Michael
Veitch of Progressive Issues Wins the SLAPP Suite Initiated
by Jeff Moran's Former Campaign Manager
07/05/11
the
decision
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We Are
Back !
07/04/11
Recap
We have been remiss in keeping the site current. Just
to bring us
up to date here is a recap.
The Switcharoo
The Progressives suffered a major defeat in the last election
(2009) at the hands of the reactionary forces controlling
the Woodstock Democractic Committtee (WDC.) The WDC changed
the selection rules to insure that their candidats would
have an advantage. In the past the candidates competed in
a caucus where the candidates were selected in a vote by
the caucus. The WDC changed the caucus to a primary. They
then declared their slate as the offical democrat candidates.
Story
A Stunning Primary
Defeat
Sitting Concilwoman Liz Simonson mounted a run for Supervisor
against Moran in the Primary which she won handlely. Howerver
Councilman Chris Collins lost his bid to be on the ballot
due the fact that several candidates were vieing for the
same seat. Primary Results
Moran Goes Republican
After his defeat Supervisor Moran gets the Republican nomination.
With the Republican line and and the Working Family Party
line (now there is a combination) and some pretty sleazey
campaign tactics was able to squeek out a victory in the
general election Results
Chis Collins mounted a creditable but unsuccessful
write-in campaign in the general election.
The Fight Goes On.
Needless to day to it has been a battle after battle
against the reactionary Town Board. under the control of
Moran and Rosenblum. Still one Progressive remains on he
town Board. That is Councilman Jay Wenk. He is up for re-election
this year.
THE DEFLECTION
10/28/09
The Deflection
In an deflection attempt to smear councilman Jay Wenk ,
Two members of the Woodstock Democratic Committee, Fran
Breitkopf and Gorden Wemp, wrote letters to the Woodstock
Times. Story
AT LAST
THE COMEAU EASEMENT PASSES
Tenacity and Diligence
Thanks to the tenacity and diligence of Councilman Chris
Collins the Town Board finally voted to accept the COMEAU
Easement with a minor revision to the amendment proposed
by the Woodstock Land Conservancy. After a 90 minute presentation
by attorney Steve Barshov on his legal opinions concerning
issues on several aspects of the easement all the town board
members except Councilperson Terri Rosenblum were satisfied.
She
has always tried to delay the implementation by bringing
up irrelevant issues such as wheelchair access to the trails.
Barshov pointed out that these issues were not germane to
easement. In the end she relented and seconded the motion
as is a habit of hers. Roensblum really doesn't do any work
on anything. She presents reports from the Recreation Committee
and the Library. So she always likes to get a little press
by jumping in seconding motions. She is good at public relations.However,
anybody who has observed her participation on the town board
is keenly aware that she doesn't have a clue about most
issues.
Another Bogus Roadblock
Before the Barshov presentation Planning Board chair Paul
Shultis Jr. tried to present another bogus road block to
the signing of the easement by presenting a resolution that
the entire Comeau should be surveyed before any action is
taken on the easement. Fortunately, Brashov was able to
show that that was another totally irrelevant action .
Delaying Tactics
Both, Rosenblum and Moran have been successful in delaying
the implementation of the Comeau Easement for the last 18
months. Moran with his "I control the agenda and his
I am the chief executive officer (which he is not)."
and Rosenblum with her irrelevant concerns. Now that it
has become apparent that all the bogus concerns were shown
to be just that, bogus. Barshov was able to show that all
the issues raised by the usual suspects were false. Of course
they will claim that they were for the easement to begin
with.
Great Job Chris Collins.
Jeff Moran Has
Not Filed a Single Campaign Expense Item
09/30/09
The now Republican candidate Jeff Moran has
not filed a single expense item except some bank charges
earlier in the year with the NYS Board of Elections. That
seems strange as he ran several large "Vote for Jeff"
campaign ads during the primary in the Woodstock Times.
