SamPratt.com

2013 in review

Some of the biggest ups and downs of the year include:

• Biggest Sale of a Small Object: Auctioneer Colin Stair of Stair Galleries in Hudson sold a Tsarist figurine by Fabergé for $5.2 million in October to an undisclosed phone bidder. The figurine was discovered in a Rhinebeck attic.
• Wackiest Would-Be Terrorist: County resident (and Kinderhook Elk) Eric Feight was arrested as part of a harebrained plot to build a ray gun intended to beam radiation into mosques, with the apparent crackpot goal of giving Muslims cancer.
• Most Avant-Garde New Building in an Historic District: Grigori Fatayev built this handsome black box off Willard Place behind the Allen Street home of painter Tony Thompson. The building now serves as Thompson’s studio.
• Most Welcome Threat to Leave the County: Following two catastrophic fires in 2012, and after suing the Town of Ghent for upholding its zoning code in 2013, TCI of NY threatened to move their PCB (mis-) handling business across the river to Coeymans. While many breathed a sigh of relief, reminding TCI to not let the door hit them in the back on the way out, it remains to be seen whether Coeymans will really take on the troubled company. The first weeks of the New Year may provide an answer, as the end date for the postponement of TCI’s lawsuit comes due. The company agreed to drop the suit if they found a new home.
• Liveliest Glimpse of Old Hudson: A  video of people hanging out and partying in the 7th Street park in the early 1990s was posted by YouTuber Satansdarkmetal.
• Most Misleading Local Headline: The Register-Star titled an article about the Board of Supervisors voting to keep on pursuing eminent domain against Meadowgreens owner Carmen Nero: “Board Rejects Eminent Domain Resolution.”
• Most Pandering Local Headline: For its article about a local engineer who allegedly “zoned out” while speeding a Metro-North train into a fatal accident around a curve at Spuyten Duyvil, Columbia Paper editor Parry Teasdale used this headline: “Germantown Engineer Assists Crash Probe.”
• Most Heartening Turnout at a Public Meeting: Hundreds streamed into the Livingston Town Garage for the first public meeting of Livingston Farmers & Families, which is organizing to alter or stop a massive power line project from Upstate to NYC. The meeting featured the political speech of the year, a ripsnorter by farmer and Town Board member Will Yandik, who seems destined for higher office.
• Clumsiest Campaign Rollout: The first major media introduction of newly-minted Hudson Valley resident Sean Eldridge, who is seeking to unseat Congressman Chris Gibson, came in the early Summer pages of the New York Times. But the article mainly provided fodder for his opponent. The Times’ revelations about the cost of Eldridge’s Shokan house, with the implication that he and Facebook zillionnaire Chris Hughes had shopped around for a district to run in, were swiftly followed by an Albany Times-Union exposé of how Eldridge’s campaign was paying area residents $100 a pop to focus group attack messages on Gibson.
• Most Revealing Comment by an Official Once Thought to Be More Enlightened: Mistakenly thinking that the press and public had left the room, Hudson Development Corporation director Sheena Salvino denigrated citizens who had come out to support the Community Garden as a “mob.”
• Most Revealing Comment by an Official Never Thought to Be More Enlightened: County Economic Development tsar Ken Flood shared his unvarnished opinion with Ghent resident Kevin Delahanty that “restaurants in Hudson and Chatham ... don’t provide good jobs except for the owners.”
• Worthiest Ideas Gathering Dust on Some Politician’s Shelf: In July, the Columbia County Emergency Management Council proposed a series of sensible, forward-thinking guidelines to prevent major disasters. Little or nothing has been heard about their recommendations in the six months since.
• Ugliest Use of Social Media by an Elected Official: Ghent Town Board member Richard Sardo opined in a Facebook post that MSNBC host (and Berkshire County resident) Rachel Maddow “looks very much like an ugly man.” Sardo, who coupled this assessment of Maddow’s looks with his barely-disguised hots for FOX anchor Megyn Kelly, badly lost his Tea Party bid for Town Supervisor against Republican Mike Benvenuto.
• Most Gratifying Told ’Ya So: The Valley Alliance was vindicated as the City of Hudson glumly acknowledged the group’s contention that the people, not Holcim, already owned 4.4 acres along the Waterfront. Research by the Alliance demonstrated that the riverfront lands had been improperly sold in the early 1980s without State approval.
• Least Merited Award: Hudson Phoenix president John Tonelli was given the Chamber of Commerce’s “Businessperson of the Year” award in June, just months after announcing the arrival of his plastics extrusion business. But Phoenix seemingly never made any hires, and according to a Chamber source the company had “ceased operations” by November.
• Least Festive Street Fest: A car show put on by American Glory’s Joe Fierro, with little or no notification to neighbors, shut down the 300 block of Warren Street on a Spring Saturday, but attracted little interest.
• Most Hilarious Banter Between Star Chefs: A New York Magazine article about the opening of Fish & Game featured this exchange between the restaurants’ principals, Zak Pelaccio and Jori Jayne Emde:

  Foraging for ingredients turns out to have its limitations. Before long, Pelaccio suggests we give up the mushroom hunt. Emde reluctantly agrees. “I mean, I can smell mushrooms though,” she says, then tells me about recently sniffing her way to ramps. “Zak calls me a hound dog.” She gives an animalistic howl. “It’s weird, that’s the sound I make when we’re having sex.”
  
