Conroy questions progress on City Hall Deal

Promised Release of Appraisal Yet To Happen;
Promised Public Meetings Yet To Be Scheduled;
Promised Legal Rulings Yet To Be Seen.

Conroy: "It looks to me like the people of Troy have at least slowed down Halliburton on the Hudson."

(TROY, N.Y.) Tonight's Troy City Council meeting was originally scheduled to be the final vote on Harry Tutunjian's City Hall deal. Instead, there has been no further discussion of the deal since Mayoral candidate Jim Conroy and Troy Democrats threatened to sue over the legality of the sale.

Several issues were raised by Conroy when Tutunjian first announced the deal:

Is the sale even legal under the City Charter?
Tutunjian promised residents at the September 19 public meeting that the proposed swap was legal and that he could provide case law to prove so. He has yet to publicly disclose his legal grounds. Conroy asked that the deal be looked at by the New York State Comptroller and Attorney General for its legality. Has this request been made?

Shouldn't the City obtain independent appraisals of the property to determine if it is getting a good deal?
Fifteen days ago, Tutunjian promised to release the results of the appraisal that the City had done of the property "tomorrow". To date, no appraisal data has been publicly released.

If legal, shouldn't the deal have been put out to public bid, not concocted behind closed doors in the Mayor's office?
At the September 19 meeting, Tutunjian conceded that the deal could be sent to a public bid but, he chose to do it privately, to date, nothing has been heard of soliciting other proposals. Shouldn't there be more than one public meeting?

Tutunjian promised that the September 19 meeting "was just the beginning of the process" and that there would be more meetings. To date, no further meetings have been scheduled.

"It looks to me like the people of Troy have - at least - delayed Halliburton on the Hudson. Maybe now, Harry Tutunjian will try to listen to the people of Troy before he starts selling our property," said Conroy.

For more information about Conroy's concerns and his vision for Troy, visit http://www.jimconroyformayor.com.