Hughes: Years 1, 2

Gloversville mayor begins second half of term

By RODNEY MINOR, The Leader-Herald
GLOVERSVILLE — Everyone has an opinion about the job Mayor Tim Hughes has done during his first two years in office, and at times it can be hard to believe the people who deal with him are referring to the same man.

Former 2nd Ward Councilman Lance Gundersen practically gushes when asked about Hughes.

“[Hughes] has done a fabulous job ... He has taken charge in every area, and manages to run a tight ship but still take advice,” Gundersen said.

Patrick Clear, the former council member from the sixth ward, does not think of the job Hughes has done quite so fondly.

“[Hughes] administration is marked by secrecy, arrogance, disregard for the City Charter, and lack of respect for the citizens of Gloversville...,” Clear wrote in a letter to the Leader-Herald. “History will record his term as one of the worst in this city’s history.”

Neither criticism nor praise is of much concern for Hughes, who said he is primarily concerned with getting the city finances into shape.

“I’m not here for a popularity contest,” Hughes said.

Those finances have improved since Hughes took office, city Finance Commissioner Bruce Van Genderen said.

Hughes started in January 2006 facing a city approximately $670,000 in the red, Van Genderen said. When 2008 ends, he said, Gloversville could have more than $1 million in surplus.

“[Hughes] always keeps an eye on expenditures. He is very good at that,” Van Genderen said.

So far, city taxpayers have not seen the results of that work translate into a major tax cut, which Hughes acknowledges.

The 2007 budget lowered the tax rate to $24 per $1,000 of assessed property value, a 14-cent cut. The 2008 budget lowered the tax rate to $23.75, a 25-cent cut.

Hughes said the city has not been able to drop the tax rate $2-$3 as people would like because the process has to go slowly, in calculated steps, so no mistakes are made.

He is not interested in cutting city services to lower the tax rates, either.

“I believe cuts are not justified because people get used to a certain level of service,” Hughes said.

A few former members of the Common Council who worked with, and sometimes opposed, Hughes said credit for the improvement in city finances gets spread around the city. Much of what Hughes has done in office is build off the work former Mayor Frank LaPorta did.

Hughes said everyone has a unique way of handling personnel, and his style brought a little more accountability to the departments.

Anyone who is responsible for holding the department heads accountable has to know how things work from the bottom up, he said. So after spending some time familiarizing himself with city operations, Hughes said, he went to work.

All of the department heads have understood since he took office they need to find more cost efficient ways of doing things, Hughes said.

“This is a $14 million-a-year large business, not a social club,” he said.

While the city is not perfect, they have made improvements in many areas, Hughes said.

For example, Hughes said the city historically bought brand new garbage trucks, spending $300,000 for two brand new trucks.

Hughes credited Department of Public Works Director Robert Abel with finding two relatively new trucks for $50,000. Abel also split the DPW crews, having a night shift during winter to cut down on overtime pay, and he even put salt boxes on the city plow trucks, Hughes said.

While some ideas do not work, he said, the important thing is at least they are trying to improve city operations within the budget.

“When you’re on a beer budget, you do not drink champagne,” Hughes said.

However, Hughes style of management may be the very thing that earns him so much criticism.

In an October 2005 editorial endorsing Hughes for mayor, the Leader-Herald noted the Democratic candidate had some fresh ideas.

“If city department heads refuse to cooperate with [Hughes], he’d try to remove them, he says,” according to the editorial.

So far, three department heads have left their jobs under controversial circumstances that involved Hughes.

A boisterous critic of the way Hughes’ conducts city business, former 4th Ward Councilwoman Shirley Savage said much of the litigation the city has been involved in recently could be laid at the mayor’s feet. She specifically mentioned the ongoing litigation involving former City Clerk Gary Margiotta, and the recently ended case of suspended Police Chief John Harzinski.

Margiotta was not reappointed to his position at a council meeting Jan. 2, 2007, by a vote of 4-3. He had already been removed from office a few days earlier, allegedly being escorted out of the building by a police officer.

