Crandall Interview: Segment 2

We published Segment 1 of the Crandall Interview special feature on Tuesday, October 22, 2019. As our readers could see for themselves, the Crandall team has either accomplished or is accomplishing everything McHugh’s mob promises the people in their campaign material. We have to seriously ask the questions: (1) Is McHugh that ignorant of what’s going on in Coeymans to be promising what’s already been done by the Crandall team, or (2) Is McHugh that stupid to believe that the people and voters of Coeymans are that in the dark to believe his many disgusting lies? Segment 2 goes even further to show that McHugh is a fraud, a crook, and worse, a liar.

In Segment 1 of the Crandall Interview feature (Segment 1), we asked Mr Crandall about his accomplishments, significant benefits created by his administration for the people of Coeymans, his vision for the next 2 years, his plans for small business in Coeymans, and the incentives his administration is offering to small businesses in Coeymans and coming to Coeymans. It is clear that Mr Crandall and his team, despite the adversity of powerful opponents in Coeymans, has done much for the people of Coeymans.

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Editor’s Comment: We may have had harsh words but we call the shots as we see them. Mr Crandall has proved himself to be honest, caring, and very, very competent as a leader. We can’t allow ourselves to be misled by those who were for Mr Crandall when he was dancing to their tune, and now that they are finding he’s not a pushover, they [McHugh, Carver Laraway, Biers, and Lafarge] are trying to get in through the backdoor, call it anal entry, through George McHugh (we’re not calling George McHugh an a**hole even if he is one). For Crandall, as we all know, it was never about him or about money in his pocket; it’s a different story when we’re talking about McHugh, Carver Laraway, and their bunch. With them it’s all about money and what they can soak Coeymans for.

The comment by the Community Observer about McHugh, LaFarge, and Carver Laraway not wanting clean air, and the money involved set the theme for Segment 2.

Mr Crandall:- “Oh, yeah. There’s big money to be made between Carver [LaFarge and McHugh]…They’re going to make money. But how much money does a person need? How greedy do you have to be? And at what expense? At the expense of our children’s and our grandchildren’s lungs?”

McHugh, Carver, Biers didn’t get their way. Too bad!

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In Segment 2 of the Crandall Interview, we asked Mr Crandall how he will work with the Village of Ravena to beautify Main Street, his plans for building up tourism and hospitality venues in Coeymans, his relationship with George McHugh, why George McHugh would be bad for Coeymans, the McHugh-Carver Laraway-Vinciguerra connection, the Billy Biers warehouse project, Carver Laraway’s whining, how many new businesses Crandall has brought to Coeymans, and turncoat Daniel Baker’s backstabbing. These are some real eye-openers so after you read these excerpts, you may want to read the complete segment for the details at: Crandall Interview-Segment 2.

Click here to read the entire Segment 2 Transcript: Crandall Interview-Segment 2.

Here are the highlight excerpts from Segment 2 of the Crandall Interview:

Smalbany:- How do you intend to work with the Village of Ravena to beautify Main Street, and make it welcoming to small businesses like arts and crafts, specialty shops, etc?

This could be Main Street, Ravena, New York, if Mr Crandall has his way.

Mr. Crandall:-    OK. The main way we can help with that is by keeping the roads paved, by keeping the potholes filled. Making sure things like the water runs right, making sure the sewers are repaired. Making sure the tax rate is kept low. Make sure that we offer these incentives for businesses. Now, one thing I want to mention is that we are working with three solar [energy] companies right now. One is a pretty large one, Hecate. And they want to build a solar farm behind the school, over by the old Stalker farm, and they’re going to be using about 380 acres…once they get their plant built, that will be on the assessment rolls, and help to lower taxes…We’re trying to get them to offer the Town people a deal that they can tap into their electric, and possibly lower their electrical bill…There are two smaller companies trying to build in the Hollow, and Hecate is also looking at our old land fill site. It’s possible that they may also be able to put part of a solar farm there, also, on top of the old landfill site that we kept, and which will help make use of that property because you really can’t use it for anything else. So, that’s another thing we’re working on.

“Out in the Hollow…I want to keep it centralized around the Highway Department, we’re talking about starting a small recycling center. Much like what Westerlo has…opening it up maybe two or three days a week…and it would provide another service for the townspeople.”

Mr. Crandall:- The devil’s in the details. The idea’s there right now.

Smalbany:- Back to Mr. McHugh’s relationship with you and the Town: In 2017-18, your relationship with George McHugh was cooperative, if not friendly. What happened to change that relationship, that attitude of cooperation?

Mr. Crandall:-    What do I think changed that? Money! Money. There’s somehow, I can’t prove it, but with all that we went through with LaFarge and stopping the garbage coming in there, and with Mr. Laraway coming up so hard against us, against the Clean Air Law, and with LaFarge and Mr. Laraway putting up so much money against us…he spent $13,000 just on the primaries…that’s a vast amount of money for a small town…to be spent on politics. So there’s money to be made here. And there’s a lot of it.

“And they’re really opposed to the Clean Air Law. The main reason I think they’re running is because of the Clean Air Law.

“And I think Mr. Laraway feels that we haven’t given him enough tax breaks down there. But we have given him P.I.L.O.T.s[1] How many P.I.L.O.T.s does the man need? How many tax breaks does he need?

“Like I say: You gotta pay your fair share.”

Smalbany:- Apart from that, why would George Mchugh be bad for Coeymans? As if what you’ve said were not enough!

Mr. Crandall:-    George McHugh would be bad for Coeymans just because of, mainly because of his character. I’m no saint. I’ve had my own problems with the Court system. But with the Courts system, you’re held to such a high standard, it’s absolutely ridiculous. And I’m not an attorney, so I did make mistakes. I’ll grant you that. But he’s an attorney! And he [McHugh] was under two ethics investigations involving money. Mine never involved money; his involved money. He was under an ethics investigation for having his [personal] property surveyed along with Town property, and the Town paying for it. And his own Town Board, which was controlled by Republicans, had him under an ethics investigation for that. And then, he was attorney for the state Wagering Board, and he went before them, he had a private client, and he represented him before the state Racing and Wagering Board, while he was their [the Racing and Wagering Board’s] attorney! He was under another ethics investigation by the state Attorney General for that. They kind of eased him out the door after that. Now, there’s two reasons: ethics.

George McHugh = Ethics Violations = Corruption.

How many times…I know I shouldn’t say this, but I’m gonna…How many times can a man be married? I mean, twice, maybe? But four times? I mean, there’s something wrong with character here. And character matters.

And another thing: He didn’t run for office again. OK, there are probably a lot of reasons…But then, he comes up and he outright lies, and uses the deaths of over 3,000 people who died instantly in a horrible, horrible thing that happened on 9/11 in New York City. He tries to use that for political gain! That tells me about a man’s character, and I feel he has no character.

I just feel he [George McHugh] lies with impunity to get whatever…to get his way, whatever he wants. And I don’t understand people like that. I just don’t. Because I’m not a liar.

Community Observer’s Comment:-   You have Lincoln’s quote on the wall.

[Editor’s Note: The Observer is referring to the quote: “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”]

Mr. Crandall:-    Yes. I have Lincoln’s quote on the wall.

Smalbany:- Without speculating, what is your opinion about the McHugh, Laraway, Vinciguerra connection?

Mr. Crandall:-    It’s common knowledge that Vinciguerra has been George McHugh’s friend for years. They’ve worked together in business dealings for years…I just feel that they are way too cozy. And he’s [referring to Vinciguerra] supposed to be the editor [read: publisher] of an independent, unbiased newspaper [referring to the Ravena News Herald]? I don’t feel that the News Herald is unbiased at all. How can they be? Carver Laraway is buying all kinds of ads in it, George McHugh’s buying ads in it. He [Vinciguerra, publisher of the RNH] is renting the building from George McHugh.

Vinciguerra of Capital Region Independent Media LLC, and publisher of the Ravena News Herald. Anything but “Independent” and a perversion of what the News Herald once was. Vinciguerra is McHugh’s and Carver Laraway’s media sock puppet.

“He [George McHugh] has so many business connections how can he possibly serve as Supervisor of this Town? He’ll have to recuse himself from every other meeting, if not every meeting of the Town Board.

Smalbany:- What are the reasons for withdrawal of the warehouse application by Billy Biers?

Mr. Crandall:-    “The real reason that Billy Bier’s application went down the tubes is because the [New York State] Department of Environmental Conservation [DEC] denied it for many, many reasons. Mr. Biers contacted me. He asked me if there’s any way I can help? Would I write a letter in support, so that they would reopen it and look at it again? I wrote a letter to DEC asking them to please give Mr. Biers’ project another look; we would really appreciate it if they would; we would really like this business to come into the Town.

Billy Biers’ Warehouse Project REJECTED by DEC, not by Town!
Biers’ lies publicly at Town Board meeting.

I sent that letter. For Mr. Biers to get up and say anything other than what we really did for him is an outright lie.

I’ve never called a Planning Board member in my life and asked for anything from them for anybody. I’ve never approached them. The Zoning Board, either. Or the Assessment Board. And I never will. Those are unethical things. Would Mr. McHugh violate that? I don’t know.

[Editor’s Note: We have copies of the DEC letter to Mr. Biers, Mr. Bier’s letter withdrawing the application, and Mr. Crandall’s letter of support to the DEC. We will publish those later this week.]

Smalbany:- In a recent video posted by the group calling itself Friends of Coeymans, Mr. Carver Laraway addressed the board saying that he asked for the board’s support and got none. What is he talking about?

Mr. Crandall:-    I have no idea. He might be talking about the last P.I.L.O.T. he wanted for a company… They refurbish old parts and metal pieces, mainly parts that connect sewer systems, they refurbish stuff like that. But we have a negotiator, a Mr. Larry Farbstein. He worked for the [New York State] Real Property Tax Services for 32 years. He’s a former lawyer; he doesn’t practice law any more, he just negotiates contracts for P.I.L.O.T.s, full time, from Long Island to Saint Lawrence County. Throughout the whole state. He does it for municipalities. We hired that man. He did our P.I.L.O.T. for LaFarge with the Town. He handles all of our P.I.L.O.T.s, and I told him [Laraway], “Mr. Farbstein will be calling you.” Well, Mr. Farbstein called him and asked him for certain information he needed by law in order to fairly do a P.I.L.O.T., and they wouldn’t give it to him. It was financial. They have to tell, they have to give him all the financial information, the financial records, that he needs. They refused to give it to him. And that’s where it left off.

P.I.L.O.T. Denied because of unwillingness to disclose financial information.

“I can only assume that because we didn’t just carte blanche roll over for him and sign off on Mr. Laraway’s P.I.L.O.T., that that’s what he’s talking about.

“Why didn’t he talk about the 11 new businesses that have come in in the last three-and-a-half years since I’ve been Supervisor? Would those businesses have come here if the Town Board was hostile to business? I don’t think so.