We have to surmise that Moran and his running mates in all
their arrogance feel that honest campaign finance disclosure
is for the unchosen. Or does he have a un-named backer.
Operating above board and playing by the rules is
beyond these self-chosen few. (see
Email story)
Who's
Side Are You On?
09/26/09
What Party do You Identify With?
Jeff Moran the current Town Supervisor lost the Democratic
party nomination in the September primary to incumbent councilwoman
Liz Simonson. Immediately after he attend the Republican
caucus and accepted the nomination as their candidate for
Woodstock Supervisor He then resigned from the Woodstock
Democratic Committee(WDC).
McKenna Transfers
$1000.00 to Jeff Moran's Campaign.
After the Democratic primary McKenna a member
of the WDC and a Town Board candidate has transferred
$1000.00 from his campaign fund to Jeff Moran's campaign
fund. Of course Bill as well as his running mate
for the other town seat Cathy Magerelli. won't need any
campaign funds as they have the Democratic, the Working
Families Party and the Republican ballot lines in November.
There is really no election for the two town board seat
in November as the there are no other official candidates.
They are running unopposed.
Is McKenna in Violation of Party Rules.
However, for McKenna as a member of the Democratic Committee
and its official candidate, the question is. Shouldn't
he be supporting the Democratic candidate for Supervisor,
Liz Simonson? The primary purpose of the Democratic
Committee is to support Democratic candidates. It seems
these so called democrats really have no principals. Isn't
against the rules to work against your own Party's candidate
or are you still a republican?
Another Late Filer
Another question. This one for Jeff Moran. When are
you planning to update your financial disclosure filing
with the NY Board of Elections? So far your expenditures
for this current campaign have not been filed and your current
contributions
report is not up to date. Bill Mckenna's $1000.00 does not
show up on it. Let's hope as the Town's chief fiscal officer
your required filings on behalf of the taxpayers of Woodstock
are up to date.
Finally
McKenna Files Disclosure Report
At Last
McKenna claims the NYS Board of Elections(BOE) never sent
him his filing information, although one would think as
a candidate several times over he would have known that
he was responsible for filing. We checked with the state
BOE and they informed us that his filing number C58797
was issued on 9/15/09 way beyond the required date. He missed
several filing dates."The dog ate his homework"
just doesn't hold up. When we contacted the Ulster County
BOE and inquired about his filing status we were told that
he had brought them some paperwork but had not yet officially
filed. When we checked the NY BOE a couple of days later
his Contributors
and Expense
Report were posted on the NYS BOE website.
Primary
Election Results
Except
for Town Supervisor
Reactionaries
Win in Democratic Primaries
9/20/09
updated 09/23/09
Absentee
ballots
Supervisor
Liz Simonson
48 + 513 = 561
Jeff Moran 26 + 419 = 445
Town Board
Panza 21 + 166 = 187
Collins 34 + 378 = 411
Lewis 31 + 357 = 388
TOTAL 86 + 901 = 987
McKenna 26
+ 444 = 470
Magarelli 30 + 435 = 465
TOTAL 56 + 879 = 935
Progressives Split Votes
Although as a group, the progressives (the outsiders)
polled more votes (901) than the reactionary democrats (self
appointed) (879) in the primary, no one progressive candidate
was able to garner more votes than their opponents. The
loss was attributed to the fact that there were three progressive
candidates running for two seats. They split the vote.
Sad Aspect
One sad aspect of the town Council race was that incumbent
councilman Chris Collins was defeated due to the split vote.
Chris was a champion of the Comeau Easement, the Water Protection
Law and protecting the Bearsville Corridor from development.
Supervisor Race.
One bright spot was the Supervisor race. Jeff Moran the
incumbent and self appointed committee candidate was trounced
by Liz Simonson (an outsider incumbent councilwoman) 561
to 445.
