Sunday, August 14, 2011

Gallo Wins First Debate



The Daily Freeman debate between Democrat Shayne Gallo and his opponent Hayes Clement was interesting, Gallo clearly won the debate. Gallo is the candidate with the experience, the most well versed on the issues and he comes across impressively. Gallo has a passion in his voice, you know when you elect this guy he will be there 8am every day, ready to go and will be our Mayor. Hayes' answers are good but he lacks sincerity, he lacks hometown pride. Hayes honestly fails to connect with voters.


There were some comments on the Freeman that were critical of Hayes and of course I was blamed on the tweeter feed.  It was another candidate running for Mayor on the GOP side that "called me out" but that's ok.  It's funny how I get blamed, I didn't even watch the debate live. When the questions were coming in, I was uptown no where near a computer. I did watch the replay and the question that was asked, that I got blamed for asking was in regards to Hayes not voting in the 2007 election for Mayor. That's a legitimate question and I will tell you, I am not the only one asking it. It's a buzz around town.

I wish I was the one asking questions in that debate because Hayes got a free ride, his record was never called into question.  If I'm Paul Kirby I would of had a list of questions lined up :

1. Hayes, you moved here in 2005, why did it take you almost four years to register to vote? What about the 2007 Mayor's race made you uninterested that you didn't bother to vote?

2. Why at 50 years old Hayes do you have no roots or ties to a community?

3. Where are all these jobs Hayes that you have "created", just name one of them for me?

4. Why are you no longer with HBO?

5. Why did you sign a pledge with 5 Alderman to keep the tax levy at 0% and months later vote for a tax increase, why did you break your only promise to Kingston Hayes?


(It was not a pledge now he says, he was against raising taxes two months before he was in favor of it)

Click Here: Article Hayes Drafts and Signs Pledge Not to Raise Taxes.. October


Click Here: Hayes Breaks His OWN Pledge Votes for Tax Hike and Layoffs December

 6. How can Kingston relate to a Mayor that has a housekeeper, more importantly are you going to be able to be Mayor 24/7 and keep that housekeeper?


That's the question I want to know, I like Hayes and I'm worried about Hayes' quality of life, will he suffer if he's Mayor, the job pays only $75,000. This guy may have to lay off his housekeeper, who would put the ice in his martinis, and fold his laundry??

7. Do you support keeping Golden Hill County run? Why is your campaign co-chair on the board of Directors for an organization that recently compared Golden Hill to Katrina??




It's an open offer for Hayes to sit down with me and defend his record, as always I would be fair and balanced and report the facts.


20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought both canidates did well. But, I have yet to hear any canidate speak of a new revenue stream. Parking meters in all City owned lots need to be put in place.

Anonymous said...

I watched the debate yesterday and was impressed with Shane Gallo. I particularly like the fact that he sees where we as a municipality need to cut back on private attorney fees and consultants on the payroll. Troy Ashdown CSEA rep., wrote a letter addressing the common council and the mayor last budget season urging the council to cut the consultant CAMO industries be cut rather than anymore laborers. Andi Turco Levin agreed yet Hayes Clement catered to the consultant and praised them and then he went on to vote to cut the laborers and keep CAMO. Oh thats right, Hayes is a consultant himself. This guy caters to the rich and screws over the poor. Gallo is more intune to the working people in kingston and he will have my vote.

Anonymous said...

What about Hayes who as Mayor will be head of the police department is advocating for a program that gives illegal immigrants a get out of jail free card. He want KPD to issue these ID cards knowing full well they are illegal. Wow, NO Thanks Mr. Hayes.

Anonymous said...

Was that Hayes Clement's butler sitting in the middle of the debate yesterday?

Anonymous said...

No 117 that was Larry David

Anonymous said...

I would pay money ($25) lol, to see you sit down and interview Hayes Clement and youtube it up on here. Blaber who is going to win the GOP primary and the other primaries for county legislature and city council?

Anonymous said...

Turco-Levin then voted to keep CAMO. She's worse than Hayes.

Anonymous said...

9:41, yes Andi did vote for the budget, however she at least CALLED THEM OUT, whereas Clement praised Camo. She talked about how the overtime budget down there at 100k was over extravagant and needed to be adressed and made the proposal to do so. That must be recognized and at the end of the day she did vote for the budget but clearly during the budget hearings she was calling out the cities f#*ked up practice of keeping CAMO a consultant on payroll for past 25 YEARS!! She deserves credit for stating openly that it no longer made any sense to keep CAMO when laying off laborers, and she was right. We are paying two Operators alot of money and they need to get the licensing to run facility like other municipalites and STOP relying on some outside consultant/contractor. Hayes mentioned how Camo has this so called "conection" to the DEC. I wonder how the DEC state agency would feel if they knew CAMO was claiming they had some "sway" over a state agency like the DEC?? It is total bullshit, quite frankly, and Andi wasnt buying it. Poukeepsie got rid of CAMO recently when they realized they no longer needed thier services due to budgetary reasons. Why not us? We can no longer afford to keep consultants on the payroll that have been there for past years during the good times. Good times are gone people, it isnt getting any easier here in Kingston financially. It was refreshing to see that Shayne Gallo was stating the obvious during debate as well. He recognizes that we can no longer afford consultants and outside attorney's fees any longer and must remove to get budget under control. Kudos to him for that!

Anonymous said...

That's great, I never thought about Nostradamus in the OR

Anonymous said...

I'm sure Blabes your interview would be fair and entertaining to watch. I would like to see Andi as Mayor but Gallo is a close second. Unfortunately, I can't vote in either primary. :<

Anonymous said...

I watched both debates and none of the canidates said anything about the out of control contracts the unions get. The firemen are bankrupting the City and yet none of the canidates have taken a position on it.

Cahill did answer on his blog. Stating only that he may not get that chance if Sottile agrees to 4 year deals with all unions. That has as much of a chance as a snowballl in Hell.

What is GAllo going to do about the cost of health care?

Anonymous said...

8:03,

Ok, Andi yelled about it, claimed the political credit, and then voted to continue with CAMO.

Hayes was also wrong with his vote. At least he did not lie about it.

They're both wrong. Hayes is a political butt kisser. Andi is a liar. Both are bad. Which is worse?

Anonymous said...

You show a clear bias in your questions!

Anonymous said...

What was your opinion on the Republican debate?

Jeremy Blaber said...

5PM, What are you talking about? ;) In all seriousness these are questions that need to be asked maybe not in a rapid fire way as I put it on the blog but they are all legit.

As for the Republican debate, I was impressed with two candidates and will write something on it later tonight, just have been really busy. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Certain candidates (read Gallo) know enough about the Taylor Law to know that negotiating in public during a campaign can come back to bite you when you negotiate for real and are accused of bad faith bargaining.

Other candidates (read Clement) know nothing about the process of negotiating a municipal contract, and probably could not tell you what happens when negotiations reach impasse, what happens at fact-finding, what the difference is between the impasse process for CSEA and law enforcement, and other critical information. He does not know because he has never had any involvement with these issues.

Certain candidates (read Cahill), while they do not have as much practical experience as others, know enough about the law not to improperly compromise their negotiating position prior to negotiations beginning and know where to find the various laws governing municipal contract negotiations.

Certain other candidates (read Levin and Polacco) truly know next to nothing about the process and therefore have been freely throwing out statements that demonstrate ignorance and will hurt them if (god forbid) they ever get to negotiate.

For those who do not know, negotiating employment contracts in private industry is completely irrelevant in the public sector where negotiations must follow strict guidelines set forth in the Taylor law. First and foremost, the Taylor law requires that parties negotiate in good faith and the terms of the old contract remain in place absent an agreement to a change.

As a result, givebacks are very difficult to secure. Unions often will simply refuse, knowing that the present contract continues, and push the negotiations towards impasse, a costly and dragged out process.

The difference in experience and knowledge in this critical area was pretty clear during the debate. Only Gallo has participated in municipal labor negotiations, only Gallo knows how to best protect the interests of the citizens of this community when negotiating the next contracts.

Hayes' absurd statement that a new chief can help with negotiations shows how ignorant he really is about the process. It also shows how ignorant he is about the dynamics between a police chief, his men and the city government that hires him or her.

Just one example of his disconnect to the real issues and the rules that must be followed when running a city government.

There are many, many more . . .

Anonymous said...

2:33,

Cahill's answer offered more than that.

Anonymous said...

My,My...has anyone seen Cahill's little signs out there?? Poor thing, they are a joke. I feel bad for the guy. Doesnt he realize this a race?

Anonymous said...

9:08 Remember the turtle...

Anonymous said...

give cahiill credit; he is the only republican candidate capable of thought.