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| C. W. Augustine - Quid Pro Quo? |
I have a hard time believing they are going back to the same company after the last debacle. I thought the City considered administering the grant this time. The City of Ogdensburg has zero grant money this year due to the problems with the last grant money. As the City turns!
Journal Federal Regulations
34 comments:
The city will have to pay and pay this idiot. They have a contract with him that is open ended. This contract was drawn up by Sciorra and Woods. Nice job again Bill Nelson. How much money are you getting under the table by this idiot.
Nelson and Cosmo are the only two left supporting C.W. Augustine, though Robbins and The Journal seem to like him, too.
Its quite obvious that Nelson is getting something out of this.. This guy is on a mission but I for the world of me cant figure it out.
He spent quite a bit of time the other night defending Ms Smiths presentaiton about a study being done on our greenbelt..
Hes still hasnt relenquished his chariman ship of the growth fund as the State Recommended,
Seems like someone got caught with their finger in the cookie jar on the sewage disposal.. Seems like Cosmo has been letting cotnractors dump their waste in oursewage tretment plant using our dollars and doing so on the honor system.. No one has any idea what money has been lost but they know that some of the contractors have been less than honest on Cosmos honor system.. Of Course its Phil and not Art so its alright..
Back to Nelson but whats wrong with this guy? Also when is he going to follow the laws he helped write and move back into the city..
Someone gave me some figures that are quite staggeromg amd imbelievable . That Amost two thirds of the grant money allocated for the eligible people in the housing program went to Augustine through finding grants, construction, inspections, realitor fees.. Can anyone verify this??????
That is an exaggeration. While it is true the city has paid C. W. Augustine $260k, much of that was to administer and close out old grant programs that were left open by Justin and his predecessor, Marty Murphy. The company has taken administration costs out of the grants that are at or below the legal limit of 15 percent.
Two hundred and sixty thousand dollars is excessive in the eyes of most us hard working taxpayers. This is paid from the Grant program I assume not from the city treasury..
Also the other night SMith apologized for misinformation she gave about the month grants had to be administered... Has Oneil apologized seeing he gave an exact date...
There seems to be to much hurry , hurry, hurry when dealing with grant money, and projects wanted by city personnel making the council make decisions without time to think making them feel they are under a deadline... Honesty has been thin in this area for quite a few years.. The biggest example is the road way in the greenbelt.. The public hearing clearly told the council people opposed it but Nelson pushed it through anyway because council had voted for it three or four years earlier...
The city attorney also seems quick to jump to decisions on things.. Hes there to serve the city council and give them advice not just the mayor and his whims.......
Nelson is the problem, not O'Neill. Get rid of Bill Nelson, everything else would fall into place.
I seem to remember Nelson being the one to push for the CFA deadline, not ONeill. It would behoove Robbins to get his facts straight even if he had to go back to the meeting videos. His agenda seems to be keeping things stirred up.
Robbins is just about the only one who has his facts straight on this whole mess - it was O'Neill who insisted to the council that the deadline was in July, I was sitting there in the back row when he said it.
I have made a review and it was Oneil that gave them a date.. Nelson pushed hard to meet this date and the other councilors unaware that they were being smucked by Nelson A.Smith and Oneil voted to grant him permission to administer.. Reviewing some quick law, I believe seeing the info was incorrect and knowingly incorrect its Oneil that should be held responsible.. I think this person acting as the city attorney should step up and do something that right.. Technically isnt always the way to go folks. Right and wrong has to come into play once and a while....
It is a fact that, as of June 15,2012, O'Neill/CWAI has been paid $292,401.76.
If he only took 15% of the grant pot, that means the pot held $1,949,345.06.
If the pot never held that much, then O'Neill/CWAI got more than 15%. IF the CDR
Housing Needs Assessment, Affordable Housing Action Plan, and Program Income
Spending Plan accurately reported that 1.2 million was the total amount available,
then O'Neill/CWAI got more than 15% (more like 24%) We question whether there was
even that amount of money available. There is a BIG difference between .6 million
(DHCR figures), 1.2 million and 1.95 million, and only a financial audit (not a
compliance audit) will ever give us an answer as to the correct starting figure,
since the City of Ogdensburg said they "don't currently have such a document."
Those are pretty accurate facts but they really dont matter do they.. The entire intent of this program is to help the less fortunate people of this city.. Nelson claims its about sprucing up the city and making housing available and Oneil thinks its a cash cow..
The program is for the less fortunate people obtain housing lets not forget that..
After all is done and said, I think Augustine should be dumped period..
At this time last year Ogdensburg was a quiet small city with the usual small city problems, but all in all everyone was pretty happy with the way things were going. The city had a fund balance, and the budget was balanced.
Then, mMayor Nelson realized he had a challenger for his office, and some guy running for city council decided to make an "issue" out of the housing grants.
The mayor (with the help of the local Republican leadership) decides he needs a scapegoat. The local paper realized it had a story with a solid "source" (Morley), and the debacle moved forward as it trumped up the story against Sciorra (the outsider).
The city council gets "stacked" with Ashley before Christmas to fire the city manager "with cause", and then squanders $300K paying Sciorra, and various attorneys beacuse there was no "cause"
Ask yourself: Has ANYTHING improved since last year at this time? Has ANYONE applied to be the city manager for the city?
To 8:50:
You really live in your own little world, don't you?
Just so you know, the budget is always a balanced budget. State law requires it. There is still a fund balance. And if things were going smoothly, Uncle Art would still be here. Nobody made up a story to get Nelson elected, just the truth finally was discovered.
Sure Mike...The only one living in a little world is you, and it will get smaller as The Burg shrinks under your leadership...9,000 and going down.
Same old lies, Nick. It didn't cost $300,000 to get rid of Art, but you need that number to make yourself feel good. We spent more sending you on trips to conferences so that you could play golf with Art than we did getting rid of Art. How much did the City spend on you, Nick? Just to be a yes-man. Don't forget you were in the majority during your four years here. What changes did you bring about? If I remember right it was Sholette and Morley trying to do things, and you and the Mayor fighting them. Can't change your stripes now. The smell gives you away.
It is Mike and Nick again.. The saga goes on and on.. I hear Nick got put in a job in the gaming commission around Albany.. DeDe remembering favors.. Morley got deputy mayor again Nelson remembering favors.. Truth is this discussion was on the housing debacle and how to rid oursel;ves of Oneil... I understand Mike wants him out and the mayor aants him in.. Majority of council wants him out so Andy Silver is playing politics and making them think they have to keep him... Why Andy he got the vote under false information and he sure decieved more than one person while administering the grants.. Whats wrong with administering our own.. No one smart enough....We did it before but Oneil has told everyone everybody but him was incompetant... Hes been less than truthful about every aspect of this program..TIME TO GO.. BY BY
By the way Nick we really dont miss you either....
I,ll bet Nick is sorry he worked for the Alex Bay playboy who is trying to buy the Congressional seat again this year.. Nick has seen first hand what a different kind of person Mr Doheny can be...He makes up his own rules as he goes along as to integrity and family values..
I heard the same thing about nick hes working for some state commission in the ALbany Area.. This was for all of his hard work for the GOP for four years. He finally smartened up and found out Nelson was only using him like he did Powers to gain whatever he wanted... Oh well hes young but he sure has Mike Morleys number
Nick Vaugh doesn't even live and work in Ogdensburg anymore. Don't see why he is the issue. It is heartening to see that the rest of the council is no longer buying Bill Nelson's B.S. - I wish the voters of Ogdensburg would follow suit, but I'm not holding my breath - the city is full of morons.
I apologize for leaving the subject but I am going to comment of our State Senator and her failed two years in office.
Without going into rants and line after line of what she hasnt done for us I want to say this.. She promised us change in ALbany.. Where is it?? She campa;igned on Star Rebate. Where is it??? She promised to rid us of some of these cumbersom authorities and agencies.. Whats been cut??? Sure she does a lot of lip service and marching in parades to be beat of Graham Wise.. Sure we read a lot of articles about her in the paper from one of the three or four writers she hired to promote her.. After reading the Times earlier this week and the journal where she ordered her opponents picture removed from a press release on a local hospital I,ve come to the conclussion that Patty Ritchie is now a true blue politican in Albany and no longer our represenative in ALbany a job we elected her to do.. I made up my mind a couple of weeks ago when she endorced Mattherw doheny for congress a man of no integrity and very little value for the job.. One only has to look at her track record with Doheny and find out Doheney gave her in the area of twenty thousand dollars for her campaigns in the last couple of years...
You are probably correct in your assumption about the picture.. She has some petty people working for her plus one with a criminal record.
She has let the people of the North Country down however. Nothing of any consequence done for us out side of chile cookoff breaks and sap legislation some free stuff like mosquito repellant.. Oh how politicans can find free stuff when election year comes.. Aubertine before her Wright before him etc etc.. Patty Ritchie is not a very good represenative of this district. She has represented small groups of people with money and has failed miserably in her promises to us.. I,d like to think we could get rid of her but we are stuck with her for at least two more years I guess. This is why I cant see her pulling this shit about blocking an opponent out of a picture.. Ms Tressider from all I hear is a very credible represenative of the people who voted for her... In the year 2014 we will get rid of her for sure
Ritchie campaign does it again Read the journal and see what they have done now.. For a woman who feels she is going to get elected by a landslide she is pulling some real cheap shots.. Unethical is her name when it comes to campaigning..