Back
Supervisr Race 2009
ULSTER COUNTY ELECTION RETURNS FOR 2009 PAGE 257
OFFICIAL TALLY
TOWN OF WOODSTOCK - SUPERVISOR
VOTES DEM REP WKF
CAST SIMONSO MORAN MORAN WRITEIN VOID BLANK
WOODSTOCK
DIST 1 OF 9 358 177 129 44 0 0 8
DIST 2 OF 9 241 103 112 17 0 0 9
DIST 3 OF 9 331 138 144 37 2 0 10
DIST 4 OF 9 209 96 77 28 1 0 7
DIST 5 OF 9 176 74 77 20 1 0 4
DIST 6 OF 9 251 102 105 24 0 0 20
DIST 7 OF 9 260 131 78 43 1 0 7
DIST 8 OF 9 191 84 74 26 0 0 7
DIST 9 OF 9 270 128 106 33 0 0 3
TOT 9 OF 9 2287* 1033* 902* 272*
ULSTER COUNTY ELECTION RETURNS FOR 2009 PAGE 258
OFFICIAL TALLY
TOWN OF WOODSTOCK - SUPERVISOR
VOTES DEM REP WKF
CAST SIMONSO MORAN MORAN WRITEIN VOID BLANK
TOWN TOTALS 2287** 1033** 902** 272** 5** 0** 75**
TOTAL BY CANDIDATE MORAN 1174***
SIMONSO 1033***
Back
Why Hasn't
Bill McKenna Filed His Disclosure Reports
Aug 21, 2009
Why Isn't Bill Filing the required Reports?
All the other candidates who bought advertising have filed
their primary disclosure reports except Bill Mckenna. This
is not the first time that McKenna has not filed the required
reports on time. When he ran on the the now defunct Woodstock
Party line he did not file his report until long after the
election.
A Secret Benefactor?
Does Bill have some unnamed individual who is secretly bankrolling
his campaign? Someone who is pulling the strings from behind
the curtain. Could it be someone who uses unauthorized email
lists?
Comply with the Law
Bill comply with the law everyone else has. What is it that
you are hiding?
Late
Breaking News
August 18, 2009
THE ANONYMOUS SLEAZEBALL EMAIL
BUSTED
The Domain Name LIZISNTQUALIFIED.COM registered to Woodstock
Politics PO Box 245 Woodstock 12498 with a contact phone
number 917-627-0077 and a contact email address of
LIZISNTQUALIFIED@AOL.COM. That email address was the same
as the originating address of the scurrilous unsigned email
that was sent to the Woodstock Democratic email list. Does
this fact implicate the Woodstock Democratic Committee in
this fiasco? Why was this person given access to the email
list to attack another official Democratic candidate? I
think the Woodstock Democratic Committee owes the town's
democrats an explanation.
WHO IS IT?
If you want to know who this person is a just dial the
contact number 917-627-0077 and ask them. Maybe they
will be less cowardly (they didn't sign the email) this
time and tell you who they are. We know.
SEE DOMAIN REGISTRATION
dm UPDATE: The purpartrator according to the
Woodstock Times is story Greg Stanton .
Has the
Woodstock Democratic Committee Foisted an Email Scam on
Woodstock Democrats &Volunteers?
Aug14 2009
A item on the Woodstock Democratic committee's recent campaign
finance filing Schedule D .see story
THE FIX
IS IN
The Woodstock Democratic Committee
The Woodstock (un)Democratic Committee (WDC) in an unprecedented
move voted to do away with the more democratic process of
a town caucus and go to a primary. See
Story
The
$10,000 Question
An Opinion Needed
After a recent town board meeting with the Woodstock Land
Conservancy (WLC) concerning the long awaited easement on
the Comeau, the question of selecting an attorney came up
as to who would be the attorney to determine if the WLC's
requested change to the easement was substantial.
See Story
Is
the Bearsville Corridor Being Opened for Development?
The Woodstock Planning Board has submitted
proposed zoning changes to the Town Board that indicate
substantial changes that will effect the quality of life
for the residents in he Bearsville flats and corridor. They
have also proposed a sewer line out to Bearsville to facilitate
the development of the area. That will be an extra tax burden
for the home owners in Bearsville.
