It now looks as if there will be no candidate on the Democratic line for the office of the county clerk in 2009. I know I talked about this last week but at that point, I had hopes of a specific candidate running but that is all but dead now. Is anyone else as outraged as I am, that the majority party in the county can't come up with a candidate to run????
Come on Mr. Schreibman, you ran on a platform of openness and bringing forth good quality candidates to run for public office on the Democratic side. It is Julian and the Democrats' duty and responsibility to make sure that the office of the county clerk is a competitive one this year. The excuse that we can't beat Mrs. Postupack is so absurd that it is almost funny. What about Nina makes her invincible? This is a person that has never ran a competitive race in her life and was the deputy to one of the most ethically challenged politicians in our county's history.
The only reason that Mrs. Postupack is looking at another free ride is because her mentor is laying down the law in Ulster County as he has done for more than three decades. Maybe someone should remind Mr. Spada that he is 78 years old and no longer important in the Ulster county scene.
The problem is political insiders are so ingrained with Uncle Al and his tactics that they don't realize that the Al Spada of 20 years ago is not the same as the Al Spada that currently exists today. We as Democrats no longer need to take a backseat for anybody. We have the numbers and many qualified candidates that can and should run. ( List of candidates that could win below)
And even if Mrs. Postupack is as popular as everyone in Kingston says she is and wins reelection..so what? Since when as Democrats have we been afraid to lose? We run on our morals, values and qualifications and if nothing else the people have a choice this year.
Furthermore, leaving the race blank hurts Brian Cahill in retaining control of the legislature and it also hurts Ms. Davenport, the likely nominee for County Court Judge. How much are we willing to sacrifice for the politics of fear and intimidation?
People need to put pressure on the leaders of the Ulster County Democratic party : Mike Hein, Julian Schriebman and Elliott Auerbach to come up with a candidate for the clerk race this year.
CANDIDATES THAT COULD WIN ON THE DEMOCRAT LINE:
Rich Parete ********best choice***** would walk away with it
Brian Cahill - Majority Leader County Leg
Bill Reynolds --Majority Leader city of Kingston --would cut into Nina's base
Gilda Riccardi ----this is the office Ms. Riccardi should be running for, not Judge. An attorney is a great candidate to run for that office.
Mike Berardi --popular Dem and former legislator..ideal candidate would get a lot of gop support
Brittany Turner -- a young woman that is a former village clerk of New Paltz and has a Master's in public administration
Terry Bernardo --- call me crazy but Terry would be a good candidate if the Dems do not have a Dem to run. Sign the Wilson Pakula and let her run..she is bright and well qualified. There is also no question in my mind she would bring us home a W.
There are a million more..this really is just what come to the top of my head...point being, no reason why Nina should have a free ride.
27 comments:
For once, I couldn't agree with you more, or said it any better myself. You are absolutely correct.
While I do not totally agree with all of those on your list of people that could win, and at this point I would probably vote for Nina. I do agree that there should always be a choice in all elections. If there is someone in the Democratic Party that is interested then let them run.
If the democrats can not field a candidate then maybe the Independence Party another 3rd party can.
Your post is a sign that you are maturing and starting to see the big picture. Political activity is not only about individuals but also about ideas,ethics and principles.
Ms. Davenport for County Judge? Perhaps your move to NYC has left you behind in capturing the pulse of County politics. The front-runner is Shandaken Judge Mike Miranda, who may face off against Donald Williams or Michael kavanagh on the GOP side. Ms. Davenport, although a town justice, has no experience with handling tough legal issues on serious felony cases and Schreibman's crew realizes this. Julian spent a lot of time in county ct as an ADA. Miranda, a lifelong dem, spent nearly 20 yrs in County Ct and handled more than 50 trials as an ADA. You can't just throw a rookie in there to oversee a complicated murder trial. Miranda also has the power to take Repub support away from Kavanagh/Williams. Miranda has the support of the Paretes. The Independence Party has already expressed an interest in Miranda.
