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Notes:
Grants
Non-elected Town Department Head, Mark Lazzara, West Seneca Youth Bureau Director, entered into Grant Agreements with Federal and State Agencies obligating the taxpayers of West Seneca to cash match requirements of $1,705,700.00 and in-kind match requirements of $1,767,753.00, totally $3,473,453.00.
In reviewing these grants, only Mr. Lazzara’s signature appears as representative for the Town of West Seneca with no co-signature of an elected official. The “contractor” for all of these grants is the “Town of West Seneca” thus making the Town ultimately responsible for cash and in-kind matches.
Normally, the Town Board votes to grant an individual, traditionally the Town Supervisor, the authority to sign a grant. We are unable to find any such vote granting Mr. Lazzara or any public official the authority to enter into these grants.
When Town Officials are asked about this issue at Town Board Meetings, they do not have any answers and cannot give details as to amounts and specific details relating to these grants.
(See Grants Attachments)
(See West Seneca Bee articles, Residents continue to question town’s agreement with AmeriCorps, Bee Editorial, Residents deserve response to questions)
No Access to Grants
Until recently, well after these grants were entered into, Town officials did not have access to the grants, yet the Town did knowingly and willingly front millions of dollars of West Seneca tax payer money to WNY AmeriCorps in anticipation of reimbursement from the grants.
Town Board Meeting: January 14, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080114.html:
Mrs. Bove stated she has been concerned with the number of terminations and resignations of employees associated with the Youth Bureau, and rumors of lawsuits and human rights complaints to New York State. She had requested information on employees, whether Youth Bureau or Americorps, with salaries and bonuses. She subsequently received information limited to a list of names and whether 100% Youth Bureau or Americorps. No salaries were included and she was told to find this information herself.
Town Board Meeting: June 23, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080623.html:
Supervisor Piotrowski stated that he had not reviewed the grants. They were in the AmeriCorps building and he did not have access to them. The AmeriCorps was a private entity and they did not control the grant funds.
Town Board Meeting: July 28, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080728.html:
On June 25th, Mr. Notaro had asked Mr. Lazzara for copies of the nine grants referenced in the attachment to the grant administration agreement and Mr. Hunter wrote to Mr. Lazzara on July 15th because they still had not received the copies. In his correspondence to Mr. Lazzara he stated that he understood the copies of the grants were going to be delivered to the Town Attorney’s office on July 15th and he thanked him for providing the information since neither the Town Attorney’s office nor the Comptroller’s office had copies of the grants.
Deficit in Repayment
Despite West Seneca Comptroller Bielecki’s statement that “lines of credit” (moneys fronted in anticipation of grant reimbursement) should go down to zero at least once a year, the advance of moneys to the organization grew from $1,000.000.00 in 2006 to over $3,000.000.00 in 2008.
Town Board Meeting: June 9, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080609.html:
Councilwoman Meegan responded that the town also gave the AmeriCorps $1 million interest free.
Town Board Meeting: June 23, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080623.html:
Supervisor Piotrowski noted that the town had lent over $2 million to the AmeriCorps program and there was a delinquency in payments.
Comptroller Robert Bielecki responded that the town advanced payment through the payment of bills in excess of the amount received on the grants, close to $2,100,000 as of June 19, 2008.
Mr. Bielecki stated that as of December 31, 2006 the advance was over $1 million, as of December 31, 2007 the advance was over $1,600,000 and on June 20, 2008 the advance had grown to $2,095,000. This was money the town was losing interest on and money that was growing exponentially. Mr. Bielecki thought that this situation should be brought under control.
Mr. Bielecki stated that since January 1, 2008 when AmeriCorps owed the town $1.6 million, the town only collected $361,000. He looked at this as a line of credit, and most funding sources with a line of credit would like to see it go to zero at least once a year. This line of credit had grown exponentially from 2006 through this date, and it could go to $3 million by the end of the year.
