Saratoga is blessed for many reasons one being two local reporters, Denis Yusko of the Times Union has been doing a bang up job covering many different local issues but today I write about Lucian McCARTY of the Saratogian.
In a recent blog post HERE on his city desk blog he spotlight a sound off left by a gentleman in Chicago. That goes
"I was out in Chicago on business the other day and I was having lunch with a client. They live in Chicago and normally they come to the track in August with their family and this fella said 'You know I've heard of all of the violence in the streets and all of the movement down there to try to clean up the streets and how horrible it is.'So they are not going to take their vacation this year and come to Saratoga …."
It continues for great length and that is the reason it didn’t make the sound off cut to long.
What I find really amazing when asked to comment Toothy says.
"To the person who wrote this Sound Off, it is hard to understand why anyone who has been coming to Saratoga Springs would not now come because we are trying to clean up 'all the violence in the streets'. Such a person would know that we have been referring to late night activities in the nightclub district. One would think that such a person would not return to Saratoga Springs if we were NOT addressing these problems.
It is hard to understand how eliminating this blemish on our reputation as a safe, fun place for tourists, conventioneers and Skidmore students is 'not necessarily what's best for this area'.
And yes, I do provide excellent dental services for my patients. Thanks for the compliment.
I am also doing a really good job as I serve on our City Council as well as in my oversight of the Public Safety Department. It is the late night problems in our nightclub district that are 'really giving this town a bad name.'
Please feel free to have the Chicago businessman call me. (518 587 3550 X 2627)
Chris Mathiesen"
So once again Mathiesen as arrogant as ever continues to bash our good name and destroy all reputation all for his narrow political agenda.
13 comments:
Dear Commish-
If you want to "do a really good job" you could start by enforcing the "really clear laws" about the illegally modified motorcycles that shatter the night air. I've hand-delivered the laws to you... but if Eileen intercepted them, here's where you can turn to solve REAL problems that are "really giving this town a bad name"--
* N.Y. Vehicle & Traffic Law § 381, parts 11-13
* N.Y Vehicle & Traffic Law § 386
OR as a simpler Public Safety service you can Order the "Emergency Demolition" the REALLY inhabitable condemned neighborhood firetrap at 66 Franklin Street.
Kyle is onto something asking the commissioner to look into enforcing the laws already on the books.
His two main rallying points are the St. Patrick's Day accident and the Caroline St. "Riot".
Interesting too, that he has ZERO interest in talking about the OTHER tragedy that happened on that same St. Patrick's Day. The one that happened on city owned property and in a department he controls and under the supervision of SSPD officers he sets policy for. Doesn't Merideth Lickowala count? He could prevent tragedies like that from happening by simply changing policies and procedures in HIS OWN DEPARTMENT. We don't even need to go to the County level to keep our citizens safe from situations like that.
As far as the other Caroline St. incident, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here, but wasn't the driver of that vehicle sober, and had planned on being the DD for the other two men that night? Also, weren't the men in the car driving away to escape a group who had chased them, and who they had an incident with earlier that night, though no arrests were made in that incident?
Finally, let's get to the "riot". For all we've heard about what a horrible event it was, why have we only read about ONE conviction, resulting in a 6 month county jail sentence, with no mention of any restitution being paid to the city for injuries to officers and OT resulting from those injuries? In this riot, requiring so many outside agencies to assist, why did SSPD officers seem to have time to make arrests in a pizza parlor a block away, if I'm reading the police reports correctly?
Rather then beat down the doors of every council in the county, asking them to change what they allow their citizens and sales tax producing businesses to do, wouldn't it be better to make sure his own house is in order? It seems like in all 3 of these incidents, the results indicate there should be a review of SSPD policies and procedures. I know he's concerned about "morale" but you'd think showing the men and women of the SSPD how to go to work and NOT get beat up, or have anyone die, would be a good thing.
Mathiesen needs to stop looking at ARRESTS and start looking for CONVICTIONS, and when he sees how far the gap is, maybe he'll finally realize that the problem isn't what time the bars close.
The fact that the tooth fairy has Finger-nan as his deputy, is enough to convince me that he is not as intelligent as people might think. As we all know now, he is his best admirer.
Just look at Eileen's history with the city, and it is evident that she is merely a pawn of the party. You become the same as the company that you keep.
Wow - you guys are tough! Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but for the record, he is VERY intelligent, he is VERY hard working, he is a GREAT dentist, and he puts his money where his mouth is. Talk is great, but if you really want to do something, get involved. Chris Mathiesen deserves everyone's respect for doing that. He is doing what he believes is the right thing to do. Whether or not you agree with him, he should be admired for that. I do.
Ever notice that when a "little goody two shoes" starts flitting about it's usually because of some personal secret. It could be a bent, a proclivity, a curiosity, a perversion, a fetish, or just, well, self-righteous weirdness. People who throw stones shouldn't drill teeth.
If his money is where his mouth is, then stay on West Ave. and pull teeth, and inflict pain and misery on paying customers, not the taxpayers.
And not revelers of Caroline St.
Yikes! You guys are scary!
@8:09 - If that's the case, and Mathiesen just wants to "get involved", why isn't Mathiesan banging on Jim Murphy's door, demanding convictions to the full extent of the law, and restitution for the city for the "perps" in "Riot" the Commissioner speaks of so often when he asks for an earlier closing time? Even the one conviction we've heard of from that incident was on a plea deal.
What are Finneran's Qualifications to BE Deputy Commissioner Of Public Safety---she has none----she's an Democratic Party "hack" from the Albany Housing Authority--she's just collecting a BIG pay check every week and believe me it's a fuck'in gift...."Toothy's"secrets aren't secret anymore!Let the four winds blow.
Tooth fairy has at least one supporter, with a letter to the editor in the Saratogian today.
Skidmore "professor" who should have known what he was getting into when his wife bought the house for him.
How come the Saratogian never ran an article on 420 and Skidmore? Every other PS Commish has had to face that fire in the press. Why did this guy get a free pass?
1)What action did he take if any this year?
2)What is his policy?
3)How does he feel about the celibration?
4)Were the police called for anything?
5)Did he go to the campus and observe as he does on Caroline Street?
6)Does he see the celibration as a potential for violence?
7)Does he fear for his safety on campus?
Wow! How could the Saratogian not see the potential in a story like this that was one of their biggest stories in past years?
Commissioner Mathiesen's approach to 4.20 is most assuredly the same approach he applied to 66 Firetrap Franklin...to wit--
The HOUSE has a LOCK so we ALL are PROTECTED. In the same vein, SKIDMORE sent out a NO DRUG 4.20 MEMO and so NO SMOKERS will LIGHT UP.
Meanwhile, I hear he's planning another personal covert 3 am surveillance sweep of the cancer that is Caroline.
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