Quoted from gadfly: I believe this is a scholarship fund set up for fallen police officer, Eric Veteramo.
So, I ask, although this is a commendable cause, it is right that the contributions of the members of the Schenectady County Conservative party be used for this purpose rather than to promote the party ideology?
Are any of the party donors aware that this is how their money is being spent? Or that $4000 of party funds was paid to the law firm that represents the Schenectady PBA?
Making nice with the Conservative Party, and casting Mertz aside, who was the only one to recognized the threat of the Conservative Party, will banish the County Republicans from the political landscape for decades to come.
Good luck.
Mertz was the ONLY one who knew. That's why they had to silence him politically. He was the ONLY one with any insight to the future of Rotterdam. He was the ONLY one who was watching out for the taxpayers. The rep, dem and con parties have failed the taxpayers miserably and are all compromised. None of them has a plan for our future. They are all so busy playing footsie's with each other that it is nauseating at best.
staying on topic........I would love nothing better than to see all county law enforcement consolidate. It would be interesting to see how Dago and the townsmen will handle the city of Schenectady. Sure the towns will suffer, but the view will be worth it.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Consolidating the entire County isn't the only option.. There are only 2 municipal police departments remaining in Saratoga County; Saratoga Springs and Mechanisville. Corinth was the most recent to be absorbed by the County Sheriffs Department.
With Rotterdam's Dom Dag. rumored to be the odds on favorite to become the next County Sheriff, Rotterdam may be the first to opt to pay the County for their police services at a greatly reduced cost. That would be an easy political sell to the cheapskate residents of Rotterdam(myself included), and with Dags relationships with the RPD's top brass, he wouldn't meet much resistance, with his ability to appoint people to high ranking positions within the Sheriffs Department. This would ultimately end the last Republican stronghold in Schenectady County.
Sheriff Dagostino, Deputy Sheriff James Hamilton, and PBA Union Chief Bobby Hamilton
Making nice with the Conservative Party, and casting Mertz aside, who was the only one to recognized the threat of the Conservative Party, will banish the County Republicans from the political landscape for decades to come.
Good luck.
Yes, Johnny Mertz is a real visionary. And, yea- it's the Conservative Party's fault for everything that has gone wrong in the county...... Laughable!
Yes, Johnny Mertz is a real visionary. And, yea- it's the Conservative Party's fault for everything that has gone wrong in the county...... Laughable!
It's not laughable...it's pathetic!! And heck, no one is giving the con party ALL the credit for what is wrong in this county. Don't flatter yourself. The dems and reps are just as guilty of abandoning their ideology and forgetting about the taxpayers as the cons. Don't worry...their is more than enough blame to go around.
And yup, Mertz is a visionary. He saw this coming years ago!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The Conservative Party Executive Board will tell you that the party is not controlled by the police union. Apparently, Mr. Cermak sees things differently. Coincidentally, the most recent campaign disclosure (Jan 2009 Periodic) filed by the Schenectady County Conservative party shows a $4,000 expenditure for legal expenses paid to the same law firm that represented the Schenectady PBA in contract arbitrations (see links below). This payment was reportedly made after the arbitration proceedings had concluded.
gadfly's assertions that the Democrats control the Conservative party may be inaccurate. Mr. Cermak contends that the Conservative party owns the Democrats and the Republicans!
Mr. Cermak's assertions are accurate to a degree. The widely shared sentiment among police officers and private residents alike seems to be that they are not in favor of a centralized county police department. And yes, most major party officials and candidates will pretty much do anything for Conservative Party endorsements, as that ballot line will often provide the winning margins in local elections. This is why public employee unions want to control those endorsements - they want to choose their own elected bosses. And of course, those choices will be based on who are most union-friendly. The Democrats have always understood this and recognized this fact as their ticket to controlling the party. And they further realized that public employee unions offer useful advantages. Not only do they offer organized groups already in place, but the party will be run like a union as well - meaning that the Democrats will have the support of the entire group. All they have to do is keep the union happy (which Democrats are famous for anyway) and they get everything they want for their party...most notably, endorsements in the crucial County Leg races, except where Republican candidates are deemed unbeatable (Farley, Buhrmaster). The Democrats had long coveted control of the county and knew they needed the Conservative Party ballot line to achieve that. Trouble was, their candidates weren't conservatives! This is when they began the process of taking control of the party through union operatives - all they needed was a union whore. Enter Paul Brown, former Chairman and, at the time, President of the jail guards' union. Brown endorsed Democrats across the board in 2003 - the year the Democrats won control of the Legislature. All but one of the candidates who won, did so by less than the margin of the Conservative vote. When Brown lost his union title after selling out his members for a management position (appointed by Democrat Harry Buffardi DURING Brown's announcement of a Conservative Party endorsement in Buffardi's re-election bid - still a full year and a half away!), the Democrats divorced him and married the cops - the new torch bearers for the Democrats. The only difference bewtween Paul Brown and Bob Hamilton is that Hamilton has a front-man by the name of Randy Pascarella. Mike Della Rocco has been the only constant - the literal back office Chairman who serves as the liason between the Democrats who made him a County Commissioner and the union in place at any given time. Make no mistake about it - the police union will "serve" at the pleasure of the Democrats, just as the unions before them. Meanwhile, the current Conservative Party leadership will continue to accomodate their owners...see Pascarella's recent announcement that Judy Dagostino will be endorsed by the "Conservative Party" - thanks so much Randy for letting the Committee know in the newspaper that you and Hamilton are endorsing Judy. You, Bob and your Democrat handlers may support Judy, but conservatives won't.
