“The City Council reached a tentative budget deal on Friday that offers taxpayers a 1.54-percent tax cut.
Mayor Gary McCarthy’s initially-proposed 16-percent salary increase has been whittled to 4 percent.
But don’t expect City Hall to be lit in rainbow lights while city council members hold hands and sing kumbaya: Several lawmakers accused their colleagues of engaging in clandestine, backroom dealing when hammering out the budget agreement.
Councilwoman Leesa Perazzo dismissed the meeting as a “dog and pony show.”
“I’m highly disappointed this is a closed-door procedure,” Perazzo told Finance Committee Chairman John Polimeni. “You had your four votes before you walked in the door.”
Perazzo and Councilman Vince Riggi offered numerous amendments that were ultimately rejected, including reinstating the position of the fair housing coordinator, whose position under the current proposal would be eliminated on Jan. 1, and slashing $250,000 from the city’s Smart Cities initiative, instead allocating those funds for a new state-mandated courtroom.”
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DeMola, Pete. Schenectady Gazette 26 October 2019.