EXCLUSIVE: EPA, DEC investigators met with former city engineer

REEVES

Representatives from the criminal investigation units of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Conservation visited with former City Engineer Russ Reeves earlier this week.

Barbara Tozzi, who was Reeves assistant in City Hall before he resigned and she retired, was also present. She now works for Reeves in his private engineering practice.

The focus of the nearly three-hour meeting was controversial demolition projects at the King Fuels site and on King Street.

Sources said the two investigators inquired about who paid for what, but were more concerned with the procedures that were followed - or not followed. Sources said both investigators showed up at Reeves house armed and wearing badges.  

KING STREET DEMO

The names discussed with Reeves and their activities regarding both projects, according to sources, were Mayor Lou Rosamilia, Deputy Mayor Pete Ryan, Corporation Counsel Ian Silverman, Planning Department Commissioner Bill Dunne, attorney Don Boyajian, who owns the King Street buildings, Fire Chief Tom Garrett and others.

It's unclear where the investigation is headed but sources said the two agents were "well versed" on the two projects and already had a firm grip on what transpired.   

When contacted, Reeves said he could not comment.

According to the Times Union, the city Council turned over transcripts from its investigation to the EPA. Reeves was previously questioned by the FBI and sources say the three agencies are now working together in a joint federal/state effort to uncover what actually transpired in the Collar City.  At a hearing in front of the city Council in its ongoing investigation into the demolition projects, Reeves said Boyajian had come to the city looking for permission to take the buildings down by emergency decree. He was denied under the administration of then Mayor Harry Tutunjian.

Late last summer, Reeves went on vacation and the buildings were condemned by Fire Chief Tom Garrett and taken down. There was no asbestos abatement done and the building next door occupied by Bombers was allowed to remain open and patrons were seen walking in and out while the wrecking ball swung.

Buildings at the King Fuels site were taken down without following the recommendations of a licensed engineer. In addition, there are questions about improperly demolishing the buildings without conducting asbestos abatement.

The project was temporarily shut down when crews came dangerously close to a gas main that runs through the site.

Below is a video depicting the demolition of a building at the King Fuels site. It's relevant to the investigation and just too funny not to post again. Warning: it contains graphic language.

 

Petitions - and objections - are filed in Democratic Party battle

Petitions are in and objections are filed in the ongoing battle over the Democratic Committee in the City of Troy.

County Chair Tom Wade and his supporters filed petitions for two committee members in each of the city’s 30 Election Districts while those in the corner of Council President Rodney Wiltshire filed in 26 EDs. 

The race to watch – yes, there is such a thing as a committee primary to watch – is between Wiltshire and Wade in Election District 8. Their running mates are Rev. Tim Sherman and Rebecca Sweeney, respectively.

While the petitions filed for Wiltshire and Wade have not been challenged, both sides have made objections. Objections can be for any number of reasons including improper or nonexistent witnesses to the signatures, the witnesses, the candidate or the signee not living at the proper address or someone else may have gotten the signature of a particular enrolled Democrat first.

The Democrat making the objection, the candidates they are objecting to and the Election District are as follows:

Pro-Wade

-Timothy Steele objected to Ronald Tinkler and Noel Hale in ED 15.

-Michael Barrett objected to William Campana and Chris Jackson in ED 12.

-Charlena Keels objected to Alexander Briggs and Tristen Wood, in ED 10

-Catherine Conroy objected to Robert Martiniano and Michael Rinaldi in ED 7

-John Manupella objected to Tanya Grant and Michael Grant in ED 4

-Tim McDonough objected to Tina Turner and Diane Turner in ED 2

-Suzanne Scales objecting to Alfred Cussick and Tiffany Klimek ED 1

Pro-Wiltshire

-Robert Martiniano objecting to Catherine Conroy and Linda Meissner in ED 7

-Anne Moon objected to former City Clerk Karla Guerri and Councilwoman Lynn Kopka in ED 19

-Tyson Laboy objected to Michele Delair and Geraldine Fitzgerald in ED 11

-Ethan Wolfson-Seeley objected to former Councilman Michael Loporto and Planning Department Commissioner William Dunne in ED 17

-Councilman Kenneth Zalewski objected to Thomas Aldrich and Mary Carley in ED 24

Who controls the city committee controls the initial nomination for the next mayor. Wiltshire has political ambitions that include the possibility of running for mayor and obviously is not a “Wade guy.”

Few think Rosamilia will run for a second term and Wade would rather have a loyalist on the line such as Kopka.

Regardless of how the committee war shakes out, as I’ve written, the most effective weapon in the Democrats’ arsenal is the inept, nearly nonexistent Republican Party.

The above objections are called general, and specific objections will follow by early next week. It’s unclear when the two commissioners at the Board of Elections, Ed McDonough and Larry Bugbee, will make their initial ruling and then, depending on how they rule, some of the objections could end up in court.

 

EXCLUSIVE State: Councilman Galuski improperly collected $34,700 in unemployment benefits (UPDATED)

GALUSKI

A Troy councilman owes the state $34,700 in wrongfully obtained unemployment benefits and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman wants the money back.

In a lawsuit dated June 9, Schneiderman, on behalf of the state Department of Labor, said Councilman Gary Galuski, D-District 6, improperly collected the money from Feb. 2, 2009 through Sept. 5, 2010 and now must pay it back(The lawsuit can be seen below.)

Galuski, who now works at the Board of Elections in Rensselaer County, was elected to the Council in 2006 and took office in 2007. He is in his last two year term and will have reached his eight year maximum at the end of next year. He was hired at the Board of Elections in 2010 and now makes $39,000. He has made $15,000 in each of his six-plus years on the Council.

According the suit, the state DOL had unsuccessfully attempted to collect the money and then asked Schneiderman, the state’s attorney, to bring the lawsuit.  

Galuski could not immediately be reached for comment.

 

Top Rensselaer County Republican aide arrested

CRIST

The top aide for Republicans on the county Legislature was arrested over the weekend for a physical confrontation he had with his 17-year-old son.

Rich Crist is charged with two counts of misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and one count of harassment, a violation.

According to sources, there has been a months-long disciplinary issue with the 17-year-old that included involvement by law enforcement. The issue culminated in the early morning hours Friday in the parking lot of the Castleton Elementary School and included use of a family vehicle and efforts to get it back. It’s unclear who called Schodack Police to the scene, but in the end Crist was arrested on the abovementioned charges.

Crist, who is the county’s de facto Republican Party chairman, was released on his own recognizance. He will be arraigned at a later date since town police could not find a judge to perform the arraignment. When contacted, he declined comment.

Crist makes 95,000-plus in his role as legislative liaison, a position he has held for some two decades. He is also the Republicans’ most prolific operative in the rough and tumble world of Rensselaer County politics. He has come under fire in the past for allegedly doing political work out of the county office building using county staffers. He has also worked as a consultant on a number of local judicial and other races as well as statewide and congressional campaigns and serves as the Schodack Republican chairman.

If I get more information, I will pass it along.       

Wiltshire and Wade going head-to-head in a primary

WADE

Petitions are filed and, as expected, there is a battle for control of the Rensselaer County Democratic Party Committee.

Less expected, is the primary in Election District No. 8. Council President Rodney Wiltshire is going head-to-head against county Chairman Tom Wade. Their running mates are Rev. Tim Sherman and Rebecca Sweeney, respectively.

In all, the anti-Wade faction filed petitions in 25 of the 30 Election Districts in Troy with two committee seats in each district. It’s hard to say how many will stand up to scrutiny since there are all sorts of ways to get signatures bounced. As I’ve written before, collecting them is not rocket science but to do it right is a time consuming process and there are specific rules that must be followed. As such, corners are always cut, petitions are routinely bounced and so does a candidates’ candidacy.

But, even if the anti-Wade faction were fast and loose with some of the petition signatures, you can bet they crossed all the I’s and dotted all the T’s on Wiltshire’s. That means Wade and Wiltshire will square off on Sept. 9 in ED No. 8 – which is roughly 102^nd Street to 107^th Street (see map.)

