I almost fell over the other day when I saw in the Freeman that Alderman Dunn was only willing to meet with Mayor Gallo on "neutral territory", which he decided was the office of Assemblyman Kevin Cahill. This is really not "neutral" ground as Dunn's mentor, Tom Hoffay, is employed by the Assemblyman.
Regardless, it was not whether the location was neutral that offended me. It was the audacity of a first term Alderman stating he would not meet with the Mayor of Kingston in the Mayor's Office or anywhere in City Hall.
When I was an Alderman, I met with Mayor Sottile a few times. If he asked to meet with me, I always went to the Mayor's Office. Mayor Sottile and I did not always get along, but I never disrespected the office of Mayor by refusing to meet him in his office. After all, I may have been an Alderman representing a ward, but he was the Mayor of the entire city.
I have to ask who Alderman Dunn thinks he is telling Mayor Gallo that he would not speak with him in the Mayor's office. Such a statement is disrespectful to the office of Mayor, let alone to Mayor Gallo himself. The Common Council as a whole is equal to the Mayor, but an individual Alderman is not and neither are a group of Aldermen. It is only the Council as a whole.
Moreover, the place for city business to be conducted is City Hall, not an Assemblyman's office. If there is to be discussion of a State matter, than an Assemblyman's office is appropriate. This is city business and should be conducted at City Hall. Frankly, I am surprised the assemblyman would permit the meeting in his office. I do not like Kevin, but I know he is intelligent and politically crafty. What possible political gain is there for him if he gets in the middle of this political tiff?
Alderman Dunn needs to be very careful. Alderman Hoffay is facing almost certain defeat in the 2013 election. (Just ask former Alderman Landi what happened to his seat when he decided to take on Shayne's brother) If Dunn continues with this alliance with Alderman Hoffay, he too will lose his elected seat.
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3 comments:
Enough is enough. Robin Yess and her buddies are going too far.
http://mockingrobin.blogspot.com
Sounds like a Turf War. The Assembly Gang verses the City hall Monarchs. But do not count Hoffay out the make-up of that ward give a challenger a difficult task. the uptown people may hate him but do not live in Ward. Trust me.
Agreed, Mr. Cahill,
While I question the need for a "neutral" meeting spot at all (unless you are trying to pick a fight), I don't understand what the Aldermen don't see: Since they are both elected to represent constituents in the city, City Hall is as much their building as it is the Mayor's.
The part I find most egregious is stated a little further down in your post.
"Moreover, the place for city business to be conducted is City Hall, not an Assemblyman's office... This is city business and should be conducted at City Hall."
There are, if required several meeting rooms in City Hall; the Mayor's office, the meeting room next to the Mayors office, one on each side of the council chambers, and more, I am sure. In fact, the public meeting was eventually held in one of those.
My biggest problem with the whole story is that we, the citizens of Kingston, had no idea what their proposals were, or even are. I think they can bridge that gap by simply putting their proposals on the City of Kingston's website. You can see more on my proposal at my blog,
http://kingstonbarn.wordpress.com/
-Andrew Champ-Doran
Kingston, NY
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