See
Documents
What is
wrong with this sign?
We thought
it was a debate between Supervisor candidates.
Has the Woodstock Democratic
Party Foisted an Email Scam on the Woodstock Volunteers
?
Schedule D
A item on the Woodstock Democratic
committee's recent campaign finance filing Schedule
D Show an item of in-kind contribution of an email list
from Greg Stanton. He is the person who organized the Woodstock
Road cleanup earlier this year. He is also on Jeff Moran's
reelection campaign committee.
What's it Worth
The question is, what kind of an email list would be
a value to the Woodstock Democratic Committee? Perhaps a
list of Mr. Stanton's Wall Street friends. I doubt it .
Of more value to the WDC and Jeff Moran's reelection campaign
would be an email list of registered democrats and of those
people who volunteered for the Road Cleanup Day. These email
addresses would be a gift of gold for the WDC. They would
we able to SPAM Woodstock voters with their messages. These
messages needn't be signed by the WDC and the email list
could be shared by other perhaps not so nice people...
From Hardball to Sleazeball
Right now there is now being circulated a scurrilous
unsigned email in the tradition of the nefarious SWIFTBOATERS,
attacking Jeff Moran's opponent for Supervisor. In the past
Mr. Moran has used surrogates to SWIFTBOAT his opponents
by email and letters to the editor. Let us hope that he
is not behind this vicious unwarranted attack where the
perpetrators are so cowardly that they don't want you to
know who they are.
DM (see upddate on this story)
THE
FIX IS IN
The Woodstock Democratic Committee
The Woodstock (un)Democratic Committee (WDC) in an unprecedented
move voted to do away with the more democratic process of
a town caucus and go to a primary. The WDC then voted for
themselves to be the official candidates of the Democratic
Party. Several members of the WDC have been appointed by
their cronies rather than elected by the voters in their
districts.
Self Serving Votes
Jeff Moran voted for himself as Town Supervisor, as Bill
McKenna (former Republican councilman) and Cathy Magerelli
(WDC treasurer) also voted for themselves as candidates
to the exclusion of sitting Democratic members of the Woodstock
Town Board, Liz Simonson and Chris Collins.
There are two other Candidates who were ignored by this
biased process, Ken Panza and David Lewis.
The vote wasn't unanimous, there appears to be a minority
of members (2 or 3) of 18 with a conscience.
Town Caucus
In place of a town caucus where several hundred democrats
usually come out to choose from a variety of candidates,
we now have a situation where Democrats no longer have that
choice. The choice has been made for them by a little more
than a dozen insiders. Of course the idea is to isolate
and squeeze out the progressive members of current Town
Board. They are councilwoman Liz Simonson, who has been
reelected 3 times to the Town Board and is challenging Jeff
Moran for Town Supervisor and Chris Collins who is up for
reelection and has been the point man on preserving the
Comeau, the Comprehensive Plan, the Water Course Protection
law, and other environmental issues. Other challengers to
the insiders are Ken Panza a frequent critic of Moran and
the WDC and David Lewis an environmentalist and former candidate
for Supervisor who lost to Moran at the last caucus by 6
votes. .
.
The Primary
The primary by the way will cost the town's taxpayers several
thousand whereas the cost of the Caucus was borne by the
WDC. The primary serves two purposes for the WDC first,
it allows them to control the process. Already, they are
claiming that their candidates are the "Official candidates
of the Democratic Party.." That of course is simply
not true, the outcome of the Primary will determine the
Democratic Party's candidates. The second reason is that
their treasury probably couldn't support a caucus and a
campaign pushing their candidates.
Limiting Ballot Access
A primary actually limits ballot access for a candidate.
It requires a candidate to go out and collect signatures
of 5% of the registered Democrats in the town. As of May
there were 2732 registered democrats in Woodstock. The process
is open to many minor technical challenges by opponents.
The fact is, expect for major races, primaries are usually
ignored while caucuses turn out several hundred democrats.
