Quoted from 612

Well Nikki in office certainly stumps me.  She has nothing to offer.  Her conservative stance is just another way to bully people.  She is not a Democrat in my book.

She's a con..........no?

The con's endorse all dems and the dems endorse cons.............that's what they do.......get used to it.....k?

Quoted Text

Rotterdam budget cuts were for the better

    Re Michael Godlewski’s Nov. 21 letter, “Rotterdam budget changes approved without public input.”
    It is true that council members Matt Martin, Nicola DiLeva, and Gerard Parisi proffered amendments to the budget significantly reducing the tax burden on all residents of Rotterdam, without the input Supervisor Frank Del Gallo and Deputy Supervisor Robert Godlewski. Those board members were forced to act as they did to benefi t all residents of the town because the supervisor and deputy supervisor refused to involve the other members of the board in the budget process.
    I personally witnessed each council member’s request that the supervisor require department heads to be at agenda meetings. These requests were denied. In addition, at Town Board meetings and through e-mails (which I have personally seen), council members requested to have meetings on the budget with department heads in order to provide the public with the most efficient budget possible. These requests were also unanswered.
    For the first time, elected offi cials were willing to ignore partisanship and worked on behalf of the residents. A Republican, a Democrat, and a Conservative demonstrated that working together works.
    I fully support Martin, DiLeva, and Parisi in future elections as these three individuals exemplify the defi nition of public service.

    FRANK S. SALAMONE
    Rotterdam
    The writer was an unsuccessful GOP candidate for Town Board earlier this month.

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r03206&AppName=1

OK, so here's a question I have regarding this year's budget.  Is the Supervisor accepting a paycheck or isn't he?  If he is, then why are there articles where he has been quoted that he will not be accepting a stipend?  (http://www.spotlightnews.com/news/view_news.php?news_id=1290030129)

Quoted Text

“You undermined me from the day I came into office, all of you,” said Del Gallo. “I will be here for another year and I will do the best I can for the citizens of Rotterdam, without one nickel from them, without any credit for them, I want nothing for it. I’m not looking for my next campaign and votes like you all are, so why don’t you just do the job you took on and quit fighting with the administration and work with them and don’t work against them.”

Or do you believe the town budget?

http://rotterdamny.org/pdf/Adopted2011Budget.pdf

Page 4 of the full document, officially page 2 of the budget, which shows a $13,000 budgeted line?

If it's in the budget and that's approved, then he can miraculously replace the money that the people undermining him took out of the reserve by having his paycheck placed right in there as the year goes, but if he's not supposed to be getting the money, why should we be paying it as part of our taxes?

Will this leave the Supervisor to be the "hero" later this year when he turns and states that he hasn't been taking his paycheck and he will be donating it back to the town to help?

Quoted from Kevin March

Will this leave the Supervisor to be the "hero" later this year when he turns and states that he hasn't been taking his paycheck and he will be donating it back to the town to help?

YES!

And if anyone ever attended or watched a rotterdam town board meeting on tv, it would be the general consensus that this supervisor isn't worth his salary anyway!!

A supervisor who says....'he don't have a hair you know where'.
or....'I wouldn't live where you live'.
or.....'shut up'.

There's a rumor that this budget has been artificially inflated by the deputy supervisor, who apparently has aspirations to run for supervisor.

Quoted from Hack

There's a rumor that this budget has been artificially inflated by the deputy supervisor, who apparently has aspirations to run for supervisor.

No rumor, that is a straight up fact. Hitler wants to run the town.

I fully support Martin, DiLeva, and Parisi in future elections as these three individuals exemplify the defi nition of public service.

    FRANK S. SALAMONE
    Rotterdam
    The writer was an unsuccessful GOP candidate for Town Board earlier this month

---

Huh??????

Quoted from bumblethru

YES!

And if anyone ever attended or watched a rotterdam town board meeting on tv, it would be the general consensus that this supervisor isn't worth his salary anyway!!

A supervisor who says....'he don't have a hair you know where'.
or....'I wouldn't live where you live'.
or.....'shut up'.

Some old timers tell me that this town board may have issues but the town board of Signore, Lazzari, Vellano, Dagostino and Fernandez was awful.  That was the one where Caroilina Lazzari decided to Primary Joe Signore, Carolina hated Judy Dagostino, thougt Holly V was dumb.  Carolina thought she was smarter than the whole craplot of board members.

She gave Gadfly her wings and even voted against appointing Judy to the board to fill a vacancy.  I am told she frequents this board as a regular contributor and it full of envy.  Hates Angelo for beating her in the Conservative Primary, hates Gerard for dumping her boy Mertz and hates anybody who has been lifelong Rotterdamians.  Hates Bob G for knocking her around the Co Leg race, hates Koisur, Savage and Gardner.  Generally hates herself for moving here from Brooklyn.  Oh yeah she hates Joe Signore for beating her in a primary too.   Was the driving force behind John MacIsaac and Craig Surprise for assessor's and hates John Paolino for being smarter than her and calling her Caroline.

