The two words that everyone is looking for are "PUBLIC LAND." What I find VERY disturbing is that an inside member of the administration with a strong position in the ruling party is calling for arresting citizens and jailing them for posting signs he disagrees with. OK, Ron Peron, are you going to call on Evita to send her SS thugs now? WTF kind of town do we have where someone of this political stature and power can publicly call for and demand imprisonment of his political enemies? Go back to Silesia or whatever Eastern European tyrannical hole you crawled out of, you smelly thug. Maybe you and Chris Gardner will both be swinging on the gallows when this is over if you keep this sheyete up.

Someday we can always hope for justice. Sic semper tyrannis.

Quoted from GrahamBonnet

...yeah, if they throw anyone in jail for sign violations then some people will end up drawn and quartered. How ridiculous.

cool ... I will put together a list of those folks who should be drawn and quartered first

Quoted from TippyCanoe

how about mr caldor with his signs ????
on mariaville and old mariaville

those would be illegal also

the sewage treatment plant is a town facility on town property  ... if you think it is ok for the anti-REMS sign
to be there ... then next year all the incumbents can put their campaign signs there, too

I haven't been on that part of Mariaville Rd since mid summer .. so I don't know anything about the
campaign signs up there.

Quoted from AVON

Hey Gadfly!

            I understand Mohawk will bill and reimburse the Town for ALS services.  Can you please clarify where the ALS billing proceeds will go if the ambulance tax district is formed?  Will these Town revenues come to the Town, or will they be allowed to stay with REMS?  FDG seems adamant that those revenues are to be turned over to the Town and there was no legal mechanism for an ambulance service to retain those revenues.  So is it safe to assume that the ALS monies would reduce the annual budget property tax, or will the monies get shuffled and hidden.  A revenue line item needs to be established in the annual budget to account for these revenues if this is the case.

Yes...Mohawk will bill for ALS administered by our paramendics and forward the proceeds to the Town. Whether or not the tax district
is formed, all ALS collections for Rotterdam paramedics still go to the Town...technically the Town owns the service...which is why REMS
should have been remitting those payments to the Town. The Town COULD give that money to REMS, or divert the funds to
essentially anything the Board chooses...but wherever it goes, it must be done through the budget appropriation process or by
resolution.

FDG is correct...the former Supervisor did not have the authority alone to permit REMS or anyone else to retain ALS collections, as
their attorney insists that REMS was simply told they could bill AND retain ALS funds. A contract is required for billing and the collected
funds must be turned over to the Town.

At an estimated annual revenue of up to $150,000, it is quite possible that ALS reimbursement could reduce the tax burden...if
the keepers of the treasury chose to do so. And I agree about the line item...especially after these explosive revelations about
REMS improperly retaining those revenues. I believe there is an item in the 2011 budget for a projected revenue of $100,000 from
ALS proceeds...and it is probably a low end estimate, but a safe one.

Quoted Text

Town faces vote
By Lauren Stanforth Staff Writer
Published: 12:00 a.m., Monday, December 13, 2010

ROTTERDAM -- On Tuesday, property owners will answer a question that's been debated for more than six years: Should the town pay for its own ambulance service?

Rotterdam officials are holding a referendum on the creation of a tax district to support Rotterdam Emergency Medical Services (REMS), a not-for-profit company that is currently being subsidized by the town to the tune of $120,000 a year. Approval of the district would cost Rotterdam property owners 10 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation per year.

Since 2004, when Rotterdam Volunteer Emergency Corp. and White Eagle Ambulance Service merged to form REMS, the new entity has struggled financially, and faced direct opposition from a for-profit competitor, Mohawk Ambulance. Mohawk appealed directly to town officials in 2007, proposing to buy the REMS building and ambulances. The following year, after an audit revealed poor record keeping and mismanagement of funds, a new REMS board of directors was installed. In 2009, the town agreed to give the ambulance service $10,000 a month to keep it solvent.

The previous town administration, led by Republican Supervisor Steven A. Tommasone, agreed to consider creating a tax district to keep the local ambulance service afloat, and the current leaders chose to honor the decision and put the question up for a referendum.

REMS recently hired attorney Frank Salamone, a former Republican Town Board candidate, to speak on its behalf after the town requested a new audit of the ambulance corps' books.

Salamone said REMS provides free services, such as adjusting home health equipment, well worth the $20 a year for the owner of a $200,000 home.

"REMS is a community-based EMS provider," Salamone said. "They do a lot of things a profit ambulance service doesn't do because they can't bill for it."

Salamone said the $235,000 that would be generated by the district would go toward building maintenance and the purchasing of new ambulances and equipment. The public would eventually elect a board of commissioners, and any major purchases would also have to be approved by voters, he said.