In a caucus a candidate only needs to nominated and seconded
by registered democrats. The assembled democrats then vote
for their choice.. The process is inherently more democratic
in that access by potential candidates is open to all. A
candidate does not have to be a registered democrat..
Voter Suspicions
If the letters to the Woodstock Times is any indication
a great many democrats are already suspicious of the WDC
and their shenanigans and motives. There have been calls
to registered democrats on behest of the WDC asking for
email addresses. Many democrats have refused to give their
email addresses as it seems that they will be used to influence
the Primary. Also, members of the WDC have access to the
Town's volunteer lists Recently had a yard sale at the Zena
firehouse where the signage didn't even mention that the
sale was to support the WDC.
Dm
8//10//09
TOP
The
$10,000 Question
An Opinion Needed
After a recent town board meeting with the Woodstock Land
Conservancy (WLC) concerning the long awaited easement on
the Comeau, the question of selecting an attorney came up
as to who would be the attorney to determine if the WLC's
requested change to the easement was substantial. The WLC
wanted an amendment to set up an oversight committee to
act as a go between the town and the WLC. An opinion was
needed to answer the question if that was a substantive
change to the easement.
Selecting an Attorney
Chris Collins said he wanted Steve Barshov to be the attorney
as he was the one who successfully defended the town against
the lawsuit by LaBarbra contesting the easement.. Supervisor
Moran wanted to use the Planning Board attorney. During
the back and forth Moran intimated that Barshov was a "Park
Ave lawyer" who at the request of Chris Collins for
a clarification on a section of the easement charged the
town $10,000 for a six page opinion. Of course; all reactionary
motor mouths on public access .Channel 23, including candidate
Bill McKenna jumped on that one and accused Collins of wasting
taxpayers money.. As usual they didn't have the facts.
Who's Rules?
During the debate Collins made a motion to hire Steve Barshov
as the attorney to make the determination. It was seconded
by Simonson. At this point Moran jumps up and says the meeting
is adjourned. He is seconded by his sidekick Rosenblum..
Simonson points out that there is a motion on the floor
and the meeting cannot be adjourned until the motion is
acted on.. Supervisor Moran's sidekick Rosenblum leave and
the three remaining board members vote to hire Steve Barshov
After Moran walks out of the meeting he then emails the
Planning Board attorney that she has been hired to render
an option on the amendment to the easement.
Play
VideoPlay
Fast forward to the next town board meeting.
At the next meeting Councilman Collins brings up the supervisors
mischaracterization that in effect, his request for an opinion
on the easement cost the Town $10,000 for a six page document
by some high priced Park Ave. attorney. Collins demanded
to know how the Town's chief financial officer came up with
the figure of $10,000 when the documentation clearly showed
that the charge was actually $750 and that any other were
for the Laborer law suit against the Town.. Moran was not
able give a satisfactory answer. It has to make you wonder
who is checking the Town's finances?
Play
Video
Complete unedited Town Board Meetings can be streamed
by going to Woodstock
Video archives then clicking on the OUSTER logo. You
may start at any point in the meeting by dragging the timeline
indicator to the point you want to play after the file is
loaded..
Dm
07/22/09
TOP
WOODSTOCK PLANNING
BOARD
Zoning Law Amendments:
June 04, 2009
Proposed modifications to the Bearsville Light Industrial
and
Special Light Industrial (Alan Ferrite) Districts.
1) The Proposal is to convent the existing Light Industrial
({I)
District in Bearsville into a Neighborhood Commercial District.
The down zoning is suggested for several reasons:
1) Less intense use of the land: Commercial uses are considered
less intense than industrial uses. As this LI district is
located within the town's welded area, less intense and
potentially polluting uses should be encouraged. 2) Loss
of LI uses: The Planning Board is concerned about the loss
of employment opportunities within the town. Discussions
with local Realtors, brokers and property owners lead the
Board to believe re-establishment of new, green and innovative
light industrial uses is unlikely outside of an Enterprise
zone.The potential for unwanted but allowed uses exists,
It is hoped that by opening up more land for commercial
redevelopment that future job opportunities will be created.