  “It boosts my self-esteem,” says Pelaccio.
  
  “Like you need it,” she returns.
  
  “We always need it,” Pelaccio says.

• Least Effective Tool for Promoting Business: In March, the Columbia County Industrial Develpment Agency (IDA) had to revoke its Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) plan for fish-breeder Local Ocean, as the company had gone into default. Yet another past Chamber award-winner, the company announced its closing in August.
• Lamest Campaign by a Candidate Claiming to be a Skilled Organizer: Hudson’s Victor Mendolia garnered the lowest number of votes of any mayoral candidate in a two-person race in recent memory, possibly in City history. The former City Democratic chair lost his campaign manager in the process of losing to incumbent Bill Hallenbeck, despite Democrats having a massive registration advantage over Republicans, and despite Hallenbeck himself earning fewer votes than his first run. Turnout was almost half of Hudson elections of a decade ago, despite the number of registered voters staying the same. As of August, Mendolia had spent more on restaurant dinners than his campaign had banked up for the Fall campaign.
• Most Important Unread Mail: Government records uncovered by Ghent resident Patti Matheney revealed that the Department of Homeland Security had warned local emergency officials of the presence of highly-explosive sodium in the TCI building. But the warning apparently went unheeded, contributing (along with egregious negligence by the company itself) to some 12-15 explosions when water was dumped on the company’s smoldering building. Shamelessly, TCI attorney Bill Better shamelessly tried to use this revelation to deflect responsibility from his client.
• Most Confusing Campaign Signage: Road signs for the Taghkanic Republican slate seemed to deliberately conflate 20something candidate Ryan Skoda with his much better-known father, farmer (and sitting Town Board member) Richard Skoda.
• Most Concerted Effort to Deny the Obvious: Hudson City Attorney Cheryl Roberts, Alderman Cappy Pierro, Council President Don Moore, and attorney Giff Whitbeck repeatedly attempted to deny that Standard Oil had occupied a key piece of the Hudson Waterfront, even after clear evidence was brought forth to prove it. Roberts, who had incorrectly identified the Standard Oil location, and lectured citizens about being “completely wrong,” even wondered aloud whether oil tanks existed in the 1880s. Moore similarly wagged his finger at the public about “being careful.” Eventually, the Gang of Four could not help acknowleding their mistake, brushing it off with barely a shrug. (Their motivation appeared to be a desire to avoid any investigation into contamination.)
• Most Selfish Bogarting of Scarce Public Services: The new Barlow Hotel somehow convinced the City of Hudson to not only build an awning over the sidewalk, but also to grant the business exclusive use of two parking spaces in the 500 block of Warren, ostensibly for loading and unloading of baggage. The request was granted despite the block being the the busiest in Hudson, and there being a vast public parking lot immediately behind the hotel. (This frequent perambulator of that part of the street has yet to see a single guest using the two much-needed spaces for their intended purpose.) The City has not clarified what the criteria are for securing one’s own private parking spaces, but no doubt others would love to get the same special treatment.
• Least Dignified Post-Election Email: Claverack resident Chris Lastovicka broke with American election tradition in trashing the Town’s voters in the wake of her partner’s loss of her Supervisor seat. Incumbent Robin Andrews lost by 20 votes to Republican Kippy Weigelt. Lastovicka blamed weekenders whom she claimed did not turn in enough absentee ballots—despite Andrews picking up 60 votes from absentees. No blame was assigned to the candidate herself for failing to take a stand on issues such as TCI or the County Airport, or for opposing both an increase in the State minimum wage and common sense gun regulations.
• Most Blatant Media Conflict of Interest: Community radio station WGXC had scheduled an interview with recently-departed Mendolia campaign manager Clay Laugier. But the interview on the @Issue show was abruptly canceled without explanation—the most obvious being that Laugier was likely to be critical of Mendolia—a co-host of the show, on leave at the time.
• Two Most Pleasant Out-of-County Finds of the Year: Discovering that Dope Jams Records of Brooklyn had reopened in Oak Hill (Greene County) and stumbling upon an utterly authentic northern Chinese restaurant in Wappingers Falls.
• Most Missed Bar, Bar Owner, and Bar Patron: 2013 brought the sad demise of the Iron Horse bar, its owner Frank Martino, and one of its most loyal patrons—former Hudson Police Commissioner Jeff “Sweeps” Bagnall. Join me in pouring one out tonight, New Year’s Eve, for all three.

