Heard it was a hell of a meeting tonight and that riggi stole the night! BRAVO!!!

Blasted missed it. What happened?

3-3 tie. Not enough council support for anyone to take the open seat. Vince Riggi voted for Marion Porterfield and the crowd went wild.

Quoted from bumblethru

Heard it was a hell of a meeting tonight and that riggi stole the night! BRAVO!!!

ABsolutely.   Caught some of it, but was really watching the race.

Didn't you love it when he was talking about how the accident stuff was tried to be kept hush hush in executive session.    

Yes, Riggi IS the ONE council member who TRULY represents the residents and taxpayers and NOT the well-heeled and politically connected downtown!

I did like his analogy of the number of votes thing used to choose the candidate for a vacancy too.   That was excellent.

Quoted Text

Council seat remains vacant after tie vote
Schenectady lawmakers to leave seat open rest of year; revote not likely
By Lauren Stanforth
Published 10:32 p.m., Monday, February 27, 2012


SCHENECTADY – Mayor Gary McCarthy's open seat on City Council will remain vacant, after a lively meeting Monday night in which perspective candidates John Mootooveren and Marion Porterfield split the vote.

Supporters of Porterfield, a Weed and Seed coordinator, packed the meeting, where it was assumed the council would narrowly pick failed November candidate Mootooveren for McCarthy's seat.

But after City Council president Denise Brucker ignored the city attorney's opinion Monday night that she didn't have the necessary four votes to put Mootooveren through, independent council member Vincent Riggi decided at the last minute not to abstain from the vote and supported Porterfield – causing a thundering round of applause and cheering from her supporters.

"I didn't just fall off the turnip truck you know," Riggi said, the audience's voices rising as he spoke before his vote. "This stinks and this is why I'm on city council. I told John and Marion I'd stay out of it. But I'm going to put my vote in for Marion."

Brucker, Carl Erikson and Leesa Perazzo voted for Mootooveren, and Peggy King, Barbara Blanchard declared their expected support for Porterfield. The seat will remain vacant for the rest of the year, as it doesn't appear the council wants to pick up the issue again.

Such a public division is a rare one among the typically united Democratic City Council. Brucker had made clear she thought her running mate, an accountant by day and the former head of the Guyanese American Association of Schenectady, should be on the council – despite a previous promise from the city Democratic committee that Porterfield would get the seat if McCarthy won the mayoral contest........................>>>>.................>>>>...................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/loca.....14.php#ixzz1nfuimYqG

Quoted from mikechristine1

Yes, Riggi IS the ONE council member who TRULY represents the residents and taxpayers and NOT the well-heeled and politically connected downtown! I did like his analogy of the number of votes thing used to choose the candidate for a vacancy too.   That was excellent.

A funny thing happened on the way to John's coronation. Hamilton Hill got a big wake up call last night. Vince Riggi and Barbara Blanchard are the only ones that care about the neighborhoods and quality of life issues. Riggi hits one grand slam after another.

So, Riggi's presence IS quite a thorn in the side of the dumbed-down political standard quo.....

Really don't believe that McCarthy ever dreamed that Vince could have such power...questioning spending, not voting for someone because McCarthy told him too ...

When leaders lead, people follow. No one's following McCarthy anymore.

Guess it's team Riggi all the way!!!!!

Quoted from rachel72

So, Riggi's presence IS quite a thorn in the side of the dumbed-down political standard quo.....

Really don't believe that McCarthy ever dreamed that Vince could have such power...questioning spending, not voting for someone because McCarthy told him too ...

When leaders lead, people follow. No one's following McCarthy anymore.

Guess it's team Riggi all the way!!!!!

Hamilton Hll will improve more in the next 2 years than it did in 16 years under Joe Allen.  The fact is that this whole fiasco energized the people on the Hill.   I think if the garbage starts to get picked up, momentum could be gained and there might be some improvement. Mootooroven and Porterfield can still make a difference without being on the Council.  Being on the Council was more important before Riggi was elected due to all the closed door sessions.  A lot less will be hidden from now on.    Nice to see City Hall packed for the meetings.  

