Schneer Blunder: Dylan Walsh No Show For County Court Yesterday

County Court Judge Debra Schneer allowed 6 time dwi offender Dylan Walsh to walk out with no bail and guess what...he didn't show up yesterday for court....this marks the end to the Schneer campaign. Williams breezes on Tuesday!


Opposition campaign supporters have begun criticizing County Court Judge Deborah Schneer for releasing a convicted felon while he awaits trial and indictment on two charges of driving while intoxicated.

The criticism stems from the case of Dylan T. Walsh, a 28-year-old Rosendale man with a long history of drinking and driving. Walsh has been convicted of DWI five times in New York since 2001, the Ulster County District Attorney's Office said. He has also been convicted of crimes in California.

Walsh was indicted here Aug. 13 on a sixth DWI charge. While he waited to be arraigned on that charge, police say Walsh got drunk Aug. 15 and crashed head-on into a vehicle on Route 209 in Wawarsing. The other driver suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. The accident resulted in Walsh's seventh DWI charge.

At his arraignment Aug. 25, prosecutors asked Schneer to set Walsh's bail at $100,000, but Schneer chose to suspend his license and release him without bail.

The move has become political fodder for supporters of Republican Donald Williams, who is running for the judgeship in November's election against Schneer, a Democrat. Local bloggers have labeled Schneer as an "advocate for defendants," and one member of Ulster's gang and narcotics task force decried Schneer's decision in a newspaper letter this week.

Schneer could not discuss details of the case, but noted that bail is based on a defendant's flight risk. "We don't lock people up in advance just because they're charged of a crime," she said. "The bail process focuses on risk of flight. I followed the law and made what might be considered a hard decision."

State law says that judges should consider the character, reputation, financial resources, length of residency, criminal history and weight of evidence against a defendant when measuring flight risk and setting bail.

Williams declined comment.

Meanwhile, Walsh was arrested again Wednesday for driving without a license. Police said Walsh drove James A. Burns, a state parolee, to a Kingston house that was under surveillance for drug activity. Walsh was given a ticket and released.

Assistant District Attorney John Tobin said he'll soon ask the court to send Walsh to jail without bail."

RIP Phil Terpening

We lost a great Legislator tonight, he'll be missed.

There are some e-mails that have come to light that are designed to attack my credibility and to humiliate me. I think it is best to tackle this directly. 1) About 6 or 7 months ago, I wrote an e-mail suggesting that I was going to use recreational marijuana. It's not something that I condone or am proud of, and not something that I am involved with any more. 2) Sometimes people say things they don't necessarily mean when they are upset . This is definitely one of those situations. Again, 6 or 7 months ago, in a private e-mail, I made some disparaging remarks about a good friend of mine Jon Sennett. This is not a reflection of my feelings for Jon, he is someone that I look up to and admire. 3) There are also a few gushy e-mails that I sent to a friend of mine that I like, certainly not inappropriate, but could be used for humiliating me. I do have a sensitive side :)

There also may be some rumors of a more personal nature: one having to do with accusations of abuse of prescription medication. Which is indeed true. After an injury, for a period of three years, I had a serious addiction to prescription pain killers. It is not something that I am proud of. Fortunately, I was able to address that issue, and I am now a healthier person.

Lastly, an issue that has been talked about very untruthfully on the blogs, which stems from a personal issue involving me and my mother. The truth of the matter is that there was a non-physical incident involving me and my mother that got out of hand. This was due to a series of poor decisions and reactions on my part, and I have accepted and taken full responsibility for the matter. While I am choosing not to go into further detail, the incident is public record. The incident that happened was well over a year ago, and I have since reconciled with my mother and family.

Jeremy

Tune in to Radio Free Kingston, guest candidate for Supervisor Jim Quigley

Jonathan Sennett and Art Richter will welcome candiate for Ulster Supervisor Jim Quigley tomorrow on their show, Radio Free Kingstion. Make sure to tune in Sunday, 12:30-1:30pm on WKNY 1490 on your AM dial!

Guiliani Sells Out Ulster Republican Fundraiser

Let me tell you, Rudy Guilani is a phenomenal public speaker and a powerful inspirational individual. I had the privilege to meet him the other night and he was great.

Whether you agree with his policies or not, there is no question what he has done for NYC, making it one of the safest largest city's in the country and his leadership on 9/11 gave him the title as America's Mayor.

A fellow Democrat, and friend put it best when he said, Guliani is more of a New Yorker than he is a Republican.

His magic touched Ulster County on Thursday when over 400 people packed into Hillside Maner to support America's Mayor, pulling in tens of thousands of dollars for the GOP races this November. Mario Catalano pulled off a great event and deserves credit for it.

On a side note, Rudy Guiliani, who was on a tight schedule, stayed for over 30 minutes signing autographs and taking pictures which was more than enough. As he was leaving he whispered to his security detail, you know I missed a few tables, and walked back up the stairs into the second room and stayed another 15 minutes.... Rudy Guiliani is a stand up guy!

GOOD TO BE MARIO

It's good to be Mario Catalano, what better for Mario than a united Republican party that is out raising Dem candidates 3:1? Well, leaders of the opposition (Dems) giving to the GOP as well!

Mario Catalano is schooling the freshman county chair Julian Schriebman and the absent chairman has no idea how to respond or handle it.

Mario is going to make a boat load of money tomorrow night at the Guliani dinner and probably get a lot of money from Dems too.

How can Julian Schriebman, the chairman of the party who attacked John Parete every step of the way for mismanagement of the party allow and appoint Democrats to positions of power in the party that give money to Democrats.

Democrats must recognize, It's not the quality of our candidates that has been lessened, it's the quality of our leadership. This is something that must be corrected.

NOTE; Yes, I am supporting Jim Quigley (along with 90% of the town of Ulster) but I do not serve in a position of power within the party.


Here is a list of some of the contributions we found, this does not include a lot of Dems that are on the list or even those that hid the contribution through their wife's name...this is just a list of Dems in high positions in the party.


DEM MONEY GOING TO GOP


NINA POSTUPACK

Mayor James Sottile $190.00

Abel Garaghan $600

James Noble $190.00

Andrew Zweben $50

Eli Basch $740.00

and while he is not a Dem, Al Spada $5000.00...

DON WILLIAMS

Eli Basch $190.00

Lew Kirschner $190.00

for full disclosure there is another local attorney that serves on the executive committee, and he happens to be a friend of mine, I am not omitting him due to friendship but because it was his law firm NOT him, who gave money to the GOP candidates. This individual personally donated two thousand dollars to Debra Schneer.