As you wrote about the appearance of conflict. My ADHD ran ahead and I recall the adage "Good ole boys "... If it smells like shit and looks like it's probably shit.
You note how your wife had applied for a county job and had been reminded of party affiliation in order to have a better shot at a job....I recall the same comment being made to a class myself was in in High School. Social Studies... Referenced getting a state job after high school here in NY.
A lifted comment in part made by Jesus of Nazereth...Let your yes be yes and your no be no...much less complicated this way. Then when the devils in the details he's the guiding force. So the new normal is just that. Trump is moral free politics. All for him
What I witnessed Monday evening at the Queensbury Town Board meeting was a disgrace. It was partisan politics at its worst. The fact remains that conflicts of interest still remain. Obviously the appearance of in propriety does not phase the Board in the least.
The display we witnessed was an example of just that. It not only makes me shake my head but makes me want to scream.
Years ago and friend of mine applied for a job in corrections - somehow he ended up having to speak with Betty Little - who straight out asked him his party affiliation was. He replied Republican and she said that would be helpful to him.
As I well know, the good old boys run the show. I've had my own run ins.
I worked many years at the HoJos on Aviation Road - the stories I can tell about the WC officials and the Double Bubble Lounge!
But I've got even BETTER stories of the former Queensbury PD, which morphed into the WCSD.
I could literally write a book about the alcohol/drugs/sex that were rampant in the 80s.
And who owned the HoJo’s? Was it a very nice guy who just happened to end up owning a number of properties that just happened to be situated at the locations that would become exits on the Northway? Pretty lucky coincidences! Probably just a coincidence that the Republicans and the cops all hung out at his restaurant.
Mr. Carl DeSantis was ALWAYS good to me. And yes, very Republican. But yes, I hadn't thought of the locations right off of the exits - all of them except the one in SGF.
Voting events were held here ,(election results), our entire back room had charts on the wall, phones were moved around etc. This was YEARS ago.
The corruption I witnessed with my own eyes as far as WCSD was wild. I didn't hang out there although I did visit the Double Bubble myself back in the day. Was the place the teachers, politicians, lawyers and cops went.
It is nice to see that all the powerful White Privilege people say: we aren't racist.
As for the betty littles of the world.. I have NO doubt when you ask pos_tfnKKK for help (as I have in the past), they don't ask your party... they just look it up and ignore you (if you are the wrong party)
I don't know if one was a 'real America' in the day that 'your word' meant something. That you could really make an agreement with a handshake.
I am sure some people valued their honesty or integrity.. But it is clear with republicans.. that sentiment* is defined by another saying: 'Doesn't hold water.'
Once you 'say' you are religious... and are lying about that.....you aren't just as immoral, you are dishonest. No one would take hmpy trmpedo (or pos_tfnKKK) at his word. The best I hear... "You can't take him seriously, he is joking."
“…the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.
For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I would hope, after Saturday's "Hands Off" that people's outraged at republicans - > that they (gQpeds) would have learned.. or seen the numbers of people who have had enough evil.
- - - > And have seen enough.
That republicans in power would stop spinning their moral compass into (as the joke goes) a window fan.
But when you have gQpeds Republicans believing in lies, more than they are willing to accept facts.... we have to accept the two realities.
1) Republicans fall into two categories = a) the liars; and b) those who believe the lies.
2) and like any cult, need to be deprogrammed
May is coming, it is Mental Health awareness month. Time to find ways to get the gQpedos some help.. Help the republican party unscramble their brains.
Here is the crux of the problem: “ Sadly, the bigger problem is that in recent years no one else wants to even run for a Town Board seat.”
technically it should say “almost nobody,” but once in a while someone new decides or is convinced to give it a go. And then they find out how disgusting the process and the institution is.
The root of the problem is much deeper. The supervisor system of government is flawed - purposely. First, Queensbury, where the Supervisor is too big of a job to be an elected position as it is currently structured. Many years ago there was a town comptroller who held the Supervisor in check. I believe the last one was Henry Hesse, and I think he was booted by Dan Stec. It was a long time ago so I may be misremembering the details, but the problem is that running Queensbury is too big a job for any old citizen to run for the office without having a professional manager in place to follow up on details.
