When we elected President Bill Clinton in 1993 we got Al Gore as our Vice President, when we elected Governor Elliot Spitzer we got Senate Minority Leader David Paterson as our Lt. Governor. But do we get two people when we vote for City Court Judge? Well if you ask the friends of special court Judge Larry Ball they'll tell you that's the case and I must say I agree. By law if Judge Gilpatric were to lose the November election to J. Michael Bruhn Jr., Gilpatric would automatically go back to the special Judge spot he was appointed to before Feeney's retirement. And, of course, this would mean Larry Ball would no longer be a Judge. This has prompted the Friends of Larry Ball to put out bumper stickers that read... Let's keep the Ball in our Court, Vote Gilpatric.... Very catchy and I think it'll be effective. Besides the fact that Jimmy Gilpatric is the most qualified candidate and has the most experience, Larry Ball is also a good judge and comes from a very good family. So, why not kill two birds with one stone this Novemeber? Elect Gilpatric and keep Larry Ball.
61 comments:
Two birds with one stone? Why not vote for Bruhn then---at least you'd be getting one "qualified" judge out of the two. The Gilpatric/Ball team can't offer that between the two of them.
Isn't Larry Ball the guy who was given the job of part-time judge as payback to the Herzog's crowd for inking the deal that let them rape the taxpayers of close to $150,000.00 with that "build a school in a swamp" debacle?
Yeah--I really want him setting the moral standard of Kingston.
Larry Ball needed a map to find his way to work on his first day as part-time judge. He had no courtroom experience whatsoever. He might be a nice guy but he has no business in city court. I hear the only reason he got the job was because his buddy has the mayor in his pocket and called in a favor.
Vote Gilpatric and keep the "Good Ole' Boys Club" going! No one else allowed.
My vote is for Bruhn. Now there's someone who WANTS the position and is willing to WORK to get it. This is the type of character Kingston residents deserve!
What ever happened with Gilpatric's rating of "qualified" or "UNqualified" anyway? Why is he scared to subject himself to an evaluation by his peers? OR, has he....and he isn't interested in letting us know what they think?
Blaber--you're a smart guy. You must see the serious breach of ethics in one judge stumping for another. How can you condone it?
I prefer "less experience, MORE competence." VOTE BRUHN.
Where are you getting your info---from former judges? From current attorneys? If you think Gilpatric is the "most qualified" or that Larry Ball is most worthy of his position---you obviously aren't talking to people in "the know."
You can say "Friends of Larry Ball" all you want. We all know HE is behind the Gilpatric/Ball method of campaiging and THAT should be the deciding factor with voters.
Do you really want to keep a judge in power who choses to turn his head when friends do unethical things and probably will deny knowledge of such if it protects him from dirty politics.
Anyone who is willing to bend the moral compass when it benefits himself does not deserve to wear the robe!
I know all three "candidates" (if that's what Mr. Ball sees himself as) and I can honestly say that J. Michael Bruhn Jr. is the only one who truly wants the position. He also happens to be the only one who has put a real effort into earning the title.
Jeremy---it's been fun!
Qualified-"having met conditions or requirements set." Jeremy, who determines a candidate to be "qualified?" While you are politically savy, I don't know that you have the necessary knowledge to determine such qualifications. However, the independent panel out of Albany that rates candidates for NYS judges certainly has the understanding of such qualifications and ways to measure them. J. Michael Bruhn Jr. received a rating of "qualified" as did all three Supreme Court Judge candidates you wrote about a few days ago. What rating did your guy Gilpatric get? How about Ball--certainly if he's campaigning he must've submitted his info for evaluation.
If Larry wants to be judge so bad why didn't he run for the position himself? The answer is, ironically enough, NO BALLS!
It's always easier to ride on the coattails of others and rely on the backroom deals of rich friends to get what you want I suppose.
Let's Get Ball OUT of the Courtroom!
1:46 Let us not forget that "crowd" also held a $500 a plate fundraiser for the mayor shortly after he gave this $55,000 job to their judge of choice. Looks like everyone "got paid" at the expense of the citizens of Kingston again!
