Democracy In Albany

Albany Budget - The Joke that keeps giving | 33 comments (33 topical, 0 hidden)

voting against (none / 0) (#9)
by DIA on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 07:55:44 AM EST

calsolaro, smith, fahey, ellis, conti, mclaughlin

Your rep was all for this.

[ Parent ]

Looking forward to an interesting conversation... (none / 0) (#12)
by makome on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 09:28:45 AM EST

I'll have to track down the "honorable" Mr. Herring and have him stumble his way through a response as to why he voted for this debacle. I'll let everyone know how that conversation goes...

[ Parent ]

Herring was silent (none / 0) (#14)
by Tom Paine on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 09:55:07 AM EST

He never said a word in the formal meeting nor did he participate much in the less formal discussion beforehand. If he said anything at all I missed it....and the room wasn't crowded so I don't think I missed much.

I realize some people's style is to contribute in less public ways - not everyone is comfortable speakling up in a public setting - but that's an odd quality in a politician.

Sano thanked him by name for all his help with the budget.

[ Parent ]

Doesn't surprise me... (none / 0) (#17)
by makome on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 10:41:54 AM EST

When Mr. Herring dropped by my house to see me and I wasn't there, he spoke to my wife. She indicated that he seemed uncomfortable and not really that outgoing, which, as you said Tom, odd for a politician. I've asked him to drop by my place again so I can do a face-to-face. If this guy is a pushover then I'll know it pretty quickly. Anyone know when the Council is up for re-election?

[ Parent ]

2009 (none / 0) (#18)
by DIA on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 10:43:49 AM EST

all council seats, the treasurer and the mayor. We should try run as many challenges as we can to help turnout in the mayoral race.

[ Parent ]

Agreed... (none / 0) (#19)
by makome on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 10:51:03 AM EST

the question is how to identify the right folks to challenge for council seats to upset the "apple cart?" I guess we all have to keep our eyes and ears open for the right people...

[ Parent ]

Results of 05 vote (none / 0) (#21)
by Tom Paine on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 11:25:15 AM EST

You can view the election results from 2005 at:
boardofelections@albanycounty.com

Again, I am a newbie, but what struck me is:

a) Most council members ran without opponents at all, or without serious opponents.

b) In many parts of the city it only takes a few hundred votes to make it. Not everywhere; some wards have over 1,400 people voting and it would be tough to unseat an incumbent. But there are places where a small number of votes would do the job.

Has anyone ever ran as a slate with other potential council members?

[ Parent ]

Interesting (none / 0) (#22)
by makome on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 11:46:28 AM EST

just looked it up and 6 of the 15 ran unopposed in 2005.

[ Parent ]

citizens action/WFP (none / 0) (#25)
by DIA on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 12:56:19 PM EST

is the only group that has organized to the point where they can try to run multiple candidates. In 2005 they got Fahey, Ellis and Smith elected. if you think common council meetings are painful now you should've been here when Mike Brown was still on the council.

I imagine they will be trying to run candidates again.

The green party also has now shown they can be competitive so perhaps they will be running candidates.

You have to win the dem primary to win the race due to the nature of albany politics. It ain't gonna happen in a general election.

When looking for good candidates to run you may have to check the mirror.

I was told of one candidate who was going to run this time around. They got a phone call and an offer from the mayor. The offer was better than the potential elected position and thus was accepted and there was no challenge. Nothing illegal about it. But that is how they work.

The most important thing we can do is elect a new independent mayor.

Where we are compared to where we were at this point 4 years ago is night and day. But as Jennings gets more desperate, it will get very very ugly.

cheers

[ Parent ]

That sounds just peachy. (none / 0) (#30)
by ObnoxioTheClown on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 07:21:50 PM EST

So Citizen Action/WFP will ship in a bunch of union mouthbreathers and NYC money to try to get someone elected. Great.

Seems to this clown that these folks have spent alot of time and energy on things like the schools, and haven't exactly come through with some sort of breakthrough.

And while the council consists of a bunch of spineless weasels, you haven't mentioned what the alternatives are.

Probably 2/3s of the city budget is for public safety -- and those costs are all labor. What would Mayor DIA do about that? Both departments are plenty busy, so laying people off is not going to be a popular move.

Cutting back their benefits (which are lavish) just isn't going to happen -- the contract will go into arbitration, and a budget-cutting mayor will lose.

There are a few things that you could do. You could cut back the benefits of administrative staff that aren't in a bargaining unit.

You could close the golf course - big fucking deal... total golf course expenses probably amounts to 1 police pay period.

[ Parent ]

: maybe we could hire a clown (none / 0) (#32)
by DIA on Thu Nov 29, 2007 at 10:21:59 PM EST

who would throw up his hands in the air and claim he couldn't do anything and then beg for more state aid...or as we call it, welfare.
What do you say, clown, willing to do that for $135K a year. More than you probably are making these days as a mortgage broker.
Reminds me why i don't hire clowns to do work that doesn't involved entertaining children.

[ Parent ]

Albany Budget - The Joke that keeps giving | 33 comments (33 topical, 0 hidden)

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