Rochester Smoke Out

Good Friday 2013
Live Stations of the Cross in Procession through the village of Ellenville.
Jesus portrayed by Father John W. Lynch, Pastor at St. Mary & St. Andrew Church.

– Photos by Manuela Michailescu

If you read in Freeman the article Accord roller rink co-owned by Ulster County Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo losing tax breaks you know that Skate Time 209 is among the businesses targeted by the Industrial Development Agency for failing to create the number of jobs they promised in return for 6-figure tax breaks.

Len Bernardo admits the couple promised to create those jobs, but he said job creation was not a condition of the final contract. Really Len? Really?

This is the first page of Bernardos’ 2005 application for financial assistance (tax breaks):



Look again in the box above, where is clearly stated:

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The answers to the questions contained in this application are necessary to determine your firm’s eligibility for financing and other assistance from Ulster County Development Agency.

Now look at the Bernardos’ answer to Question #6:



See the whole application – signed and notarized. Feel free to comment and explain to Bernardo why his answer played its part in determining the eligibility for financial assistance: IDA is about creating jobs.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

Terry L. Blosser Bernardo, Chair, Ulster County Legislature

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

Terry Bernardo has no business being a legislator, but – thanks to her husband’s scheming mind – she was elected twice.

“We will give the public excellent service… We will do this without arrogance… with bi-partisanship… and with an intelligent purpose…”

The empty words in her 2012 speech are matched only by her claim in 2013:

“We made promises and we kept them.”

Let’s not discuss here how she got to be the Legislator from Rochester and the Chairwoman of the Ulster County Legislature. Let’s look at her abysmal record. In her defense, she is incapable of grasping the concept of public service.

Her votes cast during legislative sessions must reflect the will of her constituency – the people of Rochester who, fooled or fools, sent her to Kingston. She has opportunities to vote as a “chairwoman” in committee meetings – but even then her vote should be informed by the interests of the people back home. I know, I know, wishful thinking…

In January 2012 the Legislature passed Resolution No. 16 – “Adopting The Provisions Of The Hurricane Irene And Tropical Storm Lee Assessment Relief Act.” Speaking for the Town of Rochester, Supervisor Carl Chipman asked the Legislators not to pass the resolution before its financial impact was determined. Nevertheless, Terry Bernardo voted YES – against her town!

In December 2012 the lawmakers approved the 2013 county budget. The spending plan reduced the county’s property tax levy, implemented a flow-control law as a way to end the public subsidy of the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency and launched the first phase of a county takeover of the Safety Net welfare program’s costs. Nevertheless, Terry Bernardo voted NO, against the interests of her town!

In her January 2013 address, Terry Bernardo stated:

“I would like to see a concerted effort to focus on resort development… I would like to lobby the State for Video Lottery Terminals (or VLTs) for no more than three of those (Ulster County) resort areas, if they want them, and just to be clear, I support all of them…”

The businesses applying for a VLT license are Pinegrove Ranch & Family Resort and Hudson Valley Resort & Spa – the largest employers in town. The Video Lottery Terminals issue will be discussed at the Economic Development, Tourism, Planning and Transportation Committee meeting (April 3) and, presumably, at the Ulster County Monthly Legislative Session (April 16).

As the voting draws near, rumors run wild: Terry Bernardo is talking about abstaining… Her pals from Saugerties – legislators Aiello & Wawro – are lobbying the Democrats for a NO vote… If the past is any indication, Terry is going to vote NO, against her town!

Is this payback for David O’Halloran (Pinegrove) for taking a hard line with businesses identified by the Industrial Development Agency as not meeting job projections? Because Terry’s stance changed drastically from “We have the Industrial Development Agency led by its outstanding Director David O’Halloran” to “IDA Chairman David O’Halloran is in cahoots with Mike Hein to shake down Skate Time 209.”

To quote from MadGardiner’s comment in Freeman:

“A political pox and an embarrassment to the county, Terry Bernardo jumps to ‘vendetta’ because it’s something she recognizes. It’s her modus operandi – just ask the bloody corpses in her wake… O’Halloran has given her political advice for years; he even threw her a big birthday bash last year. He’s been distancing himself because he knows the matter requires his due diligence as chair of the IDA… and is smart enough not to want to get dragged through Bernardo’s muck.”

The Hudson Valley Resort and Spa is in dire financial straits. They owe over $22M while are worth only $4.5M. If they disappear so does a large piece of our tax base. The VLTs are necessary to bring in off-season and mid-week business, namely the senior groups which used to be the mainstay of the local resorts until competition from Atlantic City, Poconos, and other casinos took business away.

What’s the point of having a legislator from Rochester if she refuses to rally the vote for the good of her town? Maybe, if Pinegrove Ranch and Hudson Valley Resort would move to Orange County, then they would get full support from Terry Bernardo.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

Please tell your friends about Rochester Smoke Out.
Knowledge is power. Ignorance is bliss. Tough choice, isn’t it?

