Dem Convention

Julian Schreibman Accepts Dem nod for Congress  photo by Dan Torres

 packed house..

This is about a week old.... Julian Schreibman was nominated as our next Congressman by Ulster Democrats. Julian has also now received the endorsements of the Dutchess, Greene, and Columbia County Democrats. I hear Ahouse and Zimet are both out. The DCCC is actively looking for another candidate but it looks like Julian has a good shot, both for the nomination and the general. Schreibman has my support, the party has endorsed him and I think he will do well.

Frank Cardinale was elected Chairman. Cardinale's failure as Chairman is inevitable, he has no clue, no drive and is fueled by divisiveness. I hope someone can run in September and defeat him for the sake of the Ulster County Democratic Committee.

Woerner for Chairman

The race for Ulster County Democratic Chairman is between two candidates tonight at 7pm at the Hillside Manor, City Chairman Frank Cardinale, and former Ulster Supervisor Nick Woerner. The choice is clear: Vote Woerner.


Nick has the knowledge to the job, he know how to win in a Republican town, which he has done twice, he knows how to orginize and raise money for candidates, which he has done for a geographically deserve amount of candidates around the county including Tony McGinty, Debra Schneer, Gary Bischoff ect.


Cardinale is Kingston centered insider, he readily admits he took a 20 yr plus break from politics and his return three years ago has left a lot to be desired, just look at what happened during the Kingston Mayor's race.

Nick also has taken the race more seriously, which is indicative of how he will be as Chairman, he has made the rounds to the committees, phone calls have been made and personal visits...Frank Cardinale comes back from Flordia today..Enough Said...too much is at stake, give Woerner a 3 month chance to fill Schreibman's term and lets get moving with what will be a very important 2012 election season.

Here and There

 Mike Hein not running...Hein sent shock waves through Ulster County this week when he announced that he would not be a candidate for Congress this year. Hein has been mentioned as a possible successor to Congressman Hinchey since he took office as Executive in 2009. Matter of fact Hein spent thousands of dollars in advertising during his reelection campaign despite having no opponent. Which fueled rumors he was gearing up for a run when Hinchey retired.

Speaking of Hein's reelection campaign; I heard a joke on the street this week that was kinda funny:  

Why did Hein have billboards up all over Ulster County if he was running unopposed?


No mirrors on the way to work! ;)

Seriously, Mike was astute to let the public know he was running and and to get his record out to the people of Ulster County. Despite what some may say, you don't get a free pass as the County Executive because the opposing party thinks you are doing a bad job or more importantly because they think they can beat you. Micheal Hein did not have an opponent last year because they could not beat Hein.

Hein getting his name out on a year the legislature was up and other offices, helps Dems across the county. I kid the county Executive on his superficial public presence sometimes but the fact remains Micheal Hein is a great Executive with the people's interests at heart. Julian, Susan and everyone else can all take a breath now, there chances of being elected to Congress got a whole lot better with Hein's exit from the race.

Now What? Well Julian Schreibman is campaigning pretty hard and is gaining some momentum (www.julianforny.com), we hear New Paltz Supervisor Susan Zimet also is looking to run, Sue has a strong following is savvy and will raise a ton of money...in her 2006 Senate race she raised over 300k easily. Last year Zimet had a huge political comeback getting back her old job as New Paltz Town Supervisor. Sue also has her enemies..she's a mixed bag of powerful friends, powerful enemies and a tireless drive to fight for what she thinks is right, she's a very creditable candidate.

Game Changer Candidates: Dan Ahouse (announcement could be coming any day now) and what if Hinchey changed his mind Monday night at the Ulster County Democratic Convention and announced his intentions to challenge Gibson...a lot of people were talking about how good and energized our Congressman was on St. Patrick's Day. Will Danny Boy in the halls of Congress for two more years??!! I know it seems like a crazy long shot, but hey, crazier things have happened.... 

Tortuous and the Hare: Buzz is Monday's Democratic Convention could be a Woerner comeback..Woerner is doing well at committees I hear. Frank Cardinale is reportedly on vacation until late Sunday night..convention date was moved to Monday to accommodate Mr.Cardinale. Should be interesting to see how it all goes down on Monday.


Other blogs such as Rich Cahill's blog and the Ulster Report have reported on Jim Quigley's exit from consideration in the new senate district that includes Kingston. Albany Republicans have made that district for Assemblyman George Amadore an up and coming Republican from Schenectady. Apparently in order to get GOP backing in Albany you have to write checks to Albany..not to the community you hope to represent. I see some Democratic Quigley supporters pulling down levers for the Democratic nominee...and from what I hear there are two Democratic legislators interested...one would be very strong!

