Earlier today I, and the other mayoral candidates, were given a chance to weigh in on a out-of-left-field proposal by County Executive Dan McCoy whereby county and municipal resources would be pooled.
Every candidate but two responded. One mealy-mouthed coward decided to “sit this one out.”. He fouldn’t even say it himself. He hid behind a lackey.
For my part, I pointed out that the plan might have negative financial implications for Albany, but I also thought that it would be a chance for me to cut even more APD cops and detectives than I originally proposed. This would be the only good thing about this proposal. Of course, each candidate only had less than 20 seconds to respond, so here’s my further response.
I think that sharing resources such as law enforcement and even administrative resources would be a bad move for Albany.
We are doing just fine on our own and having the county stick its nose into our affairs is an insult and a slap in the face of every resident of our fine city. But if it’ll help eliminate a few APD LEO, then maybe it would be worth considering. Maybe.
I do have experience in this area. Having lived in South Jersey for many years, I am used to townships. This is where small municipalities who can’t afford to make it on their own pool their resources such as police and fire departments as well as trash collection and other such things.
This takes away each entity’s identity and control and that will have a negative impact on Albany should this little idea of McCoy’s come to fruition.
Albany doesn’t need the county. The county needs us. And why should we agree to such a thing? It might sound harsh, but it is all about the money.
What would Albany’s financial contribution be? Would we really save enough money to justify losing control over our own city? I think not!
Bottom line: when it comes to this unwise suggestion…what’s the catch? Will we get screwed over while the county thrives?
Only time will tell what happens, but in matters such as this, there is damn near always a catch. Let us not be forced by the county to bend over and take it up the tailpipe.
It will be interesting to see what happens, but when I become mayor, I will revoke this plan, assuming that it actually happens.
So let McCoy ruin our city for a few months if it goes that way. Put me in office and I will kick his fat ass to the curb.
And then I’ll bill him for it!