For those who count, this is post #200.

Thank you for reading! And thanks for your comments too…
(Naturally, some restrictions apply.)

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

Originally published on June 5, 2012

In the September 10, 2009 issue of Shawangunk Journal, the profile of a legislative candidate bombastically headlined Bernardo’s Golden Vision for District 1 tells us that “Terry Bernardo seems to have the Midas touch; every project she commits herself to, translates into gold – whether it’s her hugely successful Pilates studio… or the popular roller skating rink Skate Time 209 she owns with her husband, Independence Party chair Len Bernardo.”

Too bad Shawangunk Journal wasn’t into any investigative reporting. Just by scratching Bernardo’s claim they would have discovered that all that “translating into gold” was done at taxpayers’ expense.

TLB Management, the name under which Terry and Len Bernardo operate Skate Time 209, has not met employment promises made to gain financial benefits through the Industrial Development Agency (IDA). The agency granted the business tax exemptions in excess of $100,000. It is public knowledge that at one time Skate Time 209 employed only one full-time worker and about a dozen high school students on a part-time basis, not the 14 full-time equivalent positions Bernardo claimed in his annual filings with the agency, and shorter still of the 20 jobs (paying $20,800 each) they promised when granted the tax breaks.

Despite the outrage expressed in our conversations, IDA chairman David O’Halloran kicked the can down the road, and did nothing about this breach of contract.

Here is what caught my eye in the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency’s minutes of August 17, 2011 meeting, regarding TLB Management (Skatetime 209):

• Jobs issue – specifically the interpretation of what a full-time equivalent employee is
• This year they reported the equivalent of 12 full time employees
• Currently under-performing with their job numbers
• ACTION PLAN: No further action at this time – they will remain on the list

Last year – before elections! – Terry Bernardo promised to be a watchdog for our taxpayer dollars. David O’Halloran, Chairman, Town of Rochester Republican Committee, vouched for her: “Terry is a small business owner and will take good care of taxpayer dollars.”

As the 2012 Chair of Ulster County Legislature, Terry Bernardo squandered taxpayers’ money like there was no tomorrow. With 33 legislators, the 2011 Ulster County Legislature adopted budget was $361,837. With 10 fewer legislators at $10,000 a year, the 2012 Ulster County Legislature budget should have been $261,827. Instead, Terry Bernardo brought it up to $451,030. That’s $189,203 of taxpayer money wasted by Terry Bernardo to reward with jobs and increases some of the people who helped her get in the chair’s chair: Langdon Chapman, Fawn Tantillo, Vicky Fabella, Sandy Mathes, Lisa Mance, Frank Reggero.

Terry Bernardo’s golden vision, as well as her taxpayers’ watchdog impersonation are accurately depicted in the illustration above.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

Ulster County Executive Michael Hein says
Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo exhibiting ‘erratic’ behavior

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

Those were the days, my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La la la la la la
La la la la la la

Too long in the making, but here it is: Accord roller rink co-owned by Ulster County Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo losing tax breaks. From the Freeman article:

Two Ulster County businesses, including one owned by county Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo and her husband, will lose their property tax breaks for failing to agree to a voluntary reduction of those breaks…

Skate Time 209 is just one of the businesses targeted by the IDA for failing to create the number of jobs they promised in return for tax breaks. And this is just one of the instances when Len Bernardo is caught lying:

On March 13, Len Bernardo said he had received the agreement only a week earlier and needed more time to review it. However, when asked Thursday about his decision not to sign the voluntary agreement, he said: “We didn’t sign anything. We haven’t seen anything.”

On top of Skate Time 209 failing to meet the job predictions detailed in its application, the Bernardos also has failed to provide job data for 2012. The Industrial Development Agency chair David O’Halloran said the Bernardos provided incomplete information after two requests were sent via certified mail. “If the Bernardos don’t provide that information,” he said, “the PILOT will be terminated even if they do agree to the voluntary reduction.”

Got that? “If the Bernardos don’t provide that information the PILOT will be terminated.”
Len and Terry Bernardo could not agree to any deal contingent on providing job data for 2012. Or for any year for that matter. For a simple reason: there is no data because there were no jobs. The picture above features about 75% of the jobs created by Bernardos.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

Here are a few choice words from Ulster County Executive Michael Hein says Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo exhibiting ‘erratic’ behavior, published in today’s Freeman:

KINGSTON, N.Y. — Ulster County Executive Michael Hein on Wednesday swung back at Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo, saying her recent Facebook posting accusing him of carrying out a vendetta against her business highlights a pattern of increasingly worrisome behavior.

“Mrs Bernardo’s behavior continues to get more and more erratic, and I am sure that is of great concern to her caucus,” the Democratic executive said of the Republican chairwoman. The Bernardos “promised to deliver a large number of full-time jobs in return for over $100,000 in tax benefits. “Instead, they became one of the worst offenders in the … program by failing to live up to their promises as well as aggressively working to avoid accountability at ever turn.”

I feel vindicated.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco