Just a Random Thought...

What Qualifies Someone To Be Assemblyman of the 101st????




Working tirelessly to bring jobs into Ulster County

Or making Vintage Coca Cola signs?

Chair of the Assembly's Energy committee, making sure that NYS keeps up with the rest of the country and protects our future through green initiatives

or making Vintage Coca Cola signs?

Chairing and combating ethics reform on NYS government, holding our elected officials accountable...

or making vintage Coca Cola signs???

Kingston School Board Endorsements

The following candidates deserve your support tomorrow..please vote! And Vote Yes on the budget!



Kristin Uhl, Matt McCoy and Todd Langon

Elliottness

The mystery opponent with a great financial background that wants to run against Comptroller Auerbach we here has NONE. The life long Democrat who two months ago turned independent, graduated from Coleman high school and was a bookkeeper for former Auditor Lisa Cutten. The woman also ran Lisa Cutten's campaign for mayor in 2007 (I can count the votes Cutten got on my fingers, so we know off the bat, campaigning and auditing are not this persons strong points). Why on earth would this person run for office and run for an office she is not even qualified to hold?

Comptroller Auerbach on the other hand has plenty of experience, as an economist, a former small business owner, former Mayor and Village Manager of Ellenville, he has brought his experience in both the public and private sector to work in his office, watching and accounting for every dollar as if it were his own. Reaching across the aisle for the good of the people of Ulster County and making the office of the Comptroller apolitical.

We hear further rumors that a former County Legislator and chair of the New Paltz Independence party also is looking at a run..could we see a three way race for Comptroller this year?

Whether it's one, three or ten people running, Elliott Auerbach is running and seems confident that he will prevail in November and I agree. We need to reelect Watchdog Auerbach to continue doing the great job that he is doing.

FORMER MAJORITY LEADER JOE BRUNO GETS 2 YEARS FOR FRAUD

Meet The AG Candidates

Click this link...it has a good bio on all the Dem candidates for NYS AG: NYS AG STORY

Guess Which Pic Is Ulster Dem Chair Julian Schreibman

hint second down on far right

Alderwoman Whitlock is my new hero... Common Council Meeting Gone Wild!!

Ulster Exec Hein: Jeremy, Lets See If We Can Make That Race Happen

Ulster County Executive Mike Hein apparently took offence to my post the other day regarding the 2011 Executive race. In the post, (which is below), I simply stated that a big win for Assemblyman Cahill this year would put him in a strong position to beat Hein in a primary next year and that I felt in that race Cahill was a sure winner.

Assemblyman Cahill is very popular here in Ulster County and well respected in Albany for all the work he has done in the state Assembly and for his constituents. I stand by my opinion and I told Hein this, Cahill would beat him, not a doubt in my mind.

I do however give the County Exec credit for addressing me directly and not just attacking me behind my back as others choose to do. Again, a lot of what is written on this blog is just me opining the goings on of Ulster County. Hein is the highest elected official in Ulster and as I said to him, he needs to grow thicker skin. People are going to write about him and it's not always going to be positive.

90% of the time this blog is more than favorable to Hein, and I like Mike, he is not a bad Executive, I could see myself voting for him in 2011. In his two years in office he has a solid list of accomplishments and has shown basic competency for the job he was elected to do. But, that does not mean he is the greatest thing since sliced bread and it does not mean that he is above criticism. He has his faults, like me, he can be very polarizing, people either love Hein or hate him..I sort of love-hate the guy ;)

Hein also has a difficult time understanding or accepting the role of the county legislature. Yes, Hein is the executive but Hein needs to remember the legislature is an equal branch of government that he can't just ignore or try to steamroll over, that method will not work, ask Eliot Spitzer.

With that being said County Executive Hein will no doubt face stiff competition in 2011, Jim Quigley on the Republican side would be a tough contender. Cahill or Auerbach would also be tough if either of them decided to make a leap for the top spot in 11', even Zimet could give Hein a run for his money.



If Mike Hein is worried he sure didn't let it show, when we talked about the hypothetical Cahill v. Hein match up, Hein said to me very confidently: "Jeremy. lets see if we can make that race happen."

Be careful what you wish for Mr. Executive.

Kathleen Rice for NYS AG

HERE AND THERE

Protesting with SEIU in front of WWE owner and US Senate candidate Linda McMahon's Connecticut HQs. Linda McMahon is running for Senator Chris Dodd's seat who is not running for reelection.

It's been a while and I am sorry I have not updated the blog in so long have been extremely busy with work and not a lot of time to blog. I have kept in close contact with my Ulster County sources and there is a lot going on in Ulster County:


Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum now has a GOP opponent, SGT. George Goodwin of the UC Sheriff's office. While Paul will easily beat his subordinate in the general election; I hear the GOP may cross endorse Van Blarcum over the weak Republican candidate.

Elliott Auerbach, the guy that deserves a cross endorsement may face an opponent as well. We hear a "well respected woman" from the Southern part of Ulster County may toss her hat in the ring...I can't get a name on who she is but Elliott has a well oiled machine that will cruise him to victory this November.


Not for nothing but Auerbach has went out of his way to make the office of the Comptroller both transparent and accountable to the people of Ulster County and is the only countywide elected official to reach across the aisle and do the right thing on a daily basis. Mario Catalano should do the right thing and give him the GOP line.


Don Wise, failed candidate for Supervisor and Assembly ( against Hinchey back in the day) has announced that he will be running against the very popular Kevin Cahill in the 101st. While Kevin takes every race seriously and will run a full campaign on the work he has done both as our Assemblyman and as Chair of the NYS Assembly's energy committee he will take out Wise by a 3:1 margin. Putting him in a great position to primary Mike Hein next year for County Executive, if that is something he wanted. No question he would win.

Side note to Don Wise: Please do not use those awful huge yellow signs....such a turnoff


We hear George Phillips who is running against Congressman Maurice Hinchey for the second time may have a GOP primary on his hands. We hear former Assemblyman John Garren is backing Phillips opponent and will be throwing some cash at the race...interesting.


