Ulster County Democrats

Stop the smear of Schneer

2009-08-04T09:30:00.001-04:00

This was in the Kingston Times 9/30/09
Stop the smear of Schneer

Less than 24 hours after Judge Deborah Schneer won confirmation as our next Ulster County Court judge, the Ulster County Republican Party predictably kicked off its mud-slinging with baseless attacks against this outstanding judge.

On the night of July 16, 2009, Judge Schneer was unanimously confirmed by the New York State Senate to serve as our County Court judge. Even Kingston's own Republican state senator, Bill Larkin, voted for her. Schneer had previously been nominated by Governor Paterson after a judicial screening committee in Albany found her to be "highly qualified."

Never one to let facts get in the way of an attack, the very next day, in the face of the overwhelming bi-partisan support for Judge Schneer, our local Republican County Chair Mario Catalano issued a statement calling her appointment a "mockery" of the Ulster County Court. He then carefully mischaracterized a 20-year-old case in which a prisoner appealed having to appear in front of a jury shackled hand and foot. (Schneer did not "sue the taxpayers of New York" as Catalano claimed.) By seeking to undermine the public's faith in our judiciary, Catalano has decided to launch his campaign from the bottom of the gutter. The public can only hope that the Republicans won't dig any lower.

Not surprisingly, Catalano had not a single positive thing to say about his own candidate, Don Williams. This is telling. After all, just two years ago, the Republicans rejected Williams' bid for Kingston City Court judge. Now, they want to put him on the far more important County Court bench, despite his lack of judicial experience. Without a positive message, the Republican campaign apparently will consist of nothing but angry attacks. The citizens of this county should not elect as a judge the standard-bearer of angry partisans.

Deborah Schneer has 25 years of diverse legal experience throughout the Hudson Valley and beyond, giving her broad exposure to all facets of our legal system. Her opponent spent his whole career in one job. Deborah Schneer has years of judicial experience, balancing the interests of all parties who came before her and earning respect from both sides of the aisle. Her opponent has never been a judge - never presided over a single case in his life and has only been a court-room partisan.

Catalano's is only the first of what will surely be many Republican temper tantrums over imagined flaws. The public knows better. Deborah Schneer is the experienced judge we need in Ulster County's toughest court.

Julian D. Schreibman

Chair

Ulster County Democratic Committee

Schneer appointed County Judge (from the Daily Freeman)

2009-06-18T08:21:00.001-04:00

Governor taps Dem candidate to be new Ulster County judge

Thursday, June 18, 2009
By KYLE WIND
Freeman staff
KINGSTON — Deborah Schneer, a town of Rochester justice and the Democratic candidate in this fall’s election for Ulster County judge, has been appointed to the county bench by Gov. David Paterson.
Schneer is to succeed J. Michael Bruhn, who retired in April, and would be the first woman to serve as the county’s judge.
Her appointment could be held up, however, because it requires confirmation by the state Senate, which has not conducted any business since an attempted Republican takeover of the chamber last week and which now finds itself gridlocked with 31 members on each side of the political aisle.
Ulster County Democratic Chairman Julian Schreibman said he’s hoping for a quick confirmation of Schneer, but he conceded it’s "difficult to know for sure" how soon she will be able to preside over County Court proceedings.
Schneer, in a telephone interview on Wednesday, said she was "thrilled and honored to have received the appointment by the governor to the important post of county judge."
Schneer was nominated by county Democrats on June 8 to run for the judgeship, which has a 10-year term and a current salary of $131,400 per year. She was chosen over New Paltz Town Justice Jonathan Katz and Shandaken Town Justice Michael Miranda.
The following day, Schreibman called the governor’s office to recommend Schneer be appointed to the judgeship for the remainder of 2009.
The winner of the November election — in which the Republican candidate is former Ulster County District Attorney Donald A. Williams — will begin serving on Jan. 1, 2010.
Williams was nominated by county Republicans on June 1 over town of Ulster Justice Marsha Weiss and attorney Michael Kavanagh Jr.
Schneer, 50, has been one of Rochester’s two town justices since 2006 and has had a law practice in Rosendale since 2003.
As county judge, she said, she would work to ensure all parties get a "level playing field" and "appropriate and fair experience" in the court system.
Schneer graduated from Tuft’s University in 1980 and New York University Law School in 1984, and she began her legal career with Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York. She spent a year with the state Department of Law in 1987, then returned to Prisoners’ Legal Services as a staff attorney and later managing attorney. She left that post in 1998 and began a part-time practice while also working part-time for the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem.
Ulster County Democrats have described Schneer as having "extensive experience as a civil rights lawyer and an advocate for the poorest and most vulnerable members of society."
Schneer said she lives with her partner and 4-year-old son in High Falls.
URL: http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2009/06/18/news/doc4a39b3f0c457e888978505.prt
© 2009 DailyFreeman.com, a Journal Register <http://www.journalregister.com/> Property

Photos from the Brunch

2009-05-15T11:29:00.005-04:00

Hi all. Thanks for supporting us at the annual Spring Brunch - what a success! Below are some pics sent by Mike Harkavy!

First Post

2009-03-15T10:49:00.000-04:00

Hello and Welcome.

This blog is a public forum for news, announcements, policy and more. Today the beta version of the new site goes live. We expect to have a somewhat more exciting layout in the near future, as we establish a web committee (I would imagine through the coordinated campaign).

Even though this is the "first post", you may notice that there are older posts; newsletters from the old site have been archived in this format, as a convenience.

While we are encouraging discussion, we are not allowing anonymous comments, at least for now. We would hope that commenters would be proud to represent their opinions, and that this requirement will encourage a higher level of discourse. (There are plenty of other venues for folks who revel in the disinhibition that comes from dissociation.)

I hope you'll enjoy using the new site, and we're looking forward to collaborating together.
Add this page to your Feeds and stay tuned as we build this site.

Best regards
Ian Brody, Treasurer

Democratic-Led County Legislature Accomplishment, January 2008

2008-01-01T09:20:00.001-05:00

Democratic-Led County Legislature Accomplishments

January 2008 Report

Reforms and new initiatives were made

with efficiency and accountability while remaining transparent.

Reforms in the County Government Operation

The completion of the federally-mandated MS4 requirements was accomplished at one-tenth the estimated cost. Instead of the projected $2.5 million, completion cost was only $250,000.

The Public Works Department reduced three departments into one. Alternative Sentencing, Community Corrections and Probation were consolidated into one department.

Over the past two years the potential cost of County-employee health insurance was reduced by more than $4 million. Most, if not all, doctors previously available in network will be available.

Over $1.3 million is being invested in information technology (desktops, routers, and servers.)

The first inmates entered the new Law Enforcement Center and inmates from other counties were boarded three months ahead of schedule.

Economic Development

Over 65 volunteers were gathered to form the Ulster Tomorrow initiative which created various strategies and specific targeted actions.

Funding of Old King’s Highway shovel ready should reap benefits well into the next decade.

The Solar Energy Consortium, with $200,000 of County-budgeted money and spearheaded by Congressman Hinchey, may be the best economic development investment Ulster County has ever made.

