As some of you might know, the folks in the Stockade are, as I write, having their Tuesday Night Out. However, that isn't the news. That part happened while I was standing in front of Arthur's Market (soon to re-open) chatting with Pete Polachek and a few others. This SUV pulled up and parked. Then a familiar looking individual emerged and went down to get his free hot dog. But there were a couple of problems. Take a look:
Okay, that's the northeast corner of Ferry and Front Streets, and well, yeah - so it's parked facing the wrong way on a one-way street. So let's take a closer look, shall we?
Hmm. What's that plate say on it? Lemme look here....
Why, it says 'OFFICIAL' by golly. Must be someone really important. But something else seems amiss too!
Wonder what that sign behind the SUV says... the one right below the one that says 'One Way.'
Golly! Guess if you official, get to ignore things in bunches, instead of one at a time like us (us being the Taxpayers who pay for the mayor's SUV and so on).
And this is your reporter, good ol' Binnekill going out to see what the hell all that noise is at my front door. Night all. G'night Mr. Mayor! (might real soon be, "Good evening, Mr. Mayor.") Ah well...
There are SO many things one could say about this...
Where is Schenectady's "Leadership by Example" Who told him the Stockade was part of Schenectady?
If this was an emergency scene, or some natural disaster it'd be one thing and might be excusable, but the taxpayers Jeep, driven by Stratton was not only headed the wrong way, under a ONE WAY sign (and No Parking sign) - but as he left, he went the WRONG WAY around Lawrence the Indian to get out.
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
Rats, Joe--now you have me pondering the right way to drive around Lawrence. Counterclockwise, yes? Like all roundabouts. . .or at least all roundabouts in the US. (OK, now I've managed to confuse myself utterly: do roundabouts in Great Britain--where they drive on the other side of the road--go clockwise? Intuitively I am sure they would have to, but I'm having the devil's own time envisioning it)
OK, I know, I know, sorry guys. Back on topic.
Why do elected officials so often exercise such incredibly silly bad judgment about really small stuff?
Thats how it starts....they have their heads where they are not able to beathe...so then can not only see signs but lose the ability eventually to understand them or use common sense!!!
Facing the wrong way, on the wrong side of the street, in a no standing zone, etc etc etc If I tried that my car would probably be towed.
Peace is seeing a sunset and knowing who to thank Some people don't get it, will never get it, and don't care to..... "Individually we are one drop. Together we are an ocean." -Ryunosuke Satoro
We actually encountered members of the SPD who indicated that they couldn't do anything about it because they valued their jobs, but agreed that me and you would be ticketed if in the same situation.
I dont envy officers in that situation - their job is hard enough without having to deal with arrogant, self centered politicans that control whether or not they get a paycheck.
Maybe the Mayor's stuttering has evolved into dyslexia.
roflmao!
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
We actually encountered members of the SPD who indicated that they couldn't do anything about it because they valued their jobs, but agreed that me and you would be ticketed if in the same situation.
I dont envy officers in that situation - their job is hard enough without having to deal with arrogant, self centered politicans that control whether or not they get a paycheck.
I didn't know that the mayor could fire the police?
I didn't know that the mayor could fire the police?
Are you serious? The Mayor hired Bennett to clean up the place. Stratton remains the Chief Executive of the City ... if he or SJ pass on a suggestion that Officer X should be there anymore, you can bet your sweet petunias that Officer X will either be in a do-nothing job, a union job or looking for work in another department. Their life would be miserable.
He is the head of the executive arm of city government, and the police are part of that arm. Probably can't 'fire' - probably can have impact on a cop's future.
Are you serious? The Mayor hired Bennett to clean up the place. Stratton remains the Chief Executive of the City ... if he or SJ pass on a suggestion that Officer X should be there anymore, you can bet your sweet petunias that Officer X will either be in a do-nothing job, a union job or looking for work in another department. Their life would be miserable.
I disagree Bennett would never stoop to that leval, he has over 39 years with the state police and would just walk away from Hizhoner before abuseing his position.
Only in Schenectady can one brazen out local, state and federal investigations secure in the knowledge that one will be backed to the hilt by the PBA, but run the other way when confronted with an illegally parked city vehicle. HostPC, methinks your SPD acquaintance should demand a refund of his dues money.
That said, there's no excuse for what the Mayor appears to have done. How refreshing it would be to read that he presented himself to Chief Geraci that evening and requested that the Chief himself issue the appropriate parking tickets, to be paid out of his personal funds. Well, at least it wasn't a handicapped spot.
I disagree Bennett would never stoop to that leval, he has over 39 years with the state police and would just walk away from Hizhoner before abuseing his position.
No no ... I didn't say Bennett would, I meant BS would. Bennett is there to clean things up, I have a LOT of respect for that man, on MANY levels.
So, there you go. This is the quandry. On the one hand, he brings Bennett in to, in HostPC's words, "clean things up", regardless of the Conservative party endorsement. On the other hand, he does something stupid like this. Of course, what I percieve as "two steps forward, one step back" is seen clearly here as "three steps back".
Mayor fesses up to misdeed… from TU: Local politics by Paul Nelson, Staff writer
Caught on film, Schenectady mayor Brian U. Stratton admitted Wednesday he made a ”mistake” by illegally parking his city-owned Grand Cherokee Tuesday night.
”It was the wrong thing to do and I don’t want to encourage people to do what I did,” said Stratton earlier this afternoon. ”I need to set an example and do the right thing.”
He has been driving the city-issued sports utility vehicle since shortly after taking office on January 2004.
