“I’m sticking to the 2 percent,” said Sottile. “If the council doesn’t like it, they can change it.”
Council minority leader and mayoral candidate Andi Turco-Levin (R-Ward 1) said she learned of Sottile’s plan to end city trash collection when she attended a closed-door budget meeting with Sottile and city department heads. Turco-Levin said the decision to abruptly drop a key city service was misguided.
“You don’t do that knee-jerk, willy-nilly to a city of 20,000 people,” said Turco-Levin.
Turco-Levin added that she believed the mayor was using the budget, which will be up for debate around election time, to put pressure on aldermen, including three mayoral candidates who could be forced to either back unpopular cuts or join a supermajority to stave them off.
“He wants to put them on the spot and see how they dance,” said Turco-Levin.
Sottile, meanwhile, blasted the Republican mayoral hopeful for disclosing plans discussed in what was supposed to be a closed-door meeting.
“I’ve given (aldermen) the privilege and opportunity to sit in on those meetings,” said Sottile. “For someone to take that information and use it as a political ploy speaks volumes about their professionalism.”
Mayor says city can’t afford to collect garbage anymore
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I think that well-intentioned Citizens of the City of Kingston have been electing Democrats without ever holding them accountable. Therefore, these guys get into office and do whatever they please: mismanage taxes and allow inefficiency to proliferate, knowing that another Democrat ‘good-‘ol-boy’ will be elected and continue to serve they’re own interests rather than the interests of the citizens and business owners of this otherwise beautiful City. This has to stop. It’s a disgrace and it’s ravaging Kingston.
The mayor who can’t figure out how to pay for trash removal is calling Andi Turco-Levin unprofessional? That’s rich.
I applaud Andi Turco-Levin for being the only candidate for Mayor who is talking about creating efficiency in this wasteful, bloated City Government.
The mayor is CAMOUFLAGING the fact that HE just costs the City of Kingston: $143,000.00 is what SHOULD BE and INDICTMENT by the Ulster County District Attorney FOR WHAT JUST HAPPENED with the King’s Inn….
But NOT A PEEP for the MEEK promised to INHERIT THE EARTH;one shovel full at a time while EATING THEIR DAILY DIE_T of promised SUFFERINGS too numerous to mention….. As the BULLY profess AUTHORITY upon the LESSER BULLY professing AUTHORITY of their LESSER BULLY, etc…..