Last summer, Mohawk made a presentation to the Town Board, and said it could provide the same service at no added cost to taxpayers. Mohawk already provides mutual aid service to Rotterdam when the local corps isn't available. As the tax district vote approaches, Mohawk has mailed fliers to Rotterdam homes and put up billboards opposing it. REMS has orchestrated a similar campaign to gain support.

"We want the people in Rotterdam to know that a new tax district is simply not necessary to have high quality and reliable ambulance," said Mohawk spokesman Tom Nardacci in a statement.

Town Supervisor and Democrat Francis Del Gallo said he doesn't feel it's his place to put forth his opinion about the vote. But he said there are questions about the need to pay for a service that can be provided for free by another company.

"If you got in an accident, the real question is do you want to pay for a ride to the hospital through your insurance and also pay taxes on top of that?" Del Gallo said.....................>>>>......................>>>>.................http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Town-faces-vote-877238.php

At least FDG has made his position known on the issue - for that I give him credit.

Vote NO on Tuesday (and Wednesday for Mohonasen voters)

Yesterday, a group of older ladies who usually take a Tuesday "road trip" were discussing their plans for
December 14   ---- their FIRST  stop will be to go together to Town Hall to vote YES on the referendum ---
then they are driving north to Oscar's Smokehouse and shopping at the outlets.

It is gratifying to know that most people GET IT ...  the extra $15 to $25 a year tax is insignificant
compared to the value of a human life.

Quoted Text

It is gratifying to know that most people GET IT ...  the extra $15 to $25 a year tax is insignificant
compared to the value of a human life.

"If you got in an accident, the real question is do you want to pay for a ride to the hospital through your insurance and also pay taxes on top of that?" Del Gallo said

this guy gets it -  

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

It is gratifying to know that most people GET IT ...  the extra $15 to $25 a year tax is insignificant
compared to the value of a human life.

Especially when it's not your money.  $15 to $25 is that much more insignificant.  

Little do those older ladies know, they will still have to pay a $100 Medicare co-pay, and their Medicare premiums for the ambulance ride, in addition to the $15 to $25.  Unless they are indigent of course, then they will get soft billed and the taxpayer will end up picking up the costs.  

Who decides the indigent again?  More friends and family members that get a free ride and other non-ambulance related services on the taxpayer dime.  

Don't ya love Rotterdam!

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

It is gratifying to know that most people GET IT ...  the extra $15 to $25 a year tax is insignificant
compared to the value of a human life.

So, by your words, FDG doesn't "get it" ?

I guess FDG is on the wrong side of this issue, huh DV?  He obviously doesn't care about little old ladies.

Salamone said REMS provides free services, such as adjusting home health equipment, well worth the $20 a year for the owner of a $200,000 home.

"REMS is a community-based EMS provider," Salamone said. "They do a lot of things a profit ambulance service doesn't do because they can't bill for it."

Salamone said the $235,000 that would be generated by the district would go toward building maintenance and the purchasing of new ambulances and equipment. The public would eventually elect a board of commissioners, and any major purchases would also have to be approved by voters, he said.

---

this clown and  the reps that endorsed him dont get a free pass either?

is rems certified to be adjusting home health equipment? if they do anything besides fluff a pillow couldnt that potentially put them in position for a lawsuit?  you would think REM's lawyer would advise against that sort of behavior.

what is calders position on this???

Quoted from littlesal

Salamone said REMS provides free services, such as adjusting home health equipment, well worth the $20 a year for the owner of a $200,000 home.

"REMS is a community-based EMS provider," Salamone said. "They do a lot of things a profit ambulance service doesn't do because they can't bill for it."

Salamone said the $235,000 that would be generated by the district would go toward building maintenance and the purchasing of new ambulances and equipment. The public would eventually elect a board of commissioners, and any major purchases would also have to be approved by voters, he said.

---

this clown and  the reps that endorsed him dont get a free pass either?

is rems certified to be adjusting home health equipment? if they do anything besides fluff a pillow couldnt that potentially put them in position for a lawsuit?  you would think REM's lawyer would advise against that sort of behavior.

what is calders position on this???

Calder will not divulge his position...I had been asking him for months before the election.

Quoted from 147

At least FDG has made his position known on the issue - for that I give him credit.

Vote NO on Tuesday (and Wednesday for Mohonasen voters)

MT...Mohonasen is today!!

Just say NO...today AND tomorrow!

Quoted from CICERO

I guess FDG is on the wrong side of this issue, huh DV?  He obviously doesn't care about little old ladies.

I believe Mr. Del Gallo is wrong on this issue.  He knows that I think he is wrong on this issue.
Friends can disagree on issues and still be friends.