I see at the council meeting they talked, and removed from the agenda, the assessor's pay. It's Erikson said "if we don't pay enough" and reference to poor quality employee.
Ha, so the new assessor could potentially get higher pay, but what does the assessor do? The STAR application process has been removed from the municpal assessors.
The assessor is not reassessing properties anyway, no plans whatsoever in the foreseeable future to do a citywide reassessment. THe assessment office and McC's cronies on the BAR reject all requests for reductions.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
I don't think people who have been employed for awhile realize what is happening with salaries in this country. The taxpayers who foot the bill for this aren't good people? I agree, to a point, about salaries and quality, but one of the deterrents here is that only people like McCheese and Leesa who make ridiculous amountsof money compared to what they could get in the private sector, can afford to pay the taxes here. Someone moving in from elsewhere will see a savings on purchasing the house, but someone slightly skilled with numbers, as an assessor has to be, will realize that down the road she might not be able to get out from under that "bargain" house if she needs to. When you have a candidate for police chief publicly state that the schools the Schenectady taxpayers provide are not good enough for HIS child, and then you give him the job anyway, along with some cockamamie scheme that he will sleep at Mommy's house, that is hurting the city and hurting our chances of getting anyone in here at a a reasonable salary. McCheese has lost control of the city, plain and simple. What little control he had, that is.
I was speaking to someone a little while ago who told me there have been assessors without college degrees. There is no special license or course of study for that job, even if a city asks for a bachelors degree. So I'm thinking that this "enough pay to get someone good" might really be more like "the amount of pay the person we picked wants". If the person doesn't want to pay the high taxes to live here, let them rent one of those "high end" instant tenements on Union Street, if they want the job. They could walk to work.
I was speaking to someone a little while ago who told me there have been assessors without college degrees. There is no special license or course of study for that job, even if a city asks for a bachelors degree. So I'm thinking that this "enough pay to get someone good" might really be more like "the amount of pay the person we picked wants". If the person doesn't want to pay the high taxes to live here, let them rent one of those "high end" instant tenements on Union Street, if they want the job. They could walk to work.
Within New York State per state law (does McCheese's proposed person meet the qualifications?, by the way, I don't think his girl Mary Mary would qualify wither):
Quoted Text
Qualifications: Candidates for Assessor
Applicants must meet minimum qualification standards in order to be eligible for the Candidate for Assessor program. Candidates for Assessor are individuals seeking to become eligible for appointment to the office of Sole Assessor. The training and qualification requirements for Candidates for Assessor are defined in 20 NYCRR 8188 (§8188-3).
An Application for Qualifications Review (RP-3006) must be submitted to and approved by Educational Services.
Minimum Qualification Standards for Candidates for Assessor
20 NYCRR 8188 (§8188-3.1):
A person who seeks to become a State certified candidate for assessor must satisfy the following minimum qualification standards:
(a) (1) graduation from high school, or possession of an accredited high school equivalency diploma; and (2) one year of satisfactory full-time paid experience of the kind described in section 8188-2.2(a)(1)(ii) of this Part; or (b) (1) graduation from an accredited two-year or four-year college; and (2) six months of satisfactory full-time paid experience of the kind described in section 8188-2.2(a)(1)(ii) of this Part.
§ 8188-2.2(a)(1)(ii) ........satisfactory full-time paid experience in an occupation involving the valuation of real property, such as assessor, appraiser, valuation data manager, real property appraisal aide or the like. Such experience shall be deemed satisfactory if it is demonstrated that the experience primarily was gained in the performance of one or more of the following tasks: collection and recording of property inventory data, preparation of comparable sales analysis reports, preparation of signed valuation or appraisal estimates or reports using cost, income or market data approaches to value. Mere listing of real property for potential sale, or preparation of asking prices for real estate for potential sale, using multiple listing reports or other published asking prices is not qualifying experience.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Why, in a City millions of dollars in debt, would a City Council pay an assessor $20,000 + the going rate? It's one, of many, reasons why the City taxes are through the roof!!
The City has to be run like a business...looking at the bottom line, the savings, the fiscally prudent option.
Right now, the City is run like a spoiled rotten child..no expense is spared. It's bad business.