The Ghent Red Light District?

Image: Wikimedia

If one County official has his way, the Town of Ghent could become the County’s red light district—literally.

A presentation by Ghent resident Michael Schrom and attorney Ken Dow at Friday’s  airport committee meeting focused on a sleeper issue for the County: the enormous number of easements which must be acquired from a dozen or more neighbors if it goes through with its eminent domain plan.

The County would need to spend an additional half-million dollars or more to cut down hundreds of trees obstructing the flight path to the 5,350-foot runway. That runway was expanded from roughly 3,500 feet in the 1980s, without all necessary easements being acquired. So either the runway must be shortened, or moved, or a huge “taking” must be made from neighboring property owners.

None of those owners have been officially notified of this aspect of the plan. (Schrom provided the committee with an inventory of the parcels and names of owners, in case they wanted to correct this 13-year-old oversight.)

Moreover, these removal plans and cost estimates date back to 2001, meaning they do not account for continued tree growth over the past 13 years and the increase in property values, let alone inflation. Worse, the cost estimates are wildly inconsistent, with some property owners being offered as little as $127 per acre of disruption, and others more than $24,000.

Once all these complications and costs were presented, committee chair Art Bassin piped in with a suggestion passed along from David Robinson of the County Department of Public Works. According to Bassin, Robinson had pondered the obstruction issue before, and had a solution: instead of cutting them down, attach a red warning light to the top of each tree.

The standing-room-only audience erupted with guffaws. But the laughter died down as it became clear the suggestion was not intended as a joke. Bassin did appear to absorb the public’s reaction to the idea’s aburdity, and it was tabled at least until Robinson could appear at a future meeting.

[More on this latest airport meeting in another post this week.]

A big week for backing down (Part II)

 

Last Wednesday’s meeting of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors’ airport committee played out a bit like an episode of the ’80s sitcom Benson, only with the lead character eliciting groans and retorts, instead of canned applause and laughter. As if following a TV script, the New Lebanon Supervisor of the same name did his utmost to assist the Richmor “household.” But in the end even his apparent “boss” Mahlon Richards spurned his help.

The committee’s work would seem primed for comedic misunderstandings, if only because of the confusing names of its members. Out of five appointees, there are two guys named Art, two named Mike, and three with similar last names: Bassin, Benson, Benvenuto. The studio audience may be forgiven if they have some trouble keeping the players straight.

At the end of a tumultuous 90 minutes, Mike Benson finally backed off his threat to motion for an executive session, and to end the committee’s deliberations. For a moment, it looked like peace might reign again. Unfortunately, the reasons for the construction-magnate-turned politico’s decision seemed to arise from a calculation that he did not (yet) have enough votes to steamroll the process. So there was no neat resolution of any comedic malentendu.

The meeting was standing room only, with at least 45 members of the public crammed into the first floor conference room at 401 State Street in Hudson. Attired in an off-the-rack suit and power tie (and for some reason repeatedly leaning down to tie and retie his leather shoes), Benson came spoiling for a fight. But he was immediately deflated by the absence of both County engineer David Robinson and economic development tsar Ken Flood, whom he seemed to have been counting on for backup.

Benson’s goal was to wrap up the Committee’s discussion of whether to use eminent domain (and $629,000) to seize land from Meadowgreens owner Carmen Nero, who feels his property adjoining the airport is worth more like $3 million. But one after another, the premises undergirding Benson’s argument were knocked down:

• FAA: Over and over, Benson applied pressure for a decision by asserting that the Federal Aviation Administration had “required” or “mandated” that the County acquire the land for a safety zone. Each time, either a fellow committee member, or a member of the audience, or the County attorney reminded him that the FAA’s suggestions regarding the safety zone were only just that—suggestions. He was reminded of the Committee’s letters and meetings in which the FAA acknowledged that expansion was just one of several options.
  
  At one point, almost the entire room burst out correcting Benson’s fifth or sixth attempt to portray his preferred option as a requirement.
• INSURANCE: Stymied on the FAA front, Benson tried a fear tactic instead. Raising the horrendous possibility of an accident at the airport—maybe that very night!—he argued that if the land were not taken from Nero right away, the County’s insurance would not cover it. Calling upon County attorney Rob Fitzsimmons to back him up, Benson did not get the answer he expected: Fitzsimmons indicated that their policy is adequate.
• CONTRACT: Already seeming exasperated, Benson turned to yet another line of argument. The County, he said, had a contractual obligation to Richmor Aviation to take the eminent domain action. Feeling on solid ground, he read out a portion of the contract which he thought would justify this position, though the actual text was ambiguous. Unfortunately for the hapless Benson, he was again on quicksand: a member of the audience had read the entire contract, and read out the very next paragraph—which clearly stated that the County had the right to do as it saw fit, and modify the contract when necessary. That fuller reading was again supported by Fitzsimmons.
  