Gilpatric & Ball
Two judges - zero ethics
Doesn't Kingston deserve something more from its elected officals?
Bruhn rents to prostitutes. He's as dirty as their vaginal regions.
Jimmy Gilpatric is an honest Judge who cares not only for the conviction rate of the arresting officers, but for the plight of the accused. We need more judges like Jimmy.
Serpico
Gilpatric is months behind in his case load.
The plight of the ACCUSED?
You're referring to an honest application of due process, right? The anxiety faced by people who are truly wrongfully accused. Or someone caught in a web of legal technicalities. In that case, I agree.
I HOPE you're not referring to some kind of false sympathy for the disgusting animals who bring drugs and whores and guns to our neighborhoods!
Yeah, I know. They've had it rough in life.
Know what? My father hated me, too. Got tossed out of the house at age 17 and told, "Don't come back." I didn't become a criminal, didn't knock anybody up. I went to college, went to work, and made the best of what I had.
But I digress. I'm sure that you simply meant that this judge will fairly apply the rule of law to everybody... Right?
If not, I wonder how deeply you'll be concerned with the "plight of the accused" when they're accused of raping your daughter or selling drugs in front of your house or shooting you because you resemble someone he doesn't like!
Plessy
I hate to say it but, a lot of people inclucing some of these bloggers are ingnorant to the political and legal process. Mr. Ball can not and does not have any control over his friends (as Jeremy Blaber indicated) actions or in actions, as he does not have over people who are not his friends. I believe that's called freedom. Also, with the Herzogs Shool board deal, Mr. ball acted in an attorney capasity, he did not "make the deal". If anyone was to blame for a bad deal, that would be the Kingston School Board, they were the ones interested in the porperty wich was located on a flood plain, not swamp land. Herzogs was selling a piece of land, they werent forcing anyone to buy it. That I believe is called business. Futher more Mr. Ball is not stomping for anyone, he's smart enough to know, has should the blooger who acuse him of such,that that would not only be unethical but illegal.
Also, there is no requirenment for any judge or lawyer to submit an application to be deemed quilified or unquilified.I believe that should be left to ones own judgement ,not some "board" which I dont know what would deem them qualified to make this evauluation. To end, anyone who knows Larry Ball, knows he's not part of a "Good old boy" or any other club.
Jwemy - Don't start being the ediroal genius you think you are. You are not showing the input that I gave earlier about ethics. I know I said something negative about Jimmy Boy, but you know it is true and you are going to try to say that it's a persoanl attack. You know what, it kind of is, and only because he did it. so don't hide this fact. Be a man. Fair balance.
Larry Ball facilitates a deal which leads to his friends getting a non-refundable deposit of $150,000.00 on useless land. These same friends host a $500.00 a plate fundraiser for Mayor Sottile. The next week these friends ask Sottile for payback in the form of a job for Ball.
If that isn't being part of an elitest Good Old Boys Club then I don't know what is!
Doesn't Kingston deserve better?
Amazing how those who think they know are so very ignorant. For the record, Larry Ball had absolutely nothing to do with the school district binder on the Chambers Farm. He did not represent the "Herzog crowd", he did not represent the school district. He had no role.
And Happy Birthday kid.
Bruhn Jr. doesn't own property that he rents out to anyone. Whoever suggested otherwise knows NOTHING about what you are implying.
Why doesn't it suprise me that Mr. Ball "knew nothing" of the ILLEGAL and UNETHICAL bumper stickers that his sister, brother-in-law and many best friends had on their cars.
If I wanted to be the sterrotype of a sleezy, unethical politician then I'd OK the ordering of illegal bumper stickers which promote myself. Next I'd make sure all my friends and family knew to deny my having any knowledge of these bumper stickers. Finally I'd have one friend step forward and take full responsibility as a way of detracting any blame from myself.
I was offended when Clinton lied to me and I'm equally as offended if Ball thinks he can get away with the same lack of ethics. The difference is Clinton's was a personal matter---Larry Ball knew from day one that he was condoning a violation of HIS judicial code of conduct.
Is this our future? Let's get corruption OUT of Kingston!
