Lenny4Albany

Middle Management

August 20, 2009, BY Chet Hardin / Metroland

Candidate for Albany Common Council president Lenny Ricchiuti wants to be the bridge missing at City Hall

Councilwoman Carolyn Mc Laughlin (Ward 2), sat in the shady park in front of City Hall and said that she got into politics to be an advocate for the people of the South End. “And I have lived up to that. I have reached out to the people who don’t have the resources to do something about their situation, and for those people, I have spoken up.”

From advocating for affordable housing to securing money for her ward, she said, “I have been there so that when we talked about doing projects in the city, we did not leave the South End out. They were part of the conversation.” She pointed to affordable housing on Clinton Street and also to Eagle Court on Morton Avenue. “That was a project that was long overdue. But that changed that corner. Those are apartments that anyone would be proud to live in, that you or I would be proud to live in. Is there a lot more we can do? Oh absolutely,” she said, but there is always a question of resources.

The 12-year veteran of the common council had held a press conference earlier in the afternoon Tuesday to announce the endorsement of her candidacy for council president by Shawn Morris, the current president and former mayoral candidate. Councilwomen Barbara Smith and Catherine Fahey, along with councilman Dominick Calsolaro, were also there to show their support for McLaughlin. Former president Helen Desfosses, who was not present, has also endorsed McLaughlin.

The next day, McLaughlin’s only opponent in the race, fellow Democrat Lenny Ricchiuti, sent out a press release blasting the councilwoman’s record.

“For the past 12 years, I’ve watched as the Presidents of the Common Council have presided over the deterioration of Albany. It seems fitting that the two people who served as council president during this time have joined together to endorse my opponent, Carolyn McLaughlin,” the release read. “McLaughlin’s do-nothing attitude during her 12 year tenure as a member of the common council represents a continuation of their failed leadership and a continuation of politics as usual on the council.”

A retired Albany Police sergeant, Ricchiuti is best known for his work with the Police Athletic League, an organization he joined back in 1989 when it was just one year old. Today, he is the executive director of PAL.

He said that he is running for the president’s seat “to be the bridge between the common council and the mayor, to get stuff done.”

Politics, he said, should be removed from the equation.

“In the past year it seems more and more that our electeds don’t want to work together,” Ricchiuti said. “I don’t know if it is because they don’t like each other, or if it’s politics, as I’m learning. I like to think that politics should be removed from the equation because it’s about providing services to the people who put you there. And they aren’t providing the resources.”

“I have no agenda,” he continued. “My agenda will be to see that the people’s business gets done.”

Ricchiuti’s critics have focused mainly on two criticisms. One is that Ricchiuti’s run might be in violation of the Hatch Act, since PAL receives federal money. This, Ricchiuti claimed, has been settled. An attorney from the Hatch Division ruled that there is no violation, and that the letter is “in the mail.”

And second, Ricchiuti’s critics have dismissed him as just being one of Jerry’s Boys, a hand-picked candidate of the mayor’s office—someone who has spent almost no time in attendance at council meetings and will answer solely to the mayor.

According to financial filings, Ricchiuti hasn’t received money from Jennings, but since 2006 he has donated more than $1,100 to the mayor’s primary and political action committees. He has also been able to draw water from the mayor’s well, receiving nearly a third of his $30,000-plus campaign contributions from Jennings backers. Further, he was endorsed, along with Albany city treasurer and Jennings ally Betty Barnette, by the Conservative Party.

But as Ricchiuti put it, he has been doing “good work” at a successful nonprofit in the city for more than 20 years and has the reputation in his community as someone who can get things done—is it any wonder that the mayor would want to be associated with him?

In other words: Who, exactly, is whose boy?

Ricchiuti argued that when he disagrees with the mayor, he will speak out. His main criticisms of Jennings’ tenure are common among the mayor’s critics: the lack of community policing; the lack of serious code enforcement and the expansion of abandoned and neglected housing stock. Yet it is for the common council that Ricchiuti reserves his sharpest criticism.

“Something like a nine-month investigation into a parking-tickets scandal, or whatever you want to call it, would not have lasted nine months,” he said, had he been on the council. “And we still have the same results that we knew nine months ago. So what got done in the past nine months for the people? Are they better off? We have spent all this time looking for scandal and no scandal has been produced.”

He shrugged off the suggestion that Albany follow Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi’s lead; Suozzi fired six people after a similar, yet much more limited, swindle was uncovered in his county.

“People just don’t care about this anymore,” he argued. “They just want it to be over. They want to hear what is going to be done to correct the problem, not who’s going to get a spanking. What, you want a pound of flesh or something? And why do you want that pound of flesh at this particular time?” he said, echoing the trope that the investigation has been politically motivated.

“I beg to differ with Mr. Ricchiuti,” said McLaughlin. “The work done on the council in relation to the ghost tickets was some good work. The first time in history that the council exercised its subpoena power, that was not a waste. We set an example of what the council can do, moving a discussion forward so that the people of this city can get answers to their questions.”

It isn’t as though McLaughlin is known to be a fierce critic of Jennings. Her early support for Jennings’ convention center dreams and her recent vote to allow the expansion of the Rapp Road landfill broke with the more ardent progressives. Her silence on the mayor’s race, in a year when the progressive movement boasted two viable candidates, has been especially contentious.

