Passing the Buck

Written by David King, Metroland

May 8, 2008

Albany Mayor Jennings warns of financial woes that his critics saw coming

“I don’t know how the council could have done more. We don’t really have any say,” said Albany Common Councilman Dominick Calsolaro (Ward 1), responding to a recent Times Union article in which Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings announced a hiring freeze for the city, warned of hard financial times, and asked the heads of his departments to “look for ways to save money.”

The article noted that Jennings had sent a letter to Council President Pro Tempore Richard Conti (Ward 6) in November, acknowledging the concerns of some council members about the city budget and impending financial shortfalls and recommending the formation of a “joint council-administration ad-hoc committee” that would focus on dealing with financial challenges in future city budgets.

Calsolaro, along with five other council members, voted against the mayor’s 2008 proposed budget, which passed by a vote of 9-6. But Calsolaro said that, as far as he knows, “we made that letter part of our budget resolution and it went back to the mayor. It is in the mayor’s hands now. We agreed to have a committee set up. It is now up to him to set up that committee.”

Council members do not have much control over the city budget. The council can approve or vote down a budget, or try to cut certain things out. But most likely, those changes would be vetoed by the mayor and the council is weighted with enough mayor loyalists that overriding a mayoral veto would be a pipe dream. Furthermore, Calsolaro said that the Finance Committee is rarely, if ever, critical of the city’s borrowing.

This past November, Calsolaro proposed eliminating all of, or a portion of, the vacant positions from the city budget. His proposal was ignored.

“[Schenectady Mayor] Brian Stratton, when he first came in, one of the earliest things he did was eliminate vacant positions,” said Calsolaro. “Stratton has been able to turn around his city budget from deep debt to budget surpluses.”

Comptroller Tom Nitido said things are not that simple: “I think we have a tendency to have simple solutions to complex problems; not filling positions is not the way to provide services at a price we can afford.” Nitido also said that it is essential for city officials to work together. “We need to sit together and figure out what we can do to reduce expenses. What happens is, one person proposes a way to cut expenses and the council people or mayor shoot holes in it. Someone sticks their neck out and, instead of people getting on board, they gang up on them.”

Calsolaro noted that he has proposed giving the council the ability to approve transactions made by the city of $10,000 or more. Currently, the Board of Estimate and Approval—a board made up of Nitido, Council President Shawn Morris, Jennings, Treasurer Betty Barnette, and Corporation Council John Reilly—is in charge of approving expenditures of any size. The board is weighted in Jennings’ favor, with Barnette and Reilly being close Jennings allies and Morris and Nitido being the only two possible dissenters.

But Nitido said he is not certain that giving the council more power would solve Albany’s budget problems. “I think you would be hard-pressed to find a place where a council reduced expenditures. They face pressure to increase expenses to provide services for their district, but you know we have seen very little action at the executive level to reduce the overall cost of payroll and benefits. It needs to happen, but it just can’t happen just from the council.”

The city’s financial situation has grown increasingly bleak since Jennings began his term as mayor. Jennings has relied increasingly on state aid and city surplus funds to balance his budgets. State PILOT payments made to Albany to support the proposed Albany Convention Center are scheduled to decrease in the next couple of years, and may eventually dry up.

Said Calsolaro, “Jerry started in 1994 with a $27 million surplus, and it was gone by 1999. He wiped it all out in six years to artificially keep taxes down and not cut anything. You don’t see cuts in the budgets he proposes. He is unwilling to make hard choices.”

Critics say Jennings has spoken out on the financial issue in an attempt to head off criticism during next year’s mayoral race, and to echo the financial concerns expressed by Gov. David Paterson.

Calsolaro insisted that Jennings was spoiled by the extra state aid delivered to him by former Gov. George Pataki, and that relying on such state aid to balance Albany’s budget is irresponsible. But it allowed Jennings to boost his popularity by not raising taxes.

“The mayor has done a very good job of bringing revenue in from the state,” said Nitido. “We do not get the same state aid other cities get, and we should try and right that, but that is not the whole answer.”

Calsolaro said that if Jennings does not run for reelection next year, or if he is defeated, that the person who replaces him will be left with unpopular choices to be made.

“He is not a financial manager,” said Calsolaro. “He has been a terrible financial manager of city funds. No matter how much money he gets, it’s gone.”

—David King, May 8, 2008