Town Board Meeting: October 20, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi081020.html:
Councilwoman Meegan questioned AmeriCorp’s current balance outstanding at this time and when the balance would be totally zeroed out.
Mr. Bielecki responded that the current balance as of the last payment was $3.1 million and that was projected to go to zero by 2010.
Town Board Meeting: October 29, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/2009budget.html:
Supervisor Piotrowski and Comptroller Bielecki assumed that AmeriCorps will eventually completely pay for itself and it will zero out at no additional cost to the town than what is in the budget this year.
Councilwoman Meegan understood that the town had given $3.1 million so far.
Mr. Greenan responded that the $3.1 million figure was from an account in the Comptroller’s Office that tracked the money spent by AmeriCorps, but what was not counted against that account was certain trust accounts the town had.
Comptroller Bielecki did not anticipate receiving the money by the end of the year and stated that one of the AmeriCorps staff members was going to Mississippi next month to work on that issue with them. He further clarified Mr. Greenan’s previous statement about the $3.1 million figure and stated that it already included offsets from the trust accounts. Comptroller Bielecki stated that after the next payment is made it should be down to $3 million, so it was starting to turn around.
Town Board Meeting: March 2, 2009: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin09/mi090302.html:
Councilwoman Meegan questioned the current amount owed to the town from the AmeriCorps grants.
Mr. Bielecki did not have the exact dollar amount but noted that they have been giving the town funds and they should be moving ahead. The figure was over $2 million.
Not Requiring Receipts or Accountability for Expenses
The Comptroller’s office acted simply as a pass through for the money. They did not require receipts or oversee accounting for expenditures. The sole discretion in overseeing this spending was given to Mr. Lazzara, thus creating a serious lack of oversight in regards to millions of dollars of West Seneca tax payer’s money.
In reviewing AmeriCorps Grants the “Financial Management Standards” inserted in each grant requires that the “grantee” maintain financial management that includes sufficient internal controls, a clear audit trail and written cost allocation procedures. They must be capable of distinguishing expenditures attributable to each specific grant from expenditures not attributable to each specific grant. They must be able to identify costs by programmatic year and by budget category and to differentiate between direct or indirect costs or administrative costs.
Town Board Meeting: January 14, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080114.html:
Furthermore she [Councilwoman Bove] stated she agreed with Supervisor Piotrowski as to an analysis of Town departments, and she will continue to request pertinent information on salaries, benefits, expenses, and credit card usage. Monthly reports may also be required.
Town Board Meeting: October 20, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi081020.html:
Councilwoman Bove stated that she and Comptroller Robert Bielecki and the town’s independent auditor, Wayne Drescher, worked with a number of AmeriCorps not-for-profit people and tried to reconcile the correct accounting for the non-federal program expenses for the years 2004 thru 2007 because this had not been done.
Furthermore she stated that the accountability was all around and in 2008 there will be monthly reports showing paperwork that is submitted for reimbursement of claims so that reconciling at the end of 2008 will be accomplished.
Town Board Meeting: March 2, 2009: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin09/mi090302.html:
Comptroller Robert Bielecki stated that Mark Lazzara’s department turned in charges, but he was not certain whether it was for the Youth Bureau or AmeriCorps.
Mrs. Carpenter questioned the procedure for reimbursement of a charge card purchase and if receipts had to be shown.
Mr. Bielecki responded that he currently requires the detailed listing on the credit card for reimbursement.
Councilwoman Meegan questioned how the credit card was written and whether it was under the Town of West Seneca, Mark Lazzara’s name, the Youth Bureau, or AmeriCorps. She noted that if it was under AmeriCorps, it was not the town’s bill to pay.
Mr. Bielecki stated that this has always been a question. Sometimes Mr. Lazzara charges it to the Youth Department or one of his trust funds.