  Hudson alderman and attorney John Friedman also pointed out that the contract itself might be void to begin with, as it does not appear that the County has ever bid out the lease of the airport. Terms, the discussion revealed, were offered exclusively to Richmor over the past 40 years. As Friedman sought to ask a question of company president Mahlon Richards, Benson kept interrupting and trying to answer for him, prompting Friedman to note “how much your voice sounds like Mr. Richards’.”
  
  This attendee then asked Richards (who sat stoically throughout the meeting, answering briefly in tones much softer than Benson’s) whether Richmor had any problem with the contract or the County’s delivery of services. Again Benson interjected several times as if to speak on Richards’ behalf. But when the Richmor chief finally got a chance to speak, he said that he had no problem with the contract, no intention of suing the County, and was satisfied with the relationship. Benson seemed chagrined, yet still undaunted in making an adversarial case against his own side’s defense (that of the County) in favor of a position for a theoretical plaintiff (Richmor) who evinced no interest in pursuing his theoretical dispute.
• TIMING: Throughout, Benson also tried to suggest that time was of the essence, believing that the County could not risk of deliberating a moment longer. But committee chair Art Bassin noted that even if they voted to move ahead on Benson’s motion right away, the eminent domain and construction process for expanding the zone would take a very long time, maybe 3 years.
  
  The only “quick” option, Bassin reminded him, was the one Benson likes least— that of immediately shortening the runway from 5,350 to 4,500 feet, obviating the need for seizing more land on the north end.
  
  It was also pointed out from the audience that the County had been aware of the FAA’s gentle suggestion since 2001, yet had not taken any action to prevent what Benson portrayed as a virtual emergency. The lack of urgency over the past 12 years, coupled with the assurances on insurance and timing, severely undercut this fourth Benson line of attack.
• PROPERTY RIGHTS: Benson furthermore attempted to position himself as a champion of property rights and the freedom of business to do whatever it wants. The effort seemed limited to one business, which happens to be a renter not a property owner.
  
  “No one here is a bigger defender of property rights than me,” Benson thundered, all but thumping his chest. However, Michael Schrom of Ghent pointed out that there were at least a dozen neighboring residents and business people (including himself) in addition to Carmen Nero whose property would have to be seized to enact Benson’s preferred plan. Where, then, was his concern for those people’s and businesses’ rights? Benson could offer no coherent explanation.
  
  It was also pointed out (by this attendee) that the dozen other impacted neighbors’ parcels had been specified in a County-commissioned report for tree removal and clearing. Nevertheless, none of those neighbrs apppear to have ever been contacted by the County to alert them about government’s plans for their private land.
  
  Benson soldiered on, again coming to the unsolicited defense of Richmor and its business interests as paramount. But again, a voice emanated from the audience to chop the legs out from under this phalanx. A local mechanic and pilot who formely worked for Richmor related his experience trying to do business at the airport, describing how he was squeezed out and prevented from setting up his own operation there. If this were all about promoting activity at the airport, why had healthy competition or complementary business been so consistently discouraged in favor of one company?
• OPTIONS: Greenport Supervisor John Porreca tried to turn the debate in a constructive direction by presenting a new alternative: shortening the runway slightly on the North end, while lengthening it to the South.
  
  The Porreca solution would result in only a slightly shorter runway (5,000 feet), and would not require the eminent domain against Nero the north, as the County already owns land to the South. The rest of the Committee seemed eager to analyze this alongside the other two options; but Benson seemed fit to be tied, viewing this less as a positive new idea and more as a threat to his promised motion. Yet again, Richards undercut his would-be advocate in saying that he thought the idea was promising and something Richmor could probably live with.
  
  In this context, there was also extensive back-and-forth about the number and type of planes taking off an landing at the airport. As the committee and the public started to drill down on Richmor’s claims, it became more apparent that the number of jets which would be adversely affected by a shortened runway were surpassingly small. Indeed, the main concern according to Richards was his company’s preference for taking off fully loaded, so that it could buy more fuel from itself and less from other vendors. No dollar figure was put on this added cost. But it hardly seemed to justify a public expenditure of as much as $13 million for upgrades which would follow the six-figure eminent domain process.

As the meeting drew to a close, Ghent supervisor-elect Mike Benvenuto sought to calm the churned-up waters, sensing a growing consensus that the Committee now had a wider range of options and a better idea of what research was needed to complete. Bassin felt that analysis could be completed in a matter of months, not years, and would if anything result in a speedier resolution than jumping straight to eminent domain.

This brief moment of harmony, so much like warm-n-fuzzy final minute of a Benson episode, was spoiled by New Lebanon’s Supervisor. Asked if he wished to make his motion after all that, Benson hemmed and hawed. Then, causing audible exasperation among the audience, he proceeded to reiterate all the arguments that had just been thoroughly discredited.

As if having not heard any of the previous discussion, Benson returned to all of his original talking points: The FAA is requiring it; the County has an insurance risk; the County is in breach of contract; the Committee has no more time to spare; Richmor’s property rights and business interests must come first. This prompted howls of protest that all of these had already been raised and debunked.

Without acknowledging that he had heard any of the prior debate, Benson did seem to have wised up to one thing: that he did not have the votes to carry his motion that day. Of the five present, only commitee member David Crawford (an engineer, who spent much of the meeting whispering to Benson while others spoke), seemed at all likely to agree to end the discussion and move it to the full Board. So Benson instead retreated to a plea that the Committee needs to come to a decision “soon,” to which Bassin again replied that he did not think more than a couple of more months would be necessary to arrive at a sound recommendation.

The incipient harmony was then smashed again with further discord from Benson, who unexpectedly tore into an unnamed citizen for making what he believed were intemperate or even slanderous remarks in an email. Resident Patti Matheney countered that as a public official, Benson had standards of decency to adhere to himself, and wondered aloud if he were prepared for his own emails to be read out at a future meeting. This attendee inquired whether the County had a policy governing the private use of government-issued email accounts, which Fitzsimmons indicated it did.

The next meeting is scheduled for Friday, December 27th (time and venue TBD) at which Michael Schrom is expected to make a presentation based on the results of the Freedom of Information Law request he made with another resident, Kevin Delahanty.

 

Sorry, officer! The Columbia County Dems ‘forgot’ to elect new leadership

The Columbia County Democrats neglected to elect new officers after the September 10th primary, in apparent violation of both State election law and its own Party by-laws.

 

Section 2–112 (1) of State election regs for party committees states that

every county committee shall within twenty days after its election… meet and organize by electing a chairman, a secretary, a treasurer and such other officers as they may by their rules provide.

In other words, the County committee was supposed to meet and elect new officers by September 30th. This rule is reiterated in the County Dems own internal by-laws. Moreover, within three days after officers are chosen, the State says that

all state and county committees shall file in the office of the state board of elections a certificate stating the names and post office addresses of such officers. County committees and any other committee contained therein shall file a copy of such statement with their county board of elections.

But neither of these steps were taken, which are a necessary precursor to the election of Town chairs for the party.

 

The State Election Law is not clear about the consequences of failing to meet these deadlines. At best they could be construed to mean that the previously-elected officers continued to serve as fill-ins until a new vote was cast; at worst, it raises a question if any actions taken after September 30th by officers with expired terms was invalid or improper. 

 

It’s also not clear whether the Dems’ oversight was due to forgetfulness or a deliberate effort to postpone any reckoning for the current leadership. A number percentage of prominent Democratic incumbents were unseated in this cycle, such as Claverack Supervisor Robin Andrews and Copake Town Justice Brian Herman.

 

But at last, the previously-elected County chair, Cyndy Hall, has finally called a meeting—almost three months late—to elect new officers Wednesday at 6 pm at Ghent Town Hall on Route 66. The email announcing the meeting says that “everyone is welcome to run,” though the short notice likely means that few if any new faces will step forward. The leadership (the term is used here lightly) may have had reason to keep the blunder quiet: if a vote is called to fill vacancies, that could mean that any enrolled Democrat could throw their hat in the ring, whether they are an elected Committee member or not.

Snow job

This weekend’s mini-blizzard dumped 8-10 inches of frozen water particles on Hudson. It was a lot, but hardly unprecedented. For example, the City got more than that in early February of this year.

But this time around, residents and business owners in Hudson sound ready to march on City Hall with torches and snow shovels. Complaints are rife that the City waited too long to begin the removal process, issued confusing parking rules, neglected to post signage, and avidly ticketed holiday shoppers on Warren Street at $35 a pop.

Mayor Bill Hallenbeck and Council President Don Moore countered that they had been generous in not towing cars, as they could have. They also deflected blame onto arcane City regulations which supposedly tied their hands. (Someone—presumably City Attorney Cheryl Roberts—fed Snow Miser Hallenbeck the flimsy excuse that liability somehow prevented the City from posting helpful signage in advance of the actual removal. As if anyone would sue the City for communicating.) Evidently it came as a surprise that Winter might follow Fall, and that snow could drop in December.

Meanwhile, recently-defeated Mayoral candidate Victor Mendolia left off licking his electoral wounds to join the chorus of criticism, following the lead of Council members John Friedman and David Marston, who reported fielding 10 zillion complaints from constituents. Looking at the Hudson Community Board on Facebook, that probably wasn’t an exaggeration.

The problem for politicos on both sides is that the laws and procedures in question have been on the books for ages. Both apologists like Moore and critics like Mendolia were in positions of power over multiple winters and storms; this is not Hudson’s first Winter rodeo. Yet neither side took any action in prior years to address any legislative SNAFUs. Still, everyone is now all over it like white on ice.

