NO DUMPING On James St.

I say let's PROTEST any business that dumps their junky, smelly,  old aged stained crap on the downtown sidewalks for sale to our guests, the tourists.  They [the tourist] should not be subjected to the junk that some business owners try to peddle as bargains on the downtown sidewalks.  This is the same junk that did not sell last year and the year before and the friggin year before that.  A concerned citizen brought this  up at last nights board meeting [not me].  Shopping carts, clothes racks, and tables loaded full of hats, t-shirts, and flip flops are a frequent sight at several of our stores on James St.  The VB states that this is a problem every year [and not much we can do about it].  

I am disgusted with the inablility of the local politicians to come up with a solution to this recurring problem.  So as I said:

Protest

Picket

Boycott

AUDIO  from last nights public concerns at the VB meeting

Who Are You Afraid Of?

In the TI SUN dated April 22 is a letter to the editor titled "Village's Reputation".  Tell me you have read it!  The letter talks about how our town is viewed as the Honky Tonk and Boozin mecca of the 1000 Islands, now add to that, the possibility of Adult Entertainment taking top billing of the things to do in the Bay.  The writer goes on to say that our VB could be heroes and save our town from this plight. I was thinking as I read the letter that it was going to be a petition of some kind  .......but the letter is signed :

THE UN-SILENT MAJORITY ALEXANDRIA BAY

My question to this group:  Where are your signatures?  You lost your strength when you chose to be anonymous! You might have well signed it the sheepish muffled minority.  Then you could have gone one step further and shredded it.

Here is the main question for the group. WHO are you afraid of?  What person[s] or group of people in this town could possibly frighten you enough that you did not sign your letter?

Have Some Courage!  No matter what your opinion might be!

Linda @ The Dancin Dog

......sings a classic from the Animals, "House Of The Rising Sun"

Linda The Rising Sun from p guston on Vimeo.

Riverwalk Project Upper James St.

I received these photos [taken Aug. 2002] from Pat Simpson, former Mayor of Alex Bay.  These are the same ones that can be seen on Abay.com.  But since Pat sent them to me also, I figured I would post the slide show here on my blog.  I am not a big fan of the stone containers in the middle of the street, BUT I do like the stacked pavers that display trees and shrubs within the parking spaces along upper James St.   There is a lot of potential with this concept........something for everyone.  Since there is no "grass" between the sidewalks and the street to plant trees or shrubs, the sporadic parking spot displays would offer a garden atmosphere.  These spaces could also be used randomly through out James St and parts of Church St. Could these be placed in front of fire hydrants where no parking is allowed?  Or where hidden drive ways merge onto these busy streets, creating a botanical buffer zone. How about where there is no parking allowed or on corners at intersections.  These spaces could have low level shrubs or flowers  so they do not hinder the view of the oncoming traffic.......

Dock Of The Bay Request

........the owners want to be able to sell alcoholic beverages from their property on the few weekends when James St is blocked off for Bands/Dances.  An example of one of those weekends is Blues In the Bay. Here is the AUDIO from this part of the meeting.  The request can be found at 5min:09sec. There seems to be alot of confusion on the Boards part over this simple request.  Maybe it was not confusion, maybe it was hesitation or suspicion.  Either way this discussion dragged on for what seemed to be an eternity.

Also included in this audio file are the Trustee Reports which are at the beginning. The announcement of the Transportation Enhancement Project Grant award can be heard at 19min:00sec.  The TEP is the Riverwalk Project.

Nudity in Abay

.......Not Likely, 
But, I had to share these pictures with you.  These "girl-equins" are in a storefront not to far from the night club "Downtown"

Muskie Lounge Opening?

Maybe this Friday.  Maybe Wednesday.  Either way the sign is up!

String Cheese Incident

I started with Brubeck, migrated to Herbie and was beamed into this........cool

Nobody Move! Welcome to Cantaloupe Island

It is Sunday and I am in one of my moods.......Music Moods that is......Jam Jazz Fusion with Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheney and Co.

Chill! .......Time Out .........Take Five!

 Been a busy week. Un-cork a bottle of Vino.  Relax to one of my FAVS

VB Meeting New Business 4.14.09

AUDIO from this portion of the meeting covers some interesting agenda items. But there are 2 that are noteworthy.