WILTSHIRE

On the one hand you have to give Wiltshire credit because he is taking on Wade head on rather than putting up a lesser known candidate. It was intentional too. A committee candidate can run in any Election District so long as the ED is in the Assembly District where the candidate lives. But, a member of Wiltshire’s camp said “we guessed right,” meaning they wanted the show down.

It’s a gutsy move, but Wade has more to lose than Wiltshire because not many pay attention to committee races and if Wiltshire gets beat he can still run for his Council seat or any other seat he wants – i.e. mayor. While Wade can still be chair without being on the committee, wanting to be the titular head of the county committee is a harder sell if he can’t hold onto a lowly committee seat.

On the flip side, I know of maybe two other people in Rensselaer County who can count weighted votes – each committee seat is weighted based on the number of Democrats within that Election District so it can get kind of confusing – as well as Wade. I don’t know of anyone who can do it better. He also knows how to line up committee members when it comes time to vote.

And, Wade has said he would consider bouncing Wiltshire and Councilman Ken Zalewski out of the party because of disloyalty if they fought his decision to not have his soldiers carry their committee petitions. Obviously, they are not only fighting that decision, they are throwing it back in Wade’s face so if Wade follows through, there is a chance the two Democrats won’t be Democrats any longer.

Obviously, Wiltshire is going for the jugular but the bottom line is if you’re going to shoot at the king you better kill him.  

Some background on committee races:

-They generally go uncontested and often times the seats are filled with the bodies of party loyalist’s relatives, who then obediently turn over their votes by proxy.

-There are two committee seats in each Election District so technically the Wiltshire camp is attempting to wage 50 primaries. How many will be on the ballot come Election Day is anyone's guess.

-I mentioned that the Wade camp will be challenging some of the Wiltshire camp's signatures but Wiltshire could also challenge the Wade camp's. I'll know more about what petitions will stand and which ones get bounced next week.

-Not many pay attention to committee races but a political party is built from ground up and coups always start in the street. Committees, too, are important because they in turn elect an executive committee and a chairman and ultimately nominate candidates.

-The first test of a petitions’ validity is the county Board of Elections. If both commissioners opt to bounce the petition, it’s bounced. If they both agree it’s good, it’s good. If there are objections to the petitions by a vested party and the commissioners split, it’s still good but will end up in court.

-The committee is, obviously, county wide and I will post more on town committees as I find out what is going on, if anything. 

-There are some questions about where Wade lives, on Fifth Avenue or in High Pointe, but residency requirements are far from cut in stone – just ask former Councilman Michael LoPorto who summered above his restaurant on Fourth Street spent his winters in Brunswick. Or was it the other way around?

   

Independence Party snubs Assemblyman McLaughlin

MCLAUGHLIN

 

In his bid for a third term, Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, R-District 107, is forced to wage a write in campaign for the Independence Party line.

Evidently, the party extended his Democratic opponent, East Greenbush Councilman Phil Malone, permission to run on its line but snubbed McLaughlin for the first time in three election cycles.

 An email sent by Troy Chairman Mark Wojcik asks a number of Republican loyalists to volunteer to collect a second round of signatures on McLaughlin’s behalf. The signatures gathered the first time were specifically for McLaughlin to run on the Independence Party line, but they are null and void without the party giving its permission, known as a Wilson Pakula. McLaughlin will now have until July 13 to collect at least 5 percent of registered Independence Party members within the Assembly District who voted in the last gubernatorial election to force an opportunity to ballot, or write in.

“If you can spare 1 or 2 nights we would really appreciate the extra effort for Steve,” Wojcik wrote.

If McLaughlin does get on the ballot – in the form of an OTB, which opens up the ballot for anyone to write in anyone’s name – he still faces an uphill, if not impossible, battle to win the primary in such a fashion against someone whose name already appears on the machine.

