Blaber's News and Commentary

Here and There

2009-11-07T20:22:00.000-05:00

Big thanks to Julian Schriebman on taking only 12 months to screw up the empire that Dems buildt under former Chairman John Parete.

Julian we don't want excuses or for you to apoligize, all we want is your resignation.

We the Democrats of Ulster County are giving you your two weeks notice!

An online will be started al Dems encouraged to sign.

Comptroller Auerbach, Assemblyman Cahill, and Sheriff Van Blarcum are all up next year and we can't afford to allow Julian to cost is those very important positions.

My hope is that County Executive Mike Hein, Congressman Hinchey, Assemblyman Cahill and Comptroller Auerbach sit down with John Parete and tell him it's time to step out of retirement. If John won't do it, I think Brian Cahill or Gilda Riccardi would all be fine choices but new leadership is needed fast.

Town of Ulster Supervisor Nick Woerner, who was stomped in the general election last week by a more than two to one margin, is having trouble again, this time Nick refuses to allow Supervisor elect Jim Quigley a fair and open transition process.

Mr. Supervisor, the people have spoken loud and clear, Sir, stop the politcal games and help allow Jim Quigley do the job he was elected to do.

The County Legislature:

We urge all Democrats to support Rich Parete for Minority Leader. Parete, a veteran lawmaker has the temperment and passion required of a leader of the Minority party and think Dems will be served well under his leadership.

For Republicans the choice is difficult for Chairman, I think Jim Maloney would be a good Chairman, he worked hard and partly responsible for Republicans being in the Majority.

For Majority Leader Ken Ronk has earned it and it would be good for the face of the Republican party to be someone under the age of 50.

No matter who ends up leading the legislature next year, expect the GOP to be holding Hein's feet to the fire every step of the way. We're confident in Hein's ability to govern no matter what party is running county government.

2009-11-04T04:45:00.004-05:00

DEFEATED

QUIGLEY WINS,

DESTROYING WOERNER

BY A 2 TO ONE MARGIN

CONGRATULATIONS TO COURTY COURT JUDGE WILLIAMS

GOP RETAKES MAJORITY OF THE ULSTER COUNTY LEGISLATURE

VOTE EARLY. VOTE OFTEN, VOTE CAHILL VOTE QUIGLEY!!!

2009-11-02T21:03:00.013-05:00

There are a lot of important races this year and while it's considered an off year election, please remeber all politics is local and the decisions that effect your life on a daily basis are made on a local level and today's election is just as important as the historic election that took place last year when we elected President Barack Obama. Below is a list of people both Democrat and Republican that I support and feel have their heart in the right place for the people of Ulster County. Please consider supporting these candidates and get out and vote!

- Jeremy

p.s. to all town of Ulster Residents : Vote Early, Vote often, Vote Cahill, Vote Quigley! Please say this phrase 5 times and get this stuck in your head before you go to the polls. Both are great people and both must be elected and reelected respectively today!

Majority leader Brian Cahill **

Jim Quigley for Town Supervisor Row B, C, D **

Gilda Riccardi for County Clerk, ROW A or Row E **

Don Williams for County Court, row B,C,D**

Candidate Overview Who We're Supporting

**= an important race

City of Kingston

Ward 1
Andi Turco-Levin

Ward 2
Tom Hoffay **

Ward 3
Charlie Landi

Ward 4
Shirley Whitlock

Ward 5
Jen Fuentes **

Ward 6
neutral

Ward 7
Bill Reynolds

Ward 8
Todd Langon

Ward 9
Hayes Clement **

County Legislature

District 1 Terry Bernardo, TJ Briggs, Joe Stoeckler, Mary Sheeley

District 2 Don Gregorious and Brian Shapiro

District 3 Rich Parete, Rob Parete, Roy Hochberg

District 4 Nicole Tucker and Marcy Goulart (we also like Frey, Sweeney, and Jones)

District 5 MAJORITY LEADER Brian Cahill **, Fred Wadnola

District 6 Mike Madsen, Jeanette Provanzano

District 7 Alan Lomita, Dennis Pitcock, write in Phil Terperning

District 8 Ken Ronk, Tracy Bartels and Jack Hayes

District 9 Richard Gerintine, Frank Fellicello, Wayne Harris and Pam Baxton

District 10 Hector Rodriguez

District 11 Mary Beth Maio, Jon Decker **

District 12 David Donaldson, Peter Loughran

Judge Schneers breaks contribution limit laws?

2009-11-02T16:42:00.001-05:00

People have been writing to Blaber News and asking is Judge Schneer breaking campign finance laws with a single donation of $30,000 from one person.

