And You Thought It Was Bad In North Greenbush

Remember the $21,000 of taxpayer money paid to C.B. Smith by the A.S.S. Team administration, without any proof of work product?   Well it looks like the same game is being played in East Greenbush, only worse!!!!!

In East Greenbush, if you’re the tax collector you get extra money to “deposit” the taxes you collected,  and the Town Supervisor gets “overtime”.

It appears some members of the  East Greenbush Democratic Committee, who also hold appointed and elected positions  have been getting “bonuses” cleverly disguised as “stipends”.   At a time when town workers are going without raises, and the town is $2 million in debt, these people rewarded themselves with extra pay, and did it without town board approval.

Considering these are the same people who joined together with the North Greenbush Dems, and filed a lawsuit to remove Lou Desso, Mike Cristo and Phil Danaher from office,  we can only speculate where that $1 million surplus North Greenbush had went when.

Anyway, here is a recording of the Al Roney show (click Al Roney to listen) where Mike Cristo and Ann Taylor talked about what is going on.  I’ve also attached a piece from The Record.

Considering all that’s going on with the Troy Dems, and now this, I suspect it won’t be long before the A.S.S. is facing charges.

McCabe calls stipend controversy ‘a political witch hunt’

Sunday, September 19, 2010

By Cecelia Martinez
The Record

EAST GREENBUSH – A former Town Board member and members of the East Greenbush Finance Committee have raised concerns over stipends given to town employees between 2006 and 2009 totaling more than $145,000. Town Supervisor Rick McCabe said the giving of stipends has been going on for decades, and that he “takes full responsibility,” saying he believed the employees deserved “extra money for extra work.”

Former Town Board member Mike Cristo, along with current Board Member Rick Matters and Finance Committee members Don Johnson and Ann Taylor first became aware of the stipends after Cristo was approached by a town employee who he claims told Cristo that he had “taken away my $6,000.” During the 2010 budget process, the board removed a $60,000 budget line for “miscellaneous expenses” after they were unable to get answers from the town about how the money was used.

“That raised a definite red flag because miscellaneous budget lines are never over $10,000,” said Taylor. Johnson filed a Freedom of Information Law request for documents regarding the stipends, which show that 14 former and current employees, including Supervisor McCabe and his daughter Lauren, received annual stipends ranging from just over $100 to $7,500.

The stipends were dispersed as part of the employees’ biweekly pay, boosting the salaries in a way that Cristo, Matters, Johnson and Taylor feel may constitute pension padding. Matters also pointed out that, in addition to the monies paid directly to the employees, the town also would have been required to pay payroll taxes and retirement contributions for that additional income.

Matters, who said he gave up his Town Board salary two years in a row to the tune of nearly $30,000, felt that, given the fiscal difficulties of the town, the notion of specific employees receiving stipends in a “stealth manner” offended him.

“The monies were essentially buried in the budget,” said Matters. Johnson pointed to Article 3, Section 5 of town law that states salaries must be set during the budget and cannot be altered without a resolution by the Town Board. He explained that, because the board approves the specific employee salaries and the overall department salary budgets separately, it would be difficult to catch the discrepancy.

McCabe said that the money for the stipend was included in the budget, but not the specific amounts each individual would get. He said stipends were awarded for a variety of reasons, such as employees taking on extra duties to make up for reduced staff or, in his own case, to go towards phone and mileage expenses. He said the amounts were decided at the beginning of each year, but some of the reasons on the documents include “extra hours” and “nights and weekends”.

“This is a political witch hunt by the opposition,” said McCabe, who claimed that Cristo was upset after losing his Town Board position last year after it was determined Cristo could not hold simultaneous political seats. “If I wanted to hide anything, why would I keep the documents on the record as part of the FOIL-able file?”

McCabe said they stopped the giving of stipends after a report by the State Comptroller’s Office earlier this year recommended the practice be discontinued.

“They said it was legal but that it was frowned upon, so we don’t do it anymore,” he said. McCabe could not immediately produce the report Saturday, but said there was a copy at Town Hall. When asked if he felt it was appropriate to take $10,000 in stipend money over two years while the town is over $2.5 million in debt, McCabe said his expenses add up to “much more” than what he received.