The Ulster County Development Corporation, our economic development agency, was provided with incentive funding. The following projects were announced and committed:
Armor Dynamics (Kingston)

Blue Heaven Hosiery (Ellenville)

Events Unlimited (Saugerties)

Fala Technologies (Ulster)

Global Palate (Esopus)

Gym Stars (Saugerties)

Interstate Brands (Ulster)

Kingston Health Pavilion (Kingston)

Kirkland Hotel (Kingston)

Kosco (Saugerties)

LeFever House B&B (New Paltz)

Lloyd Park Commons Apartments (Kingston)

Medusa Gallery and Antiques (New Paltz)

Mobile Media (Ellenville)

Numrich Arms (Hurley)

Revenue Markets (Kerhonkson)

Sta-Dri (Saugerties)

Tischler Dental Center (Woodstock)

Woodland Ponds (New Paltz)

On the Environmental Front

The long awaited Open Space Plan was created to secure funds to assure that farming remains vibrant in Ulster County and open space is protected for generations to come: The development rights of two farms – the Davenport and Misner farms were acquired in the Town of Marbletown and funding was recently announced to preserve two more in the coming year – the Arrowhead and Domino farms in the Town of Rochester.

The Department of Environment was created and the Recycling Law was revamped with incentives to assure compliance.

Tourism and the Arts

The Ulster County Tourism's 2007 travel guide was honored as one of the best in the United States by the North American Travel Journalists Association, the premier association of writers, photographers and editors dedicated to travel and hospitality. There have been an increasingly larger numbers of visitors to the site that browse for longer periods.

Working with the towns this past year brought the start of installing all-weather, year-round tourism kiosks for the distribution of tourism information in various parts of the County, the first erected in Marlborough.

We created a dedicated fund for the Arts. We have one of the highest per capita of working artist in the nation.

Seeing the Big Picture on Our Little Screen

The Global Warming Advisory Committee was created to produce a comprehensive list of ideas created for publication this year that uses local suppliers and local common sense approaches to lessen our contribution to the problem.

The Local Re-Entry Task Force was created to work with parolees.

The Blue Ribbon Health Care Advisory Panel helped address the concerns of the local hospital merger while working on its main charge to prepare for the changes in financing long term care.

The County Collaboration Council was established that began working with all the municipalities and school districts throughout Ulster County.

Over the past two years spending was controlled which kept spending flat even though most obligations went up. The 2008 budget was kept under the inflationary rate.

OCtober 2006 Newsletter

2006-10-01T09:27:00.000-04:00

Message from our Chair, John Parete

Thank you for electing me to serve as your Chair for another two-year term. We’ve come a long way in Ulster County in the past few years, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

Last year, 2005, was a break-out year for Ulster County’s governmental addiction to special interests, back room deals, and reckless spending

The New York State Republican leadership has spent 20 years trying to avoid blame for raising taxes by passing a disproportionate share of state costs down to counties, cities, and towns. This transfer of expenses from the income tax based state budget to the ad valorem based local taxes is one reason for skyrocketing property taxes. Locallyt, this problem has been compounded as the Ulster County Republican leadership neglected their responsibilities to County taxpayers by failing to properly administer their spending authority in a prudent and accountable manner.

Ulster County Democrats will continue to work to reform our government so that local taxpayers will no longer be forced to pay for the excesses of our legislature and to refocus on solving problems without passing on the costs to you and me.

Our legislature is addressing the issues of critical concern to the citizens of Ulster County, principally skyrocketing property taxes, a sinister creep in the size of County government, and quality of life issues that relate to both jobs and the environment.

The Democratic members of our Ulster County Legislature bring with them an interesting and extensive portfolio representing a perspective from both the public and private sectors.

The general election is less than four weeks away. We’re 27 days from once again electing a Democratic governor. And we have an excellent chance of picking up some Senate and Congressional seats nationwide (a majority in at least one house is a not-too-remote possibility. Locally, I ask all Democrats to focus intently over the next four weeks to help lead our outstanding local candidates to victory.

John Parete, Chair.

Report from the Organizational Meeting of the Ulster County Democratic Committee

An overwhelming majority of members of the Ulster County Democratic Committee turned up on September 25^th for the biennial Organizational Meeting at the Holiday Inn in Kingston.

John Parete was re-elected to a two-year term as chair, Karen Markisensis of Ulster was elected to be our Vice Chair, Sue Ronga was re-elected as Treasurer, and Patt Candelari was elected to be our Secretary. Sue Zimet, candidate for NYS Senate and a member of the Ulster County Legislature, gave a moving tribute to out-going Vice Chair Ann Rodman, who has served the UCDC in so many ways for many years. Thank you Ann and congratulations to our new executive committee.

Volunteers Needed!

The Ulster County Democratic Committee and the Coordinated Campaign Committee are beginning our campaign phone banking on Tuesday, October 10 for Susan Zimet for New York State Senate and Paul VanBlarcum for Ulster County Sheriff. We are going to be phoning four days a week (Monday thru Thursday) starting next Tuesday right up through election day from 6:00 to 9:00pm each night. To make this work, we need the help of our willing and able volunteers to make phone calls and to address and assemble the mailings we will be doing on the spot to the people we've talked to. So, even if you don't like to make phone calls, we can use your help.

Please respond to sfraser0326@aol.com or call Democratic HQ at 331 8275 with your name and contact information and the days you are able to help. We will be working from Democratic Headquarters at 292C Fair St. in Kingston.

PLEASE VOLUNTEER TO HELP SUSAN AND PAUL TO VICTORY THIS NOVEMBER.

Meet Pam Duke, Supervisor, Town of Rochester

Pam Duke isn’t your typical town supervisor. Prior to her election, she was a successful executive with the Girl Scouts for two decades. Now, as Supervisor since January 2004, she’s brought a lot of improvements to the way the Town of Rochester does business and has attempted to bring a business-like outlook to town government. We asked Pam what that means.

PD: One thing that people in local governments sometimes forget is that town officials are public servants, with a duty to provide service to their respective electorates. The residents of our towns are our customers and we have an obligation to manage the affairs of town government in like a business, with accountability at all levels, systems to track spending and revenues, and a clear set of objectives.

Q: Given your past in the private sector, why did you want this job?

PD: I saw that there was a lot of room for improvement in the administration of our town government. I thought that I would be able to bring a new, more inclusive outlook to government and decided to run for supervisor. It was my first run for public office and with a lot of help from people on both sides of the aisle, I won.

Q: Is it tough to turn the boat around?

PD: Yes it can be difficult sometimes. One thing we have to realize is that the role of local government in a small town has changed significantly over the past decade or two. The number and complexity of laws that municipalities have to follow have grown significantly and it’s now a full time job being supervisor. It’s a rewarding job, though, and I get a lot of satisfaction seeing long term plans implemented.

Q: What’s the biggest deal in Rochester government right now?

PD: The biggest challenge we face isn’t one solely for town government or even unique in the Town of Rochester. The tremendous level of growth in our region is creating a lot of change, both in the literal landscape of the town and in the way that town governments have to educate themselves in dealing with growth and development issues. All this development makes it especially important to ensure that local government policy is able to deal with future growth. At present, we’re in the middle of reviewing our Town’s comprehensive plan, which hasn’t been updated since it was first written in 1969. It clearly needs to be updated and we invited anyone who was interested to participate in the process. The development pressure is real, however, we have some who want to put in hundreds of homes, and this type of development will have an irrevocable impact on our community. It’s important that the process be thought out before hand and that government act proactively in managing change by ensuring that local codes reflect the vision that people in the community want, rather than being reactive and having no tools to influence the type of development that takes place.

Q: You mentioned hundreds of houses. How do you know if that’s even feasible?

