Conti and the Mayor pals, a laugh at best. Conti is practical. He knows that sometimes you can attract more flies with honey than with machine guns (and the police seem to have cornered the market there, so...).
Let's look at some of the "Johnny come lately" statements Conti made, from his newsletters (which as far as I know, he is the only one who puts one out to constituents letting them know what is going on in the city):
From 9/23 - 3--Albany 2008 Budget
The Mayor is slated to release his proposed budget for 2008 this Friday, September 28...I have often warned in the past that the city faces significant financial challenges ahead. We're faced with rising costs and contractual obligations beyond our ability to pay, stagnant revenue growth and structural deficits and a potential solid waste disposal crisis. I don't have a great deal of confidence in the financial management of the city... (emphasis added)
From 10/1, letting his constituents know what the budget includes and his concerns:
Mayor Jennings released his proposed 2008 city budget on September 28. It reflects expenditures totaling approximately $161.8 million (up from $153.3 million in the 2007 adopted budget), a four percent property tax increase (the actual impact depends on your new property assessment, i.e., my tax bill goes up 40 percent under the proposal), a 25 percent increase in certain fees such as safety inspections, plumbing and electrical permits, a 25 percent increase in parking violation fines (a fine for something like double-parking would go from $75 -- $90 with the state surcharge -- to $93.75, or $108.75 with the surcharge; alternate side of the street parking violations would go from $35 -- $50 with the surcharge -- to $43.75 or $58.75 with the surcharge; and overtime parking fines would go from $25 -- $40 with the surcharge -- to $31.25 or $46.25 with the surcharge). The budget also takes a one-time allocation of nearly $8 million from the city's reserve funds to cover additional on-going operating expenses (that's deficit spending). The proposed capital budget increases from $12.3 million to $23.8 million, the portion financed through borrowing increases from $9.9 million to $19.9 million. The budget does not contain any cost containment provisions or efforts to control costs. I have significant concerns with this proposal, it does nothing to address structural imbalances or the long-term financial challenges the city faces and fails to address financial obligations we cannot afford. Albany's finances are built on a house of cards which may be coming down sooner than we thought (Emphasis added) ...I'll have more on the budget as the Council review process progresses.
As evidenced from his newsletter pieces, Conti was one of three voices all year citing how bad the Mayor's budget was. The others were Nitido and Calsolaro. If the other 4 who voted against the budget were as vocal, maybe we could have beaten it. I say maybe, because as long as there are hacks like Casey, Igoe and Sano on the Council, it will be difficult.
The reason Conti routinely gets reelected is because he serves his constituents and keeps them informed. If the entire Council had his level of involvement and critical analysis, the City would be a better place.
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