3)Potential residential development: Residences are not
allowed in LI zones but allowed in NC districts.
The rezoning will allow for the potential to create additional
affordable housing in this location along with mixed neighborhood
commercial uses.
See the attached maps for rezoning map changes.
In order to promote the development of affordable housing
in the Bearsville hamlet the Planning Board recommends extension
of the sewer system to this Neighborhood Commercial NC District.
To alleviate concerns that a sewer expansion could encourage
sprawl along the Woodstock-Bearsville corridor the district
should be clearly defined as
covering only the expanded NC district. To further encourage
affordable housing the allowed density of dwellings on sewer
within the NC zone should be examined. Currently, one unit
per 25,000 sf is allowed. This is an extremely restrictive
requirement for a parcel on sewer and water. The Board recommends
the allowable density be closer to that of the Hamlet Commercial
district with one unit per 10,000 Sf It has been stated
the town can "find its own way" to provide affordable
housing, yet no decisive action to promote affordable housing
has been taken by the Town Board in
20 yrs to accomplish this. The proposed action would be
a decisive action.
2) Modification of the Special Light Industrial District
to
include Town Courts and Police Departments: Town Offices
are a permitted use within the Elna Ferrite Special Light
Industrial District according to the present Schedule of
Use Regulations. Town courts and police stations are prohibited
from the SLI. When the Schedule of Uses was modified to
include all municipal uses the Planning Board made a decision
to restrict courts to the center of town. The philosophy
was to keep these essential services centrally located and
not allow new structures to sprawl further into the R3 zones.
This thought was in keeping with past comprehensive plan
suggestions. While the Board still agrees with this goal
it feels that the reuse of an existing structure does not
violate this principal and is therefore not opposed to the
modification to the court restriction. Allowing a police
station in one Special Light Industrial zone does not appear
have a "downside" either.
See
zoning Maps
TOP
Bait and
Switch
The New
"Open Meeting Slate" Committee
The
Progressives lost control of the Woodstock Democratic Committee
to the so-called "Open Meeting Slate." Some of
members of the "Open Meeting Slate" ran on the
Republican line against Democratic candidates elected at
the official Democratic Caucus. They ran on the platform
that the previous Committee was closed to the public and
that they wanted "open meetings."
It is a
fact that the meetings of "all" past Democratic
Committees were closed to the public with occasional guest
being invited to attend by the Chairperson. Acknowledging
that shortcoming, the previous (Progressive) Committee voted
in August to change the rules to make all meetings open
to the public
It should
be noted at the organizational meeting of the new committee
the "Open Meeting Slate" members wanted to bar
the public. However, the old committee rules stated that
the Committee meetings were open to the public. After a
heated discussion and over objections of Terrie Rosenblum
and Sam Magarelli the public was allowed to stay.
Play
Video
After
"Open Meeting Slate" victory in September they
announced that they will run Republican Candidates on the
Democratic line. It must be payback time.
Behind
the Curtain
Adding insult to injury,
at the very next meeting of the "Open Meeting Slate"the
Committee met in executive session before the "public"
Committee meeting. So much for open meetings. It looks like
much of the important work of the "Open Meeting Slate"
is going to take place behind the curtain.
The Public
is Uninvited
Subsequently, at their
second Committee meeting the "Open Meeting Slate"
the new chairperson, Terrie Rosenblum, barred Michael Veitch
from video taping the meeting. That seemed strange as they
had their official videographer taping their first meeting.
The previous (Progressive) Committee permitted their proceedings
to be video taped.
Play
Video
To See
Or Not to See
It is a question
of what they want the public to see or not to see. If they
control the media they control the perception of how the
public "views" the Committee. It appears that
their demand for open Committee meetings was a political
gimmick to get elected. They got elected under false pretenses.
