This just in. A special reapportionment master has produced a plan that includes Ulsterin a five-county district with first-term Republican Chris Gibson of Columbia as resident “incumbent.” Hein can compete in that district has been trending Democrat in recent years. While Hein (sensibly) waited for definitive lines, former Democratic county chairman Julian Schreibman threw his hat in the ring almost a month ago. Unless Schreibman can put some serious money on the table — this one will be a multimillion-dollar congressional election — and throw together a Hein-like organization, the first, in all likelihood, will be last.
Here and there
Imagine the surprise of UCCC President Don and wife Linda Katt when they picked up the papers last month to discover the county exec had formally proposed in his state-of-the-county address to sell the president’s house in Stone Ridge.
I can imagine college first lady Linda Katt querying her squeeze over morning coffee in the official home they’ve occupied for 11 years with, “Mister President, maybe he means the place down the road?”
Hein later called Katt to apologize for what he termed a “misunderstanding” — he thought nobody lived there — but despite the gaffe remains adamant about selling what he calls a “luxury” home.
The ball now bounces to the court of college trustees. Will the UCCC governing board buckle to the executive, or will it, as chartered, place first and foremost the priorities of the college? I’m betting on the former.
Memo to Mighty Mike: There’s nobody in the county office building on weekends, except occasional janitorial staff. Please don’t get the wrong impression (again) and try to sell the place.
Uptown confidential: Did I spot Hein and legislature attorney Chapman chatting over coffee in a cozy corner early Monday morning on Wall Street? Must have been a mirage. Local pols usually do their deals behind closed doors.
To the surprise of almost no one, the executive-dominated charter review commission has taken a straw vote agreeing to give the executive even more power, i.e., requiring a two-thirds vote of the legislature to override his appointments. A simple majority, as with most other legislatures, is required under the present charter. Charter amendments will go to the voters in November.
The 11-member lawyer-dominated commission (five people from the executive, three each from minority and majority legislative leaders) interviewed scores of people over a four-month period, including almost all county department heads. Some members came away singularly unimpressed with the legislature’s role in the new (since 2009) government. “Whether it was 33 or 23 members,” one commissioner told me, “these people came across as inept.”
