Break it down! It's Hanna Time!

Ed Hanna's nefarious plot to once again rule the city of Utica is getting the thumbs down from the Observer-Dispatch.

The O-D does not endorse political candidates. But as noted above, long-time readers are well aware that this newspaper believes Hanna did more harm than good to Utica both in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. Voters, the business community, the nonprofit community and the political community have to ask themselves if enduring the hateful circus that is Ed Hanna's leadership trademark is truly in the best interests of this community's future.

It's important to remember that when Hanna resigned seven years ago, many in Utica breathed a sigh of relief:

• The city had been sued by four male employees accusing Hanna of sexually harassing them (it would later make a payment to settle the case).

• The city was defending itself in federal court over violating freedom of the press through actions such as not releasing details on local crime (it would later settle with the O-D and pledge not to withhold such information from the newspaper again).

• The City Center food court had melted down into one more vacant downtown location as Hanna sparred with the restaurants operating there over rent.

• Public safety employees had been insulted for years by Hanna's mean, insensitive remarks.

• And Hanna had squandered immense sums of Community Development Block Grant funds on pet projects, including the giant watering can now located at the Utica Zoo. Those are funds that could have gone to shore up Utica's neighborhoods, including East Utica, West Utica and Cornhill.

In Ed Hanna's mind this is a ringing endorsement, since a distinguishing feature of his world view is that the media has always been out to get him. Every criticism of his instability is just another reinforcement of his paranoid persecution complex, a validation of a mental state that is, at best, mercurial. Put simply, as my ex-hippie father-in-law quipped over the weekend, "Hanna? Dude's motherf***ing crazy."

Putting Mr. Hanna's questionable sanity aside, it's a foregone conclusion that he's going to bull ahead with his candidacy. And that's a good thing. Why?

Because I want to hear the tape.

You may remember that Mr. Hanna was embroiled in a gay sex scandal shortly before his resignation. Four men had accused him of forcing them to engage in sexual acts as part of their employment. More intriguingly, there was allegedly an audiotape of Mr. Hanna having a detailed conversation about those acts.

A seventy year old guy. Talking about the ways young men could pleasure him.

Seven years ago something like that wouldn't have had much of an impact unless it was broadcast. Today, well, things are different. It only takes a few minutes to convert a tape into an MP3, post it to a website, and watch it spread like wildfire. Even better, if the description of the tape's contents are accurate, there's a good chance it will get passed along far and wide because of it's entertainment value.

The result? Ed Hanna will lose the election. Worse, he'll go to his grave as a punchline, remembered only as a goggle-eyed dirty old man that had a taste for young flesh. Not so good for Mr. Hanna, but it will save Utica from a great deal of further embarrassment.

Deadbeat Dave Settles Up

After months of wrangling "Deadbeat" Dave Morgan is finally getting the boot.

A new tenant could begin operating the city-owned building at the Utica Historic Marina by July 1 after the owners of Kitty's on the Canal agreed to leave by the month's end, city officials said.

An eviction proceeding was scheduled to begin Friday afternoon in Utica City Court, but Assistant Corporation Counsel William Borrill and attorney Anthony LaFache, who represents Kitty's, reached an agreement with Judge John S. Balzano.

Here's what was decided:

•Owners David and Cynthia Morgan will leave the property on or before June 30. The city could act on a warrant of eviction at midnight that night, but Borrill said the city is confident the Morgans will have vacated the building by then.

•The city reserved the right to collect past due rent and rent owed from Feb. 1, the date Kitty's lease agreement expired. More than $16,000 is owed in back rent and utility payments, city officials said.

•Borrill also noted that the city may purchase certain equipment that would remain in the facility, a clause that is part of the original occupancy agreement. Both sides have discussed offsetting what's owed in rent through the equipment purchase.

The city might want to give the new operators a heads-up that the canal is filled with raw sewage from the defective Sauquoit Creek Pumping Station. I suspect that detracts from the dining experience.