Now that they control the Woodstock Democratic Committee
there is no need for transparency. It's business as usual.
WE
LOST
Whatever the rest of the world's misconception of Woodstock
is, the political reality is that it's town government is
controlled by a reactionary group of insiders. There of
course has always been a vibrant community of artists, musicians,
craftsmen and counter-culture figures and political activists.
While they have had, from time to time, a minority representation
on past town boards they never had political control except
for short period in the late eighties. This last elections
has seen one progressive and a centrist, who from time to
time voted with the progressives, defeated in the last election.
There is still one old time progressive on the town board.
The newly elected board has adopted rules of procedure to
silence and punish him.
NEW RULES
The new town board has changed the town boards rules of
procedure to deprive the progressive councilman Wenk of
any meaningful voice on town issues. They also voted to
do away with the health insurance buyout provision for town
board members. Councilman Wenk a decorated (Silver Star)
WWII veteran wanted the buyout so he could pay for his supplemental
insurance. The buyout would cost the Woodstock taxpayer
$2500 dollars. For councilman Wenk to take the town provided
insurance would cost the Woodstock taxpayer $5000 dollars.
The buyout would actually save the taxpayer $2500 dollars.
It should be noted that other members of the Town Board,
Supervisor Moran, councilpersons Rosenblum, and McKenna
take the insurance at a cost to the Woodstock taxpayer of
$10,900 dollars each for a total of $32,700 dollars. Councilperson
Magarelli declined the insurance. As a retired school teacher
she already has a taxpayer supported health plan. So why
are they intent upon denying Councilman Wenk the buyout
when it would save the town money? The only answer is to
punish.
GAME THE SYSTEM
Through manipulation of the political process the reactionaries
have been able to game the system. Their first move was
to take over the Woodstock Democratic Committee (WDC) from
the progressives. When they gained control of the WDC the
first order of business was to bar video taping of the proceeding
and not record how a member voted on an issue. When the
current Supervisor, Jeff Moran, after a swift boat type
campaign, won the nomination in previous caucus by the slimmest
of margins they moved to change the caucus to a primary.
They then voted to endorse themselves as the official Democratic
candidates.
THE VOTE
In the primary their Supervisor candidate Moran, the incumbent
lost to his challenger councilwoman Simonson. In that primary
the Progressives lost to the WDC candidates. However, while
they totaled more votes they split the vote among four candidates.
Whereas the WDC candidates only split the vote between two
candidates. After his loss in the Democratic primary, Moran
went directly to the Republicans for their nomination (they
still hold a caucus.) The Republicans endorsed the self-chosen
WDC slate, Moran, McKenna (a past Republican) and Magarelli
ANYTHING GOES
In the run up to the election the WDC pulled out all stops
to elect Moran. Even though they required to support the
Democratic voters choice , Simonson, they did almost nothing
to support her campaign. They paid for part of one ad during
the general election campaign. Not only did the other Democratic
candidates do anything to support their own ticket but,
they donated their own campaign funds to Moran. Mckenna
$1000.00 and Magarelli $465.00. The campaign took on darker
tones as the Moran campaign
coordinator was exposed as the author of an unsigned scurrilous
email attacking Simonson. How those email addresses were
obtained is another story of deceit. Letters to the editor
were filled vile missives from the Moran administration's
appointees, past and present as well as current member of
the WDC. It should be noted that self-appointed WDC candidates
had the Working Families endorsement sewed up long before
the election. The working Families Party is not run by Working
Families enrollees. It is controlled by enrolled Democrats.
It is a sub-set of the Democratic Party. With Republican
and Working Families endorsements Moran was able to defeat
Simonon. It of course was no contest for the other self-chosen
WDC candidates as they had three major party lines on the
ballot. Councilman Chris Collins ran a respectable write-in
campaign getting over 750 votes. Anyone who has ever tried
to cast a write-in vote on the current voting machines knows
what a challenge it is. Lets hope this administration doesn't
sell the Comeau out from under the Woodstock Land Conservancy.