[Editor’s Note: Click New Businesses Brought to Coeymans to see the list of new businesses during Crandall’s term. 11 of those businesses are in the Port of Coeymans or the Coeymans Industrial Park. New Businesses Brought to Coeymans]

“He [Laraway] had other P.I.L.O.T.s that were negotiated by the Town. I mean, how many tax breaks does one man need? How greedy to you have to be? It’s time to pay your fair share.

“Now you look at all the business he’s gotten…for the Tappan Zee Bridge, that was Cuomo’s baby, and all the other business he’s gotten, nobody can tell me…and the small fines that he paid. Anybody see a bridge go over a river, a creek so fast? As that bridge went across. So, he’s got a hook in DEC or in the state departments somewhere, with Cuomo. But these companies like the Port of Coeymans and LaFarge, they figure it into their…to do business, how much it will cost them for a certain fine. And he’s [Carver Laraway] paid relatively small fines. I think he paid $55,000 for one fine, which was a major violation, which the Town got back, and we were able to use that money to stop…There were three three, four houses on Stone House Hill that were running raw sewerage into the [Coeymans] Creek. That was going on when George McHugh was supervisor.

“There were four houses there, ever since they were built, and he [McHugh] never did anything to stop that. Well, I’m not having that! So, we used that $55,000 – and I think we put another $15,000 to it – too hook them in to the sewer system, to stop that raw sewerage from going into the Creek. So, Mr. Laraway can thank me for that, because now he owns the property down there where the boats are, the Marina, and now they won’t be smelling human feces coming into the Creek.

“But did he mention that? No!

“Everything he said at the meeting was just a show, trying to get people to not vote for Mr. Crandall.

Smalbany:- But he was being videoed by the Friends of Coeymans…

Mr. Crandall:-    Right. They were hoping that I would go off and start yelling and…but that’s not me…I’m not doing that…But if they expect to get a rise out of me out there, they’re not getting it. Public comment is public comment. I don’t care who you are or what you say…I don’t care who you are, it’s public comment: Say it! It’s a free country.

Mr. Crandall:-    Can I go back to the Clean Air Law?

Smalbany:- Sure. I wish you would.

Mr. Crandall:-    While we were working on this Clean Air Law, Dan Baker and Kenny Burns, sat right here, and Baker worked for LaFarge for 15-20 years, and he told us that they’re fudging the numbers on their, on the numbers when they’re being checked. When the monitors are being checked by DEC. He told us that DEC calls them, and then immediately the plant stops burning coal and goes right on natural gas so they can doctor the numbers, so the emissions numbers come down. What the hell kind of emissions control is that? And this is when Mr. Baker also, when someone sent him a picture when there was a blow-off up there, and all this black smoke came out, right across from the school. It was awful. I remember seeing the picture. He sent that to us on his cellphone. This was when he was for the Clean Air Law. He spoke for it, he was [for it], everything was going fine. And then, all of a sudden, Mr. McHugh, decides, announces he’s running for office in March, and that’s when Dan Baker changed.

Mr. Crandall:-    But Mr. Baker, all of a sudden…we would sit here and talk about our kids and grandkids, and how we don’t want them breathing this stuff…And he was all set to vote for the Clean Air Act [read: Law]. I know he was. He told us he was. And then some time in January-February, that must be when he got word that McHugh was running, he started marching, my speculation is McHugh was calling the shots then, and he was marching to the McHugh beat.

And another thing: Kenny Burns, he told us he interviewed over 300 people not one person was against the Clean Air Law, yet when it came to the vote, he voted against it.

Smalbany:- Now this one is what I read to you before. Do you recall? Mr. McHugh’s accomplishments with the Village Sewer and Water project just before he left office (2001). Between leaving office (2001) and 2003, he all of a sudden has a project over on the Blaisdell farm, and now he’s got water and sewerage there. [Referring to Mr. Dolan] You were actually mentioned in one of those …

Mr. Dolan:  I was at some point..the town and village got together and started a sewer and a water commission, two separate entities…I recall that there was talk of annexation, and there was a lawsuit after that, and I know the Coeymans Fire Department was upset about it, because they would lose that portion of territory.

Smalbany:- So this was – I’m not asking you to speculate – what was going on behind the scenes but at this time was the annexation being discussed?

Community Observer’s Comment:-   It was being discussed. Because he used my famous letter to Sol Greenberg to get on the good side of the Mayor (former Ravena Mayor, John Bruno), to get the mayor to say OK, so what do you have property in, to get the water. He always used people. [inaudible comments]

[Editor’s Notes: The annexation was in the works during McHugh’s single term as Coeymans Town Supervisor. The annexation was finalized some time in 2003, and McHugh’s properties were hooked into Village water and sewerage. McHugh then proceeded with development of single family homes and their sale, apparently through one of his wives, who was handling the real estate sales at the time.

Remember this honey of a land deal. McHugh took good care of himself.

***** END OF SEGMENT TWO *****

Segment 3 of the Crandall Interview will appear on Thursday, October 24, 2019. Stay tuned!

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Read the Excerpts from Segments 1 and 3 of the Crandall Interview:
Crandall Interview: Segment 1
You are at Crandall Interview: Segment 2
Crandall Interview: Segment 3

Plus the Featured Resident Comment:
The Coeymans Clowns, the FoC, Are True to Their Reputation: Thugs

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[1] Manufacturing, industrial, and not-for-profit companies may receive property tax incentives through agreements with government agencies. Through these agreements, properties are exempt from property taxes and instead make a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (P.I.L.O.T.).

 

News Herald Squeals Copyright Infringement: We respond “FAIR USE”

Coeymans Clowns are Everywhere!

Kate Lisa of the Ravena News Herald and Capital Region Independent Media is on a mission to get the Fiends’ of Coeymans faces off this site. She’s screaming copyright violation and claiming photoshopping! She’s demanding the images be removed. Our contributor responded to her piggy squeals in no uncertain terms: he told her to “To take a walk.”

“Take down those pictures!” cried Kate.

The site where some images appear showing the mugs of the “Fiends of Coeymans” is on an Internet page Groups Fight For Town Respect, Transparency — similar to those we display in one of our exposés — and there’s not a single copyright statement or notice anywhere on that page. We’d like readers to go to the link above and see for themselves. But we do caution you to understand that Kate Lisa and the Ravena News Herald are making heroes out of haters. Kate Lisa works for the Ravena News Herald, which is owned by Capital Region Independent Media, which is owned by Mark Vinciguerra, who is owned by George McHugh, who is owned by Carver Laraway. 

We saw through Kate Lisa’s unfriendly demands, and are not deterred by her contacting their attorney. He’ll pee down our leg and tell us it’s ice water; then he’ll take their retainer money. Idiots! We claim the protection of the doctrine of Fair Use, and have a sound basis in law to defend our use, since we are commenting and parodying the image and the subjects of the image, Jeff LaQuire, Nate Boomer, and Chris Hagen, who call themselves “Friends of Coeymans””, and whom we claim are being painted in a falsely positive light by George McHugh’s people at the Ravena News Herald. If you find a copyright notice on that page, please let us know. Our point: If you want to claim a copyright you should provide due notice of copyright or at least place a © on the material. Right? The law may not require that but why not do it if you’re so concerned? In order to bring an action at law for infringement, they’d have to have registered the copyright. Doesn’t matter though, because we claim Fair Use. If Kate Lisa still feels like her handler’s been abused, poor little piggy, maybe she can get McHugh to write a letter for her. 

Kate Lisa and Ravena News Herald want to rescue their three piggies: (left to right) Jeff LaQuire, Nate Boomer, and Chris Hagen, “Fiends of Coeymans”

Our parody and commentary on the so-called “Friends of Coeymans” is well founded given their Facebook antics and their disruption of public meetings. They seem to hate anything better looking than they are, smarter than they are, less porky than they are, and better smelling than they are. That  doesn’t leave much, and it leaves a lot of hating for them to accomplish but they’re working really hard at it.

Sorry, Kate, it’s all in the spirit of good fun. Get a grip!

A Friend of Coeymans had Kate Lisa tattooed on his brain.
Yer lookin’ good, Katie!

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If they want to be elected, we’re going to grill them! Re: George McHugh.

Incumbent Town of Coeymans Supervisor, Phil Crandall, has accepted our invitation to be interviewed, we are now negotiating a date and time for the interview.

In his email response to our proposed interviewer, Mr Crandall writes (September 3, 2019):

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“Thank you for reaching out to me in regards to an interview. I am happy to schedule that and should be able to get back to you after the holiday with my exact availability and some possible dates. Thank you again”

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We are now calling on Mr George McHugh, a candidate expecting to run against Mr Crandall this November, and hoping to take the office of Town Supervisor, and to take control of the Coeymans Town Council.

Our Reaction.

McHugh is campaigning behind an ambiguous campaign slogan, “Take Back Our Town,” which makes us wonder who is taking back whose town, and what’s going to be left for small businesses and for any remaining residents, after the so-called Friends of Coeymans all get their share of the post-election booty.

But in all fairness, we want Mr McHugh to have a fair opportunity to clarify some issues and to show that his commitment to transparency is no bullshit. Back to  our invitation to Mr McHugh. Here are our proposed questions for Mr McHugh:

Dance, Georgie! Dance for us, Georgie!

Proposed Interview Questions
George McHugh
Candidate, Town of Coeymans Supervisor

1. You were elected to be Town of Coeymans Supervisor back in 2001, served one term, and then did not run for a second term. Why was that?
2. The question of the Blaisdell Farm property and your housing project on that property has been the subject of a number of inquiries, particularly the fact that the property was annexed by the Village of Ravena at about the time you were Coeymans Town Supervisor, or shortly after you left office. Would you please comment on the circumstances of that annexation and how you benefited from it?
3. You were appointed to a federal administrative law judgeship. It would appear that you are no longer serving in that capacity. Can you tell us what happened to the judgeship?
4. Your campaign slogan is “Take Back Our Town,” from whom do you expect to take it back?
5. Who are the Friends of Coeymans? Do they have names?
6. According to our information, you serve in several capacities as a paid consultant or employee of the Carver Companies. Will you be resigning those positions if you are elected?
7. How will your cozy relationships with Carver Laraway and the Carver group of companies affect your fitness to be Supervisor of the Town of Coeymans?
8. You were outspoken in your opposition to the Town of Coeymans clean air law which purported to ensure good air and environmentally friendly air quality but you campaign on a promise to improve quality of life in Coeymans. That law was passed. How does opposition to clean air advocate quality of life for Coeymans residents?
9. In terms of improvement of quality of life, and other than opposing clean air, what other proposals do you have for QoL improvements?
10. In you campaign ads you suggest that you will do a number of things if elected. But our investigations show that you would not have the authority to make good on those promises, since most, if not all of those promises are state level powers. What do you have to say about that?
11. As former owner of the Ravena News Herald, can you please comment on your relationship with Mark Vinciguerra and the Ravena News Herald, now owned by V. as part of his Capital Region Independent Media?
12. Do you currently hold an ownership or financial interest in the Ravena News Herald?
13. What do you feel you can offer Coeymans that current Town Supervisor Crandall cannot?
14. What would be your major criticisms of Mr. Crandall and the current Coeymans Town Board?
15. Given the questions regarding the role of the Coeymans Police Department in the death of 19-year old Riley Kern: What would your plan be for the Town of Coeymans Police Department.
16. Hypothetically, if you were Town Supervisor, how would you good faith in responding to the many questions in the Riley Kern alleged wrongful death case?
17. There is evidence that acting Coeymans Police Chief Mr. Daniel Contento and Coeymans police officer Ian Foard had handled the Riley Kern investigation not only unprofessionally but professionally negligently. We are aware that you have been in contact and communicating with Mrs Kern about her son’s death. If elected, what would you as Town of Coeymans Supervisor, in cooperation with the Town Board that would be controlled by your group, plan to do to support Emily Kern’s efforts to get recognition for her son, and to make amends for the circumstances of his death?
18. What would be your five priority TO DO items for immediate action upon taking office, if you were elected Town of Coeymans Supervisor?
19. What would be your five priority TO UNDO items for immediate action upon taking office, if you were to be elected Town of Coeymans Supervisor in 2019?
20. Apart from any new industrial developments in the works, and given the small business situation in the Town of Coeymans, what would your plan be to encourage and to support small business creation and development in the Town of Coeymans, particularly in and around Ravena, the Hamlet of Coeymans, and the beautiful waterfront available to the Town and its residents and small businesses?
21. Will you be continuing your law practice if elected to be Coeymans Town Supervisor? If so, would you continue to provide legal services to Carver Laraway and the Carver Companies?