Mike Arcuri Blows Nancy Pelosi Out Of The Water

Think Nancy Pelosi leans to the left?

Then you'll be surprised to learn that Congressman Mike Arcuri, the self-proclaimed "conservative Democrat", has a congressional voting record that makes her look like the real conservative. Where do I get such a wacky idea? From the left itself, more specifically the "Progressive Punch" rating list that ranks members of Congress based on their voting records. While Speaker Pelosi languishes down in the #41 spot our very own Congressman Arcuri is #16 on the list, and climbing.

The Temple, Forsaken. With Apologies To Robert E. Howard

The immense doors to the great hall swung open, revealing a room lost in shadows. On either side of the chamber initiates chanted softly to themselves while tending the braziers that filled the room with the fragrant hallucinogenic smoke of the black lotus. The floor of smooth, polished stone was inset with strange geometric designs dominated by a five pointed star bounded by a circle inscribed with curious sigils from some forgotten tongue.

"The council welcomes you," said a deep, booming voice that seemed to come from nowhere. "What is it you seek?"

Trembling, the supplicant moved further into the room. "I seek your power. My people have been placed under a geas and I...humbly...ask your intervention."

In response, a faint light filled the air around the throne at the head of the room. The cool green glow seemed to drift through the air like mist, indistinct and faint, but strong enough to reveal a black-robed figure sitting upon the age worn stone of the throne. The figure was more more shadow than man and what little of his face that was visible from the deep shadow of his robe's cowl was leathery and mottled with corruption.

"A geas? Who casts this spell, and what type of binding is upon you," it asked.

The supplicant paused for a moment, staring at the floor. "The wizards of Enkhan. We have begun to build a great temple to Mammon. We have cleared the trees, flattened the earth, and begun the laying of stones, but they refuse to let us do more. They say our temple will fill the waters with filth and disease."

The figure upon the throne gently laughed, a sound like sandpaper on flesh. "Enkhan, eh? Their powers are mighty," the voice whispered. "But there is a way to warp the geas, to shape it so it's compulsion is voided."

"There is?" asked the supplicant, glancing up hopefully.

"Yes. Yes, my friend, we can help you...if you're willing to pay the blood price."

The supplicant trembled once more. He knew there would be a dear cost for this intervention, but until this moment he hadn't fully accepted how heavy it would be. "I'll pay it," he said.

The figure upon the throne hummed softly in satisfaction. "Very well." He turned to one of the initiates at the edge of the room. "Fetch the iron basin from my chambers and prepare the knife. Make sure it's sharpened. I don't want a repeat of last time."

The supplicant started removing his shirt as the initiates scurried to put all in readiness for the ritual.

---

What can a developer do when the DEC won't let them connect their building to Oneida County's massively overloaded sewer system? Why, you just do a little magic.

A Lowe's home improvement store under construction in New Hartford has gotten the go-ahead for a sewer connection, even though the state has banned sewer extensions for new projects in sections of Oneida County, town officials said.

More than two months ago, the state issued a proposed consent order stemming from repairs the county needed to make to stop untreated sewage from being pumped into the Mohawk River from a Yorkville pump station. The county was given a 2011 deadline.

Letters were sent to seven entities, including the developer of the Lowe's in New Hartford, notifying it that reviews of proposed sewer extensions that feed into the Sauquoit Creek Pump Station were being suspended, DEC Spokesman Stephen Litwhiler said.

Lowe's, however, was granted a sewer permit by the Town of New Hartford in May, said Roger Cleveland, New Hartford's highway and engineering superintendent.

The DEC is not reviewing sewer extensions, which would be a connection to more than one commercial or residential site, New Hartford Town Planner Kurt Schwenzfeier said.

"But since the town has jurisdiction over lateral connections, we're still issuing sewer lateral permits," said Schwenzfeier, who said that was the type of permit granted to Lowe's.

Presto! Chango! Abracadabra! Just like that the town of New Hartford cleverly out-maneuvered those big meanies at the Department of Environmental Conservation, letting the builders of the new Lowe's connect to the sewer system without, wink, wink, "hooking up" to it.

