Excuses vs. Solutions


By DIA, Section News
Posted on Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:17:40 AM EST

The people in power in Albany have an excuse for everything. They have solutions for nothing. The one consistent "solution" is asking the state for more money. That works until the state runs out. See 2009 and beyond. So we get the head of the budget committee on the common council telling us he did due diligence on the 2008 budget and voting for it and then four months into the year we are told we are in trouble. No kidding. But still, the excuses pile up. That won't work any more. This isn't rocket science. You don't spend more than you make. Period. Exhibit A, Mayor Stratton. From today's Gazette (no link, but you should go find it and read the whole thing:
It almost looks easy now.

For the third year in a row, the city’s finances are in the black, according to the audit released Monday by Cusack & Company. Every fund finished with a surplus. Even the Police Department, once a major overspender, has been reined in.

But city officials are still spending as if the city were in deficit. Even when they have the money for it, they’re not buying frills like new computers if the old ones still work.

“If we don’t need it, we live without it,” said Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett. “And we live very well without it.”

That strategy has given Mayor Brian U. Stratton his third straight surplus. The city finished 2007 with $8.3 million left in the bank. It’s an impressive achievement, particularly considering that prior to 2005, the last time every city fund was in the black was 1997. In 2004, when Stratton took office, the state comptroller’s office warned him that he would run out of money by mid-year if he didn’t make drastic cuts immediately. His administration brought the city out of deficit in less than two years.
Here is another RADICAL concept that Stratton invented. Competitive bidding.
Only one new project will be funded with the surplus: Stratton’s “50 First” demolition program, which will fund the demolition of the 50 most-blighted buildings in the city.

But even there, Stratton has found a way to save money. Rather than hiring contractors to knock down each building one by one, he is putting out bids for 10 houses at once. That will save enough money that he expects to knock down 20 to 25 houses this year for $525,000, not $875,000.

The city had found that the average cost to demolish one house was $35,000. But contractors are willing to charge less for a larger project, and Stratton believes bids will come in at an average of $21,000 to $26,000 per house.
Excuses or Solutions?

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Excuses vs. Solutions | 13 comments (13 topical, 0 hidden)
Mayor Stratton (none / 0) (#1)
by professor on Tue May 06, 2008 at 10:56:18 AM EST
has the best interest of the citizens of Schenectady as his goal.  Unlike the city of Albany, Schenectady actually has members of the Administration and the City Council that believe that dialog and compromise are the most important ingredients in the recipe for a successful government.
The idea of bidding out the demolition is a great one and I would think that the budget people in the city of Albany would probably endorse that idea.  They may have also given the idea to Mayor Jennings and he probably deep sixed it.  I mean putting out bids?  Remeber why Mike Conners was fired from his job?  He dared to challenge the Mayor over the purchase of Trucks for DGS.  Now the new Commissioner, Nicky the Nephew, won't even think to challenge anything the Mayor wants.
  Who ever would have thought that a Mayor of Albany would have to be taught by the Mayor of Schenectady on how to run a city?  

Restructure The City's Debt, Then Cut The Budget (none / 0) (#2)
by Roscoe on Tue May 06, 2008 at 12:39:48 PM EST

Before the City's finances really hit the skids, all of our elected officials ought to be looking for a full restructuring of our present debt and future liabilities to assure that the most beneficial rates and terms are in place. This must include past one-shots, the Water Department, the Landfill fiasco -- everything. Then, with an idea of those present and future certainties in mind, fully re-vetted, they can proceed to cut to fit expenditures to revenues.  Conservative estimates only for revenues, austerity numbers only for expenditures.

If the process were open and transparent and reported fully as it transpired, backdoor politicking would be avoided.   The latter is the major impediment to budget cuts of this magnitude.

If the Mayor thinks he lacks sufficient political capital to do this, he should empower and appoint an emergency commission to do so.  Alternatively, there are numerous skilled big money managers locally who could accomplish this task.

A similar process should be undertaken, at the same time, by the School District, including general personnel cuts, school closures, and permanent administrative staff reduction, with a view toward a substantial reduction in property taxes.

If, thereafter, State and Federal efforts to reduce property tax burdens are added to the mix, it would position the City, and the  Region, more advantageously as the current recession deepens.

Are there enough adults left it the political class locally to get this done?

Nope (none / 0) (#3)
by Tom Paine on Tue May 06, 2008 at 12:58:05 PM EST
Sadly, no.

The only way anything constructive is going to get done is to greatly expand what you mean by the 'political class'.

[ Parent ]

The Mother Of All One-Shots (none / 0) (#4)
by Roscoe on Wed May 07, 2008 at 05:07:23 AM EST

Well, Mr. Paine, we've all been over this ground again and again, and you and I and others have previously agreeably arrived at the point of your last post. So try this on for size:  The Proposed Convention Center Scam Fund, from which the Convention Center Dream-On team has been "drawing down" it's operating bucks  -- I use their phrase, it has such a wonderful get-down-urban ring to it -- would go a long way toward fixing this mess if applied to restructuring the finances of the Capital City of the State of New York.

Surely a better case can be made for applying strong fiscally conservative principles and practices to our city finances than for a convention center.

Wouldn't a full public accounting as outlined in my first post, and a necessary conclusion that we need to change our future planning, set the stage for Albany being a template for sound management as State revenues decline? There is still a slush of money in this State, from both State and Federal sources. Action is required now, before the economy worsens further.  Money left over?  Fix the sewer system, and stop polluting the Hudson.

