SNOLF 2011

Village Board Webcast?

The Village website has not posted minutes from the meetings since January 2010.  If you go to their site right now, the only things on it are a link to the sign ordinance, the recycling schedule and a calendar of upcoming meetings. Typing up the minutes, converting them to PDF format and uploading them is a piece of cake . However, uploading audio and video can be a tricky and time consuming process.  After doing it so many times, I have gotten it down to a science and can do it rather quickly.  So my question is this: Are the girls in the office ready to take on Mr. Thomson s request for the village to upload the audio to the meetings?  I will show you mine, show me yours!

It is what it is

So what is there to say about this video?  Just this.... I respect Ron Thomson's opinion of me and my blog and all those that share his sentiments.  It does not mean I agree with it nor am I going to roll over and die either.  I would like to clarify one thing.  Ron mentions Newzjunky....  I have sent links to Newzjunky  in the past, and 9 times out of 10 [or more] Newzjunky ignores my blog topics.  Sometimes I do not even bother sending links to NJ.  To be honest, I was very surprised when NJ did pick up the Biker in the Bay story.  I was even more surprised when Mayor Graham picked it up on his blog.  Then it went micro-viral and Channel 7 picked it up.  Obviously NJ and the Mayors Blog along with Channel 7 found it to be a news worthy story.  I guess it is what it is......

My thoughts on the Webcast of village meetings.

Mark this on your Calender

From 2011-02 (Feb)

Feedback WWNY Your Turn

Your Feedback On Canadian Tax, No Defense & Bikers In the Bay

 

Mannsville Proposes Dissolution

The Villages of Edwards, Potsdam, Waddington are also looking at the merging process to determine if it is cost effective.  Chaumont is thinking about a dissolution study.  In Oswego county, the village of Altmar voted in November to dissolve its village.

Blame Yourself

For the past 3+ years I have attended 99.9% of all the village board meetings.  I sit in the front row, with my digital recorder, camera, video recorder, and clip board.  Attendance at the meetings is usually sparse.  All the board members, Chief of Police and DPW superintendent are all very aware that I am recording those meetings.  They also know that those recordings are shared with anyone that reads my blog.  It is all part of the Sunshine Laws.  It should come as no surprise to any of them, when they hear their voices on this blog.

But, some of our elected [or appointed] officials continue to make ridiculous statements and try to make them sound like facts.   For example:  The mayors recent comments about the bikers, Trustee Drakes opinion about drinking before noon,  and of course the DPW Superintendents remarks about his workers ethics when he is away. Call me funny, but I curb what I say, and it's tone depending on where I am.  Dropping "F" bombs in the bar but not in church...... get my drift?

Look in the mirror!

Thanks for going to all those meetings and sharing the information, and I love your blog, but I don't always agree with you.  Those are the comments I get from people.  For the most part, I just share audio and video of those meetings and keep my comments to a minimum.  Sometimes I am more vocal with my opinions.  It all depends how much a topic bugs me.  Lets just say that the past few board meetings have really pissed me off.  Stirring the pot and Shit Stirrer are what some think I do.  Some think that I am single handedly  bringing this village down and ruining business by airing our dirty laundry.  There are those of you that do a much better job at that!  Some of you are trying to make me accountable for YOURS or OTHERS actions and words.  I have said before and I will say it again...... If you don't like me or my blog,  don't read it.  It is as simple as that!

Email

I received this email from Cheryl Vanbrocklin this evening:
On Sat, Feb 19, 2011 at 11:35 PM, wrote:
Finally...the community after all of the bull crap shows support....there is a picture to prove it...and what do you pair it with but a totally inappropriate picture...RIDICULOUS!!!! I have spoken to many bikers about whether or not they support the bikers weekend from here on out...and I have told them that we love having them here and they are ready to boycott....and they are welcomed because they bring a lot to our community.,..and then you show some picture that makes them look just like the mayor would like you to portray them with their asses hanging out and all...we have never had ANY problems with the bikers here in ABay and you create more problems in this community than anyone I have ever met!!!! Crawl back into your circus tent until you have something reportable to help this village!!!!

In these economic times, can we really let these people take their money to another community?

Do you support this community or do you want to condemn it? You take one statement from a whole conversation and make it represent an entire community...that's crap....if you don't like what happens here you are welcomed to move....many people try to make this their home and their livelihood, and you continue to ruin it. ONE STATEMENT DOES NOT REPRESENT AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY....IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE MAYOR...THEN AS A VILLAGE TAX PAYER YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES...QUIT YOUR BITCHING AND MAKE CHANGES ON VOTING DAY!!!! Don't take down an entire community in the mean time....

You are nothing but a pot stirrer...you aren't around when shit hits the fan...give me a break....I am not a village tax payer but I work in the village and rely on the tourism our village takes in. YOU DON'T...so let the crap rest!!!

This is not about Terry Robb....this is about our community as a whole....we support the bikers and we support anyone who wants to come to our village!!! Thank you and AMEN!!!

Winter Welcome for the Bikers

I received this picture via email. This banner was hung sometime last night.   It shows support and solidarity for the TIRR Biker Rally.  This comes on the heels of the mayor making some reckless and out of touch comments about bad bikers in the bay.

Invitation to Bikers, Please Attend the Next Village Board Meeting

The next Alexandria Bay Village Board meeting will be February 22 at 5:30 pm at the  Village Office located at 110 Walton St., Alexandria Bay, NY.  For information, please call 315-482-9902.   Hours: M-F 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.  All Bikers are encouraged to attend...