The majority of the council members allegedly conferred in telephone conversations about the employment of Margiotta prior to his dismissal, which ended with Hughes and Councilman-at-Large James Handy removing the former clerk from office.

The three council members who voted to keep Margiotta complained they were not informed about the decision to remove him from office beforehand. The city ethics board launched an investigation, which never completed its task because Margiotta filed a lawsuit for wrongful termination.

Hughes said it was a council decision, and the city clerk is one of the positions they appoint.

“I was just the bearer of bad news,” he said.

Police Chief John Harzinski was placed on paid administrative leave by Hughes on Dec. 6, 2007. He took the city to state Supreme Court, in an attempt to get himself reinstated.

Harzinski said he was suspended for an alleged act of insubordination, while Hughes said it was done so attorney David Grandeau could conduct an investigation into the police department. According to court documents, part of Grandeau’s investigation involved looking into allegations made against Harzinski.

The case was settled by the two sides last month, with Harzinski on paid administrative leave until June 30, when he will retire.

When Hughes was asked if there was a conflict between himself and Harzinski over how the department should be run, he replied, “We all have disagreements with our boss.”

Hughes said the priorities of the police department have changed somewhat since he took office, and those priorities will continue to be high on his list.

The first is to take care of downtown, he said.

“We want people to have that warm fuzzy feeling to feel safe downtown,” he said.

Former Department of Public Works Director Lee Mitchell stepped down towards the end of 2006. Both Hughes and Mitchell said they had opposing views about how the department should be run.

Hughes said as with any department head, their visions for the city where a little different, which contributed to Mitchell’s resignation.

Clear is still not pleased with the outcome of the situation.

“[Mitchell’s] job was filled, without even advertising the position, by someone whose credentials in no way come close to those of Mr. Mitchell,” he wrote.

Hughes knew Abel from working with him at Millers Ready Mix in Mayfield.

Abel had a good resume, was highly recommended, notably by George Bevington, and had firsthand experience in the jobs he would be overseeing, Hughes said.

“[Abel] was also willing to do things differently,” he said. “That was important. Obviously some of the things we had been doing had not worked right in years.”

Transit Director Al Schutz said Hughes has made some changes that have been needed for a long time. Specifically, he said the proposed Gloversville Transit System route into the city of Amsterdam demonstrated Hughes’ commitment to cooperation and potentially sharing services with other municipalities.

Schutz said Hughes regularly receives reports from the department heads about what is occurring, and is very involved.

“More has happened in the last two years than I can ever remember happening before,” Schutz said.

At this point in his tenure, Hughes said, he has done all that he can to increase consolidation and shared services between Gloversville and the town and city of Johnstown.

He said little by little, the municipalities will move beyond what they have done so far — such as the cities sharing of a street sweeper last fall — because of the potential savings to taxpayers.

Gloversville will also have to extend water and sewer service to more parcels in the town of Johnstown, in order to bring in more money, Hughes said.

“[The city] needs to increase its revenue, and we are locked into a certain number of miles, a certain number of properties in Gloversville,” he said.

The owners of those properties also received the dreaded results of the reassessment in the mail earlier this year.

The re-evaluation was the first the city had since a county project in 1989. It was designed to set the assessments of all residences and businesses at prices closer to what the houses were selling for, which would raise the city equalization rate.

The equalization rate for the city, set by the state, had fallen to 83 percent from the ideal 100 percent. That forced the city to pick up a larger share of school and county property taxes.

According to information from the assessor’s office, the revaluation raised the value of property in the city from $290.9 million to $378 million.

The issue was forced by the state, Hughes said, because if no re-evaluation was done the city would have lost state aid.

It was also an issue of fairness, Hughes said, with some houses being assessed at less than their actual value.

City residents were vocal after the reassessment arrived about not being able to get the total values listed on their houses.

Hughes said that is simply not true.

“[The city] was averaging 20 houses sold each week at one point,” he said.

The houses are being bought and sold as investments by people who live as far away as California, Hughes said.