I wish Judge Miranda and all the Democratic candidates for county court the best. I personally feel Davenport has a good shot at the nod but I could be wrong. The most important thing is we all support the Dem nominee after the convention or primary.
Hey Jeremy,
I was gonna run for County Clerk but I got......
ethically challenged? You are meant for a job in public relations, I mean that, good line.
Jonathan Katz is the next Ulster County Court Judge. How about an actual legal mind for a change?
A judge for more than a decade, he wrote a landmark decision in the People v. Jason West. Judge Miranda is not up to his level as a jurist. Nor are there as many votes in Shandaken as there are in New Paltz.
Judge Katz also has years of actual commitment to the Democratic Party. You can't say that about any of these newcomers.
Claudia, Mike, Gilda, Wendy . . . all good choices. Just not as good as Jonathan Katz for Ulster County Court.
Publius
Great, I get it there are a whole bunch of candidates for County court judge but I do not see anyone talking about the next county clerk..which is kinda of my point.
BTW- I am not supporting Ms. Davenport I just know she has a large amount of support. I think Mr.Katz is great and would make a great county Judge..had no idea he was even interested, good to hear!
Katz's "landmark" decision in the West case was reversed because Katz was completely wrong on the law.
I thought you endorsed Kossover??
Brittany Turner?? You think she could beat Nina? After Brittany's DWI??
Wake up!!!
Kossover is not running..Katz is a strong candidate but I will support whoever wins the Dem nomination.
As for Brittany, yeah, I do think she can beat Nina, there is not a question in my mind.
Well for once I agree with you. This is pathetic. There should be a candidate for this office and Terry Bernardo and Brittaney Turner are not real candidates. What this has to do with Spada is beyond me. You and everyone else keep yelling he is stopping people from running, yet you have not named one individual he told not to run or even asked not to run. Stop blaming Schreibman's ineffectiveness on a 74 year old man who has not been involved in a successful competitive campaign in over a decade. He has no juice. What is he threatening with...who is he threatening? This just adds to the excuses Schreibman can put forth. The truth is,he has not even attempted to find a candidate because he is not around to do so. He has clearly lost interest in the chairmanship and the party is being hurt as a result. This has nothing to do with Spada so stop the charade and stop perpetuating this myth that he controls who runs for what office...he may have 20 years ago when Republican dominated the county, but those days are long gone.
Turner DWI conviction? Probably leaves her out in the cold for County clerk don't you think? Criminal records should matter.
I love Brittany - but she is engaged to a guy on the west coast. I think its unlikely for her to run for any elective ofice in NY.
I am not sure why we should start a partisan uprising about Nina P. Why should Democrats feel some sense of urgency about taking the County clerk's office if no qualified Democrat really wants the job?
Of course, the county chair could make an effort to recruit a candidate. Lets talk qualifications for a minute: best candidate would be a beloved and respected Democrat who is female and has administrative/executive and possibly executive experience. We have 20 towns and 3 villages and 1 city - each has a clerk. Isn't there even one Democrat who currently serves as a clerk who might be interested in running?
After scratching my head and trying to think of somebody, the only name I came up with is Kathy Mihm - she would win in a walk.
Brittany may be qualified, but is moving to California to be with her partner. I don't think she will be in the running.
And to be clear, she's never been convicted of anything. Get your facts straight.
People just put an ad out in the papers and grab somebody. It's not about winning. It's about having a choice. No race should go unopposed. It's just apathetic. Postupak raised lots of money to spend and we as fellow county residents should see to it that it gets spent. Look at how much squiglet put out. People made a few bucks around here. Look at it as economic stimulus. We deserve to get our hands on Postupak's war chest. I know I'd chip in a hundred here and there to keep her spending a thousand in response. I bet lots of others would too.
Is Williams running for County Judge? Haven't heard from him.
Jeremy, why doesn't the WFP come up with a candidate? You speak so highly of Bernardo, new Chair of the Independence Party. I thought the two parties did not get along. Working Families and Independence. Guess I'm wrong again.