Mr. Bielecki stated that Mr. Lazzara has the grants and has money that is kept in trust. Money goes in and out of the trust funds, there is a balance, and it is monitored. For example, Mr. Lazzara collects money for delivering Meals on Wheels, that money goes into the trust, and he spends money out of there. The money should be used for the exact purpose it was put in the trust for and verification of those expenditures was done by the department head [Mark Lazarra].
Mrs. Carpenter did not see how there were any checks and balances if Mr. Lazzara was authorizing the expenditures and overseeing them.
(See attached labeled “Foil Request/Suspicious Spending”)
Grant Administration Agreement
The Town of West Seneca voted to enter into a Grant Administration Agreement with WNY AmeriCorps on June 23, 2008, yet it was stated on that date that the Town did not have copies of AmeriCorps Grants (see above).
During the July 28, 2008 Town Board Meeting the Town Attorney raised a number of questions regarding the legality of the agreement and specifics of items, yet it was officially entered into on August 5, 2008 without the Town Board discussing any of them.
When asked about the Agreement, no Town Board member could/would answer questions about it and the Town Supervisor stated that he did not agree to it. The Town Attorney stated that he was not present when it was signed. (see West Seneca Bee articles)
Town Board Meeting: June 23, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080623.html:
Motion by Councilman Graber, seconded by Councilwoman Bove, to amend the motion and enter into a grant administration agreement dated June 23, 2008 between the Town of West Seneca and not-for-profit company WNY AmeriCorps Fund Inc., whereby the not-for-profit agrees to assume the town’s obligation under the grants and authorize Councilwoman Bove to execute the agreement on behalf of the town.
On the question, Supervisor Piotrowski questioned if Town Attorney Edwin Hunter had reviewed the agreement.
Mr. Hunter responded that he only heard about the agreement late this afternoon. He questioned who prepared the agreement and thought the recitals were lacking information.
Councilwoman Bove questioned if Deputy Town Attorney Paul Notaro had an opportunity to review the grant administration agreement.
Mr. Notaro responded that Councilwoman Bove had contacted him this date and they went over a number of the items in the agreement. He supported the idea of the agreement, but thought there were some items that needed to be addressed before the document was signed. Mr. Notaro had some concern because they were not looking at the actual grant documents that had certain obligations for the town as far as providing space and other obligations because they were a party to the original grant. They needed to address these things because they could not just cancel a grant with the federal government or New York State. There were nine grants and two were ending this year. Mr. Notaro thought the basis of the agreement satisfied Supervisor Piotrowski’s desire to release the town of some of the burdens of the AmeriCorps program, but they could not ignore the burdens that the grant placed on the town that they could not avoid.
Councilwoman Bove questioned if the Town of West Seneca was contractually obligated to the federal and state government to at least the year 2011 by contract.
Mr. Notaro understood that the grants were through December 31, 2010 so the town would be obligated until then.
Town Board Meeting: July 28, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080728.html:
Town Attorney Edwin Hunter stated that Mr. Notaro had been collaborating with him on the agreement since shortly after the June 23rd meeting when the agreement was presented to the Town Board. The grant administration agreement was really not an agreement, it was a number of statements and it did not quite fit the term “agreement”. It was not complete and there were a number of open issues.
Mr. Hunter further stated in his correspondence to Mr. Lazzara that in the background recitals to the agreement, Mr. Lazzara indicated cash match requirements by the town from August 1, 2008 through completion of $1,705,770 and in-kind match requirements of $1,767,553. He asked Mr. Lazzara to provide a breakdown calculation of these amounts because he did not find them apparent from the agreement or the attachments thereto. Mr. Lazzara referenced the figures in the agreement, but there was no clear explanation.
In looking at the documents and figures attached, it did not come up to the figures he quoted. The grant administration agreement indicated that the town had established partnerships with numerous other agencies, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations, what Mr. Lazzara calls grant partners, to meet the cash and in-kind requirements of the grants. The Town Attorney’s office was unable to locate any such partnerships or partnership agreements and Mr. Hunter asked Mr. Lazzara to forward copies of these, or if there were no written agreements regarding the partnerships to please explain their operation and who entered into the partnerships on behalf of the town. Mr. Hunter stated that as of this date he had not heard anything further and neither had Mr. Notaro. They had received the nine grants and Mr. Notaro was going through them, but there was a lot of information.