PD: That’s a good question because there are a lot factors to consider. There might be plenty of land for development, and people willing to do it, but what will be the effect on the water supply, what type of additional infrastructure will be needed, will we need to build new roads, schools and firehouses? What will be the impact and the cost to the rest of the taxpayers in the community to educate the hundreds of children who could potentially be added to our school district. These are all factors to consider and there needs to be a greater dialogue between all the different agencies and autonomous boards that have to deal with them.

Q: Anything you’d like to add?

PD: One thing we have to remember is that we’re in a small community. We see our neighbors everyday, at the post office, in the grocery store, and passing on the road. It’s important that we address our town’s problems together, with the best long-term interests of the town in mind. I’ve tried to create an open dialogue and an environment where anyone can speak freely, because it’s only through an honest and inclusive process that these long-term solutions will stand. Another thing is that town governments in our region can really benefit from continuing to address common problems together. It pays to share ideas and to pool resources. While each town has its own unique identity, there is a lot we can learn from each other.

Take Back Congress - Let’s Turn some of those Red States Blue!

With newfound momentum, a number of candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have a real shot at winning this November. The opportunity for Democrats to take control of one or both houses of Congress is in sight. There are many competitive candidates who can win if they have sufficient financial resources, including some in New York State. If you would like to contribute to help in this effort, you can contribute online

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee –

http://www.dccc.org/

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

http://www.dccc.org/

Absentee Ballot Information:

If you’re there is even a remote chance that you will not be in town on November 7^th, we recommend that you obtain an absentee ballot. Please note that these applications must be received by the Ulster County Board of Elections by October 31 in order to mail a ballot, or by November 6, if you or someone will pick up the ballot in person. You can download a form at http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/elections/absenteeapp.pdf

In addition to voting by absentee ballot, the Board of Elections will hold special hours before the election during which you can vote in person at their office at 284 Wall Street in Kingston:

Tues, Oct 24 5 to 7pm

Thurs, Oct 26 5 to 7pm

Sat, Oct 28 9am to noon

Tues, Oct 31 5 to 7pm

Thurs, Nov 2 5 to 7pm

Sat, Nov 4 9am to noon

Voting Suggestions (in ballot order):

Governor: Eliot Spitzer (D) Spitzer2006.com
Comptroller Alan Hevesi (D)

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) AndrewCuomo.com

U.S. Senate Hillary Clinton (D) HillaryClinton.com

NYS Supreme Court Karen Peters (D) KarenPeters.org

(vote for two) Gus Devine (D)

U.S. Congress Maurice Hinchey (D) HincheyforCongress.org

NYS Senate Susan Zimet (D) SusanZimetforSenate.com

NYS Assembly Kevin Cahill (D)

NYS Assembly Kelly Keck (D) KeckforAssembly.com

Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum (D) PaulforSheriff.com

Proposition #1

Shall the County of Ulster, New York adopt a local law adopting a county charter form of government for the County of Ulster? Vote YES

Democratic National Committee Launches “Party Builder”

In an effort to promote grass-roots activism in all 50 states, the Democratic National Committee has initiated a web-based system called PartyBuilder.

PartyBuilder is a set of online tools designed to empower Democrats to take control of the future of their party. Through technology, we’re moving people from email and websites to canvasses and rallies.

PartyBuilder isn’t the typical online tool set. Individual users control most of the activity, from blogging to setting up and managing groups or activists, to organizing and managing real-world events, to fundraising. Democrats are entrusted to build the space and the Party.

Take a minute to explore the different features, then invite your friends and connect with each other to help build the Party for 2006 and beyond. PartyBuilder gives you everything you need to take online action for real-world results.

http://www.democrats.org/page/content/partybuilder/

Analysis of “Supernova”

S.8360 (Saland, Bonacic) A.K.A Supernova

During the final week of the 2006 Legislative Session, Senate Republicans, in a thinly veiled attempt to pander to voters -- who are becoming increasingly overburdened by regressive property tax bills -- passed legislation (S.8360) that calls for the State to pay for the school property tax bills of primary homeowners.
The legislation, estimated to cost the State an additional $9 billion a year after it is fully phased in, does nothing to address the needs of underperforming schools and will shift more money away from Hudson Valley schools and into the budgets of wealthier downstate districts.
The bill would provide no benefits to the millions of New Yorkers who rent their homes and offers little, if any, relief to our largest cities.
This legislation is grossly irresponsible because it neglects to identify just how the State will pay for what would essentially serve as a massive expansion of the unfair and flawed STAR program.
The fact that the sponsors of this bill waited until the very last hours of the scheduled end of the legislative session to introduce it and call for a vote is evidence that this bill is nothing more than an attempt to distract voters from the fact that the Senate Majority has failed to provide real school aid and property tax reform.
The Senate’s plan is flawed in that it provides no relief to renters and commercial property owners.
It ignores the fact that tenants also pay property taxes.
While homeowners pay this levy directly, tenants, through their rental payments, carry a substantial portion of the property taxes paid by the owners of their buildings.
Under the Senate’s latest proposal, neither tenants nor landlords would receive any relief. Only residents of owner-occupied dwellings would benefit.
This type of approach fosters extreme racial disparities. Over 62% of white households live in owner-occupied dwellings, while the comparable figure for black households is 29%.
Renters make up 37% of the population residing within the Kingston City Schools Consolidated District. That is a number you might expect in a city. In Poughkeepsie, the number is 63% and in Newburgh, renters make up 42% of the population.
You might be surprised to find out that in the New Paltz, Ellenville, Highland and Marlboro school districts renters make up over 30% of the population. In Rhinebeck, 29% of the school district residents are renters.
When you take into account the fifteen largest city school districts in New York State, renters make up 67% of the population. Looking at population statewide, 47% of the households in New York rent their homes.
To ensure fairness, property tax relief should not discriminate on the basis of geography or one’s status as an owner or a tenant. This measure fails on both of these counts.
The only thing the Senate seems to have gotten right with this proposal is their acknowledgement that our education funding model is broken.
Instead of perpetuating the existence of an already failing STAR program by expanding it to what would amount to supernova proportions, the Senate should join me in my commitment to ensuring a sound education for all of New York’s children while at the same time eliminating the regressive school property tax for all residents of the State.

To the Editor:

During this campaign season, school funding has taken center stage. It’s about time. The people of the Hudson Valley and all of New York deserve real solutions, not rhetoric, for this most significant problem. I salute those candidates who have taken the time to learn this issue and embraced realistic proposals such as the legislation I have introduced.

Assembly Bill 8069 will eliminate the use of regressive real estate taxes for the purposes of funding education. The bill first and foremost ensures that every child has access to the same quality education regardless of where they live or the level of their family's income. By eliminating the school real property tax and shifting to a more progressive statewide income tax, we will be able to fund our schools equitable, fairly and more affordably for all New Yorkers.

School funding is an issue that impacts everyone. Here in the Hudson Valley, we are bearing the burden of skyrocketing property taxes. In other regions, where property values and incomes are not as high, schools are suffering because they do not have the means necessary to provide a basic quality education.

For too long we have had a Governor in charge that has refused to acknowledge the state's responsibility that every child, everywhere in New York has an equal right to a quality education. Some people work against much needed reforms by claiming it is an upstate versus downstate issue or that it is only a regional problem and therefore only requires a regional solution. The truth is that education funding is a broken system statewide and needs to be fixed.