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Well, Mr McHugh and his running mates are running on a number of positions, one of them is transparency. Well, in our opinion, if transparency is such a big concern for McHugh and his group, then he won’t have much of a problem with our questions. Or will he? We’ll find out and when we do, you’ll know, too. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, please read our recent McHugh-related articles:

Russian Mafia in Our Back Yards?

Please don’t Mug Me! Just Pot Me!

The Russians are Coming!!!

To McHugh or Not to McHugh.

It’s your community, too, and we want you to have a say in all of this. That’s why we’re asking our readers to send us their questions for consideration. If your questions are selected, we’ll include them in the interview of Mr McHugh.

As we go forward with the interviews, we’ll post names and questions for the candidates we choose to interview, and ask for your inputs.

Of course, we’ll keep you updated and informed on how the candidates respond, and we’ll share their answers with our readers.

Please send your questions to rcs.confidential@gmail.com. You can also leave a public comment on this blog with your questions.

 

Fraud, Fake Non-profits, Tax Evaders. They’re everywhere!

They think they’re pretty slick but someone’s watching.

The Non-Profit and Not-For Profit Tax Dodgers Right Under the New York State Tax and Finance Department’s and the IRS’s Noses!!! What’s the deal? Joe Average gets fines and penalties for a mistake while the real winners get non-profit or not-for-profit status and make the big bucks. But that’s because most of the sheeple simply closer their eyes to the problem, stick their heads in the sand, and keep paying…and paying…and paying! Question: Are you one of them?

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Most of us are aware of the various taxing jurisdictions which use the real property tax to raise the money needed for their operations. Every county uses this form of taxation as do the cities and towns within a county. Within towns one sometimes finds villages which also levy property taxes. The biggest property tax bite for most homeowners is the school tax.

Property taxes provide the bulk of the funds required for local government and public primary and secondary education. A large variety of services including road maintenance, police protection, libraries, deed registry, justice courts, building code enforcement, etc. are all provided for by county, city, town and village taxes. The school tax pays the salaries of teachers and administrators and maintains the buildings and equipment required by the school system.

We all know the sickening stories about General Electric and Amazon, and other US corporations and the fact that they get away without paying any taxes. Well, there are plenty like them out there and here are some local examples.

We’ve already reported on a RCS Board of Education (BOE) member and former BOE president, Mr. James Latter, an employee of the Saudi Arabian-owned company, Sabic,  who got away without paying a year’s taxes on his $300,000 + new construction in Ravena. That was because the Ravena Building Department never reported the construction to the Assessor in the Town of Coeymans, who violated the property tax laws by not assessing the in-progress improvements on the property, although you can almost see the house from the town offices. That one instance involving Mr. Latter’s ostentatious new dwelling cost the Town a couple of grand in property taxes, and Latter didn’t offer to make good on it. You can bet your life on that one. [Read our article, “Board of Education Member James “Hadji” Latter: Is he paying his fair share of property taxes?“]

[Editor’s Note: According to the NYS Real Property Tax Law, If you add a room or put in central air conditioning you would naturally expect your assessment to increase. [Note: In some states new construction cannot be assessed until it has been completed and a certificate of occupancy issued. In New York State, the assessor is required to value the property exactly as he or she finds it on taxable status date (to be defined later). Thus a partially completed garage would ordinarily receive a partial assessment.]

So, now let’s look at a local attorney and his slick operations to avoid paying his share of property taxes: George McHugh, the shyster who’s got his hands in everything from p****y to pot. Yes! He’s the same crook asking you to elect him to be Coeymans Town Supervisor so he can make things easier for his keepers, Carvery Laraway and his pot-growing Russian pal, Boris Alexei Jordan.

Did George McHugh evade paying property taxes on his Blaisdell Farm project?

We’re also wondering about George McHugh’s little housing project on the Blaisdell Farm property. Did McHugh get the same tax break on that biggie that Latter got on his property? That’s a little project we’ll be sure to look into over the next couple of weeks. Did McHugh get away with not paying his property taxes on the project because the Ravena Building Department and Building Inspector never notified the Town of Coeymans Assessor of the project?

Jason Tantra, a British subject here on a visa, claims he’s operating his business, Tantra 4 Gay Men, legally in the USA, and paying taxes. Really?

It’s going on all over the place but the real scammers are the ones who manage somehow to get non-profit or not-for-profit status by some slick tricks. One of the organizations that has recently caught our attention because of their involvement with a charlatan from the UK who managed to get a visa to operate a sex-services company in the US. The organization is located in Washington County, New York, near Greenwich, about an hour’s drive from Albany. It calls itself the Easton Mountain Retreat Community and caters for anything and everything for gay men with lots of cash to spare. What caught our eye is that it claims IRS Tax Code 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit offering  — now get this –“ religion-related” and “spiritual development” programs. You’ll have the same reaction we did when we looked at their offerings and their prices: WTF!!!

To put things a bit in perspective, the town of Greenwich in Washington County, NY has a total of 61 non-profit organizations with assets totaling $19,876,829+ and total incomes of $8,395,791. Most, if not all of that multimillion dollar figure is tax exempt, while the rest of us are paying through the nose with property taxes, sales tax, and other indirect taxes that the state calls “fees,” cleverly and sneakily avoiding any word even suggesting “tax.” Same goes for all those add-on charges to your phone and cable bills. Fees but in reality taxes. Add them up and have a coronary.

No shame. They actually ask for donations!!!

Even Albany Medical Center is tax exempt!!! Think about that when you get your next bill! Read below to see what the Tax Code calls a tax-exempt organization and then go to AMC’s profile at Albany Medical Center, and note there’s nothing about real estate development or property management. So what’s the deal with AMC’s owning a huge chunk of central Albany real estate that was once privately owned and residential? Our government at work, people, and AMC’s CPAs and lawyers ensuring that the non-profit can make the CEOs and the board of directors’ payroll.

The Albany Times Union published an article in November 2018 entitled, “Capital Region hospitals earn poor grades on patient safety,” and reported that Albany Medical Center’s grade went from a “C” to a “D”. Other Capital Region Hospitals weren’t any better; in fact, most went from bad to worse! The best performers in the report remained unchanged from the year before. Now that’s pretty crappy!

There are also reports that patients were being infected by machines that should have been junked but AMC, despite warnings and recommendations, continued using the machines, causing a number of life-threatening infections in patients.

And then there’s the horrible story of the young man, Riley Kern, killed in a pick-up truck-motorcycle accident last year by a local, Travis Hagan, that went uninvestigated by the Coeymans Police Department. The young man was transported to Albany Medical Center where he was the victim of a number of ER mistakes; he died a couple of hours after they had their way with him. The documents provided by the boy’s mother after a grueling year of questions without answers read like something out of a scifi horror script!!! We’re waiting for permission to publish what we have obtained. (Read our reports: “We Are Re-Opening the Case: Riley Kern, Young Man Killed in Coeymans Hollow, Sycamore Golf Course,” “Riley’s Song: Verse Two – Update on Our Investigations,” “Riley’s Mom Responds: A Mother’s Perspective,” and “Memorial Service for Riley.”)

Not only was the ER staff incompetent, Pathologist Bernard Ng apparently doesn’t know how to correctly complete a death certificate. Incompetence at every level. What’s even more shameful is that the hospital CEO refused to launch an investigation; swept the entire thing under the rug. 

But Albany Medical Center is the Albany Greed Center! On their website they actually ask for donations to support AMC. NO SHAME!

They actually ask for donations on the AMC website (http://www.amc.edu/)!!!

But back to Easton Mountain Retreat Center as our example of real tax scammers.

Do you really think that all of these organizations should be non-profit or tax-exempt? Click here for a list of Greenwich non-profit organizations. Greenwich Non-profits.

Easton Mountain Incorporated, NY Department of State Entity ID No.  2897573 (Initial DOS Filing Date: April 22, 2003) is a New York corporation (Employer Identification No. (EIN): 01-0778873) NTEE classified[1] as Religion Related, Spiritual Development N.E.C. and designated under the Nonprofit Tax Code as 501(c)(3) defined as:

“Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn’t provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.”

Yeah. And pigs have wings, too!

But here are some of this year’s programs. Right from the start we do not see a connection with “religion related” or ”spiritual development” programs nor do we see anything that corresponds to the Non-profit Tax Code for a 501(c)(3) entity. If you do, please let us know and we’ll publish a correction:

• Best Friends Program (One-year package for multiple “events” depending on availability: $1,995.00 – $3,495.00)
• Summer Gay Spirit Camp July 29 – August 4, 2019. Offers men a chance to establish lasting friendships in a fun and uplifting environment
• Spirit Deck Party – Day Pass $25.00
• Sun Clad – A naturist gathering for men who love men You love to be naked. (4 days, $395.00 – $795.00)
• SUMMER: Freedom Camp, Gay Spirit Camp, Bear Your Soul Summer Camp
• WINTER: Winter Gay Spirit Camp, Bear Your Soul Winter Hibernation
• FALL: Kink Odyssey, Singles Weekend

Incredibly, Easton Mountain claims to be a non-profit organization meeting the above IRS criteria. How does a corporation catering for an affluent segment of the gay male population – Yes! we said “affluent” because Easton Mount is not cheap. Their programs run pretty pricey. For example, a program described as Gay Spirit Camp, which runs from July 29-August 4, 2019, which Easton Mountain describes as a “6-day program” but is actually a 4-day program, since :[t]he event begins with dinner at 7:00 pm on Monday, July 29., “ends with lunch at 1:00 pm on Sunday, August 4.” You have to have some pretty hefty recreational money or disposable income because the prices posted for this particular mid-range event by Easton Mountain range from $595.00 (bring your own tent) to $1,095.00 for “semi-private” accommodation.  A so-called “5-day” event August 6 – 11, 2019, with our friend Jason Tantra, runs the same  You can browse the other programs on the Easton Mountain Site (Source: https://eastonmountain.secure.retreat.guru/programs/, last accessed on July 3, 2019)

Those prices are low compared to some of the events. Now we ask you very seriously: Should Easton Mountain be considered a tax-exempt, non-profit religion related, organization for spiritual development? Maybe you should have a look at some of the other programs offered at Easton Mountain Incorporated and decide. Then maybe you should call the New York State Department of State, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, and the IRS, or just write to them asking how Easton Mountain has finagled the tax laws to arrive at non-profit status as a religious organization of anything under IRS 501(c)(3)!?!