(see attached “Grant Administration Agreement)
Open Questions about Agreement
In reference to item #1 in which it was stated that “Beginning August 1, 2008, WNY shall assume responsibility for administering the Grants and delivering Grants’ program services,” the citizens of West Seneca were under the impression that WNY AmeriCorps was always responsible for this.
Items 7 & 8 states that WNY shall assume responsibility of collecting in-kind and cash matches. The citizens of West Seneca were told that the WNY Americorps Program did not cost the tax payers anything, yet Town Officials are now acknowledging that the Town was responsible for all of this money. Furthermore, Deputy Town Attorney Paul Notaro stated on June 23, 2008 that the Town would be obligated regardless.
Item #10 states “The Town shall pay over to WNY on a monthly basis on or before the first of each month an amount equal to 1/12 of the Annual Grant Award Value… WNY shall account to the Town 15 days after the end of each month regarding the spending of the paid over amount as well as verification of the raising of the required cash and in-kind match.
It has been stated previously that the Town of West Seneca fronted money’s in excess of $3,000.000.00 to WNY Americorps in which there had been a delinquency of payment (see above), yet in this agreement the Town agrees to continue to front money without requiring the reconciling of moneys already paid out. Furthermore, they agree to pay over moneys, but do not require receipts or accounting until 15 days after the end of the month, hence 45 days after the money is paid over to them.
Town Officials were asked these questions at the March 16, 2009 Town Board Meeting and again did not give any responses.
Further Questions/ Actions
Now that it has been stated that the Town of West Seneca has been responsible for funding and administration of WNY AmeriCorps all along, we question if one municipality should have been responsible for “financially propping up” an organization that does most of its work outside of West Seneca.
We further question how much of the in-kind and cash matches Mr. Lazzara has been successful in raising as the Comptroller’s Office did not keep records of this and to this date does not have that information.
Years ending 2006, 2007 and 2008 did not result in a “zeroing out” of the line of credit extended to WNY AmeriCorps. We question what the moneys still owed to the Town is for, yet receive no answers from the Town Board and apparently the Town Board receives no answers from Mr. Lazzara who is still not forthcoming with that information.
We question if the grants that were entered into are even valid to begin with, as Mr. Lazzara did not have proper authority to enter into them. We further question if the Town should even acknowledge its “obligations.”
Ah, but there's more............
Who in the world wrote the Grant Administration Agreement, a 2 year old?! What a poorly written document that is! Why would Bove sign her name to something like that? Its crazy.
So, if Lazzara signs as the representative of the Town, then the Town in responsible to assure the work described within the grant is carried out as such AND the budget is adhered to with all the proper reciepts, etc - AND - any monies not used as described within the grant must be approved PRIOR to their use and the rest returned.
So, who's watching the store?
And, where is the accountability?
Is this just a Town issue, or, since AmeriCorps is a National Service Program, is it a Federal issue, as well?
I'm sure any charter of AmeriCorps anywhere probably has already gotten ready for application for the stimulus grants for National Service. Will the Town also be liable for these under this "agreement?"
A few observations:
Regardless of how the the grants were actually entered into in relation to who had the authority to bind the Town to them, this action was ratified by the TB when they subsequently appropriated funds and authorized the expenditures to carry out the obligations contained in the grants.
The agreement that was entered into between the town and Americorp as to the administration of the grants until their expiration, while not a model, appears sufficient to meet the goals of the Town to distance itself from this.
The demonstration of poor checks and balances is troubling and not limited to this agreement and the accounting thereunder. Look at the town's agreement with Crown Energy. This is compounded by the fact that for a number of years the TS was a CPA. Early last year I called on the TB to revise their purchasing policy. To date this has not been done.
