In--Out--and Back In--- County Auditor Lisa Cutten has announced she is back in the race for mayor as a write in candidate. Now, first, for the record, I like Lisa Cutten, she's bright, articulate and has done wonders as our county auditor. But one has to wonder what is she thinking? Under the new charter form of government adopted by voters last year, we will be electing a county comptroller and Lisa Cutten seemed like the obvious choice for the Democratic nomination and the odds on favorite for the job. I think running against the mayor of Kingston in an election she has no shot at winning, will unfortunately, hurt her chances next year for Comptroller.
Lisa Cutten may want to take a lesson from play it safe Hein, Mike Hein, is in a similar predicament as Cutten. Hein who serves as county administrator is widely speculated to be running for County Executive next year and has been very careful to keep very low key, in what is a politically charged election season.
What does Cutten's announcement mean for incumbent Mayor James Sottile? Absolutely nothing. Mayor Sottile has a well oiled machine behind him and will easily win reelection in November by at least a 2:1 margin. And rightfully so, whether you like the sometimes stubborn chief executive or dislike him, one thing is certain, he loves Kingston and is a terrific Mayor. The type of guy that would do anything for you or his city. I've never met a more caring compassionate person in public service.
However, the perception of a prominent Democrat like Cutten running against Sottile doesn't help Sottile or the unity of the Democratic party. It's my honest belief that this is being allowed to happen because of Vincent Bradley Jr., who is like a nightmare you can't wake up from for Sottile and every Democrat in Ulster County, who feel they owe the younger Bradley's father, the late and well respected Vincent Bradley Sr., his due. Kingston Dem Chair Robert Golnick should of put a stop to this write in campaign the first time she announced by telling Cutten to sit on her hands and be loyal to her party and the leader of our party (Mayor Sottile), but how could he with Bradley's name engraved on Sottile/Noble headquarters? It's time for the Democratic party to become united and for Bradley to take the silver spoon out of his mouth and start thinking about someone else for a change.
57 comments:
That well oiled machine of the Mayors has broken down and people of this City have had it with him .
We gave him a chance to show us what he could do and sorry to say the people of Kingston are not happy with Jimmy Sottile, taxes are up, crime is up, no jobs to be found and the kirkland project is another disaster what has Sottile done for the City lately except p--- a lot of voters off with his antics at local watering holes and belittling City workers, Jimmy's got to go and his Bradley stand has ripped apart the entire foundation of our democrat party.
The good news for the Democratic Party is that we find out now what a wiered, unstable person Lisa is. It would have been worse if all this came out during the campaign for Comptroller because it would have given the Republicans the seat. Now Democrats can look for a stable and qualified person.
Your wrong to blame Bradley, but I understand that Jon Sennett will need to blame someone for his failures. If Sennett cared about the Democratic Party he would have allowed a primary. He and his group are responsible for so many Democrats around the county supporting Bradley.
THIS IS POLITICAL SUICIDE ON MS. CUTTEN'S PART. I HOPE SHE ENJOYED HER CAREER IN PUBLIC SERVICE BECAUSE IT IS OVER.
She is done, toast, out of the loop, banished, black balled, black listed, finished and ostracized.
Bye Lisa, Nice knowing ya!
A democratic primary could have made Bradley go away if Sennett wasn't afraid of one. A three way race hurts Democrats. If we primaried we could have been united behind a single candidate. Not doing so has split our support. Democrats are asking Bradley Jr. to step aside for the good of a party that didn't want to include him. Why would he feel compelled to help them. I feel Sennett is just as selfish as you are accusing Bradley Jr. of being by protecting his nomination instead of his party.
Yawn......... On WKNY this morning
they covered the tragic event in Saugerties. PETA is mad at Vasser
College for abusing birds. And Sheldon Zimbler talked about World War 2. The only people who even thinks this is a issues is Rich Cahill and you Jeremy. This is a non issue due to the fact that people are NOT going to waist a vote for a write in. Ms. Cutten is a bright person but she is way off on this one. It is not work the time you put into this story
I think it shows a great dissatisfaction with the Mayor and his 'well oiled machine' (perfect words). It seems to have nothing to do with Sottile's support for non democratic candidates, but rather a lack of progress in this city, and his failure to keep the quality of life equal to the taxes we pay.
Over the past 4 years, Sottile has put himself predicaments, some of which have had a scent of impropriety. Free dirt. Nepatism. Parking meters (lack of). I've said before, that appearance of wrongdoing is just as damaging as if you were caught on tape (or video). This administration has made plenty of 'gaffes'!