There's just one teeny tiny little problem.

The developers of a Lowe's home improvement store under construction in New Hartford must receive state approval — and not just town approval — before building a sewer line, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said Friday.

The DEC earlier this year suspended its reviews of proposed sewer extensions in parts of Oneida County because of untreated sewage flowing into the Mohawk River. New Hartford nonetheless granted a sewer permit for the Lowe's project in May, saying the town had jurisdiction over the permit type granted.

The state disagreed Friday. The DEC sent a letter to Lowe's developer COR Middle Settlement Road Company LLC, a subsidiary of Fayetteville-based The COR Companies, outlining its position.

The construction of a sewer extension without department approval or discharges that adversely affect water-quality standards are prohibited by law, states the letter from Randall C. Young, acting attorney for the DEC's region 6.

"Any violations will be subject to appropriate enforcement action," according to the letter.

The current administration of the Town of New Hartford has just been, as the kids say, bitch slapped by the DEC.

Seriously, what the hell were they thinking? If the motivation to actually, you know, "obey the law" wasn't enough, what about the simple logic of not dumping even more human waste into a system that is already gushing a quarter of a billion gallons of untreated sewage a year into the Mohawk River? I'm starting to think that the only way these people will get it is when somebody starts dumping a little of that funky sewer slime on their front lawn. Maybe they'll start to understand how serious this problem is when there's a giant, stinking pile of human feces sitting on their doorstep.

Destito Caves In, Picente's Tax Moves Forward

I thought it was too good to be true that Assemblywoman Roanne Destito would put the kibosh on Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente's tax hike. Sadly, it turns out I was right.

The other shoe has dropped in Albany on the county’s bid to enact a .75 percent sales tax to replace the 1 percent levy that expires later this year.

Assemblywoman RoAnn M. Destito, D-116, Rome, said today the required legislation was "being introduced as a Rules bill" through the Assembly Rules Committee, meaning it has no individual sponsor. Similar legislation was introduced earlier on the Senate side, thanks to Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-47, Rome.

Not sponsoring the measure directly does give Destito some thin political cover, but other than that it's business as usual in Oneida County.

Destito said the legislation was going to the Assembly, even though she does not think it is going in the right direction.

"I understand this is a home rule message," Destito said, adding that she would prefer to see the sales tax fall to its pre-2005 rate of 8 percent.

"We’re sitting on this surplus and yet the county executive’s plan calls for further taxing, only to maintain a comfortable fund balance," said Destito. "It’s time that we start returning tax money to the hard-working residents of Oneida County. I will continue to drag my feet on this issue until our county executive offers a reasonable commitment to the taxpayers."
She says the county’s financial position has improved and the county should be striving to "hold the line on property taxes and commit to lower the sales tax to 8 percent."

Deeds speak far louder than words. Dragging your feet doesn't accomplish anything when you admit you're going to end up crossing the line eventually. Ms. Destito could have single-handedly stopped this tax increase in it's tracks, but now she's enabled Mr. Picente to move forward with his plan to gleefully burden Oneida County, yet again, with one of the highest tax burdens in the entire country.

Is It The Fumes?

There is a growing body of evidence that there may be an unrecognized hazardous materials site in Oneida County. I'm speaking, of course, about the Utica Mayor's office. Has the DEC ever tested the air there? There seems to be some kind of chemical or contaminant that creates an overwhelming urge to boff your employees.

Update: A reader thinks I'm bringing up things that shouldn't be brought up. Normally I'd agree that who you're sleeping with isn't a political issue, but the Mayoral tendency to engage in hanky panky with subordinates is a bit different. As in any organization, relationships within the chain of command are terrible for morale and can expose municipalities to crippling legal liabilities. Ed Hanna's reputed assignations have already cost the city of Utica a quarter of a million dollars and...other...Mayoral indiscretions could be equally damaging.

Is it really all that hard for these guys to keep their pants zipped?

Diddle Me This, Toolman!