1min:16sec The hiring of 2 village park attendants to start getting the park cleaned up.  Also the mayor mentions that a request has been brought to his attention that the bathrooms at the pavilion  be open by Mothers Day.  He stated that last year the bathrooms were not open and there was a lot of people up there having problems.

Authorize Accounting Software upgrade for the Village Clerks Office.  The current software is 11 years old and outdated, according to S. Cullen.   The cost of the software with the training of the 2 clerks is $7,550.00.  Just a thought, does the Town use a similar accounting software? Would it be more cost effective to share this software between the Town and Village with  a 2 license/site package.  I know it is probably not convenient  to coordinate this now.  But when will it become convenient to start sharing?

3min:55sec

Village Budget Hearing

..........is about as boring as the small booklet of paper that the proposed budget was printed on....... It can't be exciting all the time folks!  Very little was brought up as a concern over the proposed budget.  I was expecting Kay Doheny to filibuster every line item of the budget.  Maybe next years budget! 

Hearts For Youth was represented by Cindy Penn and Todd Hunter.  I was waiting in the wings to support any requests that they might have.  They came to the VB to request an increase in the villages contribution to the youth group. The contribution from the village for the past 3 years has been $10,000.  I agreed when they asked it to be increased to $15,000.  The AUDIO for this can be heard by clicking here.

At 1 min:16sec HFY discusses now having to charge for all the youth programs.

A lot of silence in this audio.

The mayor makes this statement: "people in the village are getting hit twice for the same program".  4min:26sec.

Here is a comment that I received 4/19/09 12:15 pm.  I thought it should be added here:
Dean Erck said...

The mayor does not understand the funding for Hearts for youth under the town budget structure. HFY is funded by the Town in the General fund B part of the budget and that exempts village residents. How does he not know this? How does Gebo and Sharon not correct him? There are some things improperly charged to the village residents but HFY is not one of them.

H4Y was asked what the Town contribution was, They kick in $26,000 annually.  H4Y had asked them for an increase of $6,000.  The Town denied the request. 14min:10sec.

The VB wanted to wait and see how the village monies were holding out. They promised to review the finances and said their might be a possibility of some extra money in September 09.  At this point it did not look good for any increase from the village. Village Clerk, Sharon Cullen and Attorney Gebo came up with an idea to use money collected from Penalties  on taxes which has a surplus balance.  This would have no impact on our budget.  The amount to be contributed  will be determined in May 09.  14min:50sec.

Personally I can not believe the Town would not offer some increase.  But then again I was not at the Town meeting when the increase was asked for.  Maybe I will make the next one.

related article WDT

More on the Go Go Cages

WWNY Interview about Dance Cages

JC interviews WWNY

I had to find out what the reporters knew......


JC interviews WWNY from p guston on Vimeo.

WWNY Visits Alex. Bay

Why were they here?  Curiosity about the rumors of go-go dancers in cages? More Later!!!!!

Singer Castle Sign Request 39' by 17'

This AUDIO portion of the meeting took place after the VB returned from Executive Session. 

Singer Castle has purchased the former Buoy's Restaurant on the corner of James and Miller.  They plan to convert it to a gift shop and ticket sales for Singer Castle.  Singer Castle also wants to put a sign on the building measuring 39 feet by 17 feet.  VB discussion of this request can be heard at the beginning of the Audio.  This is another example of why you should never ever send a letter to the VB without attending the meeting.

Trustee Sweet brings up skate boarding restrictions in the downtown area.  He wants to educate the kids so the parents won't get ticketed for repeat offenders...............5min:42sec.

The VB is looking for 3 taxpayers to participate in the Riverwalk Committee.  I am sure the appointments will be announced at a later date {man, I want to make some sarcastic comment}      9min:26sec.

To my friend Kay Doheny,
It is too bad you did not stick around for the rest of the VB meeting.  Trustee Sweet had a special message for you regarding the purchase of new bleachers at the Tennis Courts      10min:18sec.

