Village of Ravena

Many of us have experienced the hell of trying to get the village of Ravena to cough up public access information using the so-call F.O.I.L. (Freedom of Information Law) process established under the New York State Public Officers Law. Nancy Warner and her minions, Annette Demitraszek and Kristine Biernacki. It was bad under the Bruno tyranny but not much has changed. They manage to either delay indefinitely, to forget, or to refuse to produce the information requested. Seems it doesn’t bother them that they are violating citizens’ rights to public information or that they are breaking the law.

Nancy Warner’s Handling of Resident Inquiries
How the Village of Ravena Responds to F.O.I.L. Requests

Nor does it seem to bother them that they took oaths to serve the public, obey the law and to protect the Constitution. Mayor “Mouse” Misuraca is the village F.O.I.L. appeals officer, which means that he’s the one you have to rely on to overrule Nancy Warner and her sock puppets, Demitraszek and Biernacki, but he’s just a low-key kinda guy, not a hands-on leader. So that means you’re not getting your information.

We are fortunate to have received from one of our readers a recent e-mail received from Nancy Warner that clearly illustrates how she despises citizen’s rights and how she thinks she is servant to no one, least of all a resident of Ravena, and how snotty she responds to a resident’s inquires. Here’s what she writes:

Since I have a Village email address I suggest you use that when you send any emails to me regarding Village matters. I will not respond to any Village emails that come to any other address except that one.

With that said, I will address this one final time. You have had your unit situation for [redacted] Main Street explained to you, both in person & in writing, on several occasions dating back as far as when I was the Deputy Clerk-Treasurer for the Village. The Clerk’s office, the Mayor’s office & the Building Dept have all addressed this issue with you.

As far as I am concerned this matter is closed and no further discussion will be entertained by me. Please stop wasting the taxpayer’s money & the office staff’s valuable time by requesting information via FOIL that you have been given repeatedly.

Nancy Warner’s Motto

Well, Nancy Warner, we have reviewed the documents you and your office produced in response to the resident’s F.O.I.L. demands and what you and your “office staff” produced was rubbish, incomplete, and unintelligible in terms of responsible recordkeeping. While that didn’t surprise us in the least, we do have to remind you that you are a public servant, elected by some strange quirk of fate, and you don’t have choices in most of your duties and responsibilities. It’s not your little playpen, Nancy! (Your little pigpen, the Ravena Health and Fitness Center has been defunded, remember?)

As to your statement that you won’t respond: It is your duty and obligation to respond to any citizen’s or resident’s inquiries. You don’t have a choice, Nancy. If the resident pees his/her request in the snow and you read it it’s your duty and obligation to respond. So stop your arrogant twaddle, biatch! You’ll respond and you’ll like it!

What’s more, you’ll respond as many times as necessary. If a citizen or resident asks the same thing again it’s obvious you didn’t respond adequately in the first place. So you respond until the citizen or resident is satisfied he/she understands your explanation. That’s your duty and responsibility.

You make the big mistake of referring to the time when you were Deputy Clerk-Treasurer for the Village of Ravena

As a matter of fact, you make the big mistake of referring to the time when you were Deputy Clerk-Treasurer for the Village. That was a big mistake because most of the criminal activity and the poor recordkeeping began on YOUR WATCH, Nancy Warner! We’ve seen some of the garbage you have passed off as responses and documentation and it’s would make a third-grader look like a Philadelphia lawyer. Get with the program, Missy! You’re a public servant.

As far as you’re “concerned this matter is closed and no further discussion will be entertained by me” is totally incorrect. The matter isn’t closed because you want it to be. Not by a long shot. It’s closed when the matter is rectified, when the problem resolved. Who in hell do you think you are to tell a citizen or resident that you won’t entertain a citizen’s requests?

Cathy Deluca and her pigpen
Where’d the funding go, little piggies?

But the part of your e-mail, Ms Witch-on-a-Stick Nancy Warner is when you tell the resident to “please stop wasting the taxpayer’s money & the office staff’s valuable time.” That statement alone shows what a vile hypocrite you really are. But it also had to be the funniest statement you’ve made in your entire misspent life, but especially the stupidest statement you could have possibly have made as a trustee of the village of Ravena, a trustee who cannot be trusted to do what’s right for the people of Ravena, and the very trustee of the village of Ravena who ensured that her girlfriend, Cathy Deluca, got her own playpen (the “pigpen“) at taxpayer expense, the very trustee who spearheaded spending more than $40,000 on used fitness equipment from one of your insider friends, and the very untrusworthy trustee who ensured that the failed and now defunded Ravena Health and Fitness Center (a.k.a. Cathy’s pigpen), run into the ground by your girlfriend Cathy Deluca at taxpayer expense, got funded for two years, sending more than $200,000 of Ravena taxpayer dollars down the sewers. You should have thought of not wasting taxpayer money and office staff’s valuable time when you were doing your own damage to the village of Ravena, Nancy Warner!