Like a case of antibiotic-resistant TB, Ed Hanna is back.

Former Utica Mayor Edward A. Hanna will seek the mayor’s office in the fall’s election.

Hanna, who lives in Fayetteville, paid for an advertisement in the Observer-Dispatch announcing his plans to move back to Utica with his wife, Ellen.

“As always, I am seeking the office of mayor using only my own money, under obligation to no one,” Hanna states in the advertisement. “The party name I chose says it all: For The People.”

Update: Joe Politics has more.

Next Thing You Know You've Got A Movement

New Hartford Online is onboard the SewerGate pile-on. While you're there be sure to click through on their link to the development plans for the New Hartford Office Park. If you have "Google Earth" installed take a look at that plan and compare it to the topography of the area, keeping in mind that water flows downhill.

It's such a simple fact, but it has devastating consequences.

If You Build It, They Will Come

Strikeslip has some thoughts on the proposed Varick Street development plan in Utica.

It is good that city leaders are thinking of ways to improve city life, particularly on Varick Street which is developing as a center of social activity of sorts. Certainly the creation of off-street parking and wireless internet will enhance the street as a destination.

But actually closing Varick Street is a bad idea.

While wanting to make Varick Street a destination, city leaders must be careful not to destroy its function as an important traffic artery. If that function is destroyed, it may actually make Varick Street less desirable as a destination because of the complications in getting to, from, and around there. And planting trees in the middle of the closed off portion of Varick Street will create a barrier effect, visually cutting the remainder of the street off from the Finish Line Shops area on the other side of Court Street, essentially dividing the neighborhood into two areas that will be less able to support each other.

I'm not nearly as optimistic about this proposal as he is, and that's saying a lot. I think it's another example of Utica's inane Tinkerbell approach to development, as in "If we all wish hard enough, it'll work!"

Dreams can, indeed, come true, but you don't spend millions of tax dollars on a development program built on good vibes and happy thoughts. Unfortunately, Utica has a track record of doing exactly that. Boston Store, anyone? Hotel Utica? The Shoppes Downtown? Hope VI? All grandiose projects, fueled by millions of dollars in public funds, that turned into embarrassing public failures.

Does Varick Street have the potential to be more than a bar district? You bet it does, and that's why the city needs to take a step back and build a solid plan for the area instead of throwing money at it. The citizens of the city are rightly skeptical of yet another pie-in-the-sky development fiasco. They need to be won over with a well documented strategy for development that features a detailed cost/benefit analysis, benchmarks for success, an integrated marketing plan, and, most importantly, a detailed write-up of who's accountable for every part of the projects success.

Oh, and every elected official that's even remotely involved with this idea should be forced to watch the monorail episode of the Simpsons. That would go a long way toward making sure Varick Street doesn't turn into an even more expensive version of the Worlds Largest Watering Can at the Zoo.

The "Republican" Thing

I'm not the only one having some major problems with the "Republicans" of Oneida County. Joe Politics has more.

There was a time that the Conservative party in Central New York was loyal to their counterparts in the Grand Old Party. In fact if one received the Republican endorsement, you could almost guarantee the Conservative line along with it.

Those days are over.. long over.

There is a perfect storm of dissent along party lines that is beginning to pit the Conservatives against the local Republicans and their recent endorsements, (which have not been made public to my knowledge) show just that. A few key nods could make races that at one point seemed to be irrelevant, interesting.

I think there's a growing realization amongst thoughtful members of every party that our elected officials, and the political class as a whole, have no core beliefs. They'll say and do anything to get elected and then go merrily on their way doing whatever the hell they feel like, at least until the next election.

Picente's Tax Hits A Roadblock. A Roadblock Named Destito.

As I've mentioned before, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente has been trying to push through a new sales tax hike for the county. He's been rather successful at selling it as a "tax cut", but the truth is that the County's elevated sales tax ends in November. Mr. Picente's "cut" is a new slightly lower tax that will take effect the day after the old one ends. In a development that, frankly, has me stunned, the only thing holding it up at this point is Democrat Roanne Destito.