ORGANIZATION NAME	ADDRESS	CLASSIFICATION	REPORTED ASSET AMOUNT	REPORTED INCOME AMOUNT	FORM 990 REVENUE AMOUNT	EXEMPT STATUS DATE	FORM 990 FILES
EASTON MOUNTAIN INC (c/o RAYMOND NIRO)	391 HERRINGTON HILL RD GREENWICH, NY 12834-5809	Charitable Organization; Religious Organization (Religion Related, Spiritual Development N.E.C.)	$100,000 +*	$500,000 +*	$500,000 +*	500,000 +*	03/2005

(Source: https://www.taxexemptworld.com/organizations/greenwich-ny-new-york.asp, last accessed on July 3, 2019)

We obtained the Easton Mountain Incorporated IRS 990 for the Tax Year 2016  — Easton Mountain publishes only their 2014 IRS 990 form filing (the last year available on the IRS site (2016 Form 990 Filing, Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 6-Jul-2018) (Source: https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/, last accessed on July 3, 2019)

Now you know. 

Slick operators, incompetent local public employees, fake non-profit organizations all are eating at our table and getting fat, leaving us to pay the bills. Isn’t it time we split the check? Isn’t it time we demanded state and federal government agencies, including law enforcement, to start taking a closer look at how much tax avoidance and tax evasion is going on and leaving the rest of us to pay the bill? Your tax dollars are paying those public employees to sit on their fat flabby asses doing nothing while waiting to collect fat tax-free pensions!!! Isn’t it time we demanded they do their jobs?

 

[1] NTEE = National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities codes

 

 

Happy Independence Day! Everyday.

No Flag-waving, Sunshine Patriotism. It’s all Phony. We are Celebrating Truth, Instead.

Our gift to our readers, followers, and supporters on this Independence Day. From the movie Idiocracy (2006), President Camacho’s State of the Union address:

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Editor’s Note: Idiocracy is a 2006 American science fiction satire/comedy film. The film tells the story of two people who take part in a top-secret military human hibernation experiment, only to awaken 500 years later in a dystopian society where anti-intellectualism and commercialism have run rampant, and which is devoid of intellectual curiosity, social responsibility, and coherent notions of justice and human rights. The main character, Joe Bauers, the definition of “average American”, is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for the top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes five centuries in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed down that he’s easily the most intelligent person alive. Many in the media and commentators call the film a “documentary” rather than a comedy, and discuss how the theme of the film is actually coming true!

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We’re celebrating the REAL America. We’re celebrating the Catskills!

Unlike most journalism and unlike most media, Smalbany is Independent, totally Independent, and doesn’t sell out for cash, ratings, future promises. Smalbany cherishes the guaranteed freedom of press and opinion, and will never abuse that guaranteed right. Smalbany is no slave to any special interest, any politician, or bribery of any kind. No other area print or online media can make that claim. That’s why we are the areas most read and most trusted journalistic source for truth and openness.

As of July 4th, 2019
471,413 Readers and GROWING!
539 Unique Articles – Did YOU provide a tip or a lead?
1,973 Reader Comments (Approved) – Did YOU comment?
74,145 Comments (Total) – Thank you if you did!

(To receive new articles and comments by email, click the FOLLOW THIS BLOG button on the right and enter your email.)

The Smalbany a.k.a. Albany, NY, team wish all of our readers a safe and peaceful Independence Day 2019.

The Smalbany Blog again celebrates their 5th Independence Day, Yes! 5 years already serving the community and beyond. Smalbany Blog confirms and re-asserts their

• Independence from allegiance to any political party, ideology, special interest, religion, or group; Smalbany’s only allegiance is to Truth and Fairness.
• Independence from greed and avarice as a motivation; Smalbany does not allow advertising and does not ask for donations nor even accept donations, if offered; Smalbany doesn’t owe anyone anything but justice and fairness.
• Independence from ignorance and lies; Smalbany never posts an article without checking the facts and looking at both sides of the story.
• Idependence from hearsay, rumor, or gossip. What you read on Smalbany has been investigated and vetted; that’s how we keep our credibility.
• Independence from fake loyalty to any flag or national myth; Smalbany is supranational, above any nation or national symbol, Smalbany avoids idolatry and false prophets.
• Independence from fear; Smalbany knows more than it posts, and keeps the scoundrels and villains in the community and beyond on their guard.
• Independence from corruption in public services, public servants, elected officials; Smalbany doesn’t ask any public servant or elected official for any favors. This means that the crooks in government can’t buy their way out of their crimes.
• Independence from any blame or guilt; Smalbany has always maintained the highest level of integrity — and will continue to do so — and has nothing to fear from the powers to be.

And speaking of misinformation, Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed. The actual resolution of independence was made on July 2, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress in a closed session. So why July 4th? The declaration resolution was publicized on July 4, 1776. In 1781, the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration. But it wasn’t until 1870 that the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees, and only in 1938 did Congress change Independence Day to a paid federal holiday; in 1941 the day was expanded to become a “national” holiday. (5 U.S.C. § 6103). (Source: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/july-4th, last accessed on July 3, 2019)

That’s the kind of Independence we at Smalbany wish each and every one of our contributors, followers, readers, and supporters. We wish you all a Smalbany Independence Day, every day!

The Hudson River represents natural freedom and independence. Keep it pure and free.

 

To McHugh or Not to McHugh.

It’s a dumbass question, actually.

The obvious answer is NOT McHUGH.

Would you trust a guy wearing a hairpiece like this?
Was it the Saratoga stripper who taught him that?

We’ve done some investigating and some research and have come up with the recommendation that George McHugh should not be a consideration for the office of Coeymans Town Supervisor. We’ll be giving the reasons for our recommendations this weekend, before the primaries, so stay tuned.

First of all, if you know very little or nothing about a candidate, why would you even think of voting for him. That goes for the entire McHugh flea circus. You have a pack of losers, literally, just look at Langdon and McHugh himself.

Remember this honey of a land deal. McHugh took good care of himself.
By the way, Darby Realty was run by one of his former wives. Get the picture?

But once we go through the Coeymans Town Board minutes and working session minutes for 2000 to the end of 2001, the two years McHugh was last in the Coeymans Supervisor’s office and finagling land deals for himself when he left office, and we look at some of his other phoney activities, as well as talking to some people who were very close to McHugh — literally in the same bed with him, you’ll see what a slime he really is.

We’ll also be examining his running — or should we say crawling — mates, if there’s anything really there to discuss. They’re all a bit of not much, if you get our gist.

We’ll also be reviewing the local news opinions of McHugh and his relationship with Carver Laraway and Carver Companies. An we’re not necessarily talking about his picking up one of Carver Laraways’ ex wives. We’ll have more to say about how he manages his domestic, his personal life and how that reflects on his ability to manage your lives from Town Hall.

We’ve got some good stuff for ya! The Editor

P.s. We’ll also let you in on how the Ravena News Herald has become McHugh’s whore — among the many local ones he’s added to his kennel — and why you shouldn’t trust a word printed in it about him.

We’ll also let you in on our demands to US attorneys and DAs to invesitage and report back on the British subject in the US on a visa and Why? the US granted a visa and authorization to a perv to operate a sex business in the US!!! Are we that hard up for businesses that the United States State Department and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (Homeland Security) grant visas for pervs to operate their sex businesses in the US? SHAME ON YOU!

 

 

Mob Rule in America: The Myth Revealed and the Cover-up Discovered (?)

Anyone who doesn’t see a cover-up in this story needs to open their eyes!

A couple of months ago we reported on the death of a young man, 19-year old Riley Kern, just outside the Sycamore Country Club, on Route 143, when a local man, Travis Hagen,  driving a pick-up truck pulled out and caused the motorcycle Riley was riding to collide with the pick-up, causing fatal injuries to Riley, who died a couple  hours later in surgery at Albany Medical Center.

Here’s a touching slideshow for Riley

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We also reported that the Coeymans Police never did a required drug and alcohol test — a test required by New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law!!! — on the driver of the pick-up truck. The Coeymans Police never did an accident investigation or reconstruction. There was no follow-up and there was no investigation why the Coeymans Police and Coeymans police officer on the scene, Ian Foard, never did the drug and alcohol testing on the pick-up truck driver, Travis Hagen, or never conducted an accident scene investigation. We suggested a cover-up because of Hagen’s connections in the area.

Coeymans PD Ian Foard, a reject from the Mechanicville Police Department, a part-timer hired by the Town of Coeymans Police Department, and under the direct supervision of then acting police chief Daniel Contento, was not investigated. His report, which was full of contradictions and speculation, was approved by Contento without question.

People in this country tend to have very short memories. Here are some of the articles we posted on Riley’s death. You may want to revisit them:

• We Are Re-Opening the Case: Riley Kern, Young Man Killed in Coeymans Hollow, Sycamore Golf Course
• Riley’s Song: Verse Two – Update on Our Investigations.
• Riley’s Mom Responds: A Mother’s Perspective.
• The Editor Chimes in on Riley’s Song: What have you become, America?

Readers may also be interested in our article on the corruption in the Albany County Coroner’s Office. Read our article: Politics, Power, Patronage and Conflicts of Interest: The Albany County Coroners Office. Moonlighting undertakers who can’t even spell in an official document should not be doing medicolegal death investigations!!!

Why aren’t you asking these questions? Would you if it were your child?

Riley’s mother lives in Kansas and has desperately been trying to get to the truth, to find answers to burning questions. So are we!!!

We received this comment today, months after the accident, from the boy’s mother, who has been getting contradictory double-talk from just about every agency from the Coeymans Police Department, to the Albany County Coroner’s Office, to …. Well the list goes on. Where’s the Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares on all of this? Isn’t he the chief law-enforcement officer in the County of Albany. He’s been and continues to be a racist sack of manure, a weak, stupid, ball-less Oreo. Riley’s mom writes:

I am living the nightmare! After investigating the death of my son my conclusions are identical to all the info in this blog!!! And this is the first time I’ve read this article!! It’s all way to true. It’s painful! I can’t believe it’s been allowed to go on this long!! I’ve got all the documentation to support the subject of this article. I also have a feeling I won’t be seeing justice served, not in Albany anyhow. I can’t be the only victim, where the hell are all the fighters???!

