Once again this week, Ogdenburg wins the award for most anticipated City Council meeting with promises being made the Art Sciorra situation will be resolved....I can only assume it will be through a settlement on his departure, but there is a chance of his reinstatement.
I know there is criticism of the Knox Street home, but I have never been clear how reflective that has been of his overall performance.
Watertown Daily Times Ogdensburg council hopeful city manager’s situation will be settled Tuesday
4 comments:
You are right in your assumption. Knox St was a debacle but not to the hights it was taken.
The only reason this became so public is the Mayor would not have been re-elected period...
This council was informed about the Knox St property as early as June when they were informed the city planner would be fired. What did they do???
Sciorra has proven without any doubt that the comptroller, planner and city attorney (at that time)did not follow his instructions nor even come close to such. I ask myself why didnt the council become excited about this very obvious insubordination?
I think tuesday will bring about his severance with all the money hes owed but I agree there is a better than average chance he will be re-instated.
This city manager has worked for Bill Nelson since he was hired. He was told day one that Nelson had four votes in his pocket on every vote, and he did. Nelsons daughter benefited by getting a house during this time and his son got hired by the city DPW. In fact Neoson now lives in Lisbon and uses his sons address in order to keep his position a point Im suprised hasnt been challanged..
Mr. Sciorra has a slight personality problem but failure to do his job wasnt a fault of his.
Oh this is a personnel matter so you cannot be clear on it because it is a private matter ;)
Even when it‘s dubious, craving attention seems to be a common thread amongst politicians.
This never had much to do with Sciorra's performance over the last six years. As every politician knows, you need AN ISSUE to win a close election. Nelson picked Sciorra because as city manager he was a lightening rod for the city government. As you know, in those jobs, your friends come and go, but your enemies accumulate. Plus he is an "outsider." So, Nelson and Morley, with a lot of help for The Ogdensburg Journal, were able to use him as a scapegoat to win the election by 11 votes.
The interesting part of this is they screwed up politically by appointing one of their "fellow travelers" (new councilman Ashley) early (before Christmas) to make sure Sciorra was fired by the old council before the ENTIRE new council got to meet in January. They did this because they never had unanimous support from the city council to fire him, so they got the vote they needed by "stacking" the council.
New councillors Stevenson and Hosmer were made to look like they were "second class citizens" because they were not even invited to the meeting! And, of course, the other new councilman (Ashley) now looks like a political hack because he agreed to be appointed early so he could vote with Nelson and Morley. Furthermore, Deputy Mayor Morley stated publicly that he and Nelson WANTED Ashley, and ONLY Ashley appointed before any of this took place. Beautiful!!
You were correct, Mayor Graham, when you stated they should have followed Sciorra's contract in firing him, and not run up a bunch of legal fees. But remember, they had the problem of a split council.
The problem Nelson and Morley have now is if they vote to terminate Sciorra, and pay him, they look bad because it shows they "trumped up" the charges, and wasted our money on attorneys to try to fire him "for cause". The other solution is to vote to keep him on, but then, they would have to somehow hope everyone in The 'Burg forgets about all of the the negative press conferences they gave about Sciorra. Also, the Kangaroo Court first hearing they conducted in November would also have to be forgotten. That was the hearing where they brought back Sciorra's accusers, loaded the meeting with their relatives and friends who shouted down Sciorra (and his supporters) every time they tried to speak. Mayor Nelson had the gravel, and gave his supports plenty of time to act out. It was shameful.
The third solution would be to reprimand him for something (to save face), and reinstate him as city manager.
So WWMGD (What would Mayor Graham do)?
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