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"It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage, than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones." Machiavelli
Super Lame-o Charter Commission MeetingBy champlain, Section Diaries
Called to order around 7:00 PM, Sept. 21, 2005, Larry 'dangerous precedent' Rosen started out by making the point that at the end of every commission meeting that there would be a public comment period (even though the public notice for this meeting said there would be no public comment - typical).
The Albany Law School's Government Law Center made a presentation. Patti Salkin talked then Bob Batson gave a brief history of the constituting documents of the City [1684 Donogan Charter, then 1883 State law (weak mayor-strong council), then 1906 Second Class Cities Law (strong mayor-weak council), then 1998 Albany City Charter(still strong mayor-weak council)] Then Rosen said that Mike Lynch (mlynch@lynchesq.com) was the commission's attorney and commission members could speak with him about issues and it would be covered by attorney/client privilege. Rosen introduced Lynch. Rosen also noted that the Government Law Center would assist. Both Lynch and GLC have contracts with the City. Commission members asked that if they spoke with Lynch would they be on the clock? Rosen made some lawyer jokes here. Rosen said he expected to be asking the City for $50,000 for the commission's budget. (Holy Benjamins Batman!) He said the last commission in 1997-98 spent about $100,000. (WTF? - how the hell did they spend that much?) They were only about 20 minutes into it here when Rosen seemed unclear about what to do next. He said they would probably meet once every two weeks and that they should hold two public hearings (one downtown, one uptown). Having exhausted his agenda, Rosen then asked for public comments. Council member Mike O'Brien asked if the ACA charter changes would be looked at or would they be a focus of the commission. Rosen never really answered him. A member of the public suggested that the commission have its own website. Rosen said he thought that would be a good idea. They adjourned around 7:30 PM. Pretty effin' lame. Commission members in attendance:
L. Rosen Govt. Law Center people:
P. Salkin Recognizable members of the public in attendance:
Mike O'Brien
Media:
After meeting commentary: I'm not sure Larry "dangerous precedent" Rosen has a clue about what to do next. The major commission purpose was to get in the way of the Albany Civic Agenda ballot initiative and as that's accomplished now they don't know where to stick their thumb. Notice Jack 'revisionist history' McEneny didn't bother to show. Folks on the street are giving 3-1 odds that the commission vaporizes after November 8th. Any takers?
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All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 2005 The Management