Riley’s mom is referring to our article on the Albany County Coroner,  Politics, Power, Patronage and Conflicts of Interest: The Albany County Coroners Office. We responded:

You are likely not the only victim. The problem is epidemic not only in this region of New York but it appears throughout the county. People have despaired of their government, their elected officials; there is no representation except for self-representation from the individual to Capitol Hill! The media can’t be trusted to keep public servants and elected officials in line and, because the American people have lost all faith and trust in their government, they just don’t pull together to put things right. Blame it on the propaganda you see on the television, read in the newspapers, hear on the radio, blasted with in pop music. We have become a deranged, perverse, decadent, and very angry society. We are facing a terrible future because we stupidly allow ourselves to be manipulated and coerced, even abused by the very people in whom we have traditionally been taught and conditioned to trust: our elected officials, the church and religion, our neighbors.

The United States, the mythical “America”, has never been a land of law but a land of lawlessness, mob rule, whether the mob was a band of vigilantes lynching Irishmen, Italians, and Negros in the 20th century, the organized crime “mob,” or the political party mob. America is not run by the rule of law and never has been if you read history; it has always been the rule of the mob. But they don’t teach your kids history anymore or ethics or handwriting. Lady Liberty is weeping!!!

It’s starting to look like Nazi Germany in the US.
Some Americans have succumbed to the propaganda. Not us!

The boy’s father lives locally in Albany County. We suggest that he mobilize the boy’s family and friends and go on a letter-writing rampage, sending as many letters to state and federal lawmakers representing this area. We suggest that the boy’s father, family, and friends make an organized assault on the DA’s office and Governor Cuomo’s office, demanding an investigation!!! The police come under the Executive branch of government and the DA and the Governor head that branch.

We recommend that the boy’s mother start a campaign from Kansas to New York!!! She has Facebook following and had launched an apparently successful fundraiser on Facebook to defray the costs of the boy’s funeral expenses. She must get all those supporters motivated and activated and launch an assault on the Kansas Governor’s office to contact the New York Governor and demand an investigation of the boy’s death and the obvious cover-up surrounding the circumstances.

We also recommend that the mother motivate and activate all of the boy’s friends and family in Kansas, including his schoolmates to bombard the Kansas Governor, the New York Governor, lawmakers, the Albany County DA’s office and the Town of Coeymans demanding a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the boy’s death.

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A Personal Comment from the Editor

As a local resident, I am deeply embarrassed and ashamed of how my neighbors have shut their eyes to this tragedy and so many other events and situations in this area. I have been writing this blog for about 5 years now, exposing every conceivable evil and crime imaginable. Almost a half-million readers worldwide support this blog. Imagine what readers outside the greater Capital District, even outside of this country, think of this area when they read our reports! Aren’t you people, residents of Albany, Ravena, Coeymans, New Baltimore, and the surrounding areas of New York deeply troubled, ashamed of what’s going on here. Aren’t you deeply guilt-ridden and ashamed that you continue to sit on your fat asses and do nothing while a select few destroy not only our communities, but our future and our reputation nationwide and internationally.???

Mark Vinciguerra, formerly of the Johnson Newspaper Group, now owner/publisher of the Ravena News Herald, supported Riley’s cause by sending Melanie Lekocevic to cover Riley’s memorial service at Feura Bush Town Park. The Town of New Scotland was outstanding in their support of Riley. Too bad we can’t say the same for the Town of Coeymans.

The News Herald story covering Riley’s memorial service in Feura Bush Town Park,  Remembering a life lost too soon, was the only coverage, the only mention in any media of the accident. We found it very strange that the accident wasn’t mentioned anywhere before that. Don’t you?

We hope that Mr Vinciguerra will continue his support of justice and Riley by joining us in the investigation of this shameful cover-up.

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The only way to fight mob rule and defeat it is to organize, mobilize, and neutralize. Riley’s family, friends, and supporters need to get seriously involved and start writing, fighting, and kicking some political ass!!!

Time to wake up, people!!!
You might be next…

 

Our 2018 Election Picks for the Town of New Baltimore and Greene County

Let’s be clear: You don’t “elect” an unopposed candidate! “Elect” in the campaign sign is a LIE!

When you see a campaign sign that asks you to “elect” an unopposed candidate in an uncontested election, think

The legal definition of election is a selection process: In an election voters are presented with at least 2 candidates and choose one of them. Candidates may be “endorsed” by one or more parties but for an election or a selection process to take place, you need at least two candidates. One candidate is not a choice and is not an “election.”

It is the duty of the so-called political parties to present voters with a choice. There has been a disturbing recent trend in our so-called American democratic process — a trend that is becoming very conspicuous in Greene County and the Town of New Baltimore — of presenting voters with a single, unopposed candidate in uncontested “elections.” This is not a new trend and has been concealed from voters in at least 38 states for decades and has been permitted by state election laws, laws that deprive voters of their right to choose who governs them.

As many of our readers know, each election year we study the candidates and make our picks. We share them with you because we have done the research and have asked the questions. When, IF the candidates respond, we let you know what they had to say. Here are our picks and recommendations for November 6, 2018:

First of all, we’d like to start our election choices with a positive:
Peter J. Markou
for
Greene County Treasurer.

Peter Markou is a Five-Star Choice for Greene County Treasurer.
Experience, Integrity, Committed

Peter Markou is a five-star candidate.

Mr Markou is intelligent, a gentleman, honest, and so different from the bottom-feeders that are left on the ballot. Mr Markou has been Greene County Treasurer for several terms and there’s no one who can say anything negative about the man. Vote for Peter Markou for Greene County Treasurer; he’s honest, competent and has proved he can do the job like a real professional, not like a politician.

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Greene County Coroners

Bob Gaus (D) and Joshua Lipsman (D)

(Democrats endorsed by the Independence Party)
opposing
Richard Vigilio (R) and Paul Seney (R)

Gaus and Lipsman have kept their Democrat affiliation a bit under wraps, and have touted their endorsement by the Independence Party. That’s a bit sneaky in our opinion but HEY! we are reporting about much, much worse in this article.

Not many voters really understand what a county coroner does but many may at some time in their lives have to deal with one, so we’d like to make certain it’s the right one.

We have written several pieces on coroners in the past and our basic opinion is that it is an outdated office, political, and really should be made obsolete in favor of the medical examiner’s office. That having been said, and already having raised important questions about the ethics of funeral directors or physicians being involved with the politics of death investigations,we object only to the general ethics and the history of the office of coroner, and why it should be done away with and replaced by a competent, qualified and non-political medical examiner.

There are already two incumbent Greene County Coroners: Richard Vigilio has been Greene County Coroner for 24 years and a funeral director (Richards Funeral Home) for 63 years. We think it’s time for Vigilio to retire before he becomes a coroner’s case himself. Paul Seney is the second Greene County Coroner, and is a funeral director at Richards Funeral Home and Brady Funeral home.

As for the two individuals running for Greene County Coroner: Bob Gaus, a funeral director, and Joshua Lipsman, a physician/healthcare policy promoter, we can say but little about them in terms of competence or character. We’d lean more towards Gaus, given the necessary skills of a funeral director and his experience with death and deathcare on a daily basis. Lipsman? Well, he’s more qualified in the politics of healthcare and probably has much less experience with death and deathcare than Gaus. Could they do the job? Our bets would be on Gaus in terms of effectiveness. Given Lipsman’s history and training, we don’t think he’d be the best choice. Death is something physicians try to avoid (unless you’re a pathologist, which Lipsman is not)and you’ll have a tough time changing a physician’s attitude towards death and with it his attitude towards the survivors. Go with Gaus.

 

As for the second candidate, we’d go with Seney for a couple of reasons: First, he’s experienced and has had the benefit of Richard Vigilio, with whom he’s worked for several years. Second, he’s a funeral diretor and, although we still object to the ethics of a funeral director in the coroner’s position, if we must have a coroner, then the funeral director is intimately familiar not only with death but the paperwork and laws concerning death, and how to best deal compassionately with survivors. So, while we wish Richard Vigilio all the best in his retirement after this election, we think that Paul Seney would be a good man to partner up with Bob Gaus.

Gaus and Lipsman are both 61 years old; Lipsman is from downstate. Both are Democrats. It may seem odd putting a Democrat (Gaus) in office and running the risk of adding more corpses to the list of voters registered Democrat but dead, but Hey! Vigilio is getting close to being a corpse and is Republican; Gaus may have a few years of life left in him, and may be able to complete at least one term of office. What about Lipsman? Too political, too full of himself (he’s a Democrat, a doctor, into public health policy, etc. We all know what happens when a Democrat gets involved in health policy; even if only the dead are affected!) Let’s leave him to his interests in public health policy and his overly liberal politics; he’d be too much of a political prima donna in the coroner’s office. Head’s too big. Lipsman’s from downstate and doesn’t know local culture or people. Not a good choice.

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Now we’d like to handle the
Real Scoundrels List

We’ll have to wait til next year to go after New Baltimore Town Supervisor Jeff Ruso, but we’ve got enough on him already to put someone else in the Supervisor’s office. He won’t be able to save himself with anything worth mentioning in the coming year. He’s dead in the water already.

But we’d like to concentrate on this year’s failures:

Alan VanWormer

Running UNOPPOSED (Denying Your Voice and Wasting Your Vote)

So Why?!?! did the Republicans spend so much money on so many campaign signs for a guy who is running unopposed. In an uncontested election ONE campaign sign and NO votes would hand the election over to him since he’s already legally considered “elected.” Seems that wasting taxpayers’ money is still the way to go in New Baltimore!

This time he’s running on the Republican ticket, Unqualified, Gutless, No Training, No Education. We’ve already published an article dedicated to the problems we have with Alan VanWormer and you can read that article at The Problem with Alan VanWormer. We also are solidly against giving away a vote to any unopposed candidate and not having a voice in who gets into office. We have written a very well-researched article on the problems of unopposed candidates and uncontested elections and Why! they are a violation of our rights. You can read the article at Unopposed Candidates: The Denial of Your Vote!

Alan VanWormer just stood by and kept his mouth shut while Denis Jordan did his tricks in the New Baltimore Highway Department. Alan VanWormer was part of the corruption and didn’t do a thing to stop it. No Integrity! Alan VanWormer’s brother, Scott VanWormer, was hand-picked by Denis Jordan to be his Deputy Superintendent. No one lifted a finger. Dellisanti, Ruso, vanEtten, no one said a word. But New Baltimore Town Supervisor Jeff Ruso, the chief financial officer of the Town, and the New Baltimore Town Board approved sending Scott VanWormer to Ithaca, New York, for a three-day meeting — the Cornell Local Roads Program — all expenses paid plus his salary. The money and the time was wasted since Scott VanWormer doesn’t have the background or education to have understood what was going on. Furthermore, Alan VanWormer (Scott’s brother!!! And also employed by the New Baltimore Highway Department) is the one who is running unopposed for New Baltimore Highway Superintendent. Unopposed means he’s already got the job, so Why? didn’t they send Alan VanWormer to the Highway Meeting, if anyone? That’s the way Jeff Ruso and the New Baltimore Town Board thinks: They DON’T!!!

