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.

Robin Yess to Ulster County Legislature: Why No Action on Golden Hill?

TO: Ulster County Legislators

Good evening. Sorry to say – it’s me again.

While I am aware that many of you were not members of the Legislature when the attached report was presented, a fair share of you were. Whether you were or you weren’t, I suggest that you read the attached report and meeting minutes.

In the spring of 2007, Chairman of the Legislature Dave Donaldson authorized the formation of the Blue Ribbon Health Care Services Advisory Panel to address the issues surrounding Golden Hill Health Care Center, a county-run nursing home.  A group of volunteer citizens including Steve Kelley, Anthony Marmo, Francoise Dunefsky, and Peter Roberts spent more than a year researching the solutions for Golden Hill Health Care Center and submitted a written report in July 2008 and formally presented it to the Health Services committee in September 2008. Their findings after more than a year of work suggested first that “The Committee recommends transfer of the 280 nursing home beds at Golden Hill from County ownership to private ownership.”

Also in the Executive Summary of the report dated July 2008 – “Timely consideration by the Legislature will ensure an orderly transition from an outdated facility in need of major costly repair and requiring annual taxpayer subsidies, to new state of the art facilities with the same total bed component, providing better geographic access, without additional cost to taxpayers.”

So I must ask what did the Democrat-controlled Legislature do with this report that took a year of meetings and volunteer time to pull together? Could it be that because the report recommended privatization that Chairman Donaldson and Health Services Committee Chair Rob Parete decided the best course of action is no action at all because too many union jobs exist at Golden Hill? From July 2008 when the report was released until the end of the Legislative session in December of 2009 no action at all was taken.

So now here we are more than three years after this report was submitted and more than four years after the Committee first met and we are no further ahead. You have made no decisions, made no plan for repairs, and made no plan for reducing the taxpayer subsidy.

I would like to ask every Legislator who was serving during the 2008/2009 term and who continues to serve today and all current Legislators  – what do you intend to do to address the problems outlined in this report and the subsequent report from November 2010 titled the Ulster County Golden Hill Special Task Force Report?

What are you going to do now besides vote on a nonsense resolution (#197) that makes only a statement about keeping Golden Hill, but does nothing to address any of the problems?

Read the reports and please, make some decisions that result in taking action!

Robin Vaccai Yess, CFP

CERTIFIED DIVORCE FINANCIAL ANALYST

Fee-Only Financial Consulting

181 Church Street, Suite 101

Poughkeepsie NY 12601

(845) 471-0764

www.robinyess.com

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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:

The Ulster County Republicans in a Can't-Do America

I just submitted this piece to The Lincoln Eagle. 

The Ulster County Republicans in a Can't-Do America

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.*

On May 13, Robin Yess resigned from her position of chair of the Ulster County Republican Committee.  In an e-mail that she sent to the county's executive committee, which is comprised of the chairs of the town Republican committees, she wrote that the good 'ol boys' network, the GOB, is the problem with the GOP.  In particular, Yess cited five unnamed GOP county legislators who intend to vote in favor of the $80 to $100 million Golden Hill Health Care facility that will provide senior care to only one percent of Ulster County's seniors, many of whom are related to political officials and the county's wealthiest segment. The facility will cost each Ulster County taxpaying household more than $1,000, not counting interest on the loan, which could cost you another $1,000.  Yess wrote that she believes in limited government and lower taxes.  In her view support for the facility among GOP legislators is inconsistent with the GOP's principles.

               
Yess's resignation was accompanied by the usual political infighting.  But the principle ought to be of interest to anyone concerned with America's future.   Both Democrats and Republicans in Ulster County are committed to spending $100 million (not counting interest on the loan, which could amount to another $100 million) after twenty years of Ulster County's growth being one third of the national average.  New York is experiencing an exodus of young and hardworking taxpayers because of liberal taxation, and neither party senses a problem. 

              
The Golden Hill facility is an example of the age-old American phenomenon of special interest politics.  Both parties have pet causes. The Democrats have George Soros, the Trial Lawyers Association, the National Lawyers' Guild, and NYSUT, while the Republicans have Halliburton.  So it is at the county level.  Both parties have friends in the construction industry, in labor unions, and in the grant seeking business.