Regarding stipends given to other employees, he added: “The town has to function. These people who are crying about ‘taxpayer dollars’ and the stipends, I guarantee that the first time their water stops running, or the roads aren’t paved, they’re the first ones on the phone complaining. We don’t [give stipends] anymore, so that’s that.”

Based on a resolution approved by the Town Board, an official opinion on the propriety and legality of the stipends and the manner in which they were issued has been requested by the State Comptroller’s Office, and the matter has been forwarded to the Public Integrity Bureau of the Attorney General’s Office.

“The wheels of government turn very slowly,” said Taylor, who noted that nearly all of the employees receiving stipends are Democrats, and some are also Democratic Committee members. She and Cristo also claimed that the recent action of placing Department of Public Works Commissioner Christopher DeFruscio on administrative leave was political retribution for the stipend controversy coming to light.

“I cannot talk about the issue regarding DeFruscio as it’s a personnel matter, but it is absolutely, positively not political,” said McCabe.

Matters said that he hopes the town receives the opinion from the Comptroller’s Office in a timely manner, and said that, if suspicions were confirmed that the stipends practice was improper or illegal, appropriate ramifications would take place. He declined to speculate what those ramifications may be.

Cecelia Martinez can be contacted at 270-1294 or by e-mail at cmartinez@troyrecord.com.

Never Forget

North Greenbush Candidate Misses Court Date Over Fraudulant Petition

WOW!!!!! All the work the A.S.S. team put into making Delores Celeste their “CHOICE” candidate on the Taxpayers First line, and she doesn’t even show up for her own court date. No candidate, no attorney and from what we heard, no notice to the court (good thing justice is blind).

Today’s court appearance was to hear arguments over the validity of 37 signatures on a petition to put Ms. Celeste on the Taxpayers First line this November. If the Court finds those 37 signatures invalid,the petition would also become invalid and the Taxpayers First Party would be finished. Should that happen, the only remaining chance Delores Celeste has of appearing November Ballot would to win this Tuesdays Primary for the Working Families Party line. Now it’s kind of hard to win a primary when you haven’t been out campaigning, and nobody knows you’re running!!!!! Unless of course you you the “Troy Method” and have all your democratic friends get together and have an absentee ballot party, just remember wear gloves and don’t lick the envelope.

Now we’ve also heard that Delores is having second thoughts about her association with the A.S.S. team, and that she has spoken with some key members of the GOP about her political future. So could it be that today’s no-show could have anything to do with her declining the Taxpayers First endorsement? Now wouldn’t that wouldn’t that be the ultimate “knot” in C.B.’s panties. There isn’t enough proctologists on the face of the earth to work that knot out.

On the subject of fraudulent ballots, Troy, C.B. Smith, proctologists and Attorneys, we’ve also heard that C.B. has a new attorney, and it’s the same attorney representing those implicated in the Great Troy Ballot Malfunction. Could it be that C.B. is now being drawn into that investigation? Could you imagine how hard it would be to find a jury of his “peers” if he was indicted, they ‘d have to move the trial to Zimbabwe.

The Missing Candidate In North Greenbush

CHOICE, that’s supposedly what Dan Ashley and the members of his  A.S.S. team claim they’re fighting for, or so they want you to believe.  They also want to convince you that Lou Desso is so afraid of voters having that “choice”, that he’s trying to block Delores Celeste from getting a line on the November ballot.

What we want to know is, WHERE THE HELL IS DELORES CELESTE?  Why hasn’t she publicly stated how she feels about any of this?  Does she have other plans?  How does she feel about the lawsuit over the questionable signatures on her petition?  Does she have a agenda, if so, when will she share it with the voters?  How does she feel about “Supervisor Jo’s” plan to abolish the overnight police patrols considering the rash of overnight crimes that have been hitting the area?  What does she plan on doing to help relieve the property tax burden?