The people WANT CHANGE!
It is not certain at all that Sottile is a good Mayor. He stinks. Many dcemocrats, including myself cannot stand him. I don't want to vote for Cahill myself, but I probably will.
If Cutten wants to run then I say let her. For you to ask the party bosses to put the kabash on her candidacy is petty and frankly all too common amongst politicos.
A few observations...
Lisa would make an infinitely better mayor than Sottile. Too bad she didn't decide sooner.
The only people who would hold this against her when it comes time to run for Comptroller are the same old party hacks who are trying to shove that useless lump Bradley down our collective throats.
Parete, Parete, Parete, Provenzano, Landi, DiBella, Gollnick, Sottile, et. al. ...are, quite frankly, becoming more and more irrelevant.
If Lisa wants to run for Comptroller, it will be up to the party faithful, and not the lying, cheating, manipulating, old-school, oblivious fools who think they still run the party.
BEST OF LUCK LISA !!!!!!!
I am 19 first time voter and for
an older woman Lisa Cutten is kind
of hot...
How many times do Bradley and his people need to hear that he does not have what it takes to be DA? He is not even a good politician. He is running on the coattails of his dead father, an almost dead Robert Morganthau and a dead political machine. My condolences to Bradley's duped and missinformed supporters.
Jon Sennett has done nothing wrong by winning fair and square. You can blame 75 percent of the Democratic party for blocking Bradley...not Sennett.
Furthermore, if there had been a primary what would have stopped the sore loser Bradley from going on the independence and conservative line? Then we would be in the same boat we are in today. Bradley has been given far too many chances and can't accept he has no charisma or ability to work with people. Go south young man back to Morgy.
GO LISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wooo-hoooo!
5:49, reading your first sentence, I envisioned of an old car, which was once well oiled, now leaking, spilled all over the ground, where no grass will ever grow again, poisoned. All due to poor management.
1:32 pm is right - the Bradley supporters are still whining about the lack of a primary - but why is that Sennett's fault? Jon's not a committee member - he couldn't even vote - the people who voted for Jon at the convention were not impressed with Bradley, so why should they vote for a primary? That's saying that even though Jon is the nominee, the committee isn't really sure and now everyone in the county should have the opportunity to vote. Then, why have the nominating convention? They could have skipped it and gone directly to the primary. The truth is, they didn't expect Sennett to win. No one complained about the process before the convention. If they didn't like the process of endorsing candidates, why didn't they oppose it before 2007? They voted at the convention, didn't like the outcome, and now a primary is suddenly good for the party (it wasn't good when Tony McGinty won). And, why would Bradley bow out of the race after he lost the primary but not because he was denied one? He had no intentions of bowing out - a primary would have just prolonged the rancor and been a waste of resources. And that list of names that 11:23 provided - they're just sore losers.
People who 'stand up to the man' are typically revered. You know, the small guy standing up to big business. I guess this doesn't apply if you're a democrat standing up against a democrat.
BTW, a primary is more DEMOCRATic than the 'weighted' farse of a vote they put up. I thought lobbying is unpopular, and lots of 'lobbying' went on at the convention.
This is really hysterical. It seems that no matter what the subject of Jeremy's original post, you cringing Sennett groupies feel the need to create a way to trash Bradley Jr. It tells me you are running scared and this election for DA is going to be a real dog fight (Vick is not invited.)
Now you blame Bradley Jr because Ms. Cutten wants to exercise her constitutional right to run for office. Though I won't be voting for her, I wish her well. And I hope it turns out to be a rewarding experience for her.
This is a great country even though many of you are trying to undermine its' institutions.
4:30 - No one lobbied me at the convention - first I voted for Julian Schreibman - I wore no buttons or stickers - and then I voted for Jon - and no one came up to me (or anyone I was standing with while waiting for the results). Who came to you and tried to convince you to vote for Jon after the first round of balloting? When you went into the convention, who was your first round choice? If he had lost, who was your second choice? We can't have a primary for every office - so which offices should go to a nominating convention or caucus and which ones should go to primary?
4:30 - Bradley is not a Democrat. he has been non-enrolled his whole life and when he saw an opportunity he signed up. He is endorsed ONLY by the Conservative and Independence parties, each of which gets a maximum of 5 or 6 percent in most elections (Independence: you know...as in Duke, Buchannan, Robertson, Golisano). He even attempted to get the Republican line after the Democrats allowed him to participate three times, and resoundingly rejected him three times.
I've never seen a bigger bunch of crybabies than the Bradley supporters. Thank goodness they are becoming more and more irrelevant in the UC Democratic party. Good riddance to bad rubbish...
As far as it being a dog fight...don't make me laugh. Bradley himself has admitted to a lot of people, me included, that he is only in it for spite. He'll be lucky to get 15 per cent of the vote, and he is merely hoping to get Jon defeated. What a loser.
Won't work though...final tally will be as follows:
Sennett - 47%
Carnright - 37%
Bradley - 16%
I gave the dull-witted crybaby an extra point based on the uninformed boobs in Kingston who will pull the lever for him.
Blab's, Since you got thrown out of Dem HQ and its doubtful that you'll be welcomed with open arms on election night you ought to warm up to Lisa now...
This way, you can partake in chips-n-soda somewhere other than being home listening to WKNY with Hugh and Dan on election night.
John Sennett had everything to do with Bradley not getting primary. If he showed leadership he would have said it was the right and fair thing to allow all democrats to have a say, not just a few with losing agendas. He was dumb enough to think committee members are sheep and would fall in love with him. I think its wonderful that Bradley has kept and even picked up Democratic support around the county. Sennett is broke and in big trouble. He should head back to the city where he's from. I hope we never hear his name again after November 6th.
9:44 - Your revisionist history is laughable. Jon Sennett always left it up to the committee....first the caucus...then the Executive Committee...and then the full committee...to decide if a non-Democrat belonged on the ticket. He never, ever encouraged anyone to vote against Bradley, always stating that the committee should decide. Now THAT is leadership.
What kind of leadership has Bradley shown? Allowing party leaders to lie and cheat for him, and saying nothing. Admitting that he is staying in the race as a spoiler. Claiming he will drop out if he doesn't get the Dem line, then staying.
Bradley is a useless, neanderthalish lump with few if any redeeming qualities, certainly no qualities that would suit a DA.
As far as Bradley gaining support...I have never heard from one single person who changed their mind to support Bradley. I have spoken to literally dozens who have changed their minds to support Jonathan.
Sorry, your lame attempts at spin leave me underwhelmed.
Bradley would have LOST a primary.
He has NO IDEA how to run a campaign, which he thinks consists of bumperstickers and balding head shots.
He has NO personality or intelligence. He would have L-O-S-T because he is a L-0-S-E-R. No amount of money can change that.
So why even bother wasting everybody's time with a stupid primary?
Three strikes, Bradley's OUT!
Ted Bundy also a big Bradley supporter.
When Bradley says he has a wide range of support he aint kiddin...even murderers support Bradley.
Looks like somebody is in trouble with his DiBella thread.
Not at all, I'm not going to attack DiBella, it's not my place, she has to figure out what she wants to do.
Lisa Cutten for Mayor. Clint Brown for Alderman-at-Large. Phil Cosme for D.A. Jeremy Blaber for Ward 4.
Bradley for Sewer Department.
Anonymous 10th Ward Alderman ;)
What happened to the two DiBella threads???
Where's the DiBella article? Sottile told you to take it down didn't he??
Just as DiBella saw fit to hold a fundraiser for a non-Democrat (thereby violating Democratic bylaws) so you are well within your right, Jeremy Blaber, to post a blog in protest.
It's called freedom of speech.
How absolutely unecessary it was to remove free speech.
Did Jeremy get spanked by the Mayor for his Dibella remarks? wait till tomorrows headline in the Daily Freeman Mayor Sottile writes checks from the sewer account to pay Bob Senor;s girlfriends towing EXPENSES to local towing company in the City of Kingston.. How many other checks have been written by Sottile from the sewer account to pay for his own personal expenses?
I'm not sure but isn't that fraud? bye bye Sottile and Senor!!
BEWARE - this blog is subject to CENSORSHIP on behalf of Bradleyites and other corrupt democrats.
DEMOCRACY NOW!!!
Free Blaber!
He's been coerced and blackmailed to hide the truth about Dibella!
It was a personal choice I made, it has nothing to do with DiBella. I just feel me by attacking Anne Marie in the name of Democratic unity it's a little hypocritical. And, it's counter productive, Sennett will win becasue he is the better candidate and has the most experiance not because of some bashing made on a blogsite.
out of the mouth of babes, Jeremy your the biggest blog basher of them all Why are you defending Dibella you make no sense and you talk out of both sides of your a-- this kind of pick and choose censorship is not a good road to follow if you want to be taken seriously as any kind of reporter or writer it will certainly keep people from taking you or this blog seriously!