I have for a long time pursued open and transparency in government and the lack of information in this area is also troubling. The TB needs to get serious about its obligations under the Open Meetings Law and FOIL, just as a beginning.
Another thing that is troubling is the apparent absence of these revenues and expenses from the Town Budget. Even if they were to result in wiping each other out I believe they should be detailed in the budget. As I spoke out at the budget hearing on this issue.
[QUOTE=dtwarren;467671]A few observations:
Regardless of how the the grants were actually entered into in relation to who had the authority to bind the Town to them, this action was ratified by the TB when they subsequently appropriated funds and authorized the expenditures to carry out the obligations contained in the grants. QUOTE]
To me, if a Town Department Head entered into contracts obligating the Town to $3.5 million in cash and serves matches, and no one was overseeing or approving that, I would say its a pretty big deal.
Also, the Town Supervisor, Town Attorney and Town Comptroller all stated that they did not have copies of the grants. How did they know how much money to appropriate to the organization?
Also, prior to the grant agreement, what was "Americorps"? All the grants were in the town's name, the employee's were considered town employees, all of the partnerships for grant matches were done in the town's name. So technically on paper, everything was in the Town of West Seneca's name. What role did Americorps play?
And given the language of the grant agreement, what would prevent the Youth Bureau Director from stepping down, declaring himself 100% Americorps Director and tell the Town they are responsible for all of the matches because he isn't going to raise anymore money?
Pretty scary arrangment, when you consider the implications.
[QUOTE=GhostofCharles;467682]It may very well be scary, but the bottom line is there does not appear to be any remedy other than divesting the town of continuing as it has been which was what the grant administration does until the end of 2010 when the town is no longer obligated under the current grants.Quote:
Originally Posted by dtwarren
[QUOTE=dtwarren;467708]But, if the agreements were signed without giving the signer proper authority, are the grants even valid to begin with?Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostofCharles
Traditionally, when the Town is eligible for a grant, the Town Council votes to give someone the authority, typically the Supervisor, to enter into grant agreements. It doesn't appear that this was ever done.
To think that the Town Council gave him blanket authority to sign grants is dangerous, especially considering the amounts of the matches. We vote in elected officials to make these decisions and to do them openly at Board Meetings. To give a Department Head carte blanche to do what he wants is side stepping the Democratic Process and denying citizens the right to voice their opinions on decision making.
Signing these grants as "having the authority to enter into this agreement" is different that allowing a Department Head to seek out grants, which is what I believe they gave him the authority to do. Once he found grants he wanted to pursue, it should have been up to the Town Council to vote on whether or not they wanted go forward with them. Again, it doesn't appear to have been done that way. Does this fall under misrepresentation?
I was under the impression that Paul Clark co-signed the grants along with ML in the past. How can one man sign these documents without a signature from a town representative? Who has the authority in this town to put the taxpayers in debt for millions of dollars? I don't think it is the Executive Director of the Youth Bureau!
Anyone see the Letter to the Editor from a Mr. Gary Schoene in this week’s Bee? Is he trying to blame the Supervisor for the Americorps review never being finished? Wasn’t it when Bove and Graber turned a vote to terminate Americorp’s Lease at the Burchfield into a motion to enter into that farce of grant administration agreement that ended the review?
He says that the Town Budget is 10 times the Americorps Budget. So 10% of the Town’s money went to fronting operational costs for Americorps? That’s pretty scary. I don’t understand how he can defend Bove for supporting all of this.
And again, he echoes the same manufactured comments about devaluing the program. Isn’t it how the program has been run that devalues the program the most?
Is this another guy Mark Lazzara has in his pocket?