Question: Why are we still electing unqualified, dumbasses, with no training to the position of Town Superintendent of Highways. Most of them can’t even read!!! Yet New Baltimore still keeps them in a job and hands them hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, perhaps even millions of taxpayer dollars to play with and squander and no one seems to care. The job should not be up for election in the first place. The position of Town Superintendent of Highways should be a non-political, professional position filled on a competitiive application basis, with the successful hiree having the right qualifications and subject to discipline and even termination! Putting a professional in the position would more than pay for itself because of proper fiscal and human resources management and administration. That’s the Town Board’s job that they’re not doing. They’re a bunch of dumbasses sitting there thinking of ways to keep our Town Hall packed with political dumbasses and friends.

The Alternative: You don’t have one!

Let’s move on…

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Patrick “Pat” Linger (R)

Out of Touch (except in an election year), Doesn’t Care, a Political Fixture/Tool, No Accomplishments, a Wasted Vote.

We have already published an earlier article to Pat Linger and Greene County DA, Joe Stanzione. You can read what we had to say to them at Open Letter to County Legislator Patrick Linger and Greene County DA Joseph Stanzione.

Linger just didn’t think it important enough to tell voters what his accomplishments were during his last term — obviously he had none — but now he’s begging New Baltimore voters for another term. Take a hike, Patty! You ran and hid when residents needed you. You refused to respond to questions regarding your performance in office this past term. You handed New Baltimore Highway Superintendent Denis Jordan hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, and Jordan pissed them away, doing more damage than he was worth. Now the balless Republicans on the New Baltimore Town Board and New Baltimore Town Supervisor Jeff Ruso is following in the shite tracks of his mentor and now Deputy Supervisor Nick Dellisanti. We’re sick of the same old-same old and the dog and pony acts in Town Hall and in the County Legislature. Take a walk Patty. Your double-talking friends in Town Hall will be following you out the door!

The Alternative: Jim Eckl

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Joseph “Joe” Stanzione (R)

Running for re-election to the Office of the Greene County District Attorney

Joseph “Joe” Stanzione.
Pantywaist or Panty-waste?

Unaccomplished, Avoids Commitment, Violates his Oath of Office

Just like Pat Linger, Joe Stanzione is a dud, a panty waist.  We have enough duds and panty-waists in Greene County and in New Baltimore. Stanzione goes into hiding when the real issues come up. Did he defend New Baltimore taxpayers and residents when they asked for his help to get compensated for damage done to property by former Highway Superintendent Jordan and his gaggle of monkeys? NOT! Did he go after the New Baltimore Town Supervisor Dellisanti or after Jeff Ruso and the Town Board when they ignored residents’ and taxpayers pleas for relief, compensation for damage to their property? NOT! Does Greene County need a panty-waist District Attorney like Stanzione? NOT! 

Back in we published an open letter to Joe Stanzione. It’s worth a read at Open Letter to Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione. Since then he’s done zilch but now wants to continue doing zilch. No way, José Stanzione! It’s the highway for you, dude!

The county district attorney is the county’s chief law enforcement officer. So Why? is Greene County nicknamed “Cold Case?” Because so little is being done by the Greene County District Attorney in terms of keeping local government honest and criminals prosecuted. That’s Why!

The Alternative: ??? We had a tough time finding out who is opposing Stanzione. We’re waiting for a reply from the Greene County BOE.

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George Amedore

Republican, Irresponsible, Indifferent, Bullshitter.
You know it’s an election year when you see or hear him.

A pink-eared jackass!

George Amedore shows up every election year to beg for the NYS Senate seat, 46th District, and to appear with his Republican cronies at the New Baltimore Republican Club rally to tell everyone fairy tales of what he’s done for New Baltimore and his district. Of course, the gullible back-woods politicians, committee people, and some misguided voters show up to listen to the mealy-mouthed promises never to be kept. In fact, Amedore was complacent and irresponsible when he was handing out state highway monies to Denis Jordan to burn up. We published an article about his legendary generosity with taxpayer dollars and his total lack of accountability. Denis Jordan is under investigation and had to resign; we think Amedore should do the same. He has some nerve asking for New Baltimore’s votes!

Read our article George Amedore, NY State Senator for 46th District, Needs to do Some Homework to learn more about what we told Amedore about New Baltimore and the New Baltimore Highway Department.

The Alternative: ??? Pat Courtney Strong, another woman-wanting-to-be-a-man from Kingston. OMG! That’s a choice??? (Note: Strong is from Kingston, like Amedore, a businesswoman. Problem: Strong knows about as much as Amedore about what New Baltimore and Greene County needs: both know nothing!)

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Antonio Delgado

Democrat, Racist, ex-Rapper, Anti-American.

The Racist Rapper and the Democrat Candidate.
The same face, different outfit.

Is that the best the Democrats can do for Upstate voters? 

Delgado is filth, a racist, ex-rapper whose rapping celebrated sex with porn stars and anti-American, racist lyrics. He might be the hero of give-it-all-away Liberal Democrats. And he might be able to attract votes in mostly minority New York City, but he’s a big dirty ball of crappola to Central and Upstate NY. He might be popular with low-class, inner-city minorities and illegal immigrants with a name like Antonio Delgado, but he’s a clear reject when it comes to people with values and morals. His skin color would get him the downstate minority vote but among people who look deeper than skin color when we vote, he’s a total reject.

We’ve already wasted too many words on a loser like Antonio Delgado. If that’s the best the Democrats can offer New Yorkers, we don’t wonder that they are going to hell in barf bag.

You’ll need this when going to the polls and seeing what the Dems have picked for you.

The Alternative: John Faso

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James “Jim” Eckl

A multiple-loser but our only alternative to Patrick “Pat” Linger, a loser and a scoundrel.

Well, the New Baltimore Democratic Committee made up of Janet Kash, Eileen Vosburgh, Doreen Davis , Beth Schneck. and district committee members Janet Foley,  Richard Guthrie, Judith Felsten, Anne Walsh Mitchell, Lee Davis (Yes. That’s the former loser town justice! Another Democrat loser scraped up by the New Baltimore and Greene County Dems!), Jim Eckl (Yes. That’s the same Jim Eckl the Dems are running against Patrick Linger). New Baltimore and Greene County Democrats have not only failed to give voters candidates, they can’t even get people to serve on their district committees! So they have to keep running losers from past elections.

James “Jim” Eckl, Democrat, Recycled Goods, Democrats’ Last Resort. Give him a chance to fly or fail. Anything’s better than Linger!

His party handlers, the New Baltimore Democratic Committee, Janet Kash, Eileen Vosburgh, Doreen Davis , Beth Schneck., couldn’t tell us why he should get your vote. We found that a bit odd because normally the political party committee members would be over the moon to tell us why their candidate should be elected. Not the New Baltimore Democraps! They didn’t want to say a word about Jim Eckl. Well, there’s not much to say about Jim Eckl, we guess.

The Alternative: Voters in New Baltimore are in a real predicament. You can chose between the Louse (Linger) and the Loser (Eckl).

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In the Town of New Baltimore and in Greene County, we don’t have much to work with. We residents, taxpayers and voters have so much garbage being handed to us You’d think we had a recycling plant or a transfer facility in the neighborhood; we get the dregs from the Republicans and the Democrats can’t even dig up a candidate from the many cemeteries in the area.

New Baltimore & Greene County Elections.
What we have to choose from.
Recycled Garbage.

None of the majority of candidates running are really worth a vote but where there’s at least a choice, that is, when the candidate on the ballot isn’t running unopposed, it would pay to cast a vote for either candidate. They’re garbage but at least you have a choice of which garbage.

When a candidate is running unopposed or in an uncontested race, New York Election Law has already “declared him elected,” and your vote is wasted; you have no voice in who gets the position. As in past elections we say don’t give them the numbers. Don’t cast a vote for that candidate (in New Baltimore, for example, that would be Alan VanWormer) because if you don’t cast a vote, you send the political party and the candidate an important message: You are offended by the fact that you were denied a voice in who to put in that office. If you vote for an unopposed candidate, you are wasting your vote; if you refuse to vote for that candidate, he’s already elected but at least he won’t get the numbers and you will have sent an important message to the parties.

DON’T WASTE YOUR VOTE ON AN UNOPPOSED CANDIDATE!

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If you’re trying to figure out who is running for what office, and you’re having a hard time getting the information, you’re not alone.

We are pretty good at getting information but when it comes to our fine Board of Elections and our Political Party Committees, you just can’t get anyone to say anything or cough up some names or information. If you are having the same problem, you might want to give your Greene County Board of Elections a call or send them an email. If you’re really lucky and they’re having a good day, you might actually get a response. Here’s the contact information:

Greene County Board of Elections

411 Main Street, Catskill NY, 12414

Telephone: 518-719-3550

email (general): elections@discovergreene.com

Republican Commissioner: Brent Bogardus, bbogardus@discovergreene.com

Democrat Commissioner: Marie Metzler, mmetzler@discovergreene.com

The Golden Turd Award
For Political Excellence

 

Open Letter to County Legislator Patrick Linger and Greene County DA Joseph Stanzione

Funding for Justice

We’re big enough now to start making a real serious difference in how things are done around here. So far, we’ve just been providing information and facts. Maybe it’s time to start rocking some boats through the courts. Just think of it this way: If we were to ask only 50% of our readers to donate only $1 to a Justice Fund, we’d have enough to send a good number of our elected officials and public servants to the new jail they want to build. (We say only 50% of our readers because the other 50% are readers who say they don’t read this blog but practically live on it. That 50% are the state, county, and town parasites who go on this blog to see if they’ve been mentioned today. We seriously doubt that they’d be willing to contribute to their own prosecution fund. Even if we sent just two or three to jail and a couple were to lose their pension rights, that would send a message to the others that they might be next. Send a couple of public employees to jail, have a couple of judges disbarred, take away a couple of attorney’s license to practice their corrupt law. What do you think, readers, voters, citizens? Does that sound like a plan?)

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It’s an election year and in the New Baltimore Town Hall they’re still in “lawyer mode,” according to New Baltimore Sole Assessor, Gordon Bennett.

It’s and election year and County Legislator for New Baltimore, Patrick “Pat” Linger, running on the Republican ticket, is seeking re-election. Joseph “Joe” Stanzione is also seeking re-election to the Greene County District Attorney Office.

Linger’s and Stanzione’s Republican “friends” in New Baltimore Town Hall haven’t done them any favors! In fact, the way New Baltimore Town Hall has conducted the business of government is likely to have hurt Linger, Stanzione and others very badly, and may even cost them the election. We’ll be doing our best to see to that.

These two politicians seeking re-election have two things in common:

• They have dropped the ball when it comes to ensuring good government and compliance with the law.
• They have managed to slip under the radar during their past terms in office, to avoid detection of their incompetence.