But then one more step of complexity, the county supervisors system is an inherent conflict of interest.
Being Queensbury supervisor is a full time job, but then the supervisor election also comes with a second job, a part time job as county supervisor. 2 jobs, 2 paychecks, 1 election, 1 person. There are conflicts between the interests of the county and the individual towns ALL THE TIME. Then toss in the reality that the Republican Party does much of the decision making behind closed doors, adding another level of conflict. The residents of the county are not well served by this form of government, but it still exists because unlike Queensbury (and GF) the rest of the county is (with the exception of Horicon) losing population, and all are small or even smaller towns.
So a town like Stony Creek or Hague, each with less than 800 residents, has a paid supervisor. Those towns are really too small to pay a reasonable salary for the responsiblitity of the position BUT the election comes with an additional salary from a job as county supervisor. Interestingly, before the last election some of those supervisors touted the fact that their town supervisor salary remained low — but then they voted themselves a pay-raise at the county. And where does most of the local funding for county government come from? The bulk of it comes from sales and property tax in Queensbury and Glens Falls.
Unfortunately, Warren County is not the outlier. If you look across NY-21, you will find similar appearances of conflict across each of the 15 counties. And in at least one instance, the conflict is on the Democrat side. Other than that one instance, the Republicans have the overwhelming control of the town and county seats, while making no secret of their party affiliations and loyalties.
I suspect I am not the only Town of Queensbury resident who gets busy with “life stuff” and assumes things at the local level are going along as they should. Thank you for pointing things out for us, Ken. As a long time Post Star subscriber, I always found your editorials thought-provoking. We are fortunate that you are still willing to report on injustices or the “appearance” of same, which the current Town Board situation seems to be.
Both Will Doolittle and I see the lack of editorial comment and commentary as a real problem for the community. Nobody is pointing out the issues we all need to pay attention to and debate. That's why we continue to do what we do.
Wish there were (was?) an edit option for our comments. I now notice I omitted the word “resident” and I hate that I can’t go back and fix it! Thank you, and thank Will!
Actually, if you click on the three buttons to the right I believe you can edit your comments. Also, it appears the word "resident" is in your comment.
From my experience with a career-coaching client who lives in a township in Eastern MI, your point about Town Board members not seeing themselves as needing to participate in moral boundaries is correct and pervasive.
She has run in the last 3 races for Town Board as a Democrat in a very red suburb of Detroit and has served as president of her sorority chapter for 3 decades so she knows Robert’s Rules of Order well. The Board members regularly don’t bother with protocol. One of them belittles and bullies attending citizens from the dais. Decisions are made from a class bias leaving punitive repercussions for people with less means than the Board members. And more. What is fascinating is that they do it all on video tape which is then archived on YouTube. I’ve been watching these meetings for 6 years and it is astonishing. There is no mechanism for reporting these recorded incidents for review because they haven’t broken the law. (Although a campaign finance violation claim is still in process, so we’ll see.) Meetings are not well-enough (50ish out of 45K residents) attended or videos viewed (less than 200 each) for the Board Members to feel any pressure and Republicans have won there for decades.
I am a firm believer that if local people organized in groups of 12 to plan how they could, between them, have one of them at each Town, School, Zoning and Planning Board meeting and then update each other on the happenings, the impact to community stewardship would be palpable. Regular attendees seem to be easily dismissed in the minds of boards, but if a rotating 12th of the population showed up at every meeting, dismissing any of them would be hard to accomplish. People care more about appearances when they are being watched on a large scale. I hope someone with skills I don’t have takes this idea and spreads it like pollen.
All great points, plus I regularly tell people that going to the Town Board meeting can be far more entertaining - and shocking - then any reality TV you are currently tuned to on TV.
