This little trophy came to the North Greenbush Pipeline yesterday, left on the door of a town Democrat asking him to vote for “Spain’s endorsed slate” of Republicans and Democratic sympathizers. It was signed by none other than Democrat turned Conservative turned Democrat, that political chameleon himself, F. James Germano.
With Hurricane Felix raising havoc on the high seas, this architect of political havoc in North Greenbush keeps marching on! Good luck to Felix James Germano and his GOP slate at the Democratic caucus!
Dedrick to Chair Caucus
There is a movement afoot to have former Supervisor Bill Dedrick to serve as Chair of the Democratic Caucus. He is viewed as a straight shooter by all sides and would remove any cloud over the fairness of the vote and conduct of the caucus. Tonight will tell the story.
Caucus Day
The long fought for and awaited Democratic Party Caucus takes place tonight at 7PM at the Troy Elk’s on RT 4. Every registered Democrat in North Greenbush is eligible to attend and cast their vote to nominate candidates to represent their party in the November elections.
Republicans are hoping to capture the Democratic line with the help of Jeff Spain, the Chairman of the Democratic Party who is supporting the GOP endorsed candidates for Supervisor, Town Board and Highway Superintendent.
The party committee he leads has refused to file a Financial Disclosure Statement with the Board of elections and are 54 days past due. We can only guess why, but nevertheless, the refusal to obey the law casts a pall on the party and those candidates who embrace this conduct.
How this caucus is conducted may well define the public perception of Democrats in North Greenbush and the Chairman of the Democratic Committee who must convene the caucus. If he attempts to engage in games which are designed to impede voting or stack the election to favor his slate, his reputation will be permanently tarnished by such actions.
If on the other hand he acts to ensure a fair and impartial election, he can take a step towards healing divisions over development, party purges, perceived disloyalty and other divisive acts which continue to divide Democrats in North Greenbush.
A Chair of the Caucus must be decided by a vote of the qualified Democratic voters present at the caucus. How that vote is conducted and the fairness with which it is handled will be watched closely by Democrats and by people everywhere watching through the eyes of the news media.
We wish Democrats well in this exercise in Democracy and encourage all to attend and VOTE!
Late Financial Disclosure Count:
Kyran Devery
Today is Day 54 for the North Greenbush Democratic Committee violation of State Election Law requiring the on line filing of a Financial Disclosure Report due July 15, 2007. Laws apparently don’t apply to the “reformed” democrats under Jeff Spain and his Treasurer, Tax Collector Kyran Devery.
4 comments:
So Mr. Germano has raised his ugly head. Haven't the Connolly, Spain, Evers group been denying his influence on their decisions? Now he's passing out their literature. The last time we heard about him was when Katie was sitting on his lap at the Conservative Cocktail Party at the Elks. Heavens, I guess they were lying --- again! Hope everyone saw The Record yesterday. Mr. Spain is unbelievable. Most party chairs want to increase numbers, he wants to throw people out of "his" party.
Finally, a Caucus although one couldn't help but notice it was called after Labor Day weekend during the week school starts. A time people are busy and generally "checked out." We can only hope that voters care enough about their town to pay attention and vote tonight.
This resident, who is not a DANA member, couldn't help but notice we did not receive an Advertiser this weekend. This happens from time to time in our end of town (Defreestville) and it made us wonder...was all of Defreestville omitted from the political rag's publication which had many press releases from challenger candidates as well as Mr. Price's letter explaining the caucus?
When I finally saw the paper I couldn't help but notice Mrs. Wos's usual inaccurate information. Is she not aware that it is a state law that towns have a Comprehensive/Master Plan? As she blames DANA for town legal expenses she should blame the town government's refusal to work with DANA on smart growth. Had present and past administrations been willing to work with the neighborhood association, we wouldn't be where we are. Taxation without representation is illegal.
Thank you in advance to all the Democrats who vote for the challenger candidates. A step away from Evers, Connoly, Spain etc. is a step toward saving our town from the ugliness we've endured.
Question for the Pipeline...
For those of us who have never attended a Caucus, are the results shared at tonight's meeting or will this be a waiting game? Is this a machine vote?
You will know tonight if you wait for the tabulations. Normally with a contested vote, ballots are used. If one were to attempt to use a voice or hand vote, it would be subject to suspecion and the "judgement" of the chair of the caucus. There would also be no record of the vote which is what is created by ballots.
One would hope that ballots will be used, given to verified registered Democrats, then collected at the end of the nominating process to be counted by sworn tellers.
Of course one never knows if the goal is to preserve the integrity of the process and ballot or to simply win at any cost.
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