Golf course conditions have officials teed off
TROY, N.Y. » The condition of the Frear Park Golf Course has sparked the latest war of words between Mayor Patrick Madden and City Council President Carmella Mantello, with Madden accusing his counterpart of scarificing cooperation for political gamesmanship.
The latest dispute began with a Wednesday afternoon email from Mantello to Madden in which she said she had received numerous complaints about the condition of the course and asking that the mayor fill the inactive, 19-member Recreation Advisory Board to oversee city parks and recreation programs. Mantello pointed out that the board is required under the city charter, with its duties including a report every three months to the council and recreation officials on the state of its recreation facilities.
“I am deeply concerned about the current condition of our city’s golf course,” Mantello said in the email. “This is one of our major revenue generators and a city asset. Just two years ago, $1.5 million was bonded of taxpayer dollars to fix the irrigation system. The city administration must take a more proactive approach to enhance and promote this jewel!”
In a terse reply, Madden lamented what he called a history of “incessant social media postings & subsequent release to the local press of inaccurate and incomplete information” that “not only demoralized the staff at the golf course [but] also has the potential to drive people away from our golf facilities and reduce valuable revenue coming to the city.”
Madden admitted problems with five greens on the 18-hole course, which city officials attributed to overfertilization and a subsequent stretch of rainy weather that left oatches of dead grass on the greens. Officials were notified of the problem more than a month ago, they said, and brought in outside experts to address the problem, though it will likely take the remainder of the season for the affected greens to recover.
“Yes, we have problems with five greens,” Madden admitted in the email. “Those issues have been acknowledged and our Deputy Mayor and our Parks & Recreation staff have spent a great deal of time and effort rectifying the situation over the past several weeks. Unfortunately, with no knowledge of the actual facts, you take to the media to bash the City of Troy and denigrate the hard work of our staff. You made no effort to ascertain what efforts were underway. Have you considered the damage you are doing to the City and our employee’s reputations with these repeated attacks?”
Mantello countered Friday morning by questioning not only the openness of the mayor’s administration, but its effectiveness in maintaining city-owned properties.
“As I I drive this [morning] through the Burgh and other areas of our city, looking at city properties not mowed and trash ridden throughout our streets, I can’t help but wonder if you’ve even traveled through our city or Frear Park or even know where Beman or Kinloch park is even located,” she said. “Maybe instead of finding ways on ‘how not to open our pools,’ finding ways on how not to include the public in your decision-making, and looking for a ribbon-cutting ceremony, you would spend some time in our alleys and streets with the real folks and the real issues.”
Madden, however, pointed out that such maintenance was made much more difficult by cuts in full- and part-time staff he and the council chose to make as part of a compromise agreed to to resolve a contentious debate over the current city budget.
“My priorities and central focus remains on the 2018 budget, labor negotiations and addressing quality-of-life issues in our neighborhoods,” he wrote. “These are the issues that our constituents want us, Troy’s elected representatives, to focus on. These are the issues that are most important to the city. When I get some breathing space, I’ll take a look at the recreation committee to which you refer.”
Madden also said the exchange was a sign of larger communication issues between the two, explaining that even though they agreed at the beginning of their respective terms in January 2016 to meet every Thursday morning, the last such meeting came more than a year ago.
“Your failure to follow through or ask to reschedule these meetings demonstrates a lack of commitment to [the] communication and bipartisan cooperation you promised during our initial meeting immediately following election day in November of 2015,” Madden wrote. “Instead, it appears you would rather tweet than meet. Your tactic of tweeting first and asking questions later, if at all, comes not from a place of good intentions but from blatant political strategizing without any thought of the consequences.”
Mantello said she made the mayor aware last year she would be unable to attend those Thursday morning meetings because of her new job on the staff of state Sen. Betty Little. She also complained about what she claims are “unprofessional” responses she routinely receives when she expresses concerns to Madden or members of his administration.
“On numerous occasions, the unprofessional communications with myself and other members of the elected city council is just another example of your lack of supervision,” she wrote. “I will call upon you to review the decorum and professionalism of your top staff members in regards to the legislative body.”
Mantello closed her Friday morning email by telling the mayor she would not let his criticism silence her.
“I will continue to speak out whenever appropriate on behalf of the people of Troy despite your negative comments,” she wrote.