Trustee Jarvis brings up tree trimming of village owned trees located between the sidewalks and the street.  He also noted that the Old Sports Shop located between Skiffs and the Dockside is deterirating.  A brief discussion follows with some talk of possibly getting the building condemned.    11min:50sec

Public Concerns VB meeting 4.14.09

CLICK HERE for the audio from the Public Concerns portion of the meeting.

At the beginning of the audio, the condition of our village sidewalks is discussed by a concerned citizen.

At 06min:34sec into the meeting a question is brought up [by moi] regarding the Riverwalk Special Meeting held on 3/31/09.  You remember, the one nobody was invited to.

Village Water Rate Increase?  This was asked [by you know who]  and to listen to the response from the mayor, move your sliders to 08min:58sec.  Just to tease you........."Probably"

11min:21sec is a discussion about the water usage at the Town Ice arena.

Shared Services between the Village and the Town 13min:55sec.

GO GO DANCERS move your sliders to 15min:13sec

"It's a Rumor But We Have Already Been Looking Into This"

That was the mayors response when I brought up Go Go Dancers at last nights VB meeting.  There was no fumbling around looking for the answers.  The mayor and the Village Attorney M. Gebo had the zoning law almost memorized.  If any of you want to look it up the zoning law is 150-75.  I wonder how the VB knew enough to be prepared for my public concern which was NOT public knowledge until I mentioned it at the meeting.  Has the VB stooped so low as to read the forum and blogs that some of them have vowed never to read and/or to take seriously.  How very interesting.........................

Copperhead Road

Overheard at the Broken Yolk this morning.  One of the patrons was talking about a song he had heard and thought it was new.  Copperhead Road by Steve Earl was released in 1988. It was suggested that this song would be a good one for the Dawg Brothers to play.  This song was a very popular in its day.......Give it a listen [lyrics included] and let DG and MXG know what you think of it.

Riverwalk Project Costs $1,133,900.00

I received the minutes titled "Special Meeting" [Riverwalk Project] that was held on March 31, 2009.  You remember, the meeting that nobody was invited to except the 2 reporters [WDT and TI Sun].  I scanned the minutes and even though it is stamped with Draft, a motion was made last night to accept these minutes. All were in favor and the motion carried.

As you read the minutes, you will notice that the mayor miraculously transforms the "Special Meeting" into an "Emergency Meeting".  How about Panic Meeting, because that is what it was. Moving on........the mayor called the meeting because the Public had some misconceptions regarding the Federal Stimulus money that the VB turned down.  The mayor was worried because we [the Public] were discussing it in the Forums on Abay.com and I was commenting on it here.  The discussion started when ex-Village Trustee R. Drake was interviewed by Rachel Kent from WWNY [Click here for that interview ]. So why were Chris Williams and myself not invited to this meeting?  I could go on about that, but you can draw your own conclusions.

The Village was awarded a grant from the Transportation Enhancement Project which covers 80% of the $1,133,900.00 [$907,120.00] Riverwalk Project.  The other 20% [$226,780.00] not covered by the TEP grant  will be paid by the taxpayer. I will say this again........according to the minutes the Riverwalk project will cost YOU [taxpayer] $226,780.00.  The project has to be completed in 5 years, although there is a possibility for an extension.  As our politicians are replaced with new ones over the next 5 years, who will keep this project on schedule?



So how much of the St. Lawrence River do you see from the Riverwalk?  The entire length of the Riverwalk, only about 20% of it has a view of the River.  The other 80% you can see the municipal parking lot, the River Hospital and its annex, the new condo's on Sisson, the water treatment plant, the River Hospital [again], the alley by the dive park, the Monticello, the backside of a novelty store, Howell Ave, and a vacant run down building tied up in estate.  Not much bang for the buck!

Village Board Budget Hearing

The public is encouraged to attend the Budget Hearing @ 5:15 pm tonight.  The regular VB meeting will be held right after the hearing.

Adirondack Almanack Stuff

I lived in Lake Placid from 1980 - 85.  Although I was a bartender and loved the nightlife, I did find a lot of time to hike and climb the High Peaks Region.  I became an avid cross crountry skier kicking and gliding all over, never worrying about how risky some of our destinations might be.  Those were the best years of my young adult life.  Outdoorsman by day and partier by night........SIGH!!!!!!