MALONE

The Independence Party – which is independent in name alone and infamous for giving (selling) its line to the candidate (bidder) who can give the most in return – is the third largest party in the state and coveted by any candidate. In the 107^th Assembly District there are 26,011 registered Republicans, 25,096 Democrats and 7,304 Independence Party members with 27,536 not enrolled in any party. There are also 3,734 enrolled Conservatives and 854 enrolled in the Working Families Party.

McLaughlin has had the Independence Party’s endorsement in his two successful bids for Assembly – even in 2010 when he unseated the only enrolled Independence Party member to ever get elected to the Legislature, Tim Gordon of Bethlehem. In other words, the Independence Party stands strong for nothing nearing a platform, value or belief.

CONNOLLY

Statewide, the Independence Party endorses Republicans and Democrats equally depending on which candidate has the best chance of success. But, since the party’s vice chairman is Tom Connolly, of North Greenbush, who a decade or so ago pledged his allegiance to the Democrats but now works for the GOP, there is only one reason a local candidate like McLaughlin didn’t get the line this time around – Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

McLaughlin has been the most vocal Republican Cuomo critic in the state, hitting he governor about everything from the SAFE Act to giving state workers time off to watch the USA play in the World Cup. The Melrose resident toyed with the idea of running for the state’s top elected office earlier his year but opted out and Westchester County Executive Rob Astornio took the plunge instead. McLaughlin, however, continues to make statewide news as the party’s defacto attack dog and is constantly nipping at Cuomo’s heels.

Also, the governor has much more to offer the Independence Party than a Republican from Melrose. And the state Republican Party has more important things to worry about - like trying to get Astorino at least a respectable showing as opposed to getting crushed in a landslide and holding onto a semblance of influence in the Senate.

CUOMO

If nothing else, the potential new ballot dynamic is going to make for an interesting race since Malone, already an elected official, will get the WFP line too and McLaughlin’s write in campaign is a longshot at best. That said McLaughlin is popular in his district. Two years ago he ran against Cheryl Roberts, a popular attorney from Columbia County who was backed by the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee to the tune of $300,000, and he beat her by more than 3,000 votes – but he had the I line. It’s unclear if DACC will throw its considerable resources behind Malone.  

The 107h Assembly District includes the majority of Rensselaer County, nearly half of Columbia County and the towns of Cambridge and White Creek in Washington County.

Former Councilman John Brown will go to jail (DOCUMENT)

Former Councilman John Brown will head to jail for six months.

Brown, who pleaded guilty to felony criminal possession of a forged instrument during the infamous voter fraud scandal, agreed to the jail time as part of deal that included him testifying for the prosecution.

JOHN BROWN wile pleading guilty (TIMES UNION photo)

He appealed the sentence as harsh and excessive, but the Appellate Division, in a short two-page unanimous decision released today, said it was too late because he had waived his right to appeal as part of the deal.

“Furthermore, defendant signed a written waiver in open court that acknowledged that he had discussed the waiver with counsel and that he was knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waiving his right to appeal his conviction and sentence,” according to the decision, which can be seen below.

The court remanded the case back to Supreme Court and Judge George Pulver for sentencing at a future, undisclosed date. Brown could get a straight six months or he could spend six months’ worth of weekends behind bars as was previously discussed.

Brown testified for special prosecutor Trey Smith in the trials of former Councilman Michael LoPorto and Board of Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough - the first they were tried separately and it ended in a hung jury, then they were each acquitted when they faced the jury on their own.

Brown, former City Clerk Bill McInerney, Democratic Party operatives Anthony DeFiglio and Tony Rena all pleaded guilty to their role in an attempt to steal the Working Families Party line by forging scores of absentee ballot applications envelopes and the ballots themselves in the 2009 primary. Councilman Gary Galuski and former Council President Clement Campana were indicted but those charges were later dropped by Smith.

Brown is the only one who will see jail time in the more than five year scandal. McInerney, who admitted on the stand he forged dozens of signatures, did time in the Sheriff's Department Work Release Program whild DeFiglio and Rena were sentenced to community service as part of their respective plea bargains.

It is expected McDonough will file a civil suit claiming selective and improper prosecution and LoPorto may as well.

 

 

 

Brown