At the end of the day, Jerry could ride into the sunset as the Mayor who pulled off the biggest governmental shell game in Upstate history. History rewritten in the usual Albany manner.  Patterson would get a template for getting other upstate regions to rebound, outside of the phony Empire Zone rubric, and other stop-gap jokes.  Hey!  It would work!

I'll revise my final tag line:  Are there enough crafty pols left in the local political class to get this done?  

Pressure and Cover (none / 0) (#5)
by Tom Paine on Wed May 07, 2008 at 06:25:59 AM EST
OK, believe me, I agreed from the start with you that the idea has merit. The thing that matters, though, is providing the right combination of political pressure and cover to the morons to get them to do it.

Another way of putting your diary is "Can someone scare the mayor into doing the right thing and then let him take heroic credit for it?"

And I think the answer is, again, sadly, no. I don't see where the pressure is going to come from, and without that there's nothing for the mayor to do but count on the apathy of this city. That's one thing he really can count on.

It is time we moved past this blog into other action.

[ Parent ]

why not (none / 0) (#6)
by albany layman on Wed May 07, 2008 at 09:29:36 AM EST
use this blog to report on your actions?  And to gather people to whatever your plans are?  Why you gotta "move past" it?

[ Parent ]
'Moving past' (none / 0) (#8)
by Tom Paine on Thu May 08, 2008 at 05:54:20 AM EST
Poor choice of words on my part. I don't mean 'move past' this blog in the sense of 'discard it and go on to something else'. I can see why that choice of words might lead to that conclusion though - my bad.

What I mean is, this blog is incredibly valuable as a place to inform people and inspire action. Thank you too DIA, layman, champlain and others  for that.

But it has to do both to be effective. If all we do is inform each other, without acting, this place can become an echo chamber. We can all congratulate ourselves on how clever we are or how we've exposed yet another albany folly (important work - I'm NOT minimizing that by any means) but what counts is power. The people of this city get screwed daily because those who want it that way have more power than those who want simple, honest, well-managed, democratic (small 'd') local government. That's the bottom line.  

So I am saying we need to continue what we do here but we need to unplug from the matrix too, and work together to change this city in ways that can't happen on a blog. They can happen because of a blog, but not on the blog.

Maybe we all show up for the next common council meeting, each of us with well-prepared remarks,  and we'll all say we're DIA. Kind of like the end of 'Spartacus'. ;) Or was that 'The Life of Brian'? You can see the headline "Democracy In Albany Is Everywhere" ;)

Let's get creative. Let's put together a slate of CC candidates for next year, as well as a mayoral candidate. Pick one color to run with on the lawn signs. Most of the candidates will lose. But if you make the thugs defend everywhere, some of the good guys will win.  

Crazy talk ? Yes, that's why it might work. Gandhi didn't have a chance either.  
 

[ Parent ]

Tom (none / 0) (#7)
by Roscoe on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:02:43 AM EST

Of course you're right, we need to start raising money from those who haven't been bought, co-opted, or included in the scheme of things thus far. Or those who want to hedge their bets.  Small group, wouldn't you say?

Or, we could start pounding out issues and press releases -- which essentially DIA already does.

We need a leader.

Who?

No 'a' leader - lots of leaders (none / 0) (#9)
by Tom Paine on Thu May 08, 2008 at 06:01:38 AM EST
With respect, no, we don't need 'a' leader. What we need is dozens of people willing to lead. If you wait for one leader, you're vulnerable to the next charismatic person who shows up with a plan and a cool slogan. Elect that guy, wait ten years and we'll be writing the same damn things we're writing now and wondering why nothing changed.

I don't know where this starts. But I do believe that if the people of this city see a group (not one guy) with the courage to stand up and lead, they will draw courage from that and join in. Not everyone, and nowhere near a majority - but enough to elect some better people. It will take time. But we've got enough of that IMO.

[ Parent ]

make them defend everywhere (none / 0) (#10)
by DIA on Thu May 08, 2008 at 06:15:28 AM EST
i'm with you, Mr. Paine.  I believe the time is at hand to do what you propose.  I had hoped 2005 would be that time but it was too soon.  A year from now we should have a group of people ready to challenge incumbents everywhere.  The plan for this site in the next year is to make it a tool to help make that happen.  No point in continuing to complain about how the city is poorly managed.  It is time to elect some managers.  As they say, shit or get off the pot.

OK, DIA (none / 0) (#11)
by Roscoe on Thu May 08, 2008 at 07:03:08 AM EST

How about a platform for a RESULTS Party so people know what they're signing on for?

Right on, let's, but replace the 'they' with 'we' (none / 0) (#12)
by Tom Paine on Thu May 08, 2008 at 07:56:04 AM EST
Roscoe, DIA, everybody else - may I suggest we bring this to a new thread/diary and, to paraphrase Lenin, 'let us begin to build the new democratic order'? (Sorry but the man was as good with words as he was with secret police ;)

Let's build that platform and see who wants to sign on.

The other thing is, I urge all of us to banish from our thinking the paralyzing notion that 'they' will do something positive. There's no 'they' to rescue us or lead us. It's all 'we' here. WE need to act. WE need to develop a platform, WE need to find candidates, WE need to [fill in your idea here].....if you are thinking 'they' will do it, you're part of the problem.

[ Parent ]

Paine (none / 0) (#13)
by Roscoe on Thu May 08, 2008 at 04:33:14 PM EST

Um, "We, The People..."...and leave Lenin out of it, huh?

Am I to assume that we are leaving such political parties as exist, and starting a new one? Probably a good idea, as they all have negative baggage/track records locally.

Let's get to work!

Excuses vs. Solutions | 13 comments (13 topical, 0 hidden)
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