Fellow bloggers up north are celebrating their Fourth Anniversery @ Adirondack Almanack.  Stop by their site for some Adirondacky Culture, Politics, Environment, and History.........something for everyone

Sewer & Water Districts

According to a WDT article Residents must sign up for this municipal service.  The article went on to make this statement "CLAYTON — At a public hearing Wednesday, the town determined it would not be fair to include every property along Route 12E in a proposed sewer district"........

Do you mean to tell me that a local government actually wants input from the tax payers?  AND the Clayton TB is taking a proactive approach:


"If you want to be in the district, now's the time to sign up," he said. "If people don't want to be in the district they don't have to. Anybody who does not respond to that survey, their properties will not be included in the district."

Sounds like a fair and honest approach instead of the "your gonna take it as is" tactic.

HyperLocal Newz

The NY Times has an article about blogs like this one, ABay.com, NewzJunky, Jefferson Leaning Left and so on. The tools of our trade are: Document scanners, Camera's,  Video and Audio recorders.  I almost forgot to mention having free time to attend meetings and gather information from other blogs and news sites.  Almost like being a Detective.

HFY Learn To Swim Program

Hearts For Youth [HFY] has sponsored the Learn to Swim Program for several years.  Our son along with all of his friends learned to swim in this program. Becoming a swimmer allows the child to enjoy this recreation for life.  A strong swimmer can also assist and save another swimmer in distress.

A Letter To The Editor  in today's WDT asks this question: Isn't teaching our children to swim more important than having clean golf balls?  Mr. Erck talks about certain improvements to the golf course and wonders why the VB has not increased their contribution of $10,000 annually to offset the rising costs of running the youth programs.

I thought I would give Mr. Erck another piece of information that might be useful.  Recently Trustee Sweet "jumped on an opportunity" to purchase bleachers for the village tennis courts.  $2000.00 [approx] for those bleachers!  I guess I never realized that we had that many spectators to justify spending that amount for a short seasoned sport.

Other Spending info:

$26,000.00 for a new police car and $6000.00 for renovations for the Police Dept............certainly the Village can afford to contribute more to the HFY program.........
I would like to see the VB increase their contribution to the HFY to $15,000.00 so we do not cut our youth programs short.............

3 Men in a Room

A lot of talk about the NYS Budget and how it was formulated.  Last thing you need is another blogger generating his [my] opinion about it. A picture is worth a thousand words.....

Heroes!

When the world gets to be to much..........I find sanctuary in music................





I don't know about you........but I think we could all use a Heroe

Riverwalk Alternate Route

 

 The Magenta Lines are the original Riverwalk by the VB.  The white lines are the alternate routes proposed by Hammonite

I was going to just link to the comment but I figured most of you would not bother to Click The Link.  So I am going to post the entire comment from Hammonite and the email that was sent to me:

         JC- Thanks for mapping this out so we can see the scope of the project. I tend to agree that the riverwalk route loses it's allure in the area between the public beach and the small municipal lot . I think they need to re think that area.

        While I understand that there are variables involved in planning the route, I would implore the village to consider a path which is not only esthetically pleasing , but a route which helps foster the economic development of the area.  In the " big city " the urban planners refer to these as " connnective corridors"
        In my opinion , why does the walk have to go in a circle ? I think people can turn around on thier own. The walk should hug the shoreline as much as possible streamlining access to the center of town from the farthest reaches. (For example Bonnie Castle, Riveredge, past Thomsons etc. ) In addition , off of the riverwalk would be "fingers" which can funnel tourists and locals to various areas of the village. JC this is where you plan to improve the sidewalks could be implemented.
        I agree that along with the Riverwalk project a plan needs to be implemented to deal with dillapidated buildings ,crumbling sidewalks,and the like. While they are at it, the village needs to look hard at improving the availabilty of parking in the village as well . I grew up in Baldwinsville, NY which went through a " remodling phase" In fact many of the business owners in the village secured grants ( with the help of the village) to improve thier storefronts.....
        Without the support of the community as well as securing the appropriate planning and resources, the project will not be successful. Its a big ambition that indeed may take years to complete.

