Tuesday, August 05, 2008

As Hein Goes, So Goes NY State


Mike Hein, the Democratic candidate for County Exec has taken a little heat from GOP leaders over the last week or so for making some tough decisions in regards to the Ulster County budget. Glenn Noonan, said these cuts are to get Hein elected County Executive, nothing more.

No, Mr. Noonan, the cuts where done by an administrator that recognized that we are in tough times as a County. A leader that realizes that it is his responsibility to make the tough decisions and do what is best for Ulster County.

Mike Hein continues to lead the way and show the same foresight as many current county executives on both sides of the aisle have shown throughout NY. Below you will see a few articles that deal with other counties facing similar problems and making the same tough decisions as Mike Hein did.

As they say, as Hein goes, so goes New York state.


HEIN LEADING THE WAY CALLS FOR BUDGET CUTS

Other Counties Follow Hein's Lead :

Dutchess Tightens It's Belt Aug 5th

Greene County Reins In Spending July 27th

Budget Woes Divide Sides In Dutchess July 27th

Rockland Exec Orders Budget Cuts

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

After posts like this one what are they afraid of with your blog. Do you think we are that stupid or are you really that ignorant. I'm sure that each of these counties took a look at what Mike Hein did and then followed suit. You really need to stick to things that make sense. He did exactly what every county in the country is being forced to do. You cannot pay bilss if you don't have the money coming in. Better question is why didn't he do away with some of the dead weight this county has on its payroll. You are like one for your last six on these posts...something going on.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Blaber, the difference between belt tightening measures elsewhere in the State and Mr. Hein's measures are that those instituted elsewhere are actual cost cutting steps bringing true savings. Mr. Noonan was recently a guest on my radio show where he outlined, in detail, how the vast majority of Mr. Hein's "cost cutting" ideas were actually lines in the Budget which were not being implemented even before Mr. Hein named them.

Not filling positions which are currently vacant and thus not costing the taxpayers money is one example named by Mr. Noonan. Another example of "savings" is eliminating magazine subscriptions in County agencies!

The fact is that Mr. Hein, for purely political reasons, chose the TIMING of his "cuts" to impact the November elections.

He asked County Department heads to come up with 2% cost cuts for the rest of the year (which, being that we are more than halfway through the year, are really only 1% compared to the total annual Budget). We have not heard a single word about the "cuts" having come from Department heads, meaning either the Department heads fed Mr. Hein "cuts" which - given the do-nothing nature of those "cuts" - have no actual effect on their ability to spend or that Mr. Hein got nothing from the department heads and came up with these do-nothing "cuts" on his own.

Either way, the manner in which this issue has been handled by the Administrator's Office raises serious questions about Mr. Hein's ability to manage the people who work for our County Government.

So much for the importance of "public sector experience".

Anonymous said...

8:09 He has consolidated 6 county departments. Who else in the last 100 years of Ulster government has done that?

8:50 The cuts were not done for political gain. If you listened to Mike a quarter as much as you talked or blabbed on this blog you would know the truth.

It sounds like you have no interest in the truth...just furthering your own out-of-touch agenda.

Anonymous said...

12:06 -

I - and many others - DO listen to what Mr. Hein says. We simply listen to what others are saying as well. When the first makes little sense and the second explains things rationally with specific details to back up what he says, the only balanced thing to do is accept the truth.

The truth is, Mr. Hein and his supporters expected to have the County Executive's office handed to him on a silver platter. Now, he is faced with an opponent who has far more experience and greater qualifications, someone who owes no debts to the Political Establishment in Ulster County. If that were ever to become known by the voting public, Mr. Hein would have no chance. So, he is doing everything possible to keep attention focused on himself and not on the race as a comparison between two candidates.

Once again, I repeat my challenge to the supporters of Mr. Hein: show us how he is more qualified than Mr. Bernardo. You have ignored this challenge over and over again, and for good reason. You cannot demonstrate Mr. Hein's superior qualifications because Mr. Bernardo is so unutterably ahead of Mr. Hein in this regard that no comparison is possible.

Prove us wrong, if you can.

I expect that this challenge will go unheeded yet again.

Anonymous said...

809..maybe so. The point is that this was the responsible thing to do and other counties are doing the same. Did they really follow his lead? No. Does this prove Hein is a leader and the right candidate for Exec? Yes.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Look at their cuts we talk about doing them but do we??? Mr.Noonan has been screaming about the cars for years they still have all those people driving with FREE gas, insurance and maintenance on the taxpayers. Rockland one day done Ulster 3 years still not done.

Anonymous said...

Everyone hear the polling that was conducted? Auerbach is ahead by about 24 points over Quigley. Which is more than the percentage that Hein leads Bernardo.

This is a professional poll, not a blogger poll.

Looks like everyone that thinks the comptroller race is going to be close are way off.

Anonymous said...

A tax and spend liberal like you, praising Hein's fiscal conservatism, Blabber? Say it ain't so.

Tax-N-spend Liberal

Anonymous said...

1001 that is really disingenuous and proves you only have half the facts. Auerbach's lead is double digits but it's not 24 points! The Exec race is a lot closer and Bernardo is on an upward trend.

So while Democrats hold a slight lead in the exec race and a comfortable one for comptroller it's only August and a lot can happen.

I'm sure though that after Bonacic takes a closer look at these numbers, he will throw a lot of money into the executive race!

Anonymous said...

Fair and balanced - why are you removing posts?

Let's list the Departments consolidated, and employees laid off.

Anonymous said...

The only thing that happens from here on out is the Democrats become more motivated and the gaps widen. We haven't even heard from Hinchey and Cahill yet. Once they get going, the Democrats will come out of the woodwork.
The novelty of "Mr. Independce Party" Bernardo will wear off soon, it already has from Quigley.

Anonymous said...

What is bloated Kingston doing? Adding staff and using gas for Cape Cod?