Both the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center--the county jail--and the Golden Hill facility benefit special interests.  Making matters worse is the absence of a serious press or media (other than The Lincoln Eagle) that employ journalists who are capable of analysis without ideology or being embedded in the special interests concerning which they are supposed to be reporting. 

Back in the day of the Second Bank of the United States, the precursor of today's Federal Reserve Bank, Whig politicians were on the Bank's payroll until Andrew Jackson, the equivalent of today's Ron Paul, abolished the bank and set the stage for the greatest economic expansion in world history.  After the Civil War, Standard Oil captured a number of state legislators, much as Bruce Ratner and The New York Times recently utilized New York State's Empire State Development Corporation to evict law-abiding property owners for Ratner's and The Times's benefit.

In the 19th century the nation's shared belief in limited government restrained lobbying.  Because Americans believed in limited government, corrupt city governments in places like New York and Minneapolis, and the corrupt federal government, could do limited damage. In those days the corruption in New York was due to the Democrats, but the corruption in the federal customs houses was due to Republicans.

The limits on corruption changed with Theodore Roosevelt's election in 1904.  TR, a Republican, strongly believed in expansion of government. Many of his ideas were copied during the 1930s and later.  TR was brighter than his more famous cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  By the 1930s both parties had adopted variants of the Progressivism that TR had adapted from Herbert Croly's Promise of American Life.  The GOP, inspired by President William Howard Taft, whom TR detested after Taft's first term, favored less regulation and opposed welfare; the Democrats, inspired by FDR, favored more regulation and a greater degree of help to the poor.  Both parties favored subsidies to the wealthy. On balance, the Democrats favored greater subsidies to both the very poor and the very rich than did Republicans, but it is difficult to generalize. Both parties changed from their Jacksonian origins to the Progressivism of Roosevelt, Taft and Woodrow Wilson.

Americans who still believe in the ideas that built America--limited government, hard work, innovation and individualism--have no representative in Ulster County, in New York State, or nationally.  The Republicans and Democrats are both Progressive.  That is, Yess is only half right about Republican principles.  The liberty Republicans, led by Ron Paul and former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, are one remnant of the Jacksonian Democrats.  The rest of the GOP is comprised of Progressives and, perhaps more commonly, self-interested hacks.  There is a smaller remnant of Jacksonian Democrats within a Democratic Party which is dominated by left-wing Progressives and, just like the Republicans, self-interested hacks.

Until recently, Americans could afford to be complacent. Politicians are politicians, many have reasoned, and you can't fight city hall. But politics has become intrusive; government is ending the American way of life.  Unless the silent majority begins to take an interest, America as you once knew it will end.

The Constitution does not have a word to say about political parties, but most Americans feel that they need to vote for either Democrats or Republicans.  After all, a third party might be radical and do strange and unexpected, extremist things. For example a third party might:

-Start three wars at a time
-Quintuple the nation's money supply and hand the printed money to commercial banks and stock brokers
-Legalize unconstitutional searches and seizures
-Borrow nearly a trillion dollars and give it out to politically connected friends

-Replace the education system with an ideologically driven, politically correct indoctrination system that does not teach writing

-Propose a cap and trade law (and UN Agenda 21 under George H. Bush) that would force you to move out of your home
-Declare morality to be dead and then claim that on moral grounds they have the right to tell Americans what to eat.

Wait, that's what the Democrats and the Republicans have been doing, most of all Barack H. Obama but also George H. and George W. Bush.  So Yess is wrong. We cannot expect the Republicans to think or act like Americans. The GOP is a big government Progressive Party just like the Democrats.  Do Americans want more government and economic death, or to rise to Yess's call for integrity within both parties or a third party? So far, the results are bleak.  Unlike their ancestors, today's America has declined so much that it is now a can’t-do nation.  