Rich Shultis said it best...UNETHICAL and ILLEGAL. That about sums up Larry Ball's four month career as a judge.
Is it possible that if Rich Cahill becomes our next Mayor that he can appoint his own choice to the part-time judge position?
I say we should vote for Cahill as well as Bruhn and let Cahill appoint Ball to the part-time position.
Here's a good slogan:
A VOTE FOR CAHILL AND A VOTE FOR BRUHN IS LIKE A VOTE FOR Larry Ball.
To Rich Shultis--Of course there is no requirement for judicial candidates to be reviewed by their peers. Of course it is rather telling when one opts out of the process for fear that the review will be less than flattering.
And I suppose Ball had no role in the bumper stickers that went out in his name?
When in hot water....
Deny, deny, deny.
Jeremy, I just read your post to learn a little bit about someone I didn't even know existed. After reviewing the comments posted in response to this plug for Larry Ball I have to say that I am deeply disturbed by the volume of comments that refer to his lack of ethics, shady dealings and possible illegal actions. Whoever this guy is, he obviously is bringing Kingston down. I hope the voters realize this and chose to get him out of the position he holds.
So Jim Gilpatric stays on as city judge if Bruhn wins (his signs do indicated the he's held the position for 13+ years)?
It seems to me to be a no brainer. Vote for Bruhn. Gilpatric stays. This Ball character is out.
"Ball comes from a very good family"
Haven't I seen a phrase similar to this used elsewhere condemning other candidates?
Richie - please don't be that ignorant. You know that Ball was involved in the school deal, and he should have put an end to the bumper stickers. I thought you were smarter than that, maybe not.
You're right 12:07. Serpico's (4:16) post is the dark sad side of politics. And happens DAILY here on Jeremy's blog. Throw an ugly rumor out there, and even if it reaches 5 people, it was a success.
It is DIRTY. It is CLASSLESS. It is definately LOW BROW. Serpico is ALL OF THE ABOVE. And it takes away any integrity this blog has. Jeremy should be ashamed of the rumor mill he has created by allowing baseless claims to get through his screening.
I agree and disagree with something in this post. The Ball slogan is catchy but I disagree with you that it will be effective. I have heard from several people in the legal community how highly unethical these stickers are. Therefore these stickers have accomplished nothing other then to hurt Mr. Ball's reputation. They call into question his respect for the position he holds and his ability to use good judgement.
Rich,
Maybe you should push harder for Jordan and the school board to build a new school and you could go back and learn how to spell...
Shool? It should be SChool
Capasity? How bout CapaCity
quilified? C'mon
unquilified...Rich you can't be serious...
blooger...did you mean booger?\
acuse? Its ACCuse
requirenment? There is no N in there...
evauluation...lets try evaluation..
Wow, Jeremy,I know Rich is supposed to be a comedian, but can you please help Rich out!
there is nothing funny about this!
TO 12:24
We all know Rich Shultis is a comedian. What we didn't know is that you were the winner of the 2007 gay spelling bee. I'm glad that you took time out of your busy schedule to correct someone else's mistakes.
Jeremy...
Is there a reason you refused to post my comment on Ball?
The NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct clearly states that it is illegal for any judge to be involved in any political activity, except for the 9 months before his own campaign. And even that political activity is very limited. Ball is breaking the law.
By the way, I'm a Gilpatric supporter.
I stand corrected, the blogger who stated that Mr. Ball had nothing to do with the Herzogs/School deal is correct. He did not act in a capacity as an attorney or any other capacity,as I stated. In fact he was not involved at all. You can confirm this with a f.o.i.l(Freedom of imformation law)check. Also, it's not bad spelling, it's bad typing. While you sissys were taking home ec. and typing class in high school I was more interested in sports and girls. Anyway, what the hell does spelling have to do with anything. Does spelling the words correctly make unsubstanciated accusations, incorrect imformation and out right conjecture more viable. Hope the spelling is to every ones liking. Unlike some people, I don't have the time to double check my blog spelling. In fact I'm a shamed to have even taken the time to read and responed to this nonsence. Vote for whoever you think is more qualified, who you like best or even who you will personaly gain the most from getting elected. But,lets not make personal attacks on ANY of the candidates based on biased and baseless conjecture. I will never read nor responed to this blog again. You won't have Richie Shultis to kick around any more.
TO 9:49 PM,
The reason I didn't publish your comment is because Judge Ball has done nothing wrong. His supporters made up some bumper-stickers..so what? If he had done this himself that would be a different story.
- JKB
Jeremy---If you believe Larry Ball had NOTHING to do with these bumper stickers you're being snowed. Ball has been not-so-secretly campaigning on the platform of "A Vote for Gilpatric is a Vote for Me" since he got the job (it was probably a slogan cooked up by those who put him there as a way to help Gilpatric draw votes he wouldn't otherwise get). Ball's family & closest friends have these stickers on their cars and claim he knew nothing about it. There is no way they came up with this idea, put together money on Ball's behalf, purchased the unethical stickers and distributed them throughout Kingston without Ball being aware. If Mr. Ball or his wife didn't actually sit in on the "committee meeting" regarding this scheme he was certainly asked for approval before the plan was put into action and he condoned it. His plan has always been to deny any involvement should this dirty politicking blow up in his face.
As someone else stated earlier---this LACK of good JUDGEMENT, ARROGANCE in being immune to the law and downright DISHONESTY is NOT what we need in a judge.
Ball has made his move and it's given the good citizens of Kingston no choice but to get him out of court!
Rich Shultis makes a good point. Let's not air these beliefs in cyberspace. I want to see the Ball scandal hit the papers and let the public decide for themselves if they're ready for a part-time judge who alledgedly doesn't apply the law to himself. This is can of worms Mr. Ball wishes he left unopened!
VOTE FOR BRUHN JR. AND YOU'LL HAVE A GREAT TEAM OF BRUHN AND GILPATRIC TO REPRESENT OUR CITY. VOTE BALL OUT.
VOTE FOR BRUHN JR.
If you vote for Bruhn, Gilpatric still stays Kingston City Judge. He just goes back to his part time position instead of a full time position, but he still remains a Judge for the city of Kingston.
Who knows, maybe with the court calendar as full as it is the part time position will turn into a full time anyway. you never know.
In my opinion this is a no brainer - vote for Bruhn and you get a wonderful person who is willing to give his all to the position and truly cares about the City of Kingston and you also continue to have Gilpatric as a Judge. It's a win - win situation.
It's a shame that this happened. The City Judge race was a good, clean one until Ball & Co. started playing dirty.
Rich Shultis---You stand corrected one more time. In your last post you implore bloggers not to make personal attacks on any of the candidates. The "biased and baseless conjecture" you are refering to is in regards to Larry Ball. Since when is Larry Ball a candidate for anything? Things started getting messy when Mr. Ball allowed the lines to be blurred as to who was actually running for city court.
And Jeremy, in the same vain you mention how we got Gore with Clinton, etc... The difference is Gore was actually running for his position and therefore was part of the "ticket." Mr. Ball is not running for a position, it is unethical for him to be campaiging for himself or anyone else and his supporters shouldn't be doing it either. It's wrong, it's dirty and it gives real insight into the "candidates" true colors.
Wow, I didnt meant to bash Rich and upset his followers so much. However, if someone is going to come to the defense of a JUDGE, dont you think hitting the review button and proof reading your comment for one minute, should be a neccessity? This is a prime example of what is happening in our local government. People have something to say, blurt it out, never stop to think first and then don't even do thier job correctly, and they make a fool out of themselves. I personally wouldn't want someone defending me, or writing comments about me that isnt able to use proper english or spell correctly! But wait...we are on a Jeremy Blaber website in Kingston NY, what else should we expect?
As for your gay spelling bee, please dont be so negative because you didnt notice the mispelled words, we understand. I was only trying to make people understand that if you speak properly, conduct yourself in a professional manner and are half articulate, people will take you serious, and pay attention for the right reasons.
