One of my many goals for when I become mayor is to clean house when it comes to Albany’s government. I will do that across the board and no city employee will be safe from investigation and accountability. However, it looks as if some of my work may be done for me by the time I take office.
There is an investigation into allegations of sex, drugs alcohol and other things being used in exchange for “no-show overtime” pay. The allegations are serious but are, at this time, merely allegations. If any or all of it is true, however, then Albany needs a complete housecleaning. If said housecleaning is not yet done when I take the oath, I will finish the job.
But then again, I am sure that this is only the tip of the iceberg. I am certain that there will be even more scandals for me to deal with on January 1st but right now, this emerging scandal must be dealt with swiftly and justly.
As for this scandal, a sex scandal no less, no one as of yet has been suspended nor even held accountable in any way, and this story will likely persist throughout the entire election cycle. I’m sure all six (for now) of us mayoral candidates will have to deal with this publicly, especially at debates.
The local CBS affiliate reported yesterday that the investigation started in September, long before most of the mayoral candidates declared. It’s been a while, and there is no excuse for this investigation to not be finished, complete with names named, people terminated and perhaps even people prosecuted.
This is a matter of a potential “hostile work environment,” according to the station, and these allegations are so deadly serious that it will take quite some time to sort out, even though the sorting should have already been done.
Some intriguing questions linger in the air: who will be exposed? Who will be held accountable? Who might end up going to prison?
There are a lot of unanswered questions, and maybe the committee that is dealing with this knows the answers but are not willing to be transparent to the fine people of Albany. There is no excuse for that. We shouldn’t have been hearing this from the local station, the oldest TV station in the world.
One possible conflict of interest involves the current City Auditor, who just so happens to be running for mayor and she also just happens to be a crony of our outgoing incompetent, bumbling, stumbling, fumbling mayor Kathy Sheehan. The auditor will conveniently be presented with the findings of the committee.
The reason I say all that is that, given that she’s the auditor for crying out loud, she has, in my opinion, to be involved somehow. In fact, I am confident that she at the very least had knowledge and did nothing. She should do the right things: immediately resign and then withdraw from the mayor’s race. Now.
Every hour and day that the auditor and mayoral hopeful doesn’t step up and do what’s right for Albany just proves more and more her scumbagerry, in my opinion.
No, the auditor shouldn’t be part of the investigation at all. That’s like giving a suspect an advance copy of his arrest warrant so that he has time to hide evidence and flee.
Given that she is, for now, a mayoral candidate, I would suggest that the findings be presented to an external, non-conflicted entity, but given how corrupt Albany’s government and some of its employees, it is my firm belief that she will indeed receive the report and will then act in the best of interests of her handlers and not the interests of Albany and its people.
Will any big names be exposed? Is that why’s taken several months to conduct a mere twenty interviews with people who may or may not be telling fiblets to get themselves out of hot water? The answers are unclear and may conveniently withheld until the general election in November. News of this whole saga should have come from Sheehan, not from a crappy television station affiliated with a crappy network.
Look, now that the cat’s out of the bag, the public and the few city government officials who aren’t in any way corrupt will stand up and demand immediate action. This has been going on for months, so the time for action and transparency is now. Right now.
It is my personal belief that there are big names about to drop, whether in the coming days, weeks or months. Given what an immoral scumbag Sheehan is, I am very certain that her name will come up as being involved in some way or another. Surely she knew something. In fact, it is my personal belief that she will be implicated, exposed and disgraced.
I say this in all seriousness: I find it hard to believe that the mayor is completely ignorant in regards to all this. Who is she protecting? Has she been paid off for her silence? Did she participate in any of the alleged behavior?
If Sheehan does know something (and, again, I believe that she does) and has chosen to sit on the information, especially with a full-blown investigation in progress, I demand that she immediately step down as mayor. If she won’t, then the impeachment process must begin immediately, even though there’s less than a year to go on her final term.
There are other people who I think are in a position to know something. I would presume that the payroll department had to know about the mysterious overtime being submitted.
While the payroll department may or may not have direct involvement in the purported activities, they at the very least, I believe, sat on their hands and did nothing except process the overtime tickets and they asked no questions. If anyone in that department was privy to that information and sat on it, then they need to, in my opinion, be fired or imprisoned.
That goes for everyone. Anyone involved should absolutely be terminated and, if applicable, be prosecuted and thrown into prison for at least five years, with no parole.
I would also question whether or not the deputy mayor is involved in some way or another. The same goes for other high-ranking government officials as well as the supervisors who allegedly approved very questionable overtime tickets and who otherwise engaged in unacceptable conduct.
No matter who gets exposed and no matter who ends up being proven to be involved, this is a scandal that will shake Albany to its very core. I wish I could be involved somehow now, and maybe things will have come to a head by the time I take office, but if this drags on into the new year, then I will absolutely jump into the sewer that is Albany’s current government and set things right, just as I will with any and all other scandals.
It’s my belief that, in the coming days, there will be surprise and mysterious resignations and hopefully some very public terminations. Heads need to roll, and they need to roll immediately and before the cameras and reporters for all to see.
No matter what happens, this situation needs to be transparent, with news updates for all to see. This has the potential to turn Albany into a national laughingstock and we should all brace for impact. I believe that the only reason that this will move forward is because a dinky television station with dinky reporters reported on it.
Now the council and others will pretty much have to expedite things as the number of angry citizens who are just now learning of this is quickly increasing. Without the affiliate, this could have probably been swept under the carpet, with the investigation being a sham in order to make things look good on paper. Sheehan should have accepted responsibility and she should have held a press conference to be transparent and honest.
But we’re talking about Sheehan here, so I don’t think honesty and transparency are traits that Sheehan possesses. I, however, do, and if this happened on my watch, I would have taken action a long time ago, because as mayor, it would be my responsibility as the city’s top leader.
If I were mayor right now, I would have stood before the people of Albany and I would have shouldered responsibility. Immediately and humbly. That’s what a moral mayor would do. But Sheehan is not in any way honorable, moral, ethical or responsible.
Given this appalling scandal, and given her deafeningly silent conduct, Sheehan must resign. There is no other path for her.
All that being said, given what I know about our government and certain, specific people within, this will be amusing to watch. I already have a list formulating in my mind, a list that contains names within Albany’s government that should, nay, must be exposed.
I will give certain people within Albany’s government a wee bit of time to do the right thing, but if they refuse, then I will start exposing them left and right. Many years ago, I conducted an internet sting and exposed numerous immoral people. I ruined couples, marriages and lives. I will not hesitate to do it again. Try me, motherfuckers. Try me.
And yes, I do know names. Regardless of what happens in the coming days, weeks and maybe months, things will get spicy.
Seriously…put popcorn on your shopping list, sit back, relax and enjoy the fireworks that are fixing to go off.