NEWFLASH: According to City Screwel District Attorney Ms. Greenleaf: "parts" of the internal investigation (at $100 an hour) will be released to the City sheeple on Monday-July 13th.
We all wait with baited breath to hear-who knew about The Mad Bomber, who looked the other way at the terrorist activities of The Mad Bomber, and whose campaigns The Mad Bomber ran on the public dime. So far not ONE person including The Mad Bomber has been fired from the City Screwel System. Of course he was given full retirement and not discharged. No one has the decency to resign in disgrace and the DA's investigation is moving at a glacial pace.
Raucci probe details to be released Thursday, July 9, 2009 By Michael Goot (Contact) Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY — The city school district Board of Education plans to release a summary of the investigation into former facilities director Steven Raucci’s alleged workplace misconduct. School Attorney Shari Greenleaf said this summary could come as soon as next week. Raucci faces charges of arson and terrorism for allegedly planting explosive devices as part of a pattern of harassment against perceived enemies, including fellow district employees and CSEA union members. No one was ever injured in the crimes, for which he was indicted by a Schenectady County grand jury. The Board of Education in April hired Rachel Rissetto, human resource director for the Clinton Essex Warren Washington BOCES, to focus on the workplace allegations against Raucci. Her fee is $100 per hour. This included whether he sexually harassed and demeaned colleagues and if school officials knew about it but did not act. Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney has alleged that some school district officials were “beholden” to Raucci. Greenleaf said the full report will not be released. The Daily Gazette filed a Freedom of Information Law request seeking the document, which was denied on the grounds that there would be an invasion of privacy if it were disclosed and that the document is classified as an “intra-agency report” — not a final agency policy. Greenleaf said the board’s intention has always been to make the report as public as possible. “Clearly, there have been some intervening occurrences that have made it difficult for the board to release the entire report. They want that public scrutiny,” she said. Greenleaf did not mention specifics but was referring to the lawsuits that several people have indicated they intend to file against the district. Harold and Deborah Gray, Ryan Rakoske, Laura Balogh and Joseph Scotti are all seeking court permission to sue the district, alleging that administrators knew about Raucci’s behavior and took no action. They need the court to give them the go-ahead because the statute of limitations for bringing a civil suit has passed...........>>>>........................>>>>..................................http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/jul/09/0709_rauccisummary/
Schenectady school administrators’ retreat costs taxpayers District foots bill for 1 day of 3-day resort conference Friday, July 10, 2009 By Michael Goot (Contact) Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY — The Schenectady City School District’s 45 top administrators recently went on a three-day retreat at the Dunham’s Bay Lake George Resort at a cost of at least $4,500 to taxpayers. Superintendent Eric Ely said the Schenectady Administrators’ Association contract mandates a professional development conference in June. The conference is paid for primarily out of SAA dues. However, this year the district picked up one day of the rooms’ cost because the school year ended relatively late, on June 25, and the conference was held on June 29, 30 and July 1. “We had to go into July, which is a new [year]. Their contact obligates them to go three days in June,” he said. The conference is for the superintendent and assistant superintendents, building principals and assistant principals and district coordinators. In addition, the district paid for guest speaker Thomas Guskey of the University of Kentucky, who talked about using student assessments to drive instruction. Ely did not have Guskey’s fee readily available. Steve Boynton, assistant athletic director and president of the Schenectady Administrators’ Association, said the union contract requires the administrators to have 30 hours of professional development. This event takes care of 15 hours. It is not part of any professional certification. Boynton said the conference is a good chance to get all the administrators on the same page as far as district goals and to interact with their colleagues. “We try to do it for camaraderie. There’s 45 administrators and we don’t get to meet each other and talk to each other,” he said. Administrators are required to attend the conference portion of the retreat from roughly 8:30 or 9 a.m. until 3 or 3:30 p.m. The guest speaker for the first day was gang prevention specialist Ron “Cook” Barrett. The second and third days of the conference featured Guskey, who Boynton said was the most prominent speaker the district has had. He has written 13 books and more than 100 journal articles on education. He is an emeritus professor at the University of Kentucky and had served at one time as director of the Office of Educational Research and Development, according to the university’s Web site............>>>............>>>>........................http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/jul/10/0710_retreat/
As I sit and prepare to write a check for my school taxes, I find myself no closer to understanding the doubled increase. No closer, even after numerous inquiries to the city and school tax departments. No closer, even after a high public city official offered me this insight: He assured me that my appraisal was accurate and even shared his “real estate” expertise with me. He assured me that a “similar” house in my area would sell for the same as mine. I found his answer extremely discouraging and somewhat puzzling. For the first time in a longtime relationship, I heard the callous and elitist voice that others have mentioned to me. As for the “real estate” theory, a house “similar” to mine and in my area was sold by lowering the asking price by $20,000 and finally putting up a “make an offer” sign. I cannot afford to do this! Instead, my husband and I are left to ponder the fate of our family home. All of our college-educated children have chosen to take their talents elsewhere. But I have decided that if even one small bit of my taxes will help prevent one young woman from committing suicide or one young man from measuring his power and strength by the caliber of a gun he carries, then I can live with it. However, lest anyone think my intentions for the use of my hard-earned dollars are strictly altruistic, let me add one more: I pray with all my heart that not one penny finds its way into the pockets of Mr. [Superintendent Eric] Ely, Mr. [former Schenectady School Board President Jeff] Janiszewski or their like. Instead, I offer them the same disdain they have shown the good people of Schenectady
By TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writer Last updated: 4:01 p.m., Friday, July 10, 2009
SCHENECTADY -- The attorney for a former Schenectady school official who allegedly terrorized his enemies is seeking to reverse a judge's decision to deny bail.