$30,000 is a lot of money in the last week of a campaign from one person.

C50099
COMMITTEE TO ELECT DEBORAH SCHNEER
28-OCT-09
MATTHEW SCHNEER8104 CHESTER STTAKOMA PARK, MD 20912
$30,000.00

Schneer Blunder: Dylan Walsh No Show For County Court Yesterday

2009-10-29T23:00:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-21T22:23:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-19T23:38:00.005-04:00

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

2009-10-10T18:23:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-10T15:39:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-06T01:55:00.004-04:00

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.

De Blasio and Liu pull off HUGE VICTORIES thanks to WFP

2009-09-29T23:34:00.003-04:00

Bill DeBlasio wins runoff for NYC Public Advocate against Mark Green

John Liu wins runoff for NYC Comptroller against David Yassky

Congrats to our next Supreme Court Justice; Judge James P. Gilpatric

2009-09-25T17:03:00.006-04:00

Congrats to Judge Gilpatric, who is now the Democratic, Independence and Conservative nominee for Supreme Court Justice and all but assured victory in November.

Judge Gilpatric, a veteran campaigner from the T.R. Gallo days is going to win and win BIG! He will also have some strong coattails that will coast Dems with him, Debra Schneer and Gilda Riccardi got a huge boost today!

Current Full-Time Kingston City Court Judge – proudly serving 16th year on City Court bench
Established and presides over Domestic Violence Court in Kingston
Currently presiding as County Judge over Ulster County Regional Drug Treatment Court
30 Years Experience Representing Clients in NYS Supreme Court
Former New York State Supreme Court Confidential Law Secretary for the Honorable Vincent G. Bradley
Siena College and Albany Law School Graduate
Life-long Hudson Valley resident and voter
Past President of the Ulster County Magistrates Association
Founding Member of the Ulster County Inter-Agency Domestic Violence Council
Board Member of Rural Ulster Preservation Company for more than 17 years
Ulster County Mental Health Community Services Board Member and Chair of Substance Abuse Sub-Committee
Experienced, qualified, dedicated
Involved in the community

Republicans Hijack Indy Line in Ulster

2009-09-23T22:54:00.003-04:00

The Republicans have successfully hijacked the Independence line in the Town of Ulster in an attempt to get rid of Majority Leader Brian Cahill this November, their method was both illegal and unethical and can't be tolerated.

Brian Cahill was the party's choice for the Independence Party, the Republicans orchestrated a way to steal the line by having their supporters fill out absentee ballots and vote for the two GOP candidates in the race.

Election law clearly states if you are in town on election day than you must vote at the polls, at least 7 PEOPLE that voted by absentee in District 5 where in district 5 on election day, there are pictures and proof of this.

We can not allow the GOPs dirty tricks to take out a great public servant, we as Democrats need to get behind and work for Brian Cahill to make sure he returns to the legislature in January.

Republicans, Independents, Democrats and NOPs that live in district 5 should all protest what happened by bullet voting for Brian Cahill this November on the Democratic or working Families party line.

I know there is a strong GOP tidal wave going on in the Town of Ulster and I support the candidate for supervisor on that line but we must be fair have checks and balances and spare one Democratic vote in Ulster for Brian Cahill!

The GOP should be ashamed and voters should be outraged by the win at all cost tactics of the GOP legislative candidates, a SAD day in Ulster County.

NY's Greatest Assemblyman, Kevin Cahill greeting President Obama in Troy

2009-09-21T18:58:00.004-04:00

Stuart Fraiser Is Honest Abe

2009-09-21T12:32:00.000-04:00

Kingston Truth's ghost writer Honest Abe was no other then Stuart Fraiser.

KingstonTruth Blogmaster Unmasked

2009-09-19T21:40:00.000-04:00

Blabernews has uncovered who the blogmaster behind Kingstontruth was...details on Monday.

PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS

2009-09-16T03:25:00.005-04:00

CITY OF KINGSTON PRIMARY RACES

Ward 9
Democratic Line
Hayes Clement crushes Mark Halwick to win the Democratic nomination in Ward 9. Clement won by a nearly 3 to 1 margin and will face Republican Deborah Brown in November. Congratulations Hayes!

Ward 8
Conservative Line
Congratulations to Todd Langdon on his HUGE victory over Bob Senor on the Conservative Line.

Ward 1
Republican Line
Congratulations to Andi Turco-Levin on her HUGE victory on the Republican Line.

ULSTER COUNTY PRIMARY RACES

County Court Judge
Independence Line
Don Williams easily fends off Democratic nominee Deborah Schneer. The Independence Line is a good litmus test for the General Election in November. I predict that Don Williams will easily win over Schneer, as long as he keeps the momentum going.

County Leg, District One Republican Line
Congratulations to top vote getter Terry Bernardo for running a hard fought and clean campaign. Look for Bernardo, Sheeley, Briggs and Stoecker to take the Legislative seats in November.

County Leg, District Five
Independence Line
The jury is still out in the Independence Line in District Five. Look for the endorsed candidates to win though. I bet those candidates that didn't send letters to the absentee voters are wishing that they did now.

County Leg, District Six Democratic Line
Congratulations to Mike Madsen and Jeanette Provenzano on a closely contested election for the Democratic Line. In the end Frank Dart was not the winner. While we have been very critical of Frank Dart in recent weeks, the election is over now and the voters have spoken. We would like to thank Frank Dart for his many years of service and contributions to the City of Kingston and the County of Ulster.

County Leg, District Seven Independence Line
Top vote getters are Lomita, Petit and Pitcock, but absentees remain to be counted Terpening and Befiglio could still be in the race after the absentees are counted. Ditto on the absentee letters. I hope all the candidates were on top of them. It really is Campaign Strategy 101, you have to send the absentee voters a letter and ask for their vote.

County Leg, District Eight
Republican, Conservative and Independence Lines
Congratulations to Ken Ronk (TOP vote getter in Leg Dist 8), Cathy Terrizzi and Jack Hayes. Virtually no one in Ulster County thought that these three candidates could prevail over Noonan in all three primaries. Through hard work and dedicated campaigning they did win all three primaries with solid majorities. Thanks to Glenn Noonan for his many years of service to Ulster County.

Isn't 18 Years of Frank Dart's FAILED LEADERSHIP Enough?

2009-09-13T23:42:00.002-04:00

Legislator Frank Dart: Double Dipping

2009-09-13T23:00:00.000-04:00

Primary Election Endorsements

2009-09-11T11:15:00.013-04:00

City of Kingston

Ward 9- Hayes Clement (Democrat)

Ulster County

County Court - Don Williams (Independence)

District 1 - Terry Bernardo, Joe Steckler, TJ Briggs, Mary Sheeley (Republican)

District 6 - Mike Madsen, Jeanette Provanzano (Democrat)

District 5 - Brian Cahill, (Independence)

District 8- Ken Ronk, (rep, ind,con,)

GOP State Committeewoman (107th Assembly District) Terry Bernardo

NYC

Mayor - Bill Thompson (Democrat)

Public Advocate - Bill Di Blasio (Democrat)

Comptroller- Jon Lu (Democrat)

Manhattan DA - Richard Aborn (Democrat)

Campaign Season Begins

2009-09-08T15:50:00.001-04:00

Well it's after Labor day and the official start of the campaign season begins!

Here is an open thread what are you seeing, what are you hearing?!?!

Campaign Season Begins

2009-09-08T15:50:00.000-04:00

Well it's after Labor day and the official start of the campaign season begins!

Here is an open thread what are you seeing, what are you hearing?!?!

Catskill Mountain Catering

2009-09-06T09:07:00.000-04:00

I encourage everyone to go to the Hooley in Kingstog today and check out the fun!

While your there, make sure to stop by the Catskill Mountain Catering booth and say hello to my friend Jody Edinger who has a booth down there.

He will have some petty good food, so make sure you come hungry!

coming tomorrow

2009-09-04T01:12:00.001-04:00

Comptroller Auerbach is looking to hire new staff to properly look over the county's finances and make sure every dollar and cent is accounted for... After the Dean Palen fiasco, the Jail fiasco and the most recent issues with DSS, its a no brainer.

As my father would if you're not going to do something right, don't do it all. We need the chief auditor of Ulster Counter to have the staff needed to do the job he was elected to do.

Tomorrow we will detail how the former county administrator and the charter committee, short staffed the Comptroller's office and what needs to be done to correct it.

We will also go into detail about how these positions will pay for themselves in the long run.

If you spend 300k on staff and they save taxpayers a million dollars by weeding out wasteful spending is it worth it?!?!

A full report tomorrow night!

RIP Kathy Janeczek

2009-09-04T00:25:00.004-04:00

I am saddened to report the passing of our City of Kingston Clerk, Kathy Janeczek. She will be missed.

Pictured Above: The 120th anniversary of the Army's "opening fire" in Kingston was commemorated as City Clerk Kathy Janeczek presented Captain Kisser with a new red-and-white street sign emblazoned "The Salvation Army Way" to be displayed on the block of the street on which the Kingston Citadel Corps is located.