O.K., we could go on and on with the questions but we think you get our point.  With less than 60 days until Election Day we haven’t heard “diddly squat” from Delores Celeste, however we have heard a lot hype from the A.S.S. team, that alone speaks volumes about Delores Celeste and who she’ll serve if elected.  Even the members of her own party complained that she is an “unknown”, and that those who nominated her at the caucus hadn’t provided any background on her experience or qualifications.

As we see it, If the A.S.S. team really wants to give the voters a “choice”,  then it’s time for the candidate to come out of hiding.  It’s time she let the voters know who she is and what she stands for.  Otherwise she’s not a “choice”, she’s only a name taking up space on the ballot, a name with the potential of being another  A.S.S. team puppet like Josephine Ashworth.

A Closer Examination Of Politics In North Greenbush

I needed a good laugh today, and boy did I ever get one when I read C.B.’s blog.

I have to admit, I just love it when C.B. gets his “panties in a knot”, and right now his panties are so twisted, it would take a team of proctologists a month to get the current knot out of the crack in his ass (or the crack in his head).  So needless to say I’m a happy person.

You see, things aren’t looking good for the A.S.S. team, and right now C.B. is spending every waking moment doing damage control.  He’s trying hard to turn things around for the A.S.S. team, but the fall of the A.S.S. team is inevitable.

As we said back in January, the A.S.S. team lawsuit to remove Lou Desso from office was going to backfire, and boy did it ever. They failed to realize that most people are honest,  and they know Desso won the election fair and square. Therefore any move to remove Desso would be seen as a disenfranchisement of all voters, not just those who supported Lou.  Basically they felt if it could be done to Desso, then it could be done to their candidate.  It’s a matter of what goes around, could come around (and it usually does).

Further proof that most voters believe Desso is entitled hold the seat he was elected to can be found in the results of this year’s Dem caucus, where Desso won by a 2-1 margin.

So here we are nine months after the A.S.S. team went to court to remove Desso.  The A.S.S. team was heard, the case was decided, the law was corrected, Lou was reappointed to the seat he rightfully won, and the “MAJORITY” of the voters and parties support Desso in this Novembers election.  At this point,  anyone with more than two brain cells would let the “sleeping dog lie”.

It appears that the A.S.S. team believes they’re the only ones who have any right to use the courts to “right a wrong”, as they believe that the current lawsuit is nothing more than a play by Desso to block any opposition.  If that’s true, then one could say that the only reason the A.S.S. team sued to remove Desso, was because they couldn’t/didn’t win the election.

For some reason the A.S.S. team believes that Desso is afraid of his challenger Delores Celeste, nothing could be further from the truth.  Desso has a proven history of “serving the people”, he’s experienced and a very popular candidate.  Celeste on the other hand is at a disadvantage from that start simply because she’s an A.S.S. team candidate.  Add in the fact that she has no political experience, she’s virtually unknown to the people in town and she’s running on a newly formed line, a line most voters see as a sham.

As I see it, the lawsuit will once again show the voters in North Greenbush how low the A.S.S. team will go to manipulate an election, and I have no doubt that the court will find that the “Taxpayers First” petition is permeated with fraud and errors, as were most of the past petitions associated with the A.S.S. team.

So what made me laugh, well it was the quote by Dan Ashley where he said “The only way for (him) to win is to hold an election in which he is the only candidate. It kind of reminded me of Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf, the Iraqi Information Minister who went on  TV and said,  ”I triple guarantee you, there are no American soldiers in Baghdad.”,  as American soldiers could be seen and heard in the background.

A Hero Comes Home

“Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.   Protect them as they protect us Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need.   Amen.”

Staff Sgt. Derek Farley

“Staff Sgt. Derek J. Farley, 24, of Nassau, N.Y., died Aug. 17 at Bala Boluk, Farah, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated as he attempted to disarm it. He was assigned to the 18th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Grafenwoehr, Germany.”

On Wednesday August 25, Staff Sergeant Derek Farley’s is coming home.  His motorcade will travel from Albany Airport to his home town of Nassau and then through North Greenbush to Lyons Funeral Home on Washington Ave.

The public is encouraged to line the non-highway portions of the route of the motorcade in a show of support for Farley and his family.  In North Greenbush, that will the portion of Washington Ave from Exit 8 west toward the funeral home.

