Albany County Airport Authority Board Chairman Samuel Fresina is coaxed inside after the board announced the firing of airport CEO Phil Calderone.

As part of its ongoing campaign to spread cheer and goodwill, the Albany County Airport Authority board decided to fire Phil Calderone…

… while he was in the intensive care unit at St. Peter’s Hospital. Ugh.

In fairness, board members weren’t aware that Calderone, then the airport’s CEO, had been hospitalized with symptoms associated with severe stress. Had they known, they certainly would have waited to deliver the blow.

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Nevertheless, you wonder what members might do next to win over Capital Region hearts. Film themselves tossing rocks at a puppy? Zoom past a stopped school bus as it unloads third graders?

Anything seems possible, given how disastrous and embarrassing this mess has been.

To recap: Last month, the board decided not to renew Calderone’s contract, a move that wouldn’t have attracted much attention had the Times Union not reported that Albany County Executive Dan McCoy was scheming to take the job.

McCoy’s machinations made the move a scandal, particularly since the board didn’t bother to detail any concerns with an airport CEO widely considered to be doing an exemplary job. The board likewise failed to immediately........

© Times Union