FOILS FOR IRONDEQUOIT: Poley/King's Pork/Senior Center

Showing posts with label Poley/King's Pork/Senior Center. Show all posts

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Blast From The Past......

Remember, back in March, I did a blog about a page that was found in the copier at Town Hall? This one.

I finally got a hold of the rest of the pages,

A lot of "good stuff" in today's I-Post. A Q&A featuring each candidate responding in 100 words or less, a sampling of their ideas, and comments on issues facing the town.

Unfortunately, Deborah Essley's comments seem to have been edited even though

Recent Campaign Contributions

Mary Ellen Heyman 10 Day Post Primary:

FOI Reqest For Atty. & Engineering Fees Re; Medley

Day 47, all 125 pages of it - to access these pages please click on "Read more below the fold".

This FOI request was originally submitted

Déjà vu vu?

Have you seen the Community Center Draft "Campus Plan" on the Town's website yet?

Miss Information...An Encore

Render Unto Caesar The Things Which Are Caesar’s,

and unto God the things that are God’s.

Morelle Campaign Contributions

Link to NYSBOE site.

Link to history of contributions to Morelle.

A lot of information on there, and history too.

Pork, Upstate's Lack of it, and Buying Votes.

Remember the "big member" blog I did a while back where I said:
"Years ago, when the Republicans were the majority of the Senate, earmarks were distributed mostly to special projects on Long Island and upstate NY - while the Democratic majority Assembly sent most of their money to NYC and the surrounding suburbs.

Now that the majority of both chambers are controlled by New York City Democrats.....upstate might see a little less of the $cha-ching$ that they used to get."

A friend recently sent me an article from the Albany Times Union that shows how much Upstate is losing in the "Pork Barrel Spending" game.

Police Report From Pinegrove 6/24

If you remember the blog about the senior center spring cleanup, there was an FOI request submitted for the police report relative to any calls at Pinegrove for that day, for an incident between Mr. Ament and the blue shirt dude. The report validates that Mr. Ament contacted the police, and that they did go to Pinegrove to talk to blue shirt dude, but he denied saying "Wait till I see you without this blue shirt on...".

I blocked out phone numbers, birthdays, e-mail addresses of the person who submitted the FOI request, and the last name of blue shirt dude on the report/requests.

Coincidence Or Contrived?

So far, every consulting/engineering firm involved in Heyman's Community Center has made outrageous errors.

While checking to see if there has been any updates on the Master Plan stuff, I looked through the Draft of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan. There is 37 pages, so I'll put the "pertinent" ones on here, then the whole thing under "read more below the fold" - so if you want to view all 37 pages, click on that please.

I have a couple of concerns....

A Little Bit Of This, A Little Bit Of That............

It looks like the Pinegrove HVAC calls for bids is listed on the Town website. Link.

Notice to bidders link.

Argh! Ye Best Be Leavin' Me Property You Scallywag!! Argh!

The S.S. Heyman and her crew were sailing the publicity seas yesterday, overtaking the S.S. Ament's booty.

Link to D&C online story, Link to MEHnow article, Link to Rnews article.

This "collaborative" project was spearheaded by Bob Ament back in February - right after the vote - various news sources reported on this, and verified that Mr. Ament contacted Home Depot and Target to secure donations and volunteers for this project at the Pinegrove building for the Seniors.

Instead of "working collaboratively" with Mr. Ament, MEH - peg leg, eye patch and all - decided to have him kicked off the property.

To see the Rnews (now YNNRochester) video, click play at this link.

I can pretty much guarantee that this wouldn't have happened to me if I had been on the property yesterday. You would have most certainly had to drag me off in handcuffs. Public property? My taxpayer paid public property and you are going to kick me off of it? On a project that I organized? LMAO I don't think so.

I was very surprised to learn that a Parks & Rec guy from the Town basically "threatened" Mr. Ament by saying "wait till I see you on the street without this blue shirt on"
(Please see update two at the bottom of this blog for another side to this story...and then see update three after that for another 'nother side to this story...)

I most certainly would have accepted his challenge. Most certainly.

AJ Mazzenga ushered the R NEWS photographer down the hall at this point.

