Down the road, this unfriendly exchange may also set the tone for campaign 2013, where all 23 legislators will again run in single-member districts. Donaldson fired the opening salvo with his scathing attack on Bernardo at the organizational meeting on Jan. 2. Hein’s assault followed only a week later.
The broad strategy is now obvious: Democrats will attempt to portray Bernardo as the face of the legislature majority, forcing her running mates to defend her record (as defined by the minority), the one Donaldson recently “warned” them about.
As starters go, this one won’t play that well for the legislature, given the feel-good, good-government nature of Hein’s “shared services” initiative. Time will tell whether hanging their hats on the controversial Saugerties supervisor will prove a winner.
Pay day
Who says the state legislature won’t do the right thing? Buried in the debate over legislative pay raises last year was the fact that increases for legislators are usually tied to pay scales of the judiciary. Legislators, struggling along at $79,500 since 1999, didn’t vote themselves a post-election raise in December as pundits had predicted, but did open the coffers for judges and districts attorney.
And presto! Ulster DA Holley Carnright saw his salary jump from $131,398 last year to $160,600 going forward. Ditto for County Judge Don Williams. The impact on the potential pensions of this Tier I duo will be enormous.
Before anybody starts yelling about “unfunded mandates,” the state kicks in a substantial portion of the salaries it dictates. These huge increases definitely do not represent a change in policy by the tight-fisted county executive, who has not recommended salary increases for his administrative team since taking office in 2009.
And finally
Condolences to the family and many, many friends of former UPAC director Ron Marquette, 68, who died recently. Others have eulogized Marquette, who in recent years did public relations for Ulster County Community College, better than I could. I’ll remember him as an energetic man of boundless enthusiasm, even against the worst of odds the ultimate optimist.
“Hang in there, brother. We’ll get it done” was one of his favorite expressions. Dealt some pretty weak hands, he didn’t complain. He got people going in a positive direction. People like that you don’t replace overnight.
