Last minute shuffling over Scolite (UPDATED, 2:11 p.m.)

Now, I'm hearing Mayor Rosamalia wants to keep the amendment and the ordinance the amendment amends - because that's what amendments do - on the agenda.

It appears Mayor Lou Rosamilia wants to pull sale of the Scolite property off the agenda in order to modify the terms but Council President Rodney Wiltshire, in an email to his fellow members, said he wants to go ahead with the vote - At least as of about noontime, Thursday.

There was a flurry of activity this ahead of the tonight’s meeting. Initially the mayor wanted to amend the provision granting RJ Valente a license to operate the South Troy property for up to 10 years based on a $100,000 down payment with the $900,000 balance due when the sale is approved by the state Legislature. Instead, the mayor’s amendment calls for a straight $1 million sale pending the same state approval and Valente would not be allowed to work the site until the sale is finalized. 

Then the mayor wanted to pull the ordinance all together but Wiltshire wanted to push the amendment and the amended ordinance to a vote anyway. As the sponsor, albeit at the request of the administration, he has that authority but it is highly unusual to push it through if the administration wants it pulled.  

Here is where it gets king of stick. It takes a simple five-vote majority to pass the ordinance as initially proposed. It takes the same number to pass an amendment to the ordinance. But, it takes two-thirds of the Council, six votes, to pass the amended ordinance since the Council has not had seven days to review the legislation.  

I’m hearing, as of Thursday morning anyway, there were five votes to pass the amendment and the amended ordinance but Councilwoman Erin Teta Sullivan, I-At Large, is the swing vote to get the needed two-thirds majority. If the amended ordinance is voted down, however, any member who voted with the majority – be it in favor or against - can bring it back to the Council for consideration.

You can read the Times Union editorial urging the city to put off the Scolite sale pending an FBI inquiry here.

Here is the text of Wiltshire's email to the Council:

the mayor would like an amendment made on the floor to the language.  change this from a lease and turn it into a sale making it contingent on the final sale and not have access until the state has made its approval. Final.
I have other thoughts which I will share with you later today, but before the meeting.
I will not pull this or table it, and we will vote on it tonight.

More information as it becomes available.