A big week for backing down (Part I)

Last week was a big one for Columbia County politicians to back down from  indefensible, controversial positions.

In Claverack, two outgoing officials—Supervisor Robin Andrews and Town Board member Bob Preusser—made a 180˚ change of course in deciding not to remove Churchtown firefighter Nathan Chess from the Planning Board. They were joined by Board member Katie Cashen to override two Republicans still in favor of punishing Chess for refusing to just “go along to get along.”

A collector’s item still available on Zazzle.com

The reversal came as a huge surprise to many. Andrews herself had signed and pushed for the tendentious complaint against Chess, with the unanimous support of Preusser, Cashen and the two GOP members. Allies and foes of Chess alike expected that despite the thinness of the case against him (plus the evaporation of the Town’s attorney almost immediately after a less-than-impressive Star Chamberish prosecution), the Board would again vote unanimously for removal.

What explains the change of mind? One would like to think that the three came around due to the (lack of) evidence and the obviously subjective nature of the complaint. Chess made a strong, concise case the Town Code did not support the allegations. And as the intensely personal of the dispute came into focus at last Fall’s hearing dragged on for several excruciating hours, the ongoing prosecution seemed to become a costly embarrassment for all involved.

One would like to think that this was a case of cooler heads prevailing. But given the pettiness of what preceded the final outcome (including the non-hanging offense of Planning Board meetings “not being fun anymore”), the change from a 5-0 to 2-3 vote likely derived from less noble sentiments.

As Supervisor, Andrews had bent over backwards to ingratiate herself to the Claverack Republicans—much too far backwards for many Democrats’ taste. She became a huge booster of the Pine Haven nursing home boondoggle-in-the-making, a pet cause of Tea Party elements such as Albert Wassenhove. She refused to take a courageous stand on key issues which crept into Claverack from neighboring Ghent, such as the TCI fire, or the County airport expansion.

Likewise, in her failed attempt to vault from one-term Supervisor to the State legislature, Andrews opposed common sense gun regulations just before the Sandy Hook tragedy, and opposed increasing the State minimum wage.

Thus the attempt to nail Chess to the cross had every appearance of yet another move rightward by Andrews. Yet despite all her accommodations and cop-outs, the incumbent Supervisor lost not only her State Senate campaign, but her local re-election bid. Any of the above issues could have cost her the 20 votes by which she trailed winner Kippy Weigelt. (In a bitter and undignifiied email circulated by Andrews’ partner, the candidate’s other half blamed weekenders for not mailing in their absentee ballots, though absentees cut her deficit from 80 to 20.)

In this context, the changed votes look less like listening to reason, than a departing middle finger to the GOP: We played nice and knuckled under to the GOP agenda for four years, but didn’t get any credit. So here’s something for you Republicans to remember us by. (Chess’s term runs through 2016.) Had Andrews shown that spirit earlier, galvanizing her base rather than demoralizing it, she might be getting sworn back in on January 1st, 2014.

The second instance of backing down last week came from New Lebanon Supervisor Mike Benson, who grudgingly declined to make his threatened motion to suspend the County Airport Committee’s work before it had begun.

Like the end of the Chess game in Claverack, Benson’s retreat seemed based more in calculation than reason: by the end of last Wednesday’s standing-room-only meeting, he must have realized he did not have the votes to carry such a motion. But unlike the Claverack situation, one did not get the sense that Benson had heard the public’s concerns, or recognized any error in his ways, and so his push to use eminent domain against Carmen Nero may well come back at a future meeting.

A more detailed run-down of Wednesday’s illuminating airport meeting will follow in the next day or two.

County airport is losing money, and subsidized with millions of public dollars

This table, derived from a County report, shows that the Airport has cost the County money in 9 out of the last 10 years in operating expenses alone, leaving aside legal, staff, consulting, and other costs.

In a November Register-Star article, Hillsdale Supervisor Art Baer claimed that the Columbia County airport “doesn’t cost the county.” Numerous other officials have been repeating this same unsubstatiated mantra—that the airport breaks even.

Unfortunately, the article did not offer any hard numbers to back up Supervisor Baer’s front-paged claim. And it did not quote any other officials or citizens who might offer a contrary or more nuanced point of view.

Far more unfortunately, it appears Baer’s position is starkly contradicted by financial facts buried in the County’s own records.

Numbers contained in a report circulated to Airport committee members at their last meeting reveal that the airport in Ghent has cost the public millions of dollars in capital expenses, and is also losing money in operating expenses.

Prepared by County Engineer David Robison and circulated by Econcomic Development chief Ken Flood, the report discloses on Page 3 that since 1966, Columbia County has paid a total of more than $1.3 million as its share of infrastructure grants for the airport. The State and Federal government has spent over $16.2 million on those same grant projects to improve and maintain the airport.

