Saturday, November 03, 2007

Digging it

Editor’s: I'm seeking an unadulterated unabridged copy of the memo issued by the DPW regarding the disposal of such waste. Anyone with such a copy can send it here.

Cliff Staring might want to start looking for a new job. Less than a month after very publically giving his boss the finger, the Public Works mole managed to throw his department’s influential union into the fire with both the city and the state. No, it hasn’t been a good week for Staring, who can probably look forward to plucking gum and cigarette butts off the Caroline Street curbside for the rest of his DPW days.

In the “what the fuck were they thinking” category of campaign news stories comes this report from the Daily Gazette, chronicling more illegal activity by the city’s embattled public works department. As an astute reader pointed out Friday, the Department of Environmental Conservation was in fact doing some digging at the DPW composting site behind Weibel Avenue Friday.

The agency was apparently tipped off by Staring, the same environmental watchdog who blew the lid off an oil spill at the department’s Division Street Garage and then melodramatically recounted his good deed to the Metroland’s gossip column. Staring just happened to be milling about at the composting site late Thursday, when he discovered 70 cubic yards of raw sewage from two of the city’s pumping stations had been haphazardly dumped.

“I can assure you that there was human waste, toilet paper and, excuse me, used tampons,” he gleefully told the Gazette Friday. “As we speak right now, it’s still there.”

Being the good citizen that he is, Staring jumped on his DEC hotline and promptly alerted the authorities, who then launched an immediate investigation. At first, some viewed the incident as the bombshell to finally sink the listing campaign of Public Works fixture Tom McTygue, who critics have long accused of such illegal dumping.

But then the full story came out. Apparently in his zeal to break the news, Staring forgot to find out first who was dumping the material and that person’s connection with ongoing attempts to unseat the veteran commissioner. Unfortunately for him, it turned out to be Joe O’Neil, the same union leader who decided to endorse challenger Skip Scirocco last month.

So let’s get this straight. O’Neil supports Scirocco under the pretense that McTygue is a bully and the workers are fed up. The workers themselves say there was no vote and O’Neil unilaterally made the decision under the auspices of the union’s “leadership.” Then only five days remaining before the election, O’Neil dumps raw sewage at the composting plant, reaffirming many of the suppositions alleged by local freak show David Bronner. Of course, Bronner is the same fellow that was passing out the aforementioned gossip column in an apparent effort to sway voters in favor of incumbent Mayor Valerie Keehn during the Democratic primary.

Strange how all these incidents seem to tie together. It’s almost as if there’s a bi-partisan and concerted effort to oust McTygue from office. But strange was not how DPW director Bill McTygue labeled an incident involving a longtime employee directly violating department protocol. In fact, he characterized the dumping as suspicious, given O’Neil’s recent campaign connections. Suspicious? No. Highly suspect? Closer to the point. Nefariously orchestrated? Right on the money.

15 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hope that this DEC farce concocted by Joe O’Neil and other disgruntled DPW Skippy supporters’ and distorted by the Saratogain backfires. I thought Joe had more class than he does. He should be ashamed of himself.

Of course, the Saratogain has no shame to begin with.

Anonymous tips to DEC…. If voters can’t see through this bullshit they deserve the likes of Skippy and the Saratoga County Republicans.

10:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These DPW workers are emblematic of most other government workers. They can not be fired or terminated. Can you imagine what it would be like in the private sector if a company was stuck with employees like this lot: overpaid, lazy, inept, dishonest, greedy, poor attitudes, I could make this freakn list go on forever.

These assholes are going to bankrupt the city. This problem of being stuck with a substandard work force with this mentality will also eventually ruin the country

11:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These people are brutal. They will stop at nothing--and nothing is out bounds for them.

The linkage between the Keehn lunatics and the local Republican party is shocking. Not to mention the involvement of our own Village Idiot, the one and only Corporal Widestance.

Shocking, that is, until you realize that Fuhrer Keehn is not about party, nor is she about policy or even politics.

It is simply abour power. Ms Fuhrer and her brownshirts will do WHATEVER it takes to get it.

Fellow Saratogians: let us end this catastrophe NOW!

11:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

While we pick at nits, look what PS does behind close doors that costs taxpayers a whole lot moore money ... and they complain about their own messy quarters. Add it up x 3.


LAWS OF NEW YORK, 2007

CHAPTER 677

(See FISCAL NOTE at end of Chapter.)

AN ACT to authorize the city of Saratoga Springs, in the county of Sara-
toga, to offer a certain retirement plan to police officers John King,
William Crandall and Michael Bliss

Became a law August 28, 2007, with the approval of the Governor. Passed
on Home Rule request pursuant to Article IX, section 2(b) (2) of the
Constitution by a majority vote, three-fifths being present.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:

Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
the city of Saratoga Springs, in the county of Saratoga, a participating
employer in the New York state and local police and fire retirement
system, which previously elected to offer the optional twenty-year
retirement plan, established pursuant to section 384-d of the retirement
and social security law, to police officers employed by such city, is
hereby authorized to make participation in such plan available to John
King, William Crandall and Michael Bliss, police officers employed by
the city of Saratoga Springs, who, for reasons not ascribable to their
own negligence failed to make a timely application to participate in
such optional twenty-year retirement plan. The city of Saratoga Springs
may so elect by filing with the state comptroller, on or before December
31, 2007, a resolution of its city council together with certification
that such police officers did not bar themselves from participation in
such retirement plan as a result of their own negligence. Thereafter,
such police officers may elect to be covered by the provisions of
section 384-d of the retirement and social security law, and shall be
entitled to the full rights and benefits associated with coverage under
such section, including eligibility for participation in the plan estab-
lished pursuant to section 384-e of the retirement and social security
law, by filing a request to that effect with the state comptroller on or
before June 30, 2008.
§ 2. All employer costs associated with implementing the provisions of
this act shall be borne by the city of Saratoga Springs, with interest,
over a ten-year period.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill will allow the City of Saratoga Springs to elect to reopen
the provisions of Section 384-d together with Section 384-e of the
Retirement and Social Security Law for police officers John King,
William Crandall, and Michael Bliss.
If this bill is enacted, and the affected officers become covered
under Section 384-d together with Section 384-e, we anticipate that
there will be an increase of approximately $7,500 in the annual contrib-

