tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post5241013412921457034..comments2023-10-18T10:49:01.498-04:00Comments on Legislative Barbie: Ulster County Board of Elections: Shady or Stupid?Brittany Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02329337890735136976noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-31939917757839499892012-09-25T14:26:26.363-04:002012-09-25T14:26:26.363-04:00Anyways, this year a huge majority of the Village ...Anyways, this year a huge majority of the Village Board is up for reelection. The Mayor and three out of the four Trustee spots are open, so this should be an interesting one!upstate new york web designing companyhttp://www.a-reed.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-38903543585714972212012-08-21T06:21:14.532-04:002012-08-21T06:21:14.532-04:00Thanks for the information Brittany and, uh, '...Thanks for the information Brittany and, uh, 'Pete' (WTF, BTW?). Nonetheless, if I go out and fulfill the petitioning requirements and someone like Kimbiz (hypothetically) makes up names or has his non-resident or under-voting-age roommates sign it, then how is challenging that petition undemocratic? Who benefits by his or anyone's flouting the rules?web page design company ulster countyhttp://www.a-reed.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-71596713876059293862011-02-07T18:35:49.338-05:002011-02-07T18:35:49.338-05:00Sort of... the Village of New Paltz just had to do...Sort of... the Village of New Paltz just had to do things differently, so the dates for our elections are different from every other Village in the state. Makes for a lot of backwards counting and a bit of a headache, but it accommodates the student voting population which, in my opinion, is better than the alternative.<br /><br />Independent candidates may begin collecting signatures February 15; the completed petitions are due to the Village Clerk between March 22 and March 29. <br /><br />This is not the case for Village candidates who are nominated by a party, but nobody ever does that because everyone can pretend they're non-partisan and get away with doing far less work. It must be nice to be a Republican or Democrat and be able to choose between options in order to determine the simplest avenue; Village elections are the one area where "independent" candidates have even the slightest advantage, and major-party candidates jump at the opportunity to snag that, too. It's all very frustrating.<br /><br />Anyways, this year a huge majority of the Village Board is up for reelection. The Mayor and three out of the four Trustee spots are open, so this should be an interesting one!Brittany Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02329337890735136976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-16189475580512344142011-02-07T18:09:21.058-05:002011-02-07T18:09:21.058-05:00Well, the time is nearing when all good citizens n...Well, the time is nearing when all good citizens need to stand up and submit their petitions [to their respective Village clerks] in order to run for Village office.whatsthebigideahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13213596144846236847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-8035411910978813432010-06-11T16:59:14.939-04:002010-06-11T16:59:14.939-04:00Jim,
I will accept rules for qualifying as a candi...Jim,<br />I will accept rules for qualifying as a candidate when there are rules that are fair and roughly equal for everyone, and when people other than just Dems and Reps get to decide the validity of those petitions. At the moment, the two parties write the rules to give themselves the advantage and the Boards of Elections are only Dems and Reps. I won't go out of my way to hurt someone else who doesn't understand the game's rigged nature. And I won't criticize others for trying to 'game' this rigged game.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08638857501788863757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-80309306453095377002010-06-11T10:14:39.864-04:002010-06-11T10:14:39.864-04:00OK. Thanks for the information Brittany and, uh, &...OK. Thanks for the information Brittany and, uh, 'Pete' (WTF, BTW?). Nonetheless, if I go out and fulfill the petitioning requirements and someone like Kimbiz (hypothetically) makes up names or has his non-resident or under-voting-age roommates sign it, then how is challenging that petition undemocratic? Who benefits by his or anyone's flouting the rules?'Jim'noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-54974126029061284752010-06-10T19:27:41.805-04:002010-06-10T19:27:41.805-04:00Jim,
I think Pete summed up the landlord evidence...Jim,<br /><br />I think Pete summed up the landlord evidence pretty well for you.<br /><br />Just to add to his comments about petitions, different candidates actually DO have different petition requirements. <br /><br />It's a common misconception that Village elections are automatically non-partisan (well, we make up those silly party names, but nobody runs as a "Democrat" or "Republican"). It's actually one of the few instances where independent candidates get a little bit of a break - the number of signatures required from a non-Dem/Repub candidate is 100, whereas a Democrat or Republican running in the election needs to obtain much higher numbers of signatures on their petitions in order to qualify. <br /><br />So, of course, the Dems and Repubs pretend that they're independent, don't formally nominate anyone, and act like the whole thing is inherently "non-partisan." But there is absolutely no rule making Village elections non-partisan, and it's actually quite the opposite.<br /><br />Really, they're just lazy.<br /><br />It's no secret who our major party candidates are, even if they call it something else. Terry, for example, still had access to resources available to Democratic candidates if the NP Dems chose to provide them to him, and his voters were still primarily NP Dems. Sure, he has to submit financial disclosures just like any other candidate, but since there's no OFFICIAL "D" on it, they can still pretend parties aren't involved.<br /><br />Pretty clever, huh?Brittany Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02329337890735136976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-4441327833482958152010-06-10T18:39:52.797-04:002010-06-10T18:39:52.797-04:00Kazmin's landlady is also, apparently, the own...Kazmin's landlady is also, apparently, the owner of a taxi company that shuttled people to and from the polls on election day last year. Another landlord allowed use of his van. A third landlord 'apologized' to me some weeks later by saying that he 'didn't agree with the decision to do that, and he didn't go along with it'. The fight over the noise ordinance was as much about landlord's not wanting to accept responsibility for their tenants' actions as it was about 'youth' vs. 'locals'. Check out at least three landlords' public comments on the video of that meeting.<br />Petitions for qualifying as a candidate for public office are never a level playing field. The Dems and Reps write the rules to give themselves every advantage, and election boards hire only Dems and Reps(they're privately hired by the parties and then placed on the public payroll!), so who do you think they're going to favor?<br />It takes an afternoon to get ten signatures, so it's more like ten or twelve afternoons, not or two. Don't kid yourself, 'Jim'.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08638857501788863757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-68250005074567394992010-06-10T15:01:54.760-04:002010-06-10T15:01:54.760-04:00It always seemed to me that Kimbiz is a schill for...It always seemed to me that Kimbiz is a schill for the landlords. Do you have something more tangible than my hunch? As for Healy, reap what you sow. At least he stands by his own idiotic and self-defeating positions. Petitions are not anti-democratic, they simply seek to force a candidate to demonstrate some level of committment. If they were anti-democratic, different candidates would have different burdens for signatures etc. It's a level playing field and plenty fair. All it takes is an afternoon or two of walking around the village. But I guess Kimbiz got lost or was too out of it to leave his apartment.Jimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-36337518762623893392010-06-09T22:02:22.693-04:002010-06-09T22:02:22.693-04:00(blogspot really needs to allow longer comments! N...(blogspot really needs to allow longer comments! NOW I understand why Greenfield is such a cranky sonuvabitch!)<br /><br /><br /><br />My particular area of interest? Gee, I wish I knew what that was! If I asked Greenfield, it'd be running around acting slutty, I think. But you're not Greenfield, and I'm not really one-dimensional. There are a lot of issues I care about, and Kokomo said there were a lot of issues he cares about, too! Well, he hasn't followed through on any of them yet, so I'm not gonna start holding my breath, if that's OK with you?<br /><br />Actually, I take it back... he has fulfilled one. He definitely serves as a great "lesion" between landlords and tenants, and a lot of other people, too! Way to go, kiddo. Some of his promises are understandably difficult to fulfill; after all, he's serving on the Village Board, rather than the Town Board that he kept saying he was running for. Ooops!<br /><br />As for Pete caring about the students, well, it's kinda BECAUSE of Pete that they're even in New Paltz when Village elections occur. See, some sneaky sneaks on the VB were trying to move it to summer... guess who was organizing the New Paltz Greens at the time, joining with NYPIRG's Mara Hall, to form a coalition to stop the elections from moving to June? Jeez, you're like zero for 70 billion here... that was Pete Healey! So, please don't talk to me about being concerned about students. Kazakhstan cares about himself, and that's about it. If he cared about the Village or his position as a Trustee, he'd either DO IT, or resign. Same goes for Shari and Jean, times extra.<br /><br />In conclusion, yeah all that fun local politics insiders stuff. But people appointed to uphold the law oughta do just that.Brittany Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02329337890735136976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-81763125393940519592010-06-09T22:01:44.206-04:002010-06-09T22:01:44.206-04:00You always have to take anonymous comments for wha...You always have to take anonymous comments for what they are - someone who is too scared to attach their name to their thoughts. But since this one is at least readable, compared to the ones that usually pop up, I'll bother with one response (nothing more).<br /><br />First, I'm SO GLAD someone else gets to be the drunk for a change! It's usually attributed to me, so I'm glad to share the spotlight with Pete for a little while. It gets lonely! If you only knew the many, many things I've seen people ingest before and during VB meetings, a beer doesn't seem so bad, after all. Then again, I suspect you probably do know, dontcha? :)<br /><br />But since you bring up sobriety, it's a great point! We should definitely test Village Trustees for alcohol and drugs before meetings. If you can't drive while under the influence, you CERTAINLY shouldn't be allowed to legislate! While we're at it, maybe we should also have psychological evaluations. And syphilis causes insanity, so let's test for that, too. Although, now that I think about it, we've probably run out of Village Trustees... hmm... quite the conundrum, isn't it?<br /><br />My relationship with Pete doesn't really impact my ability to know right from wrong. Watch: BOE Commissioners following the law = right, BOE Commissioners making their own laws = wrong. See?<br /><br />As for Pete's attendance, well, you're off base there, too. And no good excuse for that one! You just didn't do your homework... tsk, tsk. Here, I'll give you a cheat sheet -<br />http://legislativebarbie.blogspot.com/2009/05/committed-volunteers.html and http://legislativebarbie.blogspot.com/2010/02/where-exactly-is-village-board.html. You can even double check, if you feel like it. It's all in the minutes, how cool is that?! While you're at it, pay extra special attention to Kalamata's 77%, Gallucci's 61% and Osborn's 31%. HOLY CRAP! Combine those last two, and you STILL don't have a whole Trustee! Healey was 87%, right after the Mayor's 100%... so... um... good call on the anonymous, genius.<br /><br />I have had the pleasure of hearing Trustee Kalamazoo speak many times since a year ago, and I must admit, it IS pretty entertaining. But students have enough trouble keeping their right to vote around here, let alone run for office. I've seen so many losers come out of the campus with greater ambitions, some of whom have served on the VB and commissions, committees, etc., and I'm "SICK AND TIRED!!! (SQUARED)!!!" of it reflecting badly on the rest of us. When a competent, capable, responsible student shows up, I'll be the first to jump on board. Plus, us local yokels hardly constitute a "large crowd." Yelling at Sally Rhoads doesn't count as confidence and conviction, either. If Kazarooni would stop embarrassing every single SUNY NP alum, I MIGHT give him a pass. Maybe.<br /><br />(to be continued...)Brittany Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02329337890735136976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-50502027393149399052010-06-09T20:13:41.471-04:002010-06-09T20:13:41.471-04:00I didn't miss a single regular meeting of the ...I didn't miss a single regular meeting of the Village Board except for the last one(and I wasn't the only one who skipped that meeting. Two other trustees missed that meeting and there was no quorom). I missed one special meeting of the board, and it was during a workday, it lasted five minutes and I showed up as it adjourned). I wasn't lazy about campaigning. I didn't campaign because every indication was that Brian wasn't a serious person. It was also budget time and there were several budget workshops. I considered them more important than campaigning when I didn't face any serious competition. If you'll recall, there were several such workshop meetings, and I did bring alcohol to one of them, and I shared it with one other trustee. I don't believe the cameras were on and I don't believe anyone else was in the room except the mayor, trustees, and the clerk.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08638857501788863757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-53269957434431942282010-06-09T17:58:44.473-04:002010-06-09T17:58:44.473-04:00This is possibly the most biased blog I have ever ...This is possibly the most biased blog I have ever had the misfortune of reading. It's quite clear that your personal relationship with Pete Healey has clouded your judgement. Why have you not mentioned that Pete, who had one of the worst attendance records in VONP history, has also had his fair share of inarticulate moments and often sounds drunk. As I recall, there was one meeting where he went as far as to open a beer in the middle of an important discussion, but you have made no mention of this gross misconduct. The fact of the matter is that Brian Kimbiz won the election because he conducted (though some what haphazardly) a more successful campaign than Pete. It is not a miscount that cost Pete his seat, but either over-confidence or LAZINESS which resulted in his running little to no campaign. I also notice that you have been citing this one encounter you had with Brian over a year ago, at the very beginning of his term. He has since learned a great deal and now speaks to large crowds with confidence and conviction. Also, just because he has not been as active as you would like in your particular area of interest, does not mean that he is Lazy. Brian has been working closely with the senior community to create important legislation that will ensure their well-being and ability to remain in the village (something which I believe is extremely important and often neglected by the Village Board). Brian has also reached out to the student's of SUNY New Paltz, and has been active in informing and in increasing their participation in village politics, which is something that has been missing from the Village for a long time. Perhaps if Pete had actually cared enough about students to speak with them or represent their interests at all then he would have been more successful when election results came in. Pete's loss can be seen as a vote of no confidence from his constituency. He may have inspired your personal hatred of Brian Kimbiz, but he has inspired little else in the hearts and minds of the citizens of New Paltz. <br />xoxo,<br />concerned citizenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-41007097074366858882010-06-09T16:02:02.815-04:002010-06-09T16:02:02.815-04:00If any Government agency is intentionally disregar...If any Government agency is intentionally disregarding the law, changes need to be made. That is beyond question.<br /><br />I also have to wonder about political parties - on either side of the Great Divide - which would choose people unfamiliar with the needs of the community as nominees for local office. <br /><br />I think there are many problems with the party system, but as long as we have it, shouldn't we at least be able to expect them to act as filters to keep those who are unfit for the office out of the race. <br /><br />Yes, I realize that's a pipe dream, but that is the way it should be. In an ideal world, that is.Imre Beke, Jr.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-47269506342393472302010-06-09T15:46:47.850-04:002010-06-09T15:46:47.850-04:00Oh, right - there actually IS more to say. How'...Oh, right - there actually IS more to say. How's this?<br /><br />"I think my tech savvy can have a large influence on getting very close to me."<br /><br />Sigh. He's so easy to pick on and it distracts from much more important things!<br /><br />LIKE THE TOTAL SCAM THE UCBOE IS PULLING ON EVERYONE!Brittany Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02329337890735136976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-80158203553719114882010-06-09T15:43:17.793-04:002010-06-09T15:43:17.793-04:00"I think I can be a great lesion between tena..."I think I can be a great lesion between tenants/landlords."<br /><br />There's nothing more to say after that, is there?<br /><br />Thanks for props on LL Blog (like LL Bean, but better and lesbian loverer).Brittany Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02329337890735136976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-37977039715488842892010-06-09T11:47:11.566-04:002010-06-09T11:47:11.566-04:00Having been at the aforementioned Green Party meet...Having been at the aforementioned Green Party meeting where Kimbiz waltzed in and airily reassured us that he was the best like dude like or whatever for like the job, I would like to second, third, and fourth his incredible idiocy. He knew next to nothing about the position and LITERALLY could not form a coherent sentence. It doesn't take much to impress the Green Party, people. <br /><br />Hilariously, we had just interviewed Daniel Torres, 4 or 5 years his junior, who was about 4 or 5 times as articulate. <br /><br />I haven't followed Kimbiz's political career since that horrible meeting, but I can only hope he's smartened up. <br /><br />And, not to be annoying, but I think that's what this comes down to. Laziness and smarts. Most people in our elected offices have an overabundance of the former and way too little of the latter. Sigh. <br /><br />And I'm still not on the dang Planning Board. <br /><br />Good job, lesbian lover.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-7289488588314389122010-06-09T09:47:14.147-04:002010-06-09T09:47:14.147-04:00There is certainly a level of responsibility that ...There is certainly a level of responsibility that individuals seeking public office should demonstrate; proper registration is just one. When Kimbiz was informed of his incorrect registration, he did change his registration to reflect his New Paltz address. I haven't double checked, but if my memory is correct, candidates for office need only be residents of the VONP upon June 1 and when taking their oath of office, not necessarily during their campaign or the election itself.<br /><br />I think this circumvents the bigger point, though. If more stringent residency requirements were put in place under the law, the would still be moot. The UCBOE has made it clear that they do not use the law to guide their practices. They use past practices, even when these practices are contradictory to the law. The complications are compounded by the fact that it is, usually, a Village run election, with the UCBOE only being called in during a recanvass. So, UCBOE Commissioners, under their stated logic, would continue to consider anyone an appropriate candidate, regardless of what the law says, because that's just the way they've always done it.<br /><br />Kimbiz is a moron. That's hardly debatable at this point, and doesn't really speak to the full issue. Whether Kimbiz, Healey, Obama or anyone else was elected to this office, the point remains that there are laws governing the process, and those laws have been disregarded every step of the way. If UCBOE Commissioners are not obligated to follow the law, what ARE they obligated to follow?Brittany Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02329337890735136976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3354083227363361238.post-59424854005086340212010-06-09T09:07:52.087-04:002010-06-09T09:07:52.087-04:00The simple fact that Mr. Kimbiz was registered to ...The simple fact that Mr. Kimbiz was registered to vote in a locale other than the Village of New Paltz should disqualify him from service. This is not an issue of election law. If - in the middle of a term - an elected official moves from the Town or Village in which he serves, he should not remain in his post.<br /><br />If indeed it is true that Mr. Kimbiz is registered somewhere else, it would have been his responsibility to rectify that issue. Not doing so is - at the very least - a sign that he is unwilling or unable to take seriously his obligations. It also calls into question his dedication to the municipality he purports to serve.<br /><br />Of course,this issue calls to mind the broader question of just what a "resident" of a Town, Village or other municipality is. New York needs more stringent definitions not out of a sense of regimentation, but to avoid confusion among the voters. After all, the rights of the voters - not the rights of the candidates - should take precedence.<br /><br />There can be no harm in defining a "residence" as a permanent domicile (as opposed to a motel or some other temporary location which could be used to subvert the entire purpose of a definition) in which a person spends more nights than any other location. We could also add criteria such as as the address on one's driver's license, thereby precluding those who actually live out of state but own a vacation residence or otherwise spend some of their time in a given locale from injecting themselves into local politics without actually being part of the community.<br /><br />Local politics is all about community building. It is not only preposterous but an abrogation of the rights and interests of those who are truly members of a community to allow those who have no long term stake, no understanding of local issues, no real roots in the community to alter the structure of a Town or Village.<br /><br />If one wishes to be part of the local political process, it would be relatively simple to establish roots in the community and become involved. If one does not wish to do so, isn't that a clear indication of their lack of dedication to the community?Imre Beke, Jr.noreply@blogger.com