As an employee of the WFP it would be inappropriate for me to discuss their plans but I will say this any candidate, including Ms. Postupack is welcome to contact the local chapter of the WFP and fill out a questionnaire and set up an interview. Btw- I am not aware of any bad blood between the WFP and the indy party or any other party other than the conservative party.
And len is a good guy who u think is going to surprise a lot of people in his role as indy boss.
Kathy Janicek is the Clerk of the City of Kingston. She is a great lady who does her job with great zeal and success. SHE IS A DEMOCRAT!!!
Of course, the exhalted Bob Gollnick has already asked her to run for the County Clerk, right?
Will the Congressman permit the Democrats to run someone against Al Spada's former deputy? I don't think so. Certainly not while they still own land together.
Doesn't some other elected official have a son/daughter/brother-in-law they want elevated to higher office?
Want to go back to talking about the County Court, now?
-Publius
Free bumper stickers available now from Kirsten Gillibrand.
What a surprise. I haven't clicked on your blog for ages thinking it was closed down. I'm glad to see you're back in business. While I can't always agree with your conclusions I strongly feel that we must field a candidate for County Clerk. I also feel as you do that we must coalesce around our choice for County Judge. My choice is Gilda Riccardi who has the most experience with felony cases. As an added bonus, it is time that the Democrats elect a woman to a county-wide position. Democratic county voter registration is overwhelmingly female. Riccardi is not interested in the clerk position, she is the law clerk for Judge McGinty.
Ther are no frontrunners, ultimately, the Law Committee of the Ulster County Democratic Committee will make a recommendation to the governor for an interim appointment.
Gilda Riccardi has never handled a felony case in Ulster County and was a low-level prosecutor in NYC. She is an expert in family law and would make a great Fam Ct judge someday and make the dem party proud. County Ct is really out of her league. 11:18--> Would you hire a foot doctor to perform heart surgery?
Well 7:32pm your tone and sarcasm doesn't indicate the seriousness of a race for county judge. I could respect your opinion if you higlighted your choice for the positon and why rather than knocking another candidate. Your opinion has no weight with me. As I said ultimately the Law Committee will evaluate credentials. From that decision hopefully we will all support the candidate and avoid the devisions that have hurt this party in the past.
First, Jon Katz is the Democratic judicial candidate with the most experience as a judge, in the busiest court. He has been a lawyer for almost 25 years and has practiced in a wide variety of areas and jurisdictions.
Second, Ms. Riccardi is not an experienced criminal lawyer OR judge. Yes, she was an ADA in Manhattan early in her career. Not good enough. She has NO criminal experience in Ulster.
Third, the Law Committee has a serious problem in that its chair, Joe O'Conner, is a partner in the law firm that employs Mike Kavanagh, the younger, who has indicated he is running for County Court as a Republican. This is an actual conflict of interest. Joe should recuse himslf unless Mike publicly confirms he is not running.
Why don't we just ask your Congressman who he wants so we can avoid wasting time on another candidate?
-Publius
Again, can someone tell me why anyone cares who is the county clerk? No policy, no input into any issue that really matters.
When the candidates appear before the committees, what do we ask? What type of filing system do you prefer? Are you going to advocate for stamping documents received on the front or back of the document? Vertical or lateral file cabinets? Come on now. We are talking about a position as the county CLERK.
Nothing real big here. The only reason anyone would care is because of the nice fat paycheck and the opportunity to dole out jobs to one's friends and relatives.
As to County Court, the only party that is suggesting candidates with genuine felony experience is the other party.
Basically, Gilda has none. Claudia has none. Katz has none. Bob Fisher (he's in as well) he's also got none. Kavanagh, Jr., Petro, Williams, Weiss, they all have experience in the area.
And that is coming from a loyal democrat.
As to candidates waiting for the appointment from the governor, Patterson has not started taking applications and there has been no screening process. The convention is going to come and go before the governor does anything, so we are going to have to select someone and do it soon.
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