The Final Comment on the Matter

I have had quite a few people ask me, “Just who is the nut from Rochester that keeps attacking you?”

It is not a surprise that most people have no idea who Jon Dogar Marinesco is considering his irrelevance in county politics.  Having done a little research though, I will tell you the truth about this questionable individual.

In the end of 2006/beginning of 2007, Jon’s wife, Manuela Mihailescu (whose name is spelled Michailescu in some records) applied for admission to the Rochester Town Historic Preservation Committee. 

On January 24, 2007, during an Executive Session of the Town Council, Manuela was interviewed for the position.  Exactly what transpired during that meeting is somewhat clouded as the Council members refused to discuss it citing the laws on Executive Session.  However, here is what was reported by the Ellenville Journal on February 8, 2007.

“The reason for all of this was due to an incident that occurred on January 24 when Manuela Mihailescu, a 57-year old resident of the town, attended a board meeting for an interview to decide whether or not she would be allowed on the municipality’s Historic Preservation Committee.


As has been reported in other area publications and as Ms. Mihailescu has repeatedly alleged, she was questioned if she was aware that an internet search using her name yielded pornographic websites among the results.  She was then questioned whether she had any association with these websites.  Mihailescu responded that she had no connection with the websites and asked to see the printed pages that the town board had printed out.  What she saw on those pages, Mihailescu claims, was a series of graphic images.  Surprised and distraught at the line of questioning, Mihailescu left the meeting, got into her car and promptly hit another car in the town’s parking lot.


Rochester’s town board, citing that the meeting took place in executive session, will not speak about the interview other than to confirm that it took place.”

After a great deal of public concern and outrage (some favoring Manueala and some opposing), a large meeting was held that erupted into chaos.  Here is the reporting of the meeting and its handling of the issue as reported by the Ellenville Journal.

“After some other town business, the issue of Ms. Mihailescu was broached.  At that point, the town’s attorney, Rod Futerfas, read a statement to the effect that the Rochester town board would be legally unable to respond to any accusations that would be made by the audience due to the fact that the interview occurred during an executive session.  Futerfas then asked Mihailescu if she would sign a release at that time, waiving the confidentiality agreement that an executive session implies.   Ms. Mihailescu responded by saying that she would not sign anything without advice of counsel and proceeded to read a statement where she argued that because she had spoken to a number of local news agencies that she had already waived confidentiality.  The town’s counsel disagreed and said that there could be no comments from the audience about this subject during the public comment session: ‘This board is not a punching bag. If you want to take shots at something I would suggest taking up a different sport.’


At that point, Councilman Alex Miller told the audience that, ‘Public comment is a privilege at these meetings, not a right.’


In fact one resident, Imre Beke, the chairperson of the town’s Conservative Party, did speak and chastised the board and the town attorney saying, ‘You sir answer to us! We will have our say whether you like it or not!’


Mr. Beke’s outburst drew a loud round of applause from the group as well as others that responded, ‘You don’t speak for me, Beke!’


And with that, the board made a motion to close the meeting and reconvene for a special meeting on Thursday, February 8, 2007.”

After this incident (and numerous others), the people of Rochester overwhelmingly voted Republican and changed the administration.  One of the people elected was Manuela, who became a member of the Council.  It should be noted, however, that Manuela had the lowest vote total amongst the Republicans.

Thereafter, Manuela decided that she wanted to run for the Ulster County Legislature.  She asked the Rochester Republicans to wait until after her primary against Terry Bernardo before holding their caucus.  The reason was that Manuela wanted to be able to run for her Council seat if she lost the primary.  When the Republicans refused, she by all accounts threw a fit.  She would go on to lose the primary and her Council seat.

While she was on the council, a major controversy arose.  It was covered by The Shawangunk Journal on 8/6/09.

It seems that Manuela and Dogar Marinesco filed for personal bankruptcy.  A copy of the bankruptcy petition appeared on a local blog revealing detailed information.  As reported by the Journal:

“The petition, a Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy, reveals a combined debt of nearly $1 million, including $400,000 in credit card debt, $6,080 in overdrafts on a Citibank checking account, $10,993 owed to a local excavating business, and $7,815 in unpaid school and town taxes.


Dogar-Marinesco confirmed that on June 8, 2009, the United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York discharged a debt of almost $500,000, ‘out of which about 20 percent consists in credit card late fees accrued after contacting the bankruptcy lawyer.’ “

The sheer magnitude of the bankruptcy was shocking and was cited as a reason why Manuela should not have been permitted to serve on the Council.  While approximately $100,000 of the debt consisted of “credit card late fees”, the real shocker was the remaining debt of nearly $900,000.00, particularly the overdrafts and credit card debt.

Now, there is certainly no shame in filing for bankruptcy.  The law is there to protect people during times of financial crisis.  It is perfectly acceptable, however, for a political opponent to argue that a person incapable of handling private finances is not to be trusted with public finances.  Dogar Marinesco has been blasting anyone and everyone he believes was involved in bringing out the bankruptcy filing, as well anyone who even says hello in a pleasant way to someone involved.