Also thanks for the positive comments regarding work ect....please do not get offended if I didn't publish your comment on subject, I respectfully would like to keep the two separate. I read all comments moderated and unmoderated and I appreciate it the kind words..thanks so much again, I think I know who most of you are :)

Kingston GOP Chair Tony Sinagra Resigns

I give Mr. Sinagra credit for resigning and taking responsibility for his loss. Chairman Frank Cardinale on the other had bashes Mayor Gallo for an entire year and wants to be our Ulster County Democratic Chairman...go figure.

Whoever leads the GOP is of no interest to me but Robb Kinnin would do a good job for what it's worth. To be objective for a moment, he would do well and be fair.

Vice Chair Bruce McLean is now acting Chair, he would be a good choice too.

Peace Talks...What do Mike Hein and Terry Bernardo have in common?

They say the first step to two people resolving their differences is to find some common ground. Whether it be finding things they share a cause on; such as giving Bloomberg and the DEP a huge headache..ect..

Please use the comment section to leave similarities between Hein and Bernardo in an effort to find common ground and good government.

Back from Hiatus....

Sorry for the hiatus!

 How did I miss the honey moon between the Bernardo led legislature and the Ulster County Executive's office? You would think they would be natural allies, they both want to privatize Golden Hill so why the fighting over who sits on the LDC? Also if I am Terry Bernardo I am promoting Mike Hein and his agenda with full force... if Hein runs for Congress (which will happen) if he is elected it sets the stage for the first woman Chair of the legislature to run to become Ulster's first female Executive.


Of course I am known as a peace maker ;~) I offer to have lunch with Executive Hein and Chairwoman Bernardo and play peace maker in a similar way that was done by President Clinton in 93 between than Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.  Minority Leader David Donaldson can buy.


 Congress:  Hein Watch Speaking of Mike Hein:  We are all waiting for the inevitable announcement from County Executive Micheal Hein that he will run for Congress. With Ulster County intact in the new Congressional distric, he would be foolish not to run. Julian Schreibman the former Chairman of the Ulster County Dem committee has a little bit of a head start and if Dan Ahouse runs it really could make things interesting. Congressman Hinchey will be at the Democratic county convention in two weeks... will he nominate his successor? If so he almost would have to back Ahouse who was his former Chief of Staff and trusted adviser.

However, with the 22nd a lot different as the current proposed district Ahouse loses a bit of his edge to Hein. Dan Ahouse has the 22nd playbook down..what he lacked in name recognition he made up for in knowledge of the district the players, fundraising ability ect., the new district proposed is much different than it currently is now. I have to give County Executive a slight advantage over the rest of the pack but both Hein and Ahouse should not sleep on Schreibman who is working hard.

Also keep in mind we are now in a district represented by freshman Congressman Gibson, Gibson took out Scott Murphy last year. Gibson's district was a swing district before redistricting (this is Senator Gillibrand's old seat) now it includes areas like Rensselaer and Ulster, making it even more Democratic. More Dems from outside of Ulster County will run for this seat, especially in a year that President Barack Obama is on the ballot in NY.


Ulster County Dem Chairman- The Convention for Ulster County Democratic Chairman is coming up, I am supporting and voting for Nick Woerner. I think Mr. Cardinale just would not be the best choice for Chair of the county. I say that as a City of Kingston Democratic Committeeman, I have seen first hand Frank in action and he leaves a lot to be desired.

Happy Birthday To Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach!

Happy Birthday Elliott, don't look a day over 25!

Julian's Candidacy

For three years I have wanted Julian to resign as Chairman of the Ulster County Democratic Committee so I certainly am not going to attack him for doing so now. Yes, it is crazy that Julian would resign and run for Congress without first waiting what Congressional district he will be in but so be it. To be honest, I have a new respect for Julian Schreibman let him run and follow his dream.

For Congress I could support : Cahill, Ahouse, and Hein.. anyone of those three would be great to represent us in Congress.

Julian resigns as dem chair to launch run for congress

Julian Schreibman resigned last week as Chair of the Ulster County Democratic Committee to launch is campaign for Congress. Karen Markasinis is now acting chair of the committee.  I don't really no what I could add to this...