This is the email:

Hi Jim - All politics aside, I am greatly interested in this project. After looking at your map of the riverwalk I decided to play with Google Earth myself and " propose" another route for the Riverwalk. It took me about an hour . While it may not be perfect, I think it addresses a few key issues.

1) Keeping the esthetic focus on the River , and away from most eyesores in the short term.

2) Using the route to draw business to downtown merchants. .

3) Persuant to # 2, Incorporating hi capacity lodgings , The Riveredge, Bonnie Castle, PTP and Thomsons etc. into the route.

4) Incorporating the best use of " hard land" so that sidewalk improvement can be realized.

5) Incorporating the Town Dock , and the Epicenter of the Town .


JC says thanks to Hammonite

Hear Yee Hear Yee

Please Take Notice!!!!  TI SUN page 13 4.1.09


The VB will hold a public hearing on April 14th 2009 @ 5:15pm to take and hear comments relating to the 2009-2010 village budget.  All persons wishing to be heard on the question and adoption of the tentative budget will be provided an opportunity as time permits.  That would be a total of 15 minutes folks, because the regular meeting starts at 5:30 pm.


Don't worry, because most of you will be in Myrtle Beach on vacation. Also, the VB wants you to know that if you require  special accomodations  to attend the Budget hearing, the Village clerk wants a 5 day notice prior to the meeting.  Isn't that convenient for the VB!  Wouldn't it be nice if they could have extended the same courtesy to the tax payers when they only gave us less than a days notice [Riverwalk Project meeting 3/31/09] on their website that nobody goes to!

Senator Gillibrand Likes Sunshine Too

Jefferson Democrat blog has an interesting topic about the sunshine law.........here is a quote from Senator Gillibrand "I believe in open and honest government, transparency and accountability not just because it's what New York deserves.............


We deserve the same open and honest goverment even on the local level, but our VB is not allowing it to happen.  Here is a little tid-bit of info...........someone asked how long has the VB been working on this Riverwalk Project...............I was told by Trustee Sweet they have been working on it for 8 years.  Wow and they are not shovel ready?  Give me a break

Bloggers are News Media TOO!

I was at a funeral today and had a chance to speak with a long time friend that works for Senator Aubertine. I was asking him about the Open Meeting Laws aka Sunshine Law and the idea of  transparency in the local government.  I only had to briefly describe the details surrounding the VB meeting on 3/31/09.  First of all, my friend did not "buy" the emergency or special meeting status that Trustee Sweet mentioned earlier.  I told him I didn't either.  I asked him about notifying the news papers as part of the notice.  My friend said why did your VB  notify the papers........they could not get that info about the meeting published in the paper in time for the public to see.  Then my friend said something to me that kind of astounded me.............Jim, you and bloggers ARE the news media.............tell your board that they should have let you get the word out to the public about the meeting.  I laughed a little and told him that the VB did not want me or anyone at that meeting.  I  told him the rest of the story..........

Map Of Riverwalk Project

I used Google Earth to draw this map of the path of the Riverwalk Project.  The path is drawn free hand based on Trustee Sweet's description in todays WDT article title Walkways Receive Federal Boost .  I find it interesting that some communities actually received Federal Money for the projects.  From what I read in the WDT article it sounds like those communities were well organized and actually shovel ready for the project [bash].  Some other municipalities are going to improve their sidewalks.  Now that is a great idea [bash].

While you look at the map of the Riverwalk route, you may notice that it goes in front of The Old Chamber of Commerce Building.  This property was a topic of concern at a VB meeting back in February.  To view it Click Here.  One final thought:  The St Lawrence River is absolutely beautiful and breathtaking.  there is no doubt about that.  You need to keep looking in the direction of the River as you venture along the Riverwalk.  If you glance the other way, what you will see is disgusting, ie some of buildings and properties are not kept up or the building are just ugly.  The Riverwalk is like a pearl necklace.......a beautiful piece of jewelry meant to adourn the neck of a woman.  But do you know what you get when a pearl necklace is put around the neck of an ugly woman.  You still have an ugly woman and no money in your pocket [bash]

More about the Sunshine Law

Added Later:  The VB played this Sunshine Law as close to the margin as possible with extreme minimal qualifications to meet the law. You used the law to manipulate the outcome of that meeting which was to exclude everyone but the ones chosen to be on your guest list......