Democratic candidates for NYS Attorney General spoke before the Ulster County Democratic Exec committee last night and from what I hear both Dinalo and Assemblyman Brodsky were on their game. Senator Eric Schniederman and Nassau DA Katleeen Rice (who I support) are also in the running. Rice and Dinalo are the front runners at this point. Although Brodsky is someone that is really impressive...a dark horse in the race.

And finally, I have gotten a lot of comments as to why I took down the Eric Kitchen post, it was out of respect for his wife. I think the point was made and Councilman Kitchen did pay his back school taxes.

Will update the blog this week, it's been crazy with work, just have no time.

Few quick things:

A speedy recovery is wished to UC Legislator Terry Bernardo

Happy that after 100 years we finally have passed heath care in America :)

Will get to local stuff, more on heath care, and the Spitzer write up around Thursday if not sooner.

Spitzer Talks To Sold Out New Paltz Campus!!!!!

Eliot Spitzer event was a blast! I had a great time, Spitzer is brilliant..we had tons of access to him and I have great pics! A report on how he did and pics coming later in the week..Mondayish..it's Saint Patrick's Day Weekend and I am a little busy! :)

NY needs this guy back!!

The former Governor and Sheriff of Wall Street will be in Ulster County tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOTE: Having trouble with comment moderation! For some reason blogger will not let me see or moderate comments until I get about 12 or so...so if you left a comment, I'm not ignoring it just be patient.

Running for my life ...

I will be running the Kingston Shamrock run this Sunday and am looking forward to it! Certainly something I could not of done just a year ago...if you see my out there running or laying out in the side of the road somewhere ;), stop and say hello!

What is ‘policy’ and what is ‘administration’, ponders Ulster Legislature committee

From MidHudsonNews.com : Ulster County Legislator Brian Shapiro, a Democrat, and member of the Government Operations and Efficiency Committee, calls it ‘reinventing the wheel’.
Republican Terry Bernardo, who chairs the committee, doesn’t quite see their mission that way.
Broadly, this has to do with clarifying the mission of the Legislative and Executive branches of county government, under the year-old Charter, and County Executive Michael Hein.
Bernardo said that despite some misconceptions, the county executive is but one of six elected countywide administrators, along with the comptroller, sheriff, district attorney, county clerk and others.

“The legislature is the body that appropriates and makes policy for all of those divisions,” she said. “Michael may have put out put out a directive about nepotism, but that only affected his little tower, if you will. It didn’t affect the people in the DA’s office, the people in the Sheriff’s office, in corrections. It didn’t affect the people in the clerk’s office. So that is the job of the county legislature.”

Bernardo noted that during an orientation with County Attorney Bea Havraneck, they were presented with a long “do not touch” list from the county executive.
“And it was all about the things that the legislator couldn’t touch, that were the executive’s. We didn’t really get a big list of things that the executive couldn’t touch.”
Bernardo was disappointed that Hein, who was invited to Wednesday night’s committee meeting, did not attend, but sent a few key staffers, instead.

Two other invitees did attend – Comptroller Elliott Auerbach and Legislature Chairman Fred Wadnola, who charged the committee with the mission of reviewing current personnel policy.
Shapiro, however, said there is a mechanism already in place, that has worked before, at doing the same thing.

“So I think there’s a learning curve right now. I hate for us diving right into creating a new ethics law. Why don’t we give this to the Board of Ethics; that’s what we did last time. They came up with a good product. That’s what I’m going to recommend this time around, to look at the issue of nepotism.”

Shapiro sees this as the new Republican majority, which took office two months ago, wanting to jump in head first.

A Circus at Kingston City Hall, Ring Leader Schreibman

MISS HIM YET?

What more can we take?
Under Julian : Two county wide election loses, the Katz convention fiasco, the bylaws fiasco last night, loss of the county legislature. We can not afford anymore of Chairman Schreibman..enough is enough!

I attended the bylaws vote at Kingston city hall last night before heading back to the city and what a circus it was.

Julian Schreibman called the meeting at 715ish and said a quorum was present, I thought that 40 % was the required number for a quorum to be present so I went up to Kathy Mihm who was taking attendance and asked her if we had the 40% needed for a quorum, she informed me that we did and only 30 % was needed.

I did a head count and there were 75 people in that room, 93 would have been required to have the 30% needed so there was no quorum at that meeting and business was conducted illegally!

Besides that, the meeting was chaos, Brian Shapiro asked very pointed and well thought out questions and Terry Rosenblum did not have answers to those questions it was just a joke.

Attorney Andy Zweeben (no friend of mine) also asked relevant questions which were not answered and people gave him different answers...we voted on a document last night that we were not clear on.

And while Andy Zweben is not my favorite person, I thought it was out of line for Mike Harkavey the chair of the Saugerties committee to heckle him as he spoke, that's completely unacceptable to do to anyone.

How ironic that the Ulster County Democratic committee or I should say the Saugerties Democratic committee and it's ring leader Julian Schreibman passed new bylaws heavily focusing on ethics, in the most unethical manner.

More importantly I am extremly upset that I was lied to directly by the secretary of the meeting when I asked about the quorum, this person also happens to be the Democratic elections commissioner..how can we have faith in the elections process.

I'm not 100% against the new bylaws, two of my friends worked very hard on them and I know at least their intentions during that process last year were genuine but the meeting last night and how it went down was illegal and wrong on many levels.

Sorry

Things have been hectic will update blog during the week

Coming Thursday

We respond to Ulster MoJoe Roberti's latest attack and offer comments on the stinging editorial written about him in Reynolds' City Beat.

Nuisance Suit Settled

DFS settled this case for one reason and one reason only: the enormous cost of battling a gigantic corporate law firm in a "nuisance" suit," Cantor continued.
"As this incredible shrinking case comes to a close - no million-dollar conspiracies, no massive fraud - there is only a penny-ante dispute over bridge tolls and some part-time campaign workers." "For now, we are pleased that we can return to the serious work of advancing 'common-sense progressivism.' Stronger rent regulation. Living wage jobs. Energy efficiency and mass transit. Paid sick days. Lower property taxes on the middle class and higher income taxes on the wealthy. Nothing more, but nothing less.

- Dan Cantor, WFP Executive Director and the only honest party boss I know!

As first reported by the Voice's Tom Robbins yesterday, the deal requires Rose to pay $8,525 to make good on "alleged undercharging" by DFS - the bulk of which, $5,600, is for the services of three employees: Vonda McKeithan, Bryan Collinsworth and Rachel Goodman.
Rose also has to pay a $5,000 outstanding bill for work DFS did on the February 2009 special election she lost to Ken Mitchell, whom she later ousted in the September primary.
In addition, DFS has agreed to a host of "corporate structure and corporate governance" reforms, including changes to its contracts with candidates, the appointment of independent directors; the establishment of employment, management and administrative structures wholly separate from that of the WFP and annual audits by an outside CPA.
The settlement appears in full after the jump. There's also a confidentiality agreement that you can read here.

As Robbins noted, this is hardly the big bombshell that Mastro made it out to be when he first filed his lawsuit back in October. But there's room for both sides to declare a measure of victory here.
Mastro will no doubt trumpet the fact that he managed to force the WFP to make significant structural changes that will uncouple it from DFS.

WFP officials have privately said they would likely have done so anyway, once former Chief Judge Judith Kaye is done with the review she has undertaken at the party's request (and expense).
This does clear away one headache for the WFP, leaving only the US attorney's probe into DFS for the party to worry about - a not insignificant concern. But if that investigation comes to as clean and timely a conclusion as this lawsuit has, the WFP will be able to flex its muscle - a lot more carefully - in the upcoming fall elections. WFP Executive Director Dan Cantor, who has been keeping a low profile of late, released a rather defiant statement calling Mastro's action a "nuisance suit," and insisting that DFS "did not undercharge the Rose campaign - or any other - by a single dime.

New Paltz Equality Rally

NEW PALTZ – Saturday, February 27 will mark the sixth anniversary of the New Paltz same-sex weddings and hundreds of human rights activists are expected to mark the occasion with a rally in that community.The New Paltz weddings, on February 27, 2004, were conducted in solidarity with the San Francisco same-sex weddings that month.The 25 weddings solemnized that day were annulled two years later by a New York State court.The state Assembly recently approved same-sex marriage, but the Senate rejected it this past December.Former Mayor Jason West, who performed the weddings, will be at the rally to lend his support for state legislative approval.

Gov. Paterson Makes it Official at Hofstra

"After all you have heard, there's one rumor I will confirm, I am running for governor this year," Paterson said to a crowd of about 400 at Hofstra University. "They haven't knocked us down yet and they never will."

Gilpatric Did What?!? You're Kidding?

The Daily Freeman has some sort of weird man crush on Supreme Court Justice James P. Gilpatric, it just kills them that the people of Kingston and most recently six counties elected him by huge margins, despite his past mistakes. I mean how many times is the Daily Disappointment going to mention the fact that Jim Gilpatric has suffered from addiction? We get the pont, it's in your newspaper anytime you do a judicial story, give it a rest! We all know and we all accept it. Move on.

Mike Hein Delivers Second Annual State of the County

"I caution any individual whose real intention is to erode the charter or drag the government back into it's dysfunctional past: You will find no greater opponent, I will always side with the people of Ulster County."

Check Out Auerbach's Website

www.auerbachforcomptroller.com

Van Blarcum for Sheriff Campaign Kick Off

Please Join Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum for his Campaign Kick Off at Hillside Manor:

Friday Feb 26th from 530-730

donation of $40

rsvp at: pvbforsheriff@aol.com or call :845-417-4123

Check out the Sheriff's website at: www.paulforsheriff.com

County Executive Mike Hein to Deliver State of the County

TONIGHT

County Executive Mike P. Hein

Ulster County Executive will deliever his state of the county, Tuesday, February 16th at 6pm on the 6th floor. Public is encouraged to attend.

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer Coming to New Paltz

Who likes Gov. Eliot Spitzer more then me?!?! I'm excited to report that the former Governor will be at Suny New Paltz Thursday, March 11th and the public is welcome to attend at no cost. I will be there and hope you will too! It's from 5-7 at the Lecture Center.

Use your Facebook account to R.S.V.P.

3 months ago at Skate Time 209...just found this on my facebook and thought it was kinda funny!

Blaber New's Poll: Keep the Ball in our Court

A match up between Judge Larry Ball and Tom Petro would be a blowout according to a recent Blaber News poll, with more than 70% of people saying they would back Ball over Kingston attorney Tom Petro.

Larry Ball became full time city court Judge in January, with the election of Judge James P. Gilpatric to the NYS Supreme Court. Ball will run for a full term in a special election this November.

Happy Birthday to Comptroller Auerbach

Blaber News wishes a very Happy Birthday to our favorite public servant, Ulster Comptroller Elliott Auerbach. If you see him today wish him a happy birthday and maybe write him a check for his reelection campaign ;)

48 Hrs

The amount of time it took Rich Cahill to turn the tragic death of a Kingstonian into a poltical attack against Mayor Sottile and his administration. Way to go Rich, you never let us down!

Kudos to UC Legislator Mike Sweeney

On Ulster County Legislator Mike Sweeney's blog, he recently posted that he declined to take the county health insuance plan, as well as declining the buyout. Mike said while it's not much in a 300 million plus budget every penney counts...if that quote was on his facebook status, I would hit the like button! Could not of said it better myself, kudos to Legislator Sweeney!

mo-JOE Roberti Feelin' the Heat

As you can tell by his recent cheap shot at me on his blog, Ulster mo-JOE ROBERTI is feeling the heat for his viscous yet sometimes humorous over the top posts on his blog: Ulster MoJo.

At a recent event in Saugerties, the former county legislator was in the rest room when the Dean of the lower Hudson Valley Hugh Reynolds walked in and said to him " How are ya, Ulster mo Joe", we hear Roberti didn't say a word, just walked out...without washing his hands btw---eww yuck!

BTW- Joe for the record, I was a cute baby!

Senator Kevin Parker Continues to Disgrace Brooklyn

Just when you thought things could not get any stranger in the state Capitol, state Sen. Kevin Parker is once again in the news– this time for reportedly unloading on a Senate colleague over the ouster of Sen. Hiram Monserrate.

State Sen. Kevin Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat with a history of anger management issues, “charged” at Sen. Diane Savino of Staten Island during a heated closed-door meeting on Tuesday, Senate sources told the New York Daily News.

Parker not only reportedly dropped numerous ”F-bombs” — but also tossed a “B” word in while hollering at Savino, a Democrat and former labor leader in New York City. The report quoted one senator who said an enraged Parker ”went a little ballistic, swearing and screaming that the Republicans have no right to dictate what goes on in our house.”

It’s not every day that a politician with a history of rage reportedy lunges at a female senator — all while defending another senator convicted of assaulting his girlfriend.

And Parker’s past already included a 2005 misdemeanor assault arrest for allegedly punching a traffic agent over a parking ticket in Brooklyn. The charges were dropped when he enrolled in an anger management counseling.

Parker was later charged in 2009 with assaulting a newspaper photographer in Brooklyn
There have been other dust-ups, including one in February 2005 when Parker cornered a reporter from a New York City tabloid livid over a story that ran that day. Parker walked away from the confrontation in the state Capitol with the help of another lawmaker - former state Sen. Ada Smith, whose well-documented history included a conviction herself of throwing hot coffee at an aide.

Murphy Bites A Huge Bullet: Molinaro Will Not Run for Congress

STATE Assemblyman Marc Molinaro isn’t going to Washington.After several weeks of deliberation, Molinaro, R-Red Hook, said he’s decided against making a bid for New York’s 20th Congressional District seat.

“The whole idea that I could be a candidate for Congress was and is flattering, and I respect the folks who have presented that to me, but the reality is that I don’t know that there is or could be a more critical time to be involved in state government,” Molinaro said.

“I believe that hard-working, reform-minded elected officials really need to engage in problem solving in state government, and that’s an overwhelming responsibility that I take very seriously.”

In January, Molinaro said he had been called on by a number of GOP officials and civic and elected leaders to consider running this fall for the House seat currently held by Democrat Scott Murphy of Glens Falls. Molinaro declined to say who has asked him to run.While he wouldn’t rule out a possible future run for Congress, Molinaro said now is not the time, personally or professionally, to make such a change.

“You seek elected office to do a job, and if you wish to seek higher office, you do it at the right time for you and the people you represent,” he said. “There really is work that needs to get done in Albany, and I’m not ready to abandon that.”

As the father of an 8-month-old son and 5-year-old daughter, Molinaro said he prefers, for now, to be in a position that allows him to be with his family as much as possible.Molinaro, 34, first was elected to public office at age 18, when he became a member of the Tivoli Village Board. He was elected mayor of the Northern Dutchess village a year later.

He then became a Dutchess County legislator before being elected to the state Assembly in 2006 and 2008.New York’s 20th Congressional District stretches from Northern Dutchess to the Adirondacks. Murphy was elected in the district last year over Republican James Tedisco in a race to succeed Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand. Gillibrand, D-Greenport, had been appointed by Gov. David Paterson to the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

NEW PALTZ BOND VOTE TODAY!!! VOTE YES!!

UPDATE 10pm: Huge turnout, problems with machines, paper ballots being handed out, may not have a result on vote until am! UPDATE: BOND VOTED DEFEATED :(

WTF? Gov Paterson to Resign Over Sex Scandal?!

Rumors are swirling around Albany that a major sex scandal involving Governor David Patterson is about to break, which could force the Governor to resign.

More as it develops... It's so sad, and you wonder why young adults do not get involved or stay involved in local government. Or why there is such a low opinion of public officials nationwide. Let's be honest, I am not some young kid that thinks one guy can change the state or country.

For the most part, I am a hired political gun, some would say how I make a living is part of the problem with politics and government but there are few public officials, more on a local level than state, that I truly beleive in and respect. One of them was and still is Eliot Spitzer. I was absolutly heart broken and shocked when Eliot Spitzer resigned from the office of Governor. Many people like myself put in time and beleived that this guy could make a difference and he did and would of continued to, if not for the problems in his personal life hat forced him to resign, letting down a lot of New Yorkers that put their trust in him.

As for David Paterson, it's almost a joke, the guy is whining that he has no support and that he is the poor blind governor that is being pushed out of office and than he goes and is involved in a scandal that is rumored to make Eliot look like Mother Theresa. I honestly can say it didn't surprise or even phase me at all. And, I like Paterson but it just shows the lack of confidence the Governor has with the NYers becasue I think many people will share my sentiments and just brush this scandal off as, to paraphrase one of my favorite movies, just another Albany Tale of a crooked pol. Is that what we have come to, where it does not surprise or phase people that two governors in a four year period had to resign in disgrace and that the Attorney General is the only state-wide official that has been duly elected by voters.

As Sonny would say in the A Bronx Tale, (the movie I quoted above)Eliot Spitzer, Alan Hevisi, David Paterson: WASTED TALENT

Sheriff Van Blarcum Will Seek Another Term

Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum announced today that he will seek another term as Sheriff of Ulster County. Sheriff Van Blarcum won his seat in 2006 destroying challenger Kevin Costello by a more than 2:1 margin.

Sheriff Van Blarcum is widely popular and has a list of accomplishments that will make him tough to beat. His Under Sheriff Frank Falutico is also a stand up guy and they do great things for Ulster County.

We like him for another term.

NEW PALTZ: Remember to Vote Yes this Tuesday

Below is a great letter that appeared in the local publications:


Allegations from opponents to the New Paltz Middle School Project, followed by the truth:

1. According to district reports, existing facilities are adequate, safe and doing a great job.

TRUTH: A 2005 building survey concluded: "it is questionable that the building can continue to serve the community for an extended period of time without major renovations."

2. $77M is not the way to handle typical repairs and upgrades.

TRUTH: The school is in dire need of much more than "typical needs and upgrades." The $77M cited above does not factor in state aid, estimated at $20M. State building aid has never been cut. The aid is also applied to the interest, approximately another $5M. The local share is $29.8M, with interest it is a total of about $40M over the 20-year bond.

3. The school board plans a 4% tax increase in 2010/11: the district will still be short $1.2M.

TRUTH: This year's budget is running at a surplus. The board has committed to limiting annual tax increases to 4% or less; last year it was 3%. Looking forward, this project would be contained within the historical 4% rate, not in addition to the 4%.

4. State aid cuts coming, stimulus funding ending and school taxes will rise even more with bond.

TRUTH: Educational analysts predict federal funding in K-12 education to increase, not decrease.

5. Teachers, programs, sports, after-school activities are on the chopping block.

TRUTH: This is a capital project, a completely separate budget line from operating. Governor Paterson has proposed an additional $222M in school building aid for the coming year. Paterson's proposed cuts to day-to-day operations that may affect sports and after-school programs is unrelated to building projects.

6. No contingency plan in place, yet other school districts responsibly published plans for budgetary crisis detailing cuts.

TRUTH: The school district is in the second year of a multi-year budgeting process while planning three years into the future.

7. $80M? $100M?

TRUTH: See #2, these are scare tactic inflated figures.

8. Most of the district's reserve funds will be used for the middle school project, jeopardizing needed repairs for our other three schools.

TRUTH: The reserves being used are capital reserves, monies purposely saved for building projects. There are no major projects expected at the other school buildings. In 2005 over 600 items were noted in need of attention, district wide. Since then, all big ticket and urgent items on that list have been completed for every school except the middle school.

9. Green is good, but this plan has no comparative energy audit data to demonstrate the energy and cost efficiency of this project.

TRUTH: The middle school is a fossil-fuel nightmare negatively impacting the health of students and pocketbooks through outrageous heating costs.

10. The school board put forward a multi-million project which violates their own mandate to provide district with comprehensive master plan.

TRUTH: See #8, all other buildings have been attended to. Opponents requesting more planning are pure obstructionists. We need to do this project now.

MariAnn Connolly Sennett
New Paltz

Sue Zimet: Anti Kids, Anti Education!!!

Sue Zimet is such a hypocrite and this letter is full of lies and deception. I hope New Paltz parents and families remember her position when election time comes around. Also, I hope Mrs. Progressive realizes people will not forget she is opposing the creation of hundreds of prevailing wage jobs that will take place as a result of this building being replaced...I certainly will not.

Did Sue really say Vote for the kids and give them a less than adequate place to learn?!

The real reason Sue opposes this project is because she lives in a house she can't afford and has no kids in the district. It's fine for Legislator Zimet to oppose the project but at least be honest as to why.


When we speak about the New Paltz Middle School renovation/rebuild, the most important component is the students. Many of us who are voting "no" are seriously concerned about the impact of this project on the overall health and vitality of our children.

In the report documenting needed repairs for all the schools you can find examples of negligence. For example..."Install emergency eyewash/shower in science room" in the Lenape School. Cost: $6750. This report is five years old, but this has not been attended to.

Yet the district has $72,000 available to use for glossy fliers, mailings and presentations designed to convince us that a $76 million bond for one building is how we should be spending our money, binding our community to the tune of over $100 million of debt.

It has been documented by the school board that we are going to be short millions of dollars for operations of our schools even with tax increases. In a few years we will be done paying our existing debt of $24 million. Instead of incurring new debt we could use that tax money to pay for programs, teachers and after-school activities.

It was reported recently in the New York Times that the State of Oregon is looking to implement a four-day school-week due to budgetary cutbacks.

My years of public service have been spent advocating for children, education, environment and property tax reform. I understand all the issues and I get the math.

My professional belief is that this project will deprive the community of any ability to fix the other schools, fund any other municipal projects and most importantly, to enable the community to be able to fund the shortfalls in the operating budget that are guaranteed to impact the quality of our kids education.

To be voting on this bond BEFORE we understand the impacts on next year's school budget is irresponsible.

For the sake of our kids, it is important to vote no. Then we need to get to work on stepping back and looking at all of our building and educational needs balanced by the community's ability to afford them.

I wish I could support this project, but I can't. Again, my experience with municipal budgets helps me to see the dire fiscal situation our school and community is going to face. It is going to be a very difficult period and adding to the burden now is going to break the back of our community.

Susan Zimet

New Paltz

BREAKING NEWS: JOE ROBERTI IS ULSTER MOJO

While it's really no secret, Ulster Mojo is authered by former Republican County Legislator Joe Roberti.

I was supposed to do this like a month ago after the attacks on Democrats just got over the top but I let it go. Mr. Roberti's recent posting on Auerbach's campaign finance disclosure is just ridiculous. In Joe Roberti's blog, Ulster Mojo, it attacks Elliott for not raising enough money...really?

Maybe our Comptroller is fiscally responsible and practices what he preaches, treating every dollar whether it be campaign money, or county money like it's his own. Elliott ran his campaign in 08 spending just enough to get him elected and I think his election is an example that money does not buy elections. I guarantee Joe Roberti could of spent 10 times the amount of what Quigley spent and would have got trampled by Auerbach, cuz money also can't buy Joe Roberti a personality.

Assemblyman Lopez Likes Ford

As goes Brooklyn, goes the rest of the state..... very proud of Assemblyman Lopez for showing he's got guts. Democracy is a good thing and with 40% of the electorate unddecided on a US Senator that has been in office for about a year now, it's going to be a tight race and I think Congressman Ford has a great shot. It looks like Brooklyn's favorite pol, my friend, Marty Markowitz is a Ford guy as well.

Addressing the press after a long lunch that saw 41 of Brooklyn's political leaders turn out to meet potential Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr., Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez sounded like a man who had already made up his mind.


"If you want to know how I feel about him, I would find it personally, personally—not as a county leader—if he decided to run, very difficult not to endorse him. That’s a personal endorsement, I do represent a very, very sophisticated strong Democratic club in North Brooklyn," Mr. Lopez said, standing at the back of Cono & Sons, the Brooklyn boss's go-to political meeting place.

Mr. Ford seemed to share that affection. "It’s amazing that it’s been a week. I feel like it’s been about two years, three years since we’ve known each other," said the former Tennessee congressman, who first met Mr. Lopez the previous Friday.

State Senate Majority Leader John Sampson acknowledged that one of the questions posed to Mr. Ford was about same-sex marriage, which Mr. Ford now supports in spite of his previous votes in favor of a constitutional amendment that would ban such marriages. "I think I call it an evolution," Mr. Sampson said. "I evolved myself from an individual who did not support same-sex marriage to an individual who brought it to the floor and voted for same-sex marriage."

On a scale of 1 to 100, Mr. Lopez graded Mr. Ford a 98 on his responses, and cited the number of attendees who posed for photographs with Mr. Ford as an indication of his positive reception. The assemblyman also conceded that he had supported Caroline Kennedy during the appointment process and, in the past, had spoken to several potential challengers--including Carolyn Maloney.

"We’re at this point because we want to have a dialogue and we think we should have a dialogue and it’s not a back room deal," Mr. Lopez said.



"Democracy is good," said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. "Democracy is good. Mr. Ford was informative, articulate, very bright and certainly presented some arguments that give him the right—should he decide to run—to run."

Governor Spitzer on Colbert

table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'>The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cEliot Spitzerwww.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Economy

Cahill urges PSC not to approve latest Central Hudson rate hike request

Assemblyman Kevin Cahill (D-Kingston), chairman of the Assembly’s Energy Committee, Friday called on the state Public Service Commission not to approve Central Hudson Gas and Electric corporation’s latest rate request.

Cahill said the utility is should be tightening its own belt to keep a lid on costs to consumers.

“I understand that Central Hudson has no control over the cost of the commodities that they deliver, but they sure are in a position to streamline, economize and make due like the rest of us are, with what they have in this economy,” he said. Cahill said he hopes the PSA rejects completely, the Central Hudson rate increase.

Cahill said the utility is looking to “once again clobber ratepayers with the third increase in the last five years.” And he said he doesn’t buy their argument that consumer conservation is, in part, causing the need to raise rates.

Daily freeman: Comptroller Auerbach, Change We Can Believe In

Change” long has been the buzzword in political campaigns. You know what we mean: “It’s time for a change” or some variation is what you hear virtually non-stop — including lately from the millions who already want a “change” from the “change” on which Barack Obama won the presidency.

It’s no different locally, where Ulster County voters opted to “change” their form of government in order to establish the offices of county executive and comptroller, thus producing a “change” in its culture and operation.

And “change” is what we’re getting, including the necessary and refreshing concept of independent investigations by the county comptroller, Ulster’s elected fiscal watchdog.

Predictably, Comptroller Elliott Auerbach has felt some pushback from those on whose toes his office’s investigations have stepped.

“We are the people’s independent watchdog,” Auerbach told the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce last week.

Yes, you are.

Democrat Auerbach narrowly won election over Republican James Quigley in November 2008 in a contest of two strong candidates. But that’s not to suggest the comptroller’s investigatory mission would have been different had the no-nonsense Quigley — who is now supervisor of the town of Ulster — won.

“Why shouldn’t we demand from government what we demand from businesses and ourselves?,” Auerbach said to Chamber.

We shouldn’t.

“The office of the comptroller is the fiscal and moral conscience of Ulster County,” said Auerbach. “We establish the standards by which Ulster government is to be managed.”

At a time when every penny counts, investigations like the comptroller’s that expose fully paid, no-show legislators are to be cheered. So, too, are those probes that reveal other inefficiencies in government.

Auerbach pledged his office will “continue to look behind the curtain of government, illuminate its doings and continue to ensure its transparency.”

That’s the kind of “change” to applaud.

Auerbach Speaks At UC Chamber Breakfast

This is a really great video of Comptroller Auerbach's presintation before the Ulster County Chamber last week check it out! Thanks to Roger Rosenbaum for putting it together.

Auerbach Audit Prompts Action From AG Cuomo

The New York State Attorney General’s office has recently contacted the Town of Lloyd asking what steps they will take to recover $270,000 in development fees that were never collected for a host of projects identified in a town commissioned audit covering the years 2004- 2008.

In a Dec. 30 letter, Town Attorney Sean Murphy informed the Town Board of the state’s interest in this issue. Murphy stated that he responded that Lloyd was in the process of determining what course of action they were going to take. The Attorney General’s Office indicated they will be contacting the town again by the middle of February for an answer on their plan of action.

Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach said he had reviewed the Vannacore, DiBenedictus, DiGovanni and Weddell audit report. Auerbach is the county’s chief official who monitors governmental accounts and expenditures.

“It certainly raised some concern and that is why I prompted the New York State Attorney
General’s office to take a closer look at this,” he said.

Auerbach said Lloyd should have collected their entitled fees during the planning procedure.“The town may have not charged and collected everything that was due to them through the process, and the report certainly speaks to that,” he said.

Auerbach said it appears the Attorney General’s Office is, “letting the town know there are some concerns here that were raised by the report and will most likely give the town the opportunity to remedy any of those issues.”

Auerbach said he is certain Lloyd has to reply to the state’s inquiry.
“I am sure the Attorney General is going to expect a response from the town,” he said. “More importantly I’m sure that the public would expect a response from the town. This is the type of issue, once brought to the forefront, will raise some public concern.”
Auerbach said the firm referred to their four-year analysis as an investigation. Auerbach highlighted the most significant sentence in the report.

“There were 21 instances out of 61 of maps being signed by the chairperson [Lou DuBois] of the Town Planning Board without the appropriate fees ever being collected,” Auerbach said. “Right there, that jumps out at you. I am sure that would raise issue with the Attorney General’s office.”

Auerbach said it is possible the Attorney General’s Office may “very well” force the collection of fees.

Auerbach again read from the report: [In] conclusion, our investigation uncovered that there was under-collection of subdivision, recreation, and drainage fees of $125,000 and $105,000 respectively.”Auerbach commented, “We are looking at a substantial amount of money, close to a quarter of a million dollars and that is just for this window of time.”

Auerbach urged the town to go beyond the time frame covered by the audit.
“It would be in the best interest of the current town administration to address these issues that were raised and possibly go back several more years to see if there were any other inequities,” he said. Auerbach said he thought the Attorney General’s Office will also re-examine the relationships between the town and the numerous developers who were cited in the audit.
“I am sure they will dig further into that as well,” he said. “They have a local government efficiency office that would probably look at this closely.”

Auerbach said his role in this issue is limited due to Ulster County codes.
“That’s why I felt it was incumbent upon me, once brought to the attention of my office, to bring the state’s Attorney General Office into it,” he said. “It’s going to be up to the AG to carry this further.”
By Mark Reynolds mreynolds@tcnewspapers.com

Sheriff Van Blarcum's Office Volenteering in Assisting Haiti Relief

Three members of the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office have volunteered to assist in the humanitarian relief effort in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Group Leader Corrections Sgt. C.J. Polocco, Deputy Sheriff Kevin Richards, and Deputy Sheriff Donald Hughes will be assisting in the distribution of food and medication, providing communications and logistics support for mobile clinics, and working with other personnel in constructing shelters and hygiene facilities.

They are in Haiti under the auspices of Save the Children. The men were flown there on a private aircraft flight arranged by the organization. They arrived in Port-au-Prince in January 21 at 11:20 a.m. Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum accompanied the men to Haiti to assess the mission objectives and met with Save the Children managerial personnel. He was back in New York at 7 p.m. the same day.

The three volunteers were tasked with food distribution efforts and incident command structure assistance.

Their deployment is initially expected to last 21 days. They have been granted leave by the sheriff and avenues are being pursued for reimbursement for Ulster County. All three men volunteered for the mission and offered the use of their earned vacation time.

“They are training to help people,” said the sheriff. “For them, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to respond quickly and make an impact saving lives.

The sheriff’s office has had over 30 members volunteer to go to Haiti to assist in the effort with many others offering financial assistance

Cuomo Getting Money From Big Names

Andrew Cuomo's $16 million filing is online, and, presumably, being combed over by operatives and reporters throughout New York.

Here's a few tidbits I found:

Jerry Speyer donated $50,000; half on July 17, the other half on October 13.

Wendy Neu, a major Democratic donor, also gave $25,000.

Peter Kalikow gave $10,000.

Donald Trump donated a total of $6,000.

Harvey Weinstein gave $5,000.

Barbara Streisand gave $1,000.

Michael Regan, a spokesman for News Corp. confirmed that a July 16, 2009 donation for $4,000 in Andrew Cuomo's filing is from News Corp.

AUERBACH 2010 Gearing Up!!!!

The Democratic Executive Committee and
Friends of Elliott Auerbach

are pleased to invite YOU

to a Reception

Monday, January 25th, 2010
5 pm to 7 pm
Le Canard-Enchaine
276 Fair Street, Kingston

Finger Food and Cash Bar

Minimum Donation Requested $20.00/person

RSVP to:
Friends of Elliott Auerbach
PO Box 542
Ellenville, NY 12428-0542
Or email: marcygoulart@yahoo.com

Guests are welcome to attend the Executive Committee Meeting at 7 pm across the Street at Democratic Headquarters.

Paid for by the Friends of Elliott Auerbach, produced in house.

AUERBACH WOOS ULSTER BUISNESS LEADERS

“Why shouldn’t we demand from our government what we demand from our businesses and ourselves?”

-Elliott Auerbach, Ulster County Comptroller



FROM THE RECORD:

By Adam Bosch

Times Herald-Record

Posted: January 20, 2010 - 11:02 AM

KINGSTON — County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach defended some of his most controversial audits to a packed room of businessmen Wednesday morning.

“Why shouldn’t we demand from our government what we demand from our businesses and ourselves?” Auerbach asked at a gathering of about 200 Ulster County Chamber of Commerce members.

Auerbach used the forum to highlight watchdog efforts during his first year as comptroller, but he also used it to defend some audits that garnered public attention and criticism.

The most recent was a report on Ulster legislators’ attendance of regular meetings, committee meetings and public hearings. The report showed less-than-stellar attendance for some lawmakers, several of whom were upset that Auerbach publicized their attendance without any context.

“How effective would your business be if five of your 33 employees only showed up 75 percent of the time,” Auerbach asked the businessmen, pointing to stats from his report. And when one audience member asked how to hold lawmakers accountable, Auerbach said, “Make sure they’re showing up to meetings.”

He defended his audit of the Ulster County Health Department and former director Dean Palen in the same manner. The audit found vast examples of mismanagement and poor financial controls.

“What impact would that have on your bottom line?” Auerback said.

The talk came five days before Auerbach planned to launch his re-election campaign. A formal announcement is planned for Jan. 25. An opponent has not yet emerged. Auerbach said an important part of the campaign will be reminding voters that he is not beholden to lawmakers or the county executive.

“We are the people’s independent watchdog of Ulster County government,” he said.

abosch@th-record.com

Here and There

Is the Democrat Sheriff running or not? Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum has been pretty mum on his reelection plans making some people wonder whether or not he will seek another term. Obviously, we hope he does, he's a good sheriff and will easily win reelection.