Assemblymember Joel Miller recently attacked his opponent, Democratic County Legislator, Joel Tyner, for supporting my school financing proposal. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Dr. Miller asserted that the current school aid formula is equitable and working just fine. He also repeated the false argument that my plan would somehow siphon funding from our local schools to districts in Long Island or Westchester. Dr. Miller knows better and so does Joel Tyner. That’s why Tyner has articulated this issue passionately throughout his campaign.

The fact is, for example, that in Suffolk County, which encompasses the east end of Long Island, local property taxes make up exactly the same percentage (64%) of education funding as in Dutchess. Under my legislation, the state would treat each area equally. Taxes on Hudson Valley residents would be significantly reduced under my financing plan. Every taxpayer would be treated fairly and every student would be treated equitably. That is the whole point of the bill.

The only way we are going to achieve meaningful school financing reform is to proceed with the value of this being about our children. Ensuring that each and every child has access to the same basic quality education regardless of where they live, how high their family's income is or how much their property is valued should be our top priority. The state has a moral and legal obligation to ensure equity in our education system statewide. I have and will continue to advocate for legislation to accomplish that goal while eliminating our reliance on regressive property taxes.

Joel Tyner clearly understands that this is the biggest problem we are currently facing. Instead of perpetuating false and misleading scare tactics that get us nowhere, Joel Miller ought to be thanking Tyner for finally waking him up to get serious about reforming education funding in New York State.

Sincerely,

Kevin A. Cahill
Member of Assembly

Events Calendar

October 2006

October 10^th, Phonebanking begins at Democratic Headquarters. email sfraser0326@aol.com

October 15^th Sunday, Ulster County Democratic Committee Annual Dinner, Hillside Manor, Kingston, Cash Bar 5:30 to 6: 30 dinner to follow.

October 15^th, Sunday, Women’s Tea to Support Wendy Ricks for Town Justice, Town of Saugerties at the home of Rosemary Brackett, 37 John Street, Saugerties, 3pm to 5pm.

October 17^th, Tuesday. 5:30 to 9pm, Paul Van Blarcum for Sheriff Fund Raiser. Gisianos Restaurant, 174 Main Street, Glasco, Cash Bar, Hors d’oeuvres, door prizes, a night of fun and support for Paul. $35.00 per person. RSVP to frankfaluotico@aol.com or cal 679-0016

October 21^st Fundraiser for Congressman Maurice Hinchey, Details to Follow

October 22^nd, Sunday. Pot Luck Supper to Support Paul Van Blarcum for Sheriff. Home of the Faluticos, 296 Maverick Road, Woodstock. Bring a dish to share. Donation $25.00, for more information call Sam at 679-2713. Sponsored by the Woodstock Democratic Committee.

October 24, Tuesday

Rally to Take back Congress. Change the course of the Nation

Starting right here in the Hudson Valley, Waryas Park, On the Hudson River, Poughkeepsie, NY, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Featured speakers:

Democratic candidates for Congress

Ø Congressman Maurice Hinchey, 22nd District

Ø Kirsten Gillibrand, 20th District

Ø John Hall, 19th District

Music by the Flames of Discontent. Help Us Take Back Congress for working families!

Endorsements to date:

Dutchess County Democratic Committee, Communications Workers of America Local 1120, Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation, Town of Poughkeepsie Democratic Committee; Public Employees Federation, SEIU 1199, Teamsters Local 445, NYSUT, Dutchess Peace Coalition, The Flames of Discontent, Beacon Democratic Committee, Mid-Hudson Progressive Alliance, and Voices for Peace.

fFor more information contact:

Jen Fuentes, Coordinator, Hudson Valley ALF at: 845.567.7760 ext. 10 or hvalf@hvc.rr.com

Wayne Nealis, CWA Local 1120 at: 845.705.3516 or at wynnls@hotmail.com

October 27^th, Friday 5 to 8pm. Rosendale Democratic Committee’s Fabulous Fish Fry, Rosendale Community Center, Route 32. $10.00 per serving. Eat in or Take Out. Come meet the candidates and bring your friends.

October 29^th, Sunday 3-5 pm DuPuy Canal House Fund Raiser for Sue Zimet for NYS Senate, $25.00 per person/Hors d’oeuvres, cash bar. If you are having dinner afterwards Chef John Novi will donate $30.00 of the $65.00 five course dinner to Sue’s campaign.

October 31^st, Last day to mail absentee ballot applications.

November 7th, ELECTION DAY!

August 2006 News

2006-08-01T09:29:00.000-04:00

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR, JOHN PARETE

Volunteers across our county will meet to contact 100 voters each from their communities

The Ulster County Democratic Committee will be joining our State and National counterparts in what should be a major voter registration drive. I hope each Democrat can attempt to contact 100 voters from his or her community by Election Day 2006. Here in Ulster County we have already registered over 1,000 new Democrats this year.

As a neighborhood Democratic volunteer, you know your neighborhood best. You are a local "opinion maker." This means your neighbors may come to rely on you for information about the Democratic Party, candidates from your area, and local issues.

Face-to-face voter contact is the most effective way to meet people, exchange information, and talk about the Democratic Party and candidates.

In other news, the petition process is over and what a tremendous job the County Committee members and other volunteers did this year! We gathered over 2,000 signatures for Susan Zimet’s State Senate campaign (whose district encompasses about half of Ulster County). In Paul Van Blarcum’s race for Sheriff, our Committee members and volunteers gathered almost 4,000 signatures. Maurice Hinchey and Kevin Cahill’s Ulster County numbers were also phenomenal.

Now the campaigns are organizing and will be co-coordinating efforts locally and State- wide for what will be a tremendous Democratic victory this November.

Democratic Primary to be held on Tuesday, September 12th
Absentee Ballot Information

The Democratic Party will hold a primary election on Tuesday, September 12, 2006. Polls in Ulster County will open at 12:00 noon and remain open until 9:00 pm.

The candidates being voted upon are:

Governor:
Eliot Spitzer (spitzer2006.com)
Thomas Suozzi (www.tomsuozzi.com)

Attorney General:
Andrew Cuomo (www.andrewcuomo.com)
Mark Green (www.markgreen.com)
Charles King (www.king2006.com)
Sean Patrick Maloney (www.seanmaloney.com)

United States Senator
Hilary Rodham Clinton (www.hillaryclinton.com)
Jonathan Tassini (www.tasinifornewyork.org)

On a more local level, the Conservatives and Independence Parties in Ulster County are also holding a primary for the office of Ulster County Sheriff. If you know of any members of either party, please ask them to vote for Paul Van Blarcum, who was designated by the Conservate, Democrats, and Independence Parties. (www.paulforsheriff.com)

For more information, please visit the candidates’ websites, noted above

If you are unable to vote in the primary election in person, you may print an absentee ballot application by visiting:
http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/elections/absenteeapp.pdf
or you can call or visit the Ulster County Board of Elections at 284 Wall Street, Kingston. Tel: 845-334-5470.

Absentee ballot applications must be received by the Board of Elections prior to September 5th if a ballot is to be mailed, or by September 11th if the ballot is to be picked up in person at the Board of Elections office.

SUSAN ZIMET: A Genuine Hero in Our Midst

Susan Zimet, a candidate for NYS Senate, is not afraid to speak her mind, shake up the status quo, and to do whatever it takes to create a more responsive and effective state government. Susan is ready to work with you—and with Eliot Spitzer—to restore the Hudson Valley and our great state, the Empire State, to her rightful place as a world leader in business, finance, education, jobs, healthcare, transportation, and environmental protection. Even with these disparate goals in mind, you can bet Susan won’t forsake her deep and abiding respect for the civil and constitutional rights of each and every citizen.

