The Mayor
Andrea Dumas
Calvin Luther Martin, PhD
October 18, 2023
(1) Andrea is running for re-election. Village of Malone mayor.
(2) With few exceptions, I have attended all the village board meetings for the past several years. There are only two people who regularly attend these meetings: Tom Schultz and me. Mary Scharf began attending them several months ago. Mary is a registered Democrat and is running against Andrea, a Republican. I, too, am a registered Democrat. I will not vote for Mary.
(3) What I say, below, is what I have personally observed, not what I read in the Telegram, the worst newspaper since the 16th-c. invention of the printing press. (Please, somebody sack Alex Violo! Put this guy out of his misery. Trevor Buchanan is only very slightly better. Where the hell does Johnson Newspapers get these lame excuses for journalism? But I digress.)
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Flanagan HotelIt's comin' down! Andrea has secured several million $ from the county legislature to have it razed. She successfully negotiated with the building owner, on Long Island, to cooperate in this long overdue demolition. The building is irreclaimable. Speak to the code officer, Brian Lamondie. I have. Brian will give you vivid details.
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Illegal ImmigrantsAndrea is aware of this nationwide crisis. I have been corresponding with Andrea and Donna Kissane, County Administrator, and our county legislators re. the possibility of bussloads arriving from NYC, courtesy of NYC Mayor Eric Adams. Click on the bus image for my correspondence.
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Sewage Treatment PlantThe village sewage treatment plant processes sewage and waste water for the village, the town, the 3 prisons, and truckloads of sketchy leachate from the county landfill. That's a lot of ugly stuff! Several years ago DEC insisted on expensive and sophisticated upgrades. (Bear in mind that the treated effluent is emptied into the Salmon River.) Under Andrea's leadership, the plant is now state-of-the-art and is run by professionals who understand the finicky computer systems plus the microbiology needed to monitor treatment and effluents.
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City Hall StaffI cannot say enough good about them! They work well together, and each is superb at what they do. The Village Clerk, Rebahka Scaccia, holds a Masters of Public Administration degree. Rebahka is on top of everything in City Hall. Nothing escapes the scrutiny and red-lining pen of Kristine Lashway, Treasurer, formerly treasurer for the Village of Dannemora. (Kris works especially well with Archie McKee, who still has an eagle eye for accounting.) Brian Lamondie, Code Officer, is a gift from god. A former contractor, he has a talent for working well with other contractors and property owners. He's not over-bearing or tyrannical or unreasonable. Gentle yet firm, and will work with people who need help. Brian is cleaning up the village slums. Every board meeting, he presents the board with a flowchart of his activities. Very impressive!
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Liberty UtilitiesLiberty is a natural gas delivery company on the Creighton Road. They have been installing gas lines throughout the village. I have published a number of articles on these people over the years. (Search the Archive in the main menu for "Liberty." You will get an earful.) In any case, when Liberty attempted to dig trenches down Clay Street, with its iconic boulevard of arching sugar maples, Andrea asked them to detour Clay Street — to save the tree roots. Liberty complied. The trees and residents of Clay are forever grateful to the mayor for saving the beauty and elegance of this unique street.
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DPWThis has been a tough one for the mayor and board. There have been several less-than-satisfactory DPW supervisors who were eased out of the job. Part of the problem is that, for years, the DPW was pretty much unmanaged by City Hall. Nepotism was a problem. Currently the dept. is in the capable hands of Scotty Richards & Brian Cole. Even so, the village is having a dickens of a time finding people who want to work, and an even more difficult time finding licensed CDL drivers. But things are looking up.
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HomelessnessAmerican cities are being devoured from the inside out by homeless people. Do a Google search for "homelessness." Watch scores of videos and read endless news reports. Portland OR is beyond hope. Same with Oakland CA. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and especially NYC are in major trouble. Yes, from homelessness which is now combined with a tidal wave of migrants. Click on this image to watch a video about Burlington's homeless, aired Sept 30, 2023. Andrea and the PD are acutely aware of all this. The issue has been discussed at numerous board meetings. Unfortunately, there is no ready solution — and possibly no solution whatsoever — for this tsunami.
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Housing RehabAndrea and the village board have been working closely with Friends of the North Country as the village administers a sizable grant to renovate homes for the elderly and other homeowners with scant finances. You have seen their magic around the village. The other phenomenon is Frank Bova, a contractor from Poughkeepsie, who has overhauled dozens of homes throughout the village — all at his own expense. Frank buys the homes at county auction and turns them into truly lovely residences for people of modest means. Andrea knows Frank well and blesses him for what he does.
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Derelict Homes & BuildingsAndrea and the village board continue to demolish buildings and homes that are obviously unsalvageable, creating a space for something new and useful. This project is separate from that being run by Friends of the North Country, above.
6 thoughts on “The Mayor”
Just to add a note about the sewer plant effluent being released into the Salmon River. You correctly noted that there have been upgrades, but those upgrades have done nothing to filter the PFAS (click here for a definition of PFAS) “forever chemicals” coming from both the “nasty leachate” (from the landfill) and what villagers, the town, and prisoners flush down the drain.
These highly toxic chemicals are unfortunately used in many products we use everyday, though they need not be. They pass through the food chain and bio-accumulate in anything or anyone that ingests them.
The village board has had some discussions about this problem, as you’ve likely witnessed. And there is considerable federal funding in the Inflation Reduction Act that is making its way through the funding pipeline to address what comes out of the sewage plant’s pipe. Either Andrea or Mary will be, I hope, dealing with this in the near future.
For more info on this and an even bigger local PFAS issue, please see a report I co-authored on “sludge as fertilizer” (click here).
Editor’s reply: Thank you Wayne! Very important stuff! May I suggest that sometime after the general election you contact the village clerk, Rebahka Scaccia, and ask to be put on the agenda for a full board meeting, where you give a comprehensive presentation on this scourge.
Meanwhile, readers should understand that the sewage plant overhaul has cost millions of $. I believe the village got some state funding to help with this, although I may be wrong. (Rebahka Scaccia and the mayor always search out funding sources for projects great and small. I remind readers: I attend the board meetings; I hear all about these funding efforts.)
In any event, to filter PFAS would be absolutely beyond the village budget. Federal funding would be essential. Perhaps you could team up with Rebahka and lobby for federal funds.
Calvin, THANK YOU for taking the time to attend the meetings. I ABSOLUTELY AGREE with your description of the local press and its so-called reporters.
The current mayor has been doing an EXCELLENT JOB.
The people who currently are working in the Village Police, Village DPW, Village Offices have been giving their all (with very few exceptions) and their efforts are greatly appreciated.
You “show up,” and that makes all the difference. Your work and the excellent efforts of the people in your village are raising the bar for a balanced, fair, healthy life on the land and for its inhabitants.
Bravo, Calvin! Your continued caring brings sunshine!
Thank you! Well written. I can’t vote in a Village election and I was still grateful for the information.
Excellent run down!
If only others were as motivated to observe and participate in local politics. Congratulations on an informative survey of your concerns and appreciations. Thanks for sharing, Calvin.
These are delicate and dangerous times, and Malone appears to have a warrior class to protect it.