I received a call from Trustee Sweet regarding me being upset with the VB over the informational meeting held on Tuesday.  Basically he said what do you expect since you have repeatedly bashed the VB.
He also called to let me know that he sent me a clarification [via email] of the Village version of the Sunshine law:

Jim;

The Open Meetings Law you are referring to that the Village of Alexandria Bay is governed by is Article 7 of The Public Officers Law known to many as the "Sunshine Law".

Below is a word for word quote of the village's copy of this law as pointed out by our village’s attorney who is a municipal attorney for how many numerous municipalities in this region.

"In order to assure that the public is aware of, and therefore able to attend an open meeting, the statue contains a notice requirement. For meetings planned at least one week in advance, notice must be given to the news media, and also to the public by means of posting in one or more designated locations at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting. For meetings scheduled less than one week in advance, notice must be given to the news media to the extent practicable and must be posted at a reasonable time prior to the meeting. The news media requirement does not contain a mandate to publish a paid legal notice, but merely requires that the media be contacted and advised of the upcoming event."

The above should clear up some of your questions.

I believe this is called a special or emergency meeting (called on 3/30/09 for 3/31/09) for the purpose of getting the facts out to the taxpayers so they can comment at the next village board meeting as the Stimulus/NYS Dot Tep grant is on our agenda.

Is our interpretation or our attorney’s interpretation of the above Open Meetings Law wrong?

If so please contact me immediately.

Thanx-brent

More about the Riverwalk Project

[click] This Word Document [click] is the offiicial Revised News Release from the VB of Alex Bay regarding the Riverwalk project. It was sent to me by Trustee Sweet.  It contains everything you always wanted to know about the choice of funding, village obligations, time frame of the project, etc.......

Why did the VB violate the open meeting laws?

Good question!
Here is the reason:  A 3 page email was sent [3/29/09 @ 1:45 am] by a Village trustee  to Mr. X.  The email explained  the VB's position regarding the Riverwalk on all the comments that I made and comments made by others in the forum at abay.com.  It also gives details regarding the VB's displeasure with WWNY reporter Rachel Kent and former VB trustee Richard Drake and the interview that most of us saw on TV.  Mr X thought that if I could see the explanations from the VB trustee I might change some of my opinions and maybe influence others.  So without the permission of the VB trustee, Mr X showed up at my door [3/29/09 @ 1 pm] with the 3 page email and presented it to me.  Keep in mind that I did not ask Mr X for this email, nor did I really want it.  I figured it was misinformation.  I did accept the 3 page email and read it.  It was full of details, however I am not sure if those details were accurate or not.  I asked Mr X if he thought the VB trustee would be mad if he/she knew that I had this email?  He said no, just do not post anything from it that might give the trustee's identity away.  I said ok, then I told Mr X, just so you know I am going to email the trustee to let him/her know that I am in possession of the email.  Mr X said no problem.

I sent an email to the trustee.  Lets just say that his/her response was of grave concern.  I assured the trustee that I would not make public his/her email because the subject line said: my confidential response to Chris's/Jim's posts [ not public information].  In the first paragraph is this statement by the trustee:  My name can not be associated with this information.  I honored the VB trustee request even though I was not the original recipient of the email. 

Evidently the trustee confessed to the mayor and the other VB members that he/she had sent this email to Mr X and it ended up in enemy hands [ me].  The VB decided to call  the  meeting on tuesday march 31st to stop any more discussions on this blog or the forum or you kitchen table for that matter.  Nobody was notified because the VB did not want anyone to be at the meeting to ask questions.  The VB sensed that public concern over the Riverwalk stimulus money was already beyond their [VB] control.  The VB held the meeting with the 2  reporters.  That is how you got the information that the VB wanted to spoon feed you through the 2 newspapers  That is why the VB violated the open meeting laws and denied your rights to attend that meeting.

I played fair with the VB trustee and it did not pay off.  The trustee was sworn to secrecy to not contact me or anyone else about the meeting on 3/31/09.  So now I am telling you what happened but I am still honoring that trustees request to remain anonymous.........