Susan Zimet is challenging incumbent John Bonacic for the 42nd District seat in the New York State Senate, which includes Delaware and Sullivan County, most of Ulster County and parts of Orange.

Like many reformers, Susan was drawn into politics because of issues: unregulated development; endangered community and environmental treasures; out-of-control property taxes; and education reform. As Town Supervisor and County Legislator Susan has gained a reputation for tight-fisted budgeting, finding alternative funding opportunities and minimizing waste and taxes.

Zimet (New Paltz) represents the 10th District in the Ulster County Legislature where she Chairs the Ways & Means Sub-committee on Budget Reform, and chairs the Arts, Education and Community Relations Committee that oversees all cultural, tourism, education, aging, veterans and health agencies. She also serves as a member of the Ways & Means, and Criminal Justice & Safety Committees. Susan won re-election to her second term in 2005 in an historic victory that resulted in the second Democratic majority in Ulster County history, the first since 1978.

Working across the aisle she achieved legislative successes on issues including Veterans' Health Care, Clean Elections, and Homeland Security—including protections for first responders and a warning system for hazardous waste transported through the region. For years Susan has been in the forefront, leading the bipartisan call for Indian Point Nuclear Plant to be closed because adequate safeguards are not in place. Susan's Resolution, calling for veterans and active military personnel to receive the care they deserve, as well as for testing soldiers returning from war zones for depleted uranium poisoning, is a bill now under consideration in Albany.

Prior to service in the Legislature she served two terms as Supervisor of the Town of New Paltz, the first woman to hold that job. Under her leadership New Paltz prevented WalMart from coming in and changing the character of the town, while she simultaneously worked to increase opportunities for locally-owned area businesses.

For more information about Susan Zimet go to: http://www.susanzimetforsenate.com

Help Needed for our Candidates

Volunteers Needed: We need campaign volunteers in all towns across Ulster County to help our Democratic candidates get elected. If you would like to volunteer for phone banking, mailing, canvassing, voter registration, or anything else, please email: info@ulstercountydemocrats.com

Ulster County Charter Reform

Let’s Get it Passed!

By Vic Work

The proposed Charter Revision to be voted on in November creates a Strong County Executive with a single source of public accountability and creates the top county position who is elected by all voters in Ulster County. Under the current system, we elect 33 legislators who elect one member to be chairman of the Legislature.

The Comptroller and County Executive will serve 4-year terms, elected in alternate, odd-number elections.

The charter revision creates the office of an elected Comptroller who fills the role of auditing and policy making. The duties of the currently elected Treasurer will be consolidated into an appointed position of Commissioner of Finance to administer policy, collect taxes and receive and disburse funds. The Commissioner of Finance will also draft the County's annual budget in concert with the elected County Executive. The Treasurer's office will be eliminated and the Office of the Appointed County Administrator will be eliminated.

The Charter Revision also ratifies the 2003 Local Law that reduces the size of the Legislature to 23 single-seat districts whose representatives will stand for election in November 2011. They will continue to serve 2-year terms.

The next step is up to you: The Referendum will go on the ballot at the election on November 7th. Assuming the Charter Revision passes the Strong County Executive will be elected in November 2008 for a 3-year term to start January 1, 2009 and there after every 4 years.

The Legislature will become a Policy Making body - make appropriations, adopt the budget, levy taxes, pass local laws and confirm the appointments of the Elected County Executive. The County Executive will be the administrative head of the government, prepare and present a budget and capital program, appoint department heads and the county attorney, and report to the people and the legislature on the condition of county finances.

The Elected County Executive will be the person responsible for the activities of the county government and will hold a lot of authority. The authority will be offset by the elected County Legislature andthe elected Comptroller who is responsible for the audit of the county affairs.

Please vocally support the Charter Revision - it will make our government more efficient and less expensive and more responsive to the electorate.

Kind regards, Vic Work

The August-September Ulster County Democratic Party Events Calendar

Sunday, September 9—Olive Day, Davis Park, West Shokan

Sunday, September 9—Esopus Democrats Annual Picnic, Freer Park, Noon--?

Tuesday, September 12---PRIMARY ELECTION

June 2006 News

2006-06-01T09:31:00.000-04:00

In this issue
Message from our Chair, John Parete
Report from the Ulster County Democratic Convention
Help Needed for our Candidates
The Fight in Plattekill
Kickoff Rally for Sue Zimet for NY State Senate
Kickoff Rally for Paul Van Blarcum for Ulster County Sheriff
Ulster County Charter Refortm - What it Means
Calendar for June and July

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR, JOHN PARETE

The Ulster County Democratic Party in Ulster County was out in full force at our annual nominating convention held on the first Monday in June at the Hillside Manor in Kingston. Congressman Maurice Hinchey and Assemblyman
Kevin Cahill, our incumbent legislators, spoke most eloquently where the party was when they started and the positive direction our outstanding nominated candidates will be leading us in the future. We owe the people of Ulster County and we owe our candidates nothing less than 100% support in this November’s election. On a party note, since the first of January 2006, our new enrollment numbers show an increase of over 800—twice the amount of the other party. As you can see, the Democratic Party in Ulster County is alive and well.
Thanks for your efforts.

At the Ulster County Democratic Convention

Over 200 delegates from town and city Democrats attended the June 5th County Convention held at Hillside Manor. Turnout was significantly higher than in prior years, perhaps an indication of an increase in interest in Democratic
politics after the sweeping November 2005 victories in towns across UlsterCounty in which Democratic majorities were elected to a number of local offices as well as to the Ulster County Legislature.

After a warm introduction by Kingston attorney and friend Eli Basch, Judge Karen Peters, an appellate division supreme court judge covering the 3rd Judicial District, addressed the crowd and told delegates that she was working hard on her re-election to a second, 14-year term on the bench. Judge Peters looked back fondly at serving as Ulster County’s Family Court Judge and her long association with the County.

Congressman Maurice Hinchey was designated as the Party’s nominee for reelection to the House of Representatives. The audience listened to the Congressman’s remarks on the Bush Administration’s lack of respect for the
Constitution and rights and the politicization of the governmental process.

State Assemblyman Kevin Cahill was designated as the Democratic candidate for the 101st Assembly District. Kelly Keck, Scott Trees, and Lee Kyriocou, all running for office for the first time, were selected as the candidates
for the 107th, 127th and 100th Assembly Districts, respectively.

Ulster County Legislator and former New Paltz town supervisor Susan Zimet was selected as the Democratic candidate for the New York State Senate’s 42nd District, which represents nearly all of Ulster County, along with
parts of Delaware, Orange, and Sullivan counties.

Sheriff Department veteran Paul Van Blarcum was selected as the candidate for Ulster County Sheriff in an open race. Van Blarcum addressed the inefficiencies in that department and reminded the audience of the current
sheriff’s jail project.

Before adjourning, the members of the convention selected John R. Parete as the Democratic commissioner of the Board of Elections and affirmed the members of the State and individual town committees.

Help Needed for our Candidates
The campaigns of Congressman Maurice Hinchey, Judge Karen Peters, Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, and Sergeant Paul Van Blarcum need your help. As you know, all four have received the endorsement of the Independence Party;
Paul has also been endorsed by the Conservatives. (Each may also receive the endorsement of the Working Families Party, though we believe WFP will handle their own petitions this year.) So…

We need notaries or friendly members of the Independence and Conservative parties to carry nominating petitions in every town in Ulster county.