After all shes the Senator right.. Shes in charge right... No one runs her right... So why is she doing all of this cheap unethical crap???? Can the editor of the blog answer that?????????????
There needs to be a corruption investigation on Patty Ritchie and Mary Lou Rupp - because it really looks like Rupp is funneling money through the Clerk's office to the Ritchie campaign.
Governor Cuomo just wrote a letter thanking Patty Ritchie for helping him pass a property tax cap, holding the line on tax increases and actually reducing the state budget for two years in a row.
Patty Ritchie has helped get New York back on track after the mess the Democrats made when they controlled the Senate.
New Yor k Back on Track ???? DWTF ?? This state is a damn mess, a tax hell ,a ebureaucratic nightmare , and anyone who thinks otherwise is either delusional or a PR flack for a politician. NYS is a dysfunctional , costly monument to government inefficiency and excess. .
nothing has changed for the better in the lives of average citizens
Patty Ritchie stopped the Democrats from raising the county's sales taxes. The Democrats are desperately trying to manufacture issues against her so they can put their minion in her seat. Then they'll close our prisons, close the Psychiatric Center, close our SUNY colleges and move those jobs to New York City.
Patty stopped them in their tracks.
Hogwash !!!!!! She protects ONLY the fat cats and special interests none of this has helped ME and my family with the excessive burden of NYS and local government taxes and in the meanwhile there has been no private sector. Initiatives that have resulted in permanent and significant job development .
So Hogwash and pr flackery and utter nonsense sir /madam
Who are you trying to kid! We both know the Democrats were going to close the prisons, merge SUNY Canton and Potsdam and close the Psychiatric Center unil Patty put a stop to it.
It makes you crazy that we finally have someone looking out for us.
Thanks to Patty Ritchie we are not paying several hundred dollars a year with that sales tax increase the Democrats wanted.
It's time government learned to live within its means.
Patty Ritchie promised a property tax cap.
She delivered.
She promised to hold the line on taxes.
She delivered.
She promised to cut state government.
She did it.
That's why she'll be reelected.
Oh yes, look around and see what wonderful benefits our low taxes relative to the counties (and country) around us have given us. The idea that lower taxes grows business and creates jobs is utter hogwash, and St. Lawrence County is proof.
She also promised change in Albany she failed
She promised star rebate she failed
She promised to help dismantle all these state commissions she failed
She promised us to help us that means us in the County.. she failed
She signed Grover Norquist tax pledge wich protects the millionaires and bankers from more taxes... She did this
She stopped any chance of the minimum wage increase for our poorest people under the disguise of helping small business.. She would rather help one businessman than twenty of his workers...
You are dillusional at a minimum
Look these are PR flacks and political "hangers on" spouting off here.
However those of us who actually pay the bills for governmental largesse and have no special interests or are not members of the elite fat cat set have NOT seen ANY improvement in our personal economics.OH yes we invest wisely and SAFELY aND live WITHIN OUR MEANS and pay OUR bills ON TIME and have great Credit ratings BUT consider the following :
Because NYS is in free fall, ballooning and duplicative agencies , commissions and authorities abound, our taxes are out of control , our return on heretofore safe investments like CDS and Money Markets are in the crapper because of the terrible economy that neither party has solved for the average citizen . The special intersts are protected and a few "Cosmetic cuts " have been made as window dressing But NO SYSTEMIC change resulting in a better economy
So I'm tired of listening to politicians and their flacks tell me ALL the stuff there BOSS has accomplished that has supposedly benefited me and my family .
Hogwash !!! Look and evaluate but don't buy the utter garbage coming out from these people .
Think for yourself .
If you think NYS state is great then vote for these jokers BUT if YOU THINK like most people do that NEITHER party does a damn thing for the common person or their family -- then vote for a change .
I will never vote for ANY incumbent again UNTIL i see permanent and significant improvements to both ROI and Governmental Cost effectiveness and Private sector sustainability with increases in the local tax base occurs . Until then -- ALL incumbents are only blowing smoke IMHO .
They may be NICE people BUT WHO CARES ?????
Relatively speaking, Ogdensburg got of cheap...
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/17/2899491/city-managers-ouster-could-cost.html
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