Newspaper gets the drop on local bloggers

Ouch that hurts!  As of today nothing about the Riverwalk Project was printed in the WDT.  However the TI Sun left myself and fellow blogger JT at Abay.com in the dust.  Cough Cough choke.......wheeze......Normally the deadline at the TI Sun is Monday at 5:pm.  The special meeting held last night [Tuesday] where the VB explains the Riverwalk Funding is front page news in this weeks Sun.  It appears that the editor can defy his own deadline........good to know.  I want to share a few of the opening lines of the article in the Sun.

The Alexandria Bay VB held a special meeting March 31 to explain to the public why the village opted to decline federal stimulus money for the Riverwalk Project...........

EXPLAIN TO THE PUBLIC.  That is a catchy phrase.  Did they intend to explain all this to us [the public] via a newspaper article?

Maybe, Just Maybe you and I might have wanted to hear this explanation first hand?  Some of us may have had specific questions or maybe there is something in the article that is vague?

Well fellow taxpayers we were denied that right to hear it first hand.  So where do we go from here?  I will tell you where to go.........to the store and buy your own copy of the TI Sun so that you will get the edited version of what went on at that meeting last night.  Me?  I am off to the AG's office.......

BTW that meeting did not have to be last night.  It could have waited till another night.  Then all of US that wanted to attend could have done so.  I am starting to think the reason why the meeting was last night was because the VB wanted that info in this weeks TI SUN ...........ain't that a bitch? 
Your Rights to Open Meeting Laws and a Transparent Local Govt have been compromised.....

Village Board Meeting Last Night?

I normally do not check the Village Website on a regular basis.  Why bother?  It never has current information presented in a timely manner, ie. minutes and ANNOUNCEMENTS.  I went the Village site this morning to see if the March 24th minutes were up yet.  Of course they were NOT!  But I did find something very interesting on the site about the Riverwalk Project...........this announcement:

Village Board Meeting Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 5:00 PM at 110 Walton St., to discuss stimulus money. 

After seeing this, I went to the Village Office and spoke to K. Butcher the assistant village clerk. I asked her if this meeting was advertised in the TI Sun, she answered no.  How about channel 2 on the cable, she replied no.  She then told me that she put the announcement on the Village website on tuesday morning.  She also told me that J. Lee from the WDT and C. Snow from the TI Sun were notified of the meeting.  I called J. Lee at the Times to ask him who was at the meeting. He replied: just myself, Craig Snow, all 5 board members and S. Cullen village clerk.  Lee went on to say that he was surprised that nobody else was at the meeting.  He added that he was surprised because he thought village residents were very concerned about this issue of Federal vs State Stimulus money to fund the Riverwalk project.


My thought about this is NO FUCKIN SHIT!  I can not even describe to all of you how irate I am at this moment.  Some of you are thinking .......well JC if you were not such an idiot blogger then someone from that board would have called you to let you know about the meeting. I did talk to one of our trustees this morning and was told that some of the board members just do not like you JC..........hmmmmm.........  Forget about me for a minute and think of all the other well mannered residents that go to the board meetings or the others of you who might have an interest in this project.  They were not called either nor did they know anything about this meeting.  If the VB thinks that I am a raging asshole then wait till they get a load of me from now on.........I am now a HUGE FUCKING RAGING ASSHOLE TO THE TENTH DEGREE WITH AN ATTITUDE.  This is not the end of a rant but the beginning of a mission............

 

No Public Notice Here! 

Photo taken on 4/1/09 @ 11:30am 

The following link is The NYS Committee On Open Government.  Here is what it says about Public Notice:

§104. Public notice. 1. Public notice of the time and place of a meeting scheduled at least one week prior thereto shall be given to the news media and shall be conspicuously posted in one or more designated public locations at least seventy-two hours before such meeting. 2. Public notice of the time and place of every other meeting shall be given, to the extent practicable, to the news media and shall be conspicuously posted in one or more designated public locations at a reasonable time prior thereto. 3. The public notice provided for by this section shall not be construed to require publication as a legal notice. 4. If videoconferencing is used to conduct a meeting, the public notice for the meeting shall inform the public that videoconferencing will be used, identify the locations for the meeting, and state that the public has the right to attend the meeting at any of the locations.