Yet she is sticking by her choice to not endorse in that race. As she said, if she wins the president’s seat, she will work with whoever occupies City Hall’s corner office. “I would hope that the relationship could be such that there would be open dialogue.”

http://www.metroland.net/newsfront.html#1


	Middle Management August 20, 2009, BY Chet Hardin / Metroland Candidate for Albany Common Council president Lenny Ricchiuti wants to be the bridge missing at City Hall Councilwoman Carolyn Mc Laughlin (Ward 2), sat in the shady park in front of City Hall and said that she got into politics to be an advocate for the people of the South End. “And I have lived up to that. I have reached out to the people who don’t have the resources to do something about their situation, and for those people, I have spoken up.” From advocating for affordable housing to securing money for her ward, she said, “I have been there so that when we talked about doing projects in the city, we did not leave the South End out. They were part of the conversation.” She pointed to affordable housing on Clinton Street and also to Eagle Court on Morton Avenue. “That was a project that was long overdue. But that changed that corner. Those are apartments that anyone would be proud to live in, that you or I would be proud to live in. Is there a lot more we can do? Oh absolutely,” she said, but there is always a question of resources. The 12-year veteran of the common council had held a press conference earlier in the afternoon Tuesday to announce the endorsement of her candidacy for council president by Shawn Morris, the current president and former mayoral candidate. Councilwomen Barbara Smith and Catherine Fahey, along with councilman Dominick Calsolaro, were also there to show their support for McLaughlin. Former president Helen Desfosses, who was not present, has also endorsed McLaughlin. The next day, McLaughlin’s only opponent in the race, fellow Democrat Lenny Ricchiuti, sent out a press release blasting the councilwoman’s record. “For the past 12 years, I’ve watched as the Presidents of the Common Council have presided over the deterioration of Albany. It seems fitting that the two people who served as council president during this time have joined together to endorse my opponent, Carolyn McLaughlin,” the release read. “McLaughlin’s do-nothing attitude during her 12 year tenure as a member of the common council represents a continuation of their failed leadership and a continuation of politics as usual on the council.” A retired Albany Police sergeant, Ricchiuti is best known for his work with the Police Athletic League, an organization he joined back in 1989 when it was just one year old. Today, he is the executive director of PAL. He said that he is running for the president’s seat “to be the bridge between the common council and the mayor, to get stuff done.” Politics, he said, should be removed from the equation. “In the past year it seems more and more that our electeds don’t want to work together,” Ricchiuti said. “I don’t know if it is because they don’t like each other, or if it’s politics, as I’m learning. I like to think that politics should be removed from the equation because it’s about providing services to the people who put you there. And they aren’t providing the resources.” “I have no agenda,” he continued. “My agenda will be to see that the people’s business gets done.” Ricchiuti’s critics have focused mainly on two criticisms. One is that Ricchiuti’s run might be in violation of the Hatch Act, since PAL receives federal money. This, Ricchiuti claimed, has been settled. An attorney from the Hatch Division ruled that there is no violation, and that the letter is “in the mail.” And second, Ricchiuti’s critics have dismissed him as just being one of Jerry’s Boys, a hand-picked candidate of the mayor’s office—someone who has spent almost no time in attendance at council meetings and will answer solely to the mayor. According to financial filings, Ricchiuti hasn’t received money from Jennings, but since 2006 he has donated more than $1,100 to the mayor’s primary and political action committees. He has also been able to draw water from the mayor’s well, receiving nearly a third of his $30,000-plus campaign contributions from Jennings backers. Further, he was endorsed, along with Albany city treasurer and Jennings ally Betty Barnette, by the Conservative Party. But as Ricchiuti put it, he has been doing “good work” at a successful nonprofit in the city for more than 20 years and has the reputation in his community as someone who can get things done—is it any wonder that the mayor would want to be associated with him? In other words: Who, exactly, is whose boy? Ricchiuti argued that when he disagrees with the mayor, he will speak out. His main criticisms of Jennings’ tenure are common among the mayor’s critics: the lack of community policing; the lack of serious code enforcement and the expansion of abandoned and neglected housing stock. Yet it is for the common council that Ricchiuti reserves his sharpest criticism. “Something like a nine-month investigation into a parking-tickets scandal, or whatever you want to call it, would not have lasted nine months,” he said, had he been on the council. “And we still have the same results that we knew nine months ago. So what got done in the past nine months for the people? Are they better off? We have spent all this time looking for scandal and no scandal has been produced.” He shrugged off the suggestion that Albany follow Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi’s lead; Suozzi fired six people after a similar, yet much more limited, swindle was uncovered in his county. “People just don’t care about this anymore,” he argued. “They just want it to be over. They want to hear what is going to be done to correct the problem, not who’s going to get a spanking. What, you want a pound of flesh or something? And why do you want that pound of flesh at this particular time?” he said, echoing the trope that the investigation has been politically motivated. “I beg to differ with Mr. Ricchiuti,” said McLaughlin. “The work done on the council in relation to the ghost tickets was some good work. The first time in history that the council exercised its subpoena power, that was not a waste. We set an example of what the council can do, moving a discussion forward so that the people of this city can get answers to their questions.” It isn’t as though McLaughlin is known to be a fierce critic of Jennings. Her early support for Jennings’ convention center dreams and her recent vote to allow the expansion of the Rapp Road landfill broke with the more ardent progressives. Her silence on the mayor’s race, in a year when the progressive movement boasted two viable candidates, has been especially contentious. Yet she is sticking by her choice to not endorse in that race. As she said, if she wins the president’s seat, she will work with whoever occupies City Hall’s corner office. “I would hope that the relationship could be such that there would be open dialogue.” http://www.metroland.net/newsfront.html#1