A Polacco homer might have swung a few votes. Few, it seemed, left the hall humming his song, or anybody else’s. The applause, particularly during the question-and-answer session, was so tepid as to be embarrassing. It was almost as if people were hoping for other choices.
As noted in other reports, there was little difference on issues between candidates walking the middle of the road where former state senator Dick Schermerhorn used to say one finds only yellow lines and dead skunks.
Even tag along-but-game Red Dog Party candidate Steve Ladin stepped gingerly, though his claiming he could walk safely anywhere in Kingston drew a few laughs. Observers had to conclude he meant in the company of a platoon of Navy Seals.
“Rich did well,” opined Turco-Levin, now reduced to a face in the breakfast crowd of 220 or so. The comment, solicited by an annoying reporter, said more about remorse over Polacco’s surprising win last month than Cahill’s competent handling of the issues.
And what of the future? Beyond the blah, blah and blah lies the stark reality that this city, like many of its households, is facing rising fixed expenses, uncertain revenues and bleak days ahead.
Former mayor Ray Garraghan used to say everybody’s smart when they have money. There’s no money.
Public safety is an example. All candidates vowed to enhance police presence in the city. Ideas ranged from more foot patrolmen in troubled areas to closer coordination with county and state law enforcement to cell-phone-toting citizen “sweeper squads.”
But as retiring police chief Jerry Keller has patiently explained on numerous occasions, to put one more cop on the force actually means three (three shifts, remember?), maybe four to cover vacations and sick time. One rookie cop costs around $70,000, including benefits. So for “one cop” we’re looking at close to $300,000, or about 7 percent on the tax rate.
The answer is not to do nothing, not with gangs proliferating — upwards of 300 members, according to Cahill’s unchallenged estimate — and recruiting new members as young as pre-teens. But are hardscrabble residents worried about heating their homes this winter prepared to cough up perhaps another million dollars for a dedicated “gang squad”? Not likely, nor did any candidate follow that question to its logical conclusion at Friday’s session.