Please forward this message and encourage your friends, family and neighbors to line Washington Ave, and honor a true hero.

The family asks that any donations be made to the EOD Memorial Foundation, 7040 CR 772, Webster, Fla. 33597.

A Prayer For A Fallen Soldier
Author Unknown

I saw a soldier kneeling down,
for this was the first quiet place he had found.
He had traveled through jungles, rivers and mud.
His hands were scared and toil-warned.

He folded his hands and looked to the sky…
I saw his tears, as they welled in his eyes.
He spoke to God, and this is what he said.
God Bless my men, who now lie dead;

I know not what You have in mind,
but when You judge, please be kind….
when they come before You, they will be poorly dressed
but will walk proudly, for they have done their best.

Their boots will be muddy and their clothes all torn…
but these clothes they have so proudly worn.
Their hearts will be still and cold inside,
for they have fought their best and did so with pride.

So please take care of them as they pass Your way…
the price of freedom they’ve already paid.

North Greenbush Reality Check

Delores “CB” Celeste

Jo “CB” Ashworth

On Saturday I received a Google News Alert for North Greenbush, and upon opening the alert, I found a link to a letter published in The Record titled, “The GOP in Democrat clothing”.  Although the online version didn’t include the author’s name,  I suspected from the title it was penned by C.B. Smith.

My suspicion became stronger when I read the first sentence, “It is remarkable to see in print the proof that so many people registered as Democrats in North Greenbush really are tools of the Republican Party and remain Democrats only to sabotage the party.”. At this point I was laughing so hard, I cried.  Now I’ve always suspected that C.B. had a problem grasping reality,  but I was now certain the man was half a sandwich short of a full picnic.

The Oxford Dictionary defines reality as “the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or may be thought to be”.  Apply that to C.B.’s letter, and it’s clear  a “reality check” is in order.

FACT: The 2009 NG Democratic Caucus  was attended by 206 “voters”, as compared to this year’s 209. A difference of only three votes or 1.4%.

FACT: Between August 2009 and August of 2010 the enrollment of registered democrats in North Greenbush has seen little or no change.

FACT: The majority of the voters attending the caucus were the same voters who attended in 2009, meaning  the voters didn’t change, only their perspective of the party, its leadership and its candidates did.

FACT: When C.B.’s slate won in 2009, the members of the party were called voters.  When his candidate lost in 2010, these same people became “tools” of the GOP!!!

FACT: The purpose of the caucus is not to select someone to “oppose [a] Republican”, it’s about selecting someone who if elected will serve the people.

FACT: Every candidate endorsed by the Ashley & Smith leadership, and  elected to a town office,  has failed when it comes to “serving the people”.

FACT: Delores Celeste was handpicked by Ashley & Smith.

FACT: Delores Celeste LOST BY A 2-1 MARGIN playing on the home field.

FACT: The outcome of the 2010 caucus was clearly a vote of no confidence in the current leadership of the North Greenbush Democratic Committee.

REALITY CHECK: The caucus was attended by people (all wearing democratic clothing) who are tired of Ashley and Smith’s dirty & destructive politics.  People who have witnessed the unwarranted personal attacks on those who have worked hard, and continue to work hard to make North Greenbush a better place to live and work.  It was attended by people who are tired of Ashley and Smith blaming others for their own failures and shortcoming.  People who want to elect someone with proven leadership skills and who will no be just another cog in the “political machine”.

It’s clear to me that integrity won over politics at the 2010 caucus.  The voters were given a choice, and their choice was not to endorse “C.B. in Celeste clothing”.  After all, they did that in 2009 and so far the “C.B. in Ashworth clothing” has proven to be just another entry in the long list of failures for the A.S.S. team.

SORE A.S.S. GETS WIPED OUT IN NORTHGREENBUSH!!!!!!!!!

There Is A Choice In North Greenbush

In what will go down as one of the biggest defeats in North Greenbush political history,  Lou Desso overcame the home field advantage of A.S.S. team candidate Delores Celeste, and received the North Greenbush Democratic Committee nomination for Town Councilman.  With a final vote of 138 to 70, the people of North Greenbush have begun to write the final chapters of the A.S.S. (Ashley, Sabo &Smith) Team’s manipulation of local politics.