Accused bomber Steven Raucci was denied bail last month by acting Schenectady County Court Judge Polly Hoye. Based on statements from five witnesses, Hoye ruled Raucci might "harm others for the sake of retribution for his prosecution."
Raucci's attorney, Ronald DeAngelus, appealed the decision. A hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday before acting state Supreme Court Justice Richard Giardino.
"We're challenging the denial of bail on the grounds that the judge abused her discretion," DeAngelus said today.
The attorney said the judge could have issued orders of protection barring Raucci from contacting the five people in question. New York state law also does not allow judges to deny bail for preventative reasons, he said.
"She refused to give us a hearing or to let us confront the people who said these things about my client," he said. "Their names were blacked out. We're entitled to a full hearing on a bail application."
The former head of the district's CSEA Local 847, Raucci is accused of vandalizing the property and vehicles of people who opposed him on school and union business.
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said at the time of the bail decision that Raucci "represents a clear and present danger to the community" and deserves to be behind bars."...........>>>>...........>>>>............http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=818725
I believe the judge made the right decision to protect the people who testified against Raucci from retaliated against. An order of protection is a useless document because you may be dead by the time the police arrive to enforce the order of protection. I thought that when there was a bomb involved you could be labeled a domestic terrorist and denied bail.
My mom’s assessment went from $95,588 in 2008 to $136,000 in 2009 — a 42.25 percent increase, even though she has made no improvements to her home since it was built 60 years ago. She couldn’t grieve her assessment because she is 92, for one, and also because there were no comparable single-family homes sold in her area the last few years. Her Schenectady school tax bill went from $528.71 in 2008, with only $71,618 in exemptions, to $1,135.73 for 2009 (after an exemption increase to $80,500). Her school taxes this year are almost 115 percent higher than last year! I feel like Mr. [Superintendent Eric] Ely and the Schenectady school board are holding us right by the neck — aghhhh!
Of all Raucci has been accused of, he hasn’t hurt a fly
Re June 19 article, “Raucci is denied bail again”: What is really going on here? What equity is our judicial system showing us? Steve Raucci was denied bail for the second time, yet just days later, I read in the Gazette about a convicted sex offender arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, and bail being set at $30,000. Abusive husbands and boyfriends, who are feared by wives and girlfriends and who violate orders of protection, walk free every day, some to repeatedly commit other violent crimes. Why aren’t the fears of their significant others taken into consideration? Mr. Raucci not only doesn’t have any previous violent acts, but doesn’t even have an arrest of any kind in his life. For all intents and purposes, up until this recent fiasco, he had an exemplary work record for 35 years. Has the agenda of his accusers, who, by the way, have curiously filed civil lawsuits now after many years of silence, been scrutinized sufficiently by the court? Ask yourself: Has the district attorney’s office produced one person who ever suffered a scratch by Mr. Raucci? How are these charges possible without injuring one person? You tell me, how is that possible? I appeal to the justice system to give Steve Raucci bail so he can diligently work with his attorney to fight these overzealous charges.
NEWSFLASH: CITY SCREWEL ADMINISTRATORS KNEW SINCE 2005!-Smoking gun produced! Salami Right! Jig Up!
Paul Nelson {TU}-7/14/09--Handwritten notes by HR director {Michael Stricos}reveal that as early as 2005 that administrators knew of the allegations of abusive behavior by The Mad Bomber {TM} even though the Schenectady District denied any knowledge about the accusations, according to court filings.
The pages of notes by Michael Stricos were submitted Monday as supporting evidence in a case by several past and present employees sueing the Schenectady District, Jeffrey Janiszewski, The Mad Bomber {TM} and Stricos. Last month the district, led by Jeffrey Janiszewski extended Stricos contract to 2011!