I agree and could Treehugger be Mr. Lazzara? sure sounds like it!Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostofCharles
[QUOTE=GhostofCharles;467737]It is irrelevant whether he had the authority to do so or not. It is well settled that "[a] municipality may ratify a contract made on its behalf which it has the authority to make even if the contract was initially invalid due to a defective execution or because the municipal officer who purported to execute it did not have the requisite authority" (Imburgia v City of New Rochelle, 223 AD2d 44, 48, lv denied 88 NY2d 815).Quote:
Originally Posted by dtwarren
A ratification occurs when both parties disregard the defect in authority or execution and perform their respective obligations required under the contract.
This is the same as if your child filled out a magazine subscription form in your name. Once you received the magazine you kept it and did not reject it. By accepting the benefits of your child's unauthorized act you ratified the subscription and are liable to the magazine publisher.
[QUOTE=dtwarren;467995]True, however, from the perspective of the grantor - quite the opposite. They still want accountability and may do more than frown on a signature of a person not accountable to the Town for said funding.Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostofCharles
[QUOTE=MERL J;468004]One does not equate to the other, just because there is a defect in execution or authority that has been ratified is a separate and distinct question from the issue of adequacy of performance under the agreement. In this case they are separated by years and there is no causal connection between them.Quote:
Originally Posted by dtwarren
I do not see how the administration agreement of the Americorps grant would end such a review. In fact the review should continue, if it has been ended, and result in some type of policy changes that will enact adequate checks and balances that will result in adequate controls over the administration of grants in general. Because regardless of whether or not the town divests itself of Americorps the town may in the future have some other type of grant to administer in which we could use this experience with Americorps as a learning experience to guide us as a town in the future on these issues.Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostofCharles
Exactly, the famous Piotrowski 'review of town departments' was done with great fanfare. No results were ever forthcoming to the public, and in fact, Wally seems incapable of doing his reviews. He sounds like a fish out of water. He is a lawyer, but seems incapable of administering a town, especially one with an Americorp branch. Obama wants to increase Americorp to 250000. There is federal money is available to anyone who knows how to do the paperwork. If the administration of the WS Americorp has been deficient, correct it, or if it is not, acknowledge it.Quote:
Originally Posted by dtwarren
I have a feeling when all is said and done, WNY Americorps won't be getting a penny of the increase the President is going to put in place.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manuel
I think not. It is the most successful Americorp in WNY, and money follows money.Quote:
Originally Posted by snowwhite
Not when you owe the town millions of dollars. It shows that the program is not stable and is poor at controlling its expenses.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manuel
People who are good at accounting are plentiful (bean counters), but people who show a genius at creating something out of thin air are not. Even though the handful who have axes to grind might sound like a multitude, the vast majority of those Americorp has helped are happy and grateful. The success of a business is not measured by the number of unhappy customers, it is measured by the number of happy ones. There is a small army of those.Quote:
Originally Posted by snowwhite
Oh., Manny you are listening to the wrong people. First of all ML did not create Americorps. President Clinton did and it makes me laugh when I look at the web site and see that ML calls himself the "founder". With his ego, he must be able to walk on water! Secondly, you are being brainwashed. The people of WS are not happy with Americorps. We the taxpayers are spending our hard earned money to support Americorps all over the country and not in WS. New Orleans is receiving more aid than we are. The City of Buffalo is receiving more aid than we are. Mississippi is receiving more aid than we are. Look around you- what has Americorps done for this town except to put us in debt to the tune of 3 million dollars! Stop listening to ML and go out into the town and get the true picture of what is really happening!Quote:
Originally Posted by Manuel
Of course Clinton 'created' it, but it is one thing to concept something and another to put it into action. It is one thing to say 'how easy' once something is ongoing, but it is quite another to get it that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by snowwhite
What does it matter where locals work as long as the money is a pass through from the federal government to locals. I am a WS resident, and I am quite happy with the WS/WNY Americorp. If there is some deficiency somewhere, correct it, but to act as if WS is funding Americorp is not true. This is where Wally comes in. He came in with much fanfare, but where's the beef. The vast majority of the Americorp participants are happy with their experience, and that is where the rubber meets the road.Quote:
Secondly, you are being brainwashed. The people of WS are not happy with Americorps. We the taxpayers are spending our hard earned money to support Americorps all over the country and not in WS. New Orleans is receiving more aid than we are. The City of Buffalo is receiving more aid than we are. Mississippi is receiving more aid than we are.