We haven’t missed the fact that while the New Baltimore Highway Department was squandering taxpayer dollars, Pat Linger and George Amedore were handing him fistfuls of taxpayer money in CHIPS grants and other state and federal support for highway infrastructure. The New Baltimore Highway Department under Denis Jordan and now under Scott van Wormer, had no training or education to qualify them for planning or designing or even for repairing roads and highway infrastructure. The money was squandered, wasted, and Linger and Amedore just were oblivious, never checking or monitoring how the money was being used. The Greene County DA, Joe Stanzione, was aware of what was going on; WE REPORTED IT TO HIM!!! Nick Dellisanti and Jeff Ruso were also aware of what was going on but couldn’t control Jordan!!! Puppet Dellisanti, we recall, defended his choices of appointees by saying, “Republicans appoint Republicans,” and we see where that got New Baltimore! Residents and taxpayers got screwed!!!

Thanks Linger, St anzione, Dellisanti, Ruso, Jordan, van Wormer!!!
You sure know how to kindle a cozy fire for yourselves…using our money!!!

We think that a local resident has hit the nail on the head when he writes in an

Open Letter to
Patrick “Pat” Linger, Greene County Legislator for the Town of New Baltimore
and
Joseph “Joe” Stanzione, Greene County District Attorney

Here’s what the resident has to say:
(Reprinted in its entirety; we have added the graphics.)

Dear Mr. Linger:
Dear Mr. Stanzione:

You have failed us miserably. You have betrayed the trust we invested in you when we stood behind you and elected you to public office. You have violated your oaths of office. You have shown yourselves to be unfit for public office.

I am writing to you regarding a state of affairs in the Town of New Baltimore, County of Greene, which has been ignored by the incumbent Republican Town Supervisors over three terms: Nick Dellisanti during his two terms in office, and Jeff Ruso, the current Town Supervisor.

We cite here as well the state of affairs that has been going on for almost two decades in the New Baltimore Highway Department under former Highway Superintendent Denis Jordan, and which is continuing under the acting Highway Superintendent Scott vanWormer, and will likely continue under the next Highway Superintendent Alan vanWormer, Scott vanWormer’s brother, who is running for that office unopposed and who will be “declared elected,” under New York State ElectionLaw.

Residents and voters, at least those of us who have not been so discouraged by the state of affairs in New Baltimore, and who still go to the polls – for all the good it does and what little difference it makes. New Baltimore voters have for several years now been deprived of their right to choose their elected officials because the Greene County and New Baltimore political party committees are unable to run candidates, and we voters are being force-fed candidates running unopposed; we are being denied our vote. We do not have “elections” in New Baltimore; we may go to the polls but we have a choice of ONE. That’s not democracy.

Business as usual in Greene County and New Baltimore.

Former Town Supervisor Nick Dellisanti chose not to run for office in 2017; instead, his deputy Jeff Ruso (R) ran unopposed and was “declared elected” though not elected, in fact more than a third of those going to the polls abstained from casting a vote for Ruso. But Ruso’s first order of business when assuming office in January 2018 was to appoint Nick Dellisanti as his Deputy Supervisor. Although the fact that Dellisanti accepted the appointment doesn’t make a lot of sense, the bottom line is that we in New Baltimore have two executives, the Supervisor and his Deputy Supervisor, neither of which have been democratically elected.

But what’s worse, is that in Town Hall we have a gaggle of clowns who have no idea why they are there, and are blinded by their political ambitions and have forgotten or never knew what public service is; they are not public servants, they are interested only in cronyism and their simple-minded notions of power.

Here’s an example out of real life in New Baltimore, and an example of how Mr. Dellisanti, Mr. Ruso and their respective Town Boards, appointees, and hirelings have misused taxpayers, and abused their pubic offices.

You, Mr. Linger, and you, Mr. Stanzione, have been personally informed of these situations by those affected but have done NOTHING. It’s an election year, Mr. Linger and Mr. Stanzione, so don’t you think it’s time you grunted or got off the pot? It’s an election year, Mr. Linger and Mr. Stanzione, so don’t you think you should come up with some answers and some actions? You’ve done nothing so far so now might be a great time to show some good faith, even if it is self-serving in an election year.

First of all, for almost two decades, the former New Baltimore Highway Superintendent, Mr. Denis Jordan, was given carte blanche to do what he pleased in the Town of New Baltimore, squandering countless hundreds of thousands, very likely millions of taxpayer dollars doing more damage than improvement. Why? Because he was allowed to do that by past Town administrations, both Democrat and Republican, and because he was not monitored, despite the fact he had no training or education, and was about as qualified as a cabbage to do the job. His recent resignation and the so-called investigations are in reality a smoke and mirrors game. The investigations it seems are nothing more than a pornographic dog and pony act, making fools of voters, taxpayers, and those adversely affected by Jordan’s incompetence and indifference.

Why haven’t we heard anything more about the so-called investigations? What was the outcome? You investigated a public entity and a public figure but the public has been kept in the dark. Is that your idea of good government? It appears to us that it is.

We don’t hear anything from our elected officials in Town Hall about these investigations. In fact, according to local media, New Baltimore Town Officials claimed not to be aware of any “investigations,” or not to have been informed of them. I find that very hard to believe, especially given the fact that the subject of the investigations was a New Baltimore Department head and an elected official, Mr. Denis Jordan, and the New Baltimore Town Clerk’s office was floor-to-ceiling with banker’s boxes all labeled “Highway Department,” during the investigations. But Supervisor Ruso and members of the Town Board were unaware of the investigations. Were you, Mr. Linger, or you, Mr. Stanzione, aware of the investigations? If so, why weren’t New Baltimore residents and taxpayers informed?

The incompetence and negligence of the New Baltimore Town Board under Dellisanti and Ruso, and their indifference and negligence of the damage that Denis Jordan was doing can’t be made up. It’s real, it’s ongoing, and it’s going to haunt them and you for some considerable time to come. Why? Because it’s scandalous!

In 2016, both Dellisanti and Ruso, along with sitting Town Board member Shelly van Etten, made personal inspections of the results of lack of maintenance of New Street in New Baltimore, and the damage to private property as the result of that lack of maintenance of the roadway owned by the Town of New Baltimore and for which the Town of New Baltimore and its Highway Department were legally liable for repair and maintenance. [Editor’s Note: After two years, neither Dellisanti nor Ruso, nor the Highway Department have responded with any proposal to fix the damage they caused.]

Dellisanti and Ruso, and two days later, Mr. Denis Jordan and his Deputy Mr. Scott van Wormer, again visited New Street, and for a second time Dellisanti and Ruso were apprised of the situation and the damage being done.

Dellisanti, Ruso, and Jordan managed to ignore the ongoing damage, Jordan creating new hazards and damage every time he managed to make an appearance.

Notices of Claim were served in which the Town was apprised in detail of the damage, and the associated liabilities. Dellisanti and Ruso did nothing to cure the damage or to take any responsibility; they simply handed the Notices over to their insurance company, who then handed the Notices to their attorneys.

Why is it that bad government seems to think they can avoid liability and responsibility if they hand their incompetence over to a law firm? Town law provides for remedies but the Town of New Baltimore has, and continues to avoid their responsibilities and forces taxpayers and residents into the poor house because the only possibility is court, lawsuits. But the insurance companies have much deeper pockets than residents. Why should a resident have to fight to get local government to accept responsibility for what they have done? Why should it cost local residents, hard-working honest people, tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to force elected officials to do what’s right and to comply with the law.

That’s a good question for you, Mr. Stanzione. You’re the chief law enforcement official in the County of Greene, what’s your position on New Baltimore’s liabilities and failure to comply with the law?

Well, the Town of New Baltimore, and you, Mr. Linger, and you, Mr. Stanzione, have been kept updated on the ongoing damage to a private residential structure in the Hamlet of New Baltimore, which you all KNOW has sustained damage due to the failure of the Town to maintain drainage and roadways as required by the law. The structure has been subject to ongoing damage thanks to incompetent roadwork. The Town has been provided with images, videos, and ongoing updates but the Town has so far ignored everything, and has done nothing.

The Highway Department installed a deep so-called “catchment” that’s almost 2 feet deep and 30 inches across, a booby-trap, but when asked to put in a proper grate, they’ve ignored the request for nearly two years. When asked at least to mark the catchment to avoid and accident, they ignored that request, too! Don’t drive down New Street, New Baltimore at night, you’re risking your life. But you, Mr. Linger, you, Mr. Stanzione, you Mr. Dellisanti, and you Mr. Ruso, all know about this. But you have done NOTHING about it. And now Linger and Stanzione, you’re asking New Baltimore for their votes?!?

In fact, Mr. Linger, we’ve read that you were asked to share your accomplishments with a local reporting medium but you refused to respond. Does that mean you have no accomplishments or that you feel you don’t owe the voting public that information or even a response? Which is it Mr. Linger?

Well, the tax bills come out though, with clockwork regularity. A building’s collapsing because of Town negligence but the building inspector/code enforcement officer and the assessor refuse to inspect the building. The owner pays his taxes on a building that he can’t use.

When asked to inspect the site and to adjust the assessment, the New Baltimore Sole Assessor, Gordon Bennett, refuses and tells the owner to take it up on Grievance Day.

The owner presents the case on Grievance day to the Board of Assessment Review, a group of appointees, appointed by the Town Supervisor and approved by the Town Board. Again, facts, just the facts, images, answers were presented to the BAR, who granted 9 out of 11 requests for reduction of assessments but denied the requests made by the New Street property owner. This blog reported on that scandal.

The next step was to go before a hearing officer in a Small Claims Assessment Review proceeding (S.C.A.R.) and ask that an independent hearing officer reconsider the BAR’s determination. This was done and Sole Assessor Bennett appeared to defend his assessment, but claimed that the property was not owner-occupied, and therefore, the owner was not eligible to be heard. But the property was and is “owner-occupied” as defined by the law but the more-than-eighty year old hearing officer stopped listening early in the hearing and, despite volumes of proof, sided with Bennett, although allowing a $1,000 reduction in another affected property.

Does something sound fishy here? Well, it gets even better, because New Baltimore’s Bennett responded to the hearing officer’s question, “Why hasn’t New Baltimore condemned the structure?” Bennett replied that New Baltimore Town Hall was in “lawyer mode,” meaning that they would not respond because of liability. [Editor’s emphasis]

If that wasn’t enough, Bennett shot himself and the Town of New Baltimore in the foot a second time when he stated, and I quote from the hearing officer’s official determination:

But first, a quote from the hearing officer:

“Petitioner representative under oath states that the house is used for storage and that it is uninhabitable and unsafe to use as a residence because of structural failures and water damage. Photographs were presented to support the contention that it was uninhabitable.”  [Editor’s emphasis]

And then the hearing officer states and certifies that:

“The Assessor [Bennett] concurred that the property was uninhabitable because of structural failures. Assessor then moved to disqualify the petition on the ground that the property was not owner-occupied.” [Editor’s emphasis. “Not owner-occupied”? Is Bennett crazy or just stupid? Maybe both! He just admitted that the property was “uninhabitable because of structural failures.”]

Well, if I am reading that correctly, the hearing officer was provided with enough evidence and proof to clearly show that the property is “uninhabitable and unsafe,” and Bennett agreed that “the property was uninhabitable because of structural failures,” I am at a loss Why?  Mr. Bennett and the Town of New Baltimore have not acted in good faith and at least reduced the assessment of the property.