This is a bomb shell that will explode the idiotic defenses that The Mad Bomber "didn't hurt a fly" and that "no one knew nuthin". It's over the entire pathetic crew must now resign or be fired by the new Board. Get Out!
and people who want to cause trouble for the slate try to mix up this raucci with john raucci who is in the heating business in town over here THAT IS NOT THE CASE PEOPLE DONT LISTEN TO LIES all right?
Drop it right Sal? All the chickens are coming home to roast. They all knew. They all looked the other way. They all gave Raucci and Stricos contract extensions and raises. Now they must pay the piper.
Hopefully, the DA, who has no opponent {again} will get out of neutral and start prosecuting this case. No one but The Mad Bomber has been arrested and still no one has been fired? Unbelievable-instead of firing they get promoted.
Figure in Raucci probe wins worker's comp claim against Schenectady City School District Tuesday, July 14, 2009 By Steven Cook (Contact) Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY — A member of a city school district-related family allegedly terrorized by Steven Raucci has won a worker’s compensation claim against the district, according to a court filing this week. Ryan Rakoske, son of Hal and Deborah Gray, won a total of 15 weeks of workers’ compensation, just under $5,000, relating to alleged acts by Raucci in 2005. A judge for the state Workers’ Compensation Board, according to a filing by Rakoske’s attorney, John Hoke, found a “causal relationship between Steven Raucci’s workplace conduct and the injuries sustained by [Rakoske].” The decision was filed earlier this month by the state Workers’ Compensation Board and is referenced in papers filed this week in state Supreme Court in Schenectady County related to Rakoske’s attempt to sue the district over Raucci’s alleged conduct. The decision does not mention Raucci directly. Rakoske is attempting to sue the school district, alleging he was a target of repeated sexual and other harassment from Raucci, his supervisor at the district. At issue in the current Supreme Court action by Rakoske is whether he can file suit, despite the apparent lapse in a crucial deadline. Rakoske is arguing that the deadline passed long before Raucci’s February 2009 arrest on arson and terrorism charges and he didn’t feel safe to sue until Raucci was in jail. The workers’ compensation claim, and a crucial 2005 meeting with district officials, provide proof that the district was made aware of the allegations against Raucci in a timely manner, Rakoske contends. Rakoske, formerly a laborer with the school district, is one of four people attempting to sue the district under a similar argument. A fifth, Joseph Scotti, has withdrawn his application. Identified in the papers as potential plaintiffs are Rakoske, Harold and Deborah Gray and Laura Balogh. Rakoske is Deborah Gray’s son and Harold Gray’s stepson. Each had positions in either the school district or the local CSEA union. The Grays were victims in several alleged vandalism acts at their Saratoga County home. Balogh was the alleged victim of a January 2007 attempted bombing in Schodack. Among the allegations from those looking to sue was that city school district officials, including the school board president and then-superintendent, were aware of allegations of physical assaults, vandalism and verbal threats against employees from Raucci as early as May 2005 but did nothing. The school district’s attorney has argued in his own papers that Raucci‘s alleged actions were separate from the district. Allegations of vandalism, derogatory comments and harassing phone calls, the attorney wrote, “clearly fall outside the scope of his employment” and the school district can’t be held liable. In criminal indictments, Raucci is accused of placing incendiary devices at four homes around the Capital Region, two of which exploded. He is also accused of damaging the cars and homes of people who disagreed with him, slashing tires, damaging paint or damaging windshields. One couple, the Grays, reported their car being vandalized five times. Raucci is currently being held at the Schenectady County Jail without bail. Rakoske has argued in a previous filing that he tried to blow the whistle in a May 17, 2005, meeting with district officials. The meeting was nearly four years before Raucci’s arrest in February 2009 arrest. Among Rakoske‘s allegations were that he saw Raucci in a caravan of three or four school district vehicles traveling from the housing development where the Grays lived and 15 miles from the nearest city school district facility. Rakoske said he was going to his mother’s home to clean up fresh vandalism when he said he spotted Raucci. His filing claims that at the May 2005 meeting were school district Human Resources Director Michael Stricos, Assistant Superintendent Michael San Angelo, then-superintendent John Falco and school board President Jeffrey Janiszewski. Falco left the district in January 2006. Nothing happened as a result of the meeting, Rakoske said in papers.....................>>>>.....................>>>>................................http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/jul/14/0714_comp/
NEWFLASH: According to City Screwel District Attorney Ms. Greenleaf: "parts" of the internal investigation (at $100 an hour) will be released to the City sheeple on Monday-July 13th. 
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