There were witnesses not associated with Mr. Ament who were there and can verify that this was said. Call the news source and verify with the reporter and the camera person if you have to, it was said.

The man in the blue shirt in the video IS the person who said this. Mr. Ament says "Hit the lights" and blue shirt dude says "No, don't hit the lights."

If nothing "bad" was happening, why wouldn't you want the cameras turned on?

The IPD had to drive down to Pinegrove to issue a formal warning to this person.

FOIL request the IPD report if you have to, if you don't believe me.

MEH told Bob Ament to put down the shovel after digging 4 shovel fulls. She told him, "you can put down the shovel, there are no cameras rolling". This was at 8:30am.

I believe Mr. Spang was also saying things like "No Mary Ellen, don't do it..." in reference to her constant contact with Mr. Ament, trying to intimidate him, and get him to leave.

I'm not kidding.

Mr. Ament was the one who orchestrated this whole project, and MEH - just like a pirate - took it and claimed it as her own. Waxing poetic on her "collaborative efforts" while excluding the person responsible for spearheading this project.

Mr. Ament could have signed a waiver and stayed, just like the volunteers that were there. Mr. Ament was actually digging and working before MEH had him kicked off the property.

I guess that's because he is running against her for Supervisor, she doesn't want him to get any publicity......she wants it all to herself so you will re-elect her.

You've elected her twice so far......all I have to say is:

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
~Albert Einstein

"Collaborative" means working with everyone - not just the select group that supports you.

For example:

This new proposal that has been brought forth by a small group of people are MEH supporters......and wouldn't you know that MEH is behind this and happy to work with them 100%.

Another resident not named Bob Ament had brought up this SAME idea to MEH and this is what she wrote to him - this was in the D&C article from Dave Andreatta in March 2009 titled, "Irondequoit's squabbles roil over senior center":

~In August, she wrote a scathing letter to a constituent who over the years has offered Heyman and the previous administration various proposals for a community center at limited cost to the town. Heyman administration officials have deemed the plans unfeasible.
(6 of 6)
Responding to what she characterized as his persistence on the issue, Heyman wrote: "For more than two and half years of listening to you, your ideas, plans and opinion I have come to the conclusion that implementation of any plan you may have thoughts on is impossible. ... I have spent time investigating recommendations only to find no basis in fact."~

But now.....all of a sudden when a small group of MEH supporters offer the same proposal.......it IS possible, and she WILL spend time investigating the recommendations of this small group to find some basis in facts?

Is that how this Town works?

What a shame.

I think y'all need to look in a dictionary and find the word "Unify" and try to understand what that really means.

Especially you, Mary Ellen.

Article in this morning's paper.....buried on page 6B of the Local section.

Update: Here's a quote from Bob Ament about this whole incident. (2:15pm)

"The guy in the video is the person who said, "wait till I see you on the street without this blue shirt on ..." and basically implied he wanted to assault me.

His name is ********* or *********??? The IPD had to drive down to pinegrove to issue a formal warning to this person.

AJ ushered the R NEWS photographer down the hall and I didn't want to create any problems for Home Depot and Target. We were actually just taking a break for lunch and we were all gathering inside. I was told by MEH to put down the shovel after digging 4 shovel fulls. She told me "you can put down the shovel, there are no cameras rolling". This was at 8:30am and I was dressed in my work shirt, pants and shoes.

I stayed the entire morning, and talked with the volunteers all morning.

I admire the efforts of all those who help others in need, especially during a recession.

I told Ms. Heyman I would be glad to sign a waiver but she never brought me one/ or offered one, even though there were town employees coming and going all day from Town Hall.

After she told me to put down the shovel, she leaned in and said..."I haven't told you to leave the property yet" to which I replied "god bless you".

I have never met an individual like this in my entire life. It is very disheartening.

She asked me to leave several times but the Home depot volunteers asked me to stay.

It was only at lunch time that she barred my entrance."

He was kicked off the property for "insurance reasons".......uh huh.

