Showing posts with label town of olive republican committee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label town of olive republican committee. Show all posts

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Chair of Town of Olive Republican Committee

I am going to be chair of the Town of Olive Republican Committee this coming year.  As a result, I will also be on the Ulster County Republican Committee's executive board.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Town of Olive Republican

I wrote up the first issue of a newsletter for the Town of Olive Republican Committee last night. Here it is in its entirety. Please feel free to offer suggestions or comments.


As a Republican living in the Town of Olive you may be wondering where the Committee has been all these years. It has been intermittently active because of the dominance of the Democrats here. However, several opportunities are opening up. First, the GOP won the county legislature this past year. Second, the Democrats’ self-destructive policies are causing economic decline. The Obama administration has proven itself fiscally irresponsible. Since 1990 Ulster County’s employment has grown at nearly a zero rate. During the same period the nation’s rate of employment has grown 20 percent. The difference is due to the Democrats’ high taxes and heavy handed regulation. Rather than step back and assess the Democrats’ failure here, Congressman Hinchey advocates adding more job-killing environmental regulation, a federal park that will cripple the region’s economy.


Interview with Chet Scofield, Town Republican Chair


Chet Scofield, chairman of the Town of Olive Republican Committee, is a lifelong resident of Olive and owner of Snyder’s Tavern on 28A. He graduated from Onteora High School in 1964 and worked for Rotron and then as an engineer with Ulster County’s Highway Department from 1977 to 2002. He became involved with politics in 2002, when he ran for Highway Superintendant. I cornered Chet during a slow moment at Snyder’s.

Langbert: What got you into politics, Chet?

Scofield: I wasn’t satisfied with the way things were going. I ran for highway superintendant in 2001. I joined the committee at the same time. I wanted a voice as to what was going on in politics. There was some disorganization in those years and the committee has had trouble getting off the ground. The committee was functioning sporadically between 2002 and 2008. We havent run a full slate of candidates in years and we are looking for candidates.

L: What is the role of the Town of Olive Republican Committee?

S: To find and promote viable Town candidates and to work with the County chair in supporting county, state and national level candidates.

L: What have been the problems in finding Republican candidates here in Olive?

S: It hasn’t been easy. The Democrats are dominant here because a sizable number have moved here from New York City. But independents are now the chief force and outnumber both the Democrats and Republicans (note: independents are NOT affiliated with the Independence Party; rather, independents have no party or are not of party, NOP. They represent close to 40 percent of the vote in Olive).

L: How would you describe your political views?

S: Pretty conservative. I dislike taxes. They are a necessary evil but by and large they are overdone.

L: What’s your opinion of Roe v. Wade?

S: Personally, I am not in favor of abortion. But I’m not rigid. I don’t know how I would feel about a candidate who met all of my other criteria as to favoring smaller government but also favored abortion.

L: Should abortion be illegal?

S: Other than for rape, I think it should.

L: What’s your position on the federal deficit?

S: The federal government should stop spending, repeal the health care law and let the private sector create jobs without interference.

L: What is our strategy for rebuilding the Olive GOP?

S: I hope to build a bigger group. We need to collect more people. We need members and ideas. We need to expose the waste in the Olive Town government to bring independents to our way of thinking. According to a reliable Town source Onteora is spending $31,000 per student. In comparison, the national average is $10,259.

L: How open are you to finding new blood to serve on the committee and to run for Town office?

S: Very.

L: Thank you very much, Chet.


Interview with Robin Yess, Executive Director, Ulster County Republican Committee


I met with Robin Yess at her professional office in uptown Kingston. Robin grew up in Dutchess County. She moved to Esopus in 1979. She graduated from New Paltz High School in 1982. She attended Empire State College in the 1990s and is two English credits away from her degree. She also attended the College for Financial Planning from which she obtained a Certified Financial Planning degree. She has passed the prestigious Certified Financial Planning (CFP) certification examination. She is a self-employed financial planner and a divorce financial analyst.


Langbert: What got you into politics, Robin?

Yess: Taxes. Seeing a trend with my clients. Seeing them leave Ulster County because of high taxes and fiscal mismanagement. This was back in 2004. I’ve been involved with the Ulster County Republican Committee since 2007.

L: You ran for Assembly in 2008. Are you thinking of running again?

Y: My skills and abilities are better suited to working within the GOP. It’s even more my calling than being a financial planner, which I’m very good at. I love politics.

L: What do you see as the role of town committees such as the Town of Olive Republican Committee?

Y: There are four areas that are critical. The most important is carrying petitions. Carrying petitions is the most important thing a committee person does. As well, the Town Committee needs to recruit candidates for local offices. Third, the committee needs to work with the county committee to serve as a conduit to the town, in your case the Town of Olive. Fourth, fundraising is important too.

L: What are ways that committees fund raise?

Y: They hold events; barbecues; field trips. There should be a regular schedule of events

L. What do you need to do to get onto the Town Committee?

Y: You need to carry petitions.

L: How many signatures do you need to get?

Y: Five percent of the registered Republicans in the district.

L: When I was petitioning in Olivebridge this year, many Republicans refused to sign petitions. Is that normal?

Y: It’s odd. You need to explain that that’s how candidates get on the ballot. If they don’t sign, there is no two-party system.


L: What is your vision for the Ulster County Committee for the next 5-10 years?

Y: Filling the Ulster County Committee (raising a full committee for every town). There are twenty towns in Ulster County plus the City of Kingston. That’s 21 committees. If the Ulster County committee was full we’d have 328 people but currently we have 179, about 55%. My goal is to get to work filling the seats on the Town Committees.

L: How many are on the Town of Olive Committee?

Y: Two out of 10 seats are filled.

L: How does the GOP determine the number of seats in each town?

Y: It’s based on population. The City of Kingston has 54 while the Town of Kingston has two. Saugerties has 32. But the towns’ votes are weighted by their Republican vote. The City of Kingston has 1446 weighted votes while Saugerties has 1834 weighted votes because their Republican vote is better. Working committee people can increase their town’s voice.

L: What rewards can a committee person expect?

Y: There’s no financial reward. People who want change, who want to support Republican candidates, who want to contribute to the nation’s future, who want smaller government and less taxes have reasons to get involved.

L: Whom do you support for governor?

Y: Whom do I support or who is going to win? Paladino has a better shot. As a taxpayer, I think Paladino is better. Cuomo is too connected politically as a career politician. Lazio is recycled. We need new people. Republicans have sometimes had tunnel vision. The question that should have been asked before the state convention nominated Lazio is “Can Lazio win?” You can’t run for office if you’re lining your pockets as a lobbyist.

L: How would you describe your political views?

Y: I lean toward the libertarian side. I’m a strong fiscal conservative. Smaller government. Less and fewer taxes. Government should not be involved with social issues like abortion. The GOP should not have a position on abortion. Government should not be involved with the marriage situation (gay marriage). I would like to see equal treatment for gays. As a financial planner I have seen gays mistreated. I am in favor of civil unions and believe that everyone should receive equal treatment. The national GOP platform no longer includes abortion. People should be free to worship, etc. as long as they are not harming anybody.

L: Thank you, Robin.


About the Newsletter Author


You may have seen my frequent letters to the Olive Press and my columns in the Lincoln Eagle, the Republican penny saver, which is distributed for free at Shokan Turf and Timber, Al Higgly’s fruit stand, Winchell’s, Russ’s Diner, Snyder’s Tavern, the Phoenicia diner, and the Boiceville gas station. I grew up in New York City. While I was in high school I developed an interest in libertarian politics. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College I worked for the International Nickel Company (now Vale-Inco) and became involved with the Libertarian Party. Libertarians believe in limited government and low taxes. In the 1980s I worked for Johnson and Johnson and City Federal Savings and Loan in employee benefit administration. Between 1976 and 1979 I earned an MBA in insurance at night at the College of Insurance (now St. John’s University School of Risk and Insurance). Then, I attended the UCLA Graduate School of Management, where I obtained an MBA in general management. In 1986 I attended the Columbia Business School, where I earned a Ph.D. in labor relations in 1991. In 1990 I became a Democrat to work on the Carol Bellamy for Comptroller campaign. Although Bellamy lost, I was appointed to the staff of the ways and means committee of the New York State Assembly, where I worked as a Democrat during 1991. Because I released a memorandum advocating cost reduction for Medicaid, I was fired, becoming the only Democratic ways and means staffer to be fired during the previous 25 years. The same year I was appointed to the business faculty of Clarkson University in northern New York, and from then on I have been a registered Republican. I also have taught at Iona College, Dowling College, Troy State University and New York University. I am currently a tenured professor at Brooklyn College, a campus of the City University of New York. I became active in politics again in 2006 and have worked with Candace de Russy, former SUNY trustee, and the National Association of Scholars. My blog, “Mitchell Langbert’s Blog” at http://www.mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com, has had over 230,000 independent visits since March 2008. As well, I have published in such journals as the Journal of Economic Issues, Journal of Labor Research, Academy of Management Learning and Education Journal, Benefits Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics/Journal of Value-Based Management, the New York Sun, the Times Herald Record, the Yale Economic Review and the Cornell Human Resource management Review. I write a monthly column for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Career Insider Newsletter. Recently, the Canadian Broadcasting Company interviewed me concerning a strike at Vale Inco. I have appeared on NPR, New York One, the Fox Morning Show, CBS radio, and WOR TV. I am married and have lived in West Shokan since 1997, full time since 2009. I joined the Committee in 2009. My first acquaintance with Olive was in 1964, when I was a camper at Camp Hurley in Olivebridge.

Please detach here


Name________________________________________________


Phone number_________________________________________


E-mail_______________________________________________


I would like to


________Serve on the Republican Committee ________Contribute financially



________Run for Office ________Get involved



Please return to Mitchell Langbert, PO Box 130, West Shokan, NY 12494; Or send an e-mail to MLangbert@HVC.RR.com

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Johansen Alleges Town Democrats Violated His First Amendment Rights

Last fall, Chris Johansen, chair of the Town of Olive Conservative Party, raised the issue of the Town of Olive's subsidization of the Town Democratic Party Committee. The Town covered various costs of the Democratic Party fundraiser. As well, Johansen's Conservative Party backed the Republican rather than the Democratic Party candidate for the first time in many years.

I just received this message from Chris (also, h/t Glenda McGee) alleging that the Town building inspector, John Ingram, said that he was initiating an enforcement action against Chris in retaliation for Chris's complaints about the illegal Town subsidies to the Democratic Party:

>Well folks if you think you can poke the Emperor in the eye and get away with it you are wrong. Today the towns code enforcement officer ( John Ingram ) proved he wants to get down on his belly and slither in the slime with the rest of those toothless snakes. He advised me that he was starting a enforcement action against my wife's (Cindy's) business because ( "if you going to point the finger you first have to be clean yourself." )

>He must be alluding to Cindy's writing in the press or my complaint about the town of Olive supporting the Olive Dem. party.

>I've always felt the best defense is a good offence so they now have stomping my feet, they want to watch that some snakes don't get crushed.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Town of Olive Bank Statements, 9-30-09

Through a freedom of information law request I obtained the Town of Olive's bank statements. I had written the request about six weeks before the election in early November and Sylvia Rozelle, the Town Clerk, handed me the statements about 10 days after the election.

Notice that taxes are collected in January, so about 9 of 12 months or 75% of the year had gone by when these balances occurred. With a quarter of the year left, the Town had the following balances:

$1,044,475.38
880,511.51
393,626.14
115,170.24
201,267.64
4,758.24
-----------
$2,441,541.51

The 2000 Census found that the Town of Olive had a population of 4,579, according to Wikipedia. Thus, the Town had about $533 for every man, woman and child. That's probably more than many could afford to save because of all the taxes that they're paying to the Town. Total spending is about $4.3 million, according to the Olive Press so the cash balance is 2.4/4.3 = 55.8% of spending when 25% of the year was left. Nevertheless, the Democratic Party chose to raise taxes by over 6%.













Thursday, November 19, 2009

Olive Day Exposed

The Olive Press just published my letter:

Dear Editor,
Ternice Winne cannot understand how the Town of Olive Democratic Committee's illegal receipt of in-kind benefits from the Town of Olive might possibly be a campaign issue. Likewise, she cannot understand how the Democratic Committee's failure to report receipt of these benefits to the New York State Board of Elections might be considered to be improper. As well, she cannot understand how a fundraiser on behalf of the Democrats might be construed as partisan. It seems that the Olive Democrats have been stealing for so long that the Democratic partisans have concluded that stealing is moral.
A public service is one that is not for profit. The Olive Democrats use a public park, do not pay their fair share, and pocket the proceeds. A butcher performs a service when he sells meat, but his business is a for-profit business because he pockets the proceeds. Likewise, the Democrats might put on an entertaining fundraiser (one that crowds my block and one that I have never attended) but they pocket the proceeds.
Olive Day is a partisan fundraiser for the Democratic Committee. We Republicans should not be forced to subsidize a partisan event, and forcing us to do so is corrupt.
Nationally, the Democrats have shown that their moral leadership has offices in the Goldman Sachs building on 85 Broad. The corruption of the Barack Obama administration is greater than that associated with Jay Gould, John D. Rockefeller, Willie Durant, the Teapot Dome Scandal, insider trading during the 1920s, Richard M. Nixon and Enron combined and multiplied by 20. Obama's four trillion dollar bailout of his bosses on 85 Broad reminds us that the Democrats have always had but one chief concern: Wall Street.
While at the national level we watch the Democrats suck the nation dry with the most corrupt presidential administration in the nation's history, at the local level we read Ms. Winne's claim that a partisan event involving illegal public subsidy of a partisan entity is not partisan because people she knows benefit from it.
Can Democrats do anything but steal?
Mitchell Langbert, PH.D.
West Shokan, NY

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Johansen Calls Olive Reporting The Pits

I just received this e-mail from Town of Olive Conservative Party chairman Chris Johansen. Paul Smart is the editor of the Town penny saver, the Olive Press.

>Dear Paul:

I was not real happy with the results of this last election but I think we accomplished something and I had a lot of fun. One thing that I wasn't at all happy with was the complete lack of reporting on town meetings. I don't know why a town paper can't have a reporter covering town meetings especially budget meetings. I don't think Gary will report a meeting unless something of personal interest to him is on the agenda.

Paul if you cant get someone to regularly cover our town meetings a couple of us are going to start a town newspaper at least for now on the Internet. I am interested in your thoughts on this please get back to me.

Chris.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Republicans Liberate Ulster County!

I just received the following great news from Robin Vaccai Yess.

>"Good morning everyone. It was a great (and late) night last night. I just wanted to thank all of our Candidates, our Town Chairs and all of our Committees for their efforts this election year. While we were not successful in every race, winning both countywide races with Nina* and Don** AND winning a majority (18 – 15) in the Ulster County Legislature (unseating several incumbent Democrats in the process) speaks volumes. In local elections, our Republican candidates were successful in many towns across the county and we should congratulate them as well. Thank you all for your hard work and congratulations to all of our newly elected Republican officials! Enjoy the day."

Viewed in this light, our loss in the Town of Olive doesn't seem so bad. First off, we haven't had any candidate at all for a number of election cycles, and 44% at a first stab is not bad. The Keystone cops in the Democratic-Party-Town-of-Olive- Waste-and-Spend Sanitarium have gone from 0% to 44% opposition. With a newly won Republican County legislature, Mario Catalano and Robin Yess have much about which to be proud.

*Nina Postupack, Ulster County Clerk
**Donald Williams, Ulster County Court Judge