Democracy In Albany

Enjoy that tax increase next year.    And thanks for continuing to subsidize my golf career.

You may want to ask the mayor if he needs some new excuses on how he got the city so deep into financial trouble.   You were the one advocating for the strong mayor system.   This is all his doing.  I'm sure you all can band together and blame someone else.   Probably the school system, right?

cheers.

I certainly wouldn't expect anything in-depth or insightful from the T-Useless, but you've tried to set yourself a higher standard here, so come on, get to it.

I know you've got this clingy thing going on with the local Dems, maybe you just want to become the next Demo-capo, but need you abandon your honesty in the process?

A dozen years ago, having no other real choice, and of course no courage either, the local Demo-sheep elected a public education nitwit to run the shop and oversee the government rackets, having been told ceaselessly by the press, the media, and the bullshitters on the State and Federal level that `educators' were a `good thing'. Wasn't that when Martha Stewart was still on top? Jerry's chance was there, he took it, and he's been bronzing himself a populist mocha-latte shade ever since, God bless him.  

Let's hear it for Jerry! He sure has a line on the phonys around here!

So you're a little upset, huh DIA? Try this on for size:  The local leadership model, by default, has been that of the thug. The thuggery's game is to say only the politically correct and nothing else. Any objections, flash your bolt-stunner.  That way, they keep the sleepy paper-pushers pulling the lever for them. If you speak no ideas, the sheep will have none, and they don't.

So you, DIA, jump headlong and blindly into this moronic mess, and then complain about the stench. Jerry will never speak about the Welfare State, the destruction of the family, or the calculated destruction of generations of African Americans by middle class liberals because he depends on all their votes to get elected, and they depend on their participation in the Welfare State to keep them in their Tupperware Colonials, and inner-city hovels.

Of course, your criticism of DIA makes no sense.  DIA doesn't like how Da Mayor runs things, so DIA points out how and why and tries to persuade people of his view.

Your analysis is that "the welfare state" is to blame.  Who knows, maybe you're right.  That's your ideology, and maybe if you offered more evidence, you could persuade people to see it that way too.  Oh, any by evidence, I mean more than - "things are bad, therefore the welfare state is to blame."  Ya need to fill in a few steps in between.

I agree with you on leadership. You know it when you see it. Of course, where we differ is what we see.  To me leadership is about doing. To you it seems that leadership is about talking.  

Yes, I generally favor a strong mayor form of government. That is because I lived in Troy when it had a weak mayor, strong council and a city manager.  If you think Albany is bad you should have lived in Troy before they changed. While I am not sure how they are doing now, Troy was the highest taxed city in the state and close to one of the highest in the country. It was also one of the most overtly corrupt cities I have ever seen.

Thank God that Bobby Mirch didn't move to Albany when he was young.

But lets be honest here: it doesnt matter if you have a strong mayor or a weak mayor. What matters is the political process.  Here in Albany we have only one party and that is the problem. And, as the Republicans in Colonie showed, it doesnt matter which political party is entrenched.

No one elected in this city will ever be able to reform anything because the interests of the Party will be protected at all costs. Just as it was for so long in Colonie.

Let's look at the issue of the city budget.   For years I've been pointing out we are in serious trouble.   All of that time the mayor has been saying he has been giving us "responsible" budgets.  

I've also been pointing out that the current pension and benefits are unsustainable.   The mayor has continued to negotiation those contracts and they are his work.    He refuses to stand up to the Unions.   Tom Nitido has been saying the same thing and the Unions boycotted his fundraiser.    Without a doubt, the unions run this town and will fight like hell with anyone who tried to make them work with the city instead of purely for their own best interest.   I'm all for the union members being fairly compensated.   My point is that the current system is unsustainable.   The good times can't go on forever.  The unions and the mayor have been acting as if they can.  With a $14 million deficit next year, reality is here to take my side of the argument.

I like what paterson is doing.   Showing some leadership.  Getting out in front of the problem.  

So, reality is going to make the hard work that should have been done years ago, inevitable.    Of course all of the people living off the public teat in Albany aren't going to like that.   Too bad.