But it appears the A.S.S. isn’t going to go down easily, and a “double flush” may be required come November when they attempt to use their newly created “TAXPAYER FIRST” party to get their candidate on the ballot.  Reminiscent of the days of DANA/VIC and the Greenbush Party, the A.S.S. team hopes to gain sympathy votes by claiming the voters have no choice with Desso holding all the major lines.  The truth is the choice was made at last night’s caucus.  By a 2-1 margin, the enrolled democrats of North Greenbush preferred Desso a Conservative, over A.S.S. candidate Celeste.  Was it because Celeste is a bad candidate, or because she was backed by the A.S.S. team?

As we said in our last post back in March, the A.S.S. team is imploding, and last night’s caucus is further proof.   The “double standard” used to remove Desso and others from office has  backfired on those who orchestrated it, upsetting many voters.   Last night was further proof that many democrats have turned their backs on those who used the courts to remove Desso from office, a move that left many feeling if the courts are allowed to determine the outcome of elections, then there was no reason for them to bother voting.

In the end, a system used and supported by the A.S.S. team to choose candidates in the past prevailed, and there’s nothing worse than getting beat at your own game (just ask DANA).  So don’t be fooled, choice is alive and well in North Greenbush, and last night proved it.

North Greenbush Power Play

It appears another “well-thought-out plan” by the “professional management team” has gone bust. As we first told you last week, a Stay was granted in the Liberty/Dill vs. Desso lawsuit, meaning Desso will be allowed to hold both elected offices pending the outcome of an appeal, leaving Tom Wade and his operatives Jann Liberty and Rose Dill to come up with a “Plan B”.

“Plan A”, was a single lawsuit divided into two actions. The first action has Jann Liberty and Rose Dill challenging Lou Desso , the second is Jeffrey Allan Spencer and Kim Halloran challenging Mike Cristo and Phil Danaher. Both actions sought to remove or force the three to choose between their county and town elected offices, and by doing so we believe the dems were looking for an early opportunity to regain those lost seats. Since all have now taken their county oaths, an unsuccessful appeal would mean only the three town board seats in question would be considered vacated. It’s anticipated that the appeal will be “expedited” but it could take several months to a year and bring us well past the September deadline to put any vacated seat on the November ballot. If that were to happen, Desso’s seat In North Greenbush would be filled by appointment until the term expires in 2011. In East Greenbush, the taxpayers would end up footing the bill for a special election that would fill the seat for a year or less. Yes folks, it’s another “well-thought-out plan” brought to you by Tom Wade and C.B. Smith.

We do have to give credit where credit is due, and that credit goes to Kim Halloran the E.G. Dem Chair. Seems she has more intestinal fortitude than her counterpart Dan Ashley as Halloran had no problem singing her name to the lawsuit. Ashley on the other hand hid behind Jann Liberty and Greenbush Party supporter Rose Dill, and where in the world is Tom Wade, after all this was his idea.

At this point it looks as though the prospects of Wade gaining any seats on the town or county level are hopeless, and to continue to pursue the matter is a waste of time and money that will only alienate more voters, something the dems can’t afford to do.

Show Me The Money

The number of knots in C.B.’s knickers continues to grow, and the latest one seems to be who’s paying or not paying for attorneys that may or may not be appointed as deputy town attorneys, and whether or not Al Spain can ethically vote on the appointment. Does this remind anyone of the Fennelly & Mihalko lawsuit against the town over Bob Ashe voting on additional fees paid to Linda Mandel-Clement. Fees that were for the increased work load as a result of lawsuits filed by the dems and DANA. As I recall it Josh Sabo who argued the case for Fennelly & Mihalko on the grounds that Mandel-Clemente’s husband was an officer of the company that Ashe worked for, therefore Ashe should have recused himself from voting on the matter. Needless to say Fennelly & Mihalko didn’t win, and the taxpayers paid for another frivolous lawsuit.