I think your problem is that you view the best interests of the party and the best interests of the public as being different. Both parties want what is in the best interests of the pubic but may disagree as to what that is and how to achieve it. And although you (and I) may not always like it, political patronage has always been part of our stem of government since the advent of political parties.
If you read carefully, Mr. Tingley has repeatedly said the “appearance” of a conflict of interest is the root of the problem. Even if Mr. McNulty was as pure as the driven snow and had nothing but love and goodness in his heart towards every single resident of Queensbury, holding the two positions gives rise to the APPEARANCE of a conflict, which goes against the code of ethics. If he really truly had the best interests of the public at heart, which is his first responsibility as an elected official, he would resign the political position.
That he hasn’t, even though the violation of the code of ethics has been pointed out to him, is pretty much proof that a conflict actually does exist because whatever his reason, he is unwilling to let go of the political power he has as party chairman. Every move he makes is tainted by the fact that one cannot be sure of his motivation.
At the very least, the board should address the ethics policy and change it to allow a leadership in a political party. At least then, they would be in compliance. But I suspect, having that debate might be a losing proposition with the public.
I don't think political patronage of town jobs should is in the best interest of the public. I don't see the conflict being about issues, but about the politics. It has always been an embarrassment to the Warren County Republicans that the largest town in the county has a Democrat as its leader. Why? The town runs well and I don't think many people would criticize Strough for the job he has done.
The biggest loser seemed to be the poor man who applied for the job as cemetery commissioner. The town board could have pulled the resolution up until and even during the meeting as two board members pulled a resolution at a meeting a couple of weeks ago but that was the whole point of not pulling the resolution humiliation and chaos. Mission accomplished fellas.
It's a good point. If there was an objection to the quality of the candidate or the process, the resolution could have been pulled and spared the candidate the embarrassment. They owe Mark DeSimone an apology.
Ken, I am so grateful for your staunchness, for your doggedness on this ethics issue and your presence at the Town Board meetings. THANK YOU for keeping a spotlight on what is right and wrong behavior for our Town, for our communities and for our country. This is how we all should be vigilant.
A little dose of reality, Machine politics worked in an era when, like in Albany, you could call your Democrat Ward Chair instead of the elected Council person, to fix the pothole in front of your house. Accountable to keep the folks in power. Chicago, Detroit and all the big city were run by the Machine and pocket's were lined but things got done. Mayor Daley machine in Chicago was much more effective than the current chaos and giving a job seeker worthy advice (like enrolling as a Democrat, cut your hair for the interview etc. would be a good thing) is truthful and helpful when reality is you need a job. Are you more likely to get a NYS job as a Democrat or Republican? Seasonal State employees at Million Dollar Beach sometimes have an advantage if enrolled in the party matches who's in the Governor's Office.
I read with interest and get the gist.
As you wrote about the appearance of conflict. My ADHD ran ahead and I recall the adage "Good ole boys "... If it smells like shit and looks like it's probably shit.
You note how your wife had applied for a county job and had been reminded of party affiliation in order to have a better shot at a job....I recall the same comment being made to a class myself was in in High School. Social Studies... Referenced getting a state job after high school here in NY.
A lifted comment in part made by Jesus of Nazereth...Let your yes be yes and your no be no...much less complicated this way. Then when the devils in the details he's the guiding force. So the new normal is just that. Trump is moral free politics. All for him
and Musk ...
/\ /\ /\ /\ /\/\ /\ /\ this /\ /\/\ /\ /\ /\ /\
=======
and your February post
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/
https://substack.com/@phillipholcomb1/p-156531148
shows that republicans are not just evil liars
but also (ungodly?) hypocrites
What I witnessed Monday evening at the Queensbury Town Board meeting was a disgrace. It was partisan politics at its worst. The fact remains that conflicts of interest still remain. Obviously the appearance of in propriety does not phase the Board in the least.
The display we witnessed was an example of just that. It not only makes me shake my head but makes me want to scream.
Sadly, I now believe they don't see anything wrong in what they are doing and makes it more dangerous than ever.