What he is concerned about is the tax rate the Gloversville Enlarged School District and Fulton County could put on the city.

City officials have said the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed property value will be adjusted down to compensate for the increase in property values.

Hughes said he is scared by what the county or school district could do because they could easily get more money by simply not adjusting the tax rate.

“I can control myself,” he said. “I have no control over what they will do.”

While Hughes has some control over city business, at last one former councilwoman is not sure how involved Hughes was with what was happening around the city.

Former 1st Ward Councilwoman Cynthia Morey said while Hughes worked with the department heads, she could never determine the extent of his involvement in different projects and departments.

“The accomplishments are there, but I just do not know how much of a role he played in things,” she said.

Hughes said he is directly involved with the day-to-day operations of the city, and he receives daily reports about what is going on in the departments. He describes it as having his, “finger on the pulse of the city.”

However, Hughes can be a difficult man to find. One former council member said enough people had such trouble contacting Hughes, the council should consider establishing office hours. The majority of the council declined to get behind the idea, however.

Hughes maintains, as he has since taking office, most of the people who try to reach him are successful. Being able to meet city residents and address their concerns without having them travel to city hall is normally appreciated.

“When I address problems for people,” he said. “I also get a faster response than the average guy would out of some departments.”

Anyone who has filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the city would agree with a need for a faster response from the departments. That is part of the reason Hughes said he wants to know about FOIL requests made to city departments.

Early during his tenure, Hughes requested all press releases, except those from the Police and Fire departments, go through his office first. He also asked members of the Common Council to send financial requests through his office first. At the time, he denied either was an attempt to cut down on information coming from city government.

Hughes said if press releases or financial requests get by him and slip through the cracks, it is much easier to track them if he is aware the requests for information exist in the first place, he said.

Second Ward Councilman John Castiglione said given what has happened during Hughes tenure, he did not hold the Mayor in very high-esteem.

After meeting with Hughes and the department heads following his election, Castiglione said, his opinion has changed.

“There is a lot going on that will surprise people when it happens, they will be happy with it,” he said. “I just hope [Hughes] gets to accomplish it before his term is out.”

Hughes claims no one is trying to be secretive about any potential business developments in the city. It is simply a matter of business in the private sector not choosing to announce anything until they are ready, he said.

During his time in office, Hughes said, he has not rested and waited for the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter to bring everything in. When many people cannot reach him, Hughes said, it is because he is meeting with developers or other government officials to bring more development into Gloversville.

“I’d love to tell people what we’ve been discussing, but I cannot put words in the private sector’s mouth,” he said.

While he campaigned for election, Hughes stressed the need to reduce blight in the city and improve recreation opportunities for city residents.

The Recreation Commission has stressed the need for better communication with city departments, more funding from the city, and getting the Director of Recreation position filled so they can meet their function for the city.

Hughes said the director should be able to help with all three, and should be able to bring in additional state money.

Early in his term, Hughes was able to take a hard line on blight issues. By November 2006, the city had levied $93,000 in fines for code violations. The Davis Cash Register building, which used to sit at 129 N. Main St., was demolished.

The county has helped out, recently taking down the Wentworth Bakery building on East Fulton Street in December of 2007. Even the state has provided assistance, approving a $534,000 grant in January for the city to demolish the former First Baptist Church on South Main Street.

Hughes admits the city still has a number of poor properties that need to be cleaned up, however.

A committee of Common Council members has been formed to look at a Blight law from Glens Falls, which Hughes said he is eagerly looking forward to seeing.

“We may win or lose in court, but we took a stance,” Hughes said about blight enforcement. “If we do nothing, we will accomplish nothing.”

Hughes said ultimately, he is optimistic about not only the city, but the entire county’s future.

To him, it resembles the Glens Falls and Queensbury region he lived in 20 years ago. The development along Lake George could be mirrored by what is starting to happen along the Sacandaga, Hughes said.

“When I look at Gloversville, I see a developing city,” he said.