Dominick enjoys serving the residents of the First Ward in the South End of Albany, New York and working on ways to make Albany a more desirable place in which to live.
List of all introduced and co-sponsored legislation by Dominick Calsolaro, download PDF format or download Word document.
Published on 10/07/2011 written by JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
ALBANY -- Mayor Jerry Jennings suggested Friday that he has found a way to save a well-regarded anti-violence program that is slated to close next week after the state cut its funding.
Asked about the fate of the program -- known as SNUG, for "guns" spelled backward -- on his weekly call-in radio show on Talk 1300, Jennings said: "I'm going to be able to work something out to keep them going."
Jennings did not elaborate, and his office did not return a call for comment later in the day.
But the mayor's remarks suggest the well-regarded program run by the nonprofit Trinity Alliance with the help of the University at Albany's School of Social Welfare may yet survive.
Those familiar with the fight to save SNUG said they had been asked by City Hall to keep their public protests about the impending closure to a minimum while Jennings - Read more
Jennings official argues extra $7.8M needed to buy time to lobby for state aid changes
Published on 10/04/2011 written by JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
ALBANY -- Mayor Jerry Jennings' top budget officials defended his proposed 2012 budget to the Common Council Monday, including the city's request for an advance on state payments for the Empire State Plaza, arguing it would buy Albany more time to lobby for changes to a state aid system that they say continues to shortchange the capital.
Jennings' proposed $168.5 million budget benefits from the promise of an additional $7.8 million in state money above and beyond what it expected to get next year in payment in lieu of taxes on the sprawling plaza, the tax-exempt government nerve center in the heart of downtown.
Since 2000, the state has paid the city millions a dollars a year to compensate it for the loss in property taxes on the nearly 100-acre complex, payments that will eventually top a half-billion dollars before they end in the state's 2032-33 fiscal year - Read more
Homeowners' bills would be stable with state help; budget to boost codes
Published on 09/30/2011 written by JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
ALBANY -- City homeowners will not see a property tax increase under Mayor Jerry Jennings' proposed 2012 $168.5 million budget, thanks largely to the promise of a $7.8 million cash infusion from the state, Jennings said Friday.
Jennings said he's won Gov. Andrew Cuomo's support for the increase in the state's payment in lieu of taxes on Empire State Plaza next year, a partial victory in the mayor's campaign to convince the state that Albany has not been fairly compensated for being the state capital.
The annual payments on the plaza dropped this year from $22.8 million to $15 million. Since 2009, Jennings has lobbied the state for an advance on the money, asking that the payments remain at $22.8 million for five years, then drop to $15 million as scheduled.
Under the proposal, known as a spin-up, the money advanced to the city would be subtracted from payments in - Read more
Published on 09/12/2011 written by JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
ALBANY -- A county lawmaker wants to redirect $150,000 earmarked this year for demolishing decrepit buildings to create a new fund that would give property owners grants to prevent the weather damage that often speeds the buildings' decay.
County Legislator Christopher Higgins, with backing by members of the Historic Albany Foundation, announced the plan Monday in front of former Engine No. 6, a boarded-up firehouse at the corner of Swan and Jefferson streets that suffered a partial roof collapse during heavy rain last week.
Higgins bills the new fund -- which would provide up to $10,000 grants for roof and window repair -- as way to spare all county taxpayers the expense of subsidizing the demolition of collapsing buildings, which he said they have done to the tune of $809,000 since 2009 alone.
"This legislation affects taxpayers throughout the county," Higgins said. "That money is not just money that city taxpayers pay - Read more
Published on 09/12/2011 written by JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
In case you missed it last week, an assistant corporation counsel for Albany has advised the Common Council that he believes the proposed ban on hydrofracking in the city may very well be pre-empted by state law and could get the city sued.
The ban would use zoning to prevent all gas drilling in the city.
Here’s a copy of Assistant Corporation Counsel Brad Burns’ two-page memo, which cites state environmental law that gives jurisdiction over the regulation of the gas drilling to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, not local governments.
Burns specifically notes that that section of law expressly exempts two areas in which local governments would maintain control: roads and taxes.
If the Legislature had intended to allow cities and towns to use zoning to control drilling, Burns said, it would have expressly done so — like it did in a separate section of law that - Read more
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, was Primary Election Day in New York . I was running in my first election for public office. I was one of two Democratic Party candidates for Albany’s Common Council, representing the First Ward.
The polls were to open at noon. The weather was sunny and my stomach was doing somersaults in anticipation of the primary election. I had taken the day off from work and was on my way home from driving the kids to school, when I heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers.
I ran into the house and turned on the television news to see if the radio report was correct. I saw the image of the tower with smoke rising from the impact of the airplane.. I called my wife, who worked for the state Department of Taxation and Finance to let - Read more
Albany city attorney says a ban on gas drilling may be up to state -- not city
Published on 09/09/2011 written by JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
ALBANY -- A city attorney on Thursday urged the Common Council to stall voting on a proposed ban on gas drilling inside city limits, citing state law that he said appears to give that power solely to state environmental regulators.