Even though our own Democratic petition process has just barely begun, this effort is very important for our candidates’ success in November and cannot be ignored. If you are a notary or know a notary who would go around with
you in your town and carry petitions, or if you can persuade a friendly member of the independence or conservative parties to do the same, please respond to this email or call Democratic Headquarters at 331-8275 and leave
a message. Thanks.

THE FIGHT IN PLATTEKILL
Chris Mercier, chair of the Democratic Committee for the Town of Plattekill, is a watchdog in a very Republican district. There are no Democrat legislators in District 9—Towns of Marlborough, Plattekill and Shawangunk—and no Democrats on the Plattekill Town Board, either. This is leading to an abuse of power, according to Mercier, and to other problems as this most southern portion of the county continues to see unchecked and in some cases poorly planned development, with infrastructure issues causing the most concern. We asked Mercier to detail the problems. Please also read to the BOTTOM of this section for information on helping the Town of Plattekill and District 9 fight back against the Republicans in office.

An Abuse of Power
The town board seems to think they can pretty much do whatever they want. The department of state has said it’s illegal to use town funds to advertise events for the Republican committee and for groups like the Rotary Club.
Also, Plattekill is using funds to buy property to increase the town park size. According to state law they have to do an environmental assessment and it could be expensive and the town has flat refused to it. Councilman Brian VanDuser basically said he didn’t care and until somebody comes down from Albany they’re going to do what they want. Essentially he was saying that until the town gets sued or Albany says otherwise they’ll continue to break
the law. To counter this we’d have to call the New York state comptroller’s office or the State Attorney General’s Office and let them know this is going on and it’s a matter of record on the Town of Plattekill minutes; it’s
been brought to their attention and they’ve chosen to ignore the law.

Overspending When Other Options Exist
We had a $70,000 grant from Larkin’s office to redo Hoppenstead Rd. in Plattekill, and the road was done. Unfortunately we lost out on the grant money because it was only open for seven years and now, eight years later,
highway superintendent George Dougherty never filled out the paperwork. No paperwork, no money—we lost the funding. Also NY State puts CHIPS [Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program] money out there
for towns; there’s about $560k in the Chips program according to the previous budget officer. However, Dougherty hasn’t filed for it, and Dougherty hasn’t worked with the current budget officer to get that money either. This is money for the town to build roads. This is money that offsets the tax burden of local citizens. And his budget’s only about
$900,000 a year so that’d be two-thirds of his budget offset by this funding but he has to apply for it. Meanwhile the roads are terrible around here and badly need maintenance. One of the things the Town Board can do is request a
detailed road plan, which Dougherty has refused to submit. What the town might want to do is freeze his budget until a plan is submitted. He gets re-elected by staying under budget but he doesn’t do his job, which is to maintain the roads. Eventually this isn’t a matter of comfort when you drive down a road, it’s a matter of public safety.

THE GOOD NEWS! YOU CAN HELP PLATTEKILL!
The Plattekill Democratic Party is looking for new members including volunteers and new committee people to represent one of the six districts of Plattekill, two members per district. Call Chris Mercier at 883-7912 to step
up and help Plattekill become more Democratic (with so many more new residents, that’s already happening!). The most important thing you can do is to get involved with what’s happening in your town.

KICK OFF RALLY FOR SUSAN ZIMET FOR NY STATE SENATE!
It will take just four seats for the Democrats to capture our dysfunctional State Senate. SUSAN ZIMET is going to be one of those Senators, to be elected this November.

To help launch Zimet’s campaign, come to Kingston’s Fourth of July display as seen from the balcony of Ann and Karl Rodman’s home, overlooking The Rondout. Sunday, June 25th, starting at 7:30 pm.

Your $100 per person contribution will emphatically launch her campaign. Your contribution will return, magnified, as Susan demonstrates her strength and the campaign rolls on to victory. Come, enjoy all the fireworks and meet
with Susan.

RSVP to Karl or Ann at 340-1031. (Karl will be calling you, the week of the event, with driving and parking instructions.)

Even if you can’t make it, contributions of any amount will be gratefully received. Make checks out to Zimet For Senate and send to P.O. Box 444; New Paltz, NY 12561 (write Rodman party in the memo).

Kick Off Rally for Paul Van Blarcum for Sheriff!

WHEN: Monday, June 19th

WHERE: Hillside Manor, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Suggested Contribution: $30.00 per person

Or please send contributions to:
Friends of Paul Van Blarcum
C/o Leslie Lohrer, Treasurer
335 Upper Boiceville Road
Boiceville, NY 12412

Help Paul become the next Ulster County Sheriff!

Ulster County Charter Reform

What it Is, What it Means PART II
By Vic Work

This November we are going to have the opportunity to vote for a new form ofgovernment. It will be an elected County Executive with a Legislature. The elected county executive will have most of the power to make decisions effecting our taxes and economic development. It is an important question.
Why should you vote for this new form of government? Is it foolproof? One of the problems that we have with a county administrator hired by the legislature is that NO ONE person has responsibility for running the county.
Lots of people have some degree of authority, but no one individual or office has final responsibility. Too many times in committee meetings or in department meetings we wind up with a finger-pointing exercise; everyone points at everyone else as the person responsible for making the decision.

I spent a number of years at sea as a deck officer in the U.S. Flag Merchant Marine. We were the officers who manned the U.S. flag cargo ships carrying goods to and from the USA to other parts of the world. On most merchant ships there are about 35-45 crew members, only one of whom is the captain. At sea, the captain has total control—it is his or her responsibility to get the ship, cargo and crew safely from one port to the next. He or she also has authority to make life and death decisions. He or she cannot be on the bridge watching cargo operations 24 hours a day, so the captain “delegates” some of his authority to other officers and crew to carry out his/her orders. Notice he delegates SOME of the authority, not final responsibility. He can make people responsible for their own actions, but when something
goes wrong (even if he is not on the ship while it’s in port) It is his final responsibility.

In this election we can make a statement, deciding that the elected county executive is going to have the responsibility for running the county government with the help of the legislature and the employees. The county executive will be able to delegate some authority to other people in government, but when push comes to shove it is the county executive who is responsible for those decisions, good or bad. If they are bad, we will have the opportunity to vote that person out of office. If they are good, we will have the opportunity to relect them, but we will know who is responsible.

Harry Truman used to have a plaque on his desk: THE BUCK STOPS HERE! He was not talking about the male deer or cash, he was talking about the final decision and responsibility for that decision. No election is foolproof. We
can elect boneheads and hopefully they will not do too much damage while they are in office, but we can make them very responsible for their actions and the new form of government under the charter revision is our chance to
make that happen. Vote YES for the charter revision.

May 2006 News

2006-05-01T09:35:00.000-04:00

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR, JOHN PARETE

Last month, our workshop on Electronic Filing of Campaign Finance Disclosure Reports was a big success. We had a full house at the Kingston Holiday Inn and everyone seemed to learn a lot. It’s important that we, as Democrats, be diligent in making the required filings. Enforcement by the State Board of Elections is going to be stepped up in the coming months. I encourage anyone who has questions to contact me at the Board of Elections. We are there to help. On April 8, we will be presenting our second workshop on the topic of Fundraising (details below). We hope to see you there.