*Mitchell Langbert teaches at Brooklyn College. He blogs at http://www.mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com

Message to Ulster County GOP Re Yess Resignation

Speaking as an outsider and someone with a long history of pro-freedom activism, I would like to ask everyone on the executive committee, what does the GOP in Ulster County now have to offer people who believe in limited government and individual liberty?  By failing to oppose the Golden Hill home, is the GOP here in Ulster County the Democrats’ servile “me too” party? Has the current county legislature reduced spending and taxes-- or is it in the Progressive-Party-pretending-to-be-a-limited-government-party excuse-invention business?  Is there a reason why I should spend my time raising money or collecting signatures for a party whose majority cannot refrain from spending $80 million on a boondoggle like Golden Hill?  What is the GOP doing to actualize the ideas of Thomas Jefferson rather than Progressive-cum-socialist Theodore Roosevelt? Can someone clue me in?  

Mitchell Langbert    

Robin Yess Resigns as Ulster County GOP Chair

I just received Robin Yess's resignation as chair of the Ulster County Republican Committee.  With Robin gone, the Ulster County Republican Committee is a force for bigger government.  Yess writes that five GOP legislators plan to support the Golden Hill nursing home, a boondoggle that will cost Ulster County taxpayers $80 million.  Yess's argument is that the GOP is really the GOB--the Good 'Ol Boys Party.  It seems to me that what has happened in the Ulster County GOP is very much what is going to be happening all over the country.  As insurgents like Yess start to realize the impossibility of reforming the GOP, increasing numbers of Republicans will disassociate themselves from it.  Tea Party activists who believe that the GOP is less socialistic than the Dems are delusional.  The next presidential election year is going to see a boom in third parties, especially if a big government advocate wins the GOP's presidential nod. 

To: All Town Chairs

Please share with your committees, but in the event you don’t, a hard copy is going to the entire County Committee in tomorrow’s mail along with some other documents of interest.

Since the Fall of 2007, I have been actively involved in the County Committee and obviously the Republican Party in Ulster County. Since being elected as Chair last September, I have continued to work hard and have tried to move things forward in a positive direction. At every turn there are those who work against my efforts or do nothing but complain. It’s not everyone, but it’s enough.

There are a lot of problems with politics and political parties, but the ‘GOB’ is the biggest problem for the GOP. The GOB being the ‘Good Old Boys’. Since my election as Chair I have witnessed some outrageous things and heard some shocking things, but I guess it’s expected. What isn’t expected is Elected Republican Officials who don’t stand up for Republican Party platform and principles. What I am talking about is, of course, Golden Hill Health Care Center. In my opinion, there shouldn’t be any discussion or consideration amongst Republican Legislators as to our stance on this issue. My position – and I believe the position of most true Republicans – is that government has no business being in a business that can be run by the private sector. Period. However, we have some Legislators (I now refer to them as “The Golden Hill Five”) who believe that the County should not only continue to run a nursing home, but that we should spend and borrow upwards of $80 to $100 million to make that happen. All for 280 beds. There is no way that taking on this kind of debt or even half that amount will not increase our taxes. And anyone who believes that we will receive an influx of cash from the State to help fund this project, given the financial times we’re in, is a fool.

I am a Republican because I support limited and smaller government, and certainly less and fewer taxes. It seems that the GOB are always fighting me, working behind the scenes going out of their way to make me look bad, diminish my authority or make my efforts fail. When five out of eighteen Republican legislators support continuing a County Run nursing home, more debt and more spending, we, as a Party, have a serious problem. The Golden Hill dilemma is a serious issue for me. I suppose I have come to realize that I am wasting my time working to support a Party that clearly does not share the same principles and values as I do. When a former County Republican Chairman speaks at the Republican Caucus on 4/12/11 and promotes the idea of continuing a county run nursing home, we have a problem. When five of our Republican legislators want to vote in favor of building a new nursing home, spending money we don’t have and imminently raising taxes, we have a problem. I have worked very hard to support Republican Party principles, which is what I thought we were all working toward, but clearly that’s not the case...

....I am resigning as Chairman of the Ulster County Republican Committee effective immediately, and no, I am not interested in assuming any other role. My four years of volunteer service conclude today. As First Vice Chair, David Van Benschoten will conduct the nominating convention on June 2^nd unless he declines to do so. This evening I returned all documents in my possession to Republican Headquarters. Over the weekend, I will deliver an envelope to Secretary Jacobsen that will include some important information, passwords and my keys, and the checkbooks will be delivered to Treasurer Berenda. I will submit all ads for the dinner journal to PDQ Printing tomorrow so they can get ready for printing and will leave all dinner related documents with Patty Jacobsen.

I suggest that the ousters get to work right away to show how they can make things happen so that when Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb shows up to speak at the dinner, he’s got a good crowd to address. Good luck and to those of you who have supported my efforts, I thank you with all my heart. I will always be available to help true Republicans and you know who you are.

Disharmonic GOP Orchestrates Golden Hill Street Blues

The following appears in the current issue of Kingston, NY's Lincoln Eagle, circulation 18,000. 

Disharmonic GOP Orchestrates Golden Hill Street Blues

Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.*

The Ulster County Legislature is about to debate the fate of the Golden Hill Health Care Center, Ulster County's publicly owned senior facility.  While the Republicans are the majority party in the county legislature, disharmony within the GOP makes a big government, Democratic Party-style decision more likely than it ought to be.  As a result, future Ulster County taxpayers are likely to be singing the Golden Hill Street Blues at an out of pocket cost of $200 per household per year, and more after 2015.  The capital cost of a new Golden Hill facility will be taxed to each Ulster County household at roughly $1,000.  A private facility would cost you much less than the $1,000 and would provide comparable service.

On the side of efficiency and economic progress is Ulster County GOP chair Robin Yess.  On the side of spending and high taxes is Republican Dean J. Fabiano, Ulster County Legislator from Saugerties.  Walter Frey, also a GOP legislator from Saugerties, marshals factual evidence to show that a private sector firm would be better and more cost effective at managing the Golden Hill facility than Ulster County is. Although he remains uncommitted as to his ultimate vote, Frey notes that he does not support higher taxes to Ulster County's residents.   In contrast, Fabiano and former GOP chair Mario Catalano argue that Medicaid costs may weigh in favor of the existing facility. But Frey produces tomes of evidence that show that costs will be higher with a public facility. If Frey is right, you will pay.

The Golden Hill facility is one of seven senior facilities that adequately address the need for nursing home services in Ulster County.   Six of the seven are privately run facilities that turn a profit and do not receive direct county support.  Since 2002 Golden Hill, the only public sector facility has run an increasing taxpayer-funded deficit.   According to a special task force report presented to the Ulster County Legislature on November 30, 2010, Golden Hill's 2011 budget deficit of between $5.2 and $8.3 million will escalate to between $9.0 and $14.7 million by 2015. With about 70,000 households in Ulster County, that's between $140 and $210 per household.  The report estimates capital costs of about $80 million, or $1,100 per household were the county to rehabilitate the existing structure, and of slightly over $1,000 to your household were the county to build a new facility from scratch. 

Like the Republicans, Democratic Party bigwigs are torn.  In a February 2, 2011 letter to Civil Service Employees Association Southern Region 3 President William Riccaldo, President Pilly Gonzalez of CSEA Local 746 in Ellenville argues that the Kingston CSEA local has been "irresponsible" in demanding that Golden Hill be the only county-run facility.  Gonzalez would like to see the Golden Hill facility split into two facilities, one associated with Ellenville Regional Hospital and one in Kingston.  As well, County Executive Mike Hein is a fiscal conservative.   Mostly, though, the Democrats, sensing a chance for excessive staffing levels, sing harmoniously for the Golden Hill facility, which Legislator Walter Frey calls "a golf course" for government bloat.  Democratic Legislator Jeanette Provenzano goes so far as to argue that Ulster County GOP chair Robin Yess ought to be denied freedom of speech to stop her from criticizing the Golden Hill new facility proposal.  Democratic Kingston legislators David B. Donaldson and Peter M. Loughran did not answer my requests for interviews concerning Golden Hill, nor did Fred Wadnola, a Republican from the

Town of Ulster who is rumored to be a Golden Hill supporter.

One of the most courageous political figures to appear since publication of John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, GOP sachem Robin Yess describes the Golden Hill facility as a symptom of Ulster County's swollen government. "Salary and benefit costs at Golden Hill are 34% higher than in the private sector," Yess told me in a telephone interview.  "What would be the plan to reduce the inefficiency?" she asked.  She added that the special committee has received eight bids, but six have been rejected. The remaining two are offers to buy the nursing home, which is only one of eight options that the legislature has considered.   Yess asks why the request for proposals by which the legislature has solicited bids has been secret.

Mario Catalano, former Ulster County GOP sachem, says that the legislature doesn't have enough information to make an intelligent decision. "One of the differences is that we get paid $192 from Medicaid, so it costs the county $47 per person.  Medicaid pays the average private operator $322. We pay a quarter."

Catalano points out that there are numerous confusing accounting issues surrounding Golden Hill. He says that Golden Hill transferred $2 million to the county's general fund; the county then transferred $4 million to Golden Hill.  Catalano adds that privatizing the facility might increase the percentage of Medicaid recipients."  Republican Legislator Walter Frey says that Catalano is wrong. "We’re required to pay the State $2 million up front for us to receive the $4 million they give for Golden Hill," he said.

I questioned Catalano as to whether his numbers include the $50 to $85 million in capital investment that the various reconstruction and new construction options require.  He e-mailed no, but that is an additional matter to investigate.  But the math doesn't seem hard.   Any differences in Medicaid reimbursement are small compared to the difference between spending $84 million on reconstructing the facility and receiving say $10 or $20 million from the sale of the facility and of the license to a private operator.

Saugerties Legislator Dean J. Fabiano goes further than Catalano. He says that he believes in less government, but, "When you consider disabled people I am more lenient. These are people who have paid their dues in life...I think it's the obligation of government to take care of people who can no longer take care of themselves. This is an issue where you have to put people before money." Fabiano did not know that 99% of Ulster County's senior citizens do not receive any benefit from Golden Hill. He claimed that a large percentage of Ulster County's senior citizens live in Golden Hill. In fact, there are over 25,000 Ulster County citizens over age 65, about one percent of whom, 280, reside in Golden Hill.  While all Ulster County taxpayers pay equally, recipients of the Golden Hill facility have included relatives of wealthy physicians, attorneys and leading political figures in the region.  In other words, elderly homeowners who have been having trouble making ends meet are being asked to subsidize Golden Hill residents who are wealthy in some cases.

Fabiano seconds Catalano's argument that the county pays 25% of Medicaid.  "If you're going to pay anyway, why not own it and have the say?" Fabiano asks.   He concludes, "We can always find money for everything else, for a jail where you don't know if you're walking into a jail or walking into the Hillside Manor. Where do you get the money for anything?"

Tea Party activist Glenda R. McGee of Olivebridge offers the Tea Party response to Fabiano's argument: "It's clear that voters can take no comfort within the Republican Party if they're looking for respect for their property rights and fiscal well-being.  The nursing home is a rich opportunity to repeat the catastrophe of building the Ulster County Jail."

I asked Fabiano what he thought the cost to the taxpayers would be of keeping Golden Hill. He did not know.  I also asked him what he thought the phrase "limited government" means and whether a state where 70% of the economy is under government control would be consistent with his vision of limited government. After hesitating he answered "Yes, it would." I offered to send Fabiano a copy of Friedrich Hayek's Road to Serfdom, which is about the trend toward socialism that the Republicans started under Theodore Roosevelt, and Fabiano agreed to read it.  

Walter Frey, also a Saugerties Republican, paints a more coherent and critical picture than either Fabiano or Catalano. Frey, a powerhouse of information, points out that of Golden Hill's $32 million annual budget, $19 million comes from payroll and benefits.  He also points out that the usual staffing level at senior facilities is one staff member per bed, but at Golden Hill there are approximately 350 staff members for 280 beds, a 25% staff excess.  Whereas at private facilities the staff's employee benefit rate is 18% of payroll, at Golden Hill the benefit rate is more than 40% of payroll.  Whereas in the average senior facility, benefit costs for the staff amount to $26 per resident day, at Golden Hill they are $90 per resident day.  Golden Hill spends $1.7 million per year in administrative costs that are not directly related to patient care. Frey adds that two nearby counties, Dutchess and Westchester, have sold their facilities.  Orange County is currently looking at selling its facility.

Frey adds that without taking Golden Hill into account Ulster County does a great deal for seniors. It administers $117 million on senior programs, which includes the county's Medicaid share that is capped at $33 million.  The $117 million includes federal, state and local contributions for programs such as meals on wheels, Office for the Aging, and transportation.