End of an Era

Congressman Hinchey's announcement that he would not run for another term is no surprise, he told me he was retiring early in January so I knew it was coming but still when his office made it official, I could not help but get knots in my stomach, it's sad. Congressman Hinchey is someone that never was afraid to stand up and do the right thing regardless of how unpopular it was in the court of public opinion. Congressman Hinchey is a hero to many and a man that served his constituents proudly, he will be missed in Congress. I wish him the very best in the future and hope he is able to enjoy his golden years with his family and friends...he deserves it.

On a side note: Allison Lee Hinchey's treatment by the local media has been disgusting and despicable. How dare they treat her the way they have because of issues they have with our distinguished Congressman. Mrs. Hinchey is a woman of class and does not deserve to be treated in the manner in which she has. I'm not saying to hide things or push them under the rug but putting it on the front page of the paper  with a picture that is not flattering is very disrespectful. I wish Mrs. Hinchey the very best and hope people and the press will respect her privacy.

What now with the 22nd?

Well there are several different things that may happen. I think most people are waiting for the state legislature to go through the redistricting process to see what is going to happen. Two congressional districts will be lost and with Hinchey retiring it would be easy to chop up the distirct. Ulster County could end up being lumped into Congressman Gibson's district or Congresswoman Hayworth's district.


For arguments sake lets assume that the 22nd stays intact, if that is the case who are the top contenders for the seat?

Kevin Cahill: Assemblyman Cahill is arguable the most qualified and best candidate that Democrats can put up. Kevin is smart, charismatic and has the experience as a legislator in both Ulster county were he served as Minority Leader and as state legislator where he has been in positions of leadership. Cahill a former chair of the state Assembly's ethics committee currently heads the Assembly's very influential energy committee. Congressman Cahill is a good fit.


Mike Hein: County Executive Hein is a great guy and someone that is very likable, even when I disagree with him (which is very rare) you can't help but like him. Mike Hein is committed to making Ulster County the best place ever to live work and raise a family and has been a breath of fresh air leading our county government.  Hein is sharp, a great speaker and damn impressive. Hein would also be an excellent choice for Congress.


Dan Ahouse: As a long time Chief of staff to Congressman Hinchey, Ahouse has the connections needed to run a congressional campaign. Dan Ahouse knows that district and the players like no other candidate could. Ahouse has helped a lot of people and has a lot of friends. Whether or not he is interested is another story but Ahouse is a serious contender if he wanted to make the plunge.

Juilan Schreibman: We hear the Democratic county Chairman is indeed interested in a run for congress. 



Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan also has been rumored as a possible candidate for Congress. Ryan a popular Democrat will do really well in a Democratic primary. I do not know enough about Mayor Ryan to give an accurate assessment but he's in the mix.

George Phillips: The two time loser did really well last time he ran. Phillips who took money from Karl Rove hit the district with his campaign full of lies and deception. The smear campaign almost was successful, he certainly is going to try and make a run at it.

There will be both Democratic and Republican primaries for this race..it should be interesting and it's gonna swing into high gear pretty quickly.

It's Newt

Newt Gingrich destroys Romney to win South Carolina primary. If Rick Santorum gets out of the way, Newt Gingrich has a good shot to carry Florida and win the GOP nomination.

Bloomberg‎ - 7025 related articles

Results for South Carolina Republican Primary (U.S. Presidential Primary)

Jan 21, 2012 (100% of precincts reporting)

Newt Gingrich	243,153	40.4%
Mitt Romney	167,279	27.8%
Rick Santorum	102,055	17%
Ron Paul	77,993	13%
Rick Perry	2,494	0.4%
Other	8,192	1.4%

Watch Fendi at New World Stages

Please take a minute to watch this video. My friend the very talanted Fendi Munoz performed at New World Stages..someone like you. She's really a great singer who's extremely talented. Look for her to be a household name in a few years. :)

BREAKING NEWS CONGRESSMAN HINCHEY TO RETIRE

As first reported here on Blaber News last week: Congressman Hinchey will not seek another term for Congress..more later. This is a huge loss to the 22nd district.

Will we lose the district or will a long list of politicos now start running for his seat? Full details later.

2012 Predictions

Mayor Gallo Leads Kingston to become one of Money Magazine's 10 best places to live

The Kingston Common Council works with their new Mayor, reform of City government is easier than expected  when the new Alderman team up in a bipartisan manner and control the Majority.

Assembly and Senate Districts redistricting will yield new Ulster County players in state politics

Skartodos returns to Assembly


Kevin Cahill runs and is reelected in the new 101st

The legislature and Executive will be at odds on a scale we have not yet witnessed since the adoption of  the Charter form of government.