Update two (5:45pm):
I just received a phone call from a friend who just talked with Debbie Evans. Debbie insists that there is another side to this story. Debbie says that a Home Depot employee overheard Mr. Ament threaten this Parks & Rec blue shirt dude, and that Mr. Ament is the one who threatened with the "if I see you out on the street without that blue shirt on...." and this person supposedly is willing to be a witness for the Town about it. Debbie also requested that I take off blue shirt dude's name that was referenced in Mr. Ament's quote......which I have no problem doing.

I would like to know if the IPD did go to Pinegrove to issue a warning to anyone....either Ament or blue shirt dude.

FOIL time?

Update three 10pm: I just found out that Mr. Ament was extremely upset about me putting up Debbie Evans' "other side of the story" because he feels it is tarnishing his name. I apologize if he feels that this "tarnishes" his name, that was not my intention at all. I am just relaying information that is told to me. If Debbie's claims can be proven false, then we will have another notch in the belt of town lies.

Let me clarify that Debbie Evans was unwilling to name the Home Depot employee, and her main concern was getting the blue shirt dude's name off of the blog. The other stuff I put on because I felt it was interesting to be told this by a Town Board member about a resident. Debbie said that she didn't show up to Pinegrove until around 3pm, and was not a witness to the verbal exchange, however, she did say that the Home Depot employee would be willing to be a witness for the Town, and she did say that she was going to go to the IPD today and find out any information - I have yet to hear if she actually did find out anything.

Mr. Ament is willing to provide the officer's name who he communicated with about this issue. As soon as I get that information, I will share it with you. (Please refer to update four below....)

Mr. Ament has also said that no Home Depot employee was within earshot when this exchange took place between the blue shirt dude and Mr. Ament.

We have a FOI request out for any police calls/reports dealing with Pinegrove for Wednesday June 24th, 2009. As soon as we get a reply, I will put that on here too.

I am going to take a chance here and say that I believe Mr. Ament over what Debbie Evans has claimed. That is my opinion, and from the person I spoke with......it was the Parks and Rec guy that got.....well.....all up in Mr. Ament's grill. Why would blue shirt dude not want the cameras turned on if Mr. Ament was the one being "threatening"? That's the question I have........Mr. Ament WANTED the cameras on......Mr. Blue Shirt DIDN'T.......why?

What the police reports prove, I will have to see that for myself. When I do, I will put that on here too.....unless for some strange reason there happens to be "no record existing" for this......Mr. Ament has said he filed a complaint with the IPD. I believe he did.

I can only go by what trusted people tell me, until I see with my own eyes differently. I'm sorry if this is difficult for some of you, or you feel I'm being "unfair". I'm not trying to be. I'm trying to figure out what really happened. One side claims one thing while the other claims differently, and right now I can only go by the "hearsay" that I have heard, the video on Rnews, and the quote from Mr. Ament himself.

Update four (6/26 3:30pm): The officer's name was John Reinders (not sure of the spelling) and a Lieutenant sat in on the discussion as well. A warning was given to the guy in the Blue Shirt and a record of his name was attached to the 911 call.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Love, Love, Love

I'm feelin' it.......are you?

I love letters.

Letters that show how deeply we care for other people, even ones that we don't agree with.

Take for instance, this letter from March:

Can you feel the love, and sense of "community" in this letter?

Can you imagine this letter writer caring about your opinions, sharing with you, and letting you share with them?

Can you imagine collaborating on a project with this person, and would doing so give you a sense of community, and a feeling that your opinions were seriously considered and respected?

Can you?

There's been one part of this letter that has been bugging me for a while-and I don't think that I've ever addressed it.

"That a portion of that grant-funded rent would have returned to the Town in property taxes was conveniently ignored."

It was "ignored" because it's not true.

Do the owners of King$ Pork pay property taxes right now?

Yes, they do.

Do the owners of King$ Pork pay less property taxes when tenants move out?

No, they don't.

Would the owners of King$ Pork pay more property taxes when new tenants move in?

No, they wouldn't.

Would the owners of King$ Pork pay the exact same property taxes with or without the Senior Center as a tenant?

Yes, they would.

No "federal grant rent money" would benefit the Town in property taxes. The only ones who benefit from taxpayer funded rent money is the landlords.

Other things that show how much this person cares about your ideas is the loving way she refers to all of you who voted no, or were against the lease. You just have to know how to "read between the lines" to get that lovin' feelin'!

