Well the good. 
We are not on the list for now, but the question of fees, days open and other concerns have not been addressed, and by no means is the list definitive.
The Bad.
Our friends at
Bennington Battlefield State Park Rensselaer Close Historic Site
Hudson River Islands State Park Rensselaer Close Park
John Brown Farm Historic Site Essex Close Historic Site
Max V. Shaul State Park Schoharie Close Park
Schodack Island State Park Rensselaer Close Park
Schoharie Crossing Historic Site Schoharie Close Historic Site
Schuyler Mansion Historic Site Albany Close Historic Site
The UGLY
Carol Ash “2008 salary $127,000” is the genius who came up with this shit plan to screw the public when asked to cut $20 million from the parks budget.
So Carol did you offer to layoff the overpaid, overeducated, pencil pushers that haunt every Park Facility in the State? Did you ask the rank and file union members to except a giveback or voluntary unpaid furlough? Fuck no, you little bureaucratic weasel. Even though those measures could have meant real saving and had the least effect on the badly stressed public, you chose to vent your anger on having your little personal empire cut by introducing draconian measures that would effect the public the most. There by screwing the very people you serve.
I am sick of parks along with NYC OTB being the dumping ground of every connected but incompetent campaign contributor that can’t find a job. Parks along with OTB needs a top to bottom restructuring to rid itself of these cancerous patronage jobs before they destroy once and for all the very thing they serve.
You are a parasitic pest feeding off a host. Closing 41 parks and 14 historic sites, and service reductions at 23 parks and 1 historic site along with the planned layoffs of seasonal help will only produce a temporary reduction in costs. But you know that anyway don’t you? Your job is safe and I’m sure a raise is in the works for you and your co-conspirators. But change is in the wind, maybe sooner than you think.
15 comments:
Sounds like you've gotten mellow in your old age.The John I new really said what was on his mind
The state parks have been mismanaged for decades — the Thacher Park pool debacle is just one example.
Of course, these closures and cuts barely affect NYC at all.
And they stand in stark contrast to the millions Paterson continues to spend on flacks and flunkies.
I guess it would be nice if these types of draconian cuts were actually applied to those @$$es in the government that enjoy their first class perks while taking away one of the few things the real producers of NYS i.e. the tax payer can enjoy.
How about looking into some of the more obscure agencies with more (or less) visible responsibilities? The Hudson Black River Commission is going broke, so let them. Then there’s State Fire, or at least that’s what their fleet of vehicles say. What do those guys do and how often do they do it? Maybe they could be fired. Then we have all those vague enviro or advisory commissions, watching the Hudson and other bodies of water ebb and flow or tending to things like boxing or obscure statistics. And then, there is the Ed department, where they cultivate deputy commissars and populate the world with rules for children to live by.
Anyway, you get the idea. Start cutting in places the public does NOT see or know of, and see if the cuts stick. I’ll bet the list could go on for pages.
you could start saving some money by cutting Marcia Whites $350000 salary at SPAC
here here anon 8:03
Speaking of a parasitic pest,how you been Marcia?
That apartment in Manhattan SPAC owns work out all right for you?
I know lets form a Commission to “study” the problem. Lets drag Lou Benton out of retirement to chair it. They will then write a “report” two thousand pages long with nice glossy 5by9 that no human being will ever read. That will fix the problem.
I knew it. We are on some kind of deferred hitlist
Capital Region parks on that fallback list include Grafton Lakes State Park, Cherry Plain State Park, and Fort Crailo State Historic Site, all in Rensselaer County; Minekill State Park in Schoharie County; and Peebles Island State Park in Saratoga County. Also, the Victoria Pool in Saratoga Spa State Park would be closed.
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=902652#ixzz0g5aCE74J
Unless I’m wrong, Victoria Pool is the swimming pool used by the Gideon Putnam Hotel. Is this a stunt the state is pulling to get the Gideon/Racino bunch to take over running the facility? This pool is the only halfway sane place to spend a summer afternoon in Saratoga (if you’re not of the racing ilk and don’t want to be completely overrun by children). My family grew up at this pool, and I would hate to see it go. So much time and money has been put into its rehab. What a waste this would be. Whatever could those mindless folks be thinking? Even if the Gideon took it over, where would that leave the city folks? The state govt has worked tirelessly to kill NY racing. Now it’s the parks and their attendant recreation. What is going to be left to love about NY?
I told you that all hell would break loose after I left!
You motherf***ing motherf***ers! Kiss my a**, and then I'll kick yours!
Here's an example of how the state operates. In 1999, I didn't file a tax return. Last year, I was notified that I owed the state, according to their calculations, $1900. They calculate without any deductions, even dependants. So, they uncerimoniously took my federal tax return to pay my back tax. A few months later, I filed a 1999 return which had me owing a mere $175. So, the state owes me my money back, right? WRONG!!! Today, I recieved a tax bill for 1999 for $400. The $175 they now agree I owe, plus interest and penalty. It took them 10 years to figure out I didn't file? And, they are keeping money I am owed AND they sent me another tax bill... I wonder how long it is going to take me to fix this because I don't think the state tax department is going to figure it out on their own.
well why didn't you file in the first place????
There are nearly 80,000 public employees in New York State who make over $100,000 a year. More than 32,000 of them make over $120K and over 8000 make over $150K. High-flying pensions are becoming a huge problem.
From Sundays Saratogian
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation needs a complete overhaul as is shown in its foolish decision to close 41 parks and 14 historic sites, and implement service reductions at 23 parks and one historic site.
I can sympathize with the state’s need to make painful cuts that will affect the public, but this short-sighted move of closing parks and eliminating low-paid, seasonal, non-union employees will provide minimal savings while at the same time causing the most discomfort to an already stressed population.
Parks, along with bankrupt NYC OTB, have long been the dumping ground for politically connected people to find employment in high-paying patronage jobs. The state can no longer afford this wasteful practice.
In order to save real money in these desperate fiscal times we will need a real leader who will speak out for working families and protect their low-cost recreational opportunities and cut this wasteful practice of political patronage employment.
John Tighe, Milton
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