Is He A Pathological Liar? "And.... Um.... But...," Yes, I Think He Is.

Anyone who has visited Promenade Park over the past two years may have noticed the ugly stains on both sets of stairs nearest to the sidewalk.  Until recently, Rob Perry acted as if those stains didn't exist - no action to remove them; no words of explanation as to why the stairs were stained.  But toward the end of his DPW report to the council and the public earlier this month, he finally offered a picture (it was upright!) of the entrance to Promenade Park, showing a set of stairs that were stain-free.  But Rob's effort only proved that he can't keep his stories straight and that he may have a serious fibbing problem.  Here is how he tried to explain away the stains on the stairs (grammatical errors are not mine):  

This was Promenade Hill.  Um, The steps.  We use a sand product for because we ... The quarry tells us we shouldn't be using salt on it. Obviously, we have to keep the stairs open during the wintertime, so we did use a fine sand product which, you know, left some residue behind.  And... Um... But... Crisis averted, right?  We were able to just power wash it and it's all back to" (ending with a word I cannot decipher). 

Don't you love how Rob Perry does his best to make himself the hero?  Who said anything about a "crisis" at Promenade?  He did!  And he averted it! Anyway, just about everything he mentioned was bullshit. 

Lie number one? Since the park reopened late in 2022, for the past three winters the stairs (both sets at the sidewalk and the main staircase in the middle to the top) have been full of ice and snow while chained or taped off, hardly "OPEN DURING THE WINTERTIME."   

Not convinced Mr. Perry has a problem keeping his stories straight?  Here is what our $123,000 DPW Superintendent had to say in March of 2023 about the closed off staircases at Promenade, just 5 months after the new entrance was completed and the park reopened: "These stones are not tolerant of salt.  So, we have to, when there's snow, we have to close them off and then... we can't salt them to make them non-slippery like we do everything else." (Notice that he made no mention of sand as a substitute for salt.) Here is the picture he offered:

Two years ago he said, "We have to close them off."  This year he changes his tune, saying, "We have to keep the stairs open."  Make up your fucking mind or get your stories straight, please, Mr. $123,000 DPW Superintendent.

So, two years ago, the first winter for the new entrance: stairs closed, no salt or sand used.  It was the same thing last winter.  In other words, right from the start three winters ago DPW did not salt or sand the stairs in the entrance to Promenade Park.  They did nothing to the stairs but make them off limits to the public only because  Mr. Perry was told:  DO NOT USE SALT ON YOUR NEW STONE STAIRS!  So where did the stains on the stairs come from if no salt or sand was used?  Regardless of what Perry has said or might believe, the stained stairs had, and still have, nothing to do with sand.  They have everything to do with crappy work by Colarusso that Mr. Perry is trying his best to cover up and blame on SAND!  (Sand leaves residue on stones, Rob?  Really?  How so?  Are you going to continue to use the stain-causing sand in the future?)

Here are a few pictures of the stained stairs from recent years.

September 2023

March 2024

September 2024

September 2024

Lie number two?  If sand needed to be used so that the stairs could remain accessible (because "we have to keep them open"), why were the stairs off limits this past winter after snow fell and ice formed?  If you look closely at this picture, taken in February, you will see sand on the stairs that are off limits.  Two years after the stains on the stairs first showed up, this was the first instance I had ever come across sand being used on the stairs.  Still, the picture contradicts what Perry told the council:  the stairs are not open!

"Obviously, we have to keep the stairs open 
during the wintertime." (The stairs at the 
sidewalk were also roped off with yellow tape. 
What happened to the chains and signs?)

Lie number three?  Contrary to what Mr. Perry claimed, the recent power wash of the stairs did not remove all the stains to get the stairs "back to" whatever it was they originally looked like when installed over three years ago.

Here is a picture of the set of stairs nearest the sidewalk on the left side of the entrance which I took last week (Mr. Perry had conveniently only provided a picture of the set of stairs on the right).  Notice the stain that either DPW's power washing missed or has shown up subsequent to the power washing.  Crisis averted, obviously (only in Rob Perry's mind)!

THIS IS NOT CAUSED BY SAND!!!!! It is caused by the 
grout that Colarusso used. Stains will continue to reappear.

More stain on the way!

It's difficult to believe much of anything that comes out of Rob Perry's mouth, isn't it?

Then there are the spots of red paint that a utility contractor left us at the entrance early last year.  Why didn't DPW power wash those away as well while they were at it?  Were they ignored because Perry is a slob and he really doesn't care what the park looks like?  How is it possible that he recently noticed the stained stairs (finally!) but not the red spots on the same stairs and nearby on the bricks and ramp?

And look, one of the stairs has a gouge in it already.  Think Perry cares? It's near the middle of the set of stairs that he offered a picture of during his DPW report while he may have been lying on his couch at home with his laptop on his belly and a beer and his dog by his side.