Next month, The Ulster Democrat will begin a four part series by Vic Work on the Charter Reform proposal for Ulster County, which, if all goes as planned, will be on the ballot this November. Few votes have been more important than this will be for the future well-being of Ulster County. I urge all of you to pay close attention to Vic’s articles and to work for approval of the Charter Reform Proposition in November.

The future of the Democratic Party in New York has never been brighter. Our outstanding 2005 election results are a clear sign that the party is stronger than ever. But even better news is that 2006 looks even more promising. Of course, a crucial ingredient to our success last year was Democratic Party unity. We must be prepared to redouble our efforts to achieve even bigger gains this year.History has taught us that we can’t take anything for granted and that in order to grow we must keep reaching out so that we can truly be the people’s party in the county, as well as statewide and nationwide.

THE BUDGET PROCESS BY SUSAN ZIMET, LEGISLATOR, DISTRICT 10 (NEW PALTZ)

You Elected a Democratic Majority in the Ulster County Legislature.

The Good News: You’ve Finally Got Accountable Government! The Bad News: The Republicans Left a Financial Mess. Cleaning It Up is Going to be Painful

Click HERE to go to Susan’s letter about how the process, and the budget, will be fixed.

VAN BLARCUM ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR COUNTY SHERIFF

On Wednesday, March 29, Paul Van Blarcum made his campaign for Ulster County Sheriff official. At at a press rally at midday on the courthouse steps in Kingston, Paul announced his intention to run to an enthusiastic crowd of supporters and government officials. To find out more about Paul and his experience and career with the sheriff’s department, CLICK HERE.

Chairman John Parete and The Ulster County Democratic Committee Present:

A WORKSHOP ON FUNDRAISING TECHNIQUES AND SECRETS!

When: Saturday, April 8, 2006 10:00 am to Noon

Where: Democratic Headquarters 292C Fair St., Kingston

The time to start raising money for the 2007 Election is NOW!

We will have an experienced panel to share tips and answer questions, plus examples of different fundraising letters, pointers on planning successful events,

and other proven techniques that bring in the bucks!

Continental breakfast will be served. There is no charge for the workshop, however, reservations are required. This past election season, two of our Democratic Town Committees each raised over $20,000. Come and find out how they did it.

Please RSVP to 255-4166 (leave a message) or by email to SFraser0326@aol.com. Seats are limited so make your reservations early!!

ULSTER COUNTY DEMOCRATIC WOMEN

We come together to discuss the critical issues confronting us nationally and locally; to plan and work on successful campaigns to elect Democrats at all levels; and to encourage more women to participate in the political process.

This year we will help elect highly qualified Democrats at the County, State and Federal levels. We have exciting Democratic candidates for office, women and men, and although UCDW does not endorse in primaries, our members will be working hard for candidates they support. After any primaries we will all come together to WIN in NOVEMBER 2006, just as we did in 2005!

UCDW holds Forums for the exchange of information and ideas. In February, UCDW sponsored a public meeting on the Help America Vote Act and new Voting Machines with 3 other civic groups. More than 100 citizens joined a panel of experts from Common Cause NY, the League of Women Voters and Mid-Hudson Verified Voting at Kingston City Hall to discuss the changes confronting NY’s election system.

We plan to address the serious issue of Health Care and hold Leadership Development forums for the next class of Democratic women who will step forward as campaign workers and candidates.

Ulster County Democratic Women holds exciting events! In November, UCDW helped UCDC host Eliot Spitzer. In October we helped organize the Annual Dinner with State Democratic Chairman Denny Ferrell, and in September, co-sponsored Senator Hillary Clinton’s exciting visit to Mohonk. We plan different quarterly networking and outreach events all around the county.

DEM WOMEN regularly meets on the second Monday of each month at 7 PM, Ulster County Democratic Headquarters, 292 C Fair Street in Kingston. All our events and meetings are up on our website: http://www.ucdw.org/. Join us!

Julie McQuain, President, (Town of Hardenburgh)

NEW PALTZ PRIDE MARCH & FESTIVAL JUNE 4, 2006

PRIDE EVENT OFFICIALLY UNITES UNDER HUDSON VALLEY LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION

For more information, click here or visit http://www.newpaltzpride.org/

MEET TOWN OF ULSTER SUPERVISOR, NICK WOERNER

The Town of Ulster is the youngest of the 20 towns in Ulster County and also happens to have the youngest supervisor, Nick Woerner, who at the tender age of 22 took the helm of town government this January after over 100 years of Republican control of the town council. Last November, Woerner won handily along with Democrats Rocco Secreto and David Brink to take a 3 to 2 majority. Click the link and read a conversation Supervisor Woerner recently had with The Ulster Democrat.

Click here for the interview

Ulster County Gets Young Dems Involved!

It gives me great pleasure to announce to formation of the Ulster County Young Democrats, a chapter of the County Committee! Our mission is simple; to find creative ways to get young voters interested, included and involved in county, state and national politics.

Although our mission is simple, recruiting young voters is not! That is where we could use the assistance and expertise of veteran democrats like you. We’re looking for voters between 16 (get ‘em early!) and 30. We would, of course, appreciate your financial support as well. We are hoping to have our “Battle of the Bands Kick-Off Bash” this summer and will need your help to make this event a success.

If you would like to help or know of someone who might be interested, please send us an email: ucyoungdem@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Jay Mahler

Founder

May 2006 News

2006-05-01T09:32:00.000-04:00

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR, JOHN PARETE

Just because the political pundits don’t consider New York a “battleground” state, we can’t allow ourselves to sit back and coast through the fall election season. Results have taught us that political coattails are real. But if our citizens are persuaded into believing that their vote doesn’t count because this isn’t a swing state, we may lose a great opportunity to sweep even more Democrats into office.

This year, in addition to the powerful State ticket featuring names like Spitzer, Clinton, and Hevesi, we have the re-election of our outstanding United States Congressman, Maurice Hinchey and our Assemblyman Kevin Cahill. We will also have impressive candidates like Karen Peters, running for her second term as Supreme Court judge, Susan Zimet running for the State Senate, and Paul Van Blarcum running for Ulster County Sheriff.

With so many critical races on the Election Day ballot, we must work overtime to turn out every possible Democratic voter. To accomplish this, we are planning to have a coordinated campaign of targeted direct mail, phone calls, Internet messages, hard-hitting radio ads, and intensive door-to-door canvassing. In addition, we’ve seized upon the momentum generated by the legislative campaign to help register many new voters throughout the County.

Let’s work together this fall for the entire Democratic ticket, remembering that we can only count on our hard work and determination to elect our local candidates.

Ulster County Charter Reform: What it Is, What it Means

By Vic Work

There will be a very important vote on November 7^th.

Sure we are going to elect Elliot Spitzer as our next Governor, Maurice Hinchey will win re-election, Kevin Cahill will win re-election and Susan Zimet will become the State Senator for half of Ulster County and Paul Van Blarcum is going to be elected Sheriff.

But there will be another vote: whether or not to establish a county executive form of government. This will be another attempt at charter reform.

The other elections are important, but none will have a greater impact on this county than charter reform.

Why does it make any difference whether we have a county executive or a legislative form of government with a county administrator? Will there be more or less accountability? We already have voted to reduce the size of the legislature and go to single-member districts in the 2011 election, after the next census. From that point on we will only have 23 legislators, each of whom will represent more residents. Even so, they will still be part-time legislators.