New Baltimore

They ran promising transparency and accountability. What they are delivering is clear as mud and just as helpful.

Saved by the SmartPhone: What the Supervisor, Deputy Supervisor and a Greene County Sheriffs deputy apparently can’t see, the camera can! No denying that town of New Baltimore supervisor Nick Delisanti, sidekick “deputy supervisor” Jeff Ruso and a Greene County sheriff’s deputy really need to get their eyes — and ears — examined. And town of New Baltimore voters need to get their heads examined for electing this bunch of fruitcakes.

The situation: A public street in the National Historic District, Madison Avenue East, was blocked by a private contractor for extended periods on April 24 and 25, preventing access to the one-way street and the one-way streets connecting to it. No early notice of the closure was provided to residents on those streets. No signs were posted indicating safe detours. No flagmen were positioned to ensure safety. Residents had to navigate the one-way streets in the wrong direction to reach their homes. While going the wrong way on one-way streets the residents were at risk of accident and liability, not to mention ticketing should law enforcement have to investigate. Construction trucks were also using the streets. The town of New Baltimore was contacted regarding this unlawful and dangerous situation.

After several back-and-forth emails and several reminders, a New Baltimore Resident finally gets some answers, if you can call them answers. Here’s an example of New Baltimore town Supervisor’s responses to the resident’s questions regarding unlawful blocking of a public street in New Baltimore. These are the questions and Dellisanti’s answers.

Question: Was the town of New Baltimore notified of the tree removal operations?

Delisanti’s answer: No

Question: Is a permit required for such operations when they affect public transit?

Delisanti’s answer: Yes, block parties, parades, & street fairs.

Question: Is a permit required for operations that require closure of a public roadway?

Delisanti’s answer: Yes, block parties, parades, & street fairs.

Question: Is a permit required for redirecting traffic on a public roadway for private purposes?

Delisanti’s answer: Contact the Greene County Sheriffs office

Question: If a permit was required, was one applied for?

Delisanti’s answer: N/A

Question: If a permit was applied for and issued, when will the permit be available for inspection?

Delisanti’s answer: N/A

Question: What safety or monitoring precautions were provided by the town of New Baltimore during this operation?

Delisanti’s answer: Contact the Greene County Sheriffs office.

Question: If a permit were required and none was applied for and, consequently, none issued, what are the intentions of the town of New Baltimore to follow up on this matter?

Delisanti’s answer: N/A

Question: Has anyone from the town visited the concerned area, specifically, has anyone from the town board or the Highway Department visited the area.

Delisanti’s answer: Yes, both Jeff Ruso & I went to the site; Deputy Superintendent Scott VanWormer went there after he finished with a multi – alarm fire on 9W in Coxsackie; he asked the contractor if any residents complained that the road was blocked & he said no; Scott asked him to open the road and he did.

Question: Has anyone from the town made inquiries as to who is doing the work and blocking off the streets, specifically, has anyone from the town board or the Highway Department made such inquiries since my initial notification?

Delisanti’s answer: Contractor was Jay Biel

Question: Has the town undertaken to involve law enforcement to investigate or to provide safety support during the operations going on on Madison Avenue East and in view of the traffic obstructions and diversions?

Delisanti’s answer: I had the Greene County Deputy Sheriff respond to Madison Ave East at 9:10am on 4/25.  The Deputy Sheriff reported back that the trees and limbs were down & the road was open.

Question: What documentation is being kept of any response to any of my questions.

Delisanti’s answer: I have all of your e-mails & my responses on file.

I’m sure that you can appreciate that the qualities of diligence, conscientiousness, honesty, integrity, and thoroughness are high on the list of qualities we might seek, expect in leaders. The fact that you state that you have all of my emails on file but manage to respond to a mere fraction of the questions posed does not bode well for your overall score ;)

So, New Baltimore residents, go on out and close your streets down, it’s legal in New Baltimore — at least according to your town of New Baltimore supervisor, Mr Nick Dellisanti. But don’t have all of those street fairs, parades, or block parties without getting a permit. Remember all those New Baltimore street fairs, parades and block parties we have so many of. DUH! And we understand there’s going to be a new local tax in New Baltimore, the Supervisor’s Vision Surcharge, which will be used for the town of New Baltimore supervisor’s and deputy-supervisor’s vision exams and corrective lenses to help them see construction trucks and traffic cones, providing, of course, they go down to inspect during normal work hours, before the workmen take off for the day.

GET A PAIR

And what’s this crappola about “Contact the Greene County Sheriffs office“? What’s that steaming pile of BS, Mr Dellisanti? Madison Avenue East is a town of New Baltimore roadway, your responsibility first, your highway department’s responsibility first, NOT THE GREENE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT’S!!! If anyone has to contact the Greene County Sheriff’s office it’s YOU, Mr Dellisanti! Get with the program. If you want to be supervisor and board member, start doing the job!

Mr Jordan’s department couldn’t cough up enough documentation to choke a flea

The Camera Doesn’t Lie

(but maybe the supervisor, deputy supervisor and a sheriff’s deputy do have a problem with truth-telling)

We’ve done a slideshow of the photos of the situation for your amusement:

For two days, Friday, April 24, 2015, and Saturday, April 25, 2015, a New Baltimore resident in the National Historic District was communicating with town of New Baltimore Supervisor Nick Dellisanti, and attempting to communicate with town of New Baltimore town clerk, Barbara Fink, about the fact that on those two days the one-way street Madison Avenue East was cordoned off with traffic cones, and on Saturday, in addition to the traffic cones, a large dump truck with an equipment trailer was blocking the street. This was obviously not town work being done, and it was not just closing the street for a reasonable time but for most of the day.

It was obvious that some trees were being taken down but what was also obvious was that there were no signs directing traffic, no flagmen, no safety precautions whatsoever. This was private elective work being done by a private contractor, and so the obvious questions that popped up was: Was the town of New Baltimore administration aware of this? Are these people authorized to close a public street and to redirect traffic. If so do they have a permit authorizing them to do so? Why were residents not informed? Who was liable for residents having to travel the wrong way on one-way streets for the two days, that being the only way they could get to their homes? We think it was reasonable to ask such questions and to get some clear, unabiguous answers from town supervisor Dellisanti or one of his minions. We were wrong.

The resident first fired off an e-mail to the town of New Baltimore clerk, Ms Barbara Finke, copying town supervisor Nick Dellisanti. The email reads:

Dear Clerk:

 Today, on April 24, 2015, tree removal on the Northeast, corner of Rt 144 and Madison Avenue East, the Boyd property, has been going on since this morning.

 On return from an appointment I found that Madison Avenue East was closed and blocked off with traffic cones, preventing access to New Street. In order to access New Street and home, I had to drive opposite to the direction of one way traffic on either Madison Avenue East or on New Street. There were obvious liability, safety, not to mention legal considerations when doing this.

 I have several questions that require answers immediately:

 (1) Was the town of New Baltimore notified of the tree removal operations?

(2) Is a permit required for such operations when they affect public transit?

(3) Is a permit required for operations that require closure of a public roadway?

(4) Is a permit required for redirecting traffic on a public roadway for private purposes?

(5) If a permit was required, was one applied for?

(6) If a permit was applied for and issued, when will the permit be available for inspection?

(7) What safety or monitoring precautions were provided by the town of New Baltimore during this operation?

(8) If a permit were required and none was applied for and, consequently, none issued, what are the intentions of the town of New Baltimore to follow up on this matter?

Thank you for your a.s.a.p. response.

Please confirm receipt of my below message.

Thank you!

“Good morning:

“Again, today, on April 25, 2015, at 7:30 a.m. the street is blocked by traffic cones on the Madison Avenue East/Rt 144 one-way end. There are no signs, no flagmen, no indications of detours. The only access to Madison Avenue and New Street is opposite to the posted one-way traffic.

” Since I have not heard from you since my timely notification of April 24, 2015, and your response that you would get the answers to the questions I made, I have several additional questions that I would like addressed:

” 1) Has anyone from the town visited the concerned area, specifically, has anyone from the town board or the Highway Department visited the area.

2) Has anyone from the town made inquiries as to who is doing the work and blocking off the streets, specifically, has anyone from the town board or the Highway Department made such inquiries since my initial notification?

3) Has the town undertaken to involve law enforcement to investigate or to provide safety support during the operations going on on Madison Avenue East and in view of the traffic obstructions and diversions?

4) What documentation is being kept of any response to any of my questions.

” I have photographs of the situation if you require them.

” I may take the opportunity to have my observations published and to address the New Baltimore town board on this issue after having announced the presentation.

 Looking forward to a satisfactory explanation for this situation.”

Did they or didn’t they need a permit to block the street for two days?

