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The Ricky Files (Vol. 4)

During the 2003 election, Scalera swiped the independent party name, logo and ballot line of his mayoral opponent using an election law technicality. Even longtime Scalera loyalists were scandalized.

The Register Star’s normally 100% supportive editorial board wrote:

[Scalera’s] actions remind us of a notable American politician who so feared his opponents that he resorted to tricks: Richard M. Nixon.

The editor of the now-defunct Independent said that “Scalera’s move this week... fails to pass the smell test for spite,” calling it “just plain stupid” and “a cross between a prank and bullying.”

Scalera himself chortled to a Metroland reporter that his move “was meant to be devious” and that he fully intended to “hurt feelings.”

[NOTE: Of course, the candidate he stole the line from (and whose feelings he intended to hurt) was Linda Mussmann of TSL—who since has been exhibiting symptoms of some political strain of Stockholm Syndrome, empathizing with her former tormenters. Some of Mussmann’s past opinions of Rick Scalera will follow in Volume 5 of this series.]

Superwoman

R.I.P., Paula Superti.

The Ricky Files (Vol. 3)

In February 1999, noted book author and national columnist Edward M. Gomez published this letter-to-the editor, recounting his experience at a public hearing about the Americlean toxic waste project. First, some background may be in order...

The Americlean project would have trucked highly carcinogenic perchloroethylene, a dry cleaning waste, from all over the Northeast, to a neglected structure in the South Bay—a former glue factory which was later dubbed “The Basilica.” The fly-by-night Canadian company would have been given $600,000 in Cuomo-era HUD grants to do this, supposedly “recycling” the perc with a supposedly patent-pending process.

Public officials including the Columbia-Hudson Partnership and Mayor Rick Scalera initially tried to hide (or else later professed ignorance of) the real nature of the project, which was presented as a benign factory which would just make coat hangers and polybags for the dry cleaning industry. But citizens dug up the company’s real goals through independent research, and demanded that the company send a representative to Hudson to explain themselves.

Backed into a corner by better-informed citizens—and firmly reminded a hasty promise to bring someone from the company to town before handing over the $600K—Scalera reluctantly agreed to a hearing. Not expecting more than a handful of “usual suspects” to attend, the Mayor scheduled the meeting for the largest auditorium in town (at the high school) hoping the audience would look small and isolated.

Instead, the hall was packed to the rafters with citizens from all walks of life—from a lifelong resident running a day care center near the path of the waste, to a prison employee who wanted to support the project, but was treated with disdain by the company rep. Citizens posed pointed, well-researched questions, and brought a toxicologist to testify to the dangers of perc.

Albany TV cameras and radio reporters were there to document the woefully unprepared and evasive answers of Americlean rep, Brett Walker, who seemed to have spent more time getting his hair cut and picking out a fancy suit than prepping for the meeting. Among other things, Walker “couldn't remember” where the company’s supposed “pilot plant” to test their miracle technology was located.

But Rick Scalera wasn’t embarrassed by Walker’s fumbling performance. Instead, he declared himself to have “never been so embarrassed” by the citizens who, once the company slunk away, had spared the town from a expensive debacle.

But don’t take it from me, take it from Edward. His firsthand reaction shortly after the hearing (and before the citizen victory several months later) follows below.

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DEMOCRACY—WHAT A CONCEPT!

Chemical and political pollution in our midst.

by Edward M. Gomez 

The stench of corruption and old-guard cronyism in our town’s politics and among its elected leaders is as foul as any toxic chemicals the notorious Americlean company may release into the air we all breathe if it is allowed to set up shop here.

But the good news is that a refreshing breeze is blowing through our town and through Columbia County—it’s the fresh air of people power, of good, hard-working, upstanding folks from all walks of life standing up to the corrupt political machine to say: “No! We won't let you steamroll another one of your dubious schemes through the system that you have for so long manipulated to your advantage, bypassing the public and ripping us off.”

At Thursday night’s town meeting at Hudson High School, at which a public relations representative of Americlean, invited by Hudson's mayor and his cronies, answered local residents’ questions, we saw an exciting revelation of the power of a thoughtful, inquiring, conscientious citizenry to seek out and demand the truth.

