This is a great day for Rotterdam ... the ambulance issue is settled and REMS remains our ambulance provider.  
Here is to another 75 years (at least) of REMS serving our fine town.

This is a great day for Rotterdam ... the ambulance issue is settled and REMS remains our ambulance provider.  
Here is to another 75 years (at least) of REMS serving our fine town.

Quoted from 147

There was no point in this whole charade - their decisions were made long ago.  

DiLeva should be ashamed of herself.

Why should diLeva be ashamed? What in the world are you trying to say or "pretend" to say on this blog?

Quoted from tdonovan

Why should diLeva be ashamed? What in the world are you trying to say or "pretend" to say on this blog?

I'm saying that she was pushing for this - was very vocal concerning her views of the missing ALS money, funding, budgets, etc., and then didn't even show up for the vote?

Based on the bids submitted, there was no way that REMS proposal was better for the town than the Mohawk proposal. NO WAY.  One put buildings on the tax rolls, one put MORE money in town coffers, one put more employees to work, one had NO previous financial problems - and they were voted down.

DiLeva should have been there.  She knew the date - she knew the time.  Unless it was a family emergency, there's no reason she should have been absent.  This isn't the first time she's been away for a critical vote.

Quoted from 147

There was no point in this whole charade - their decisions were made long ago.  

DiLeva should be ashamed of herself.

No...it is the rest of the Board who should be ashamed of themselves. ND told them a MONTH ago that she had an inescapable
commitment tonight and not to schedule that ems vote for this meeting. She was extremely upset to find it on the agenda at
the agenda meeting on Monday...reminding them that she told them long ago not to schedule that vote for this meeting, knowing
how important this decision was...but they wouldn't table it...and she said she would be there as soon as she possibly could.
She also told them that they should just decide on which provider they'd be choosing and vote on the one resolution...just as
they do with all other proposals and bids....but this spineless crew refused to do so....they didn't have the guts, decency or
honesty to make their choices known until it was time to vote.

FDG told me yesterday that he and BG needed a third vote to award the contract to Mohawk. I told him ND was voting for
Mohawk, not REMS, and always intended to do so....so they would have to find a way to wait for her. He said he would start
the meeting at 7:15 and that "we could call her"...and if necessary he would recess until she arrived...but he didn't do any of it.
It is now obvious that they did this on purpose...MM even had the nerve to tell me that ND "better get here" for a vote this
important despite his knowledge of her circumstances and his willful participation in the scheme to deny ND her vote on this...they
didn't want her making them look like the traitors they are in explaining all of the valid reasons she opposed contracting with
REMS....and yes, they are traitors at best...they rewarded REMS for ripping us off with a contract that will guarantee them business
with the same residents they scammed, and access to the same ALS funds they stole from them...and in doing so, they refused to
enforce their own RFP rules that specifically prohibited the marketing found in REMS' pathetic non-proposal and the clearly stated
disqualification for violating those rules.

I now also believe that the traitors who passed this resolution conspired with REMS in minimizing ND's chance to vote. ND called to
let us know she was on her way at around 8:00...the Brownfield presentation at the beginning of the meeting didn't even end until
7:40...but the resolution was already passed long before 8:00....because REMS did not stage their usual parade of sympathizers
delivering their endless emotional arguments...they just wanted to rush through the few resolutions preceding the ALS
reimbursement and the ems contract resolutions and get right to their interests.

Since FDG, BG and MM royally screwed the Town with this contract, ND's vote would have been the only one for Mohawk. Even though
her vote would not have been enough, still....as I said, she would have at least orated all of the numerous and valid arguments
against awarding REMS this contract and those that legitimately justified awarding it to Mohawk....REMS has never had a single valid
argument in their favor. BG told me yesterday that he "would do what I think is right". If this is his idea of right, I would shudder to
think of what he considers to be wrong.

This is without a doubt the most colossal betrayal of the public trust I have ever seen in this Town...and in Rotterdam that is
saying an awful lot...all engineered and promoted by Tony Jasenski...who has resorted to everything from threatening political
consequences to the perpetual deception of the public he claims to serve...when the only one he has ever served is himself.

All but ND should be included in the AG/Comptroller investigation and audit...BG will have a hard time convincing them that the
Town is making the effort to recover money from ALS when he gives a contract to the subject of their investigations.

Quoted Text

Rotterdam awards REMS ambulance contract
John Purcell 05/11/11

Town to negotiate ALS fees collection from company

Rotterdam Emergency Medical Services can rest easy for a couple years after the Town Board choose the not-for-profit over Mohawk Ambulance Service.

Discussions have stretched on for months on what ambulance service provider should be awarded a contract with Rotterdam, but the decision during the board’s meeting on Wednesday, May 11, happened swiftly. While board members Wayne Calder, abstaining from voting, and Nicola DiLeva, absent from the meeting, didn’t vote the 3-0 vote in support of REMS wouldn’t have changed. Right before choosing REMS, the board also voted in support of Supervisor Frank Del Gallo to negotiate reimbursement of advanced life support collected by REMS. If negotiations fail, the town would proceed with litigation, but REMS seemed willing to reach an agreement.

Before casting the first vote in favor of REMS, Deputy Supervisor Robert Godlewski noted it has taken the current board a year and a half to reach the vote.

