Well I take a momentary break from the Housing Authority crisis to stoplight another Saratoga Springs clusterfuck, the Casino reservation coordinator position.
I originally wrote a week ago that Heather Mabee, Mary Lou Whitney's daughter had been pegged for this new but unfunded position at the expense of longtime and much beloved jack of all trades Congress Park foreman Betty French. HERE.
The Saratogian has confirmed my story HERE.
This story goes back to Commissioner of Public Works Skip Scirocco getting bitch slapped as his pet project, the creation of a Reservation Coordinator went unfunded in the 2012 budget. Public works Commissioner Anthony “Skip” Scirocco then claimed if he wasn’t given an influx of funds his department would likely face layoffs.
This sentiment was echoed by then Finance candidate Michelle Madigan who according to the minutes of the November 1 2011 council meeting in the public comment meeting said.
Michelle Madigan of 30 Horseshoe Drive stated she had a question for Commissioner Ivins. She stated he didn’t budget enough in the DPW budget for labor. It leads her to believe he may possibly be considering layoffs in that department and hasn’t had a chance to come forward with that yet.
So after the election in the final budget for 2012 the Public Works Department received a $175,381 influx of capital into mostly labor lines, supposedly to avoid layoffs.
But there never was a threat of layoffs. Madigan was either incredibly naive or had cut a deal with Scirocco. The money was partially meant to circumvent the council’s vote to unfund the position of Reservation Coordinator . Heather Mabee had already been chosen for the position going back to September.
Scirocco seemingly repaid the political favor to Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan for her budgetary support and Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen, when he broke with the Mayor and supported there half-baked ambulance plan for the city.
But now in spite of all his Machiavellian planning it seems the Little Prince{ Skippy} will need a council vote after all to fill the position.
So watch closely at the next Council meeting to see if Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan and or Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen vote with Skip Scirocco. One of them just might be the needed swing vote.
Then we will all know once and for all if they made a deal with Scirocco
22 comments:
That's definitely Scirocco in the middle,he looks better with the long hair,what bird brain skippy forgot to tell everybody Ms Whitney will work Flex-hours in other words,she'll be unsupervised maybe have a city car,expense account(to wine and dine all potential Casino renters)and of course her on secretarial staff)and all the paper work is going to be sub-contracted out and the big perk is she'll keep her own hours..auditors just might have a problem with this one...can you imagine this pip-swqueek Scirocco trying to sell this bull-shit to the taxpayers.This issue will define how serious the Democrats are!,any bets?
The Dentist will fold like a cheap suit.
Flex hours means she'll be working from home,it just wouldn't be fair to Ms.Mabee to have to be around all those,well you know.
scirocco just wasted more taxpayers' money,he just handed out upgrades to 12 of "HIS FINEST SLEEPERS"these people are paid because they tell skip when the sun goes down.
Why is there such a push for a high starting salary at this position? Make the base pay lower, set the "office hours" required at PT numbers, and make the income largely commission based. Commission is pretty much the norm in these event positions, since it's all about make sales.
You don't have to change the money the city is charging for the room rentals, chair rentals, kitchen rentals, etc. Simply add an "Event Surchage" on the bottom of the bill. The city already provides a list of recommended caterers and service providers, if you want to stay on this list, the business owners need to agree to put the same surcharge on their bills, with all the money going to the event coordinator as a commission. If you choose not to use people on the cities preferred list, then charge a penalty, with money again going to the coordinator.
The city comes out spending less on the position, and whoever takes the position realizes they NEED to make sales if they want to make money.
Hmmmmm--about those chair rentals...the city used to own and rent them for events at the casino and bring in some bucks. Since Skippy arrived on the scene he's given the chair rental business to Allerdice who just happens by the way to be a significant contributor of Scirocco's.
If I were Scirocco, I'd be worried that maybe the Democrats don't need me?
It looks to me like the new City Council majority could prove to be the real watchdogs on City spending by simply telling little Scirocco NO NEW JOBS. For anyone familiar with City Hall, it is clear that this guy already has more staff than any other office in the building.
Maybe the real question here is:
Are the fiscal Conservative Party members watching this joke of a Commissioner??
Skippy will stay in power because he knows where many of the city's bodies are buried: literally and figuratively!
Democrats don't skippy,the new job is a joke,the city already pays someone to do the job,so what's the problem.....skippy thinks he should be running with the Vanderbilts and Whitneys that's the problem,this is nothing new he always thought he was Ringo Starr,are you getting tired of watching DPW trucks driving around with nothing to do?
Skippy will stay in power because the local Dems won't run anyone against him. What a disgrace they are
In Nov. Skippy was crying he needed more money in his budget or he'd have to lay some of his employees off, 2 months later he wants to spend $70,000 to make $50,000. So that's a lost of $20,000. Great way to run a business Skippy!
This Tues. at the civil service mtg. he's asking them to approve (& you can bet they will)EIGHT upgrades, (one for his girlfriend Gerri Loya from a laborer to a maintenance mechanic 1 She's the biggest abuser of driving around the city all day doing nothing. You know..the employee that parks the city truck in her driveway to pick up her garbage to bring to the city dump! You know..the employee that drives to Denny's for her 2 hr. morning break. She even needs a stepping stool to get into her truck! Not only that, she has not work a full week in months. These are the kinds of people Skippy feels best deserves more money and praise. Probably because while being paid by the taxpayers for being the Dog Catcher he spent 3/4 of his day in his van in the state park sleeping or bull shitting with his buddy Jay Downing.