Stratton explained he was on his way to two National Night Out Against Crime events when he made a ”quick in and out” in the Stockade section of the city. Stratton had his son Alex with him.
Pictures complete with narratives were first posted on the blog of Schenectady resident Pat Zollinger shortly before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. It shows stills of various angles of the gleaming dark colored vehicle, including one that zooms in on the license plate above the word official.
Not only is the vehicle parked the wrong way on a one way street near Ferry and Front Streets, there is also a street sign that reads ‘No Standing Any Time,’ according to the web site.
For flouting the law, the mayor says he has asked the police department to give him a parking ticket.
”I’m going to be more careful about where I park,” Stratton said.
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
lol, will he just plead the ticket down or actually pay for it? GA, tip o teh hat to you...
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
Mayor fesses up to misdeed August 8, 2007 at 2:49 pm by Paul Nelson, Staff writer
Caught on film, Schenectady mayor Brian U. Stratton admitted Wednesday he made a mistake by illegally parking his city-owned Grand Cherokee Tuesday night.
It was the wrong thing to do and I dont want to encourage people to do what I did, said Stratton earlier this afternoon. I need to set an example and do the right thing.
He has been driving the city-issued sports utility vehicle since shortly after taking office on January 2004.
Stratton explained he was on his way to two National Night Out Against Crime events when he made a quick in and out in the Stockade section of the city. Stratton had his son Alex with him.
Pictures complete with narratives were first posted on the blog of Schenectady resident Pat Zollinger shortly before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. It shows stills of various angles of the gleaming dark colored vehicle, including one that zooms in on the license plate above the word official.
Not only is the vehicle parked the wrong way on a one way street near Ferry and Front Streets, there is also a street sign that reads No Standing Any Time, according to the web site.
For flouting the law, the mayor says he has asked the police department to give him a parking ticket.
Im going to be more careful about where I park, Stratton said.
my mistake, I assumed when I saw the shots that it was GA. Please forgive me binnekill.
Hey - maybe it would be better if the credit went to anyone but me, now that it's gone this far. How do we know you didn't take the pics, Pat? (was she down there, Joe?)
I didn't see her, but I DID see Mr. Stratton, and even tried to get his attention to let him know he was parked illegally ... but he didn't respond to me. I wonder why?
I meant binnekill but aren't GA and binnekill the same people? Or at least GA admires binnekill's avatars...
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
so you know, our browsers use different character encodings.
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
One lil technicality that gets me is that they (the newspaper) calls pats message board a blog.
blog+forum=blorum???
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
Whatever it is, it's VERY cool that Pat has such a great reputation, and with everyone's input, this forum is shown to be a force to be acknowledge and dealt with. Politicians fear it, news organizations learn from it and the residents are the winners!
For flouting the law, the mayor says he has asked the police department to give him a parking ticket.
That's no different that the time years ago when Mayor Al was watering his lawn on a no-watering day. He told the news people that he would pay the $50 fine.
I think he should do a little bit of community service too. You know, like picking up some garbage on State Street from Hulett to Steuben. Get out there with a sack and picker and make sure all the cameras are on him.
You don't need a title, to make an impact. - Sarah Palin
Unofficial Customer Service Help Desk For City of Schenectady At the Daily-Soviet-Gazette, It Reads You Welcome to Schenectady, GMT -200 yrs and -5 hrs. Who is this Todd? Joe 'the Vote Machine' Allen, 07/2008 Welcome to Schenectady, Socialism for the Connected (tm), and Capitalism for Everyone Else
I couldn't find that article in the Times Union. I did notice on the bottom of the piece posted yesterday that it seems it was on a TU blob, i.e., not in the newspaper for the general readership to see.
I'd like to see this in the main news media, the hardcopy newspapers delivered to peoples homes and on shelves to purchase. And also TV media should do something too
(Sorry about the 'Harold' - I lived with a woman for several years who had that last name.)
I think this has played out, but my what a set of situations were driven by this board alone (with a strong assist, I'm told). The mayor was 'outed,' which would have been no big deal. Then he 'asked' for the ticket(s), later the following afternoon. And finally, the Gazettte, who never posts anything from this board, gets called on that, only on this board, and voila! No wonder no one really wants to give 'Binnekill' any credit here - he's made himself a pariah for all the trouble he's caused. (Yes, folks, it's all his fault! The whole situation.) Smite that little malcontent!
No wonder no one really wants to give 'Binnekill' any credit here - he's made himself a pariah for all the trouble he's caused. (Yes, folks, it's all his fault! The whole situation.) Smite that little malcontent!
Ah, now, Guest Again, admit it--you're jealous of Binnekill; if you'd been there, that could have been your name in lights! Probably doesn't help that everyone confused him/er with you (although you should take that as a compliment to your camera skills--we all assume it must be you when good photography happens). . .or that his/er moniker looks like a ripoff of your website name (both being traceable, no doubt, to the same local geographical feature). Rise above it, my friend, rise above it.
I used to live at that address (101 Front Street) and people would stand there all the time. I would do it when I was dropping off laundry - granted I wouldn't park the wrong way like Mayor Stratton did.
"Others have suggested it, and it seems to be so: if it's posted here, it won't be in the papers."
Guess they showed us--or me or something or other.
"American consumers might benefit if lenders provided greater mortgage product alternatives to the traditional fixed-rate mortgage." --Greenspan, Feb. 2004
"It is the silence of the world that is real. Our noise, our business, our purposes, and all our fatuous statements about our purposes, our business, and our noise: these are the illusion." -Merton
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