Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2019 16:14:25 GMT -5
Last night on the news it was announced that the 4th of July parade route will be changed. Now it will start at Our Lady of Lourdes as always BUT march NORTH to New Hartford. Head of the Genesis Group mentioned that there are many neighborhoods up that way who would benefit. Somehow this is entwined with sharing of services between Utica and New Hartford. Then in today's newspaper there was this:
6 members of New Hartford park commission resign
NEW HARTFORD — The news conference Thursday describing a plan for the city of Utica and the town and village of New Hartford to share services seemed innocuous.
But on Friday, six members of the town’s volunteer Parks Commission announced their resignations from the committee, leaving only the chairman. The members cited numerous frustrations with New Hartford Town Supervisor Paul Miscione and his announcement about joint Fourth of July festivities.
In a co-signed letter, committee members described a lack of communication between themselves and Miscione while also expressing frustration at the prospect of The Genesis Group taking the lead on the town’s Fourth of July planning.
“This is very disappointing to the members of the parks commission who held a meeting on January 28, 2019, where Mr. Miscione was present and advised the committee that they would be responsible for organizing the fireworks and event in the park,” the letter reads.
The letter also states that the chairman of the commission, Daniel Trevisani, spoke with Miscione during a March committee meeting and no mention was made of The Genesis Group or the parade during that meeting.
“Only three days later the press conference was held and no committee members were aware of these plans until it was publicized by local media,” the letter continues.
The committee’s letter was signed by Michael Kennedy, Scott Kurdziolek, Arthur Ellis, Victor Fariello, Jane Blaszczak and Peter Falzarine.
Miscione expressed confusion about the committee’s frustration Friday, stating that he, at the request of Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri, couldn’t tell anyone about the press conference.
“At that point, I think I kind of owed the city of Utica respect ... to keep it hush-hush until we actually did it,” Miscione said. “Again, it wasn’t my place to invite anybody to the conference.”
In a follow-up phone call, commission member Michael Kennedy said that things were “looking good” after the commission organized the town’s Family Fun Day in February. But when he and other members of the committee saw the press conference, they were “flabbergasted.”
“When you volunteer your time and energy and you’re being misled by your town supervisor ... it’s not that we have to give our stamp of approval, but we would like to be included,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also said that instances of lack of communication have happened before. In one case, he said, he and the other committee members learned about the decision to erect a pavilion in Sherrill Brook Park from people outside of the town of New Hartford.
The news conference, he said, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“I’m not looking to chastise anyone, (but) we were misled,” Kennedy said. “We were deceived.”
In an emailed response to the committee’s email, Miscione stated the statement “saddened” him.
“After the great event you did with (Family Fun Day) I would hate to lose you for the fireworks event,” Miscione wrote. “Nothing has changed since I spoke with Mr. Trevisani on the phone, the Commission would still be in charge of the coordination of the fireworks event minus the parade which is not a park’s event.”
In a response to Miscione’s response, Kennedy said the wording of Thursday’s news release about The Genesis Group’s involvement did not seem to match Miscione’s latest statement, something that fellow committee member Peter Falzarine agreed with.
Kennedy also said that the resignations would still stand.
“We wish nothing but the best for the future of the parks and the Town of New Hartford,” he wrote.
What’s next?
The Parks Commission was finalized in May 2018, according to Observer-Dispatch archives, and the town initially chose five members from a group of 25 resumes it received.
Miscione said that part of the current confusion might have been due to the town’s expectations for the committee versus those of the committee members. The original intent, he said, was for the committee to help the town improve the parks.
“I think that’s where the issue is,” Miscione added. “When we created the commission, it has a lot of stuff there that the board maybe should have looked into more, like actual roles of the commissioners.”
Miscione also said he spoke with committee chairman Trevisani, who said that two committee members were undecided on resigning completely.
“Nothing’s going to be affected (on the fireworks) because I’ll make sure it won’t be,” Miscione said. “It’s just sad that that email was generated like that.”
Moving forward, he plans to talk with Trevisani about clarifying the roles of the commission.
“I think what we need to do is actually have a boilerplate of what exactly the commissioners are expected of and what we expect of them, and have them actually sign it,” Miscione said. “The commission was only meant to be a good thing.”
Contact reporter Joseph Labernik at 315-792-4995 or follow him on Twitter (@od_Labernik).
www.uticaod.com/news/20190323/6-members-of-new-hartford-park-commission-resign
Well now I cannot wait for more on this developing story. Why would the parade route change? What is meant by this shared services? Does it mean New Hartford will be paying something toward the parade? And does that mean Utica cannot afford to put the parade on. Why did Palmeiri tell Miscione to keep silent about these details? And why wasn't New Hartford's Parks Commission involved?
