OMG!!!! All hell did break loose tonight! You are right, Dave Morris! The public comments were terrific AND the public became REALLY upset with the Mayor!!! FYI: There is a special city council meeting planned Friday at 10:00am (check the city website because the time may change) to discuss a motion that Skip Scirocco has currently on hold that states that the City Council will submit the Consent Form (which I handed out to everyone in the audience to refer to ha! ha!) requesting Lead Agency Status (because we should have local control), with the assumption that we already are an involved agency based on the criteria that we (the city) are required to take action and approve plans related to storm drainage (?), based on the EPA Law that was created since our last bid for Lead agency status was denied and the Racino built (in 2006). Skip also argued that the primary reason we were denied Lead agency was that we (the city) did not know enough about gaming. Since these new projects do NOT involve gaming, we should have local jurisdiction. Chris Mathiesen concurred in his comments later on in the meeting. The public comments were great and many points were brought up. More than one person complained about the Mayors office and the lack of clear communication about whats going on, including the process for SEQRA. The 30-day comment period window is the citys doing and not part of the SEQRA process. Russ Pittinger said he was very concerned because he had gone into the Planning Department and found all of these documents that had been submitted from the Racino (I think they were about traffic) and no one was notified.Jane Weihe asked the City Council to make a resolution articulating Mathiesens concerns about the expansion project, impact on downtown, etc and the Racinos clear lack of interest in really addressing these significant concerns.. This resolution would be against the VLT Law and reflect statements made in the previous resolution about the Prop 1 State Law (potential negative impacts on our downtown, lack of local control, etc.). The public liked this. A Kimberly Fonda spoke more than once and brought up legitimate points about the horsemen, including a recent Gazette article reporting that a lot of them were not happy about what was going on at the Racino, contrary to what the Mayor and the Horsemens Assocation were asserting. The Mayor minimized what Kim said and pretty much dismissed it out of hand...not respectful to Kim. Kim also talked about how the Racinos heavy truck traffic has created, and continues to create, cracks in the walls of her house. I brought up a few issues: 1)reporting what the DEC said today about involved agency status. 2) I asked the City Council a question about who would be the character expert in SEQRA process. DEC has certain expertise and jurisdiction, but who is designated the Character expert? The Mayor rambled on that we are and are acting like we are, however it was clear she did not know for sure who is considered the expert in this area under SEQRA. 3) I also asked the City Council (since the Mayor had just been saying tonight that we are limited by the State VLT Law, and the public should express their dismay to the Legislature) to advocate on our behalf with the State Legislature and fight to change the Law on our behalf. Yepsen rambled on about how she talks with them all the time, yadda yadda. but she clearly had not done anything to fight this issue..she then said she was focusing on the issue at hand before us. Madigan later said that she thought the City Council should be addressing the VLT Law issue right now with the State Legislature. Yay Michele! Both Jane Weihe and Lin (Linda) Whittle spoke negatively about the Mayors behavior at last nights City Council meeting. Lin Whittle commented that the Mayor was disrespectful to Skip Scirocco, etc.The Mayor was clearly uncomfortable and tried to shut Lin down. The City Attorney (Sarah Burger) was all over the place about interpreting the SEQRA Law, and is NOT a SEQRA attorney. A SEQRA expert, who was in the audience and has done this work for over 30 years, said the City Attorney did not know what she was talking about. Skip put forth, and Chris Mathiesen also asked: whats the harm to the City if the City Council submits the Consent Form disputing the Gaming Commissions Lead Agency status and claiming this status ourselves? Does it cost any money to do that? Skip knew the answer to this (and the DEC concurred today) that it does NOT cost the City money to submit the form. If someone wants to challenge our lead agency status legally, then the city can decide not to spend money in a legal fight. The City Attorney agreed, however, later on changed what she was saying, which added to more confusion. FYI: Rob and I both talked with DEC SEQRA experts today about the process and what makes someone an interested, involved, and lead agency. Rob was told (by the same person I spoke with) that the City could support the assertion that they were involved if the city had discretionary authority(action, permit, or going to undertake or fund something related to the proposal). If the city could find a hook to allow them to claim involved status, then they can act based on