Rochester Smoke Out

“If I deserve a black eye on this blog for doing the right thing by Manuela, so be it.
As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.” – David O’Halloran

David, your first comment to Election Districks in Rochester begins with “I’m not sure what the issue is.” Allow me to make it as simple as 1, 2, 3…

1.
Manuela ran for Committee, Beke Sr. went berserk in epic rant, you said “no challenges,” Beke Sr. declined, Beke Jr. challenged Manuela, Tom Turco couldn’t find a valid Beke declination, within 30 minutes Terry Bernardo called the press to spread the news: “Did you hear what happened to poor Manuela?”

You surprised me via email: “As Chair, I assured Manuela that her petitions would be the same as sitting committee members. Errors like this are unacceptable and procedure & policies must be changed to prevent the re-occurrence. I will do my best to make amends for this injustice to our sitting councilwoman” and “Thanks for giving me a chance to show that I’m not a bunch of twisted words but an individual that actually means what he says.”

You appointed Manuela to the Committee, the County confirmed the appointment, and – one day later – what you see above in column ONE appeared on your website. You did the right thing. There is no issue here.

2.
One year passed by and games were being played again. You switched the districts between Manuela Michailescu and Imre Beke. Rob Case was instructed to show the switch on your website (see column TWO).

3.
The plot thickens. You asked the GOP Headquarters to send petition forms with districts assigned as in column THREE, above. This time you switched the districts between Manuela Michailescu and Terry Bernardo.

David, you’ve got nothing to hide, so you’ve got no reason to fear that your immaculate record will be marred by my asking a few questions, do you?

WHY are you working so hard to move Manuela from District 2 to 1 to 4?

WHY are you coming up with all these ridiculous explanations?

“I referred to Manuela as Jon’s wife because it’s important for readers to know that these statements and claims are not Manuela’s and I doubt she supports them, if she even reads them.” Really? How does it square with your email broadcast: “Jon & Manuela’s website has Carl Chipman’s Democratic Caucus video front and center on the 1st page.”

“I appointed Manuela to the open slot in our town committee” but “none of us were sure which district had the blank”. Perhaps all of you should resign from the Committee, if none of you could solve this puzzle: in 2010, Malena Callan – who represented District 1 – bailed out of the Committee. What district had a vacancy? I know, this is a hard one. Let’s ask Tom Turco at the Board of Elections. “Tom Turco researched it and placed Manuela in the vacant slot in District 4.” Come again? There is no vacancy in District 4 – it’s represented by Elbert Dejager and Terry Bernardo.

“Districts is purely a matter that comes up every two years when we do petitions.” Really? How about every two years when the Committee endorses the Legislative candidate? Not all the votes have the same weight. As it happens, a vote from District 2 weighs more than double a vote from District 4:

District 1 – 152.5 per committee member
District 2 – 176.5 per committee member
District 3 – 155.0 per committee member
District 4 – 86.5 per committee member
District 5 – 124.5 per committee member

WHY didn’t the Committee vote on May 23, 2011 – right after interviewing the candidates for Legislature?

You said “You trust me, don’t you?” and took the votes over the phone. Very creative, but what the bylaws have to say about it? Why there is no written record of the voting result? You told Manuela that Terry won 7 to 4. You gave different numbers to different people; Terry Bernardo claimed “unanimous endorsement.”

WHY are you catering to Queen Bernardo’s every whim?

I have a hundred more questions to ask, but what’s the point?
You never give straight answers.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

…The county’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA) is looking into whether Bernardo reneged on promises to create 20 full-time positions when he built Skate Time 209 in Accord three years ago, in exchange for tax breaks from the IDA.

“The IDA gives out significant tax breaks to businesses. Mr. Bernardo’s business received over $100,000 in sales tax and other taxpayer-backed benefits with his Skate Time 209 project. The problem is, to get those benefits you have to make job-creation promises, and he lied to the taxpayers of Ulster County,” Hein said…

Read the entire article here. As a neighbor said, it makes for an interesting re-reading… especially with how things have played out.

From Don’t Mess With The County Charter by Michael Hein, County Executive:

As County Executive, I have, and will always side with the people of Ulster County over the politicians. This is why I feel so strongly about what I see as attempts to corrupt the revision process and undermine the work of the Commission, as well as attempts to undermine the fundamentals of the Charter itself.

It has become evident that a small group of Legislators have decided to attempt to nullify the nine months of work of the Commission and draft their own Charter revisions, which they plan to advance instead of the Commission’s proposals.

These revisions are the end result of a closed door meeting held in violation of the New York State Open Meetings Law, and in stark contrast to the transparency of this Commission.

This Commission posted its minutes as well as all proposed changes on the County’s website weekly and all of the Commission’s meetings were open to the public. This attempt to subvert the process by a small group of Legislators can be interpreted in only one way; as a simple power grab by individuals who long for the bygone times of Legislative control of operations, inefficiency and an era that saw a grossly mismanaged jail project and accountability was non-existent.

Click here to read the entire Shawangunk Journal article.

As reported in Blue Stone Press (July 6, 2012):

Brian Drabkin, the experienced Town Councilman pictured above during the swearing-in, is bound to make it in the Guinness Book of Records for quickest backpedaling. At its June 28 workshop – “acting on information and suggestions from Drabkin” – Rochester Town Board passed a resolution to charge $1.75 for each item taken from the Transfer Station “free bin.”

One week later, at the July 5 meeting, the resolution was rescinded. Look what people – rallied around a “Keep the free pile free” sign – said during the public comment period:

Mr. Drabkin, curb your enthusiasm!