Robin Yess to challenge Auerbach? We hear Dennis Pitcock and Robin Yess are both considering a run for Comptroller against popular incumbent Elliott Auerbach. Robin Yess, though, really?!
Robin Yess has a better chance of being Sheriff than our next Comptroller.

THE CAHILL KILLER? Jim Maloney, the self proclaimed Cahill Killer is rumored to be thinking of taking on Kevin Cahill in the 101st this November. While Jim Maloney defeated Kevin's brother last year, it's a little cocky of the Ulster Lawmaker to think he has a prayer against Assemblyman Cahill. Cahill who remains very popular and powerful in Ulster and Albany, need not fear if the best Catalano and the GOP can put up, is Jim Maloney.

Congratulations to the new junior Senator from Massachusetts, Scott Brown. While I don't agree with the results, Senator Brown won fair and square and lets hope he does the right thing.

Help Send Martha Coakly To the US Senate

We need to send this fine public servant to the US Senate to help President Barack Obama, this is a tight race and the GOP is in full force with their lies and propaganda! I'm heading to Mass tonight to help in this historic election to replace Senator Edward Kennedy, you can help by making phone calls on her behalf...click the below link and you will be directed to Attorney General Coakly's campaign website to make calls on her behalf. Just 30 minutes of your day would mean so much to this country, we can't afford to lose this seat while health care reform and other important legislation is on the table. President Obama needs your help!

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/ofasplashmaall


IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A TIGHT RACE!!!!!

Massachusetts Senate - Special Election

Polling Data

Poll	Date	Sample	Brown (R)	Coakley (D)	Spread
ARG	1/15 - 1/17	600 LV	52	45	Brown +7
Daily Kos/R2000	1/15 - 1/17	500 LV	48	48	Tie
PJM/CrossTarget (R)	1/17 - 1/17	574 LV	52	42	Brown +10
PPP (D)	1/16 - 1/17	1231 LV	51	46	Brown +5
InsideMedford/MRG	1/15 - 1/15	565 LV	51	41	Brown +10
PJM/CrossTarget (R)	1/14 - 1/14	946 LV	54	39	Brown +15
ARG	1/12 - 1/14	600 LV	48	45	Brown +3
Blue Mass Group/R2000 (D)	1/12 - 1/13	500 LV	41	49	Coakley +8
Suffolk/7News	1/11 - 1/13	500 LV	50	46	Brown +4
Rasmussen Reports	1/11 - 1/11	1000 LV	47	49	Coakley +2
PPP (D)	1/7 - 1/9	744 LV	48	47	Brown +1
Rasmussen Reports	1/4 - 1/4	500 LV	41	50	Coakley +9
Boston Globe	1/2 - 1/6	554 LV	36	53	Coakley +17
Suffolk	11/4 - 11/8	600 RV	27	58	Coakley +31
Western NE College	10/18 - 10/22	342 LV	32	58	Coakley +26
Suffolk	9/12 - 9/15	500 RV	24	54	Coakley +30

Polacco Gets Screwed

Tony Sinagra, the city GOP boss, broke a tie last week making freshman lawmaker Andi Turco Levin the Minority Leader of the Common Council over two term Alderman Ron Polacco.

Really Sinagra?! Ron Polacco was the only GOP voice the council had for the previous two years when all then Minority Leader Al Teetsil did was side with the Dems.

Rumor has it, Sinagra and Cahill cooked up the deal because they know Polacco wants to be the 2011 GOP nominee and they know he would destroy Cahill in a primary.

While I could care less the inner workings of the Republican party, Ron Polacco should be the Minority Leader, he earned it, to give it to Alderwoman Turco-Levin, who has paid no dues and has literally been in office for 10 minutes is insulting and embarrassing to Alderman Polacco and is meant to look that way on purpose. The Cahill/Sinagra deal is so obvious and I think it will backfire miserably.

Harold Ford Jr.

This is the guy to the be the next junior Senator from New York. A really bright articulate guy that will do wonders for NYS. Expect to hear a lot more from Ford in the coming months as he introduces himself to voters.

Pray for my boy Artie Lang...sad sad sad

As Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lang remains in the hospital after stabbing himself nine times in an apparent suicide attempt, according to the New York Post, Stern has taken to the airwaves defending his friend and bashing the press.

Photo: Radio host Howard Stern.

"I'm pissed off at the sh*thead who got paid $10 bucks to talk to Page Six," Stern said of the Post, who first published details of Lang's alleged medical condition.

Stern said that he was actually hoping the news "wouldn't come out" and that the story would "go away."

Photo: Artie Lange.

"I don't know what to think. I'm angry about it. I'm sad about it. I'm all over the place emotionally," Stern said Thursday on his radio show.

"I work with Artie, I love Artie. Everyone has their demons, including myself, but he's wrestling with some serious stuff. When I heard the news it was too much to bear."

The 42-year-old Lange has been absent from Stern's Sirius radio program for a month. On Monday's show, Stern said Lange isn't leaving the program and called him "a tremendous contributor."

Lange's publicist confirmed that the radio sidekick was hospitalized. The Post says surgeons were able to save him despite heavy bleeding.

Lange's mother called police Saturday morning after entering his Hoboken, N.J. apartment and found the bloodied comedian, a law enforcement source told the New York paper. "Lange sustained six 'hesitation wounds' and three deep plunges," the paper wrote.

"This is a family matter. I don't know what to do," Stern said. "I don't know what to say...just remember who Artie is and what a wonderful guy he is...he's wrestling with some serious stuff...I only wish him well."

Stern attempted to read the Page Six item, but stopped almost immediately. "I just feel sick about this. I don't even wanna read it," he said.

Lange is a New Jersey native who lives in Hoboken and has battled drug addiction. In September, a New Jersey judge revoked his driving privileges for seven months after he admitted he was under the influence of prescribed sleeping pills in a minor traffic accident.