Gadfly sounds like Sal and PDQ lately. Talk about wanting to throw the baby out with the bath water. It was like voting Obama in because McCain wasn't conservative enough. i.e. You don't like the paint in the dining room of your house so you burn your house down. Really smart.
Please Joe...stop with the antics and political games. Anyone who has followed this issue for any length of time knows that this squad has been given numerous chances to become stable and solvent. Despite all the changes on their board and staff, nothing has changed. They still drop alarming numbers of calls, they are not equipped for advanced life support or qualified to administer it, and their financials go without saying. Anyone who has seen their audits would know this - they are horrendous. If they were a private business, they would have been out of business a long time ago. And don't bother with that stale "Mohawk is a for-profit business" argument. To listen to some of the comments at the meetings about this subject, you would think it was a federal crime to make money! The reason they are a well established, profitable business is precisely because they are a well managed business...it just so happens that their business is emergency medical services and transport. It's high time for taxpayers to stop bailing them out to no avail. The Mohawk option is a no brainer: Property on the tax roll, employer, revenue as opposed to expenditure, response to all calls within national standards for response times. Period.
Quoted from GrahamBonnet: Gadfly sounds like Sal and PDQ lately. Talk about wanting to throw the baby out with the bath water. It was like voting Obama in because McCain wasn't conservative enough. i.e. You don't like the paint in the dining room of your house so you burn your house down. Really smart.
GB,
At the risk of seeming like I'm choosing sides, I believe that our elected leaders must sometimes govern based on conviction to beliefs and ideoology and not compromise on position to reach an accord.
I believe that a few do, maybe a few more should- the other 13 out of the 15 that serve with Surhada. Or you can vote in the liberals and I am sure they will do better with the tax dollars. As a matter of fact, I think you should vote all liberals in and when they double spending on crap, go find out how many Joe Surhadas and Angelo Santabarbaras want to run then, after the so-called conservatives have stabbed the other ones you had in the back.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
I believe that a few do, maybe a few more should- the other 13 out of the 15 that serve with Surhada. Or you can vote in the liberals and I am sure they will do better with the tax dollars. As a matter of fact, I think you should vote all liberals in and when they double spending on crap, go find out how many Joe Surhadas and Angelo Santabarbaras want to run then, after the so-called conservatives have stabbed the other ones you had in the back.
Joe, will you please stop talking in the third person? And what does the county have to do with the proposed Rotterdam tax district, other than the fact that you are in your twilight there and onto to supporting an unnecessary tax?
every one knows that the ambulance should be FREE and Surahrah is trying to charge people through the town and stop the men from unionizing by not letting them who ride the ambulance be town workers which in my mind SUCKS over here. Thes peoiple put the lives on the line like the boys in blue so what does big mouth do - he goes against the union men and wants them to stay seperated from the people I know who are in the know. He is against the tax - payer he is against the ambulance drivers and nurses and against the teachers who take care of our kids to. Who is he for THE RICHEST OF ALL THE RICH thank you Gad fly for giving him what he deserves over here a big kick in the a** that streunce
Some people just don't get that a public official or any other human being will not agree with you 100% of the time. I imagine that it would be frustrating and almost comical to believe that some people who might agree with you 90% of the time will make a huge deal out of the fact that they can't get someone to go the other 10%. I know in my own life, I can't even get my mother to agree with me 100% of the time, so I don't know why you would expect Joe S or Angelo S or Steve T or anyone else in the universe to always agree with you and go down the line on each and every issue. That reminds me of the guy who never has a girlfriend because he is waiting for the combination of the perfect woman to come into his life- the combination of Miss America, the smartest woman alive, and the girl next door. It aint' never gonna' happen.
