Bryant, moderator Pecora informed the audience at the onset, was attending a fundraiser and would be a few minutes late for the event. A basketball star in high school, Bryant, with a nice move, slipped in almost unnoticed about 10 minutes after the event started, just as the other two candidates were wrapping up their opening remarks.
The question from the audience, read reluctantly from a three-by-five card by a skeptical Pecora, was whether Bryant would be a “serious” judge since he had been late for the candidates’ night. Even some anti-Bryants had to groan at that one. The candidate, with a smile, apologized for being late, as he had in his opening remarks, and promised to be a serious judge. He’s certainly a serious candidate, however overscheduled.
And speaking of fundraisers, Republican candidate Savona will hold one at Savona’s Trattoria — where else? — at 11 Broadway in Kingston Thursday, Aug. 21 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The candidate is married to one of the owners of the popular Rondout bistro. Information is available at (845) 338-8914.
New brooms
In Saugerties, new school board members and watchdogs Krista Barringer and Damion Ferraro are challenging the old order, but with only two votes against seven more or less united incumbents they are merely barking in the wind.
Despite the odds, residents can relate to their asking for more time to read and absorb correspondence, in this case mostly from the superintendent. Incumbent board members with more background, in Saugerties and elsewhere, tend to follow their leader, the superintendent.
This is not to suggest that incumbents are always yes votes. At last week’s Saugerties school board meeting there was a vote on filling a $40,000-a-year janitorial position with a nominee recommended by the superintendent. Meeting in executive session, the board by an 8-1 vote rejected the appointment. That happens about as often as Saugerties changes its name to Fallonville.
Barringer, displaying independence of another kind, was the lone dissenter. Naturally, she couldn’t talk about it. “Executive session,” she said, indicating she’s not a total anarchist.
Board President George Heidcamp, more bluster than bully — we go back to other times and other battles — initially took the position that duly elected dissenters, like Ferraro and Barringer, were not good for the school district. Heidcamp reasoned that board bickering could give residents the impression the board was divided, and if so, they wouldn’t vote for school budgets. Tortured logic aside, it struck me as curious that the outspoken Heidcamp, a retired town police officer, would criticize somebody for being outspoken. He called it “grandstanding.”
But he has since pulled in his horns. Heidcamp was polite to Barringer and Ferraro, displaying only mild annoyance at their several abstentions which forced the board to call roll votes on usually routine matters that would have been passed without comment before the dissenting duo arrived in July.
It is in any event, an eternal conflict, the new challenging the old, the old resisting, and in time, most of the time, twains meeting. In other words, really no big deal.
More than anything else; Family Court deals primarily with child support and juvenile offenders not yet under the jurisdiction of the adult criminal justice system. Kevin Bryant,as an attorney, deals with juvenile, youthful and adult offenders, face-to-face on a regular basis.This legal experience is an essential item for family court judge since family court justices can make or break a juvenile offender future path in life. As a member of the Ulster County Democratic Committee; I urge fellow Democratic Party voters to select Kevin Bryant for Family Court Judge in the September 9th Democratic Party Primary.
To be clear, the comment by Dan Conna is based upon entirely incorrect information. Juvenile delinquency and PINS cases make up only a tiny fraction of the cases heard in Family Court. In fact, it is less than 3% of the caseload. Equally incorrect is the suggestion that Mr. Bryant has legal experience in such matters. He himself freely acknowledges that he has none, suggesting that he has other life experience which will substitute.
Mr. Conna is correct about one thing. A large portion of the Family Court caseload has to do with child support, approximately 40% of the filings. I am supporting John Beisel for Family Court Judge. He has been presiding over the great majority of those cases in Ulster County Family Court as Support Magistrate for nearly sixteen years. Prior to that, he regularly represented juvenile offenders in Family Court as well. John Beisel has actual and relevant experience for the position.
While I respect and fully support a voter’s right to support the candidate of his or her choosing, each voter’s choice should be based on accurate information and truthful representations. Uninformed and/or inaccurate statements are simply irresponsible or worse.