Yes, Johnny Mertz is a real visionary. And, yea- it's the Conservative Party's fault for everything that has gone wrong in the county...... Laughable!
That post had nothing to do with the Conservative Party's role in screwing up Schenectady County, rather the Republicans shortsightedness, by dealing with the current Conservative Party leadership for immediate political gains. Parisi, Santabarbara, Tommasone, railroading Mertz for a short term gain, and long term party destruction in Schenectady County.
The County Republican Party isn't interested in expanding their influence, but rather preserving their small existence. That's why the Schenectady County Republican Party is on life support. NO VISION.
Mr. Cermak's assertions are accurate to a degree. The widely shared sentiment among police officers and private residents alike seems to be that they are not in favor of a centralized county police department. And yes, most major party officials and candidates will pretty much do anything for Conservative Party endorsements, as that ballot line will often provide the winning margins in local elections. This is why public employee unions want to control those endorsements - they want to choose their own elected bosses. And of course, those choices will be based on who are most union-friendly. The Democrats have always understood this and recognized this fact as their ticket to controlling the party. And they further realized that public employee unions offer useful advantages. Not only do they offer organized groups already in place, but the party will be run like a union as well - meaning that the Democrats will have the support of the entire group. All they have to do is keep the union happy (which Democrats are famous for anyway) and they get everything they want for their party...most notably, endorsements in the crucial County Leg races, except where Republican candidates are deemed unbeatable (Farley, Buhrmaster). The Democrats had long coveted control of the county and knew they needed the Conservative Party ballot line to achieve that. Trouble was, their candidates weren't conservatives! This is when they began the process of taking control of the party through union operatives - all they needed was a union whore. Enter Paul Brown, former Chairman and, at the time, President of the jail guards' union. Brown endorsed Democrats across the board in 2003 - the year the Democrats won control of the Legislature. All but one of the candidates who won, did so by less than the margin of the Conservative vote. When Brown lost his union title after selling out his members for a management position (appointed by Democrat Harry Buffardi DURING Brown's announcement of a Conservative Party endorsement in Buffardi's re-election bid - still a full year and a half away!), the Democrats divorced him and married the cops - the new torch bearers for the Democrats. The only difference bewtween Paul Brown and Bob Hamilton is that Hamilton has a front-man by the name of Randy Pascarella. Mike Della Rocco has been the only constant - the literal back office Chairman who serves as the liason between the Democrats who made him a County Commissioner and the union in place at any given time. Make no mistake about it - the police union will "serve" at the pleasure of the Democrats, just as the unions before them. Meanwhile, the current Conservative Party leadership will continue to accomodate their owners...see Pascarella's recent announcement that Judy Dagostino will be endorsed by the "Conservative Party" - thanks so much Randy for letting the Committee know in the newspaper that you and Hamilton are endorsing Judy. You, Bob and your Democrat handlers may support Judy, but conservatives won't.
Thanks for filling us in. Well done!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
When is enough enough? The Schenectady Police Department is still spiraling out of control. We have gone through many changes at the top end of this department over many years, as pointed out by Carl Strock [March 5 Gazette], but still no change. I, for one, had been cautiously optimistic about the appointment of our latest commissioner, Wayne Bennett, but still no change. Commissioner Bennett made it very clear at a recent city council meeting that our leaders years ago “gave away the store” in reference to the union contract. Well, what do we do now? Is this contract an eternal document? Since this appears to be the case, I agree with your editorial opinion [March 5 Gazette] that the city should start looking to abolish the department and consolidate funding with the county. While we cannot change what was done in the past, we certainly can control our future. Our elected officials, on a local and statewide basis, have sold us out through the years to special-interest groups, mainly to garner minor-party endorsements, and it is up to elected officials to straighten this mess out. Mayor Stratton and the city council should stop giving us lip service about how outraged they are and start negotiating with the county to, once and for all, put a stop to this nonsense. While they’re at it, they should also give Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore one of their famous citations for doing what the shift supervisors of the Schenectady Police Department should have been doing all these years — making sure that those who are getting paid to work are doing just that. The honest, hard-working offi cers of the department, who have been conspicuously silent, should also endorse this plan, since they too will finally be rid of this infection that also affects them and their ability to perform their jobs. As pointed out in the editorial, they should be the first hired as part of a department that will truly serve our community, and not just themselves. I say “enough is enough.”
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
SCHENECTADY Drop the cops? Not so fast Closing department wouldn’t be an easy fix BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
The city can rip up its police union contract, shutter police headquarters and give away the department’s budget — but it can’t get rid of the officers. The officers who have worked for the department the longest — the ones that city leaders say have created a “culture of unprofessionalism” — would have to be the first hired by any new policing agency created for Schenectady, according to the state Department of Civil Service. That’s troubling news for Mayor Brian U. Stratton, who threatened to close down the department if officers continue to behave poorly. For years, off-duty officers have popped up in headlines for driving drunk, beating up women who refused their advances and intimidating those who witnessed their illegal behavior. On-duty, other officers have been disciplined for claiming to be at work while actually relaxing in an apartment, at a gym, in a restaurant and at a bowling alley. Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said some of the officers on the force were not qualified for their positions but were mistakenly hired after inadequate background checks. Stratton has argued that union contract restrictions make it nearly impossible for him to fire such offi cers. He’s hoping that he could broker a deal in which only the “good apples,” which he says are a majority of the force, would transfer to the city’s new police force. He doesn’t want to taint that force with the bad apples who have earned such a reputation in the Schenectady Police Department. But state Department of Civil Service spokesman David Ernst said there’s no question that the most senior officers would get the first chance to work for the new agency. “That’s pretty cut-and-dried,” he said after reading the Civil Service Law. However, abolishing the police department would allow the city to accomplish one of its goals: kill the union’s labor contract, which officials have blamed for being overly generous with sick time, compensatory time and union time while restricting disciplinary options. Negotiations over those issues have failed repeatedly. That contract would be eliminated if the city abolishes its department and contracts with another agency, according to officials at the Public Employment Relations Board. The officers transferred to the new agency would work under that agency’s existing contract, they said. STRENGTH IN NUMBERS The move would make the new agency’s union more powerful, warned Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer. “If you’re a larger agency, you usually have a more powerful PBA,” he said. But he argued that a consolidated department like his — which covers five large towns on Long Island with a force of 2,700 officers — is worth it because it is more efficient, saves money through buying in bulk and can offer better technology and training than small town departments. Other merged departments say communication is highly improved. Before the Las Vegas police merged with the Clark County sheriff’s department in 1973, “professional jealousy” kept city and county detectives from sharing information in their competition for arrests, Capt. Larry Ketzenberger said in a speech praising the merger. Many municipalities in Florida that merged police operations reported savings. But elsewhere, some municipalities have found that costs rose after a merger. Chatham County, Ga., will shoulder a 38 percent cost hike — from $10.8 million in 2007 to $14.9 million in 2011 — as part of its recent police merger with the city of Savannah. (The city pays $43 million annually for police.) The city would have a hard fight if it tried to follow the lead of other municipalities that developed a countywide police force or merged with the local sheriff’s department. County Attorney Chris Gardner said he would vehemently oppose a merger with the sheriff’s department, and town leaders were less than enthusiastic about a countywide force. STATE POLICE OPTION The city does have a third option: It could call in the state police. But the city would need to convince the state Legislature to amend a state law fi rst. The state police say the only impediment for them is a lack of manpower. They’d need money — and at least half a year of training time — to prepare to police Schenectady. Legally, the state Legislature would also have to approve the deal. The state police can assist city police, as they do through Project Impact in Schenectady, but they couldn’t patrol if there were no local police in the city, they said. They are limited by state executive law, which currently states that only towns and villages can hire the state police. That law could be changed, but Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito said it may not be easy. Destito is chairwoman of the Governmental Operations Committee, which would first consider the change if Schenectady proposed it. “I think it would be a dramatic change in law,” she said. “What would prevent every city from wanting the state police?” To avoid that, the state Legislature could pass a law allowing only Schenectady to contract with the state police — similar to the law that allowed only Schenectady to sell its tax liens during a financial crisis. Destito had no comment on whether she would support a limited change in the law. She noted that the city could not get the service for free. The executive law governing the state police requires it to set a price that includes not only the cost of every officer sent to the area but also maintenance and benefits. City Police Chief Mark Chaires calculated that if the city were to hire 157 state troopers at their salary rate, which is significantly higher than the city’s, it would cost $3 million more than the city spends now. Schenectady’s 2009 police budget is $16 million. “They’d be too expensive,” Chaires said. “Their captains are $112,000 — ours are $77,000.” He said the city police predict lower salaries and lesser benefi ts if they go to the county Sheriff’s Department. The best offi cers will leave for other police forces before being forced to lose pay, Chaires said. COUNTY OPPOSITION Gardner said the county would oppose any consolidation. “The idea that you’re going to do away with all the problems by creating a new entity is kind of silly,” he said. “You have a lot of good police officers who are doing good work. I think Bennett and Chaires are both inclined to deal with problems head-on. Management does have the tools to deal with it.” He said the city must simply be patient. “When there are issues, if they’re fully investigated, even if the officer didn’t do anything wrong, they know they’re being monitored on a regular basis. As that gets inculcated into the culture, I think it will be good,” he said. The city could also try to create a countywide police department, but town supervisors offered lukewarm support. Niskayuna Supervisor Joe Landry said he would follow the county’s lead on any discussion of a countywide police force. “We’ll defer to the county, to whatever the city and the county work out,” he said. Glenville Supervisor Frank Quinn said he would consider the idea — if it were cheaper than the town’s department. “I think it’s worth putting on the table and discussing the pros and cons,” he said. He readily acknowledged that communities might oppose the change because they would see it as a loss of individual identity. “That will be an issue,” he said. “But in the same breath, given the concern people have for their taxes, it’s certainly worth looking at.” Rotterdam Supervisor Steve Tommasone added that his residents would worry that their officers — and their tax money — would be sent to Schenectady. “I would be opposed to a countywide police department,” he said. “Our town residents are very happy overall with the performance of our town police department ... and I believe they would never support it.” Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden plans to give the city council a preliminary analysis for all three options at the April 6 committee meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m. in Room 110 at City Hall. His report will include the cost of paying off all of the officers, many of whom have been saving up overtime pay for years. He also plans to include his estimated cost to defend any lawsuits. And just to make sure that he ................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00100
Listen, for us here in Rotterdam, we are already paying for 3 law enforcement services. The RPD, state police and the sheriff's dept.. I wouldn't mind paying for just one. However, I do have a concern on exactly 'who' would be responsible and the overseers of this countywide police force. Also I have a concern on exactly 'who' would be responsible for the union contract. If it is suzie and gang, than I would strongly be agains it. Especially for us here in Rotterdam. Suhrada represents us and he might as well not be there at all. They don't give him a voice. And forget Ms.Dago, cause she does nothing. So there is a lot more to see before anyone should consider a countywide police force.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Mayor Brian Stratton’s recent statements about abolishing the Schenectady Police Department are gaining popular support [March 10 Gazette]. The Gazette has also lent editorial endorsement to exploring the idea of a county takeover of the police as a way of finally getting control over a situation that has festered for decades. This may or may not be a tactic of the mayor to leverage one final attempt at regaining control of the department. Regardless of motive, the idea has merit on its face. There is a long history of the county successfully assuming services once performed by the city. Schenectady was one of only two cities in the state to operate a public health department until the county took it over. The county now maintains the city’s fleet of highway vehicles and equipment. And a current effort to consolidate separate city, town and village E-911 dispatch functions at the county level has moved forward in a highly professional and cooperative manner. Further, the geography and number of political subdivisions in the county favor consolidation. At about 206 square miles, Schenectady County is the second smallest in land area of the 57 counties outside of New York City (Rockland is smallest, at 174 square miles). Schenectady has the fewest political subdivisions of any county — one city, five towns and two villages. If taking advantage of economies of size through mergers and sharing services can produce savings to the taxpayer, then Schenectady is well positioned to reap those benefits. Changing the wink-and-nod culture at the police department has proven difficult. Several city administrations have failed to regain control. Yet abolishing a police department has proved difficult. Just a few years ago the residents of the village of Waterford rejected a referendum to abolish their police department. While circumstances are different in the Schenectady case, and the potential for better police services even greater, a serious attempt to restructure this vital service needs to be done with care. State grants are available to help offset the cost.
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