Troy Politics

A Dry Season

It only took nine years of not paying bills, but Troy may finally be forced to shut down water service to Rensselaer. Troy hand-delivered a letter to Rensselaer leaders on Thursday saying a shut down may be imminent because of non-payment. The amount owed by Rensselaer has topped $3 million and a court battle has already ensued between Troy and Rensselaer.

While Rensselaer has refused to pay for water for nearly one decade, Rensselaer is finding the cash for other things. Rensselaer istalking about spending several million for a new water tower and millions more to build a new fire house. Anyone want to lend Rensselaer money for those projects?

All the while Rensselaer wasn’t paying Troy for water Rensselaer residents were paying Rensselaer for the water. Council President Chuck Hall wants to know where the money has gone and why Rensselaer residents may not have water service despite paying millions into city coffers for the service.

John Brown put himself back on the scene to tout his ethically-challenged “deal” for Troy to accept only $1.1 million and no guarantee of future payment, essentially kissing $2 million goodbye. We realized that coming from a foreign land like Green Island, some of Brown’s words may get lost in the translation, so here is some helpful additions, in parentheses, to help you follow along to Brown’s thinking.

From WNYT:

Troy City Council member John Brown played a key role in negotiating the (was told by Democrat bosses to conjure up the bizarre deal to stiff Troy $2 million owed to the city and call it a) settlement offer that the Troy City Council plans to consider next month (without any input from the Mayor, in defiance of common sense and any responsibility to Troy taxpayers and despite a court action that will prevent the Council from doing anything on the issue).

"I (The Democratic Party) really thought it was important to the finances of the city of Troy (our fellow Democrats in Rensselaer) and to its taxpayers. This situation (thing where Rensselaer refused to pay millions owed to Troy, possibly violating the law) had dragged on for years (until we could elect a gullible Democratic Council majority in Troy) and it was pertinent to us (Democrats who tell the Council what to do) and to the stability of our water fund that we (pretend to) get as much money as possible into our account (if you call getting $1 million instead of $3 million a good deal) and out of Rensselaer's account (the headlines and back behind closed doors at Democratic headquarters) as soon as possible," said Brown.