Okay, so you have two have a GED at least and two years at SCC. We don't pay enough to get that? Cripes! Notice that heartburnkid was having trouble finding employment that paid anything with his batchelor's degree, but our city allegedly "can't get anybody good". Give hbk the job, he'll probably be glad to have it. I wonder where people are getting that six months experience? Here's the problem - if you don't pay people more than they could ever get in private industry, you end up with people who aren't concerned with rocking the boat, like Mr. Cuthbert. An intelligent man who isn't afraid to question things. What did he have to lose? His job? An intelligent dedicated person like that can get work elsewhere. It's your overpaid incompetents who go along to get along.
They had the guy picked out for a long time. I am surprised they didn't mention his DNA as a qualification.
"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."
The supposed issue of what other places pay for assessor as compared to what McC wants to pay an UNQUALIFIED person will be interesting.
Will the mayor and/or DEM council members list the salaries of all the assessors in the area to the taxpayers of the city when they state that they want to pay McC's crony the salary that's proposed?
It's not hard to get the salaries without a FOIL. If either or both of us has time, we'll get numbers posted here.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
An assessor is not an "elite" career any more.....the leaders have thrown what used to be a position with dignity and turned into a "circus"....
Deputy Assesor for county.....a patronage and knows nothing about the LAW....that is what is required to be certified and recognized by the State.
So, we are getting more and more unqualified people for any job in the system of government.....and if you are not related...."NOTTA"
Quality, dignity, leadership ability, is gone.....
because the public has access to info on the web....the assessor was a whitewash....now we have a tax advocate appointed position that is the new white washer......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Local News SCHENECTADY : Mayor’s assessor choice doesn’t qualify McCarthy to work around state law BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter The man the mayor wants as the next city assessor does not have the six months’ experience required to become an assessor under state law. Ed Waterfield said he has never performed the duties of an assessor, including appraisal work and analyzing sales to determine market values. The state requires candidates for sole assessor have at least six months of paid experience, but Mayor Gary Mc-Carthy said Waterfield could get that experience simply by being appointed to the position. He’s allowed to pick anyone he wants, regardless of qualifications, for a six-month term, he said. By that point, Waterfield would have the experience to qualify for the job. City Councilman Vince Riggi was stunned to hear Waterfield didn’t meet the requirements. “Why don’t we hire an assessor?” he said, “one that’s already had the training needed. The simple solution is hire someone who’s qualifi ed.” But McCarthy said he wanted Waterfield. “I don’t mind going out on a limb for Ed Waterfield,” he said. “He’s the best one for the job.” He said Waterfield would be willing to change city assessments in response to house sales instead of defending the city’s rationale for the assessment. In some cases, houses in the city now sell for much less than their assessment. “You can’t just tell people, ‘This is the assessment, live with it,’ ” Mc-Carthy said. “If you have a house assessed at $100,000 and you buy it for $92,000, you might be able to explain the $100,000. But the $92,000 might be the proper number to put it at because of the sale. Have some common sense.” He added he thought Waterfi eld would have the courage to apologize and change the assessments in those cases. “I want somebody with common sense. The problem is, people have done things without common sense, with a level of arrogance and isolation,” he said. “You have to be able to say, ‘You know what? The city made a mistake.’ ” But Riggi said changing assessments after a sale would be a bigger mistake. “Then what do we do with the adjoining properties?” he asked. “If somebody buys a house across the street from me [and gets their assessment reduced], then it’s not fair to me. In my opinion, that’s not the way to do it.” Those owners could use that house sale as an argument for an assessment reduction at the annual Grievance Day, where owners can argue for lower assessments. But Riggi said it wouldn’t be fair. He called it a “piecemeal” reassessment. “We obviously need a citywide reassessment,” he said. “It’s skewed already. The people who haven’t grieved are subsidizing everyone else.” Riggi said he would rather have an experienced assessor come in to handle Schenectady’s complex situation. But Council President Margaret King said she wasn’t concerned by Waterfield’s lack of experience. “I’m fine with it,” she said. “I know he’s been a really good employee for the city.” Waterfield is the supervisor of the Bureau of Receipts. In that role, he handles irate taxpayers who must pay interest and other fees. McCarthy said that experience would serve him well in the Assessment Department, where he would have to handle angry property owners. King said she thought that trait was important. “He’s just a good person,” she said. “I’m just a real believer in promotion from within whenever we can do it.” A total of 12 people applied to become the city’s next assessor. Four had experience as assessors, but none of those candidates lived in Schenectady. In the applications, one told the city he would take the job for $85,000 — unless he had to move to Schenectady, at which point he would require a salary of $105,000. McCarthy refused to extend Assessor Tina Dimitriadis’ contract because she refused to move into the city. He chose Waterfi eld partly because he lives in the city.
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