I would respectfully suggest that the true problem is not the prior financial bankruptcy but is instead Dogar Marinesco’s current and continuing moral bankruptcy.

There was another issue of great significance in the bankruptcy petition.  As noted by the Journal, “What has some locals upset is the fact that she listed her Rego Park address as her primary residence in the sworn statement, while her husband, Jon Dogar Marinesco, claimed residence in an apartment that he located in his antique shop.  Under United States' bankruptcy laws, claiming separate residences will allow each to qualify for a $50,000 exemption.  The problem for Mihailescu is that New York State's Public Officer's Law requires that an elected official be a resident of the jurisdiction in which she is elected.”

It was later ruled by the Town Attorney that she could keep her seat on the Council.

Regardless, the blogger who posted the information about the bankruptcy, Jeremy Blaber, has been the subject of Dogar Marinesco’s wrath ever since.  He has posted pictures of Jeremy before he lost weight –usually from behind.  He has called him childish names and engaged in other immature actions.  It was during one of his tirades that he cited one of my comments about Jeremy.  When I said he took the comment out of context and asked not to be dragged into his delusional world, he began insulting me and displaying even more immature behavior.

In Jon Dogar Marinesco’s world, if you do not agree with every single syllable he writes, you are an enemy that must be destroyed.  In his demented mind, I attacked him.  His juvenile mind concludes, “He started it, Mom!!”

You can take it to the bank that even though Terry Bernardo destroyed Manuela in the most recent election, Manuela and her husband will be back to try again.  They are obsessed with Terry Bernardo.  They have so many pictures of Terry on their website with photoshop changes and nasty little comments, it looks almost as if they have built a shrine praying for Terry’s political and likely personal end.  It is sad really.

As we fast forward to the present, we see an angry, frustrated, and vicious Jon Bogar Marinescu desperately seeking either political relevance or some perceived revenge.  His major targets have been Terry and Len Bernardo, Roger Rascoe, Jeremy Blaber, and now yours truly.

Here are a few examples of the attacks made by Jon Dogar Marinesco.  These should give you a good idea concerning his lack of character and decency.

*  He compared Terry Bernardo to Elena Ceausescu. Ceausescu was the wife of the dictator of Romania.  Under their regime, parents were paid to give children to the orphanages.  They planned to create a Romanian Workers Army from these orphans.  Unfortunately, the orphanages had few nurses and had food shortages, causing emotional and physical problems for the children.  The Ceausescus endorsed blood transfusions as the answer.  The poor conditions in orphanages meant that these transfusions were often done with shared needles resulting in AIDS being widespread among the orphans.  Elena Ceausescu was head of the state health commission which concluded that AIDS could not exist in Romania.  She and her husband were later executed by firing squad.  This is not someone that Terry Bernardo or anyone should be compared with.

*  He rejected the term Madam Chair for Terry Bernardo suggesting “Madam Stool”.  Yes, he used a poop joke. 

*  He referred to Terry Bernardo as “an animal”.

*  He accused the Bernardos of committing a felony which is slander and libel per se.  The basis?  A volunteer from Terry’s campaign was getting signatures.  A person who turned out not to be a Republican signed the petition using just her first initial.  A person who lived up the street had the same last name and same first initial.  The volunteer, assumed that the person signing was the other person who happened to be a registered republican.  It obviously could not have been that other person because she had died a few months earlier.  It was an innocent mistake.  Dogar Marinesco accused the volunteer of perjury.  He accused her of intentionally forging / altering the address.  He accused the Bernardos of a felony claiming that they intentionally submitted a petition with the signature of a dead woman. 

*  After the bankruptcy court ordered the sale of a piece of his property, a real estate agent was sent to inspect the property.  Dogar Marinesco put an article on his web site and called her unprofessional.  After he learned that she was a member of a political committee as well, he accused her of “discarding inconvenient paper ballots”.  Discarding ballots done by someone other than a commissioner of the Board of Elections is against the law.  So, he accused her of a crime.

*  He mocked Jeremy Blaber for being overweight.  He used a computer program to alter photos of Jeremy to make him look even larger. 


In summary, I can find only one positive quality about the man.  He clearly loves his wife and will defend her to the death.  I respect that.  Despite that one positive quality, however, I must say as a whole that the man is petty, vindictive, vicious, and generally ill mannered.  I have had no interaction or conversations with Manuela Mihailescu.  Therefore, I express no opinion concerning her personality or moral character.

After much thought, I have decided that this will be my final post concerning Jon Dogar-Marinesco.  Discussing this man truly serves no purpose and just gives him a further stage to exhibit his hatred and general frustration with life.  I have been amused at his attempts to engage me in debate.  In the end, I almost feel guilty about the whole thing because I know I am taking advantage of someone who is truly unarmed in a battle of wits.  I therefore decline to do so any longer.