Auerbach??

Eliott Auerbach is considering running for Congress.  The laughter is carrying throughout the county.

Hein Not Running -- Dems in Panic

In a great political surprise, Mike Hein has announced that he is not running for Congress.

I have to admit that I am surprised.  I thought Mike planned to run.  Apparently, the Democrats thought so as well because news reports indicate that the Dems have no other candidate.

This is big political news.

The Sheriff is da Man!!

Sheriff VanBlarcum issued a statement that has made national news.

I agree with his statement and I tip my hat to him.  Kudos Sheriff.

UpDate -- Reprimand Issued

Alderman-at-Large Noble issued a written reprimand to Alderman Noble.  The letter is dated 12/1/15. It fulfills the requirements of the order of the Ethics Committee,

It also appears that the fine has now been paid on or about the same day.

NO word, however, on the additional ethics violation pending before the Ethics Board.

Silver Convicted. Skelos on the brink. Cuomo next?

Sheldon Silver was convicted on all 7 counts of corruption and now faces decades in federal prison.

The trial of Dean Skelos and his son continues.  The evidence against him is even stronger.

Now, it is being reported that Preet Bharara is planning to seek an indictment against Governor Andrew Cuomo and multiple associates on January 2nd.

The Buffalo Chronicle is reporting that at least 3 sources confirm that  Mr. Bharara intends to indict Governor Andrew Cuomo on January 2nd — along with a half dozen associates and former staffers — on public corruption, racketeering, conspiracy, and honest services fraud.

The Chronicle is unable to confirm widespread rumors that the former staffers are Howard Glaser, Joe Percoco and Larry Schwartz.

For months, there have been rumors of subpoenas and investigations into Cuomo and his business relationships with numerous people including 1 or 2 from the Hudson Valley.

Preet Bharara is kicking political tail and is fast becoming a hero to those sick and tired of political corruption throughout New York.


Click HERE for the link to the article.

Dems Choose Carey

The Democratic Alderman chose 5th Ward Alderman, William Carey, to be the next Majority Leader.

Truth be told, it is a good choice for them.  They could not choose Brad Will in light of his ethical woes and the current "Where do I really live" controversy.  Mary Ann Mills would be a better choice, but that was clearly not going to happen since the left wing of the committee tried to end her political career.

I wish Mr. Carey good luck.  I just hope he does things his own way and does not allow Hoffay and company to pull strings.

I Guess The Law Doesn't Matter??

It appears that Brad Will just does not care about the law.

The City Ethics Committee fined him $1000 for unethical behavior.  He has not paid.  He also has allegedly committed the same conduct yet again.

The Alderman at Large was ordered to issue a verbal and written reprimand.  Not done.

Now, the Freeman has confirmed what I reported previously, i.e. that Brad Will listed his residence as Woodstock in an official legal document.

By law and legal precedent, i.e. the Burns case, he should be removed from office automatically.  Will's reaction?  He is not going to discuss it.

Does the law matter?  Or is it irrelevant if you are part of the victorious left wing of the City Democrat Committee?

If a citizen breaks the law, can be or she just say the hell with it and ignore it without consequences?

Will Wins

Brad Will won the recount by 17 votes.

Now, let's hear why he listed an address outside his ward for court papers.

He lives in Ward 3 as far as I know.  Why list something else?

A Residency Question

Apparently, one of the sitting Aldermen filled out a court document listing a primary residence outside of the city.

If this is so, Mayor Gallo, using the precedent of Sottile vs Burns, may vacate the seat.

Stay tuned for more information as it comes in.

What Could Have Been

In Kingston, Steve Noble has been elected Mayor.  Congratulations to him.  I hope he succeeds, because if he does, Kingston succeeds.

Ron Polacco ran a hell of  race.  If there was an organized Republican Committee in Kingston helping Ron instead of just 2 or 3 people, Ron could have won this race.  It was really sad.  He deserved better.  Certainly, it did not help that the City Republican Chairman refused to do ANYTHING to help the Republican Mayoral candidate.

In ward 3, an Independence Party candidate is ahead by 1 vote.  If Republicans had run a candidate, they would have won the ward.  Now, if Champ-Doran's 1 vote lead can withstand the recount and swarm of democrat lawyers forthcoming, the Republicans may not be the Minority Party.  The Independence Party and Republicans will each have 1 member.  Plus, if anyone else joins Champ-Doran, Republicans will be the 3rd party on the Council.

I cannot say this any more bluntly.  If the City GOP is to even survive, Sinagra has to go.

On the County level, Republicans are boasting that they have won a majority in the Legislature.  While they did win control, they do not have a clear majority.  They have a plurality.  They have 10 Republicans, 1 Conservative, and 2 Democrats working together.  That is a plurality that gives tentative control of the Legislature.  It is not a majority.  In actuality, the Legislature has 11 Democrats, 10 Republicans, 1 Conservative, and 1 not enrolled.

Had Republicans in Saugerties not dropped the ball and kept a Democrat from stealing the line, they would have 11 Republicans and 1 Conservative and would have control without needing help from enrolled Democrats.

In the County Executive race, Mike Hein won, but not by anywhere close to what people expected.  He ended up with slightly under 55%.  So, Mike Hein wins, but his aspirations for Congress took a big hit.

Many people at 2 different Republican headquarters this evening were lamenting that Republicans did not put full support behind Tery Bernardo.  Republicans could have taken the County Executive seat which is the real power in county government.

Overall, Republicans at the county level had a good night, but it could have been an historic one.  On the other hand, City Republicans can only lament at what might have been.

County Democrats had a bad night, but it could have been a disaster,  City Democrats had a strong night (except for Brad Will).  The Noble camp is relieved however at the lack of any City GOP effort.  Otherwise, Polacco might have pulled it off.

Update

Polacco trails by about 500.  Looks like Steve Noble has squeaked by.

County Exec too close to call.

Brad Will is Down!!

With 3 of 3 reporting, Brad Will is down by 1 vote!!  It goes to absentees.

At this point, Jim Noble has won.  Mayor and County Executive too close to call.  Both Dems leading.

Election Day

Get out and vote for the best candidate.

If you do not vote or just vote a straight party line without concern as to who the candidate is, then do not waste time complaining about who wins.

Good luck to all candidates and may the best candidates win.

Dereliction of Duty

When you are Chairman of a City Committee, and your candidate performs in a public debate, you ALWAYS congratulate your candidate and proclaim how well he or she did.

Yet, according to an article in the Kingston Times, Republican City Chair, Tony Sinagra, refused to compliment the Republican Mayoral candidate.  When asked, he just said, "I'll get back to you."

This gives the public the impression that the City Chair is not backing the party's candidate. Very poor politics.

I'm not surprised though.

Speaking of Conflicts

Mayor Gallo eliminated Steve Noble's job in the 2016 budget.  The Alderman who have been solidly anti-Gallo basically stated that they will restore the job when they get the budget.

However, the Alderman at Large needs to be careful.  If he advocates or even comments about this issue, he better bring his checkbook because that would be a clear conflict.

Chamber Debate

So, people want to know who won the Chamber debate.  Each candidate's supporters claim their man won.

As the man who won the Chamber debate 4 years ago, I have my own opinion.  I think Ron Polacco clearly won.

The first rule of any debate is to know your audience.  Polacco spoke about pro business positions while Noble spoke out in favor of bicycle paths.

As a result, the majority of the Freeman coverage dealt with the bike path and that makes Noble look really bad.  If an extremely liberal paper writes an article about a debate that makes a left wing candidate look bad, then that candidate lost the debate.

Fined for Ethics Violation

Alderman Brad Will has been fined $1000 for violating the city ethics law based upon his votes concerning the Pike Plan.  The Ethics Board also instructed the Alderman at Large to issue a written reprimand.

Basically, the Common Council was reviewing questions of whether repairs were needed to the Pike Plan canopies or whether there were problems with its construction.

Alderman Will is an architect and he designed the plan for reconstruction of the plan.  So, he voted on a review of his own work.  This is a clear and obvious conflict.

Will's defense was basically that he did know any better.  However, it is clear and obvious that you cannot ethically do an independent review of your own work.

To my knowledge, this is the first major finding by the Ethics Board.

The Return of Sottile

Apparently, if elected, Steve Noble plans to create a Deputy Mayor position and pay said position $110,000.00 plus benefits.

Basically, he plans to spend enough money to raise taxes by 1% on its own.  This person will do the job of Mayor because Steve is not capable.

To make things worse, word is he plans to hire Jim Sottile.  Kingston thought they were done with the drink thrower.  Looks like he is coming back.

I can think of no better reason to vote Polacco than this news.

Let's see if Freeman explores this story.