The two-page memo from Assistant Corporation Counsel Brad Burns cautions city lawmakers to avoid wading into the statewide debate on the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing -- or hydrofracking -- until the state Department of Environmental Conservation finalizes its own regulations, or risk getting sued.
The memo was prompted by two hydrofracking-related ordinances currently before the council, one of which would use zoning law to ban gas drilling in the city entirely. The law, sponsored by Councilman Dominick Calsolaro, is aimed squarely at hydrofracking, a immensely controversial technique that opponents contend threatens the air and water quality in communities surrounding drilling operations.
Calsolaro is pushing the ban -- with the support - Read more
Our opinion: An Albany council member wants to require more from the owners of abandoned buildings. It’s too easy to buy property and let it deteriorate further.
Published on 8/12/2011 by the Times Union written by by TU Editorial Board
Now here’s what Albany can do to really get the long-festering menace of abandoned and deteriorating buildings under control. The city can require the owners of such structures to make an unprecedented investment in keeping them from becoming a further imposition. And it can help protect itself from the high costs of frequent stabilization and demolitions.
It’s clear by now that Mayor Jerry Jennings’ establishment of a vacant buildings registry three years ago, and its modest fines for not registering, wasn’t enough.
Well-intentioned, yes.
But zero tolerance, as the mayor proclaimed? Hardly.
The toughest assault yet in the battle against dilapidated buildings and the people who own them, and even try to profit from them, comes instead from Common Council Member Dominick Calsolaro.
He wants to make owners put some real money on the table if they’re going to hold on to buildings that are at such risk - Read more
Landlords would have to post at least $10G bond to cover city's exposure
Published on 08/09/2011 by the Times Union
written by JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
ALBANY -- The owners of Albany's hundreds of vacant buildings would be required to post at least a $10,000 bond to protect the city against the costs of stabilizing or demolishing their aging structures under an ordinance being proposed by city lawmakers.
The measure, which could be introduced to the Common Council as soon as next week, is based on similar efforts in New York City and Springfield, Mass., that would require banks foreclosing on properties to post a bond to make sure the buildings are secure.
But the Albany proposal, sponsored by 1st Ward Councilman Dominick Calsolaro, goes even further and would force the owners of all vacant buildings to post the security as part of the paperwork logging the address on the city's Vacant and Abandoned Buildings Registry.
"It's time that the city gives some protection to the taxpayers," said Calsolaro, whose ward stretches from the Mansion Neighborhood to - Read more
Published on 07/09/2011 written by Dominick Calsolaro
The July 5 editorial, "The new subsidy: affluent housing," was right on.
The proposed extended and enhanced PILOT or payment in lieu of taxes sought by the A.G. Spanos Cos.' completed and fully occupied project, The Alexander at Patroon Creek, places an unnecessary hardship on Albany taxpayers.
The expected savings to Spanos Cos. (or whoever owns the complex in the future) was conservatively estimated at $7 million.
That amount was based on Spanos Cos.' figures assuming a zero tax rate increase every year in Albany for 20 years. Does anyone recall the city tax rate not going up even one year under Mayor Jerry Jennings' administration, let alone 20 straight years?
With a modest 2 percent tax rate increase each year, the proposed extended tax abatement would cost the city more than $9 million. That alone, if we use $600,000 as the amount of tax levy equal to a 1 - Read more
Council Member Calsolaro introduced the following:
Ordinance Number 1.11.09
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PART 3 (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) OF CHAPTER 42 (DEPARTMENTS AND COMMISSIONS) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ALBANY TO REPEAL ARTICLE XI-A ENTITLED “GUN VIOLENCE TASK FORCE” AND TO ADD A NEW ARTICLE XI-A ENTITLED “GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION IMPLEMENTATION TEAM.”
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| Albany Common Council Members Barbara Smith and Dominick Calsolaro |
Terror Case Bias Alleged
Albany council members call for Justice Department review of FBI prosecutions of Muslims
Published on 4/30/2010 by the Times Union written by KATIE BRANDENBURG, Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Two Albany Common Council members on Thursday urged the Department of Justice to review terrorism cases that they say unfairly targeted Muslims.
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| (L-R) Councilman Calsolaro is joined by President Faith Takes on their recent tour. |
CALSOLARO LEADS TOUR OF REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL CAREER COLLEGE FACILITY
In an effort to connect with the students of the Capital Region on a more personal level, Albany City Common Councilman Dominick Calsolaro, along with County Legislators Wanda Willingham and Norma Chapman met with Faith Takes, President of Mildred Elley/Austin School of Spa Technology. The campus, located on 855 Central Avenue in Albany is shared by the two colleges and is equipped with state-of-the-art classrooms, clinics and student service areas for the Austin School of Spa Technology and newly renovated space designed specifically for Mildred Elley. It allows for the staff and faculty to fuse their expertise and experiences together to share them with the students in a more efficient and effective manner. Continue reading . . .