Congressman Hinchey retires-- a lot of local pols line up to replace..none anywhere near as good as Hinchey.

Dan Ahouse X Factor in that race, a bright guy with the connections and brains.

An elder party attorney will be elected Chair of the Ulster County Democratic Committee in a three way race.

Barack Obama is reelected President of the United States of America

Blaber becomes Chairman of City of Kingston Democratic Committee (I really hope this one is accurate!)

Congratulations to Chairman Bernardo; Terry first Woman to hold Top Post

  "The Charter set up a balance of power between this body, the executive and the comptroller, the vast overhaul proposed by some to make this legislature less effective is not welcomed from this chair today.”
                                         -Chairman Terry Bernardo,  Ulster County Legislature

Congratulations to Terry Bernardo who became the first woman to become Chairman of the Ulster County Legislature. Terry has been an unfair target by some of her political adversaries and she played it just right, she killed them with kindness and they underestimated her.

Terry Bernardo who holds a Master's degree from Drexel University will be a great Chair, in her first term as a legislator she fought hard for the residents of Warwarsing that have been suffering with flooding due to an unresponsive agency in NYC. If not for Terry Bernardo this issue would never of come to light. Bernardo is a go getter and will get results.


Personally, Terry and her husband Len are two of the nicest and caring people I have ever met and I love them both a great deal. I am not sure you can be proud of someone older than you are but I am very proud of Terry, this was well deserved.

Gallo Takes Charge

The Gallo Era Begins:

 His supporters are called Gallonista's according to Political Columnist Hugh Reynolds, and after more than a year of fighting the political establishment Shayne Gallo was able to break down their back door and  is now officially in charge; as Kingston's 33rd Mayor.

At the swearing in on New Year's day, well over 400 people packed City Hall to watch Shayne get sworn in. Most has to do with the tremendous outreach Gallo's team had during the election and a lot had to do with the hope that Kingstonians have in another Gallo being Mayor. You could just  feel that the people in that room and around the city have a restored sense of pride and hope that they had lost after death of T.R. Gallo. 
With insiders describing Shayne as T.R. on steroids, we are going to see a lot of positive changes in the next year. The closing of a boarding house on O'Reilly house was already a positive start by the new mayor.

Noticeably absent from Gallo's swearing in was Kingston Democratic Chairman Frank Cardinale, who has been at odds with Shayne. Cardinale who didn't support Gallo's bid for Mayor during the primary is showing that nothing much has really changed.

Blaber News Person of the Week Brian Woltman

For 2012 I resolve to update this blog on a regular basis and I also plan to bring back some of the great regular spots I used to have like pin heads and patriots (which I took from O'Reilly) but it was fun to do on a local level. I also would like to bring back the Blaber News Person of the week.. I used to write something nice about someone ever week and post it on the blog. Usually this person is someone that is a local official, volunteer or someone that is newsworthy or was newsworthy for that specific week.


 I first met Brian back in 2006 when I was doing my tv show, I had to pay a parking ticket at city hall. Brian introduced himself and said he had saw the show, after that I would run into him from time to time and we became friends.

I did a story about Brian's help back when city court had to be moved for renovations, Brian had done a lot of work on the mechanics of the move, far and above his duties as the city purchaser for the City of Kingston. That's not unusual for Brian, Brain takes his work at City Hall very seriously and many times will go above and beyond what is expected of him in his role in city government. However Brian has the same  seriousness and dedication about most things.

This past year Brian helped a lot in Shayne Gallo's race for Mayor. Woltman was one of the original five people that were on Gallo's committee from day one and was a loyal supporter in good times and bad. Woltman was a loyal solider, he nominated Gallo with his infamous: Gallo gets it speech and put himself out there as a city employee to some extent and it's very honorable, to pick a life long friendship over the possibility of losing your job, if you back the wrong horse.

There is some talk Brian may run for a seat on the legislature when his current legislator retires, and some would say he is the heir apparent to that seat. He has my vote and is this weeks person of the week.

Coming next few days 2012 Predictions

 In the next few days, I will do my 2012 predictions, I thought it would be fun to go down memory lane and look at the predictions I made last year.

On December 28th 2010, I did a blog post on 2011 predictions, and some I was pretty good on and some I was way off on..but actually for writing these in Decemeber of last year, I think I did ok..I was dead on about the Kingston races and this was way before any of the candidates had announced, some had not even thought of running yet.


http://blabernews.blogspot.com/search?q=2011+predictions   <~~~~~ post from December 2010

Kingston Mayor Jim Sottile will not run for reelection or finish his full term in office.