Local sales taxes require approval of the state Legislature and the consent of the governor after a "home rule message" has been received from the local municipality. Such home rule requests must contain Senate and Assembly bill numbers.

Picente wants the .75 percent tax because it would generate an estimated $19 million next year. His proposal would reduce the total county sales tax to 4.75 percent, down from the current highest-in-the-state 5 percent. The local sales tax is in addition to the state’s 4 percent sales tax.

As of Tuesday, Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-47, Rome, is sponsoring such a measure in the Republican-controlled Senate. Griffo had previously said he would honor Picente’s request. However, there is no companion piece in the Assembly, where Democrats hold the majority. Support there is critical.

Picente has spoken with Assemblywoman RoAnn M. Destito, D-116, Rome, and members of her staff several times in recent weeks to enlist her support but has yet to receive a commitment from her to take the county’s request to the Assembly. Picente said he spoke with Destito’s chief of staff yesterday and again this morning.

If Ms. Destito is serious about not approving the tax she would be doing the people of Oneida County a great service. From all indications Mr. Picente has shown little or no interest in actually cutting the county's expenses, instead relying on a his new tax to increase the tax load on county residents to one of the highest levels in the country. Destito's refusal to support it could well force the local "Republicans" to take full ownership of the county's high taxes, since state Senator Joe Griffo's support for the tax is already assured. He is, after all, the guy that passed it the first time.

The levy that Picente wants to continue was enacted at Griffo’s request in 2005 when he was county executive and faced a substantial increase in the county’s share of the Medicaid program. He opted to hike the county sales tax by 1.5 percent rather than raise property taxes by nearly 50 percent. The tax has since been lowered to the current 1 percent.

Without this .75 percent tax next year, the county would have to "make up" money from other sources such as the property tax or reserves, or cuts in programs and services. A likely scenario would be a combination of items.

Picente knows half of loaf is not sufficient when it comes to lining up state approval to extend the county sales tax. "We’re halfway there, but it is not enough," Picente said Tuesday. "I need two numbers." He vowed to keep pressing Destito for her support.

In other words, Mr. Picente is shouting "I'll keep fighting for higher taxes!" to the heavens.

Sweet Jebus. I can't believe there isn't a Democrat out there that isn't salivating at the thought of taking Picente on this fall. Between his tax hike and obstinate refusal to take responsibility for Oneida County's continued dumping of sewage into the Mohawk River he's practically handing you a winning agenda.

There is, of course, the possibility that Ms. Destito plans to support the tax hike and is just holding out in order to gain leverage for her own plans for the Mohawk Valley Water Authority's expansion. Only the most cynical would believe that is what's actually going on.

Right?

Dave Morgan: The Man, The Legend

This Friday the city of Utica is finally getting their day in court with "Deadbeat" Dave Morgan.

A Friday court trial could determine whether Kitty's on the Canal restaurant will be evicted from the city-owned building.

City Court Judge John S. Balzano met for nearly two hours Monday with Assistant Corporation Counsel William Borrill and attorney Anthony LaFache, who represents Kitty's.

Neither side would comment on the litigation.

City officials say the restaurant owes about $16,600 in past-due rent and utility payments and is requesting the court issue a warrant of eviction to remove the restaurant's owners from the building at the Utica Historic Marina.

Having eaten at Kitty's once, and discovering that Mr. Morgan's definition of "food" was considerably different from my own, I take solace in the idea that the great wheel of karma is about to crush him under it's unrelenting tread. You may remember that Mr. Morgan is the star of a widely emailed audio clip featuring his hysterically funny rantings about a malfunctioning elevator. You can listen to the clip over here. The recorded phone call is, to put it mildly, not safe for work.

Ironically, Mr. Morgan's filthy mouth is still considerably cleaner than the water flowing past his soon-to-be-closed restaurant at the Utica Marina.

Great Minds

Strikeslip finds the Observer-Dispatch's editorial on Oneida County's sewer problem as bizarre as I do, but he has a slightly different take on things.

First, who's to blame does matter, because consent orders only are required for violations of law. If a public building were to be vandalized, would not the editors want the perpetrators caught, brought to justice, made to provide restitution, and taught a lesson so that the crime is never committed again? What is different here? Are the editors suggesting that the state government should look the other way because local government is the guilty party? Here, the Mohawk River has been vandalized. That is unacceptable, and is a crime under the Environmental Conservation Law Articles 17 and 71. The editors seem to be saying that breaking the law is OK as long as the governmental units or officials that the OD favors do it.

As an aside, my paranoid friend thinks the plans of the powers-that-be were royally screwed up when the DEC issued the construction moratorium. Now they're stuck with a real "contaminated water" crisis instead of the ginned-up one that would justify spending tens of millions of dollars extending water pipelines to the Turning Sto....uh...western Oneida County.

Is he a loon? Probably. But it is rather interesting which politicians aren't talking about the sewage issue.

OD Sez: Let The Fecal Fountain Flow!

Sunday's Observer-Dispatch included an amazing editorial endorsing the continued dumping of hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Mohawk River. Of course, that's not quite how they put it, but that's what it boils down to.

There's a lot of shouting going on over New York state's development ban imposed on parts of Oneida County due to a problem that's causing untreated sewage to be dumped into the Mohawk River from a Yorkville pumping station.

Who's to blame for what doesn't matter. What matters is that everybody — federal, state and local officials — come together and figure out how to get the problem fixed.

Well, yes, it actually does matter who's to blame. It's obvious that the state was aware the continued development of the New Hartford area caused the total collapse of the sewage system. How long has it been going on? Who approved these projects on the local level? Were the rated throughputs totally ignored? If they were, why? Once it became clear human feces was flowing into the river who signed off on adding even more hookups to the system?

This isn't just some minor little tiff about dirty water. Water-born diseases like giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis are already endemic across most of the state thanks to poor water quality controls and bad hygienic practices. The hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage flowing out of the defective pumping station in question are contaminating not only the Mohawk River, but it's tributaries and the Barge Canal. That, to put it mildly, is not a big tourist draw.

This would be a good project for New York's "economic czar," Dan Gundersen. He was named by Gov. Eliot Spitzer as co-chairman of the Empire State Development Corp., the state's economic development arm, whose main responsibility is to revive the upstate economy.

Well, here's a good place for him to start. Certainly untreated sewage flowing into a river isn't acceptable. Neither is a ban on development. It's a problem that should have been addressed years ago, and given the Northeast's aging infrastructure, it's quite likely that similar problems will crop up elsewhere in the future — if they don't already exist. The larger issue here might be to chart a strategy for dealing with such problems before they reach the critical level.

In the meantime, the state has a responsibility to taxpayers living in Oneida County to address this issue without doing any more damage. Get the problem fixed as soon as possible, but let the hookups continue.

Er...no. The moratorium on hookups has accomplished exactly what it's supposed to do. After years of ignoring the problem Oneida County is finally paying attention to it. It's unfortunate that the situation was allowed to develop in the first place, but the ban on new construction certainly has focused everyone's attention, now hasn't it?

It's also worth noting that the Observer-Dispatch editorial board may be in the same "Huh? What sewage?" position as Anthony Picente when it comes to recognizing how serious the problem is. As I've pointed out, Mr. Picente lives upstream of the emission point, so the rafts of toilet paper and feces floating down the Mohawk River don't impact his daily existence. I'm lead to believe, and I welcome correction, that most if not all of the OD's editorial board are in the same lucky situation. In fact, since Donna Donovan and her family happen to live in New Hartford, there's a good chance it's their feces and toilet paper boaters are watching float by.

Carnac Peers Into The Future And Sees....

A hefty chunk of federal funds for expanding water service to western Oneida County, but nary a dime to stop the flow of sewage into the Mohawk River. Strikeslip saw this coming a while ago.

Update: And more.