Quoted from 778

Some old timers tell me that this town board may have issues but the town board of Signore, Lazzari, Vellano, Dagostino and Fernandez was awful.  That was the one where Caroilina Lazzari decided to Primary Joe Signore, Carolina hated Judy Dagostino, thougt Holly V was dumb.  Carolina thought she was smarter than the whole craplot of board members.

She gave Gadfly her wings and even voted against appointing Judy to the board to fill a vacancy.  I am told she frequents this board as a regular contributor and it full of envy.  Hates Angelo for beating her in the Conservative Primary, hates Gerard for dumping her boy Mertz and hates anybody who has been lifelong Rotterdamians.  Hates Bob G for knocking her around the Co Leg race, hates Koisur, Savage and Gardner.  Generally hates herself for moving here from Brooklyn.  Oh yeah she hates Joe Signore for beating her in a primary too.   Was the driving force behind John MacIsaac and Craig Surprise for assessor's and hates John Paolino for being smarter than her and calling her Caroline.

Couldn't agree with you more..........and very well said!
Rotterdam politics have been in the crapper for decades!
Don't really know who hates who or who likes who...........but rotterdam politics stinks.
It's so funny it's sad!
Hopefully next year will be a better one for the poor rotterdamians!

Quoted from 778

Some old timers tell me that this town board may have issues but the town board of Signore, Lazzari, Vellano, Dagostino and Fernandez was awful.  That was the one where Caroilina Lazzari decided to Primary Joe Signore, Carolina hated Judy Dagostino, thougt Holly V was dumb.  Carolina thought she was smarter than the whole craplot of board members.

She gave Gadfly her wings and even voted against appointing Judy to the board to fill a vacancy.  I am told she frequents this board as a regular contributor and it full of envy.  Hates Angelo for beating her in the Conservative Primary, hates Gerard for dumping her boy Mertz and hates anybody who has been lifelong Rotterdamians.  Hates Bob G for knocking her around the Co Leg race, hates Koisur, Savage and Gardner.  Generally hates herself for moving here from Brooklyn.  Oh yeah she hates Joe Signore for beating her in a primary too.   Was the driving force behind John MacIsaac and Craig Surprise for assessor's and hates John Paolino for being smarter than her and calling her Caroline.

I don't know about all of this, but I do know that Mrs. Lazzari was the first to aggressively oppose the appointment of Mac Isaac.
Former Conservative Party Chairman Paul Brown is responsible for MacIsaac, an enrolled Conservative and Brown supporter who
was fired by the City and needed another job...Brown made the appointment a condition of the CP endorsement for Judy Dagostino
in her special election that year.

as the stool softens

My understanding is that Supervisor's salary can not legally be zeroed out of the budget  - and that
he donates it back to the town.

In general, you can not zero out the salary of an elected official.

Quoted from Admin

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r03206&AppName=1

The problem with the way the budget amendments were made -- is this -- they were made public AFTER the
Privilege of the Floor .. thus no taxpayer/resident input was allowed on the amendments.  This should NOT
happen in a democracy.  They could have been made public before the meeting -- allowed the public to
comment and ask questions on the amendments -- and then voted upon.

The Budget PROCESS is just as important as the final result.

As for the $4,000 cut from Parks and Recreation programs - I don't believe that these cuts were good cuts.
The Parks and Recreation Commission is trying to improve the Parks and Recreation program in the town
and was not even given the courtesy of being consulted on these significant cuts.    In the grand scheme of the WHOLE budget .. $4,000 is not a lot of money --- but in terms of the Parks and Recreation program
$4,000 is a significant part of that vital areas' budget.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

The problem with the way the budget amendments were made -- is this -- they were made public AFTER the
Privilege of the Floor .. thus no taxpayer/resident input was allowed on the amendments.  This should NOT
happen in a democracy.  They could have been made public before the meeting -- allowed the public to
comment and ask questions on the amendments -- and then voted upon.

Well, you might want to call down to the County Legislative offices and let them know this, since this is the same way that it occurs there.  There's never been a chance for the public to react during an Privilege of the Floor for any amendments that are offered there, either... unless you think that what they do is perfectly fine...

Quoted from Kevin March

Well, you might want to call down to the County Legislative offices and let them know this, since this is the same way that it occurs there.  There's never been a chance for the public to react during an Privilege of the Floor for any amendments that are offered there, either... unless you think that what they do is perfectly fine...

Proposed amendments to any proposed budget -- town, county, etc. -- should be made public in a fashion that
allows public input on the subject.