Your Bias is Showing

Now the Freeman is printing stories advertising political events being held by Steve Noble, ie his "listening tour".

I am aware of some events held by Ron Polacco.  I did not, however, see any stories in the Freeman about those events.

It is clear and obvious bias.  If you do not think there is a left wing bias at the Freeman, just check out some of the things posted on numerous online sources by their various editors.

I exempt Paul Kirby from my comments.  I have always found him to be very fair.

Legislator Chris Allen Arrested

Legislator Chris Allen, the self proclaimed "most respected elected official in Ulster County" was arrested and charged with misdemeanor Assault according to State Police in Catskill.

He is accused of assaulting a teacher in front of her students causing a nasty cut on the back of her neck.   Incredibly, Allen claims the wound was self-inflicted for political purposes.  An asinine explanation for sure.

Let's see if either the Republicans or the Democrats call for his resignation.

As far as I am concerned, he needs to stop accusing the victim and be a man and admit what he did.  Then, he should step down as a legislator.

Chaos in Saugerties Legislative Race.

It seemed the race was over.  A republican forced an OTB and while he and the endorsed Republican split the vote, Democrat Chris Allen won the OTB and took the line.  This left just Angie Minew on the Con and Reform lines.

Looked over until yesterday.

Several news sources report that the State Police are investigating allegations that Allen assaulted a teacher in the presence of her students.

The teacher, a member of a well known and respected Saugerties family, says that Allen grabbed her ID tag hanging from her neck and pulled her causing a 3 inch cut on the back of her neck.

Allen admits an argument though he asserts that he was an absolute gentlemen.  He says he gently touched the ID but denies pulling it.  Allen claims it is a Republican conspiracy against him.

Two questions.  First, if Allen did nothing wrong, why do witnesses say Allen was name dropping when the Police arrived?

Second, there is a picture of a nasty cut on the woman's neck on the Freeman web site.  What caused that?

Are we to believe this lady lacerated her own neck as part of the plot??

The photo of the cut seriously undermines Allen's version of events.

Perhaps the Dems and the Reps should be asking this man to step down.  This kind of behavior is just not acceptable.

*********

UPDATE

*********

I was joking when I said that Allen would accuse the victim of cutting herself.  However, the Freeman has amended its story.  It seems that Legislator Allen has now formally accused the teacher of cutting herself as part of the plot.

Based on that, I conclude that Mr. Allen is either stupid, crazy, or both.  Accusing this lady of cutting herself is beyond farfetched.  It is assinine.

Both the Reps and Dems should condemn this man publicly.

Let's Keep It Clean

If someone wants to post an opinion on Kingston politics, go right ahead.

However, vulgarities, accusations of criminal activity without proof, or just plain vicious personal attacks are not welcome here.

This blog encourages intelligent discussion.  If you want to swear or act like a fool, there are other blogs who publish such rubbish.  Go post there.

Gallo Brings Administrative Charges Against Noble

Mayor Gallo announced that he is bringing administrative charges against Steve Noble for incompetence, dereliction of duty, and for making false statements on grant applications.  In other words, Gallo is starting the process to fire Noble.

Let's be clear, if Noble wins the Mayor's office, he will just discontinue the efforts to fire him and then be granted back pay.  Gallo knows this.  Thus, I have to conclude that this is more of an effort to bring down Noble politically than it is an effort to actually fire him.

By doing it this way, Gallo does not endorse anyone in the race, but works to keep the damaging allegations against Noble in front of the public.

I expect that Noble will still not answer the charges.  After all, they are absolutely true.  I have seen the evidence.  Instead, he will respond in a Clintonian manner.  He will deny wrong doing, claim political retribution by his accuser, claim it is "old news", etc., etc., etc.

The only question now is whether Ron Polacco can get enough votes on Rep, Con, and Ind lines and Gallo's supporters either stay home, write in Gallo, or vote Polacco in enough numbers to give Polacco a narrow win.

Polacco has one other thing for which he must be careful.  He must NOT associate with any of the underhanded political operatives who either will or already have offered their assistance.  While the Conservative City Committee is backing Polacco's candidacy, this would change if he decided to associate his campaign with someone like Blaber.  If that happened, the Conservative Committee would come out against Ron immediately and publicly.

However, I am confident that Ron is politically savvy enough not do something that colossally stupid.  As such, I expect the Conservative Committee will maintain its support for Ron.  Now, let's see if he can pull it off.  He has a real chance, i.e no incumbent, a split democrat party, allegations against his opponent, etc.  It is a real opportunity.

Green Party Write In

According to the BOE, 17 ballots were received.  The winner has not been announced.  I would presume that Steve Noble will win that race given that he is all about Green Party issues.

However, for some reason I have a nagging feeling that Ron Polacco might just get a few votes in that race.

We should know soon, and I will report it.



UPDATE

Noble got 15 of 17 and won the line.

Primary Results

Early returns look bad for Gallo/Provenzano.

Sources tell me that Noble leads Gallo 880 to 668 and in the Alderman at Large race Noble leads Provenzano 829 to 625.

If this unofficial information I am getting is true, it means that the far left liberals have successfully taken over the City Democratic Party.

I hope this information I am getting is wrong.  Stay neutral?


****
UPDATE
****

BOE and Freeman have confirmed my numbers.  Noble and Noble have won.  The Democrat Alderman races went for all liberals by big numbers.

First, congratulations to Noble and Noble.  They pulled off the upset for Mayor.

Next Question--  Will Shayne Gallo endorse Noble?  Polacco?

Hinchey Endorses Gallo

I have never been a fan of Maurice Hinchey.  I have always recognized though his standing among Democrats.  His support in a Democrat primary is HUGE.

Yesterday, an ad appeared in the Freeman wherein Hinchey endorsed Gallo.  Like Hinchey or not (and I don't), this is a big endorsement.

More Information on Grant Scandal

A mailing was sent out a few days ago by Shayne Gallo containing detailed information about the various problems with grants caused by Steve Noble.  This letter also absolutely destroys the assertions of Jim Sottile in his recent letter to the editor.

Jim tried to give Steve Noble credit for 16 grants.  It turns out that 9 of these grants were solely during the tenure of Steve FINKEL, not Steve Noble.  Other grants were also not Steve Noble, but were actually by either former Congressman Hinchey, School district, CDBG, etc.  Some of these were: Walkway along the Rondout Creek; Kirkland Hotel; Treatment Plant upgrades; new parking lot for Trolley Museum; Carnegie Library; Wilbur Avenue Pump Station; Wilbur Avenue siphon line; and, sewer work on at least 11 streets.

Several other grants are in jeopardy: NYS Watershed Mangement, NYS Estuary Grant, Ulster County Youth Bureau, Kinderland, etc.

Some more interesting facts were brought forth as well.

a)  The city will not be reimbursed over $90,000.00 on the Recycling grant due to insufficient time demonstrated by Noble as required by the terms of the grant;

b)  Apparently, Noble promised 50% of his work hours for a work year for three years for three different grants covering the same time period.  The grants were Recycling Education Coordinator, Zoo grant, and Youth Bureau.  Thank about this, one cannot promise and deliver 150% of time during the same period of time.  One can only donate 100% of the time.  To offer more than 100% begs the question of double dipping or repeat reporting of the same time,

c)  There have been misrepresentations apparently made by Steve Noble concerning the Fishing Pier.  It seems that Steve Noble certified in writing in December 2014 that the pier: (1) was finished; (2) was in the City of Kingston; (3) was ADA compliant and handicap accessible; and, (4) would be installed in the Rondout in May 2015.

All 4 of these things are NOT true.  It is not finished.  It is not in Kingston.  It is not  ADA compliant and/or handicap accessible.  May 2015 has passed and it is not installed.

At the recent debate, Noble stated that the pier is finished and being delivered.  This is false and he knew it was false at the time of the debate.  He was advised of all of this information in an email 5 days before the debate.   He intentionally and deliberately lied.

These are all very concerning.  Lies, mistakes, and distortions on grant applications?  Blatant lies during a debate?

*******

At this stage, it becomes clear that voting for Steve Noble would be a colossal mistake.  The next Mayor must be either Gallo or Polacco.  Noble was convinced to run by Democrats (Anti Gallocrats) who just plain hate Shayne Gallo, i.e. Hoffay, Landi, Will, Dunn, both Donaldsons, Blaber, Madsen, etc.  In my opinion, he is being used by the Anti Gallocrats.  He may very well be a real nice guy.  (I don't know him personally). He is not ready for the big chair and is being used.

If Noble wins, you can expect Hoffay to be City Clerk.  Blaber, Madsen, and Fuentes will be immediately rehired.  The city will be run not by the Mayor or the Council, but by a handful of party elites who are so far to the left they make Obama seem conservative.

Get out and Vote on 9/10.