Following that, Dellisanti writes back:

“Good morning. As an update, yesterday I contacted our Highway Department. Superintendent Jordan is out of town, but his deputy, Scott VanWormer said he is not aware of any permits that the homeowner is required to get from the town. I am still waiting for a response from our building inspector , and I’ve contacted the Deputy Sheriff to make an inspection this morning. 

“As soon as I get a report from the Deputy Sheriff, I will get back to you.

“Nick Dellisanti “

“At 9:10am the Deputy Sheriff reported to me that the tree job is complete and the road is open. 

Deputy Supervisor Ruso did stop by last night and he did say that the road was open and wood was piled up on the homeowners lawn.

“Thank you,

“Nick Dellisanti”

To which, the now perturbed, that is, pissed off resident replies:

Well, Nick, it appears the town of New Baltimore administration has fallen flat on its arse…again. You guys operate expecting to see the Easter Bunny and see Santa Claus instead, then concluding that there’s no Easter Bunny. You guys may not get it but it’s a matter of timing! You have to look for the Easter Bunny at Easter; if you look in December, you’re likely to see Santa Claus.

The question is not to investigate after the incident! You investigate when the incident is reported. If that’s how local law enforcement is going to perform, we need some changes, maybe starting with the Greene County Sheriff! Another example: When the burglary is reported we expect law enforcement to respond, not to react the day after and report that they found that no one was in the building, then concluding there was no intruder and hence no burglary. Do you follow this line of reasoning?

The point is that on two days the road was blocked off. I posed some very specific questions that I want answered; not a piss-poor report like “Well the dog was not barking when I drove by on Sunday while inspecting the parks.” (Remember that one?) Or Mr Tanner’s famous one, “I went by x times butt didn’t see a dog or hear any barking when I drove by. You’ll have to sign a complaint.” Well, when Mr Tanner finishes his shift with the DOT and just happens to drive by, it’s likely he may not find the dog outside because the owners are home from their outing!!!!

I’m getting the impression that the current New Baltimore town board elected last year is a one-term group; actually I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a one-term group judging by some of the performance. I can only work with what you hand me, Nick.

Excuses or explanations for not being able to respond like the Highway Super is on vacation or the Clerk is on vacation or ‘The lights are on but nobody’s home” does not speak well for performance. From my office window, I still see people driving up Madison Avenue East the wrong way on the one-way street. Can you tell me what’s wrong with this picture? Give it a shot. I know you can figure it out.

Please answer my specific questions and I’ll take it from there. Or don’t answer my specific questions and I’ll take it from there.

Wishing you all the best,

No sooner had the resident hit the send key than he observed several vehicles moving up Madison Avenue East going the wrong way on the one way street; several of these were residents. The only conclusion to be drawn was that they could not get down Madison Avenue East. So what’s Dellisanti and his sheriff’s deputy talking about one wonders? The resident writes:

“No sooner said than done!

” The white stump removal telescope truck just drove the wrong way up Madison Avenue East!!!!

” Now, that[‘s] safety in the National Historic District!

” I really need better answers from you, Nick.

” Thanks very much.

followed by:

“At 1:18 p.m., Madison Avenue East in the National Historic District is still blocked by traffic cones and a large trailer/dump truck apparently used to transport excavation equipment. There are no detour signs, no flagmen. Residents are being observed traveling up the wrong way on the one-way streets. What precautions are being taken to control/monitor this situation and to safeguard the safety and liabilities of residents being forced to find alternate routes, forced to ignore traffic safety postings, and forced into potential liability situations?”

and then by:

“The report you allegedly received from the deputy sheriff is grossly incorrect. This is obvious by the continuing work being done, the heavy equipment blocking Madison Avenue East and the traffic cones. Please provide the name of the deputy sheriff providing you with the grossly inaccurate report and the source of the information he received and reported to you.”

and finally by:

“Did Mr Ruso expect, when he stopped by “last night” that the workmen and the equipment would still be there? A bit idiotic, I’d say. They usually quite at around 4:30 or earlier, similar to most such occupations on a Friday. They returned on Saturday morning at around 8:30.”

This is an example of the kind of runaround a resident gets when there is clearly a problem in the Hamlet. There’s a sort of imbecilic reasoning going on in the heads of members of the town of New Baltimore board members and officers — and these characters were elected to replace the last bunch of fruitcakes — that qualify them for what the pestilence of New Baltimore, Cut-and-Paste Joan R., calls “Newbaltimorons.”

Dellisanti, Ruso: No obstruction on Madison Avenue East. Hey, man! Did you see that flying pink bison just go by? Freaky, man!

Give us a freakin’ break, Dellisanti!
The Editor
You know, Nick, the one who’s holding your feet to the fire.