I am also aware that the owner/owner’s representative  has addressed numerous letters and emails to the Town Supervisor, the Town Board, the Office of the Assessor, the Building Inspector, the Highway Department asking what they are going to do, what they propose should be done. The owner/owner’s representative hasn’t received a single response from any of those offices!

Sole Assessor Gordon Bennett explained the reason for this is that Town Hall is in “lawyer mode.”  [Editor’s emphasis]

“Lawyer mode.” I wonder if you, Mr. Linger, or perhaps you, Mr. Stanzione, can explain what exactly “lawyer mode” is and whether there is a provision of Town Law that permits elected, appointed officials and public employees to ignore their responsibilities and claim “lawyer mode?” Is that something like pleading the Fifth? I’d be very grateful if you could get back to me on that one. Yeah! Fat chance? Well, if hell doesn’t freeze over in the meantime, there‎’ll be a very special place there for you, Mr. Linger and you, Mr. Stanzione, as well as Mr. Jordan, Dellisanti, Ruso, and Bennett.

Shame on you all!!! You are hypocrites all!

Even if Mr. Ruso, Mr. Dellisanti, Mr. Bennet, Mr. van Wormer and the others in that den of thieves don’t have any dignity, one would hope that one of you, Mr. Linger or Mr. Stanzione, would have the decency to call New Baltimore to explain, to justify their scandalous treatment of honest taxpayers, or at least to investigate their abuses. Or is that too much to expect, to hope for?

The hypocrisy includes their treatment of veterans. I am a veteran. The property owner of the damaged property is a veteran. I know of others who have suffered at the hands of Mr. Jordan and other public officials in New Baltimore, and those residents are veterans.

I am personally disgusted and affronted by the fact that so many of our county and town officials claim to support and to honor veterans but stab them in the back when push comes to shove. Mealy-mouthed, pabulum-puking hypocrisy is what it really is. Veterans luncheons, monuments, the whole embarrassing hypocritical dog and pony display makes me physically sick.

What’s worse is when you see who’s at those events, it’s a bunch of deluded old men thinking that they are being honored – sometimes they’re even outnumbered by the politicians who all seem to crawl out of the woodwork in time for a photo op, and then exchange a few empty words before making some sort of excuse that they have to be somewhere else.

In recap, we in the town of New Baltimore, the Little North Korea, Greene County, New York, USA, the Third World of the East Coast, are sick and tired of the propaganda and election campaign rhetoric, and the abuse we receive from elected officials who, in reality, are not elected. We are sick of being ignored and subjected to retaliatory or “special” treatment by incompetent public servants, who have their own agendas once they steal our votes. We are sick and tired of public servants and elected officials who breach and violate the contract between the taxpayer and government, the contract that basically says that we’ll elect you, you’ll collect tax paid salaries and pensions, but you have to conduct our business in good faith and fair play.

You have not done that. You have violated our trust. You have violated your oaths of office. You have cheated us. We now demand justice and your heads!

I demand, and I think I can speak not only for the abused property owner on New Street, but the abused residents throughout New Baltimore, for the abused citizens, residents, tax payers and voters who have been cheated and misled by people like you, Mr. Linger, Mr. Stanzione, Mr. Dellisanti, Mr. Ruso, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Jordan, Mr. vanWormer and so many parasites like you, that you make amends for your evil, your piracy, your treasons, your misconduct, your incompetence, your shameful abuse of the trust we gave you on election day.

Fix what you have allowed to happen and make those whose suffering and losses you have caused whole again.

And for those of you who were not elected, who were “declared elected,” but not by voters, you are the worst of the bunch because you have not been approved democratically to lead or to govern.

Shame on you! Shame on you all! And shame on New Baltimore for allowing this to happen at all!

Disgusted,

A Concerned Resident

The Smalbany blog has already published numerous articles on the issues presented in the resident’s letter. They are all true and factual. Supervisor Ruso, Deputy (former supervisor) Dellisanti, Sole Assessor Gordon Bennett, the New Baltimore Highway Department under Denis Jordan and Scott vanWormer,the New Baltimore Town Board are all a disgrace to any concept of decency, much less good competent government.

Veterans?!? The writer mentions an important point that we may have overlooked in the past but now have focused on: veterans and how they’re treated. And Yes! we have noticed the so-called Veterans Luncheon and the Veterans Monument at Town Hall. New Baltimore has a Veterans Committee, too. You have to wonder if that so-called committee works as well as the other New Baltimore “committees,” it’s a wonder we have any living veterans in New Baltimore. Our opinion as veterans: Keep your casseroles and mealy-mouthed speeches and give us the justice we put our lives on the line for!!!  And all you cowardly parasites who never wore a uniform in your lives, don’t give us your bullshit about how you love your veterans!!! Put your policies where you’re foul-smelling mouths are!!

By the way, Mr Linger, Mr Stanzione: Were either of you in the military? We mean other than the boy scouts, girl scouts, or National  Guard or Reserves? How about you, Mr Ruso, Mr Dellisanti: Were you ever in uniform? We mean other than Albany Girls Academy, that is.

Yes, it’s an election year and this is the time to make your voices heard, that is, if you haven’t been deprived of a voice through your vote. It’s uncanny that so many people will put up with having their rights taken away without uttering even a whimper. How can real Americans tolerate “unopposed candidates” or “uncontested elections” without screaming at the top of their voices: NO WAY!

Either do the job or get out of Town Hall! Do the job or get out of County government!

And we’d like to know more about this “lawyer mode” thing Mr Bennett has revealed; is this a new fad in Town and Village government? And what’s the deal with the Town’s refusal to respond to letters and correspondence? Too cowardly to take a position on the questions asked about how you operate the Town? Are the questions about taking responsibility and complying with the law over your heads? Yeah. We can see why you’d try to hide. Confused are you? Look, either do the job or get out of Town Hall! Do the job or get out of County government! And what about the Town of New Baltimore Town Board’s responsibilities in terms of public safety and good stewardship of public resources? Have we turned a blind eye to that, too?

You! Yeah, YOU!
Your ass is grass, dude, and our foot’s a lawnmower!

Mr Ruso, Mr Dellisanti, Mr Bennett, Mr Jordan, Mr vanWormer, Mr Linger, Mr Stanzione, and others can run but they won’t be able to hide.

Letters will be going out soon the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (and the Office of Real Property Services), the Office of the New York State Comptroller, and the Office of the New York State Attorney General, demanding investigations or at least inquiry into what’s going on in New Baltimore (and Ravena/Coeymans, too). We’re going to ask Why? Mr Patrick Linger and Mr Joseph Stanzione have dropped the ball on so many issues, Why? they’re asleep on duty. We’ll also drop Mr Cuomo cc’s of the letters to see what he has to say about his Repukelican friends in Greene County.

We will allege conspiracy to obstruct justice, to deprive citizens of their civil and protected rights, election fraud, violation of oaths of office, unlawful deprivation of rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the New York State and United States Constitution (3rd, 5th and 14th Amendments), violation of due process rights, breach of contract, among other violations and crimes, tortious negligence, unlawful eviction (constructive eviction), discriminatory practices. The list could go on but rest assured, the evidence and the proof for these allegations and others is clear, conspicuous, and incontestable. Mr Ruso, Mr Dellisanti, Mr Bennett, Mr Jordan, Mr vanWormer, Mr Linger, Mr Stanzione can run but they won’t be able to hide.

How is it possible that New Baltimore, Greene County has such a bunch of irresponsible, despicable morons running the show. How can they get away with destroying private property, avoiding any notions of fair play and good faith, and still sleep at night. Well, when you have no conscience, you can do anything and still get a good night’s sleep. new Baltimore Town hall, Mr Patrick Linger, Mr Joseph Stanzione, Mr Jeff Ruso, Mr Nick Dellisanti, Denis Jordan and Scot vanWormer are living proof of that!

New Baltimore & Greene County Elections.
What we have to choose from..
One Big Garbage Sorting Operation!

 

 

Riley’s Stats: A near record week.

Since Smalbany published the first article about Riley “Jeremiah” Kern, the young man who was killed in a tragic motorcycle-pickup truck accident on July 27, 2018, the coverage of our investigations into Travis D. Hagen, 48, of Coxsackie, NY, and the Coeymans Police Department, specifically their botched non-investigation and cover-up of the facts of the accident, we have forced Travis Hagen and Coeymnans Patrolman Ian FOARD and acting Coeymans Police Chief Daniel Contento into the headlights. Their reaction: Well Foard and Contento are like deer in your headlights; they don’t know which way to go. Travis Hagen has simply crawled back into the woodwork.

The bad news is the Foard, Conento, and Hagen are still free and walking the streets. No one is safe.

The good news is that Riley’s case has gotten near record attention and interest on an international scale.
We thought our readers would be interested in the stats so we’re sharing them soon.

Reader Figures Have Gone Thru the Ceiling!

The four articles getting all the attention at the expense of other important issues in the region are:

• We Are Re-Opening the Case
• Riley’s Song: Verse Two
• Riley’s Mom Responds: A Mother’s Perspective.
• The Editor Chimes in on Riley’s Song: What have you become, America?

Those articles grew out of our interest and concern that a fatal accident on State Route 143 in Coeymans Hollow, practically on the Sycamore Country Club golf course grounds, received absolutely no media coverage and, when readers started asking Smalbany about the accident, Smalbany started asking questions. (See the footnote in our article, Three Articles on New Baltimore Scandals: Pick One or Read All.)

Riley was a local kid and attended RCS high-school until moving to Kansas with his mom and younger sister.. He had returned to New York, and was living with his father in Climax at the time of the accident. Riley was a very popular kid and had many loyal and loving friends in the RCS area. Riley was 19 when he died; his funeral was on his 20th birthday.

Whatever you want to call it, it’s open now!

When Riley’s mom contacted us and told us how so many obstacles were being put in her path, how many contradictions she was hearing, how the factoids didn’t seem to make any sense, we decided that she had gotten enough of a runaround and heard enough bullshit for one day. We know the area and the people involved, and we know their histories. We know what they are capable of and we knew that Riley’s mom didn’t deserve the treatment she was getting. She had just lost her son, and needed answers, not a runaround.

Hagen, Foard, Contento had opened a can of angry hungry worms and they were on the menu as of NOW!

(Image Credit: We gratefully acknowledge http://www.justoutsidetheboxcartoon.com for this very appropriate image. Please support their site and always give proper credit for images you may use.)

We’ll be publishing the updated statistics on Saturday, September 16, for the information of our readers. The interest shown is phenomenal. Now what we’d really like to see is all of our readers joining together in a show of support for Rye’s mom and his family. They are hurting in a number of ways and need our support. We’ll keep our readers informed in our updates and continuing coverage. Stay tuned!

Fact: Our posts are shared automatically on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook but those views are not counted here on WordPress. That means our numbers are even higher than our WordPress statcounter shows! On LinkedIn along almost 10,000 followers see our posts. On Facebook the figure might be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions! We get the word out!