Riggi for Mayor.

Kudos to Riggi AND to Roger Hull and the entire Alliance party and supporters for stepping up to the plate.
Riggi is just the beginning......Roger Hull and the Alliance party will continue to pick up steam.

It is encouraging to see how more folks are finally attending the city council meeting. Finally they are being heard.....by Riggi!!!

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Dems put off council choice, force primary
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.

    The Democratic City Committee has deadlocked on an endorsement for this year’s City Council race.
    They couldn’t choose between Marion Porterfield and John Mootooveren, who were also the subject of a deadlocked vote last week when the City Council tried to appoint one of them to the vacant council seat.
    The Schenectady City Democratic Committee met to endorse one of the candidates for the November election, for which there is just one seat open. But they could not choose between the two.
    “They were deadlocked with significant support,” Chairman Richard Naylor said.
    Rather than keep voting until someone budged, they agreed to hold an open primary — likely on June 26 — and let the voters choose.
    The committee had supported Mootooveren over Porterfi eld last year, when he narrowly won the endorsement to run for council. In the November election, he lost by 39 votes.
    Since then, Porterfield has mustered many black supporters from the Hamilton Hill neighborhood, where she lives. Mootooveren gathered Guyanese supporters from his neighborhood, Mont Pleasant.
    Both neighborhoods have areas of blight, poverty and violent crime. Some City Council members said they were uncomfortable with the fact that the campaigns between the two seemed to be pitting the neighborhoods against each other.
    The campaigns also focused on the two candidates’ ethnicity, because council members said they wanted a minority on the council. Both candidates are minorities: Porterfield is black, while Mootooveren is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Guyana.
    The juxtaposition led to comments from some supporters as to whether an African-American could represent the growing immigrant population, and whether a Guyanese-American could represent African-Americans.
    In the end, Naylor said, the entire issue was too hot to handle.
    “We value and respect the cultural diversity of both groups,” he said. “This way, the people can decide.”
    The primary will likely be far earlier than normal, thanks to a court decision moving the date so that soldiers overseas can get the November election’s absentee ballots in time.
    Still unknown is whether the eventual Democratic nominee will have anyone to run against in November. Alliance Party founder Roger Hull said his party would endorse someone for the City Council seat, but no announcement has been made yet.

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01104&AppName=1

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE FEB 21 MTG........YOU WILL GET ALL YOUR ANSWERS......

ON CHANNEL 18.....AT ALL DIFFERENT TIMES....

IT'S AN EYEOPENER...


AND RIGGI AT THE END OF THE MEETING GIVES HIS OPINION......HE WILL PREVAIL......

Quoted Text

Voters, not pols, should pick new council member

I sincerely hope the Schenectady City Council takes the suggestion proposed in your March 4 editorial [“Don’t fi ll vacant Schenectady council seat”] to heart.
Leave the seat vacant until the November election and let the voters decide. Now there’s a novel thought.

TRICIA MARGAS
Schenectady

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00907&AppName=1

Vince Riggi outsmarted all the machine stooges. Can you imagine if 3 more Alliance folks take seats? They might actually enforce the residency laws and have more than $75,000 in City reserves.

Quoted Text

Mootooveren might be out for Schenectady council run
March 20, 2012 at 4:14 pm by Lauren Stanforth, Staff writer

Schenectady City Democratic chairman Dick Naylor says that John Mootooveren, who had vowed to run in a primary for City Council after not getting enough votes to be appointed to the body, is weighing dropping out of the race. Mootooveren is expected to attend a short city Dems meeting Tuesday night to tell them his plans. He couldn’t be immediately reached for comment..................>>>>..............>>>>..................http://blog.timesunion.com/localpolitics/11274/mootooveren-might-be-out-for-schenectady-council-run/