Blaber-Mouth

So Jeremy Blaber has decided to weigh in on the Bernardo wars. From Blaber's News and Commentary:

The recent attacks on Chairwoman Bernardo are so ridiculous that you have to wonder what peoples real motives are.

Yes, we all wonder about true motives, don't we? For example, what would make Blaber write this post, the first post he has written in the past three weeks? Could it be, I don't know, a late-night phone call from his political patrons? Just whose water is Blaber carrying, in other words? Well, he's a member of the Gallo Administration, for one:

Also hired recently by Gallo was Jeremy Blaber, who is active in city Democratic politics and, like Madsen, worked on the mayor’s campaign.

Blaber is now a part-time parking enforcement officer for the city and is being paid an annual salary of $14,600.

Blaber said he enjoys the job because of the “interaction” with the public that it provides him.

Blaber said he’s been issuing about 50 parking tickets per day.

Is it just me, or are there others out there who find that 50-tickets-per-day claim a bit far-fetched? Maybe someone (cough*Freeman*cough) could look into whether this claim is true. That's 250 tickets per week.

Anyway, back to the point. Gallo is also beholden to the Bernardos -- Mr. Terry Bernardo did give the Independence line to Gallo -- so Blaber's only doing what his boss would want him to do.

Blaber then goes on to say:

Putting all that aside, the firing of a legislative clerk and the hiring of a payroll director, all can be justified and fingers can be pointed about how previous administrations have done the same thing but it's bigger than that. Terry Bernardo is a real business person and unlike many politicos, she has a real set of core values and principals that she believes in. I say that with all sincerity, I know her well and I'm speaking from my heart, she is one the nicest, most competent and dedicated person I have ever met in local politics.

So, we're back to the everybody-does-it-so-it's-okay argument. My mother used to respond to this by asking if I would jump off the Empire State Building simply because all my friends were doing so. This argument seemed to work on a five-year-old. Why doesn't it work on political cronies? Funny, that.

And no doubt Bernardo is hard at work -- the only question is for whom she is working. As it looks now, the person she is serving is herself. And she's going out of her way to get rid of anyone who could potentially be disloyal. This is called "consolidating your power," Jeremy. You should look it up.

Blaber then takes David Donaldson to task:

Dave Donaldson is also a friend and fellow Democrat but he is another one whose comments I took acceptation with, here is an excerpt from the Freeman:

During his tenures Chairman Donaldson said, he fired only one county employee, Fawn Tantillo, a former county lawmaker who had resigned from the Legislature and was almost immediately appointed by then-Chairman Richard Gerentine, a Republican, to a position in county government. Tantillo is now Bernardo’s confidential secretary.

Donaldson said hiring and firing in the legislative offices was then a function of either the full Legislature or the Legislature’s clerk.

That may be technically true but lets not kid ourselves that's not what happened, Dave Donaldson was calling the shots when he was the Chairman and so were all the previous Chairs before him (Don't forget when Donaldson was Chair, he was the CEO of Ulster County, this was before the Executive form of government took place. ) Donaldson's comments are unfair and not an example of leadership.

Fawn Tantillo wasn't fired for purely political reasons. But she was hired for political reasons, i.e., feathering her own nest by essentially giving herself a county job after she was bounced from the legislature by the voters. In fact, at least one local blogger has taken issue with Tantillo:

Fawn Tantillo, You Just Can't Trust Her

I wrote a post last night asking candidates supported by the Republican party, whether or not they stand by their nominee for Governor after the comments Paladino made the other day.

A reader posted this in regards to Fawn Tantillo who is running for county comptroller:

Anonymous said...
Tantillo already voiced her support for Cuomo...remember the uproar when she attended the rally in NP and then publicly declared her support? Maybe she knew something the republicans didn't.
12:44 PM


Maybe she did. It's funny but not surprising that Fawn Tantillo attended the rally for Carl Paladino today. Forget for one second that her timing of switching from Cuomo to Paladino is disturbing. Maybe Tantillo agreed with Paladino's bigoted comments and went to show her support.

Whatever the reason of her switch, it raises eyebrows of a much bigger issue, Fawn is very erratic and can't be trusted.

Tantillo Time Line (The very small condensed version, I could go on and on)

* When on the legislature she left to take a job as a department head, which brought us the Tantillo ethics law.

* A former Republican, she switched to the Independence party, poo pooing her old party saying it had lost it's way.

* She than slowly crawled back to the GOP, taking the line to try and fulfill her latest pipe dream of being the Ulster County Comptroller..

* Screws Kevin Cahill out of the Independence party by going behind the backs of the Ulster and Dutchess chairs urging the state committee to support Kevin's opponent and denying fellow indy's the right to a primary in the process.

* Comes to an event for Andrew Cuomo and claims she is supporting him as the Independence party nominee, Mario Catalano almost endorsed Auerbach right there.

* Today comes to a rally in support of Carl Paladino for Governor.

Lets face it Fawn Tantillo simply can't be trusted!!!

Indeed. Maybe the reason Donaldson sought to get rid of her had something to do the aforementioned. And who was the local blogger calling out Tantillo for her duplicity? Why, that would be one Jeremy Blaber. So, which is it? Was Donaldson engaging in the same kind of political witch hunt the Bernardos are engaging in? Or did he fire Tantillo for good reason?

Dave Donaldson was calling the shots when he was the Chairman and so were all the previous Chairs before him (Don't forget when Donaldson was Chair, he was the CE0 of Ulster County, this was before the Executive form of government took place.) Donaldson's comments are unfair and not an example of leadership.

I think leadership is pointing out that something is wrong, even if it may not be the popular thing to do.

Blaber closes by saying this:

Terry has every right to run her office in the best way she sees possible for the people of Ulster County, because at the end of the day, she is the one that is accountable if she does not achieve the ambitious legislative agenda that she has set forth. Terry accepts that responsibility, she deserves a chance to do her job. Not to be taken out for a walk every single week by her colleagues in the newspaper to score cheap political points.

My advise to Chairwoman Bernardo: fight back. You're Chair of the freaking legislature, take advantage of it, use your position as a bully pulpit, embarrass these legislators into doing the right thing, point out their hypocrisy..do not let them take advantage of you. Also work with the County Executive Mike Hein, he too is top notch and believes in doing the best thing for the people of this county.

Really? Last I checked, the office of legislator was an elected position, meaning that Bernardo must serve her constituents. In this case, it just so happens that her number-one constituent is herself. She also serves as chairwoman at the pleasure of the rest of the legislators who elected her to this post. If they decide she's not doing a good job, it's adios.

Whether the Rodriguez resolution gets a vote is probably irrelevant, as Bernardo is unlikely to survive the re-organizational meeting that will take place in January of 2013 -- at least the way things stand now. You can't keep making this many enemies without consequences.