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Guilderland - Final Days

By Albany Lawyer

Less than one week to go until the election -- Guilderland voters will decide who should be on their town board.

Mark Grimm and I are running on a message of ending the secrecy and insider privileges. Mike Ricard and Dave Bosworth are running on, well ... I'm not sure exactly what.

Let's see. They sued me to knock me off the ballot and deprive voters of a choice. That didn't work. They refused to debate us. That sure didn't work for John Sweeney, and it doesn't look good for them on that.

Hmm. Ricard managed to get himself a sweet deal on his tax assessment. His house is bigger than mine, with more than 20 times as much land, an in-ground pool and the biggest shed I've ever seen (2100 square feet) - I don't have a pool or a shed. And his house is assessed more than $40K lower than mine. If that's not bad enough, Mark Grimm's house is smaller than mine, with less land - and again no pool and no shed, and he's assessed even higher.

Oh, and about that pool, Ricard got a variance to put it close to the property line. He couldn't find any other place for it - on 12 acres.

Meanwhile Dave Bosworth has himself a sweet deal with the county. Albany County funds a non-profit he runs to the tune of $1.4 million/year. He's the Albany County Democratic Chair. Two of the non-profit board members are members of the Albany County legislature (Democrats - that's a shocker). The treasurer of the non-profit is a fellow town board member (Democrat). The outside auditor is a contributor to ... wait for it ... the Albany County Democratic Committee (of which Bosworth is chair - but I already mentioned that). And the IRS filings conveniently avoid mentioning these details.

But wait, there's more. Boss Boz and family bring home nearly $200K in reported salary and benefits from this taxpayer-funded non-profit. This does not include the unreported benefits like the loaded Ford Expedition (Eddie Bauer Edition) he's been seen driving, and who knows what else.

But I'm not being fair. They do claim they've lowered taxes. The NYS Comptroller doesn't agree (and he's a Democrat), but they say it nonetheless. My taxes certainly aren't lower.

They claim they've improved the town website. See for yourself - it's nothing special.

They have successfully squashed economic development in the town. But maybe that's not a bragging point.

They claim they've improved Guilderland's Tawasentha Park. I've been doing there for over 30 years and don't see the improvement. The pool is badly outdated. Take a look at the Crossings in Colonie to see what a nice park can be. Lots of Guilderland families go there - including mine.

Time for a change? What do you think? Go to the Guilderland NY website to find out more.

Full post as published by Albany Lawyer Blog on October 31, 2007 (boomark / email).