The Queensbury Town Board - "Whack a Mole!"
Years ago and friend of mine applied for a job in corrections - somehow he ended up having to speak with Betty Little - who straight out asked him his party affiliation was. He replied Republican and she said that would be helpful to him.
As I well know, the good old boys run the show. I've had my own run ins.
I worked many years at the HoJos on Aviation Road - the stories I can tell about the WC officials and the Double Bubble Lounge!
But I've got even BETTER stories of the former Queensbury PD, which morphed into the WCSD.
I could literally write a book about the alcohol/drugs/sex that were rampant in the 80s.
And who owned the HoJo’s? Was it a very nice guy who just happened to end up owning a number of properties that just happened to be situated at the locations that would become exits on the Northway? Pretty lucky coincidences! Probably just a coincidence that the Republicans and the cops all hung out at his restaurant.
Mr. Carl DeSantis was ALWAYS good to me. And yes, very Republican. But yes, I hadn't thought of the locations right off of the exits - all of them except the one in SGF.
Voting events were held here ,(election results), our entire back room had charts on the wall, phones were moved around etc. This was YEARS ago.
The corruption I witnessed with my own eyes as far as WCSD was wild. I didn't hang out there although I did visit the Double Bubble myself back in the day. Was the place the teachers, politicians, lawyers and cops went.
Like I said, very nice guy. Wonderful family.
The Republican machine took care of its own, and some got better care than others.
The Ole Boy Network, has/had a sub group = KKK
It is nice to see that all the powerful White Privilege people say: we aren't racist.
As for the betty littles of the world.. I have NO doubt when you ask pos_tfnKKK for help (as I have in the past), they don't ask your party... they just look it up and ignore you (if you are the wrong party)
I don't know if one was a 'real America' in the day that 'your word' meant something. That you could really make an agreement with a handshake.
I am sure some people valued their honesty or integrity.. But it is clear with republicans.. that sentiment* is defined by another saying: 'Doesn't hold water.'
I wonder if it is because morality is about as popular as church (if you look at attrition https://news.gallup.com/poll/642548/church-attendance-declined-religious-groups.aspx)
Once you 'say' you are religious... and are lying about that.....you aren't just as immoral, you are dishonest. No one would take hmpy trmpedo (or pos_tfnKKK) at his word. The best I hear... "You can't take him seriously, he is joking."
Well - - whether you are lying about conflict of interest or sending innocent people to El Salvador prison ( https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-09/about-90-of-migrants-sent-to-salvador-lacked-us-criminal-record) you are both immoral )
And evil!
* we have the Queensbury board, well aware of their lying and immorality:
"
No laws were broken.
No indictments were filed.
"
versus
"the town attorney advised the board it had to vote on the first resolution before entertaining a second."
“…the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.
For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Applies to cultists as well.
nice, however:
Speaking truth to power, doesn't always end well
https://www.dw.com/en/bonhoeffer-murdered-by-the-nazis-80-years-ago/a-72172848
and when you have an administration the defies the rule of law...and the constitution
and the judges that have told them to stop.
We might be dealing with a group of malicious people who are also stupid.
Yep. We must never lose our voice or our courage.
As I sit here, with morning coffee by my side... trying to focus on the weather (it is supposed to get up to 40° and for now it is sunny)
I am trying to understand morality. I am trying to not think like the Jan6 magAholes© who stormed the palace (I mean Capitol).. who are now free because they supported the would-be dictator...
I would hope, after Saturday's "Hands Off" that people's outraged at republicans - > that they (gQpeds) would have learned.. or seen the numbers of people who have had enough evil.
- - - > And have seen enough.
That republicans in power would stop spinning their moral compass into (as the joke goes) a window fan.
But when you have gQpeds Republicans believing in lies, more than they are willing to accept facts.... we have to accept the two realities.
1) Republicans fall into two categories = a) the liars; and b) those who believe the lies.
2) and like any cult, need to be deprogrammed
May is coming, it is Mental Health awareness month. Time to find ways to get the gQpedos some help.. Help the republican party unscramble their brains.