Mayor Visualizes Mayhem

I wonder if this was the scene that was whizzing through his imagination ......

Speaking of Mayhem:

Blog Traffic Since 2.9.11

		Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Total:		8,009	5,934	4,485	1,449

Mayor vs Bikers WWNY

Bikers Discussed on Hotline

1240 WATN Hotline host Jeff Graham talks about blogs and reporting on the local news 3minutes and 30 seconds into the show.  At about 13 minutes and 33 seconds Jeff talks a call.  You could tell the caller would have rather remained anonymous.  Whatever!  The caller starts out by saying he wants to clarify what went on at that meeting, because he was there.  It is just one mans opinion and that the mayors comments have evolved into the blogs don't want the bikers.  Abay.com and I are not saying that.  Some of the people posting on the other sites are saying maybe the bikers should go else where.  WE are NOT saying that.  We want the BIKERS to stay..... It is SOMEBODY else that needs to go.....  The discussion between Jeff Graham and caller continues until Jeff blows the callers cover and he reveals that it is Ron Thomson.  It is a great discussion and as usual Ron raises some good points.  Listen to it by CLICKING HERE

The version below contains Jeff's conversation with Ron:

Motorcycle Clubs

I found this website that lists Motorcycle clubs. Click here to view it.

I visited one of the "clubs" website. Iron Brotherhood some pretty scary animated graphics loaded along with Black Sabbath Iron Man playing in the background.  I then clicked on the national web site link.  More hard rock music.  OMG what kind of a Club is this???????

I am not going to tell you, your going to have to click the Iron Brotherhood link to find out.  If you are an open minded individual  you won't be surprised.  If your a narrow minded biased bigot, you still won't get it!

Harley Davidson Motorcycle Stats

DEMOGRAPHICS : Link to more stats.  The age and income should be of interest to some.

GENDER 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 Male 88% 88% 88% 89% 89% Female 12% 12% 12% 11% 11%

2007 PURCHASERS

52%	Owned Harley-Davidson® motorcycle previously at any point during lifetime
33%	Owned a competitive motorcycle previously
15%	First motorcycle purchased

MEDIAN AGE		MEDIAN INCOME

Audio from 2.8.11 VB Meeting

Link to the entire audio of the 2.8.11 VB meeting >

Below is the Time Line of the agenda major topics:

• Open container starts @ 6min:12secs
• Bids #1 Market St starts @ 32min:39secs
• Riverwalk project starts @ 43min:27secs

Hint:
Press the play button, then after a few seconds hit the pause button.  Go do something for a few minutes, the time slider bar should have loaded.  Then you can slide that button to any section of the audio that you want.




Short version of Mayors comment about bikers.

Head over to Abay.com to read the discussion and comments.

Live@5 comments about our Mayor

Glenn Curry from Live@5 takes a few minutes to offer his "opinions" about our mayor, the bikers and the bay....

Riverwalk Price Tag Is Now 1.4 Million

If you are new to the blog or need a refresher on what has been going on with the Riverwalk project Click here.

The following audio clips are from the 2.8.11 VB meeting.  The first audio clip is a short teaser version on what was recently discussed.  The second clip is the full version.  As usual, Ron Thomson is the voice of reason.  Ron, I agree with you about the project.  We need this project....but it appears that it is getting further and further out of our reach.  Dave Garlock also speaks up and offers some great advice.  I fear that we should have used local engineers for this project from the beginning.  As usual, hind sight is 20/20.....

Mayor Worried Bout BAD Bikers

Audio from last nights VB Meeting:

As someone from the audience said, there are Good people and Bad people.  Why does the mayor feel the need to alienate and stereotype  a particular group?

You can read tons of comments over at Abay.com

Democracy is Dying in A-Bay

I am outraged....

None of this was followed tonight till Kay tried to speak

What next?  Look for an audio clip from tonight's discussion about the TIRR Biker Rally.....the mayor makes biased comments about the bikers

How Many NY Prisons on the Chopping Block?

Last night Capital Tonight's Liz Benjamin interviewed Assemblywoman Addie Russell.

VB Meeting 1.25.11

For whatever reason, the 1.25.11 VB meeting was not covered in last weeks TI Sun.  Below is the audio, 65 minutes long.  It is there if you want to listen to it......

Some noteworthy agenda items:

• At the beginning of the meeting, the mayor introduces "his" new guidelines for Public Comment.
• The Chamber of Commerce Open Container Proposal to the board  starts @ 14min:09secs.
• The full version of the DPW 2nd in command debate starts @ 39min:49secs.

The Korner Now Serving Breakfast

The Korner is now open at 6 am serving breakfast till 11:30 am.  The same great menu is available throughout the rest of the day and evening.  Be kind to Krista the cook......opening day she got a parking ticket because she arrived to work before 6 to prep for breakfast.  November till April there is no overnight parking on village streets.  This allows for easier snow removal.  OK, I  agree the village needs this ordinance.  But how about a little common sense? A couple of quick ways to see if a vehicle is a violator, is to check for snow on the windshield and or check to see if the engine is still warm.  Don't forget to take your mittens off when doing this check!  Some village officials might argue that she could have parked in the long term parking lot.  The DPW has plowed a path through that lot, but it does not allow for safe parking.  Common Sense Please!

Vandalism @ St. Cyrils

At some point late Friday night or early Saturday morning, vandals rolled the Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary out of her nave and onto the sidewalk below.  Fire Chief  R. Service and others from the Alex Bay Volunteer Fire Department muscled up some man-power and returned the statue to her pedestal. On behalf of the members of St Cyrils Church..... Thank You!

Who would do such a thing from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.