He's also asking civil service to approve TWO...not ONE...but TWO DPW coordinators, one for a period of three mon. Why does he need TWO DPW coordinator,but one for only three months? You either need them or you don't. Which is it Skippy??
Last but not least...approval for provisional appointment of reservation coordinator, Heather Mabee. The job that will loose20,000 in the first yr. The job that hasn't even been funded by the council yet, the meeting isn't until 7 next Tues. The civil service meeting is at 5 the same night. So they will approve the provisional appointment even before Skippy asks the council for funding approval!!! How the hell does that work?
If civil service approves all of these promotions, and appointments may it's time someone starts an investigation of the Saratoga civil service. What do you say Eli?
I think this whole city is beginning to STINK to high heaven. Between the housing authority, civil service and Skippy's addiction to unending spending of taxpayers money.
If you get out of the city truck at least 2 times a day you will get a upgrade but then you have to ride around the rest of the day
Check out today's Times Union for another story on Spychalski and the Housing Authority. Thank God that John blew the whistle on this fiasco and that the Times Union is now following it.
I see Al Callucci & Frank Scirocco both believe adding this $70,000 position is worth taking the risk to increase revenue by $50,000. How do they figure?
Al & Frank don't you think the best way to increase revenue would be to hire some pt employees to work on the park grounds & allow Betty French the ability to promote the casino with flex hrs. to attend wedding shows, money to advertise in wedding mags etc. The same agreement you're willing to take the risk with Heather Mabee? Seems she's been able to increase revenue while working within the dept. hrs. AND raking, mowing, snowblowing the park grounds? AND this would be without costing the taxpayer an extra $70,000.
What do you say, let's take THAT risk guys! Or is the reason Heather is being hired is because of her "connections" & us taxpayers have to pay?
I know Mr.Scirocco that your little glasses gets fogged up at times.But lets try reading between the line and start working for us tax payers instead of for your want a bees or you may be on the outside looking in on the next election.
If you make a comment about Geraldine Dumortier not {loya} and her pet rikki do your research..She lives at 133 West circular St The tax records show her home was built in 1964,that can;t be rite because it is a modular home on a poured/formed foundation and you can see the form marks from the street.
It should also be noted that she has a finished basement with no second escape from the basement which is state law.Maybe this is why her taxes are soooo low and everyone else is getting screwed,where is the acessor and buildind inspector?????/
WOW, what a cowinkidink someone mentions Gerri Loya,do you all remember the big cocaine bust last month???Is it not funny that her son also DPW employee and a known coke head got picked up by SSPD one day and then the next day all these people his age get busted for dealing???? Maybe this might be payback for her and his help making the SSPD look good and keeping Ricki Diaz out of jail Just A Thought
I as a tax payer in the city of Saratoga go to the congress park every day with my pooch and i see that Betty French is doing a great job there.Skippy stop spending our tax dollars stupidly.Plus you can save more by getting rid of some of your girls in our own office at city hall you dont need 6 girls to answer the phones for you.Its time for you to stand up and do someting on your own.LIKE USE YOU HEAD
Mr MCTYGE forgot more than what MR SCIROCCO will ever know about the city and how to run it.Just look around the city now is worst than ever.
Skippy now has a total of SIX employees working in the DPW office. D. Buckley, K. Moran, J. Delaney, K. Clark, B. Putnam, & L. Scargello AND he's asking civil service on monday to approve ANOTHER DPW coordinator to work in his office from Jan-April!!! What the hell's up with that???
Plus he's hired Heather Mabee to do the bookings which apparently doesn't take 8 hrs. a day, 40 hr. a week since Betty French has been handling the bookings since Marge Farone left PLUS mow lawns, rake, snowblow, etc. and still increased revenue! Don't think she was sitting around waiting for the phone to ring like Skippy said in the press.
Who's the other DPW coordinator job for? Is he just covering his ass incase the funding isn't approved for Heather? He'll have her hired as a DPW coordinator and then let her do the casino bookings.
Hope you go to the civil service mtg. John to hear what this job is for.
Dear Al Callucci... for years now you have railed against City Budget Department overspending and over estimates of City revenue. You are on record as having spoken against Public Safety initiatives involving the Fire Department and the most recent issue with the Department taking on the EMS transport duty.
My question to you is: How can you pretend to be a fiscal conservative, worried about budget matters, and at the same time promote Scirocco's idea for a totally useless new addition to his City Hall payroll, by hiring Ms. Mabee? If the City has an extra $70,000 laying around it could be better used to fund the seven firemen Ivins laid off nearly two years ago. Give Me A Break!!!
NEWS FLASH!!!!!
Word has it that Skippy is now telling everyone he DOESN'T need council approval for the position.
That tells me that he IS going to hire Heather Mabee under the NEW PT DPW coordinator for Jan-April. Look out taxpayers because Skippy will fleece you one way or the other!!!! Can't believe that someone like Heather Mabee would want to be hired under this situation.
Be sure to attend the civil service mtg. Tues @ 5 in council chambers to watch the public get screwed by Skippy again. Apparently he doesn't care about the taxpayers opinion on how he spends/waste their money.
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