"Irondequoit nay-sayers hurt town's quality of life."

Translation: I really love your difference of opinion! I respect you too!

"Blatantly false information accounted for many "no" votes."

Translation: I know you voted the way you did because it's what you believed, and I thank you for taking the time out to vote - no matter what way you voted. Democracy by a vote of the people is a wonderful thing!

"Boisterous nay-sayers masquerading as government watchdogs are doing nothing but taking a bite out of our quality of life."

Translation: Let's work together on a plan for our community to come together as one - and please feel free to share your concerns and ideas with the rest of us as we all try to work together and educate ourselves about everyone's opinions, and why they have those opinions.

"Their goals are unfathomable, but the consequences of affording them credibility are anything but "charming".

Translation: I really love my Town and everyone in it! Let's get that community spirit going and really try to work WITH one another instead of driving that wedge between us. I deeply care about your opinions, and I'm ready and willing and able to be the catalyst that inspires us all to work together towards the improvements and goals for our Town.

Gosh. After reading that letter I feel like I'm being hugged by a fluffy cloud, with the smell of jasmine and sweet lilacs and cotton candy all swirling around me, while puppies and kittens playfully romp around my feet - and fresh laundry hangs on a line in the backyard while the sun and the gentle breeze kisses them dry.

Isn't this letter writer the same person who wrote the letter that accompanied the proposal that will be discussed at tonight's Town Board meeting?

I really can't wait to find out what the "Absolutely false information being presented as fact" about a consolidated library and a community center are.

I never, ever hear what it is.....you know, specifics....I just keep hearing the same old tired line about the "false information". Never anything to show what was false and why it's false.

I betcha tonight will be the night we really feel the "love" of community from this "small group of people" and their perfect ideas and recommendations. There's nothing to question at all! If you do question anything - you are just a negative ninny who holds town progress hostage and wants to ruin our quality of life! Remember that!

That "other" small group of people.....how they despise the community! Why, I remember when they went out in the winter, during the frigid cold weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas to collect 1,952 signatures on a petition to FORCE the Town to have a vote on the lease. How SELFISH of them to want the residents - ALL RESIDENTS - to have a vote. That really screams "negative" to me!

Now, all you good folks out there who are going to the meeting tonight....you just listen....and feel the love.

Love, love, love.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Yes! Finally!

Link.

A letter in the I Post that doesn't:

Accuse anybody of anything.
Call anyone a name.
Give misinformation as "fact".
Give a fake name and address to play political games.
Come across as snippy, catty, snarky, sarcastic, mean, insensitive, "vitriolic", "abusive" , "threatening", illogical, insane, vindictive, megalomaniacal, superior, or bitter.
Give a "solution" and say that "this is the only solution".
Mention "small group of people".

What's that tingly feeling I have right now......why.....I believe it could be "hope"! Yay! Wait.....sorry......it was just my foot that fell asleep. Darnit!

You might think it's hypocritical of me to want people to be considerate and civil, considering that I'm pretty snarky on this blog. But, it's a blog. MY blog.

I don't "FORCE" you to come here to read it, but you doooOOOOoooooo. I know who visits, and what pages they read etc.

I don't "pretend" to be anything. I don't claim anything other than sharing FOI documents with you, along with MY opinions, and video/letters/articles.

I'm anonymous. Cowardly, sneaky.....whatever you want to call it....and not really giving a rip.....I'm anonymous for a reason. Why? That's a "nunya" question. Nunya damn business.

I'm not your elected representative.

I don't write letters to the editor to any paper - although I do comment online to articles now and then.

I don't e-mail anyone other than friends.

I don't send out mailers or letters to people. I don't hold press conferences. I don't call you at home and question you.

I don't force my opinions on you at all. You're free to come and go or not come and go as you please.

But that does not mean I'm going to stop being "me" on my blog. It's my blog.

I can be sarcastic, and snarky.....on my blog. I hardly think that I'm "vitriolic", although some would disagree.....and quite frankly I don't give a rip about that either. :)

I do try to be as polite as I can when dealing with people through letters or speaking publicly to them.....even online.

But on MY blog - I do what I want.

Please.....never forget that!