KINGSTON GOODFELLAS UNMASKED

For many months, the Kingston Goodfellas blog has insulted people.  The blog accused Mike Hein of an extramarital affair without proof.  The blog has posted horrible and disgusting things all the while hiding behind a secret identity.

I have known for a long time who it is.  However, tonight I have direct proof.  I am therefore unmasking Kingston Goodfellas.

The best part is that proof comes from Goodfellas' own big mouth.

Earlier, Goodfellas posted an article about Gallo winning the debate.  I have taken screenshots so if he tries to change it or delete it, it will not save his butt.

At the end of the article, Goodfellas typed that he had an encounter after the debate with the Difalcos.  Goodfellas said he was given the finger.

So, I called Joe DiFalco and asked him if he gave anyone the finger the evening of the debate.  He said he did give someone the finger after the debate though the facts are slightly different than reported by Goodfellas. He gave the finger to only one person that night. 

Who was the person you gave the finger to, I asked.  Then, he told me.  Thus, from the post of Goodfellas himself is his identity.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the real name of Kingston Goodfellas ......

JEREMY BLABER

Anyone really surprised??

Abel Garraghan

Condolences to the family of Abel Garraghan.

He was a respected and admired gentlemen.  Kingston could use more men like him.

I CALL BS

Not long ago, Mayor Gallo instructed Mr. Swanzey to review the grants work on by Steve Noble.  He concluded that due to mistakes, intentional acts, and negligence on the part of Steve Noble, the grants were in jeopardy.

Noble and the Democrat Aldermen who support him (for example Dunn and Will) have all insisted that Noble is innocent.  They all said that Swanzey's investigation is not independent.  They all insisted that an independent auditor would prove his innocence.

Their bluff was called.  Legislation was presented to the Council to hire an auditor to review the grants.  It was defeated and the leader of the opposition was Alderman Will.  His stated reason was that the "timing" was bad.

I call BS.

If an independent auditor would clear Steve Noble and thereby embarrass Gallo, you can bet your hiney that Will would have jumped on it.  Will would not walk across the street to spit on Gallo if he was on fire.  Gallo feels the same about Will.

The logical conclusion is that a review by an independent auditor would confirm Swanzey's conclusions and bury Steve Noble.  The "timing" Will spoke of is the upcoming primary.

Ask yourselves another question.  If an independent auditor would exonerate Noble, then why is he not screaming for an auditor from the highest mountain top?  Why is he not asking the Council to hire that auditor?  Why is Alderman Will opposing it?

Timing?  I call BS.

Gallo v. Turco

The appeal concerning the conservative and independence party lines is on the Third Department's morning docket today.  Oral argument set for 10am.  Attorneys Zweben for Gallo and Burns for Ron Polacco are listed on docket.


********
UPDATE
********

The decision has been filed.  The court found the appeal to be reasonable, but refused to make an exception.  The appeal was denied.

Gallo is now left with the Democrat primary or nothing.

Compost?? Really??

For weeks the supports of Steve Noble have said that a plan is coming.  Soon they promised.  Soon we would see the plans Steve Noble has for the city.

Yesterday, Steve stepped up and made his announcement.  He proposed . . .

The city needs a compost pile!!

Huh??  What??

This is it?

It appears the only thing composting is his campaign.

Look.  I don't know Steve personally.  He may be a nice guy and a good family man.  He is if he takes after his uncle who is both of those things.  But, this is not a contest to decide who is the nicest person.  This is about leading the city.

I think Steve Noble should have run for Alderman.  Get some experience under his belt.  Jumping right to Mayor was a mistake.

Steve is not ready for the big chair.  His supporters are gung ho against Gallo, but even they know Steve's not ready for prime time.

Ron Polacco was a multi-term Alderman.  Shayne was assistant corporation counsel and has been Mayor.  Both have experience.

Steve is over his head.  The worst thing for Steve would be if he won.  He's just not ready.  I give him credit for having the guts to try, but he is not ready.

Time To Put Up Or Shut Up

Former Mayor Sottile is back again. Now, he has written a letter to the Kingston Times in an attempt to provide cover for Steve Noble.  He contends that the Grant scandals or as I call it the "No Bull" scandal (get it?) is "malicious and without any foundation of fact".  He also said his letter was intended to "set the record straight".  Yet, he did not do so.  He offered no explanation, just political cover.

In fact, now that I think on it, Steve Noble has not provided any specifics at all.  He has denied wrongdoing despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, but has not offered his proof. Apparently, he intends to let other politicos write letters for him saying he is a nice guy, but not offer any specific defense.

Additionally, we have heard attempts to blame others.  First, it was the Junior League's fault. Then it was Anna Brett's fault.  Now, it is apparently the fault of the accusers.

Frankly, that's not good enough, sir.

I have seen the evidence.  I have put some of it on this blog.   All we have heard from Steve Noble are bland denials with nothing else.  In less than a month, there is a huge primary election.  The voters have the right to hear this so-called defense before they vote.

So, let's hear it.  If the allegations are nonsense, then let's hear the proof from YOU not the Assemblyman, not from the previous Mayor, not from Tom Hoffay.  YOU are the candidate.  Voters should hear it from YOU.

Get off your butt and schedule a press conference.  Let's hear the proof you supposedly have of your innocence.  You are running for Mayor.  This is a position that requires a leader, someone who speaks for himself or herself.

When Jim Sottile was Mayor, he spoke for himself.  I very often disagreed with him, but concede that he spoke for himself and did not rely on more powerful politicos to speak for him when the going got tough.  If a scandal like this broke against him, Jim Sottile would have spoken out and addressed the matter head on and directly.

If you have evidence proving your innocence, let's hear it.  Instead of getting current politicos, former politicos, or pathetic hangers-on who like to manipulate behind the scene to do your talking, step up and face this like a leader.  Stop looking for people to blame.  Voters deserve more than just words.  Your accusers have produced evidence.

Step up to the microphone. Put up or shut up.

Up Go The Signs

We are now within 30 days of the September primary.  I have noticed a few things.

1) Ron Polacco currently has no primary, but his signs are up.  Truth be told, Shayne Gallo has an appeal pending to have a Primary.  This likely gives a sufficient legal basis for Ron to put up signs now.

2)  Gallo and Provenzano are running as a team using traditional signs.  This makes sense for Gallo as Provenzano has a lot of support, particularly downtown and in her legislative district.

3) Noble and Noble are using some rather unusual signs. The signs are double sided, but each sign is not the same.  On one side it has Steve Noble for Mayor and on the other side it says Re-elect Jim Noble for Alderman at Large.

A few thoughts on these signs.  First, it is odd to have one candidate on one side and a different one on the other.  As people drive by, they only see one of the 2 candidates unless they look back after passing.

Second, I think a mistake was made on the Alderman-at-Large side.  There is a slogan on it that says "Experience That Counts".  No question that Jim Noble has experience.  He has been Alderman-at-Large since 2002.  It is factually correct.  However, his opponent, Jeanette Provenzano has MORE experience.  Also, mentioning the word "experience" does not help Steve because he has NONE.

It would have been smarter to have "Doing a Good Job" or something like "Working for the People".  Using "Experience That Counts" is a mistake in my opinion. I am not offering this as a shot.  I just think it is a tactical mistake.  Perhaps the Nobles need to get a new campaign manager.

**********

Coming soon (likely next week) will be the decision from the Appellate Division (3rd Dept) on the Gallo appeal.  Once the decision is out, I will report the findings.

Rasmussen Off Ballot

There will be no WFP primary for County Executive.  A lawsuit resulted in Rasmussen's petitions being declared invalid.

Now, it is Mike Hein (D and WFP) vs. Terry Bernardo (Rep, Con, Ind) vs. Hunter Downie (Green).

Some people think the lawsuit was a good idea because you avoid a 4 person race with 3 people drawing from the left.

Others think that Hein would have won the primary easily and also had time to put up signs all around the county.

Interesting debate, but the bottom line is that we are down to three.

Judge Rules Against Gallo

I have not read the full decision yet, but the Judge ruled in favor of the Board of Elections.

I am surprised given the case law.  I am informed that Gallo will appeal.  Appellate Division has an expedited process for such cases.  I will report once there is a decision from them.

The Evidence Is In.

All of the evidence and legal arguments in the Gallo petition case have been submitted.  A decision is expected early next week.

Also, there is a second petition law suit.  An action was filed against Mr. Rasmussen, the man who submitted petitions to run in a primary for the Workings Family Party line.  Once a decision is filed in that case, I will report that as well.

Postponed

The court appearance on Gallo's petitions was postponed because of court calendar issues.

Not Real Democrats? Really?

Steve Noble has released a press release and a posting on Facebook which alleges that Shayne Gallo is not a "real Democrat" because he is seeking the Conservative Party line.

Then, Noble attempts to explain what the Conservative Party and Democrat Party members believe in philosophically.  Let's take a look at this lunacy for a moment.

A Democrat who takes the Conservative line is not a real Democrat.  So, Sheriff Van Blarcum is not a real Democrat?  Lew Kirschner, a legendary Democrat politico who ran multiple times on the Conservative line, is not a real Democrat?  Former County Democrat Chair John Parete?  T.R. Gallo? Frank Dart?  John Dwyer?  How about Uncle Jim?  He ran for Alderman on the Conservative line for Alderman.

Allow me to educate you, Steve, on Republicans and Democrats.  Not all Republicans are conservative and not all Democrats are left wingers or liberals.  When you make a silly statement that seeking the Conservative line makes you not a "real Democrat", you insult conservative and moderate democrats.

If you said Shayne is not a far left liberal, that would be true. Shayne is a moderate to conservative Democrat.  However, to say he is not a democrat is plain nonsense.  Shayne comes from an old school, Democrat family with roots going back over 100 years.  T. Robert "Bobby" Gallo and his son, Thomas R. "TR" Gallo were definitely democrats. So is Shayne.

However, let's take a look for a moment at what you believe the philosophy of Democrats should be.  You said, “Democrats support more tax dollars going to welfare, food stamps, unemployment benefits and other programs designed to support people in need.”  Really?  Real Democrats think more money should be spent on welfare??  I guess Bill Clinton is not a real Democrat by your view.  He signed into law welfare reform.

I guess it also means that if anyone out there enrolled as a Democrat thinks that Social Services spending needs to controlled is not considered by Steve Noble to be a real Democrat.  I know a lot of Democrats who want more controls on spending.  I am not sure they know that Steve thinks they are not democrats.

According to Steve, if you do not support legalizing marijuana, you are not a Democrat.  I know a lot of democrats who do not support making pot legal.

I could go on, but the point is clear.  Steve Noble thought he was going to hurt Gallo, but he just lost a tremendous number of moderate and conservative democrats,  You still have Tom Hoffay's support.  If you have about $3.00 to go with that, you can get coffee at Starbucks.

Mayoral War Chests

The Daily Freeman reported that Mike Hein was a much larger war chest than Terry Bernardo.  However, no article has appeared discussing the Mayoral election in Kingston.  Certain loudmouths have been making accusations that candidate's fundraisers have been poorly attended or obtained little results.  No evidence has been offered to back up these claims.

So, since we just had the July Periodic reports filed with the Board of Elections, I thought I would share with you the current financial standing of all three candidates.  Let the evidence speak for itself.

Ron Polacco reports $2,065.89 on hand.  The overwhelming majority of his donations are from individuals and in small amounts.  So, while his cash on hand places him third and just behind Steve Noble,the fact that the donations are from numerous individuals is a very positive sign.

Steve Noble reports $3,655.28 on hand.  However, nearly 1/3 of his donations came from 5 people all of whom are known Gallo haters: Hoffay, Landi, Will, Dunn, and Martin.  Just from those 5, Noble received $1,185.00.  There are also several people who have appeared to donate several times.

This suggests that while Noble has more cash on hand than Polacco, his support may not be much more than a house of cards.  There appear to be more people donating to Polacco though the people supporting Noble seem to be fired up Anti-Gallocrats.

By the way, although a local blog proclaimed that Kevin Cahill "endorsed" Noble, there is no reported donation from the Assemblyman.  As I posted before, Kevin Cahill is too politically shrewd to make a formal endorsement in a city primary.

Finally, we come to Shayne Gallo.  Gallo has $11,486.88 on hand per BOE records.  This is more than double the combined war chests of both his opponents.  He also appears to have more labor support than Noble. Donations appear from Laborers Local 17, Operating Engineers Local 825, and HV Building Construction Trade Council.  Also Gallo was endorsed by CSEA and their check will come soon.  Having been endorsed for Mayor previously by CSEA and other unions, I know first hand that their endorsement brings money and support to a campaign.  In a Democrat primary, the support of unions is huge.

In summary, Gallo is well ahead on the question of campaign funds.  Polacco may not have a lot of money, but he does seem to have a number of supporters.  If the ticket in November ends up with 3 candidates, Polacco could well have a shot.

Noble appears to be in trouble.  His support seems largely based on Hoffay, Landi, Will, Dunn, and so forth.  While these Anti-Gallocrats are angry and fired up, it remains to be seen if Tom Hoffay and his feathers can carry Noble through the primary.

Conservative and Independence Petitions Off to Court

The Board of Elections disallowed petitions filed by Gallo and Provenzano for the Conservative and Independence lines.

My understanding is that this matter will be going to court for a decision.  I will be curious to see what the ruling will be.

Once the judge decides, I will announce the decision.

CSEA Endorses Gallo

Normally, CSEA endorsing a democrat would not be big news.  However, when there is a democrat primary, it is.

CSEA chose Gallo over Noble.  This is a big hit against Noble.

Also -- stay tuned -- the city has lost big money because of Noble's errors on a grant.  I will break this story soon.


UPDATE

CSEA has also endorsed Jeanette Provenzano.  This is big news.  Jim Noble has always had CSEA support.  Not this time.

In a democrat primary, CSEA support goes a long way.

Major Embarrassment for City Democrat Leadership

It is very rare that party leadership dumps an incumbent.  When they do, they have to make sure they have a strong candidate who is willing to go to the mat.  As they say, you don't wound the King.

City Democrat Leadership are what I call "Anti-Gallocrats".  Thy hate Shayne Gallo and hate anyone who supports him or becomes his friend.  Their hatred is to the extreme.

This year, the leadership decided to get rid of incumbent Democrat Mayor Shayne Gallo, 7th Ward Alderwoman, Mary Ann Mills, and 2nd Ward Alderman Bran Seche.  So, they got former multi-term Alderman and Majority Leader Bill Reynolds out of moth bolls and gave him the nomination fr te 7th ward, gave an unknown person suggested by Tom Hoffay the 2nd Ward spot, and Steve Noble the Mayor's spot.

Meanwhile, Mary Ann Mills filed petitions for a Democrat primary and for the Independence and Conservative lines.  Seche carried petitions for the same 3.  So did Gallo.

All of a sudden, Bill Reynolds announces that he is withdrawing from the race citing personal and family obligations. Many wonder why he got out.  Some speculate that he expected Mills to just go away and run unopposed.  Others postulate that he could not get permission from his job to run.  Personally, I accept the reason Bill gave.  However, the Anti-Gallocrats are left with egg on their face.

The Anti-Gallocrats have a few options, though none are particularly palatable for them:

1)  The swallow their pride and endorse Mills.  Unlikely.  That would require them to accept someone with ties to Gallo.

2)  They leave it blank and allow Mills to win without Party Committee support.  Then, they will suck up after the election.  Foolish.  Mills is not stupid.  She will not be receptive to this.

3)  They find another candidate to take a beating.  It is not likely that someone would be stupid enough to get into a race against in an incumbent who has 2 lines guaranteed and run a primary.

No matter what they do,the Anti-Gallocrats are left with egg on their face.

It potentially gets much worse.  The grant scandal is a REAL problem for Steve Noble.  More and more damaging information keeps coming out.  The defense now is no longer that Steve is innocent.  Instead, the defense is that the focus was put on him because of politics.  They are calling it a witch hunt.

The term "witch hunt" in politics is used whenever the target of same cannot be defended on the facts or law.  So, the term "witch hunt" is used to attack the people making the accusations.  Now that it is becoming clear that Noble cannot be defended on the facts or the law, the attacks are going against the accusers.

Most importantly however, to paraphrase the late Tony Crespino, the public is not as stupid as politicos think they are.  People in the city realize that Steve Noble is way over his head.  He is not ready for prime time and is not ready for the big chair.  It begins to look like Gallo will win the democrat primary. Since Noble did not file for any party line, he will be off the ballot.

Seche will likely defeat Douglas Koop.  Nobody really knows the guy.

Should this happen, the Anti-Gallocrats will be completely humiliated.  Their entire political support dries up.  Then, next year, when it is time for petitions for committeemen, look for challenges against people like Hoffay, Landi, both Donaldsons (and the family members appointed to rig the convention), Blaber, Dunn, Will and so forth.  Most will find themselves voted off the committee.  A new chair will be appointed and the humiliation will be complete.

As I noted above, you do not wound the King.  If you do, the consequences are severe.

What a showing.

Shayne Gallo turned in over 700 signatures for the Democrat line for Mayor.

With the city committee endorsing Noble and candidates and committeemen threatened with ramifications if they carried for him, Gallo had to get outside volunteers.

To get that many is impressive.  I guess rumors of his political demise were greatly exaggerated.

Also, petitions were turned in for the Conservative line by both Gallo and Polacco.  Barring challenges, there will be a primary.

I will report on the balance of the lines and petitions soon.

He did?

Got a phone call earlier from some politicos asking me what I thought about Kevin Cahill "endorsing" Steve Noble for Mayor.

Surprised, I asked when did he do that? There was a Freeman article where Kevin spoke about the Forsyth Park grant, but there was no formal endorsement.

I don't like Kevin, but I admit that he is a crafty politico.  He would not endorse a candidate in a Democrat primary and risk alienating voters.  That would be very stupid.  Kevin is not politically stupid.

So, having shown that Kevin did not formally endorse Noble, I asked them where they got such bad information.

Their answer?  Well, I think you can guess.

Challenging Day at Board of Elections

Multiple candidates filed petitions to run for County Executive in Ulster County.  According to the Board of Elections, all of the petitions have been challenged except those of Mike Hein.  The challenges come indirectly from the Hein campaign.

Why indirectly?  Well, most campaigns have their supporters file challenges in their own names.  This way, the candidate can smile for the camera and claim not to have been involved in the challenging.  Legally, challenging ALL of the petitions is permissible though it does give the impression of fear or concern to the public.  It remains to be seen if specific challenges will be filed.

So, who filed?

Mike Hein filed for the Democrat and Working Families line.  He has challenger for the Working Families (WFP)line.  Frederick Rasmussen III filed petitions to run for the WFP line.  Also, Hunter Downie filed petitions to run on the Green Party line.

I do not know much about either of these gentlemen, but I do know they are involved in some capacity (volunteer or otherwise) with the Catskill Mountain Railroad.

Terry Bernardo filed petitions for the Republican, Conservative, and Independence Party lines.

If all of the petitions get upheld, it creates some interesting scenarios.

First, a WFP primary.  Assuming Frederick Rasmussen III is an enrolled member of the WFP, then it will be a straight primary.  This could be problematic for Mr. Hein.  The WFP is a far left party.  Though Mike Hein has very strong support among Democrats, the same is not necessarily true among the WFP members.  Hein will be the favorite, but in a WFP primary, anything can happen.

If Mike wins the WFP primary, he will have 2 opponents: Bernardo on 3 lines and Downie on the Green Party line,  If he loses the WFP primary, add a 3rd opponent.  You can expect that Downie and Rasmussen (on Green and WFP respectively) will take far more votes from Mike Hein than Terry Bernardo.

Mike Hein is still the favorite.  He is a 2 term incumbent.  However, with the possibility of a well funded opponent with 2 other opponents drawing away left wing support, the advantage of incumbency is suddenly weakened.

Final analysis shows a possible unexpected barn burner for November.

Report Spells Trouble for Noble

The Kingston Times and the Daily Freeman both have online stories about a very damaging report concerning alleged malfeasance by Steve Noble in his capacity as a city employee.  Granted, the Freeman is downplaying it and omitted very important facts. 

A review of seven grants being worked on by Steve Noble has revealed some damaging lapses which, if not addressed, could leave the city taxpayers financially liable for substantial amounts of money.

Many of the concerns --which are set forth in a 10 page report-- deal with problems documenting time as a "match" for grant money.  As an example, Noble claimed 50% of his work time for 2 different grants.  This accounts for 100% of his time.  Yet, he then claims hundreds more hours for other grants.  Translation?  He double dipped his time.  An audit of these grants would be very  problematic.

It is a mathematical impossibility to have performed the work he has claimed on the grants.

There are other factual problems such as claiming projects are finished when they are not and so forth. 

The report contends that almost $350,000.00 could be lost due to these errors.

The defense from Noble?  He is claiming that he is being targeted because of politics.  For sake of argument, let's say that's true.  So what?  If you run for Mayor, you better expect to be attacked.  When I ran for Mayor, I was attacked for anything and everything I did.  Some of the attacks against me on the various blogs were obscene and despicable.  I never complained about it.  It is an unfortunate part of running for such an office.  You just have to grin and bear it.

However, even if the microscope is focused on Noble because he is running, it does not explain away his acts.  False claims on grant applications is a very serious allegation.  To just claim politics without addressing the merits strikes me as a very weak response.

Then, one of Noble's supporters said that if you look at ANY grant, there will be errors.  Really?  What a wonderful accusation to make.  Excuse Noble because all grant writers either lie or make mistakes??!!  Wow!!

Now, to spice it up even more, Assembly Kevin Cahill (no relation in blood or politics) is getting into the act.  He praised Steve Noble and said what a wonderful guy he is.  Of course, he was very careful to note that Noble had nothing to do with a grant that his office obtained.  Kevin will praise Noble, but he is not putting his tootsies into the fire.

So, why is Kevin getting involved?  Well, there are 2 reasons.  First, Kevin has had a feud with the Gallo family going back to when TR Gallo was Mayor.

Second, Tom Hoffay, the one who actually arranged the press release, works for Kevin.  As I have noted previously, the entire candidacy of Steve Noble is nothing but a power grab by Tom Hoffay and his flock of magpies. 

No question that Hoffay arranged to have Kevin enter the fray to try to give gravitas to Steve Noble.  Noble's campaign is hemorrhaging.  People around town are basically saying that Steve Noble is not capable of being Mayor.  I hear this from Democrats and Republicans alike.  People that are backing Noble are doing it because they want Gallo out not  because they want Noble in.  Just look at some of the other blogs.  Nothing but shots at Gallo.

By having Kevin talk well of Noble, it is hoped that people will think more of Noble.  This will not work.  The truth is that popularity is not something that can be shared or given.  Kevin Cahill is popular.  As far as I am concerned, he has fooled a great many people.  Regardless, he took 60% of the vote last time.  Numbers like that do not lie.  However, he cannot transfer his popularity to Steve Noble no matter how kindly he speaks of him.

Noble himself thinks that he will be in charge if elected Mayor.  I do not think he even realizes that he is being controlled like a marionette.  Steve Noble may very well be a nice guy.  I don't know him personally.  I know his uncle Jim and he is a very likable guy.  Whereas Jim is experienced in politics, Steve is not.  Steve is over his head big time and Hoffay, Chairman Donaldson, Aldermen Dunn and Will, former Alderman Landi, and so forth are using him to continue their vendetta against Shayne Gallo.

Ultimately, this entire matter could become very seriously very quickly.  If the allegations of false statements on grant applications are true, the Attorney General or District Attorney's Office could come a knocking.  Then, politics or no, someone will be in deep doo doo.

Stay tuned.

I am back

I took some time to mourn the passing of my oldest and dearest friend.  Her death caught me completely by surprise and devastated me.

I am back now.  Stay tuned for latest City Hall scandal.  Looks like Steve Noble is in it deep.

Better Late Than Never

Earlier this evening, the Ulster County Conservative Party endorsed Terry Bernardo for County Executive.

Apparently, the County GOP met last night and endorsed Bernardo as well.  No word on whether permission was obtained from her husband before nominating her.

Jokes like that last one will continue to plague the County GOP for some time to come.

City GOP Convention

The GOP met earlier this evening.  They nominated Ron Polacco for Mayor.  Scott DiMicco was nominated for Alderman-at-Large though he was not in attendance.

Debbie Brown was nominated for ward 9 and Joe Corcoran was nominated for Ward 6.

They had one more candidate.  In Ward 1, they nominated a person named Sean.  I do not have his last name or any information about him.  However, in the interest of fairness, once I get that information, I will post it.

The races for Alderman were left blank in wards 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8.  Basically, the Republicans not only conceded the majority, they conceded a 2/3 majority of the council.

Based on convention results, I think I justified in considering the City Conservative Committee to have taken the 2nd slot from the GOP.  The Democrats still remain in the #1 slot, though they are in full civil war.

City Conservative Committee Endorsements for 2015

Through endorsements, Wilson-Pakula waivers, and recommendations, we have put together a FULL TICKET for the City of Kingston.  As the second most influential party in city politics (behind only the Democrats), we felt it important to offer a full ticket.

City Conservative Committee Candidate Decisions

The City of Kingston Conservative Executive Committee interviewed candidates and offer endorsements, Wilson-Pakula waivers, or recommendations for all city positions, i.e. Mayor, Alderman-at-Large, and 9 Alderman.

“Endorsement” refers to a candidate who sought our line and gained our full support.

“Wilson-Pakula Waiver” refers to either: (a) a candidate who is running for office that we are willing to support but who has not actively sought our endorsement; OR, (b) is offered to more than 1 candidate in a race to signify our intent to grant permission for a primary.

“Recommendation” refers to a situation where no candidate is running or where we cannot support the declared candidates.  In such a situation, we recommend a man or a woman in the ward or district of honor and integrity who we think would serve the public well.

After careful consideration, the City Committee has made the following decisions:

Mayor -- We have granted Wilson-Pakulas to authorize a primary between SHAYNE GALLO and RON POLACCO.

Alderman-at-Large  -- A Wilson-Pakula was granted to JEANETTE PROVENZANO should she decide to seek our line.  Currently, she is not seeking our line.

Ward 1 Alderman Recommendation:  We do not support either declared candidate.  AL TEETSEL served previously as 1st Ward Alderman.  We consider him a man of integrity and would be willing to offer our full endorsement should he choose to run.

Ward 2 Alderman Endorsement given to BRIAN SECHE.  Brian has been a good Alderman and a voice of reason on the Council.

Ward 3 Alderman Recommendation.  We do not support either declared candidate..  Mr. Champ-Doran is a man of integrity but his philosophy is not conservative.  Thus, while we respect him, we cannot endorse his candidacy.  NATE HOROWITZ was a very good Alderman of this ward. Should he decide to run again, we would openly support his candidacy

Ward 4 Alderman Wilson-Pakula granted to NINA DAWSON.  Nina has not approached us for an endorsement.  We believe she has done a good job as Alderman and we offer her a Wilson-Pakula waiver

Ward 5 Alderman Wilson-Pakula granted to BILL CAREY.  Bill has not approached us for an endorsement.  We believe he has done a good job as Alderman and we offer him a Wilson-Pakula waiver.

Ward 6 Alderman Endorsement given to JOE CORCORAN.  Joe is a retired police officer and a successful small business man.  He just missed last time and we believe he would be a solid addition to the Council.

Ward 7 Alderman Endorsement given to MARY ANN MILLS.  Alderwoman Mills impressed our committee with her answers.  We believe she is a conservative Democrat similar to Lew Kirshcner, John Dwyer, TR Gallo, and other conservative Democrats who have carried our banner over the years.

Ward 8 Alderman Wilson-Pakula granted to STEVE SCHABOT.  Steve has not approached us for an endorsement.  We believe he has done a good job as Alderman and we offer him a Wilson-Pakula waiver.

Ward 9 Alderman Endorsement given to DEBBIE BROWN.  Alderwoman Brown has been a stellar member of the Council and we are honored to support her re-election efforts.  We feel the Council needs Debbie back for another 2 years.

If you need tickets, let me know.

County Republican Fiasco

Last night, the County Republican Convention was nothing more than an embarrassment.

First, 10 Legislative seats were left blank!!  TEN!!  To win a majority, Republicans have to almost run the table.   But, it gets worse ...

In 2 of the legislative districts, there were 2 candidates nominated.  However, no vote was permitted.  No endorsement.  They just said there will be a primary.  No vote.  Commiteemen got no vote or say.

But, it gets worse ...

Holley Carnright got nominated.  However, the County Chairman, for reasons I am about to discuss, adjourned the meeting so quickly, that Holley never got to give his acceptance speech.

But, it gets worse ...

Prior to the meeting, 2 candidates, Don Wise and Terry Bernardo, announced that they wished to run against Mike Hein for County Executive.  Both had a nomination and a second ready.  However, County Republican Chairman, Roger Rascoe, did not want anyone nominated against Mike Hein.  So, he ran up, and asked for a motion to adjourn.  A person yelled out their intention to nominate a candidate, but was ignored.  An adjournment was moved and seconded.

Basically, the Republican Chairman refused the committee members right to make nominations from the floor.  Though he denies any deal being made to not run a candidate against Hein, Rascoe said the party was still looking for a candidate.

Both Bernardo and Wise each said they spoke with Rascoe prior to the meeting, but he kept telling them they should not run.  Makes one wonder if they really want a candidate.

But, it gets worse ...

A reporter from the Freeman asked County Chair Rascoe why he would not allow Bernardo to be nominated.  Here is what the Freeman reported:

"He said although he had heard Terry Bernardo was interested in running, he didn’t approach her because her husband, who chairs the county Independence Party, told Rascoe he didn’t want her to run.

'Out of respect to him, I didn’t ask her,' Rascoe said."

Let me see if I understand this statement.  Chairman Rascoe would not allow a married woman to be nominated because her husband did not give his permission?  Really??  I wonder what married women think about that?  Can married men run if their wives are against it?

The Democrats will have a field day with that comment.  They will likely demand that every Republican candidate respond to the comment.  They will use the comment to support their foolish argument that Republicans are anti-woman.

This statement needs to be retracted immediately and Rascoe must apologize for it.  

In short, it is hard to imagine how the convention could have gone any worse.  Ten vacancies, no votes on anything, Incumbent County DA not allowed to give acceptance speech, no nominations from the floor, committeemen offered no real involvement, and to top it off a comment that Democrats will hang on the Republicans' necks.

Resigning not Resigned?

Although most Republican Committeemen I have spoken with say Sinagra resigned, a growing number are now saying that Tony claims he is resigning but has not resigned yet.

So, to be as precise as I can, Tony has either resigned, is in the process of resigning, is contemplating resigning, has foreseen his resignation, is planning to resign soon, or has resigned in some alternate universe.

Breaking News. -- Sinagra Resigns.

Apparently, right after postponing the GOP convention in an effort to get more (some?) candidates, Tony Sinagra resigned as City Chair.

No official reason has been made public nor has it even been publicly confirmed.  My information comes from GOP Committeemen.

A few months ago, Sinagra engineered a coup and deposed Bruce McLean.  One assumed he had a plan.  Guess not.

My belief is that he resigned rather than be the Chair of record when the City GOP leaves as many as 12 positions blank.

The City Republicans were on the verge of becoming a force in city politics until 2 major blunders by Sinagra crippled the party for the foreseeable future.

First, after deciding to support Alderman Turco-Levin as Minority Leader, he went on the attack against Ron Polacco for absolutely no reason.  He should have made a statement complimenting Ron and saying something like he knew Ron might be interested in seeking Alderman at Large and thus might not have time to be leader.

Instead, he attacked him for no reason.  This made Ron an enemy.  Ron thereafter had no reason to make any deals with him and guaranteed a primary.

Second, he privately promised me support For Mayor.  Then, at the last minute, turned on me the night before the convention.  By then, I had received the endorsement of the Conservative Party and had given my word to them that I would run.

Had he come to me a few weeks before like a man and told me he was backing Andi, I would have gotten out and ran for Alderman at Large.  Andi and I would have made a good ticket.  Campaigning together, we would have beaten Ron and had a real chance in the general.

Instead, he knifed me at the last minute and left me in a position to either walk away with my tail between my legs and break my word to the Conservatives or fight back.  I chose to fight.

The result was that Ron won the primary, and my supporters and Andi's supporters were all upset and felt robbed.  Ron never got the full support of the City Committee and felt gipped.

Numerous committeemen resigned and the committee was never the same.  A few months later, Sinagra resigned.

Now, after coming back with promises of great things, he resigns on the eve of the convention and leaves Joe Ingarra and Jerry Brown (his Vice Chairs and 2 good men) holding the bag.

Meanwhile, the Conservative Party will interview candidates on Tuesday, June 9th, at 7 pm.  I cannot promise a full ticket, but we will be close.

City GOP Convention Postponed?

I have been informed that the Kingston City GOP has postponed its city convention.

I have not heard the official reason why.  Some are saying it is to allow for more committeemen to attend because of concerns over getting a quorum.  Others say it is because of a lack of candidates.

If anything official is announced, I will advise.

*******

UPDATE

Gop convention has been moved until 6/10, the day after the City Conservatives meet.

I have also been informed that the reason for the delay is an attempt to get more candidates.

I have been asked if the Conservatives will delay our meeting on 12/9. The answer is no.  We will go forward and lead the way.

Insubordination?

As recently reported on this blog, Mayor Gallo issued an order on 5/11/15 requiring Steve Noble to turn over all documents, expenditures, vouchers, etc concerning the various grants he was working on.  This was to be done by uploading same to the S-drive and by turning over copies to the City Comptroller, City Purchasing Agent, and Corporation Counsel.

I have recently uncovered another memorandum issued by the Mayor on 5/28/15 that was sent to Kevin Gilfeather, who is Steve Noble's direct supervisor.  In this memorandum, the Mayor advised Mr. Gilfeather that while an order had been given to Mr. Noble, he had largely failed to respond to it.  The documents were not loaded on the S-drive or submitted to the three people directed.

A review was made of the department's computer folders and, in the memorandum, it is noted that "shockingly little" information was there,

Steve Noble has now been directed to submit ALL hard copy documents no later than the close of business today (June 1st).  I do not know yet if he did so.

Let's be clear about something.  Steve Noble has the right to run for Mayor.  BUT, he is a city employee and Mayor Gallo is his boss.  If the boss gives a directive of this nature, failure to follow it constitutes insubordination.  You may seek the job of the boss, but unless and until you get said job, you have to follow the orders of the boss.  That is the rule we taxpayers have to follow in our jobs.  We all have bosses and have to follow their orders.  That's a simple fact of life.

Now, to be fair, I do not know if Steve is being insubordinate or if the documents requested do not exist because the work that was supposed to be done was never done.  Once all of the hard copies are turned over, we will know which is the case.

It is beginning to look like the story I released as an exclusive may very well have legs.  People are beginning to talk about it all over the city.  Recent attempts were made by 2 former elected Democrat officials who are decidedly anti-Gallo to blame the Junior League and a Democrat committeewoman.  This has infuriated many people.

The insurgent candidacy of Steve Noble is perhaps in real jeopardy of collapse.

City Conservatives To Interview Candidates

The City of Kingston Conservative Party Executive Committee will be interviewing candidates on Tuesday, June 9th at 7:00 pm at 736 Broadway in Kingston.  Attorney Rebecca Millouras-Lettre has offered the use of her office conference room for these interviews. On behalf of the party, I offer my thanks to her.

Anyone interested in seeking the Conservative Party line for Mayor, Alderman-at-Large, Alderman, or County Legislator for the 3 Kingston districts are asked to appear that evening to be interviewed.  If for some reason a candidate cannot appear, please contact me as soon as possible.

Left Wing Seizes Control of City Democrat Committee

The left wing fringe did not just target the Mayor at the City Convention.  As I predicted., they went after the Common Council.

Majority Leader Dunn chose not to run, so the committee nominated Lynn Eckert.  Lynn has run before losing to Andi Turco Levin some years ago.

In Ward 2, Douglas Koop defeated incumbent Alderman Seche for the nomination. The weighted vote was 1533 to 886.  This seems odd as it appears the entire committee voted instead of just the committeemen from ward 2.

The incumbents were nominated in Wards 3, 4, 5, and 8.

In Ward 7, the committee chose Bill Reynolds and rejected Maryann Mills.  Reynolds of course is a well known liberal and Anti-Gallocrat.

Lynn Johnson is giving it another shot in Ward 9.

In ward 6, Tony Davis defeated Alex Panagiotopoulos in a very close race.

This is an unprecedented power grab by the left wing of the party.  The City Democrats chose not to support three of their own incumbents.  That's just shy of 30% of the city incumbents.

It remains to be seen how many of the rejected incumbents will primary.  Gallo and Provenzano have already promised one.

Democrat Convention Results

The Daily Freeman twitter account is reporting that the City Democrats have endorsed Steve Noble for Mayor with Shayne Gallo vowing a primary.

I am told that the weighted voting was 1365 to 1045.  A close race indeed.

This is not unexpected.  I reported some weeks ago that Joe Donaldson, the City Chair, has been appointing family members to vacancies and moving committeemen around to rig the game for Noble.  Look for Gallo to win the primary handily.

No word yet on Alderman at Large, though I expect the rigging will continue.

More as it comes in ....

*****

Ulster County Dems did not nominate anyone for DA or for Legislators in districts #1, #3, or #4.  Currently voting on district#7 (Woltman vs. Berky Schwartz)

More as it develops...

*****

NO decision on district #7.  It will go to a primary.

*****

Noble nominated for Alderman-at-Large. No surprise here given the rigging by the Chair

EXCLUSIVE -- Gross Incompetence of City Official

On May 5, 2015, a letter was sent to the Mayor and all members of the Common Council by Beth Hanigan, the President Elect of the Junior League.  This letter concerned complaints about the improper management of a grant by Steve Noble, candidate for Mayor.

In reliance upon Steve Noble's assurances, the Junior League incurred substantial expenses as part of the effort to rejuvenate the playground at Forsyth Park.  Unfortunately, as you will note when you read the attached documents, Steve Noble failed to follow proper regulations for this grant, failed to administer the grant, and frankly failed to do his job.  (You may have to enlarge the pictures to read them properly)

The bills incurred by the Junior League are now in collections.  Yet, Steve Noble is taking credit on social media for the grant.  Fortunately, as is also noted in the attached documents, Mayor Gallo was able to speak with the vendors and get them to hold off any collection efforts.  He has assured the Junior League that they will be reimbursed as promised by the city.

However, it remains to be seen if this can be done using the grants.  Due to the failure of Steve Noble to properly administer the grants, it is possible that that city taxpayers have to pick up the tab.

This is not the only instance of dereliction of duty.  The attached documents show yet more.

The city received correspondence from Maria Laza complaining that the Community Garden has been without water for 2 years.  Apparently, Steve Noble was supposed to follow up with Judy Hansen of the Water Department, but failed to do so.

There is also a problem with the grant request to extend the Beach Pavilion.  Also, due to a failure of Steve Noble to contact Mr. Schupp, the head of DPW, the project is unnecessarily delayed and the city may be on the hook financially once again.

Mayor Gallo, as noted on the final document, has suspended Steve Noble's administration of grants and ordered all documents turned over to Corporation Counsel, the City Purchasing Agent, and the City Comptroller.  I hope the city is not on the hook for more money due to ineptness.

These documents show gross incompetence with city taxpayers likely being the victims.  I write this article with a somewhat heavy heart,  I have known Steve Noble's uncle and aunt for many years. They have been friends with my mother and late father for over 30 years.  I consider both of them to be good, honest people.  I take no pleasure in writing this article about their nephew knowing the effect it will have upon them.

However, when someone runs for Mayor, particularly as a current city official, their competence and work performance is an issue for public scrutiny, especially if said failure to do the job correctly is costing or could cost the taxpayers money,  Thus, notwithstanding my respect for Steve's aunt and uncle, I must report this gross incompetence.

If I had won the election for Mayor and was currently sitting in the Mayor's chair, I would seriously consider whether or not to terminate Mr. Noble from his job.  The documentary evidence suggests that he is spending his time running for Mayor instead of doing his job.

Stay Tuned -- A Big Exclusive is Coming

Over the next day or so, I will be exposing a scandal.

I have uncovered official city documents and other documentation which reflects very poorly on a city official.   The public should  be very upset when this comes out.   It shows outright incompetence on a very large scale.

This is an article that I am taking my time with. I hope to have it posted by Tuesday at the absolute latest.

Stay tuned.  It will definitely be worth the wait.

No Real Choices in Local Elections

In the City of Kingston, voters will likely have little or no choice this November for county or city offices.  Democrats will have some choices for some races on Primary Day.

City Democrats are greasing the skids (as noted in a prior posting) to try to force the nomination to Noble and Noble thus setting up a primary between them and Gallo and Provenzano.  Frankly, the latter is more likely to win the primaries though the Noble Provenzano race will be very interesting.  Gallo will trounce the younger Noble.

Republicans, however, seem to have little options.  I hope this will change, but right now City Republicans have only 1 confirmed Aldermanic candidate and 2 possibilities.  They have no Alderman-at-Large candidate and no Legislator candidates even though one district is wide open.

They have 2 possible Mayoral candidates with Ron Polacco likely to win either the nomination, the primary, or perhaps both.

On the county level, there are no challengers for any of the incumbents.  Holly Carnright and Judge McGinty have no challengers.  Mike Hein did have a challenger, but when that credible challenger went to the County Republicans, he was told he would get no support as the County Republicans refuse to offer any challenge to Mike Hein.  (This will likely be denied, but my information is very solid and is confirmed on this.)

It would appear that the only choices this year will be for City Democrats who will have several primaries.  Tom Hoffay and the extreme far left of the City Democrats are not only seeking to replace Gallo with a puppet they can control, but are also going after any of the incumbent Democrat Alderman that are perceived in any way as moderate or favorable in any way to Gallo.

While Republicans are sitting this one out (except for Ron Polacco), there is a civil war within the City Democrat Committee.  The old school Democrats (Gallo, Provenzano, and so forth) are being pressured by the far left contingency (Hoffay, Landi, Will, Dunn, etc.)  One might even refer to this battle as the Blue Collar Democrats versus far left (largely relocated NYC'ers).

Their battle could set up an interesting paradox and decision for the general election.  Suppose hypothetically that after the primaries, Gallo has the Democrat line, Noble has Working Families, Green, and Independence lines, and Polacco has Republican and Conservative.  The question becomes whether Hoffay and his merry band of left wing fringe decide that defeating Gallo is more important than having four years of Republican control of the Mayor's office.  If all 3 candidates run hard in such a scenario, Polacco would have an outside shot of pulling off the upset.

