Sunday, May 04, 2008

Why I am Supporting Mike Hein for County Executive


How as a Sennett supporter and a progressive yourself can you not support Susan Zimet? Why are you backing Hein, a former Republican?

5:42 PM

I received the above comment on my blog and thought I would take the time to once and for all address why I am supporting Mike Hein for County Executive.

Back in November when Hein announced, I knew and liked Mike but was dead set against him becoming Executive. Mike was a former Republican and to me he seemed like a political opportunist that should not be the leader of this party. So, I launched DRAFT CAHILL, a blog dedicated to getting our Assemblyman, Kevin Cahill to run for Ulster's top spot... before he was appointed to the powerful Energy committee, it looked as if he may be interested in running. (btw- Cahill and Mike until now, had idea I was behind that website.)

It was at the leadership vote for Chairman of the legislature when I changed my mind about Mike Hein. After the vote I was in Sue Ronga's office talking to her and Mike came in and we had a conversation about the county and why he was running. Mike completely blew me away and I walked out of that office thinking this guy is the real deal.

Mike Hein is just a regular guy that's interested in making Ulster County the best place to live and work for his family and thousands of other families across the County. And, there is absolutely no one that can stack up next to him as far as qualifications are concerned. He can do the job because he has done it and has done the job in a successful manner.

As far as the politics are concerned, only the political insiders with their own agenda care that Mike Hein has not been a life long Democrat. There are a lot of committee people that are supporting Susan Zimet only because they hate John Parete. There are some that are only supporting Mike because they hate Sue Zimet. Both of those reasons are flawed and limited within the Democratic committee. We need to move past all of this, the general public couldn't care less about the inside baseball type politics.

I am supporting Mike because he is above the partisan politics that have divided this county for many years on BOTH sides of the aisle. Last year Hein stood up to the EMS, knowing full well that when he ran for Exec this year it would cost him the Independence line because of the unfair way their interview process works. But it was never a matter of looking out for himself or his own political career, like a good leader he did what was best for the people he represented and at the end of the day it was a matter of what was right and what was wrong. Furthermore, Hein is by far the only candidate qualified to lead a 325 million dollar cooperation that oversees two thousand employees. And, again, he can do it because he's done it.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good Boy, Jeremy. You are making more and more sense these days.

Unknown said...

Jeremy, well said! I agree with you on this and think you have put forward the reason it makes so much sense to be a Hein supporter. He is a person who is very qualified to be our first county Executive both by virtue of his experience and by virtue of his commitment to the future of Ulster County. I think of myself as a progressive Democrat and I'm proud to be supporting Mike Hein.
-Tom Hoffay

Anonymous said...

"Men are the only animals that devote themselves, day in and day out, to making one another unhappy" H. L. MENCKEN

I am an Obama supporter and at the risk of sounding elitist, LET'S STOP PLAYING THAT GAME for a few months or years and see how we can really effect CHANGE...smitty

Anonymous said...

Zimit is an opportunist waiting until the last minute to announce.

Kind of like a scared squirrel darting back and forth in the road as a Mack truck comes speeding down the street.

Anonymous said...

Jeremy, I am impressed with your affirmation of Mike Hein. Now lets see where the full democratic caucus takes us.
With both Mike and Susan swearing off an independant run for the office, we will have a clean race in November.
What a relief!

Anonymous said...

Jeremy are you sure he didn't offer you a job like all the others he has

Anonymous said...

You talk about qualifications he has for the job yet mention none. I have not made up my mind yet, but I hardly think that two years as the county administrator make him hands down qualified to lead this county. And the switch in parties, which coincided with being hired as county administrator, has to be answered. Did he do it to get the job, or because he actually was a democrat all along. What did he do before that would be termed experience for this job. I have to admit that I am very disappointed in the qualifications of all the candidates for this position. These were not the type of people I envisioned for this position when I voted for the charter. I felt we would attract much more qualified people for this position and it obviously did not happen. Unfortunately, he may be the best of a bad bunch at the end of the day.

Anonymous said...

Jeremy,

When I read Hein's qualifications for County Exec, I was impressed.
As a progressive resident of the Village of New Paltz, former registered Democrat, Democratic committeeman and former Town Chair (now registered in the Working Families Party) I am persuaded by your support for Mr. Hein, and the support I read here by Alderman Hoffay. I was also impressed that diverse folks from Kathy Mihm to Michael Moriello are supporting Hein.

How about this: Let's make this election about qualifications and competance, rather than
"personality", popularity, John Parete, city of Kingston versus the towns, conservative Democrats versus progressive Democrats, tenure as a Democrat (please...) or something
really silly like WalMart for god's sake. This job is too important for that!

Thanks too for this blog - I have always enjoyed reading it.
-Guy Thomas Kempe

Anonymous said...

Why support a republican in wolfs clothes

Jeremy Blaber said...

Mike Hein has not offered me a job and the discussion has never even come up. I support Hein like everyone else for the right reasons.

Anonymous said...

John Sennet became a Democrat three months before Mike Hein. SO WHAT!!!!This is such a BS issue. Any one who doesn't want to support Mike Hein, thats your right but pleaseeeeeeeeee stop trying to tear someone down and destroy reputations because you don' like them or agree with them. Become an adult.

Anonymous said...

Jon Sennett became a Democrat in 1986. Don't believe everything Bruce Tuchman tells you.

Anonymous said...

To 9:37 I think you need to check with the Board of Elections. Jon Sennett became a Democrat 3 months before Mike Hein. I just don't see why this is an issue anyway. By the way, in case you were wondering,I supported Jon Sennett.

Anonymous said...

Beradi should leave the Democrats -these local dudes are good ol boys - cheating the taxpayers