Jeremy as a true "newsperson", if that is how you perceive yourself, how can you justify making the final determination as to (1) who did or did not do anything and (2) whether or not that thing is right or wrong. Shouldn't you report what you learn in order to encourage the free flow of information. Who knows, there might actually be more to the story than you initally think. You have heard to Watergate, haven't you? Don't you trust the reader to make his/her own assessment of what is the truth? Of course that might lead to the whole truth and that might be something that you cannot handle.
9:54, Watergate didn't get reported because 100 different people printed 100 different rumored articles and by chance, one of them was factual. If you think the news should come from an infinate number of monkeys on an infinate number of keyboards, you got problems. Sure, you will eventually get something true, but you will also get a whole lot of monkey doo.
Watergate was in the last century, before the internet. I take everything from this blog with a grain of salt but one thing is for sure (as most of these comments have hit upon); Larry Ball is closely associated with something that is highly unethical in regards to this race and the position he currently holds.
Correct me if I am wrong but hasn't Bruhn Sr been censured at least 3 times over the years for improper conduct by the New York State Judicial committee- and that being said- Judge Feeney and Gilpatric have also been censured for improper conduct. People who live in glass houses....
Anyone can have a bumper sticker printed up. You dont have to have a "committee meeting" with a room full of schemers. All you have to do is go on the internet, place your order with one of the millions of printing companies and pay with a credit card.
By the way, I am a Bruhn jr supporter.
4:09 The point is not that every post should be given the same amount of credibility. Rather, the point is that an individual (JB) who has already publically declared his support for "one" of the candidates and now is stumping for that and another is censoring all posts that are not to his liking. BTW this is not something new as he has been accused of doing this many times before. Fair and balanced my ass.
5:34 You are correct about people in glass houses. We should wait and see what the final determination is of the judicial conduct commission before we rush to any judgments. Just seems a little odd that the other judges you named served for a period of time more than SIX MONTHS before they were brought up on charges. Not a particularly good way to begin a career, is it? BTW notice that the only names mentioned of people running in this election happen to be on the same ticket. Food for thought.
4:09 You hit the nail on the head. The truth is to be found somewhere in the comments posted on this blog and no matter what it is or where it comes from it sure does appear to be MONKEY SH*T. Kingston deserves better than what we have right now. VOTE BRUHN JR
11:11- Come on- you can spin it anyway you want- but Bruhn Sr has been censured 3 times in an 11 year span- more than any other judge in New York State- It is not any better because he was on the bench longer than six months when it happened.
YOU PEOPLE KEEP BRING UP BRUHN SR. BEING CENSURED.
BRUHN SR. IS NOT RUNNING FOR OFFICE.
BRUHN JR. IS.
YOU SHOULD BRING UP ISSUES THAT MATTER TO THIS ELECTION. BRUHN JR. HAS A CLEAN RECORD - GILPATRIC IS THE ONE THAT WAS CENSURED.
VOTE FOR BRUHN JR.
Like father like son.
That's what we have in Bradley. Now that's one rude, arrogant, self-righteous little brat. His father's reputation was much the same.
Like father like son.
My point at bringing up Bruhn Sr's record and the other judges who have been censured is because of the reaction toward Larry Ball over a bumpersticker. To hear people say he is unethical and does not deserve to be on the bench is ridiculous. If he is deemed unethical and dishonest over a bumpersticker- than every judge in this city should step down over their indiscretions while on the bench- Because let me tell you- the bumpersticker thing pales in comparison to the complaints made against the other judges in this city. It is all public record.
5:43---Have Democrats and Republicans alike had past indiscretions on the bench? Yes. But they are in the past and should be left there because they've been dealt with--even Gilpatric's lapses. Let's move on. Unfortunately this Ball thing is very much in the present and regardless of how it compares against other judges, it is wrong and we'll be seeing that as a matter of public record in the future.
It is ridiculous to suggest that Ball is responsible for something done in his name. Ball has never engaged in politics, and was chosen by Sottile because of his recognition of this level of integrity. The fact that his position would remain if Gilpatric is re-elected is and has been public knowledge. It wouldn't take Ball to promote that idea. The Bruhn ilk is operating like he is an heir apparent. The reality is that he couldn't even carry his fathers shoes, and they were always a little light.
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