I think you should stop listening to your own press. Graber said Lazarra is on target and that it is a pass through. Why would he lie, and even if it were not, get the federal government to cover it. After all Katrina was a federal government problem, and just as in military contract over spending on new systems, the federal government covers the problem. That is again where Wally comes in, what has he done to finish his review to determine whether there will be true reimbursement and how to get from point A to point B... NOTHING.Quote:
Look around you- what has Americorps done for this town except to put us in debt to the tune of 3 million dollars! Stop listening to ML and go out into the town and get the true picture of what is really happening!
:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:pQuote:
Originally Posted by Manuel
Typical. All fluff and no substance.Quote:
Originally Posted by MERL J
Manny, you have got to be kidding me! I have heard more things come out of VG's mouth that are untrue and exaggerated than almost anyone. He reads a script that was prepared by ML and doesn't even have the correct information when asked a question. Why would you think that he is telling you the truth? When I have more time, I will quote you some of his statements that are far from true, but for now, I'm going to bed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by snowwhite
This isn't about VG, it is about a bone headed supervisor who got into office, has been given the keys to the city and has no excuse not to be able to do a review to determine the status of the grants, and if they will be paid back in the agreed amount of time. Based on the results of that review, form a plan on how to make it happen, if necessary.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manuel
Clearly he is incompetent in following through and comprehending a very difficult issue. He is obviously not up to the task. The voters hitched their wagon to a mule while they thought they were getting something special.
First of all the Supervisor was not given the keys to the city. As has been previously discussed by a bunch of us, including you, the Supervisor has limited power and ultimately refers all votes to the Town Council for final say.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manuel
If there is anyone to blame for the Lazzara's behavior, it is the former Supervisor Paul Clark who enabled him to do all the things he did, and looked the other way when he started doing things the wrong way.
As far as Piotrowski goes, tell me how he is supposed to do anything when Lazzara denies him access to documents that would allow him to do a review. And when Bove and Graber make votes that block him from doing anything, how is he supposed to get anything done?
Town Board Meeting: June 23, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080623.html:
Supervisor Piotrowski stated that he had not reviewed the grants. They were in the AmeriCorps building and he did not have access to them. The AmeriCorps was a private entity and they did not control the grant funds.
Grant Administration Agreement
The Town of West Seneca voted to enter into a Grant Administration Agreement with WNY AmeriCorps on June 23, 2008, yet it was stated on that date that the Town did not have copies of AmeriCorps Grants.
During the July 28, 2008 Town Board Meeting the Town Attorney raised a number of questions regarding the legality of the agreement and specifics of items, yet it was officially entered into on August 5, 2008 without the Town Board discussing any of them.
When asked about the Agreement, no Town Board member could/would answer questions about it and the Town Supervisor stated that he did not agree to it. The Town Attorney stated that he was not present when it was signed.
Town Board Meeting: June 23, 2008: http://www.westseneca.net/bdmin08/mi080623.html:
Motion by Councilman Graber, seconded by Councilwoman Bove, to amend the motion and enter into a grant administration agreement dated June 23, 2008 between the Town of West Seneca and not-for-profit company WNY AmeriCorps Fund Inc., whereby the not-for-profit agrees to assume the town’s obligation under the grants and authorize Councilwoman Bove to execute the agreement on behalf of the town.
This isn't about a Supervisor not doing anything, it is about of group of corrupt people not allowing him to do anything. If and when those people are ever out of the way, you would see a totally different WP.
