Yess Says No to Republican Mockers

I submitted this piece for the August issue of The Lincoln Eagle.  Corruption in New York State is nothing new, of course. 

Yess Says No to Republican Mockers 

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.

             Over the past few months internecine GOP warfare has turned into an intense Internet battle between former GOP chair Robin Yess and an anonymous group of GOP regulars who support Terry Bernardo, chair of the county legislature.  The GOP regulars' website, Mocking Robin (http://mockingrobin.blogspot.com), takes aim at allegations Yess has made on her New York Liberty Coalition website (http://nylibertycoalition.com).   

            The Internet is a new front in an ongoing war that is tearing the Ulster County GOP apart.  Back in January Yess objected to second-term Town of Rochester legislator Bernardo's election to legislative chair.  At the time, The Kingston Freeman noted that Yess had questioned Bernardo's legislative track record; as well, GOP Majority Leader Kenneth Ronk accused Yess of smearing Bernardo.   Yess had raised questions about the election of the wife of the head of Ulster County's Independence Party, Len Bernardo, to chair the legislature.  

            There are more important issues than political smears and name calling.   Yess had resigned her position as chair of the Ulster County Republican Party last year when it became evident that Ulster County's Republicans could not muster enough votes to divest the county's Golden Hill nursing home. 

            This year Ulster County paid a $4.3 million subsidy, slightly less than in prior years, to Golden Hill.   About one percent of Ulster County's senior citizens reside at Golden Hill, but many seniors (as well as other taxpayers) pay higher property taxes to subsidize it, making it difficult for some seniors to make ends meet.  Critics have charged that beds at Golden Hill have been reserved for political insiders' relatives who are at the higher end of the county's wealth distribution.  Golden Hill is one of seven senior facilities in Ulster County; the other six receive no county subsidy, but they are profitable.   

             Yess has been concerned that the GOP has become big-government party number two and that it is not the party it claimed to be in Reagan's days.  She is particularly concerned that here in Ulster County the GOP has pandered to boondoggles like the low-income project in Saugerties, which Senator John J. Bonacic (R, C, IP) has supported. Last year virtually the entire county GOP leadership stood up and applauded the radical environmentalist U.S. Green Building Council when its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design group gave a building award to a corrupt local real estate developer. 

             Yess has observed that New York has more government than any other state, and its economy is among the worst of all the states.  Privileged insiders, friends of politicians, corrupt real estate developers, and public-private partnerships receive subsidies. Real jobs and real innovation have left, in her view. 

            The Mocking Robin site offers a political response to the rivalry between Yess and Bernardo.   The site relies on phrases like these:  "Robin…doesn't even understand how democracy works"; "the list of people who Robin owes an apology to is growing by the day. And it is getting really, really long"; "Is the Kerhonkson Kook really this dumb?"; "nutjobs like the Liberty Coalition," and so on. 

            A better debate would involve mustering facts to define efficient and effective policies. The tradition of buying votes through special interest pandering has failed--millions have fled this state specifically because of the kind of political atmosphere defended through smear tactics typified by Mocking Robin, The New York Times, and similar defenders of the status quo.

            On her site, Yess makes the following allegations:

1       (1) Bernardo, backed by Ulster County GOP Chair Roger Rascoe, has appointed a non-Ulster County based attorney (and non-Ulster County resident), Langdon Chapman, to be counsel to the Ulster County legislature over alternative qualified choices who reside in Ulster County. 

2    

          (2) Chapman is an attorney at the law firm of Bonacic, Krahulik, Cuddeback, McMahon & Brady in Middletown. J. Scott Bonacic is Senator Bonacic’s son.   Rascoe’s wife is a paid employee of Senator Bonacic.   In an e-mail Yess adds that Chapman is on the New York State Senate payroll for $96,000 and makes $50,000 from Ulster County's tax coffers.  In addition, Chapman represents "numerous municipalities (all in Bonacic's Senate district) as a senate staffer." 

3    (3) Bernardo hired Sandy Mathes, a former Greene County IDA leader, to fill a deputy clerk position for $37,500.  At the same time, Mathes has been calling on businesses in Ulster County for businesses he has been promoting, namely, United Realty Management Group and Mathes Public Affairs.  He is rarely seen in the legislative office.

4       (4) Bernardo hired Lisa Mance, an inexperienced employee, to replace Nettie Tomshaw, an experienced employee with competent ratings, whom Bernardo fired without cause.  

5       (5) Bernardo hired Frank Reggero as a budget analyst, a job for which he has no relevant experience. Yess indicates that Reggero’s role is not budgeting, but rather driving Bernardo to political meetings. 

      (6) While Karen Binder, the legislative clerk, was being treated for stage four cancer, Bernardo harassed her and questioned her use of comp time, to which she was entitled under the terms of her employment agreement, to visit doctors.   Binder died recently. 

7       (7) Because of the unproductive atmosphere in the GOP county legislature staff offices, another experienced legislative employee, Tammy Wilson, found an alternative job within the county.  Legislative Clerk Karen Spinozzi retired; when Bernardi realized that she couldn't function without Spinozzi, she asked her to return, but Spinozzi refused.

I e-mailed Bernardo, Rascoe, and Chapman these allegations and asked for an interview or a written response.  I also asked the Mocking Robin site (via the vetted comments board on their site) to do so.  None has responded. 

Mitchell Langbert is associate professor at Brooklyn College and political editor of The Lincoln Eagle.

Ulster County's Liberty Coalition

I just received this e-mail from Robin Yess, former Ulster County Republican Committee chair.  The Town of Olive has proposed a town plan that seems to have been ICLEI-inspired, but no one can trace the reasons why the particular consultant who wrote the plan was hired.  In any case, Olive is so corrupt that there is little chance of the plan not being pushed through.  It is good that Robin Yess is pushing for some pro-freedom candidates. Let us hope and pray that she is successful.  Given New York's moral and economic deterioration literally over more than a century, it does not seem likely.   With deteriorating real estate prices, by the time I retire a move to a southwestern state will probably be easy to accomplish.  Why on earth would anyone want to live in New York? 

TO: Friends and Supporters of Republican Party Principles

RINOs AMONG US

Three months ago I resigned my post as Ulster County Republican Committee Chair after deciding that fighting a battle with people who don’t support the same principles I do is a battle not worth fighting. After four years, I realized there are too many RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) among us, who make it difficult to make any headway.

Two core principles of the Republican Party are smaller government and lower taxes. When a handful of elected Republican Legislators are supporting policy that goes against these two core principles they are not Republicans, but are RINOs.  When Republican Town Chairmen support continuation or expansion of government (aka build a new Golden Hill Health Care Center), they are RINOs. When an elected Republican Legislator stands in front of the County Office Building carrying a CSEA sign in support of “building new,” there are RINOs among us. When an elected Republican Legislator speaks at a local Tea Party meeting in favor of building new, but fails to disclose that his mother-in-law is a current resident at Golden Hill, we have a RINO on our team. When two Town Boards – one with Republicans in the majority – pass memorializing resolutions in support of keeping a County-run nursing home, we are surrounded by RINOs and are about to get the horn.

I have asked numerous “build new” supporters to show me the numbers. Nothing makes things more painfully clear than a nice Excel spreadsheet. Show me that it’s not going to increase our tax liability, raise our debt burden or require more of a county subsidy and if they can show me that, then I’m on board. No surprise that no one has provided me with those numbers yet. Besides the numbers, there is just no reason for any government to be in the nursing home business. Period.

LIBERTY COALITION

The Liberty Coalition was formed several months ago as a means to help candidates running for elected office at the local, county and state levels who are solid supporters of core Republican principles. While there have been many rumors about this group, we all believe that any Republican who supports continuing a County-run nursing home has lost sight of the Republican philosophy of smaller government and lower/lesser taxes. In the coming months, the Liberty Coalition will register as a PAC (political action committee) to help candidates win and, in some cases, help their opponents lose. We will provide candidates assistance with the help of our experienced team, financial support and volunteers for door-to-door and other efforts. This year we will have a presence in a number of countywide races.

The Liberty Coalition’s advisory team consists of David VanBenschoten, Jon Dogar Marinesco, Pam Odell, Vivian Wadlin, Mitchell Langbert and Robin Vaccai Yess. We hope you will join us and if you would like to, please reply to this email.

POLITICAL DEALS ABOUND

The rumor that Roger Rascoe, new Republican County Chairman, pushed a deal to support longtime Legislator Rich Parete (Democrat) to run on the Republican line in Marbletown is true. Rich, who plays cards with Independence Party Chair Len Bernardo and who will no doubt support Len’s wife Terry Bernardo to become the next Chair of the Legislature (also heard on the street), won the support of his Party and will run on both the Democrat and Republican lines because of Roger’s deal. (Call the Board of Elections to confirm. I did.) I have nothing against Rich Parete personally, but what do the Republicans stand for when they make a deal to support a long-time Democrat legislator whose father (also running for Legislature) is the former Democrat Party County Chairman?

Haven’t we learned that holding the Republican Majority doesn’t mean anything when the elected Republicans don’t behave or vote like Republicans?

The Bernardos, who failed, but worked diligently behind the scenes to oust current Legislature Chairman Fred Wadnola at the beginning of this year, have already been working the angles to secure the votes for Legislature Chair for Terry, a first-time Legislator who – two years ago – won in a fixed election that she was guaranteed to win. No shock that this didn’t sit well with many residents of the Towns of Rochester and Wawarsing, many of whom have not forgotten this infringement on their rights to choose and elect their Legislators. But let’s not start counting votes for Chair just yet. It’s no secret that Terry has a challenger for her Legislative seat and now after being bumped off the Conservative line, she must first win in the primary election. Manuela Michailescu, finishing her first four-year term as Town of Rochester Councilwoman, is also running for County Legislature in District 2.

In 2009, Manuela was the highest vote-getter in the Town of Rochester in the Republican Primary for Legislature. In the general election she won the Republican line by 415 votes, winning in all 18 local districts of the former Ulster County District 1 (Rochester, Wawarsing and Marbletown). This year without a rigged race, the voters will decide and may the best candidate win.

NEW LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS AND REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES

There will be Republican primaries for County Legislature in at least three Legislative Districts. This is a good thing.

Legislative District 1 (Saugerties) – Terrence Valk and Mary Wawro

Legislative District 2 (Saugerties) – Walter Frey against Bob Aiello

Legislative District 21 (Rochester) – Manuela Michailescu against Terry Bernardo

In these races, the Liberty Coalition supports Walter Frey in District 2 and Manuela Michaeilescu in District 21. We currently have no position in the District 1 race.

Legislator Frey, serving in his first-time, serves at the Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee.

NOTE: Legislator Belfiglio filed an objection to Legislator Laura Petit’s Republican petitions for District 8. I guess Belfiglio thinks that writing in a PO Box in addition to an already printed registered address (as recorded with the Board of Elections) on a Designating Petition is cause enough to have Petit’s petition signatures to run on the Republican line tossed out. Or could it be that Belfiglio realizes he will lose? An appeal on this matter is pending. The Liberty Coalition supports Laura Petit in District 8.

INDEPENDENCE PARTY OR MISLEAD INDEPENDENTS?

The Independence Party in Ulster County has approximately 5,000 voters registered in their Party. Unfortunately, approximately one-third of them think they are not registered in any Party. The small size of the Independence Party, when considering the total County population of approximately 185,000, does not stop Party leaders from exerting undue influence over elections and candidates. It is no secret that appointed Chair Len Bernardo (not elected by the Party) threatens to withhold Independence Party support from any candidate or incumbent who doesn’t do as he asks. I am told that at a recent meeting of the Saugerties Republican Committee Bernardo strongly encouraged the committee to support a certain Legislator and suggested if they didn’t that no Town candidate would receive the IND line. I doubt the Independence Party members are aware of this.

There will be more to come in the weeks and months ahead and please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think is interested. My email list is blind for obvious reasons, but I assure you it’s large. Soon we will be launching the Liberty Coalition website and a self-subscribe email list. Stay tuned.

Robin Vaccai Yess for:

Catalano Resigns as Chair of Ulster County GOP

Robin Yess just forwarded this e-mail to me.  Mario Catalano's resignation as chair of the Ulster County GOP opens a race for county chair to Robin, a liberty-oriented Republican, and Roger Rascoe, a retired corrections officer whose wife works for State Senator Bonacic.

From: ...@aol.com [mailto:...@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 9:36 PM
To: ...com; ...@hvi.net; ...@hvc.rr.comp
Subject: Re: County Reorganizational Meeting

Dear Republicans, the county reorganizational  meeting will be held Thursday September 16th this year. In compliance with the new bylaws, voting for the next chairman will be conducted using a weighted vote for the first time. As we successfully accomplished the selection of our Comptroller candidate using this method, I feel confident in our ability to get it done again.

I am also writing to inform you that I will not be seeking re-election as County Chair. When I originally sought the position, I made it clear that I would serve for 3 to 5 years and then pass the gavel to someone else. This September will be 3 years, and so it is time to move on.

I do not believe that anyone should serve a long term as chair, as I firmly believe that it is important to the party to have a continuous flow of "new blood" to make sure that we remain energized. I would encourage you all to ask each of the candidates how they feel about that.

I also wish to thank each and every one of you for your assistance during these past 3 years. I believe the party is rebounding from years of apathy and neglect. This is evidenced by our winning two county wide races for open seats in the District Attorney's office and County Judge race. We also overwhelmingly re-elected our County Clerk last year. Even in the Obama Tsunami, we almost pulled out a win in the Comptrollers race.  On top of that, when I became chairman, we were a 12-21 minority in the legislature. In 3 years we  now have a 18-15 majority.To all of you who assisted in these efforts I say well done.

One final note. A letter will be going out to each committee person shortly. As leaders, I am giving each of you a "heads up", so you will not be caught off guard.

Finally, I will pledge my support to whomever you select to secede me. I will continue to work to elect Republicans, and will be available to help each and everyone of you should you require my assistance.

May God Bless America, and all of you,

Mario T Catalano

Chairman

Ulster County Republican Committee