6 members of New Hartford park commission resign
NEW HARTFORD — The news conference Thursday describing a plan for the city of Utica and the town and village of New Hartford to share services seemed innocuous.
But on Friday, six members of the town’s volunteer Parks Commission announced their resignations from the committee, leaving only the chairman. The members cited numerous frustrations with New Hartford Town Supervisor Paul Miscione and his announcement about joint Fourth of July festivities.
In a co-signed letter, committee members described a lack of communication between themselves and Miscione while also expressing frustration at the prospect of The Genesis Group taking the lead on the town’s Fourth of July planning.
“This is very disappointing to the members of the parks commission who held a meeting on January 28, 2019, where Mr. Miscione was present and advised the committee that they would be responsible for organizing the fireworks and event in the park,” the letter reads.
The letter also states that the chairman of the commission, Daniel Trevisani, spoke with Miscione during a March committee meeting and no mention was made of The Genesis Group or the parade during that meeting.
“Only three days later the press conference was held and no committee members were aware of these plans until it was publicized by local media,” the letter continues.
The committee’s letter was signed by Michael Kennedy, Scott Kurdziolek, Arthur Ellis, Victor Fariello, Jane Blaszczak and Peter Falzarine.
Miscione expressed confusion about the committee’s frustration Friday, stating that he, at the request of Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri, couldn’t tell anyone about the press conference.
“At that point, I think I kind of owed the city of Utica respect ... to keep it hush-hush until we actually did it,” Miscione said. “Again, it wasn’t my place to invite anybody to the conference.”
In a follow-up phone call, commission member Michael Kennedy said that things were “looking good” after the commission organized the town’s Family Fun Day in February. But when he and other members of the committee saw the press conference, they were “flabbergasted.”
“When you volunteer your time and energy and you’re being misled by your town supervisor ... it’s not that we have to give our stamp of approval, but we would like to be included,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also said that instances of lack of communication have happened before. In one case, he said, he and the other committee members learned about the decision to erect a pavilion in Sherrill Brook Park from people outside of the town of New Hartford.
The news conference, he said, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“I’m not looking to chastise anyone, (but) we were misled,” Kennedy said. “We were deceived.”
In an emailed response to the committee’s email, Miscione stated the statement “saddened” him.
“After the great event you did with (Family Fun Day) I would hate to lose you for the fireworks event,” Miscione wrote. “Nothing has changed since I spoke with Mr. Trevisani on the phone, the Commission would still be in charge of the coordination of the fireworks event minus the parade which is not a park’s event.”
In a response to Miscione’s response, Kennedy said the wording of Thursday’s news release about The Genesis Group’s involvement did not seem to match Miscione’s latest statement, something that fellow committee member Peter Falzarine agreed with.
Kennedy also said that the resignations would still stand.
“We wish nothing but the best for the future of the parks and the Town of New Hartford,” he wrote.
What’s next?
The Parks Commission was finalized in May 2018, according to Observer-Dispatch archives, and the town initially chose five members from a group of 25 resumes it received.
Miscione said that part of the current confusion might have been due to the town’s expectations for the committee versus those of the committee members. The original intent, he said, was for the committee to help the town improve the parks.
“I think that’s where the issue is,” Miscione added. “When we created the commission, it has a lot of stuff there that the board maybe should have looked into more, like actual roles of the commissioners.”
Miscione also said he spoke with committee chairman Trevisani, who said that two committee members were undecided on resigning completely.
“Nothing’s going to be affected (on the fireworks) because I’ll make sure it won’t be,” Miscione said. “It’s just sad that that email was generated like that.”
Moving forward, he plans to talk with Trevisani about clarifying the roles of the commission.
“I think what we need to do is actually have a boilerplate of what exactly the commissioners are expected of and what we expect of them, and have them actually sign it,” Miscione said. “The commission was only meant to be a good thing.”
Contact reporter Joseph Labernik at 315-792-4995 or follow him on Twitter (@od_Labernik).
www.uticaod.com/news/20190323/6-members-of-new-hartford-park-commission-resign
Well now I cannot wait for more on this developing story. Why would the parade route change? What is meant by this shared services? Does it mean New Hartford will be paying something toward the parade? And does that mean Utica cannot afford to put the parade on. Why did Palmeiri tell Miscione to keep silent about these details? And why wasn't New Hartford's Parks Commission involved?