Contrary to Catalano, Frey states that residents of public and private hospitals have the same Medicare reimbursement rate for the first 100 days.   After that, if they have assets greater than the Medicaid eligible amount, they must spend down their own assets to cover cost of care. Then they become Medicaid eligible, and the County would be responsible for a portion of their care at that point.

 The median patient at Golden Hill has stayed a little over two years, but the trend is toward shorter stays.  The methods of pricing and reimbursement are the same for public and private facilities if they offer the same services, according to Frey.

Frey has thought about this issue carefully. He has concluded that senior living centers are more cost effective than nursing homes; they are better run by private firms because seniors live in a community center and can take care of each other. The county has used up its financial surplus and can ill afford the significant subsidy that Golden Hill will require, he concludes.

*Mitchell Langbert is associate professor of business at Brooklyn College. He blogs at http://www.mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com.

Ulster County GOP Candidates Highlight Annual Republican Committee Dinner

Peter Rooney Proves Assembly Candidates Can Be Cool

George Phillips, a congressional candidate who offers economic growth and an end to Maurice Hinchey's antisemitism

State Senator William J. Larkin kisses County Committee Chair Robin Yess

The Ulster County Republican Committee had an excellent turnout for last night's annual dinner.  I didn't make a headcount but there were over 100 people there at $95 per plate. The Hudson Valley Resort and Spa's banquet was good as were the hors d'oeuvres, but the big news of the evening was the keynote speaker, George Phillips.  Given this week's exposure by Ed Koch and American Jewish Congress chairman Ron Lauder that nine-term Ulster County Congressman Maurice Hinchey is an anti-Semite, Phillips got positive news today:  Karl Rove has announced that his American Crossroads organization is going to provide $300,000 in soft money for Phillips's campaign.  This is the best development for freedom since the New York Times's stock price fell to below $5 per share (the tabloid's stock now trades at $8.59, evidence nevertheless that the fourth generation of Ochs Sulzbergers to inherit the tabloid are as inept at business as they are at journalism--the Ochs Sulzbergers are a living argument in favor of their stand on the inheritance tax. The problem is that they always manage to exempt themselves from their inheritance tax proposals).

The speakers at the dinner were excellent. These included Pete Rooney, who's running for Assembly, Fawn Tantillo who's running for county comptroller and  Senators Bonacic and Larkin.   Phillips opened the proceedings with a dynamic speech.  His economically illiterate and antisemitic opponent, Maurice Hinchey, has much to fear.

Robin Yess put together a wonderful event at the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa

It's Official: Yess Now Heads Ulster County GOP

Robin Yess just forwarded the first news report of her assumption of the chair of the Ulster GOP. Actually, you heard it here first on September 6.  I was unable to attend last night's meeting for health reasons, but I assume it went smoothly because I told Robin I would come if she needed an extra body.  Congratulations to Robin, who will be an effective and successful chair!

The Mid Hudson News writes:

PORT EWEN – The Ulster County Republican Committee has chosen First Vice Chairwoman Robin Yess as the new leader of the party.  Yess succeeds Mario Catalano, who chose not to seek re-election as chairman.
Yess believes this could be the year for Republican candidates in November, given the discontent by many with the way Democrats have been running the state and federal governments.
“The pendulum is swinging in the other direction now as we know it does in politics, so I think our candidates have a really good chance this November,” she said.
Yess said the Republican committee will further the message of the Grand Old Party and work to get their candidates elected this fall.

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Robin Yess to Become Ulster County's GOP Committtee Chair

Robin Yess, Incoming Chair of the Ulster County Republican Committee

Mario Catalano, chair of the Ulster County Republican Committee, just e-mailed that he has decided not to seek another term of office.  He had previously announced his intention not to run, but there has been renewed discussion of his seeking another term.  Robin Yess, the current Vice Chair, had already announced her intention to seek the chair position, which presented a potential contest.  The committee positions are not paid and the rooms aren't even smoke filled. Go figure that two people actually wanted the job.  Both Catalano and Yess are good candidates for chair, and I was glad to see Mario decide not to change his mind and stick to his previous announcement that he was not going to run.