Here is the crux of the problem: “ Sadly, the bigger problem is that in recent years no one else wants to even run for a Town Board seat.”
technically it should say “almost nobody,” but once in a while someone new decides or is convinced to give it a go. And then they find out how disgusting the process and the institution is.
The root of the problem is much deeper. The supervisor system of government is flawed - purposely. First, Queensbury, where the Supervisor is too big of a job to be an elected position as it is currently structured. Many years ago there was a town comptroller who held the Supervisor in check. I believe the last one was Henry Hesse, and I think he was booted by Dan Stec. It was a long time ago so I may be misremembering the details, but the problem is that running Queensbury is too big a job for any old citizen to run for the office without having a professional manager in place to follow up on details.
But then one more step of complexity, the county supervisors system is an inherent conflict of interest.
Being Queensbury supervisor is a full time job, but then the supervisor election also comes with a second job, a part time job as county supervisor. 2 jobs, 2 paychecks, 1 election, 1 person. There are conflicts between the interests of the county and the individual towns ALL THE TIME. Then toss in the reality that the Republican Party does much of the decision making behind closed doors, adding another level of conflict. The residents of the county are not well served by this form of government, but it still exists because unlike Queensbury (and GF) the rest of the county is (with the exception of Horicon) losing population, and all are small or even smaller towns.
So a town like Stony Creek or Hague, each with less than 800 residents, has a paid supervisor. Those towns are really too small to pay a reasonable salary for the responsiblitity of the position BUT the election comes with an additional salary from a job as county supervisor. Interestingly, before the last election some of those supervisors touted the fact that their town supervisor salary remained low — but then they voted themselves a pay-raise at the county. And where does most of the local funding for county government come from? The bulk of it comes from sales and property tax in Queensbury and Glens Falls.
And the poor person who simply wanted to fill a a job opening …
Reminds me of Al Snow.
I wrote a thing about him: https://mikeparwana.substack.com/p/another-snow-less-winter-for-warren
You make many good points.
Unfortunately, Warren County is not the outlier. If you look across NY-21, you will find similar appearances of conflict across each of the 15 counties. And in at least one instance, the conflict is on the Democrat side. Other than that one instance, the Republicans have the overwhelming control of the town and county seats, while making no secret of their party affiliations and loyalties.
I suspect I am not the only Town of Queensbury resident who gets busy with “life stuff” and assumes things at the local level are going along as they should. Thank you for pointing things out for us, Ken. As a long time Post Star subscriber, I always found your editorials thought-provoking. We are fortunate that you are still willing to report on injustices or the “appearance” of same, which the current Town Board situation seems to be.
Both Will Doolittle and I see the lack of editorial comment and commentary as a real problem for the community. Nobody is pointing out the issues we all need to pay attention to and debate. That's why we continue to do what we do.
Wish there were (was?) an edit option for our comments. I now notice I omitted the word “resident” and I hate that I can’t go back and fix it! Thank you, and thank Will!
Comments here do have an edit option. Look in the upper-right corner of your comment for the … and open it and choose the ‘edit’ option.
Thank you!
You’re welcome. It’s always nice to have an edit option when commenting. I make use of it routinely for corrections.
Exactly.
Actually, if you click on the three buttons to the right I believe you can edit your comments. Also, it appears the word "resident" is in your comment.
"I seen my opportunities and I took ‘em."
Is there such a thing as ‘honest graft’?
From my experience with a career-coaching client who lives in a township in Eastern MI, your point about Town Board members not seeing themselves as needing to participate in moral boundaries is correct and pervasive.
She has run in the last 3 races for Town Board as a Democrat in a very red suburb of Detroit and has served as president of her sorority chapter for 3 decades so she knows Robert’s Rules of Order well. The Board members regularly don’t bother with protocol. One of them belittles and bullies attending citizens from the dais. Decisions are made from a class bias leaving punitive repercussions for people with less means than the Board members. And more. What is fascinating is that they do it all on video tape which is then archived on YouTube. I’ve been watching these meetings for 6 years and it is astonishing. There is no mechanism for reporting these recorded incidents for review because they haven’t broken the law. (Although a campaign finance violation claim is still in process, so we’ll see.) Meetings are not well-enough (50ish out of 45K residents) attended or videos viewed (less than 200 each) for the Board Members to feel any pressure and Republicans have won there for decades.
I am a firm believer that if local people organized in groups of 12 to plan how they could, between them, have one of them at each Town, School, Zoning and Planning Board meeting and then update each other on the happenings, the impact to community stewardship would be palpable. Regular attendees seem to be easily dismissed in the minds of boards, but if a rotating 12th of the population showed up at every meeting, dismissing any of them would be hard to accomplish. People care more about appearances when they are being watched on a large scale. I hope someone with skills I don’t have takes this idea and spreads it like pollen.
All great points, plus I regularly tell people that going to the Town Board meeting can be far more entertaining - and shocking - then any reality TV you are currently tuned to on TV.
I think your problem is that you view the best interests of the party and the best interests of the public as being different. Both parties want what is in the best interests of the pubic but may disagree as to what that is and how to achieve it. And although you (and I) may not always like it, political patronage has always been part of our stem of government since the advent of political parties.
If you read carefully, Mr. Tingley has repeatedly said the “appearance” of a conflict of interest is the root of the problem. Even if Mr. McNulty was as pure as the driven snow and had nothing but love and goodness in his heart towards every single resident of Queensbury, holding the two positions gives rise to the APPEARANCE of a conflict, which goes against the code of ethics. If he really truly had the best interests of the public at heart, which is his first responsibility as an elected official, he would resign the political position.
That he hasn’t, even though the violation of the code of ethics has been pointed out to him, is pretty much proof that a conflict actually does exist because whatever his reason, he is unwilling to let go of the political power he has as party chairman. Every move he makes is tainted by the fact that one cannot be sure of his motivation.
At the very least, the board should address the ethics policy and change it to allow a leadership in a political party. At least then, they would be in compliance. But I suspect, having that debate might be a losing proposition with the public.
Don’t put ideas in their heads! At this point in Republican politics, looking bad in front of the public doesn’t seem to be a deterrent to anything.
I don't think political patronage of town jobs should is in the best interest of the public. I don't see the conflict being about issues, but about the politics. It has always been an embarrassment to the Warren County Republicans that the largest town in the county has a Democrat as its leader. Why? The town runs well and I don't think many people would criticize Strough for the job he has done.
The biggest loser seemed to be the poor man who applied for the job as cemetery commissioner. The town board could have pulled the resolution up until and even during the meeting as two board members pulled a resolution at a meeting a couple of weeks ago but that was the whole point of not pulling the resolution humiliation and chaos. Mission accomplished fellas.
It's a good point. If there was an objection to the quality of the candidate or the process, the resolution could have been pulled and spared the candidate the embarrassment. They owe Mark DeSimone an apology.
Ken, I am so grateful for your staunchness, for your doggedness on this ethics issue and your presence at the Town Board meetings. THANK YOU for keeping a spotlight on what is right and wrong behavior for our Town, for our communities and for our country. This is how we all should be vigilant.
Seconded
More people need to make their voices heard.
A little dose of reality, Machine politics worked in an era when, like in Albany, you could call your Democrat Ward Chair instead of the elected Council person, to fix the pothole in front of your house. Accountable to keep the folks in power. Chicago, Detroit and all the big city were run by the Machine and pocket's were lined but things got done. Mayor Daley machine in Chicago was much more effective than the current chaos and giving a job seeker worthy advice (like enrolling as a Democrat, cut your hair for the interview etc. would be a good thing) is truthful and helpful when reality is you need a job. Are you more likely to get a NYS job as a Democrat or Republican? Seasonal State employees at Million Dollar Beach sometimes have an advantage if enrolled in the party matches who's in the Governor's Office.