NOT TO BE OFF TOPIC-BUT- As I break the numbers down, assisting the REMS has a cost of 3 cents per day per average homeowner in town. If that makes for more ambulance service considering that Mohawk backs up the calls and NO ONE EVER HAS TO EVER WORRY ABOUT GETTING AN AMBULANCE IN ROTTERDAM, then I think most officials would want to keep it alive. Mohawk is a fine private sector operation who most people respect, I would think anyone who knows anything would not have a problem with them over-all, or if they made a profit from their business as they are entitled. However contracting with REMS and forming a taxing district are 2 big distinct things and one requires a large jump to the other.
EVEN JOHN MERTZ supported ASSISTING and CONTRACTING WITH THEM to see to their continuance. As to forming a taxing district and a union, I am not so sure that making them a MUNICIPAL OPERATION WOULD BE A GOOD THING. They are an independent hometown not for profit at this point and trying to rebuild and stabilize that operation has been a priority of the new management and assisting in that goal is the priority of the current administration. I have not heard ONE official say they want them to be part of a municipal entity or organize as municipal workers. NOT ONE, so as to automatically accusing Joe S, or anyone else of wanting that (in exchange for 3rd party support or otherwise) is %100 false, and a wrong assumption, Gadfly.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
I have not heard ONE official say they want them to be part of a municipal entity or organize as municipal workers.
Not yet!!! Give em' time!
And AGAIN.....3cents per day or not....Private business should be encouraged. We, as taxpayers are 'already' bailing out REMS. Would we do that for Mohawk if they mis-managed their business/funds or to try to help them get off the ground, if you will? Of course not! Why are we doing that now?
Just doesn't make any sense at all.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Because if REMS dissolves, it would cost millions to rebuild, if at all, and THEN it would be a municipal force. That would leave us with ONE ambulance provider who can then actually charge WHATEVER they wanted since there would be no one left to turn to. I believe that the fine folks who run that operation today would never do that to the taxpayers of the town. but have you ever see a business change hands? Have you seen Bellvue Builders sell out to Stock? Have you ever seen a company get bought out and suddenly become a little less "consumer-friendly?" As consumers of an ambulance service, Rotterdam taxpayers need options and the availability to keep it competitive. Today Mohawk offers to do it for a reasonable price. They want our business, but when REMS fails, there is no longer anyone for them to outbid, is there?
If there were three ambulance firms out there, competing, then this wouldn't be an issue, would it?
Check your National Grid bill lately? Service? There isn't any. How would you like to switch to another outfit? OOOPS! They have a monopoly, sorry.
I wish Renee were still on this board, she might offer some guidance, about her experience of what happens when an ambulance firm is the only game in town, and how hard it would be to re-establish one if it fails.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Some people just don't get that a public official or any other human being will not agree with you 100% of the time. I imagine that it would be frustrating and almost comical to believe that some people who might agree with you 90% of the time will make a huge deal out of the fact that they can't get someone to go the other 10%.
I don't recall disagreeing with you so much over the years Joe...and on the rare occasion that has happened, I have respectfully agreed to disagree. This is not about one person disagreeing with you on this matter either. If these boards are any indication of what the town residents at large would prefer, given the same information in terms of options available to them, which the Town Board has not done, I think they would tend to agree that this tax is unnecesary...which begs the question: Why don't you put it on the NOVEMBER ballots and find out? And for the record, I'm quite familiar with the fact that everyone cannot agree, even on that which should be obvious - I am a member of the Schenectady County Conservative Party - where conservative members of the party can never sem to agree with the endorsements of liberal candidates supported by the "leadership".
NOT TO BE OFF TOPIC-BUT- As I break the numbers down, assisting the REMS has a cost of 3 cents per day per average homeowner in town. If that makes for more ambulance service considering that Mohawk backs up the calls and NO ONE EVER HAS TO EVER WORRY ABOUT GETTING AN AMBULANCE IN ROTTERDAM, then I think most officials would want to keep it alive. Mohawk is a fine private sector operation who most people respect, I would think anyone who knows anything would not have a problem with them over-all, or if they made a profit from their business as they are entitled. However contracting with REMS and forming a taxing district are 2 big distinct things and one requires a large jump to the other.