As I watch all of this stuff, all I can think is ......what the hell has happened to the City of Kingston?  What happened to honor?  When will the Republicans drop their current leader and actually put up a fight?  And perhaps more strange still -- why on God's green Earth is anyone even listening to Tom Hoffay anymore?

Len Cane

Sad to learn of the passing of Len Cane.

Len was well known for his wit and charm.  Many people left events where Len spoke with their sides aching from laughter.

He is a person I will always remember fondly.  Rest well, Len.

Hudson Valley Senators Betray Upstate New York.

Capital New York interview various Senators and has confirmed the exact vote of the Republican conference on the selection of the Majority Leader.

The vote was 18 to 15. I knew of 5 Upstate Republicans who betrayed their Upstate constituents. Turns out that there were 6 of them, including all 3 from the Hudson Valley, committed this act of betrayal.

Yes, folks. Senator Bill Larkin, Senator John Bonacic, and Senator Jim Seward all betrayed us. They all confirmed to Capital New York that they sided with New York City and Long Island by voting for Flanagan.

For years, I have heard these 3 men complain about how Upstate never gets any respect. Now, when we had the chance to have an Upstate Senator be Majority Leader and have a seat at the table, they betrayed us all.

Senator Seward was quoted as saying, "My natural inclination was to support him if he had the
votes.  But it became apparent by the time I had my chance to vote that he was going to fall short. So I thought it was important to begin to coalesce behind Senator Flanagan, so I voted for him.”

Note -- Seward said he would have supported the Upstate Senator "if he had the votes".  In other words, rather than take a stand and offer support, he intended to wait to see who was going to win and then suck up big time.  What integrity!

The only Hudson Valley Senators who stood up for New York State were Serino and Amedore.  The other 3 betrayed us.  I for one will NEVER forget this treachery.

2 Democrats Announce for County Legislator

Jeanette Provenzano announced her intentions to seek the position of Alderman-at-Large.  Almost immediately, 2 Democrats have announced their intention to seek the position.

Jennifer Schwartz Berky, former Ulster County Deputy Director of Planning, has announced.  Right after, Brian Woltman, the City Purchasing Agent, announced his plans to run.

According to the Daily Freeman, Jeanette Provenzano is supporting Brian Woltman.

No Republican has announced.  Interestingly, both of the candidates planning to run for Mayor live in this district.  I know for certain that Ron Polacco intends to run for Mayor and has no interest in the County Legislator.  I have not spoken with Scott DiMicco and thus do not know his thoughts or plans.

As far as the 2 declared Democrats, I do not know Ms. Berky, so I have no opinion.  I do know Brian Woltman.  Although he and i disagree on almost every issue imaginable, I know that he is a true believer.  He takes liberal or progressive positions because that is what he believes.  So, while I do not agree with him about 99% of the time, I do respect his willingness to stay with his beliefs.

Upstate Gets the Shaft Yet Again

Dean Skelos stepped down.  The 33 member Republican conference met behind closed doors to pick a new leader.  With 21 of the 33 members from Upstate New York, surely the winner would be Senator DeFrancisco from Upstate and not Senator Flanagan from Long Island.  Right?

Wrong!!

Senator Flanagan apparently got at least 5 Upstate Senators to betray Upstate New York and their constituents and support downstate.  Once again, Upstate New York got the shaft.

Even though he was betrayed, Senator DeFrancisco showed party unity by nominating Flanagan once they went on the floor.  He has also refused to identify which Senators betrayed Upstate.

So, who are these Benedict Arnolds?  According to CapitalNewYork .com, one of them was Senator Cathy Young of Olean.  There are already threats of a primary against her and rightfully so.

I am urging all New York Upstaters to contact their Senators and demand to know who they supported.

The Buffalo news reports that another turncoat is Senator Michael Nozzolio.

There are claims being made that Senator Seward supported Flanagan though I cannot get any confirmation of that.  It is a claim by a prominent politico on Twitter (not a great source I admit).

Who are the others?  Who else betrayed Upstate New York?  What did they get in return?

Call your Senators and demand to know.

**********
UPDATE
**********

The New York Post is reporting that there were 4 Upstate Turncoats: Nozzolio, Young, Hugh Farley, and Bill Larkin who once represented Kingston.  If true, these 4 have betrayed their constituents and all of Upstate New York.

We have a Primary Race for Alderman-at-Large

In a bit of  surprise, Jim Noble has announced his intentions to seek reelection for Alderman-at-Large.  I must confess that I thought he would run for Jeanette Provenzano's legislative seat.

Now, a long term incumbent will battle an even longer term County Legislator for the Democrat line and possibly other lines.

This has the potential to be an incredible race.  The anti-Gallocrats have already started their nonsense by taking cheap shots on the Daily Freeman web site.  Although I expect Jim Noble will resist attacking his opponent, his supporters, i.e. the Anti-Gallocrats, will not resist.  Expect comments from Hoffay and other anti-Gallocrats to be absolutely vicious.

Calling a winner on this one is very difficult.  Jim is a nice guy with a lot of support.  Jeanette is well respected, more experienced, and is related to at least 1/2 the city.  It is the type of match up that politicos dream about.

Provenzano Announces

Jeanette Provenzano announced her candidacy for Alderman-at-Large.

She also stated that she supports Gallo for Mayor.  A ticket of Gallo/Provenzano is extremely formidable.

As noted in the Daily Freeman:

“I believe Mayor Gallo deserves another term,” Provenzano said. “I think the city is headed in the right direction.”

Gallo, in turn, said he supports Provenzano’s candidacy.

“She has been a hard-working, dedicated, zealous advocate of the public interest,” the mayor said. “She has always been people first, politics last.”

Those of you who read this blog know that I recommended Gallo choose Jeanette as his running mate. Now that it is happening, all I can say is that this is a HUGE development.

The pressure is now on Steve Noble.  Who will be his running mate?  If he chooses one of the 2 Aldermen rumored to be considering it, i.e. Will or Dunn, they will not match up well with Jeanette, a legislator with 2 decades of experience.

Time for Upstate to Step Up

Senate Majority Leader, Dean Skelos, and his son were arrested and charged with various crimes.  It seems very likely that he will be forced to step down as Majority Leader.

Already two Senators are planning to seek the position with one other looming in the background.  Senator Flanagan, a liberal Republican, from Long Island is supposedly the choice of Skelos himself.  Senator DeFrancisco of Syracuse, a conservative Republican, has also declared his intentions to seek the position if Skelos steps down.

There is also Senator Catherine Young of Olean.  She has not formally announced intentions.

I believe that Upstate New Yorkers need to make it clear to the Senate Republicans, most of whom are Upstate New Yorkers too, that the next leader MUST be an Upstate New Yorker.

The Governor was born and raised in Queens even if he now considers Westchester home.  Shelly Silver is from Manhattan and his successor from the Bronx.  Dean Skelos is form Long Island.  Upstate New York has no representation in any of the leadership.  The entire State is run from New York City and Long Island.  Upstate gets ignored and treated like a redheaded step-child.

My fear is that the downstate liberal Republicans will convince Senator Young to jump into the race and split the upstate vote so that Senator Flanagan will get the nod.  Then, downstate will continue to get all the control and upstate will continue to get the shaft,

I hope Upstate New Yorkers will light up the phones and call Senators Larkin, Bonacic, Amedore, Seward, and so forth and demand that they support Senator DeFrancisco and give Upstate New York some say in the State government.

Light up those phones.

Advice to GOP Mayoral Candidates ... Watch your backs.

So far, Ron Polacco and Scott DiMicco are seeking the Republican line for Mayor.  I have a piece of advice for each of them.  Whether you intend to primary or not,do not trust Chairman Sinagra,  If you do, you do so at your own peril.

Why do I say this?    I say it based on experience.  I am not going to rehash the events of four years ago when I felt Tony's political knife squarely in my back.  I just hope any potential GOP candidates keep their eyes open and their guard up.

As for the Conservative party line, the endorsement will be made by the City Executive Committee.  I will only vote in case of a tie.  Until the time comes that I need to break a tie, I will not discuss my personal support for any of the candidates.

Know this though . . . when the time comes that I tell a candidate they have my support, he or she can take it to the bank that I will keep my word.

New Candidate Enters Mayoral Race

Former Alderman, Scott DiMicco, announced that he will seek the Republican nomination for Mayor of the City of Kingston.

In an article appearing on the Freeman website, DiMicco said he has not approached nor spoken with any party chairman.  I can report that he has indeed not approached me yet about the Conservative party line.  I do know that Scott carried the Conservative line each time he ran for Alderman.

Now, there are 2 Republicans candidates running for Mayor, though Ron Polacco has not formally announced yet.  There are also 2 Democrat candidates.

The election season is getting very interesting.