I was right on the money on Sottile not running, he is finishing his term.

Kingston will see primaries on both the Democratic and Republican sides for the office of mayor.

Was accurate on prediction number 2, which was a good call being I made it in December

The winner of the Kingston Mayor's race will be a Kingston native and established politico, although considered some what of an underdog in the primary, his huge primary win gives him great momentum and an easy win in November..a few Aldermen may be tapped to serve in the administration, leaving some open seats and special elections in key areas of Kingston.

For the most part with the exception of only the special election part, this predication came true.

Kingston's Ward 6 will continue to have solid representation and the Ball will start moving forward bringing Kingston on the right track, another candidate will make some noise about running but he will quickly and swiftly be shut down

four for four!

The common council will remain solidly Democratic..two former Aldermen will make a run for the council again...one will be successful, one will not.

half right on this one

Kingston will elect it's first female Alderman at Large; in fact the election in 2011 will guarantee that a female holds the post

dead wrong...at the time I was thinking Provanzano vs. Levin

-----------------------------------------------

A bright charismatic former prosecutor and Kingston trial lawyer will be elected Ulster County District Attorney. The new Democratic D.A. will quickly transform the Ulster D.A.'s office in similar ways Spitzer transformed the NYS AG's office and will eventually go on to hold statewide office.

ok...I was wrong on that one too...ah, what could have been.

A Democrat will run on the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines for County Executive; Mike Hein fighting on the Democratic and working families lines will be reelected by an Andrew Cuomo type margin.

Wrong on that end..at the time I was think Zimet may run

Incumbent legislators that will not be returning to the county legislature after 2011 : T.J. Briggs, Donald Gregorius, Richard Parete, Mike Sweeney, Robert Aeillo, Fred Wadnola, Jim Maloney, Jeanettee Provanzano, Al Lomita, Jack Hayes, Frank Fellicello, Sue Zimet, David Donaldson, Marybeth Maio

(note only two of these incumbents will lose their reelection bids, the rest may chose to retire with the redistricting, others (3) may run for higher offices.)

I was wrong on eight of these..but I was right Sue did run for higher office. When I did this Rich and Rob where going to be in the same district, I thought Jeannette was running for Alderman at Large...I did my best.

Two ulster co. legislators will be investigated and their reputations "trashed" for unethical relationships with a county agency

...nothing to this one...

A high ranking county political appointment will be "encouraged" to take early retirement rather than face termination

was wrong on this one

With the Democratic ranks swelling, and the Republicans shrinking, Julian Schrieman will be challenged from within the party to act more like the Majority Chairman and less like a casual observer

this may still happen..

A new local, middle of the road political party will be talked about to take advantage of the huge number of non enrolled voters

to be fair, I didnt write this one haha

Reapportionment will be the battle of the year in the County Legislature. The Republicans will not accept fair districts and force court action....again.

pretty accurate...this ended up being a huge issue

In the end it does not matter, Mike Hein's coattails and a Cahill returning to the legislature (and we don't mean Kevin, Mr. Malloney) bring Democrats back to the majority party, although it will be close.

Oh I wish Brian would of ran..he would of been that one vote I was talking about that would of given Dems the Majority :(

Not my back, not your back...it's Auerbach

 Auerbach and I in June of 2008 after his big convention win! I was much bigger than :(

I was looking on Facebook and came across some great pictures, this picture was taken moments after Auerbach won the Democratic convention in 2008 in his bid for County Comptroller, he went on to win the general election over Republican Jim Quigley. Elliott's race was the first serious race I was involved with and the beginning of a great friendship.

It may seem like a dumb post about a picture that was taken three years ago but when I look at it, it brings back a lot of memories. That was a big night for me, I felt accomplished, I was part of his team and I was proud of him and I looked up to him, I still do. Elliott was the first person that ever gave me a chance and took me seriously in politics and I am very grateful to him for that and he remains someone that has serves as a political mentor to me. He's a great guy and doing a great job as our county comptroller.

Congrats Majority Leader Hoffay

Alderman Hoffay will become Majority Leader Hoffay on January 1st. I was hoping for Robert Senor for no other reason than that Bob was a loyal Gallo supporter but I wish Hoffay the best. Tom will be a good Majority Leader, he is very bright and very savvy.


Hoffay who is retiered said he would make sure the office of Majority Leader has regular hours for new Dem Alderman (there is 4 of them) and that is a really good thing. I think everyone has full confidence in Hoffay's ability moving forward.