Really Joe? $10.95 per year? That's funny because the cost was estimated at $17.00 per year, per household, 8 YEARS AGO. That estimate went to $25 per year last summer, and the latest estimate is closer to $30.00 per year. And all of this is before the district is even implemented. But you are right about two things here - OFFICIALS want to keep this financially dysfunctional entity alive. Again, why don't you ask the ENTIRE electorate who elects these officials? And don't forget to tell them, among other advantages, that Mohawk has all the resources we need. They don't need back up, and they won't drop half their emergency calls like the current squad. Second, there is a TREMENDOUS difference between between subsidizing REMS through the Town's budget process, and giving them taxing authority: The squad would be accountable to the Town Board and residents under the former, and would be given free reign with public money, forever, under the latter. But again, NEITHER IS NECESSARY.
EVEN JOHN MERTZ supported ASSISTING and CONTRACTING WITH THEM to see to their continuance.
John Mertz supported the latest, and preferably temporary, arrangement based on his long held position that if this were so necessary, it would be subsidized through the town budget process. This way there is at least some transparency, accountability and conditions can be set that must be met. The tax district eliminates all of that.
As to forming a taxing district and a union, I am not so sure that making them a MUNICIPAL OPERATION WOULD BE A GOOD THING. They are an independent hometown not for profit at this point and trying to rebuild and stabilize that operation has been a priority of the new management and assisting in that goal is the priority of the current administration.
Taxes and unions are never good things Joe, especially when they are unnecessary...that's the whole point here. They are indeed for profit, which is necessary to meet their payroll. A tax district would allow them to give themselves raises as they see fit, among other rising costs in EMS industry. And why should residents pay a tax for a service that clearly cannot guarantee responses, only to turn around and pay a private ambulance anyway?
I have not heard ONE official say they want them to be part of a municipal entity or organize as municipal workers. NOT ONE, so as to automatically accusing Joe S, or anyone else of wanting that (in exchange for 3rd party support or otherwise) is %100 false, and a wrong assumption, Gadfly.
Neither have we...that's part of the problem. We'll see about those endorsements. And I see you continue to talk about yourself in the third person Joe. Should we start calling you "Sybil"?????
LOVE the obscure reference to Sybil, Gadfly! We get it...you think GB is Suhrada, because he's one of the few Repub supporters on here...move on! lol
Few Republican supporters? Seems to me Republican supporters are the majority on these boards. And I don't think GB is Joe Suhrada because he supports Republicans...Joe failed to mask his usual language patterns, easily recognized style, etc. Move on? To what? His other personalities? I'll just refer to him by his real name, if you don't mind - not that I care if you do. If Joe wants to run for the Town Board and supports this tax, he should have the guts to defend it as himself - not some "unknown" trying to anonymously persuade others to agree with him, to lessen the blow before he is forced to take a position publicly...unless he plans to run as "Graham Bonnet".
Who really is this man then? Is this Surhad? The district attorny should investigate this here if he is posing as someone else on this place and is a public elected official over here.
As far as I know, Graham Bonnet is Graham Bonnet and Joe S is Joe S. I think you are mistaken, Gadfly. In any event, He doesn't seem to disagree with you about a taxing district or unionization, as far as I know. But we should wait until we hear HIM say it, as well as the other GOPPERS in elected office. Criticizing them preemptively isn't really fair, if you don't know or aren't sure where they stand. By the way, anyone want to contract out your utilities with anyone other than National Grid? I asked earlier. Didn't really get the response on that.
If you think that once the REMS is gone, Mohawk (under any new incarnation or owners) will remain the best and cheapest option, then you must not have any experience with monopolies. I like Mohawk very much and I like the Kingsway Arms VERY much from experiences I have had there. The McPartlons are good people. But that does not mean keeping the local squad viable as they come out of their troubled period is not a good plan- IN THE ABSENCE of a 'taxing district.' That is MY OPINION.
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
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