But while we’re on the subject of paying attorneys, we’re wondering who’s paying James Long, the attorney representing Liberty, Dill, Spencer and Halloran. Attorney’s such as Long usually charge about $250 to $350 per hour plus costs and require a retainer up front. A search of the NYS campaign finance records for the county dems, North Greenbush dems and East Greenbush dems finds no record of any payments being made to Long. The litigation was started well before the January 10th cut-off date for the last report, so it should be there.

Now Wade and Ashley may think some of us are going to believe that Liberty, Dill, Spencer and Halloran are going to pay this bill out of their own pocket, but we’re not that stupid. Now that the case gone to an appeal, Long could easily spend 100 hours on this case, meaning the cost could be anywhere from $25,000 to $35,000. Sorry we’re just not buying that Liberty, Dill, Spencer and Halloran are going to come up with this money out of their own pockets.

Show Me The Money II

We first told you late last year that we discovered DANA was registered as a charity with the NYS Attorney General’s Office Charities Bureau, as well as classified as a NFP or Not For Profit. As such, any money DANA raised through donations is regulated by NYS Law which also requires DANA to include the amount of donated money, as well as how it’s spent in an annual report filed with the AG’s Charities Bureau. It appears DANA has not filed any of these required reports.

As we said above, attorneys don’t come cheap, so when you consider that DANA filed their first lawsuit in March of 2001, and the Decision on their last lawsuit came in January of 2008, the $200,000 it’s estimated they spent in seven years of litigation is a very conservative number, but where did the money come from, and how was it spent? As a charity they’re required to disclose the information.

When we first reported on DANA being a charity, we also told you that their attorney, Josh Sabo (now a town justice) served on the Board of Directors (now President) of The New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON), an organization that “ provide(s) a wide array of specialized technical assistance services, including legal and financial, to nonprofits of all kinds”. DANA has been listed as a member of NYCON since May of 2003 and is still listed as a current member today. According to the NYCON website “Founded in 1927, NYCON is a 501(C)(3) membership-based”, yet a search of the IRS website failed to produce any record of DANA being a 501(c)(3).

Now we could sit here and list everything that connects the Defreestville Area Neighborhoods Association (DANA), the Village Incorporation Committee (VIC), the Greenbush Party (GBP) and the North Greenbush Democratic Committee, under one umbrella but we think most of you already know all those connections. So keep those connections in mind when you read the following article. Also note that the two charities were set up by two elected officials, Malcolm Smith (D) and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D) of Queens. The main charity “ New Direction Local Development Corp” claims it’s a “neighborhood nonprofit” which is operated by spouses, family members and other cronies of Smith and Meeks. Attempts were made to direct $105,000 of pork barrel money to these charities, of which they received $56,500 of taxpayers’ money. Donations were sent to the official offices of both elected officials, as well as a third, Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D). Little or no money was paid out to the intended recipients of the charity, and there’s little or no accounting of donations or spending.

Last but not least, “ New Direction Local Development Corp” is now being investigated by the feds as part of a corruption probe into the awarding of a contract to AEG (Aqueduct Entertainment Group) for VLT’s (video lottery terminals) at the Aqueduct Racetrack.

So politics, neighborhood organizations, no accounting of donations or spending for a not-for-profits, all put together by a group of democrats. It this queens or North Greenbush.

Queens pols stiffed Katrina victims

Group’s 30G in ‘relief’ vanished down the drain

By MELISSA KLEIN and ISABEL VINCENT
Last Updated: 5:16 PM, February 8, 2010
Posted: 3:27 AM, February 7, 2010

EXCLUSIVE

It’s the Big Sleazy.

Devastated Hurricane Katrina survivors from New Orleans were left high and dry by a charity set up to help them by state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Rep. Gregory Meeks of Queens.

Only $1,392 of at least $31,000 raised to help Katrina families was paid, tax records show, and just about everybody involved with the charity — including the two Democratic pols — claim ignorance as to where the rest of the money went.

Meeks said in a statement that “the funds were utilized to help sustain displaced evacuees,” but refused to provide further detail. He said money was administered by an unidentified director and that “a committee of community representatives functioned as advisers to the fund.”