To me this rings hallow. The Supervisor did not get what he wanted and instead a majority of the board entered into the grant administration. However, this has nothing to do with the review being ended. As an attorney, and former judge, Mr. Piotrowski knows there are ways to compel the information he needs to complete his review. That is if he was truly serious about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostofCharles
There has been allegations of unethical and other behavior and the Town Board has the authority to hear and determine these allegations. In conducting this the Town Board has the authority to issue subpoenas to compel the information.
Is it up to the Board to call a hearing and issue subpoenas or is that something the Supervisor can do on his own?Quote:
Originally Posted by dtwarren
The Supervisor should bring it to the board and publicly if it fails he can say he at least tried, if he doesn't then he should keep quiet about not being able to proceed because in reality he is not serious or is disingenuous.Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostofCharles
There in lies the problems. He has brought a lot of motions to the Board concerning the Youth Bureau and Americorps and has been shot down each time. I fear he is shot down simply out of spite and these denials are designed to discredit him politically, which seems to have worked.Quote:
Originally Posted by dtwarren
I do agree however that he should be taking a stronger stance than he has been and needs to get some of these issues on the record for the public to see and hear. I believe he is serious and not at all disingenuous, he simply came into office with a lot of momentum very focused on getting things done. He has accepted that he is not in the majority with the rest of the Board Members and perhaps thinks raisinging these issues is a waste of time considering he has an entire town to run. But just because he isn't in the majority on the Town Board doesn't mean he isn't in the majority at Town Hall and in the pubic.
He came in with a plurality. Graber was on his side, and he and Meeghan would meet in his office, and then something changed and even Meeghan has voted against him on occasion. One problem is he has poor people skills, and his poor attitude shows at board meetings. Then came out of the blue his endorcement of downsizing the board. That is something a town supervisor should never have gotten involved with. Grass roots effort is one thing, but town supervisor is another, and he burned all his bridges with that one. He is probably hoping Andrew's mother will run for TB, or the referendum helps him.Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostofCharles
Finally, you agree with something.Quote:
I do agree however that he should be taking a stronger stance than he has been and needs to get some of these issues on the record for the public to see and hear.
Excuses, excuses. He sucks at his job, admit it. He will never be a good town administrator, and no he doesn't have an entire town to run, he has department heads to do that. He is not in the majority because he could not keep his majority, or convince others to follow him in other to make a majority.Quote:
I believe he is serious and not at all disingenuous, he simply came into office with a lot of momentum very focused on getting things done. He has accepted that he is not in the majority with the rest of the Board Members and perhaps thinks raisinging these issues is a waste of time considering he has an entire town to run.
Therein lies the question, how popular is WP? Sling enough **** and everyone gets dirty. He is not a natural politician. He is not pleasant and outgoing. He has not produced results, and I think the public would consider a personable alternative.Quote:
But just because he isn't in the majority on the Town Board doesn't mean he isn't in the majority at Town Hall and in the pubic.
First of all, I don't believe he supports downsizing, he supports the people's right to decide on the issue. I agree though that downsizing is something that never should have come up. If we had a 7 person Board, I would say go down to 5, but 3? I would sooner ask for the Board Members to take $10,000 salaries (as one of them did) than simply cut 2 of them.
As far as his popularity, its more the popularity of his ideas and what the people are willing to support, not the man himself.
He can't produce results because he is out voted. If the other Board Members objected to his ideas, thats one thing. Personally, I believe they vote against him simply because they don't like him. They do not have to agree with every issue I do for me to support them. They simply have to act in the best interest of the people and give supporting arguments for why they do what they do. Right now they are doing whatever they want out of self interest and spite, and that is something I do not support.
I believe the supervisor does support the downsizing and I further believe he supports it as a political power play rather than any notion of citizen choice or economics.
If that does turn out to be the case, then shame on him. And shame on anyone that would support it simply with the idea of getting Bove and Graber out of there. We have an election coming up in November that will give the voters the opportunity for that.Quote:
Originally Posted by dtwarren
It is pretty obvious that there is no IF about it, and yes shame on Wallace Piotrowski.Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostofCharles
