Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Donaldson Reelected as Chairman of Legislature


David Donaldson was reelected as Chairman of the Ulster County Legislature tonight beating out challenger Jeanette Provanzano for the County's top spot. Dave Doanldson was nominated by Gary Bischoff and both Peter Loughran and Frank Dart spoke to second the nomination of Donaldson.


The vote was conducted by paper ballot and while the results were not in, the election was a close one, probably decided by one or two votes.



Jeanette Provanzano was true to her word and backed off after she lost her caucus to Donaldson. The two embraced and had kind words to say about one another after the vote.



I supported Dave Donaldson from the beginning and I'm very happy that he won and wish him a sincere congratulations.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

what happened with majority leader?

Jeremy Blaber said...

If you look at the post right below, you'll see that Brian Cahill won.

Anonymous said...

Its too bad that Dave made back room deals to keep the position. It will all come to light after the first meeting in January.

Anonymous said...

Ha! Thankfully, Hugh Reynolds got it wrong again! First he predicted Bradley at the June convention, and now he predicted Jeanette for Chair. Where does he get his information? Congratulations, Dave! I'm so glad that the Dem caucus was smart enough to see that Jeanette would have been disastrous. I'm sure there are many (myself included) that are breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Anonymous said...

Stop with the Sour Grapes... Donaldson won fair and square.

Anonymous said...

I see the best 2 people for the jobs came out on top. The Dem's are smarter then some people think.

Anonymous said...

But they are not smarter than people who do think ,because if that were the case they would not be having all this internal petty bickering.

Anonymous said...

Dave as chair and Brian as majority leader will make the Democratic Party stronger and the work for the county even more productive.

Point of information, Gary Bischoff nominated Dave.

Anonymous said...

the vote was 10 to 9. A lagislator told me up until 5PM Jeannette had the 10. some poor new leg. was pressed to change his vote to dave. not much to brag about. Dartt put the kife in back by not only voting for Dave but by 2seconding the nomination. no making up here.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately for the Parete regime, who have been working to rid the legislature from true leadership since the first day Dave was sworn in as Chair two years ago, they failed again. Thier will be no puppet for them to pull the stings of. Hooray for the democrats and the people of Ulster County. Honesty and integrety does sometimes pay off in the nasty business of politics.
Jeanette's challege showed her true colors of ego above all else. As the Majority Leader she was undercutting Dave so she could become the Chair. Sad, very sad.
I hope that the new Parete backed Majority Leader Brian Cahill will prove above the Parete power agenda and partner with Dave. If he does, the democrats will be golden and the County will be so much better off. Both of these guys are intellegent people that work well with people. By the way, does Hugh Reynolds ever actually get it right? God forbid he might some day actually check a source. What do they pay him for?

Anonymous said...

to 4:46 PM - You got bad info, it wasn't even close.

Anonymous said...

to 12:03, since you know so much, what was it then?

Anonymous said...

12:30

The information on the vote 10 to 9 came from someone that was involved in counting the vote.

Anonymous said...

4:46 -- it speaks volumes to have Jeanette's former running mate, Frank Dart, second Dave's nomination. It shows he had no faith in her leadership ability and judgement. Dave's just a better, more balanced and respected leader - simple as that.

As for back room deals, it's a political caucus for god sake - it's all about rallying for support and striking deals. Get over it and quit trying to spread false rumors because your pick lost.

As for Hugh Reynolds, he's obviously talking to the wrong people. Hey Hugh - they aren't in power anymore, so better find a new source for information before you lose all credibility. It's getting to the point now where I simply pick the opposite of whoever Hugh picks to be the winner.

Anonymous said...

Very good job in reporting this event, Jeremy!

Anonymous said...

Another "landslide" one vote victory for Dave. I guess that's all you need though. Not a mandate, more like a lesser of two evils.

Anonymous said...

Reynolds makes a prediction and it's wrong, so the Monday morning quarterbacks have a joke at his expense. Big shots. Sure is easier to be right when you already know who's won.

Anonymous said...

3:10 - the result is confidential - only the teller and the observers know the result. The caucus has to appear unified (even though we all know it isn't) - so whomever is saying that it was a one-vote victory is either guessing or breaching confidences. But, it sure would've been a landslide had the GOP gotten to vote - they were going with Dave. There's your mandate.

Anonymous said...

Provenzano supporters claim it was "only" 10-9. Dave's supporters say it was more....hmmmmm....

Anonymous said...

With Dart supporting Dave, who else but the 3 parete boys voted for jeanette? Al Lomita because he said up front he was supporting his friend...(courage to speak his mind) Cahill maybe? She may have had terpening, until he saw the winds change, then he likely dropped her like a bad habit...(no spine)

Result: 13-6 (just guessing of course)

Anonymous said...

Ask Donaldson and Provenzano who was voting for them. They know who said they would, who said they wouldn't and who would not commit to either of them. If Provenzano did not think she had it, she would have backed out and went back for Majority Leader. It had to be closer than 13-6. No way Provenzano is ever thinking she has a chance of winning with only 6 votes.

Anonymous said...

problem is, if you go by who told each they were voting for them, then they probably each had 13.

Anonymous said...

Jeanette got, Rob Parete, Rich Parete, Joe Stoeckeler, Mary Sheeley,Peter Kraft, Brian Cahill, Alan Lomita, Phillip Terpening and her own vote.

Anonymous said...

Dart is a snake. Would of been one thing if he said no right up front. He led her to believe he was voting for her and then stabbed her in the back when she walked in the room. Regardless of outcome and why it happened or what Dart got for his vote...this behavior speaks volumes about Frank Dart's character. He should of had the guts up front to say no I will not support you to her face.

Anonymous said...

Dart did not stab Jeanette in the back - I knew days ahead of the vote that Dart was voting for Donaldson. Once again, Hugh Reynolds got it wrong.

Anonymous said...

Never mind Dart stabing Jeanette in the back, what about Jeanette stabbing Dave in the back. He took the crap from both the Paretes and the Republicans for the past two years while Jeanette stood by the sidelines waiting to strike. I say Dart had conviction and did the right thing knowing quite well he would have to pay for it by the Paretes and Jeanette. Thank God that Frank had enough guts. I can't imagine Jeanette as Chairman.

Anonymous said...

Jeremy
You should have Donaldson as one of the choices for County Exec. Doesn't he sort of do the job now.

Anonymous said...

Well said, 6:01 - good point!

Anonymous said...

Politics is wonderful or isn't it?
Outright lies, broken promises, malicious slander and disenfranchised supporters. But hey! that's part of the game. It will never change except the names as the days go by.