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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Gardiner residents to vie for executive
By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
Two Gardiner residents will compete in a special
election for Ulster County Executive.
The special election was called upon the resignation
of County Executive Mike Hein, who stepped down to
take a job in the Cuomo administration. The measure for
a special election passed by the Ulster County Legislature
with a vote of 14-6, with the vote set for April 30.
Hein’s chief of staff, Adele Reiter, has been serving as
acting county executive since Hein left, and will remain
in the post until the result of the special election is
certified.
To date, Pat Ryan, of Gardiner, was nominated by
the Ulster County Democratic Party to run for County
Executive in April. Republicans, on Monday, nominated
Jack Hayes, Ulster County Conservative Chairman, to
run in the April 30 election.
Republicans first failed to field a candidate at their
party convention on Feb. 23, and then they canceled a
second convention, scheduled for March 8. The Hayes
nomination came just before the 5 p.m. deadline on
Monday. He will also appear on the Conservative Party
line.
Hayes was town of Gardiner supervisor in 2002 and
2003 and an Ulster County legis-lator in 2010 and 2011.
He lost his 2011 re-election bid to Tracey Bartels, a
nonenrolled voter who ran on the Democratic line and
now is chairwoman of the county Legislature.
In 2016, Hayes was unsuccessful in his bid to unseat
state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Plattekill.
Ryan, a Kingston native has never before held an elective
office. He was nominated at the Feb. 20 Democratic Party
convention. He is a West Point graduate who served two
tours in Iraq before returning home to start a technology
business.
The winner of the April election will serve until the
end of the year. The winner of the November election will
serve a four-year term starting Jan. 1, 2020.
County Legislator Richard Gerentine [R-Marlborough],
and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said
holding a special election for Ulster County Executive is
a waste of money – by up to $350,000 after the dust settles.
“It is not prudent to spend that kind of money for
someone to be there for a seven month period of time,”
he said.
Parish expresses shock over O’Hare allegations
Continued from page 1
did not believe the allegations.
According to church members, he visited the
Montgomery nursing home, visited sick people in the
hospital and their homes, and had a good sense of humor.
Nelson said she hoped for a favorable outcome.
A letter sent to parishioners from Cardinal Timothy
Dolan, Archbishop of New York, said the archdiocese will
follow its policies and procedures for these situations. The
archdiocese will have outside independent investigators,
who are former federal agents, investigate and assess the
allegation, before presenting all the information to the
independent Lay Review Board.
The board will carefully consider the information and
statements from both alleged victim and O’Hare. The
board will then inform the cardinal whether or not they
find the claim credible or substantiated. If the allegations
are found not credible, O’Hare may return to the parish.
Dolan urged anyone who has information regarding
this or similar allegations to contact the district attorney.
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B riefs
Former Crawford Clerk charged
with Grand Larceny
Former Crawford Town Clerk Jolene Roy
has been formally charged with Grand Larceny,
following an investigation into irregularities with
the town’s finances.
In early January 2019 State Police at Middletown
were contacted by officials
in the town of Crawford
regarding
irregularities
with the books and accounts
within the Town Clerk’s
office. After an extensive
investigation,
State
Police
determined that
approximately $20,000 had
been stolen by Town Clerk
Jolene Roy, 44 of Pine Bush.
Roy has held the elected
position since 2014.
Jolene Roy
Roy was charged with
Grand Larceny 3rd Degree, Tampering With Public
Records 1st Degree, all felonies. She was additionally
charged with Falsifying Business Records 2nd
Degree, a misdemeanor.
She was arraigned in the Town of Wallkill Court
and released on her own recognizance. State Police
were assisted by the New York State Comptroller’s
Office and the Town of Crawford Police Dept.
Roy resigned as town clerk in February, after
the investigation was initiated by Town of Crawford
officials.
Montgomery race heats up
Village of Montgomery Mayor Stephen Brescia
last Friday accused Donald Berger, candidate for
trustee in the Village of Montgomery, of violating
campaign finance law by failing to fill out a financial
disclosure form in the 2017 trustee elections.
Under New York State election law, a candidate
for office is required to file a financial disclosure
form when the candidate spends more than $1,000.
Berger said he filled out a CF-01 financial
disclosure form and submitted it to the village clerk
in the 2017 election, as instructed by the village
clerk. He said he spent approximately $600 in the
2017 election, and the financial disclosure form from
the 2019 election reveals he spent only $165 this year.
Village clerk Monserrate Rivera-Fernandez
could not fulfill a Freedom of Information Law
(FOIL) request for the 2017 financial disclosure
form because she was out of the office Monday and
Tuesday of this week. A search in the New York
State Board of Elections financial disclosure records
did not yield any results for Donald Berger.
The village elections will be held on March 19.
Polls will be open at the village senior center, 36
Bridge Street, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Laura Fitzgerald