Kopka, the city clerk and Wiltshire UPDATED

KOPKA

I said I would weigh in on the last two years of Lynn Kopka’s tenure as Troy Council president so here it goes.

Let me start by saying it was no surprise when she got the most votes two years ago to become Council president, and it was hers to lose again. But, she had some missteps that resonated with the voters and now she is facing a court challenge by Carmella Mantello for the third At Large seat.

Her problems started right out of the gate with a number of screwed up meeting notifications causing the meetings to be postponed, including the first organizational meeting in 2012. However, there is learning curve with any new endeavor, it really didn’t impact real people and it’s unclear if it was Kopka’s fault or newly appionted City Clerk Karla Guererri’s.

ROSSIER

(As an aside it will be interesting so see if Guererri hangs onto her job now that Rodney Wiltshire will be president on Jan. 1. One name being floated to replace Guererri is Emily Rossier, who was a non-campaigning candidate for the Working Families Party in District 6. She and other in the WFP worked hard for Wiltshire.)

Then, in March of this year Kopka penned a letter “on behalf of the citizens of Troy” in favor of Gov. Mario Cuomo’s SAFE Act and sent it to the rest of the Council asking for their signatures. While the Council is elected to represent the people of Troy there was never an official resolution passed in favor of or opposed to the SAFE Act, just the letter. The SAFE Act is a controversial gun control law that certainly has people up in arms, particularly in upstate, but given Troy’s demographic shift to the left, I don’t know how much that hurt her either.

-One thing that hurt in South Troy is her vote to create an adult business district along the waterfront. Personally, I think the entire thing was blown way out of proportion but don’t tell that to the people in South Troy – they’re not known as an open minded, easy going bunch.

The two things I think hurt Kopka the most, however, is what every Trojan can relate to – taxes.

The assessment on her Washington Park home was $250,000 before reassessment, $408,000 after reassessment and then it dropped down to $346,000 without her having to go through a formal grieving process. To be fair, some 1,400 other Trojans followed the same procedure with the majority of them getting their new assessments lowered shortly after GAR – the company that conducted the reassessment – was paid $1 million to assess all the properties at a supposed fair market value.

(Lynn informs me GAR overestimated her property by some 1,200 square feet, which is why her assessment was lowered.)

Also, during the reassessment process the city determined Washington Park should be a taxable property since it is not open for the general public to use. Only those living in the neighborhood have a key to the gated little wonderland so I have to agree with the city on this one. The proposed assessment is nominal and would equal about $2,200 in taxes to be paid by the some 50 households. But, rather than just pay it, the neighbors are fighting it in court. Kopka, of course, is the face of the Washington Park Association.

Let me add, I’ve known Kopka since she worked for then Mayor Mark Pattison and I’ve always liked her spunk and inexorable energy. She does, however, toe the party line and in this case it’s the one drawn by county Chair Tom Wade. Wiltshire does not. And where Kopka tried to keep Council Democrats in a semblance of a cohesive body, I don’t think Wiltshire (pictured above) will care one way or another. Right off the bat I can see the seven-member majority breaking into camps of four and three, respectively. More on that later.