Bank on Frank?
After six months of stumbling and fumbling by Troy Council Democrats, some Troy Democrats have had enough and want a new direction. And some are looking to City Chairman Frank LaPosta to take that role.
LaPosta has been boxed out of leadership decisions throughout 2008 on the orders of County Democrat Boss Tom Wade. Which means LaPosta doesn’t get blamed for the long string of disasters that have plagued the Council since January. The estrangement is strange because LaPosta is generally respected in the party, ran a race for Mayor in 2003 that netted better results than Jim Conroy’s in 2007 and worked hard during last year’s Council races.
Some Democrats believe LaPosta can restore some sanity to the direction of Council Democrats who are seen as heading for political oblivion. The concern over a new direction was heightened after last week’s damaging revelations by CBS 6 about the $10,000 part-time job for Bobby Martiniano who, in the words of a Martiniano co-worker, is “never” in his City Hall office.
This spring, LaPosta tried to arrange a meeting of Council Democrats after they took some big hits over the wrong-headed proposal by Councilman John Brown to give away the debt owed by Rensselaer to Troy for water services and a series of embarrassing e-mails by Bully Bill Dunne. That meeting got deep-sixed on Wade’s orders, with Democrat council members forbidden to meet with LaPosta.
Now the hole’s gotten deeper, which led LaPosta to reach out again last week to Council President Campana and others to set up a meeting. We hear that may not have gone well, with LaPosta’s assistance refused. But the calls for LaPosta to take a more central role in advising the Council have not gone away.
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