Some hard choices need to be made.   Cut spending, cut services, raise taxes.    It will have to be some combination of those three but all are necessary.    

Perhaps someone running an honest campaign in Albany who makes that case can't get elected because people want to keep the good times rolling.    I could see that happening in 2009.    Maybe we'll have another four more years of Jennings.   Lord knows he and all the people sucking the taxpayers dry will fight like hell to stay in power.  

Doesn't change the economic reality of the city.   And it doesn't change the fact that Jennings has failed to lead on this issue.    

We have some really intelligent, visionary, capable, accountable and connected civic leaders in this city.  The problem is, they're not in a position to do anything.  We've elected some of them to the city council.  In most places, the city council has some power to initiate new programs, and oversee ones that are in operation.  It's called democracy.  

That way, people in the community who are trying to do something for the community, or just live their lives, have somebody to look to who have some kind of authority, a connection to the centers of power, and accountablility to the communities.

We don't just need a new mayor here, we need a Pro-Democracy movement.

The old machine in this city just doesn't function the way machines used to.  The problems we have to deal with, and the vision we need to have in order to move forward, are too large and complex for that old system to function adequately.  Our present-day governments need to do a lot more than city governments did 50 yeas ago. So we need a process where many more creative people are allowed into the decision making process.

The Machine here doesn't just look like a dinosaur sitting in the center of everything, it looks like the skeleton of a dinosaur.  

And what's keeping the remnants of that Machine going?  Privilege and Fear.  Obviously, those who have been able to get into a position to be favored by the Machine can reap tremendous benefits.  And who are the group of people who tend to be favored by the old Machine politics?  White men.  

All you have to do is look around Albany to see who are the people who are kept out of the avenues of power in the city.  And listen to a few of the comments of people who continue to make excuses for keeping the corrupt old system, and you can hear the racism oozing between every line.

I recently heard a black man speak who has managed to get into a position of real leadership on a national level.  He had an insightful comment about racism.  He said, "When things are no longer working, and the system is collapsing, that's when they will let us into leadership."

You have again reinforced my opinion of your ability to grasp the depth of the issues.  Yes, I am "smart enough" to understand that leaders can "do by talking"   I am sure that you will be very amazed to learn that leaders do by writing too!  That's right, if you think about it very hard you will realize that leaders can do more than just talk to lead!  Isn't that special?  

Of course, everyone else out there hopefully was able to understand the distinction between those who do and those who talk.  Let me make it clear so that Payne can understand it.  Mainstreaming comes to blogs.

Payne- A leader must first develop work and plans for others to do before he tells them (either by talking or by writing to do it.   I know that this is a hard thing to understand for you.  A leader must think up things that needs to be done.  He can also have other people tell him what needs to be done and then decide if they are right.  Then he has to plan on how to do the things than needs to be done.  Then he has to get others to do what he has thought up and planed for them to do.  This is what happens when a leader is about "doing."

Yes, before you ask, there can be talking involved, although you should understand that a leader doesn't have to talk to everyone doing the work in order for the work to be done.  

The "talker" is one who can think up things to do and can tell other people what should be done but doesn't actually tell them to "do it" or make the plans necessary.  

A very simple example would be Gov Patterson thinking that the state's budget is a mess and ordering the people who he leads to cut spending.  He also did what is called "demonstrate his leadership" by ordering the legislature to come back to Albany to deal with the problems he sees.

This is a good example where a leader who has the power uses that power to get other people to do what he thinks should be done.

Contrast that to the talkers who said that the Albany Police Department should have been investigated and then didn't do anything but talk even though they had the power and the public support to start the investigation they said was needed. These are the "talkers," they are not "doers."  They say what needs to be done but they won't plan or do the work to needed to actually do it.  And because they don't plan or tell others to do the work they think is needed nothing ever gets done by a "talker."

Regarding the vacant buildings.  Should you want to bring attention to the buildings? I would encourage all residents to place a sign on each building that states "Brought to you by Mayor Jennings and the City of Albany".  Take a few photos and send them to the TU.  Given the number of buildings in Albany I would guess that the vacant buildings is a small percent of the total buildings in Albany.