AP

DOESN’T WASH: An appeal on behalf of ’05 New Orleans flood victims by Gregory Meeks (left) and Malcolm Smith remained on the Web last week — even though they can’t account for cash they’ve already raised.

But three of those advisers said they had no idea whether cash was given out by the group, New Yorkers Organized to Assist Hurricane Families, or NOAH-F.

“I had nothing to do with any disbursement of any funds,” said the Rev. Edward Davis, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of St. Albans in Queens. “I can’t tell you. I don’t know.”

Another advisory board member, Candace Sandy, said she volunteered to help Katrina refugees living temporarily at a hotel near Kennedy Airport, but did not distribute money.

Sandy, who works for Meeks, said another advisory board member, Claude Stuart, was in charge of the money. Stuart did not return phone calls for comment.

Pamela Moore, chief-of-staff to Assemblywoman Barbara Clark, was listed as a member of the advisory board but said that it was a position in name only.

“I never attended any board meetings,” she said, adding that she did not know if board meetings were even held.

Clark, a Queens Democrat, said she was upset about the charity’s lack of accountability. “I’m very, very disturbed and disheartened,” she said.

The lawmaker said she helped set up a gospel concert that raised $11,210 after Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005.

“We turned this money over to the congressman [Meeks],” Clark said. “I don’t know exactly how it was given out.”

A source familiar with the charity’s operation and books in 2005 said he was unaware of any money going to Katrina victims that year, and called the failure to help victims “disgusting.”

“How could they take money that was supposed to go to those poor people?” the source said.

The NOAH-F group sprung up after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people — 1,577 of them in Louisiana. Tens of thousands of people were left homeless. Some ended up in New York, holed up in hotels or with relatives.

Montiec Sizer, head of the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps, which is still helping Katrina victims, said charities that don’t do what they’re supposed to do make it harder for legitimate groups to raise money. “It makes the general public that much more skeptical when resources are not applied to their intended purpose,” he said.

The Post reported last week that NOAH-F was under the auspices of a charity called New Direction Local Development Corp., based in Springfield Gardens, Queens, which was started with the help of Meeks and Smith.

The New Direction Web site says the mission of NOAH-F was to raise $270,000 for hurricane evacuees. Donations were directed to the offices of Meeks, Smith or Clark, whose photos still appeared on the site last week.

“NOAH-F plans to provide up to 30 families with full rent and utility payments for six months,” it says.

The organization raised at least $31,000 and perhaps more.

The money included a $10,000 donation from the Hindu Temple Society in Queens and $5,000 from the Rent Stabilization Association of New York. The rent group made the donation after its director received a letter from Smith asking to help displaced families.

Meeks’ congressional campaign gave NOAH-F two $5,000 donations in 2005, but canceled one of those contributions the next year.

The only accounting of any money spent on Katrina is a $1,392 grant paid in 2006 for “hurricane victim expense,” according to New Direction’s tax return.

Smith, through his spokesman, Austin Shafran, also washed his hands of any distribution of money to Katrina victims.

“He wasn’t involved in any of the day-to-day operations of the group,” Shafran said.

The Post revealed last week that Smith attempted to direct at least $105,000 in pork-barrel money to New Direction, whose mission was community development in the Far Rockaway area. Of that, the charity received $56,500 in state money from 2001 to 2006, according to the state Comptroller’s Office. Most of those funds also are unaccounted for.

The charity’s federal tax forms provide scant information on how it spent its money. No details were reported on who received grants and the only expenses listed were items such as funding for a senior appreciation week, basketball and double-dutch tournament — plus $11,000 for “meals and entertainment.”

The group also paid $9,004 in IRS penalties for late filing.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com

North Greenbush Town Board Back To Five Players

It looks like a Stay has been granted in the Desso, Danaher & Cristo matter, as we get more information we’ll be posting it.

In the mean time, we expect the flow of BULLSHIT on the sewerline to increase by a factor of 10.   C.B. Smith and Tom Wade are surly  going to pile on the B.S. in hopes of bolstering their case.

More later