I heard a bizarre rumor the other day that former Milton Supervisor Frank Thompson, who really doesn't like current town Highway Superintendent David Forbes, was going to stage a big political comeback.

Someone at the county told me they heard if the fourth-degree conspiracy allegations against Forbes ultimately resulted in the highway superintendent losing his job, Thompson was going to announce his candidacy for the post.

Thompson, you'll recall, lost the Saratoga County Republican Committee's support after his wife was charged with stealing from an elderly woman while in charge of the woman's finances. She later pleaded guilty and received probation.

He was later cleared of any wrongdoing in the case, though it contributed to him losing a Republican primary to current Town Supervisor Dan Lewza last fall. When I relayed the rumor of his possible political comeback, Thompson was frank. 

"I'm all done with them rotten (expletive)," Thompson said. "They're all dirty and I want no part of them. ... Politics is so screwed up I'm not interested in going back."

So there you have it.

Until next time,
MC

Earlier today, Charles "Dewey" Walling was sentenced to six months in Saratoga County Jail for stealing $27,111 from the St. Clement's Horse Show, a fundraiser for the Catholic church's religious school. He's paid back the money he swindled via cooking the books at the show's souvenir stand and will still face five years of probation upon his release.

The Rev. Paul Borowski gave a victim impact statement prior to the sentencing. He said he would be willing to forgive Walling if he asked for forgiveness, but that wasn't the same thing as justice. He asked the judge to enforce the jail sentence that was part of the plea package.

The most interesting thing about Borowski's statement though, was this excerpt:

"While I and all those involved with the case were conscious of not speaking publicly about this case and trying to keep a low profile about the subsequent investigation, it seemed that Mr. Walling had shown no remorse at the time about his crime. A few days prior to his being arrested on these charges, he willingly put himself front and center of the opening scenes of the highly-publicized Saratoga Springs Chamber of Commerce (sic) promotional video, hurting many people who worked so hard to make that production a success."

 I had to think about that one for a second. Then it hit me.

Sure enough, there's Charles "Dewey" Walling (left) as Sam the Bugler in last summer's "Lip Dub" production, which has more than 57,000 views on YouTube at the time of this posting.

Let's take a look at the timeline:

The horse show was in May. An internal investigation into the souvenier stand's finances began shortly thereafter. When organizers learned Walling was creating false invoices, Borowski said he tried to schedule a meeting with Walling. When he refused, the results of the internal investigation were forwarded to the Saratoga Springs Police Department. He said Walling knew that would happen.

That was in mid-July. The Lip Dub was filmed at the beginning of September, so at this point he probably realizes knows that things aren't looking good for him. You wouldn't know it from watching the video, though. Walling was arraigned on the charges Sept. 13. The Lip Dub premiered Sept. 27.

I'm not sure what the Chamber of Commerce can do in that situation. It's not like they were going to digitally remaster the footage to remove Walling from the video and it would have been even more ridiculous to re-shoot the whole thing. Borowski has a point: it put the chamber in a tough spot.

One thing's for sure, though. Walling looks way happier in that video than he does in his mug shot.

Until next time,
MC

During Wednesday night's Town Board meeting, Milton Supervisor Dan Lewza made the following statement regarding the felony drug charge against town Highway Superintendent David Forbes and the resolution of the ongoing legal battle between Heritage Springs Sewer Works, the Boghosian Brothers and the town.

“As the supervisor, I’d like to take a moment before we begin to talk to residents about what were are trying to accomplish and how I feel is the best way to get there as quickly as we can. I have stated many times that I feel we can accomplish many great things in this town, but we can only do it together. As you will see by the agenda tonight, we have accomplished something many said could not be done, but with the help of the community we proved anything can be done. And to continue to build on that momentum, we have to assure outsiders and developers that the negativity that has surrounded the town for so long is something of the past. So the town needs to lead by example. With that in mind, I feel like I need to make clear by position concerning the events surrounding Dave Forbes. After consulting with the Town Attorney, Jim Craig, and the town’s insurance agent, I feel the best thing for the town at this moment is to let the courts have the time to do what they need to do without any interference from the town. Our insurance agent has assured me the town is in good standing to allow Dave Forbes to continue his position until the matter is cleared up legally. I have received many comments from outside officials that it looks as if the town is headed in the right direction and I feel we are. But I will not allow us to move backward. We need to continue to let outsiders know we are a united, proud community that is open for business."

Though asking Forbes to resign could be viewed a good public relations move for the town, Lewza said that the Town Board can't do anything that could potentially influence the criminal case against Forbes, which is still pending.

An important thing to keep in mind here is the only way Forbes, an elected official, can be removed from office is if he A.) quits or B.) is convicted of a felony.

Why's that so important?


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Lots of news in tomorrow's paper about budget amendments, solar panels and the county technology committee, but here's something you won't see in print.

The asking price of Deborah Thompson's house at 71 Thompson Street (not a typo) in Ballston Spa has been lowered again, dropping to $89,900. You can see the listing here.

Thompson, wife of former Milton Supervisor Frank, has pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny for stealing nearly $30,000 from an elderly woman while acting as the woman's legal guardian. She has been ordered to pay the victim restitution and has said she would sell her home to come up with the money. Frank Thompson has been cleared of wrongdoing.

She was supposed to have paid the victim restitution by December, but the house didn't sell. The judge rescheduled her sentencing date to March 13 and issued an ultimatum:

If Deborah Thompson does not pay at least $10,000 in restitution to the victim and have a plan to pay the remainder, pay $2,152 in back taxes and visit a state-licensed psychologist to evaluate her gambling addiction by that date, the plea agreement is off the table.

In addition, (Prosecutor Louise) Sira said she will seek jail time on the original charge of third-degree grand larceny, a felony that carries a potential sentence of 2-1/3 to 7 years in state prison.

This, by my count, is the home's fifth price drop. Deborah Thompson's attorney has told me the price on the home dropped three times between $139,000 and $114,900. It then plummeted to $94,900 following her court appearance in December.

I couldn't get a hold of Thompson's attorney today, but he's previously said that he'd do everything in his power to ensure his client does not see jail time. I left Sira a message and will update this post if she calls back.
  
It's entirely possible that Deborah Thompson has paid up, but there was no indication at that December court appearance that she had any other way of coming up with the $29,259 in restitution money other than selling her home

Until next time,

MC