Recently elected Rotterdam officials were recently sworn in front of a gathering of family and friends, but the celebratory spirit ended once the yearly organizational meeting commenced.
The Rotterdam Democrats presenting themselves as the administration to reunite the town were sworn in on the first day of the year, ready to take charge. Those taking the oath of office were newly elected Supervisor Harry Buffardi, reelected and now Deputy Supervisor Wayne Calder, newly elected Councilman Mike Viscusi, new Town Clerk Diane Marco, reelected Town Justice Kevin Mercoglan and reelected Republican Highway Superintendent James Longo. Everyone sworn in thanked the public for supporting them in their bids.
Supervisor Buffardi introduced his family members standing with him and said his wife, Nancy, is “the leader of the clan” holding the family together.
“She cares for us and tends to us and even supports us when we decide to do something stupid like run for public office,” Buffardi said as the audience laughed. “I am very happy to serve the Town of Rotterdam in this capacity. I grew up here, it was a wonderful place to live … I would like to continue that tradition and to continue to make this a wonderful town for everyone to raise their children.”
Deputy Supervisor Calder was also joined by two of his children and his grandchildren.
Calder commented on how he has run for office two years in a row now, first to fill a vacancy and now for a full four-year term, which has kept him and his family busy.
“Our lives have been nothing but running for office,” Calder said. “We are going to do a good job. We got a good bunch of people here and I can see good things happening. The past is past, this is going to be good.”
Councilman Viscusi also thanked his family for standing with him in his bid for office.
“I would like to thank everybody, starting with my family and friends for being here today, but most of all my wife, Raffaela, and my two girls that I drove crazy throughout the whole campaign. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to do this,” Viscusi said. “This is all new to me, so I got some things that I need to learn and hopefully I can serve you well, but if there is anything I would like to be your voice.”
Before diving into the Town Board organizational meeting, Buffardi shared opening remarks outlining his focus for Rotterdam.
Following flooding from Tropical Storms Irene and Lee, Buffardi said the board would need to research and pursue all forms of assistance the town government can provide affected residents.
Taxes will remain an issue moving forward, he said.
“We will strive to maintain the services and at the same time being respectful of the 2 percent property tax cap,” Buffardi said.
He added the new members of the town’s management team would strengthen the town in facing difficulties ahead.
“I believe that we have not only recruited but looked around and brought on the best and brightest we could find,” he said. “They are the most suited for the jobs.”
He said he’s worked with Calder for several years now and is confident in naming him deputy supervisor.
“We’ve worked together for about 40 years now, actually in some situations that were life and death, so I feel very comfortable having Wayne as the deputy supervisor,” he said.
Buffardi said he’ll be bringing a unique approach to tow government.
“It has often been said and perhaps overstated that ‘town government should run like a business’ and I find it a little bit unusual because this is kind of an unusual business to be in,” Buffardi said. “I would like to make a modification to that … and say that town government should run more businesslike.”
Getting organized
The tone for meeting was set early as Councilman Robert Godlewski (who was deputy supervisor under the former administration) called for an executive session to discuss the personnel related matters on the agenda, but failed to receive a second on the motion to bring it for a vote.
Godlewski called for the executive session because he wasn’t briefed on the agenda before the meeting. Although he is a Democrat, he was a part of the town Democrats splitting from the main party. In the recent primary election he ran for the Democratic nomination for District 4 of the Schenectady County Legislature, but failed in that bid.
Buffardi confirmed after the meeting that Godlewski wasn’t briefed on the agenda prior to the meeting, but said he planned to include the full board in the future.
On the very first resolution on the agenda, Godlewski questioned Supervisor Buffardi, asking for more information on the appointment of Katherine McGuirl as Town Attorney.
“[It] was interesting to hear your comments about open and transparent government, however I am asked to make a decision here to appoint an attorney I don’t have a whole lot of information on,” Godlewski said. “You four over there have met and gone over this whole agenda, everything, and pre-committed your votes. I knew when I asked for that executive board meeting you were going to say ‘no,’ because you have already made your mind up, but I am still a board member, alright.”
What followed in response from Buffardi was repeated in some form throughout the meeting many times: “Is there any other discussion?”
Buffardi ignored Godlewski every time he asked a questioned during the meeting.
“Ignoring the question is not answering it,” Godlewski said to Buffardi, who responded, “That’s correct.”
After Buffardi still didn’t answer Godlewski’s question, the councilman denounced Buffardi.
“Apparently you don’t believe in open and transparent government,” Godlewski said.
Since the other four Town Board members were unified, Godlewski’s vote didn’t have an effect on approving resolutions.
There were a total of 67 resolutions on the agenda spanning more than 5 pages, of which Godlewski voted in dissent on 12 resolutions. Often before voting down a resolution, he asked a question and received no response.
After the meeting Buffardi explained his avoidance of answering any of Godlewski’s questions.
“I just didn’t want to degrade it to a forum of an argument that I’ve seen in past board meetings,” Buffardi said. “The purpose of discussion is to discuss, not to argue. I accept his comments and move on.”