Those multimillion-dollar figures go back many years, and are not inflation-adjusted. Translated to today’s dollars, the public cost of keeping the airport running has been substantially higher. For example, the $74,000 spent by the County in 1987 would be over $152,000 today, according to this site.

Moreover, a table on Page 2 of the report shows that the County is also losing money on its lease with Richmor Aviation.

Over the past decade, the County’s operating expenses have trailed revenues from the contract with Richmor by about $153,000. (An annotated version of that table appears at the top of this article.)

During that same period, Richmor Aviation would appear to have profited mightily from its arrangement with the County, adding to some public impressions of a sweetheart deal. Court documents show that Richmor reaped millions from the leasing of jets to the C.I.A. for so-called “rendition” flights alone at the height of the Bush “war on terror.”

When the County renegotiated its contract with Richmor in 2007, it had estimated annual revenues from rent, hangars, tie-downs, fuel and landing fees at $85,600. But actual revenues have never reached that goal. The County has absorbed a loss in 9 out of the past 10 years. The Register-Star itself recently reported that:

Estimated revenues from T-hanger, tie-down, fuel, and landing fees were projected at $60,600 annually, with Richmor paying $25,000 a year in rent. But in the last five years, revenues have not matched expectations.

Baer further claimed that the airport’s “expenses are basically only snowplowing and landscaping.” He evidently was not including the reported $170,000 in consulting fees  paid to C&S Engineering in Syracuse since 2012 alone, according to the Register. The Board of Supervisors also recently authorized $25,000 be allocated for anticipated legal fees related to preparing an eminent domain case against neighbor Carmen Nero.

Lastly, the official expense estimates also do not appear to include the hundreds or perhaps thousands hours of staff time among County employees, such as Robinson, Flood, and Dean Knox, to sustain the airport’s maintenance and funding. A review of documents obtained via a lawsuit against the County by Ghent residents Michael Schrom and Kevin Delahanty turned up tens of thousands of pages of documents. (The County had stonewalled citizens on providing such documents for much of the year.)

Yet the seemingly massive labor cost associated with the airport over its lifespan does not appear to be part of the official calculus.

“Does it cost the county money?” Baer had asked on the front page of the Register-Star article, answering his own question in the negative. But the tacit answer from the County’s own records looks like a big and definite Yes.

 

Old Hudson

Interior of former barbership in downtown Hudson, New York. (Click to enlarge.)

Benson inserts foot back in mouth

New Lebanon Supervisor Michael Benson appears to be having a bit of trouble adjusting to the world of public governance—perhaps being more used to running his own private show as a construction magnate. 

Last week, Benson was exposed for trying to close down the County’s newly-formed airport committee before it gets a headwind behind it. In a widely-circulated email, Benson not only sought to end the committee’s fact-finding mission, but do do so in a secret executive session. (According to New Lebanon sources, Benson routinely takes his Town Board into Executive Session, regardless of whether the topic qualifies for such secrecy under State Law.) Committee chair has sent concerned residents email assurances that its work will continue.

Following that counterproductive episode, Benson tried a new tactic to distract from the substantive work of the committee. Showing little interest in anything pertaining to actual airport operations, Benson trained his sites on a much more important meta-question: the airport committee’s email list. Who was on the cc: list, he demanded to know over the weekend—and why?

Benson chose to lead off his tirade about this vital matter with an example that blew up in his face.

“I see Cindy Hall’s name, but I don’t see Greg Fingar’s name,” Benson thundered, referring respectively to the County Democratic and Republican chairs—in an apparent effort to imply that Bassin had some partisan agenda in forming the email list.

“This just doesn’t look good,” Benson concluded, wringing his hands: “In fact, I am deeply concerned.”

Unfortunately, Bassin had a ready answer for Benson.  “The names on the list at this point,” Bassin patiently explained, “are all people who have voluntarily expressed an interest in being on the list.”

Then came the kicker: “I actually asked Greg Finger if he wanted to be on the list last week, and he said no.”

In other words: Benson was whining about Fingar being left out—but Bassin had gone out of his way to try to include Fingar, but he refused to be included in the discussion.

Oops. Sometimes what is allowed in private business just doesn’t translate to public debate.

 

Spotlight on Hudson

Upstate House asked me to write this month’s Community Spotlight on the City of Hudson. The magazine is distributed in shops and eateries all over the region.

The text also can be read online here, or in its original layout here (on page 16).

Public participation panics Supervisor

New Lebanon’s Mike Benson calls for secret session to shut down airport debate

The Columbia County Board of Supervisors has taken over a decade—more than 120 months—to get around to addressing alleged safety issues with the County airport in Ghent.

But apparently even a single month of research and public participation is too much for one Republican supervisor to bear.

In a typo-filled email sent early this morning to the newly-formed airport committee, Benson calls for a secret session to end debate after just two meetings. He then goes on to vent his spleen at unnamed “groups” who have attended meetings, and to argue Richmor Aviation’s case against that of the County itself.

