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Never have I been so relieved for it to be Friday. I hope everyone has a great weekend, I'll see you on Monday.
posted by The Saratogian City Desk at
5:01 PM
Blogs > Saratogian Newsroom
The Saratogian Newsroom blog, complete with thoughts and commentary from our newsroom staff and regular posts on happenings around town.
Friday, June 26
6 Comments:
Why?
In case you haven't seen this - another news tip
The Talk of Saratoga
By IT Blogon June 25, 2009 3:00 PM | Comments (0)
Contributing Editor Andrew Nelson gathers the gossip from his recent trip to Saratoga Springs, New York.
Longtime patrons will warn you, traversing the Saratoga Springs Farmers' Market is not for the fainthearted. At 8:30 a.m., a half hour before opening, parking is already scarce along High Rock Ave. where the market is held every Wednesday and Saturday. Beneath the pavilions, local farmers set out bunches of emerald-green broccoli, scarlet radishes and strawberries the color of rubies. By 9 a.m., shortly before a bell signals that the selling can begin, the produce-hungry are already lined up in front of their favorite stalls, elbows out and holding prize heads of lettuce still dewy from that morning's harvest while gossiping about life in this historic upstate spa town.
This summer the talk is of Saratoga's ongoing revitalization - the town of graceful Greek Revival houses and brick Victorian shopping arcades is filling with new downtown condos, restaurants and travelers lured here by its charm, its famed racetrack, a summer of music, and its proximity to New York, Boston and the Adirondacks.
The change isn't always welcome: come summer there can be epic traffic on the main thoroughfare Broadway (Saratogans circumnavigate the gridlock via Circular Avenue, a pretty street of old houses that skirts downtown). Meanwhile historic preservationists are organizing protests against an extremely rich pair of newcomers whose recently-completed stone palace features grounds populated with life-sized bronze wood nymphs and Thoroughbreds.
The mega-mansion may fit in as well as Caesar's Palace would at Colonial Williamsburg, but the controversy is about a 150-year-old neighbor, a historic brick house that the mega-mansion owners purchased for $1.1 million, which they want leveled to enlarge their lawn. The Old Guard speak darkly of arrivistes and philistines. Now the city council's being dragged into the affair which promises to be Saratoga's hot topic this summer - at least until the horse crowd shows up on July 29th to inaugurate the racing season with a merry-go-round of society benefits and parties.
Nouveau riche or old, everyone is protective towards the farmers market. The 31-year-old institution has become popular, not just for its cornucopia of Upper Hudson Valley produce, but also for its other merchants. Flower stalls abound, and there are fresh, chewy bagels and hot Ethiopian coffee from Uncommon Grounds (+1 518 581 0656), the town's favorite coffeehouse. Cheese lovers make a beeline to Jeff Bowers' Sweet Spring Farm and his array of four-ounce packages of goat cheese. For 100 varieties of jam from Anna Mae of Ballston Spa (+1 518 885 7356) and soap makers like Mary-Jane Rau Pelzer, whose Saratoga Suds scented soaps are made from recipes her 19th century ancestors used, though as she admits, not with fragrances such as lemon and lavender.
By 10 a.m. the crowd is jostling one another to scoop up fresh rhubarb, crisp asparagus spears and organic greens. A guitar player is entertaining children and the parking has indeed become hopeless. Nobody cares. "Troy's farmers market may be bigger, but for some reason," says Bowers the cheese monger, "There's something about the Saratoga Springs market that's much more fun."
Intersting how you never seem to mention how much our Commissioners and their staff contribute to their health care costs. In case your wondering, they dont' contribute one dime.
Shouldn't these part time employees be expected to contribute to their health care costs? Additionally, we have recent Commissioners such as(Tom Mctygue and Thomas Curley) who enjoy free health care for the rest of their lives. Very easy to take shots at the unions who represent this city and be a lap dog for Ivens and Johnson.
Futhermore, it would be nice to see you offer possible solutions to these problems instead of consistenly being a mouthpiece for certain memebers of the city council. The unions provided this city council with a plethora of ways to raise revenue such as; a public safety tax added on to each hotel room in the city and a public safety tax added on to a ticket purchased at Spac. These two revenue generating ideas have been implemented in cities across this state and would generate a tremendous amount of income for the city.
Why won't our city council act on any revenue generating idea? When are you going to write about both sides of the issues?
anon 8:03:
Are you talking to me? If so, can you please be more specific in what you're referencing, I have no idea of what you're talking about as far "taking shots at the union."
As far as offering suggestions, that isn't my job, but we have had editorials on the subject which do offer suggestions. You can find them in the opinion section of our website. AB
Yes I am talking to you and I'm refering to a recent editorial the paper printed regarding the Saratoga Springs fire department, centered around our health care contributions and our generous pensions. I would like to see you report both sides to the public. Do our commissioners pay into their health care costs? Why are they immune to any criticism on this topic? The Fire department,CSEA and the Police contribute to health care costs. Should the city council not step up in these difficult financial times and offer to contribute? Furthermore, I find it bothersome that all of your articles are clearly biased. Do the fireman and police receive good pensions. Sure they do, but you know what, they earn every penny of it. They work every holiday, every weekend, in any kind of weather and witness traumatic events on a dialy basis. It's easy to take shots at the, "generous pensions" when you or anyone who works at your paper has no idea what it takes to earn that pension.
As far as revenue generating ideas go, don't you think it would be prudent in these tough times for the council memebers to work together and find ways to generate income, instead of fighting with one another? You can surely ask the city council if they plan on implementing any revenue generating ideas.
anon 1:30:
Thanks for your comment, I will look into healthcare contributions made by council members and other appointed staff.
As for my bias, I have to disagree with you. While Barbara Lombardo suggested in a recent editorial that overtime no longer be awarded on the basis of seniority, she (nor I) has never questioned the right of hard-working city employees to earn a fair wage. This is true of police, fire, and DPW workers, as well as everyone else in city hall.
I'm sorry that you feel we are biased against the unions, but I have to respectfully disagree.
As for revenue-generating ideas, the council is pursuing additional revenue, although, to my knowledge, they have not considered the type of tax you suggest, most likely on the grounds that they want to encourage -- not dissuade with higher prices -- attendance at SPAC and other venues.
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