that assumption and can assert Lead Agency status in the Consent Form (which only addresses whether or not you think the Gaming Commission, or some other entity, should be Lead Agency). The Community SEQRA expert observed after the meeting that Skip had indeed found the hook. Mathiesen really jumped on the bandwagon with Skip and also added that hed like to add to Skips argument and say that the new buildings do NOT fall under the VLT Law because they are NOT used for gaming.Because of limited time, Mathiesen recommended that they vote on filling out and submitting the form. The council discussion was around saying we are lead or involved in status. Skip was working SO hard to explain this and for some reason they could not really get it...it was clear the other Commissioners and the Mayor had not really done their homework on this issue and the City Attorney was also ill-informed. Skip REPEATEDLY explained that we are acting on the assumption that we are involved, because we meet the criteria, and the form only allows for us to dispute or agree to the Gaming Commissions stated intent to be lead agency. It cannot be used to assert were are involved in status. If you are asserting your lead agency status, it is already assumed you are involved. The City Attorney and Deputy Mayor were whispering in the Mayors and Madigans ear throughout. Anyway, Madigan throws out a concern: if we assert Lead Agency status, the Racino will automatically stop showing plans to the Planning Board and stop cooperating with us, that we have a good relationship with them and dont want to jeopardize it. Well, the public was NOT happy about that and vocalized it with comments and moans from the benches! Everyone knows that the sharing of plans is a PR stunt and that we have NO jurisdiction anyway. Chris Mathiesen even said last night that he thought it was a waste of the Planning Boards time because they had no authority. Once Madigan threw this wrench in, it started to derail the process a bit and then thats when Mathiesen wanted clarification on the cost to the city and the Attorney started giving out confusing information. The public got increasingly more frustrated and was loudly disagreeing with the City Attorneys description of the law, saying she did not know what she was talking about. The SEQRA expert in the audience was just shaking his head because she (the Attorney) was wrong. The Mayor got really angry at the public and said that we could not comment because it was now a council meeting format, and no longer public comment, and there was a discussion going on among council members. A member of the public loudly objected and questioned openness and transparency. The Mayor was arguing back with her. The Mayor even said harshly and defensively to this woman, (paraphrasing) why do you think we held this meeting -we held this meeting so you could have input She also said in response to this woman, again in a loud and harsh manner, you dont know me and you have only been in my office once and that was yesterday! It was stunning to witness the mayor treat this woman in that manner! She then said the public would again have an opportunity to comment (after this special, impromptu council meeting portion). The community SEQRA expert and another person had been waiting patiently to contribute to the SEQRA Consent Form application.discussion. They had two police officers in the room by that time (one had been there from the beginning). When the council portion of the meeting was over, the Mayor ended the public comment period and did not allow the community SEQRA expert and other members of the community to comment. She did not allow public comment afterwards as she had promised. People were REALLY angry and left while she was talking. The public was CLEARLY not impressed with the Mayor, her treatment of the public, and her actions. John Franck was not present at this meeting. Someone reported that the three Commissioners hung back after the meeting was over.and were tallking afterwards, clearly trying to address what Skip brought up and help the City. The Mayor had already left and was not part of that discussion The consensus afterwards was: 1) the City Attorney did not know what she was talking about. 2) Although the Mayor says she is fighting on behalf of the city and says she is trying to get us involved status, she is working to ultimately get that Racino built, Her non-verbals and comments indicated that she was looking for a way to challenge Skip Sciroccos thinking and arguments. 3)The public knew more about this process than the Mayor or the City Attorney did. 3) Skip did a terrific job, and 4) Chris Mathiesen was very helpful overall.5) There were some concerns about Michele Madigan being all over the place to some degree...she clearly had NOT done her homework with regards to what the Consent Form was for. It looks like these officials dont do much, or any, of their own research and rely solely on what Mark Schachner says (who is under the Mayors Department). If anyone else has anything to report, corrections to make,etc., please let me/us know!
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 03:42:06 +0000
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