The
Deflection
In an deflection attempt to smear councilman Jay Wenk ,
Two members of the Woodstock Democratic Committee, Fran
Breitkopf and Gorden Wemp, wrote letters to the Woodstock
Times casting aspersions about his honesty and openness.
He questioned McKenna's motives in transferring $1000 from
his campaign the to the now Republican candidate for Town
supervisor Jeff Moran one day after Moran accepted the Republican
nomination.
Karl Rove's Playbook
Fran Breitkopf wrote "where did the funds that you
received when you were running for office last time come
from? You know, the $1000 that you reported having come
from a Comm. for Woodstock's Future at an address that doesn't
exist with an organization that is unknown, that has been
reported to the State and is still under investigation?
How does all of this jive with your talk about your love
and need for total transparency? " Then Gorden
Wemp writes in the same issue . "The irony of Jay's
attack is he still has not answered questions pertaining
to the $1000 his campaign for town board accepted two years
ago from the Committee for Woodstock's Future, the shady
political organization that to date has failed to file the
required report to the New York State Board of Elections.
"
Non Compliance
Jay who is not up for reelection has filed the required
reports as to where the money came from ad how it was disbursed
You will notice almost identical phrases in both letters
as if they are from Karl Rove's play book. The idea is to
deflect the questionable transfer of $1000 and the fact
that McKenna was out of compliance for more than a month
and only filed because of pressure from this web site. Also,
in his last campaign of several years ago he filed long
after the election. The other non-filing not mentioned was
the WDC's rigged selection for supervisor, Jeff Moran, who
was defeated by Liz Simonson. Simonson was chosen by the
Democratic voters of Woodstock in the primary over Moran.
Of course the Democratic voters choice matters little to
the WDC they have been doing all sorts of under handed tricks
to defeat Simonson. The purpose of the WDC is to elect Democratic
candidates. That is their purpose. Well, the $150 that they
spent for an ad really doesn't cut it. They have well over
a $1000 in their coffers.
Easement
Tenacity and Diligence
Thanks to the tenacity and diligence of Councilman Chris
Collins the Town Board finally voted to accept the COMEAU
Easement with a minor revision to the amendment proposed
by the Woodstock Land Conservancy. After a 90 minute presentation
by attorney Steve Barshov on his legal opinions concerning
issues on several aspects of the easement all the town board
members except Councilperson Terri Rosenblum were satisfied.
She
has always tried to delay the implementation by bringing
up irrelevant issues such as wheelchair access to the trails.
Barshov pointed out that these issues were not germane to
easement. In the end she relented and seconded the motion
as is a habit of hers. Roensblum really doesn't do any work
on anything. She presents reports from the Recreation Committee
and the Library. So she always likes to get a little press
by jumping in seconding motions. She is good at public relations.However,
anybody who has observed her participation on the town board
is keenly aware that she doesn't have a clue about most
issues.
Another Bogus Roadblock
Before the Barshov presentation Planning Board chair Paul
Shultis Jr. tried to present another bogus road block to
the signing of the easement by presenting a resolution that
the entire Comeau should be surveyed before any action is
taken on the easement. Fortunately, Brashov was able to
show that that was another totally irrelevant action .
Delaying Tactics
Both, Rosenblum and Moran have been successful in delaying
the implementation of the Comeau Easement for the last 18
months. Moran with his "I control the agenda and his
I am the chief executive officer (which he is not)."
and Rosenblum with her irrelevant concerns. Now that it
has become apparent that all the bogus concerns were shown
to be just that, bogus. Barshov was able to show that all
the issues raised by the usual suspects were false. Of course
they will claim that they were for the easement to begin
with.
Great Job Chris Collins.
Woodstock
Supervisor Wilber Says He Will Not Seek Reelectionclick
for story
Good-bye
Song for Supervisor Wilber - click
for video
Councilman
McKenna Calls Councilman Collins a A**hole -
click for video
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