What we learned was that this toxic-waste company has no firm financial standing or bank funding for its proposed Hudson factory, no complete pay plan worked out for its workers, incomplete research in many areas, and no environmental impact survey. Add to this its intention to avoid accommodating unionized workers and an unabashedly greedy eagerness to seize upon tax deferments and de facto direct funding through taxpayer dollars—our taxpayer dollars.

How alarmed the mayor and many Common Council members, as well as their tax-dollar-funded, unelected “consultant,” appeared at the town meeting by the vigorous display of citizen activism. One alderman and his sidekick, a well-known crony of the mayor's, huffed and puffed and stormed out in outrage because they couldn't stand to see their fellow citizens stand up and demand explanations about the discrepancies in the city government’s HUD application to benefit Americlean and about the tide of misinformation that has been coming our way.

Democracy—what a concept! It has always been terrifying to despots, to those who abuse the public trust for their own ends. Hudson's homemakers, high school students, merchants, nurses, homeowners, and residents of all stripes have had enough. We care about our families, neighbors, friends and homes, and don't want anymore pollution—chemical or political—in our midst.

 

The Ricky Files (Vol. 2)

During the 2003 Hudson campaign, former Police Commissioner Geoffrey Bagnall was moved by a Rick Scalera TV ad to write an open letter to the community. The bulk of Bagnall’s statement follows below.

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HUDSON POLITICS & HUDSON POLICE:
MYTH VS. REALITY

I was amused to see Mr. Scalera’s television commercial wherein he portrays Hudson as a safer city because of all he has done for the Hudson Police Department.

In his commercial, Mr. Scalera takes credit for the introduction of the Police Department’s bicycle patrol. As a point of information, Mr. Scalera cut last year’s budget for the Department, and did not fund these bicycles or the cost of training the officers. The funds came from private donations.

It costs approximately $1,700 to buy and equip a police bike and train the officer in its use. These bicycles and training were paid for as a result of the Hudson Police Benevolent Association raising the funds on their own. [...]

In his commercial, Mr. Scalera takes credit for the Hudson K-9 units. These units came into existence during the prior administration as a direct result of funding found and provided by New York State Senator Stephen Saland. Mr. Scalera, on the other hand, has a long history of public opposition to any Hudson K-9 operation. Further, the police union, which has chosen not to endorse candidates, has filed a grievance over Mr. Scalera’s forced use of the Police Officer in the filming of the commercial.

In his commercial, Mr. Scalera points to the creation of surveillance cameras, which are wired directly into the Police Station. The point of fact is that this project was commenced by Chief Richardson and myself, before Mr. Scalera became mayor.

In his commercial, Mr. Scalera points to a sign indicating an area as a “Neighborhood Watch” community. That program was a direct outgrowth of something called “N.J.A.” or “Neighbors Joined in Action”, a private group of residents who literally took to the streets to put pressure on drug dealers. [...]

When it comes to the upcoming Hudson City election, there are only three local propositions on the upcoming ballot. One deals with the Library budget while the other two deal with the city charter. The salary increase for a “full-time” mayor is not among them.

That’s right, the increase in the Mayor of Hudson’s salary to $60,000.00 is not going before the voters for approval. In fact, it is already a done deal, and, interestingly enough, it did not require a change to the city charter or voter approval. [...]

Even more interesting is the concept that the mayor’s job was sold as a “full time” position, and that therefore this salary increase was necessary for a “full-time” mayor. However, the section of New York State law which covers elected officials has no provisions for how many hours an elected official need put in. In the case of this already approved, “full-time” mayor, the mayor can work more or fewer hours, as few as he/she wants, and there are no minimum hours. In effect, one becomes one’s own boss; accountable to no one for what hours he or she works. In effect, it is nothing more than a smokescreen for a huge pay increase for the same job. [...]

Mr. Scalera has claimed the salary increase, which is now law, was done months ago in the hope of “removing politics from the issue.” I would suggest the true way to remove politics from this issue would have been to put the proposition for his salary increase in front of the voters, in the same fashion that the Library budget is on the ballot. Had he chosen to do so, perhaps it would not have been as necessary for him to cut the Police Department’s budget.

Look both ways

The Ricky Files (Vol. 1)

At The Gossips of Rivertown, Carole Osterink reports some details of Rick Scalera’s private meeting last weekend at the mansion of embattled Hudson developer Eric Galloway. According to her source, Scalera attempted to make an inventory of “his accomplishments during his many years in office” for an audience largely of new residents, most of them not from Hudson.