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

A previous post details the background for this one, but here is the short version:

In 2010, Rochester Councilwoman Manuela Michailescu announced her running for a Republican Committee seat. Imre Beke Sr. went bananas via demagoguery. David O’Halloran made clear his disapproving of Republicans challenging Republicans’ petitions, and asked for identical petition forms for him and Manuela.

David O’Halloran to Manuela Michailescu:
Let’s make sure our petitions are identical. I will give you a copy of mine and vice versa. Then Tom Turco will be asked to insure either or both are correct and challenge proof.

A sneaky plan cooked by Imre Beke, Sr., Imre Beke, Jr., and both Bernardos – with help from Tom Turco at the Board of Elections – succeeded in having Manuela’s petition denied. David O’Halloran accepted full responsibility:

David O’Halloran to Manuela Michailescu:
You are right; I accept full responsibility for your petitions being thrown out. I assured you that your petitions would be identical to mine and that they would be challenge proof. It will be my responsibility to make up for this error.

David O’Halloran to Manuela Michailescu:
You were confirmed on October 5, 2010 by the UC GOP Executive Board as an appointed member of the UC GOP Committee representing the Town of Rochester. Congrats!

Next day or so, Rondout Valley GOP website showed all ten Rochester Republican Committee members, by election districts:

Imre Beke in District 1. Manuela Michailescu in District 2. No two ways about it.
I immediately published the members’ list on Rochester Republicans website.

On September 12, 2011, the night before the Republican Primary, I personally witnessed David O’Halloran splitting the District 2 Summary Voter Master Call List (below) with his fellow District 2 member Manuela Michailescu. No two ways about it.

I also witnessed David asking Manuela: “If you win, are you going to forgive us?”

Manuela Michailescu did not win the Primary. Sure enough, a change popped up on Rondout Valley GOP website:

Imre Beke in District 2. Manuela Michailescu in District 1.
When Manuela raised the issue in a Committee meeting, David & Co. dismissed her: “You are confused.”

Those familiar with Manuela’s activity as Councilwoman, her attention to details and her annoying errors-discovering skills – from minutes to town’s bills – know that nothing is further from the truth. To imply that Manuela doesn’t know what District she has been representing for two years is simply insulting.

At the Republican Committee meeting in May 2012, Manuela Michailescu announced that she would file petitions for the only district she always represented, Election District 2.
She received from the GOP headquarters an error-ridden petition… for District 4!

Pushed from District 2 to 1 to 4. Funny how all these things happen only to Manuela.
Can you spell discrimination?

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

I stumbled upon this letter sent by Kathy Everett Worden to Len Bernardo, via Facebook.
I don’t know Kathy, and she is not in any way involved in my publishing her letter here.
I just thought that you might like to read it.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

To Len Bernardo, owner of Skate Time 209:

“I just had to get this off my chest. The way our zumba group was treated on Tuesday July 3, 2012 was nothing short of hideous. Being hustled and herded like cattle in a big hurry to make sure that a group of boys didn lay eyes on us lest their religion blow up in their faces just violates more boundaries and rights than I know how to articulate.

I have the utmost respect for ones choice of religion, and will respect that in THEIR church, temple etc, but to be at an establishment that we frequent EVERY week, and that our local kids and families frequent EVERY week, year round, and be told that we can not be seen by an outside group that may be there a couple times out of the year is UNACCEPTABLE.

All you had to do was notify our instructor ahead of time that this group was coming and may cause a conflict-she would have undoubtedly cancelled for the night..no biggie, except YOU need to make your money too..at WHO’S EXPENSE??? It was NOT air conditioned in the area we were in and it was over 90+ degrees. We were in dangerous conditions. And then we were told to DEAL WITH IT.

Some women even left out the backdoor-bending over backward to accommodate the discriminatory behavior-NOT ME. I walked right out your front door in all my sweaty glory..and trust me..I wont be walking back in.

YOU, and your employee, who was female as well, and serving these young men at the snack bar (???) treated us as second class citizens, and I felt like I was in the 19th century rather than the 21st century. I have NEVER been treated so undignified in my entire life, (and I have been known to be abrasive), just because I am a woman.

The WORST part about this is the fact that this group did not treat us this way..YOU AND YOUR ESTABLISHMENT DID. You were completely out of line, violating our dignity, endangering our health, and most of all violating OUR basic civil rights to accommodate someone else’s..really? We ‘locals’ keep you in business..this local…will NOT participate in that-and IM NOT ALONE.”

Kathy Everett Worden

PART TWO OF MANY

Trying to understand why Richard T. Cahill – the owner of a blog “dedicated to the improvement of the City of Kingston” – got lost in the Town of Rochester, went to bat for the Bernardos in this piece of dishonest garbage and made an ass of himself (shhh! he doesn’t know it yet…), finally I connected the dolts dots.

Len Bernardo supported Shane Gallo for Mayor of Kingston. In typical Bernardo style, he wouldn’t consider supporting any of the three Republicans – Turco Levin, Polacco or Cahill.

Turco Levin kind of won the primary but then lost to Polacco after the counting of absentee ballots. Cahill, endorsed by the Conservatives, stayed on that line pledging that he “wouldn’t let the Conservatives down.”

Republicans had a tough enough time in the City but with a vote split there was no doubt Gallo would win. What if Cahill’s remaining on the Conservative line was a favor done to Len Bernardo, to make sure Gallo (Bernardo’s pick) won?

The payback? Terry Bernardo suddenly appointed Richard T. Cahill Jr. to fill a spot on the Charter Revision Commission – to replace Fawn Tantillo, Bernardos’ crony who moved on to become Terry’s confidential secretary.

Cahill plays on Bernardos’ team.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco