In an interview Friday, Jennings initially said he was "not that close to the group or Mr. (Sam) Fresina."

When pressed, Jennings, who was briefly a member of Local 190 as a younger man, then said: "I've been friends with the Fresinas for a long time."

Fresina has been a close political ally of Jennings, who said he stood behind Fresina and was unaware of the ethics charges. Jennings said he doesn't believe the allegations.

``Absolutely no way,'' Jennings said. ``I've known him too long. I wish I had more labor leaders like him that I could work with.''

Fresina's union topped the mayor's list of contributors in his first mayoral bid in 1993. In Jennings' 1997 re-election campaign, Laborers' groups allied with Fresina donated more than $15,000 to the mayor's coffers.

Fresina and Jennings have worked together on a $6 million federal lead-abatement grant. The city and the union teamed up to hire and train workers to clean up lead in an estimated 500 homes in low-income neighborhoods. Jennings on Thursday cut the ribbon on the program's first house on Orange Street. Fresina, who Dolcimascolo said is vacationing in Florida, was not present.

Fresina and several relatives have also served in the Jennings administration. Fresina was a member of the mayor's transition team in 1993.

The mayor's executive assistant, Nicholas D'Antonio, is Fresina's cousin, as is Nicholas' brother, John D'Antonio, who runs the city's recreation programs and was recently tapped to be assistant commissioner. Fresina's son, Samuel A. Fresina, is the president of the Albany firefighters union.

Brighter days for economy in analyst's outlook

As I've been saying for some time, we are on a crash course with a harsh economic reality. With the current management there is only one real avenue for Albany. Being bailed out by the state. Barring some magical solution, we have a date with reality in the near future. And reality can be a harsh mistress.

Ring, ring...hello...just a minute....Mayor Jennings, it's for you.

It is a new day in the US economy. Oil passed $130 gallon last night. Tax receipts are down in NY. Consumer confidence is at a historic low in NY. Wall Street is facing historic layoffs and thus the state is facing a big budget deficit. Is this good news? No. But it is the new reality. We all would love for every state city and county worker to never have to worry about their jobs, never have to work that hard other than on election day and occasionally pave our streets or something. Remember when Corning had 70 janitors on staff for city hall alone? Those were different times. They are OVER. Now, you can fight reality and we know you will. But reality has a fiscally conservative bias. And all of you state city and county workers who want the good times to continue have one other big problem on your hands. The rest of us can get fired or layed off anytime. Many of us have. Our jobs don't have pensions. Our health insurance costs us a lot of money. And then we open the paper and read things like this.

Today is the final chance for the public to make any comments on the 2008 budget. If you'd like to do so, attend the common council meeting tonight and waste your time bringing up any valid concerns and or outright support for the mayor's plan to borrow and spend and mortgage your future.

So far there has been public comment on the issue of parking fines going up up up. Valid points.

There doesn't appear to be much concern for the overall financial health of the city. So here is what I predict. The common council has until the end of November to make any changes to the proposed budget. At the end of the month they will make some big fuss about not raising parking fines, and they might not raise them. Nothing will be done about the fact that despite raising taxes this year's budget includes a ton of borrowing to "balance" it.

The city of Albany is like the Average American Consumer.

For the past two years, and for the first time since the Great Depression, Americans are spending more than they earn. In 2006, Americans saved at a rate of negative 1 percent, according to statistics released February 1 by the Commerce Department, meaning they not only spent all of their after-tax income, they also dipped into their savings or increased the amount they borrowed. The savings rate in 2005 was negative 0.4 percent.

So, I guess we shouldn't blame Jerry the Average. He is just doing what the rest of America is doing. And your taxes are going up. If you don't mind that, keep voting with your pocketbook patronage in mind.

It seems as though the "esteemed" Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings put a whole new meaning on the phrase "God helps those that help themselves."

Really, did Mayor Jennings have to give himself a raise when the city of Albany is in such dire straits?

No wonder so many people — like myself — are moving out of Albany.