Revisionist history

No matter how thin the pancake is, there are always two sides. This is a concept that has seemingly eluded Saratoga Springs’ so-called Democrats for Change, as their cult-like membership attempts to drastically rewrite recent history in an attempt to quash any notion of their being any side but their own.

Stalwart operatives from this clique are now trying to manipulate slogans from their own propaganda wing in an ongoing effort to cover up their nearly three years of failure, following their only real claim to success. Over the past two months, the most dubious of this group have waged an aggressive letter-writing campaign to the Saratogian in an effort to bamboozle what they somewhat accurately view as a fickle and easily swayed electorate. And of course, the Saratogian is all the willing to oblige, considering the managing editor’s son is among those listed as a candidate “for change” so to speak.

Take for instance this recent gem authored by Al Ormsby, a card-carrying member of the splinter group that has and continues to wreck havoc on the city Democrats. He alludes to how the Democrats for Change –‘DC’ for short –will end the greedy days of nepotism on the city committee fomented by the so-called Democrats United. He argues that DC’s change-o-crats will reshape the local party, bringing a sweeping sense of political openness and transparency that would make even granny’s five-decade-old undergarments seem opaque.

“A [Democrats United]-controlled committee would consist of a few top-tier members who use their relative's proxies as bargaining chips,” his September letter to the Saratogian states. “This type of committee could only benefit an outdated political machine.”

Obviously, Ormsby didn’t look over the DC slate of candidates, which is littered with life-long politicians and just about anyone who was anyone among the failures who tried to first change the city’s charter and then tried to convince a very skeptical public that Valerie Keehn deserved a second term in office. Take for instance Jennie Kim, the wife of Public Safety Commissioner Ron Kim, who was the only sitting council member who allied himself with the laughable re-election campaign. A seldom-recounted fact among DC operatives is that the Kims –more specifically Ron Kim –were once quite active in the Republican Party. In fact, Kim himself was a member of the city GOP committee before they unceremoniously kicked him to the curb,

And then there’s Kim’s number two, Eileen Finneran, who was also deputy mayor under Keehn and perhaps the second largest political hack operating within the city limits. Finneran pretty much played point for every furtive political powerplay orchestrated during Keehn’s administration. She forced former Keehn deputy Nancy Olsen out of office after the city council refused to create a second deputy’s position for the Public Safety office.

But the list doesn’t end there. Nancy Goldberg was among those who foisted Keehn as a mayor and was among her foot soldiers marching for charter revision. She was handsomely rewarded with a spot chairing the city’s Zoning Board. And who could forget patronage sponge Lew Benton? The diehard Keehniac and former Republican Public Safety commissioner had a change of political allegiance in the new century. Since that time, he’s hopped from one taxpayer-funded job to the next. As some may recall, Keehn leafed through the charter until she could find an unfilled position for Benton, and then fired the city’s visitor’s center director to create the funding for it.

Let’s not forget about the attorneys, or at least their spouses. The wife of Joe Montagnino –the Keehn-loving DC-picked carpetbagger running for city court judge –is among the splinter cell’s candidates “for change.” Also running is Linda Englert, the betrothed of the former city attorney under Keehn, who capriciously met with the county and asked them to install connections that will one day allow the city to easily hook into the $76 million waterline; all without bothering to mention word one to the city’s Department of Public Works. And you can’t mention ‘politically connected’ without making at least one reference to Peter Tulin, the fellow who lead the charge to knock Brian Premo off the ballot when he ran against former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno –a Republican.

Had enough? Not yet. Let’s move onto Keehn-booster Hilary McLellan, who was never rewarded with an appointment. But after devoting a fair amount of time to a local propaganda blog, she was assuredly in the running for one, had the 2007 vote swung in the incumbent mayor’s favor. And where’ there’s McLellan usually the name Roger Wyatt is sure to follow. Known locally as the “shaky film maker,” Wyatt was responsible for producing some of the most laughably bad propaganda films during Keehn’s blitzkrieg against her former Public Works adversary Tom McTygue.

One can’t discuss the Democrats for Change without making a pronounced mention of Shawn Thompson, the ringleader of this carnival on crack and the city’s largest political hack. The former Democratic Committee chairman’s resume reads like an essay on the federal response to Hurricane Katrina: One failure after the next. Many DC-loving letter writers falsely credit Thompson for sweeping an all-democrat slate of candidates into city office during the 2005 election. Of course what these rubes fail to realize is that city voters were so chagrined by Republican bungling they probably would have elected a dead corpse into office over the GOP incumbents; some argue that’s what they did when they gave Keehn the nod.

Thompson held the reins to the DC and could have tightened up on them when Keehn –his protégé –started feuding with McTygue. Instead, Thompson let Keehn loose to rampage across the party and give birth to the afore-described splinter. His motive? Well let’s just say the Saratoga Lake resident wasn’t too thrilled with the McTygue-propelled idea to tap Saratoga Lake to supply the city’s water. Though his girl took a fall, she brought down the 16-term commissioner with her, effectively ending the city’s interest in the lake proposal. It was his one success in a long list of failures, including the charter revision push, Keehn’s reelection and H. Carl McCall’s push for the governor’s office just to name a few.

So it seems a bit disingenuous to read Ormsby’s tripe about the “Orwellian” Democrats United and the supposedly utopian vision offered by the Democrats for Change. It’s not to say the Democrats United don’t have their list of politically connected; rather they’re not trumping them as the proverbial crusaders for all things good, marching over the horizon on white horses with their shiny armor glinting in the sunlight. Hopefully, voters recognize this. Or hopefully they don’t if you happen to be a Republican.