The well oiled machine of Sottile just hit another bump in the road Sottile writes checks out of City sewer fund for Senors girlfriens towing expenses wow someone call Albany and get an investigation started into fraud and the wrong use of City monies.
It is interesting that today's Freeman mentions Holley Carnright's Shandaken PD endorsement, but has not mentioned Sennett's Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation endorsement.
How many cops are there in Shandaken? There are 19,000 union households in Ulster County.
5:13, I totally missed that the OTHER DiBella thread is gone too. JB says it was a personal. Sure it is, he is required to keep personal threats threats and tounge lashing by the powers, our fair blogmaster must have gotten. Mum's the word, "For the good of the party".
It had nothing to do with Bradley either.
Free Blaber
jeremy......paaallleeeeezzzzeeeee
Do you think we are all that ignorant?
Soemone told you to knock it off about Dibella, because it wasnt good publicity, and you folded!
You were on the right track and were almost actually impressing me, for standing up for something that was correct. It is embarassing that her and your mayor were holding that fundraiser, and shows you what dopes they really are. You stoodup for something, and I was stunned!
Soemone didnt like it, and you folded under the pressure.
What a perfect candidate you will be in the political circus called Kingston!
Unfortunately, the Freeman isn't going to allow the story to be printed about how Sottile and Senor ripped off the taxpayers by paying Senor's girlfriend's towing bill. Goodness knows how many other incidents like this get swept under the rug at the taxpayers' expense. This is a prime example why they support Bratley. They know that Bratley will continue to let them do things like this and not be held accountable - Sennett and Carnright wouldn't. Supposedly the Kingston Times will run the story, though. Look for it on Thursday. This is criminal - and they're getting away with it.
Bradley should drop out of the race and run for Comptroller - Lisa has just proven that she's too unstable to be trusted with the county's coffers. Bradley would be perfect with his CPA - and other than Lisa, the Dems don't have anyone else.
Hey Jeremy! What happened to the blog about the Bradley fundraiser at the DiBellas? Why is it removed from your blog? Did she strike you down? Did the mayor get involved? Do tell!!!!
Jeremy:
Please repost the bog about how crooked Anne Marie is, and how she and her husband almost lost their house to foreclosure because of Bob's horrible lack of business finesse. Don't forget about how Dave Donaldson bailed them out by giving Bob a cushy county job.
Jeremy:
FREE SPEECH! FREE SPEECH! FREE SPEECH! Say what you mean and mean what you say!
Jeremy, Please repost the DiBella article.
BLABER REPOST THE DIBELLA ARTICLE!!! STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY!!! DO NOT BE STIFLED!
Jeremy what is all of this about the DiBella posting?
Lisa Cutten is totally hot! Is she single and available?
to 1:18 - The only way the Dems would nominate Bradley is if he dropped out before Election Day, which isn't likely. If he stays in until the end (and he doesn't have a prayer of winning, so he should drop out), there's no way the county committee will ever nominate him. He may have a future in Kingston politics (or Ulster or Hurley), but not in county politics.
What is this? Sottile is paying for Bob Senor's girlfriends towing expenses out of the Cities sewer budget(taxpayers money) the only budget that isn,t looked over by the common council-humm seems funny now how is the spinmister going to twist this one into a minor misunderstanding? stay tuned folks!. and demand the Daily Freeman print the whole story.
Mayor Gimace (the big fuzzy purple guy from McDonalds) is folding under his own weight. Like a Super Nova.
I don't know Ms. Cutten at all. Never met. It just seems funny that on this blog she is called unstable by a post. If there was ever an unstable leader it is Sottile. Belligerent, Confrontational. Picks bar fights with women during public displays of drunkeness. He needs Lithium not another 4 years in office.
That's Mayor Mc Cheese
To the person who indicated that Bradley went after the Republican nomination...you are making it up. I work on the Bradley campaign and know for a fact he did not even think of it nor was he ever approached. Second, you are also completely incorrect about Sennett not working against the primary. He actively worked against it. His supporters made phone calls to committee people saying he did not want it, I got one from Blaber himself. Also, Sennett sent a letter indicating he did not want one. Third, you are also incorrect about Bradley dropping out of if he was given a primary. I am a dem committeeman and I called people on Bradley's behalf before the second meeting of the committee...he told all of them he would drop out if given a chance to primary and he lost the primary. No one is whining...Sennett and his supporters made their choice, now they can live with it...he lost the election when he did not stand up and ask for a primary. Anyone who lives in ulster county for two years could tell you that. What is he going to do..turn Kingston in four weeks. Go Lisa Cutten
to 5:31 - As a Dem committeeperson, you are being disloyal to the party - you should resign. You have no idea what a committeeman should be doing - a committeeman should not be helping a non-endorsee. If you don't like who won at the convention, either resign or do nothing. And, I was in the room when his supporters made phone calls (I made some of them), and we did NOT tell people that Jon didn't want the primary - WE didn't want the primary. There was no reason to allow a non-Democrat a primary. Think about if you were running for office and the committee nominated you, and then we decided to allow a non-Democrat to primary you. What does that say to you? "Hey, we like you, but there's someone else we might like more?" Regarding the letter that Sennett sent, I don't know what letter you're talking about - I'm not saying that he didn't send one, I'm just saying I didn't receive one so I can't comment on it. You're backing a loser, and you know it. Tell us the cases that Bradley worked on involving a victim and/or forensics. Bradley worked on corruption and white-collar crimes. If an ADA needed his guidance on how to proceed with a case involving fingerprints, blood splatters, hair samples, semen samples, how to pick a jury, questions for direct or cross examination, the probable tactic the defense will take and how to combat it, Bradley couldn't help at all! I don't care if you're related or his best friend - Bradley is not qualified for the job. If he was, the Committee would've backed him.
5:31 PM - Your revisionist history and attempts at spin, and your outright lies on behalf of Bradley, are pathetic.
Al Spada actively, pursued the Republican nomination for his boy Bradley, and failed in his attempt to keep it under the radar. And Bradley was well aware of this attempt. It failed miserably.
Jonathan always said, publicly and privately, if Bradley wants a primary then bring it on. He was always confident he would win it. However, almost 70% of the Democratic Committee told Bradley, the hand-picked candidate of the party's fading poo-bahs, to get lost. Anyone who lobbied to get rid of Bradley, did so because they felt strongly that he was a weak and ineffective candidate, not because Jonathan didn't want a primary. I never saw a letter indicating he didn't want a primary. Perhaps you mean statements that he may have made supporting the Committee in their decision to dump Bradley? (Three times.)
Bradley clearly stated to many people that if the Committee didn't want him he would bow out. He must have felt pretty confident in Parete's ability to cheat by stacking the Executive Committee and manipulating the vote in his favor. Unfortunately, it blew up in their faces, and Bradley showed his true colors by not sticking to his statement.
Even more telling was Bradley knowingly allowing such despicable tactics on his behalf. He has never addressed this very troubling issue, and has been losing support steadily because of the ramifications of those actions. The voters are well aware of the attempts to cheat on his behalf, and of Bradley knowing full well it was going on and thus offering tacit approval. Is that the kind of man we want for DA? I don't think so.
If Bradley and his people want to address the "issues," they need to start right there.
I notice you didn't comment on what I said about Bradley staying in the race merely out of spite...couldn't find a way to refute that one I guess...huh?
I've lived in Ulster County for over 50 years, half of them in Kingston. Most of the people I speak to in Kingston think your boy is a dud. They wonder why the party bigwigs are pushing such a weak candidate.
Again, your attempts at spin are vastly underwhelming. If all of the people working on Bradley's campaign are of your ilk, it's going to be a cakewalk for Jonathan.
While Bradley and his exclusive little cadre go around the city whining, Jonathan goes around the entire county addressing the issues in a substantive way: modernizing the DA's office, stopping crime before it happens by being proactive, putting violent criminals in jail and freeing up cells by getting substance abusers and nonviolent offenders into treatment and other intervention programs, doing early case evaluation, supporting a sadly under utilized special victims unit, making sex crimes and domestic violence a higher priority, improving communication with local courts and police agencies, and so many other things that need to be done.
That's the kind of DA that the people want, intelligent, articulate, proactive, and willing to talk to any voter, anywhere in the county, any time, about any issue.
hmmmmm...somebody on the bradley campaign staff suffering from that common republican ailment, "if i say it, it must be so" disease...
let's be honest...he knew big al was working on the republican line...he said he would bow out if the Dems didn't want him...he let the Dem chair try to cheat on his behalf and said nothing...he only enrolled when he thought he was going to get a free ride...he's staying in the race for spite...
far too many people know these things to be true...ridiculous statements to the contrary only make bradley look more dishonest and more pathetic...
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