Benson rants about his impatience to “put this matter behind us.” The New Leb super and BCI Construction magnate then “strongly” urges chair Art Bassin of Ancram “to hold and [sic] Executive Session (of the Airport Committee) next week, so we can consider making a recommendation (on that same night) to the full board.”

His demand would appear to be illegal under the State’s Open Meetings law. That law only allows a limited number of specific reasons for going into executive session, a practice often abused by local and County agencies.

Not satisfied with ending the conversation before the committee has completed its tasks—which Benson did not object to when they were set forth—he then proceeds to become Richmor’s advocate against the public, and even against the County’s own legal interests.

Richmor, Benson thunders, must not “be subjected to too many more parades in front of groups looking to drive [them] from Columbia County. This group, which it appears at times that we are ‘reporting to’ is intent on doing just that; driving business from Columbia County and I do not support that and furthermore I do not want to be a part of it. I would go so far as to say; I am embarrassed by these actions.”

Clear statements have been made by the public at meetings that no one wants to shut down the airport; indeed, attendees have expressed support for the continued operation by Richmor at existing, manageable levels. At an earlier information session, Hudson 5th Ward supervisor Rick Scalera called for a show of hands of anyone who wanted the airport shut down; no hands were raised. (Perhaps Benson missed that meeting.) Richmor’s owner Maylon Richards himself has publicly claimed that he does not wish or expect to expand operations.

Nevertheless, Benson throws a tantrum on behalf of “Richmore”—the airport operator whose interests he’s decided to champion, but whose name he cannot be bothered to spell correctly.

Bassin’s agenda for the upcoming meeting includes a list of yet-to-be-settled questions for Richmor to address as part of the committee’s ongoing research into options to bring the airport into compliance.

Benson then attempts a fear tactic, arguing against the County’s own legal interest in favor of a private corporation. He tries to claim that the County “may be walking dangerously close to a breach of that contract if we do not facilitate the terms and conditions of it.” Benson apparently is not concerned with evidence which has come forward suggesting that the County is not enforcing its end of the contract as far as collecting its full share of fees from Richmor for landings by turbined planes. (More on that in a future post.)

“We need to move on to many other issues,” Benson concludes, without specifying either what issues he deems more pressing, or why he believes his fellow Supervisors are incapable of dealing with more than one issue at a time.

In a polite and sober reponse, Bassin agrees to put Benson’s motion on the agenda, but points out that such a decision should not be taken in executive session. More importantly, Bassin asserts that the only way to move forward speedily and cost-efficiently on the runway issues is to shorten it, rather than expanding it.

Bassin’s full reply is below. 

Mike,
 
Thanks for your note.
 
I think its premature to decide this now, but I am happy to put this issue on the Agenda for Wednesday.  We should have this discussion in open session, not executive session.
 
If we wanted to make a decision or recommendation next week, common sense and logic would suggest we recommend shortening the runway to 4500 feet.  That decision would immediately put us in compliance with the FAA safety zone guidelines & standards, eliminate any insurance risk, and not have any impact on the Richmor business. And we can continue to explore the logic and rationale for expanding the safety zone as has been proposed.  
 
 If we were to do this, one runway will still be 5350 feet with a 1000 foot safety zone, and the other would be 4500 feet, with a 1000 foot safety zone.  
 
And the FAA has told us that the 4500 foot runway can still accommodate class C and D jets as long as they are not "fully loaded". It is unlikely anyone will be flying into or out of the airport "fully loaded".   
 
Not shortening the runway immediately leaves us exposed us to being out of compliance with the FAA guidelines & standards and to possible insurance risks for another 3 years.  This seems like an unnecessary set of risks to continue to take.
 
I think we all share your concern for Richmor, and I am looking forward to hearing how they feel about this set of issues. I suspect there may be investments in the airport that would be more valuable to Richmor's business than adding a 1000 foot safety zone by buying the adjacent land...like additional hangar space or an ILS. 
 
And I am not sure what the need to rush is...we have been working on this for 10 years already...another couple of months is not going to matter. 
 
Even if we decide to recommend that we immediately shorten the runway to 4500 feet to immediately comply with the FAA's safety zone guidelines and standards, we can still explore the benefit and logic supporting buying the adjacent land and adding the 1000  safety zone.  If we can make that case, we can always implement that plan down the road.
 
Art

Bronx derailment brings unwelcome attention to Germantown

ThIs NBC News van was parked for much of Wednesday outside the XtraMart in Germantown.

Reporters have swarmed the small Columbua County town in hopes of sniffing out details about the life of Metro-North driver William “Billy” Rockefeller. Rockefeller is the local resident now the center of an investigation into the recent train crash in the Bronx.

One local business owner (who deflected reporters’ persistent inquiries for the past two days) suspects some of the supposed media members may in fact be attorneys or private investigators representing victims of the accident.