Currently there are 16 counties in New York with a county executive form of government—Albany, Broome, Chautauqua, Chemung, Dutchess, Erie, Monroe, Nassau, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Putnam, Rensselear, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester. There are the five counties of New York City with borough presidents. All the other counties have boards of supervisors or legislative bodies in charge with county managers or county administrators.

This past fall we saw a County budget proposed that would increase taxes by 48%, which was reduced to 38% with some fiscal tricks and estimates of revenues. The county administrator, who is appointed—not elected—proposed that budget. How would you like to be the elected county executive who proposed such a tax increase? The counties around us with county executives had no increase in taxes or very minor ones and have huge fund balance surpluses. How did we fritter away our $40 million fund balance and the $45 million tobacco settlement? Everyone blames the jail, but that still has yet to hit our budget and won’t until it is finished.

A county executive form of government puts one person in charge—not 33 legislators. That person is elected by a majority of the popular vote in the entire county, not smaller legislative districts, and such a vote gives the person in charge as close to a mandate as possible. The county executive cannot blame anyone else or point fingers at the legislative committees. Rather, the legislators are there as a check on the county executive but the county executive is in charge.

It is proposed that the county executive have a four-year term. The legislators will still be elected every two years but a lot of the responsibility for running the government will be in the hands of an elected executive—same as we elect the President of the USA. Would we elect a bonehead? Sure, that can happen—it has in the past. But then we the voters can vote the elected executive out or change the complexion of the legislature.

There will be an important vote coming up in the county legislature to put this charter reform on the ballot. Urge your legislators to support the charter reform and put it to a vote of the people. Two former attempts to change to a county executive were defeated, one at the polls when the voters rejected it, the second when the legislature refused to vote to put it on the ballot for the voters.

I believe charter reform is very important and I am going to work hard to get it approved by the legislature and finally by the voters in November.

Straight Answers About the Jail

Rich Parete, Legislator for District 3—Towns of Hurley, Marbletown and Olive—knows too well about the headaches and cost overruns. After all, even though he was one of only four legislators who opposed its construction in 2002, Parete volunteered to work as Jail Oversight Chairman this year. Why? Because the 38-year-old Verizon Technician from the Town of Marbletown is a realist. Parete wants to fix what’s wrong and get the facility on its feet as soon as possible. We asked him four quick questions about where things stand now.

ONE

Q: When will the construction be completed?

A: It looks like it’ll be finished by the end of May. At this point it’s more touch-up work than anything. Next comes the corrections team that will train all the officers. Remember, there are six housing units and each unit serves 48 inmates. It takes about two months for the officers to learn the procedures for managing these inmates and the facility. So the goal is to have inmates in there some time in August. We’ll have about 250 county inmates to begin with, and after a State Commission of Corrections review, we hope to have an additional 75 board-ins from elsewhere. These additional inmates will generate between $125-$150 a day, which over the course of a year can generate about $3.5 million in cash flow for the county. Unfortunately that’s not enough to pay for interest on the bond for the Jail, which is going to run about $6-$7 million per year. And let’s not forget that as Ulster County grows, we’ll need the jail space for inmates from the county, which means you can’t count on board-ins to make that money back.

TWO

Q: Okay, that’s where we are now, and where we’re going. What about the hangovers?

A: In May of 2004 it came out that the jail was behind schedule and up to $20 million over budget. The Republican reaction was to go out and hire attorneys to sue the contractors. What they did was to bring the work to a slowdown because contractors were reading that they were going to be sued, that this whole thing was their fault and nobody was watching what was happening to the pace of the project. After they hired the attorneys we went from a pace of spending $1.5 million a month on work down to $6-$700,000 some months. A lot less was being done. The prior leadership never stepped back to find out what actually caused the problems and how to solve them.

THREE

Q: Okay, so what caused the problems?

A: It’s a combination of things, as you would expect. It starts with a poor design. The architect is the prime creator of the problem, but there’s also Bovis Lend Lease, the construction management company, which did not do a good job of coordinating the work. They under-staffed the project and the workflow sequence was flawed. They had people sheet rocking walls and the roof wasn’t finished. Which of course meant the work had to be redone. And I was told that when Central Hudson came in to hook up the power all of the conduit wire and pipes in the mechanical room had been rusted because it had been exposed to weather for a year. Central Hudson said that was a dangerous situation and wouldn’t hook up power until that work was redone.

The root of that problem is that Bovis was supposed to do a constructability review of the set of plans in the beginning. They were supposed to answer one question: Can this building be built using this set of plans. With hindsight the answer is clearly ‘NO!’ but Bovis never completed their constructability review.

Then comes the cascade of change orders. For instance, at one point when they were putting in an elevator it turned out that a support beam ran right through the path of the elevator shaft. Obviously that requires a change order to be resolved. But Bovis and Crandall, the architect, refused to sign change orders because that would reveal that they had missed these flaws during the design and approval processes.

FOUR

Q: So what are the legal ramifications?

A: The contractors have filed claims against us for not being paid. In this business time is money. We have to either go to court to sue the contractors or settle the claims and negotiate with them. I’d prefer negotiation. Sure, some people think there’s a pot of gold somewhere. But I believe—and this is just me—that when there’s $10 million of additional work and no coordination from Bovis and a horrible set of plans I think we’re going to have a hard time going to court proving that contractors were actually at fault. And the more Ulster County spends in legal fees and the contractors spend in legal fees the less likely anybody is to settle because all the parties need to recoup that money. We have to be prepared to go to court but we should be trying to come to an agreement first so that we can finally move on.

Susan Zimet Officially Declares for NY State Senate

Susan Zimet, Town of New Paltz Legislator, officially declared she was running for the 42^nd district State Senate post, which includes Ulster County. The seat is currently occupied by republican John Bonacic.

At a rally held in New Paltz on May 4^th to kick off Zimet’s campaign she said, “I’m running to make Albany work for you and stop the mismanagement of your tax dollars, to make life in New York affordable and bring humanity back to government. We Democrats need to win 4 seats in the New York Senate [to have a majority]. Real reform begins here!”

To read more about Zimet, to sign up to fundraise or work for her campaign, please visit: www.SusanZimetforSenate.com.

Congressman Hinchey Launches Newsletter

In an effort to improve communication with his constituents, Congressman Hinchey is preparing to send electronic newsletters to individuals interested in receiving periodic updates from Washington. The newsletters will cover a wide range of topics and subscribers will have an opportunity to choose from a list of issues when they sign up. Items in the newsletters will address issues that are currently before the Congress and share information that might not be included in local media reports.

Anyone interested in receiving these newsletters should go to www.house.gov/hinchey and complete the boxes on the left margin of the home page under “Issue Alerts.” Anyone can sign up, not just residents of the 22nd congressional district, so please feel free to forward this information along to anyone you think might be interested in receiving the information.

John Parete, Chairman and The Ulster County Democratic Committee Presents:

A WORKSHOP ON THE ART AND CRAFT OF THE PERFECT PETITION !

When: Saturday, May 20, 2006 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

Where: Democratic Headquarters 292C Fair St., Kingston

There is no charge for the workshop. We will have an experienced panel to explain in clear and easy to understand language the somewhat arcane law of the New York petition process, plus providing examples of what to do and not to do so that you can have the perfect petition. All Town Chairs and representatives of campaigns are encouraged to attend this important workshop.Please RSVP to 331-8275 or by email to SFraser0326@aol.com. Seats are limited so make your reservations early!!