Anywho......THANK YOU Mike Spang, for submitting a very nice letter.

I just want to clarify, that 13,000 seniors DO NOT visit Pinegrove.

There are, (according to the 2000 census), roughly 13,000 seniors that reside in Irondequoit. At St. Ann's, or other Senior Living Centers that provide services similar to Pinegrove "in house", in their own homes, in apartments etc. Many go away during the winter months to other "homes".

According to the Comprehensive Master Plan regarding Recreation, Parks, and Trails - a focus group in coordination with the consultants (I believe Clark, Patterson, Lee) took a good look at all of these things at their November 2008 meeting.

Here is a link to the Meeting Summary.

On Page 2 of that summary, it talks about the Senior Center and the conditions.

"The center serves approximately 45-60 people per day."

(To view the other 6 pages of the Comprehensive Master Plan Meeting for Recreation, Parks, and Trails....please click on "read more below the fold" at the bottom of the blog.)

I wanted to point that out because I feel it's a little "misleading" to people if you say that "Pinegrove continues to serve the senior population (approximately 13,000...." when the center truly only "serves" about 40-60 seniors daily.

"As the five-year plan unfolds, we will be looking for the end result to be inclusive for all ages within our population."

Very nice letter from Webster resident Mike Spang, and I agree with this quote but would like to add that I hope that the "during" part - BEFORE the "end result" - will be inclusive of EVERYONE giving their input and EVERYONE'S opinions be taken seriously with consideration for EVERYONE, not just a select few making the decisions.
A vote on the "end result" would be nice too.

I just read some of the comments at the end of the guest essay, and there's one that makes a very good point......

"smaggie

HOLD ON HERE......let's check the tapes ....was that not Gail Bello coming out of her coma at a recent meeting indicating that 'we have a date in JUne for Home Depot to come out to Pinegrove'......she spoke the words... fed to her of course by MS Heyman.....was that not her jumping out of her skin yelling at Mr Ament indicating that 'i am not a liar, Mike Spang and I sat down with home depot ourselv es and secured a date'............listen Mrs Bello, this is not your kindergarten class at Helendale you are dealing with............when does this board have to be held accountable? when do the lies and the misleading tricks stop? every single one of those board members should be ousted....one is worse than the other and it's got to stop.............I am so tired of the ongoing and shameful government in this town.....the fact that my taxes are being paid for salaries of these folks....Mr. Spang will be retiring with a great big smile on his face and a nice retirement package no doubt....escaping his accountablility in all of this...and instead of yawning during the whole meeting at town hall, he can yawn from his easy chair at home watching the circus on tv. Beware of trusting anyone...even those currently sitting on the board are going behind each others backs....secret meetings among 'the enemy'....it is really sad. I hope that we can get a bunch of residents to raise holy hell by starting a petition, forcing the hand to get his makeover started for our poor seniors. Anyone interested in helping?"

I do remember Ms. Bello stating at the meeting....well.....she did raise her voice a bunch, and got all angry and stuff, but.....she did state that in JUNE Home Depot would be out to Pinegrove.

Good point! I don't know why it's going to take until "fall" (read: November elections) for all of the repairs to be done at Pinegrove. I guess you'd have to ask the Supervisor and Board why it will take that long to put in a HVAC and paint the joint. Ask them why they could have the landlords at King$ Pork install a new "at current capacity" HVAC, and then the Town would paint, carpet, install alarms and all that stuff they were going to do in SIXTY DAYS FROM THE VOTE - but it'll take 9 months to do this at Pinegrove (March - November)?

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Deja Vu?

Link to PDF
Link to website

I thought the proposal in the previous blog sounded vaguely familiar. The ideas, and specifically the "Campus Plan" was an idea from a resident years ago.

A resident proposed this concept to the Town Administration after being asked to provide some concept plans around 2004, I believe. The PDF I linked to shows the same proposed "multi use" and all the other ideas the other small group of people have proposed. Even a library.

I think it is so wonderful that the "Ganze Gang" and Board are now pretty much suggesting the exact same things that this resident suggested in 2004.

This resident had some great ideas, and I wonder why Mary Ellen Jones kicked him off of the Finance Committee in August of 2006 after the FIRST meeting? After showing them that the Campus Plan would be tens of millions of dollars less expensive than King$ Pork?