“We have that process that calls for bidding this service out every two years and because we have that process in place everybody understands the rules of the game as we go forward,” said Godlewski....................>>>>....................>>>>.......................http://www.spotlightnews.com/news/view_news.php?news_id=1305172792

As I have stated the fix was in long before the vote was ever taken. Now that the TB has shown it's true colors every taxpayer should go on line to the NYS Comptrollers site and file a formal complaint about the ALS money that was withheld from the Rotterdam taxpayers and force the state to do their job and let the chips fall where they may. Is the TB rewarding an organization for taking  taxpayer money without a contract, in any other town there would be charges filed and someone would be arrested. Maybe someone who was on the TB when the verbal agreement was made should be forced to answer for their actions. There are also laws which require that records be kept for tax purposes and saying that they have no records to prove how much ALS money they kept should be turned over to the IRS for a complete audit.

"Rest easy"-Your DEM working together crew is hard at work! It took a year and a half to lay this egg? A total betrayal of the public trust. They only sped this through to get around ND, who made it clear she wouldn't be available. Another new low for town public service.

ND had :"other obligations" and "made it clear she couldn't be there".

If she knew about BOTH events, why couldn't she reschedule the other one?   This simply gives the appearance that she was "in bed" with the decision - instead of speaking up, and BEING THERE when it really mattered. She's missed more board meetings than  anyone up there right now. Why is that?

If she wants to earn that seat, or the one on the County Leg, she's gonna have to do better. So far, she's not proving herself to be a defender of the people by missing votes, calling in sick - or showing up late.

Sorry Gadfly - you and I will have to disagree on how well she's fighting for the residents, cause I just don't see it.

Ok so the decision has been  made. Fixed or not!

Now rotterdamians must make sure that the als money is billed for and that the taxpayers get it back.
Rotterdam town board should now be held responsible to investigate where the past als money went.
And if any complaints on service..............call your town board officials.

REVITALIZE ROTTERDAM made the last administration's dream come true!!!
Guess this rotterdam administration isn't much different than the last one, huh?

Quoted from bumblethru

Ok so the decision has been  made. Fixed or not!

Now rotterdamians must make sure that the als money is billed for and that the taxpayers get it back.
Rotterdam town board should now be held responsible to investigate where the past als money went.
And if any complaints on service..............call your town board officials.

REVITALIZE ROTTERDAM made the last administration's dream come true!!!
Guess this rotterdam administration isn't much different than the last one, huh?

Most of them are at least as bad, if not worse.

There is no way for Rotterdamians to ensure they won't be ripped off again....they are not a public/government entity
and will have no obligation to open the books they probably won't keep....at least not completely or accurately.

At this point, I don't even believe they will pursue the embezzled ALS fortune...there are no records to examine...REMS could
easily claim they kept far less than they did...if they even deliver a figure...and then they will claim they can't pursue legal action
with no knowledge of how much they stole from the Town....which is why criminal action should be pursued by an agency with
subpeona power...and it should include Tony Jasenski and the Board members who facilitated the perpetuation of this scam.

Daily Gazette, May 12, 2011, Justin Mason Gazette Reporter

---

In explaining his support for REMS, Supervisor Frank Del Gallo said the company’s proposal to the town included a cost for residents to use their service that was lower than Mohawk’s.

“They are going to get charged less from REMS than Mohawk — that was probably the deciding factor,” he said following the vote Wednesday.

---

          And who is monitoring this reduced billing practice?  Is the term of reduced billing for the period of the 2 yr. contract, or just until next month??

Quoted from 147

ND had :"other obligations" and "made it clear she couldn't be there".

If she knew about BOTH events, why couldn't she reschedule the other one?   This simply gives the appearance that she was "in bed" with the decision - instead of speaking up, and BEING THERE when it really mattered. She's missed more board meetings than  anyone up there right now. Why is that?

If she wants to earn that seat, or the one on the County Leg, she's gonna have to do better. So far, she's not proving herself to be a defender of the people by missing votes, calling in sick - or showing up late.

Sorry Gadfly - you and I will have to disagree on how well she's fighting for the residents, cause I just don't see it.

Because she is not the one who scheduled the other event and couldn't change it...if she could do that, she would have scheduled
the other event at another time to begin with...which is why she immediately informed the Board of the event and requested that
the ems vote not be scheduled for last night. She was sick once...and was absent due to necessary major surgery...and even then
she attended meetings before she recovered, against the advice of her doctor. The TJ Amigos purposely scheduled that vote last
night knowing she opposed awarding the ems contract to REMS....and FDG intentionally lied about making any effort to salvage
her opportunity to vote.  

Quoted Text

DiLeva said during the board’s agenda meeting on Monday, May 9, she would “rush” over to try and be present for the vote, but the May 11 meeting was on the same night of a previous engagement. Months in advance she informed the board she wouldn’t be available on that evening.

I'd really like to know what was SO important that it had to be scheduled "Months ago" - when she knew she was a sitting town board member, getting paid to represent the people of the town, and KNEW that this was coming up for vote, that couldn't be either rescheduled or her missing THAT appointment for.

She's getting paid to be in that seat - she's getting paid to represent the people, she's failing in both regards, IMHO.

So too are the rest of the sleazeballs sitting on the TB - including that coward Calder who looked for ANY possible reason, real or imagined, that he couldn't cast a vote.  They're ALL representing the people, we have a right to know where they REALLY stand on the issue, via a vote on the issues.  Guidarelli was another famous for this stunt - it didn't work well for him either.

This isn't a "pass" for anyone - EACH should have voted, period. And shame on the supervisor for his under handed tactics.