A review of Rick’s List would appear to leave many controversial episodes unmentioned. For the next few days, this site will present a few items from past campaigns and controversies, largely from third-party sources.

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TAKING A HINT

During the 2007 Hudson election, a flyer was circulated by a group calling itself the Hudson Information Network, or “HINT” for short. Though the group remained anonymous, it was widely assumed that this flyer was created by members of the Michael O’Hara mayoral campaign team.

The HINT flyer challenged Scalera’s claim that Hudson needed his “proven experience.” On page 1, HINT reviewed what it called Rick’s Greatest Hits, taking Scalera to task for one claim after another, making the following allegations pegged to various topics such as:

• Experience: HINT alleged that “Rick Scalera has never written a budget.”


• Fiscal Responsibility: HINT alleged that under Scalera, “the cost... of firehouse consolidation ballooned from $2 million to $3.8 million.”


• Integrity: HINT alleged that Scalera made a key appointment “in violation of the City Charter.”


• Conflict of Interest: HINT alleged that Scalera accepted a water filtration plant bid from the DPW Superintendent's brother’s firm.

On page 2, the HINT flyer from the O'Hara camp levelled even more explosive charges against Scalera:

• A HINT item entitled A Rotting Stinking Mess charged that the “incompetence of Rick Scalera... exposed the City to a liability of over $2 million for raw sewage dumped into the Hudson River.”


• Another HINT item, entitled Fool Me Once, stated that Scalera “brokered the Schroeder Chevy/Cadillac deal” with HUD. Schroeder was said by HINT to have “defaulted” and the City “became responsible for repayment of the $1.4 million.” The flyer also made several hard-to-document charges about a Cadillac said to be driven by Scalera at the time.

• In Can Rick keep the City Afloat, HINT stated that Scalera received a $1,000 donation from the Spirit of Hudson after the company got a sweetheart deal for “a five year lease ($150/yr) for the only municipal deep-water dock in town.” [NOTE: The riverboat at one point sank at the Hudson waterfront, then was repaired—presumably with insurance money.]

The flyer furthermore listed past issues over assessment lawsuits, police contracts, and the Waterfrnt process during Scalera’s previous terms, concluding that “voters do not need to settle for more of the same.”

[NOTE: Yours Truly was not a member of the O’Hara campaign team or HINT, and has merely transcribed the following material from the flyer received.]

The force of habit

I’m at the counter of a local thrift shop, buying three vintage t-shirts.

“No bag, please,” I request.

—“No bag?” repeats the nice lady at the register.

“Nah, I can just carry those.”

—“Saves the environment, right?”

“Yeah... There are whole islands of plastic floating around the oceans.”

—“I know, it’s a shame.”

I hand over a bill, and she gives me back the change.

... Then grabs a plastic bag from the dispenser, and starts bagging up my three tees.

“Wait, the bag!” I exclaim.

—“Oh geez, right. And we we just talking about that! Sorry. You get in the habit.”

She throws the unwanted bag in the garbage with a sigh.

“But... Maybe the next customer will want it?”

—“I’m not supposed to use it if it’s already out of the thing,” she says apologetically.

I start to go, but turn back.

“OK, I'll take the bag from the garbage” I say, rueful. “I’ll try to use it for... something.”

Making change is hard.

Metropolis

The Hudson Cut (from the window of Skalar Gallery, Warren Street).

We are Magnets @ Spotty Dog

Alex Turnquist is on stage now (9:15 pm Friday).

Gee(se)

Those specks are hundreds of Canada-bound geese gliding on Hudson's water supply near Churchtown. (Hope they're treating it for giardia.)

Missing the boat

Local realtor Mary Mullane’s recent suggestion that Hudson’s Waterfront plan should encourage cruise ships to dock at (and bring passengers' wallets to) Hudson was met with derision by some Common Council members, as if this were some pie-in-the-sky fantasy.

But there is a very large cruise ship docked right now—on a rainy Wednesday afternoon—at The Point in Catskill. Real, live passengers are disembarking from the American Cruise Line vessel out of Wilmington, Delaware. A guide is giving them a list of attractions they can visit, and most are hoofing it up the hill to check out Catskill's main street.

Cruises of course are only one of many obvious economic development ideas that a full-fledged marina would attract on the east bank if the River—from bars to boat-builders. Yet as things stand, Hudson is poised to let those dollars and more flow instead to their more westerly neighbors.