeleteI offered to return to the position, for $65,000 per year, which is $8,000 less than I made in 2013, but wasn't even granted an interview.
$65k for someone who knows the job inside and out, vs. someone from the outside ... for $20k more?
This is not a knock on Scott Gallery, he's a good guy, but this doesn't make any sense.
Dave VanWormer
Who is responsible for bringing Scott Gallerie to the table. Obviously a Town Board member brokered this very political selection.
ReplyDeleteWord on the street is that Mr. Gallerie was asked to apply by at least two of the current DPW working foremen.
DeletePaul Mason recommended Scott Gallerie. That's where he came from. Scott Gallerie is a good choice. For that matter, so is Dave VanWormer.
DeleteOur residency requirement should remain in affect and followed. This Town Board should also give our Comptroller and our Attorney for the Town a choice. Either live here or resign.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't mind them picking Scott and wanting to change the residency requirement, that is if he's the most fit to do so. He has run the county so I surely hope he can run a small town. That being said, I fond it ridiculous to even offer him the same salary because why pay him the same salary for a less intense job? By that I'm not downplaying the difficulty of the job, but you dont pay a person the same (or more as he's being offered) salary of the se exact job, but managing now a small percentage of what you're used to. That's not acceptable, unless he was our only hope and then that's even pushing it. If Dave applied, then it's b.s. we're going to pay a man more for a job that requires less of him that he's dealing with now whem we have another experienced candidate offerring to work for 20k more.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting EG1st ran their campaign basedbon transparency, then this happens with no explanation. Add that to the fact they are more behind on poating board minutes than the previous board. So they were nice and transparwnt for their campaign, and now what don't need to?! DISAPPOINTED!
Sorry, small screen chubby fingers...lots of errors, no I'm not Gilbert ;-). Meant, why offer him this if Dave who's experience is offering to work for 20k less, not more of course.
Delete@ 9:07AM- Why?
ReplyDeleteVanWormer did a great job! Unbelievable that he "wasn't even granted an interview"!
ReplyDelete