Hey! Speaking of blogs....there's a new "Irondequoit Website" out there for you all to enjoy. Link

You'll like it a lot better than this one because the site is chock full of unbiased, non-political, untainted "real" stuff. Look at all that blue! Is it cornflower blue? There's no commenting there either. But, at least you'll finally be able to get all the information, and unbiased opinions that you all have been craving. No politics. No personal agendas. Just pure, untainted, real stuff. At one point they had a blog up about Bob Ament and his "engineering" drawings.....but it seems to have disappeared now.....I guess because it was a pretty biased blog.
Link. Or, go to google and type in - "Irondequoit Blogger: Robert Ament, the next Supervisor???", look for the title, and then under the brief description will be two links (cached & smiliar pages) and if you click "cached" it will take you to the deleted blog.

Picture on blog:

It says in this picture that Mr. Crane "isn't buying" Pinegrove.....but that is untrue. Poley's report shows that he was working on a fair price to sell the building to WICSD. Mr. Spang has said that the WICSD is the only entity to show interest in purchasing the building.

Screen shots of the deleted blog:

Anyway.....I'm sorry that you won't be reading my uninspired drivel anymore.....how I've enjoyed all of your hits to my stat counter......but alas.....no more. *sniff* I understand why you would not want to come here anymore when you have such a veritable plethora of unbiased, untainted, non-political real stuff to absorb on this "Irondequoit Blogger" site. *sniff*
Au revoir, peeps! Enjoy your new home!

Friday, June 5, 2009

I Almost Forgot About This.......

Remember the blog I did back in March about a letter that was found at Town Hall?

Letter:

This is just the first page of the letter, and obviously there are more pages.....a FOI request was submitted for this letter on March 13th, 2009.

I do not believe an answer has been given yet regarding this FOI request, and we are coming up on 3 months now.

We know the letter was sent to Mary Ellen Heyman, and the Irondequoit Town, Planning, and Zoning boards. It says it right at the top of the letter.

Since no reply to the FOI request from March has been forthcoming.....methinks it's time for some repetitive foiling!

If any of you have some time, I suggest submitting a FOI request for the letter that was sent to the Supervisor, Town, Planning, and Zoning Boards. Feel free to copy the first page of this letter that I have on here, and ask for the remaining pages.

Since it was found AT Town Hall, and addressed to basically everyone on all boards....I'm sure there is a record of this somewhere.

I'm just curious as to what the rest of the letter contains.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

A Revised Property Condition Report From Labella

No wonder I couldn't find a link to the original Property Condition Report from Labella on the Town website......they made a new one!

Link to Town website, Revised Property Condition Report.

Original Labella Pinegrove Property Condition Report so you can compare.

Labella - Revised Pinegrove Property Condition Report -99 pages - first 5 visible, the rest are under "read more below the fold" - so please click on that if you want to read it all. There's some new things in there, and a corrected amount for parking and sidewalks, and some copies of licenses, and other stuff besides what was included in the original Property Condition Report. I know it's a pain to read it the way I have it on here, but I do that for a reason. I take screen shots of the pages, then put them up on here, that way I can compare later on and see if there were any changes to any documents. When it is changed on the website, you have no way of knowing what was changed.

They have corrected a couple of estimates on here. The original 4/16/09 estimate for the parking lot was $500,000. The corrected amount in this revised report is $186,000. That $314,000 error was apparently on the unit cost of material, according to Labella.

The other amount that is significantly lower is the sidewalk repair. The original 4/16/09 estimates for the sidewalk repairs were $277,000. Immediate maintenance-$50,000, Long term maintenance-$74,000 & $93,000, and triggers at $60,000. The corrected amount in this revised report is $15,000.

In the revised report, it lists $500 for stove removal. This was not in the original Labella report on 4/16/09.

Most of the items listed in the new report are just the immediate maintenance items, and that makes sense. If "we" are only there temporarily then we'll worry about the long term maintenance when/if "we" get to it. Right now it has to have these "immediate" things done. Actually, it should have been done "yesterday"....but at least now it might possibly get done.

Here's the rest....