It’s no secret Town Clerk Kathryn Connolly has incurred the wrath of many in her own Democratic Party by injecting herself and her office into party politics. When she decided to run for a party committee seat and oppose the Democrats who worked for her re-election in 2005 and in particular worked to save her skin from the GOP hangman after she neglected to sign the oath book in January 2003, she turned many supporters into adversaries.
Politics is a tough game and one should never bite the hand that feeds you. So it appears Ms. Connolly will find herself in a race this year against the candidate that did surprisingly well in 2005 despite having to run with the doomed GOP town board team.
Petitions are circulating with the name of Jann Liberty for Town Clerk. We are told they are Conservative petitions which would guarantee a primary battle for the line which Ms. Liberty enjoyed in 2005. While we are not privy to the entire strategy, this could become an even closer contest given the fact that Ms. Connolly has earned so many adversaries in her own party due to her political activities which include participation in an unlawful purge trial of fellow party members which was soundly rebuked by the Rensselaer County Democratic Chairman and Committee. In addition her support in DeFreestville has been severely impeded due to her perceived allegiance to the Town Supervisor who has become venomous in his opposition to DeFreestville residents who gave him a significant margin of victory in two crucial election districts in 2005. Neither candidate will see those tallies in their columns this year which helps explain the desperation to capture all ballot lines and eliminate a choice. She will also loose support for going along with the effort to oust Mark Premo and for failing to demonstrate any public support for the town's top vote getter.
As town clerk, Ms. Connolly has also been a bit careless is leaving her office records unguarded when she permitted the former GOP town comptroller to access her records room long enough to copy her unsigned oath. She has also been criticized again for failing to sign the oath for Registrar of Vital Statistics in a timely manner for this past 2005 term. There is still a belief among some Democrats on the Town Board that post is legally vacant because she failed to sign that oath within 30 days of appointment in January 2006.
What’s an election without an opponent? These reform democrats are doing their best to make sure there are no opponents, most likely because of their own insecurity caused by their win at any cost mentality which has dug them a deep hole within their Democratic Organization.
Stay tuned as petition deadlines arrive later this month for a more complete picture of the battle lines ahead.
1 comment:
We've all had enough of K.C. Looking forward to her and her sunshine band leaving office but can you tell us anything about Jan Liberty? Let's focus on the positive. I've heard her name but know nothing about her.
Post a Comment