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law
to be omitted.
CHAP. 677 2

utions of the City of Saratoga Springs for the fiscal year ending March
31, 2008.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $361,000 which would be
borne by the City of Saratoga Springs. If this cost is amortized over a
period of ten (10) years, the cost for the first year including inter-
est, would be approximately $49,800. This estimate is based on the
assumption that the first year's payment will be made on February 1,
2008.
This estimate, dated June 5, 2007 and intended for use only during the
2007 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2007-296 prepared by the
Actuary for the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement
System.

The Legislature of the STATE OF NEW YORK ss:
Pursuant to the authority vested in us by section 70-b of the Public
Officers Law, we hereby jointly certify that this slip copy of this
session law was printed under our direction and, in accordance with such
section, is entitled to be read into evidence.

JOSEPH L. BRUNO SHELDON SILVER
Temporary President of the Senate Speaker of the Assembly

12:58 PM  
Blogger Horatio Alger said...

Sweet Jesus.

I didn't think there was anything that would make me distrust cops any more than I already do. Once again, I'm proven wrong.

1:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dem roc said:
one word, MEMO.
on the surface i would say that it does look suspicious. the connection is there, but to believe it, you have to buy one side of the story over the other.
joe says he was following protocol on a job he's been doing for five years. billy mac says that he was suppossed to dump it at the county;
and will be disciplined.
now being the "astute reader" that i am, i might venture to say, keep an eye out for a that memo. it says to dump the waste from truck 76 into the pit near the composte pile. i think i distrust the mctygues more then cops.
by the way the memo is dated oct 1. 2007, is signed by billy, cc'd to tommy and brophy, and was posted on the dpw garage wall.
so i don't think its so easy to say joe did this on purpose to embarass tommy. seems like he was just doing his job. why they told everyone to bring the stuff there is beyond me.

2:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HELLO
Once again we must wade throught the Mctygue bullshit and ask...Does DEC allow the dumping od RAW sewage anywhere but in the sewer? The logical answer is no, yet lets blame everyone else...

The memo is the memo.
the blame game is over...

Bye Bye Billy and Tommy

9:01 PM  
Blogger Horatio Alger said...

“Does DEC allow the dumping of RAW sewage anywhere but in the sewer?”

Well Joe, you hit the nail on the head. And your doppelganger with the DPW should have known that. The memo pretty clearly states RAW sewage shouldn’t be dumped at the composting facility (something that Joe O’Neill did), but rather dirt, rock and assorted debris tainted by raw sewage (such as in the event of a main break) should be disposed of there.

Joe O’Neill fucked up. How bad he fucked up will be a matter for his department to determine. The moron even had the balls to say he didn’t double check with his supervisor; he just assumed. And we all know what happens when you assume…

The saddest part about this is Scirocco is trying to turn around what should be a departmental issue and, were it not for O’Neill’s union, would likely lead to the firing of an inept employee who can’t follow directions.

5:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Regarding the disposal of 800 gals of sewage:

Until recently, just a few years back septic companies commonly unloaded their honey wagons by releasing their contents in open fields. The sun and air rendered them harmless and after they dried out the residue was used for fertilizer.

If this controversial waste matter had been contaminated with other debris such as household garbage I would not think it wise to put it in a pipe and send it to the shit factory in Mechanicville

6:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dem roc:
you're lying about what the memo said now HO. you're above that.

7:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

now i know how bush pulled his shit in Iraq. memo, what memo? oh you mean the one where there weren't any weapons of mass distruction. oh we believe you bush, i mean tom.
and shot in the mouth. that dumping is illegal period. do you guys get paid to be tmacs apologists.

7:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i see you haven't posted the memo yet

6:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All of his political talk is making my head hurt. Can't we discuss Stewart's chili or something fun for a change?

6:19 PM  
Blogger Horatio Alger said...

“All of his political talk is making my head hurt.”

Friend, you’re not the only one. Were this campaign to go on for one more week, I’d really need to augment my regiment of substances. Miring oneself in quagmire of politics is a sure fire way of taking days –if not weeks –off of one’s life. But fear not, once Tuesday rolls around, things should go back to normal here at i-Saratoga. Granted, there’s always politics to be played. And surely, the newly elected will need to chortle for a few days until they settle into the groove of another two years. Then it’s fat city until at least the national conventions…sweet Jesus, maybe I should pick up heroine before then…

“I see you haven't posted the memo yet…”

Memo? Did you E-mail it to me? If you have, I haven’t received it. The only thing that has floated through cyberspace this way has been a re-typed transcript, which has been posted. I can’t vouch to for its authenticity, but it appears real. Also folks, do keep in mind I spend an inordinate amount of time on this endeavor, much to the chagrin of the rest of my life. From time to time, there needs to be a pause to exact the most primal of bodily functions, most of which can’t be fulfilled with any degree of pleasure whilst seated at a computer terminal writing political commentary.

10:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dem roc well get the memo from your freind tommy. just call him up. and if it was an inter department thing why did billy come out so hard against joe before even investigating. he's the idiot who made it public with his comment.

3:59 AM  

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