More TGIF tidbits

Members of Congress voted themselves a 2.7 percent cost-of-living pay increase starting later this year. U.S. Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, who voted against the $4,400 a year increase, said he would donate the extra pay to charity. He'll decide which charity later this summer, before the increase takes effect Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, Hall also drew fire this week from potential election opponent Kieran Michael Lalor of Peekskill, who criticized Hall for not staking a clearer position on immigration. Lalor touted his own hard-line approaches to cracking down on illegal immigration. He is considering a run for the Republican nomination to challenge Hall in November 2008.

In Dutchess County politics, a proposed domestic partnership registry is back on the county Legislature's agenda. Republican leaders had pulled the legislation creating the registry, citing a missing dollar figure, but Democratic sponsors submitted a revised copy with the figure. It is scheduled for discussion Thursday at the Government Services & Administration Committee meeting.

And finally, expect to see local party faithful scurrying about town the next few weeks as they gather signatures by the July 19 deadline for nominating petitions. You might say the election season doesn't officially start until the close of business that day. Or you might say the last election season never really ended.

Have a good weekend. Straw Poll will return on Wednesday.

Conservatives endorse Republicans

Not many surprises in the Conservative Party endorsements for elected offices in Dutchess County government this year. The party is nearly unwavering in its support for Republicans.

The Republicans' four-man slate for county-wide elections in November is the Conservatives' slate. That would be incumbents Bill Steinhaus for executive, Butch Anderson for sheriff, Bill Grady for district attorney and Brad Kendall for clerk.

And in the 25 legislative districts, 20 of the Republican candidates for county Legislature received Conservative endorsements.

The other Conservative endorsements are Jim Doxsey, a Conservative running in District 1 with the backing of county Demcorats; Sue Tooker, the Democratic candidate in District 2, and Dominick Aquafredda, a District 10 candidate who was registered with the Independence Party as of last year.

The Conservatives have yet to endorse anyone in Districts 14 and 15, where the Legislature's Democratic leaders Roger Higgins and Sandy Goldberg were running unopposed at last check.

How important is a Conservative endorsement? That's debatable, but it's fair to say the party's influence is greater than its numbers. In Dutchess County, 3,381 voters were enrolled as Conservatives as of April, when the latest statistics were compiled by the State Elections Board. That translates to about 2 percent of all county voters.

What's in store for Saland and Leibell?

Expect some good-natured ribbing Tuesday night when Dutchess County's two state senators submit to a roast organized by the Dutchess County Young Republicans.

What else could this mean for Sen. Steve Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, and Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson? The ghost of Dean Martin, bad jokes and uncomfortable anecdotes? You'll have to attend to find out (at $55 a ticket).

The event will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Links in Union Vale. For more information contact Young Republicans Chairman Bryan Cranna at 845-757-3933, or visit www.dutchessyr.com.

McGuire says she's in it to win it

Susan McGuire caught some people by surprise by declaring her candidacy for Dutchess County clerk on the Independence Party line. What had been shaping up as a contest between Clerk Brad Kendall, the Republican, and former Clerk Dick Anderson, the Democrat, has become a three-way race for one of the top jobs in county government.

And you thought the county executive race would be exciting.

Straw Poll checked in with McGuire today to get the inside scoop.

First of all, there is the matter of McGuire’s employment. She had been working as human resources director for the Town of Fishkill, but she took an unpaid leave of absence starting Feb. 1 for “personal family reasons.” She still has the option of returning to the job later this year, but she has yet to decide whether she will.

“Right now, what I’d like to do is win the county clerk seat,” she said.

McGuire, a 51-year-old Fishkill resident, said she changed her party affiliation from Republican to Indpendence shortly after losing a close race for the District 16 seat in the county Legislature to Democrat Alison MacAvery in November 2005. She sees the Independence Party as a welcome alternative to the two major parties, and she sees herself as a viable alternative to the two other clerk candidates.

McGuire’s boss at the Town of Fishkill was Supervisor Joan Pagones, who had sought a governor’s appointment to county clerk last fall but was passed over for the job by Gov. George Pataki in favor of Kendall. McGuire dismissed speculation that Pagones influenced her decision to run for the job this year.

“I think she was just as shocked as Brad Kendall and Dick Anderson,” McGuire said. “The truth is, I honestly feel it’s the right thing to do.”

Campaign wordplay on a sunny day

Wappinger Supervisor Joe Ruggiero got the endorsement today of the Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council in his race for Dutchess County executive.

That's not entirely surprising given that labor traditionally is a Democratic constituency, and Ruggiero is a Democrat, though Council President Todd Diorio also said County Executive Bill Steinhaus, a Republican, hadn't attended union meetings or candidate interviews when asked.

As Diorio gave his brief speech, I followed along on his press release and was amused by this misspelling of the county executive's name: "Steinhouse."

I certainly don't bring this up to mock Diorio or his affiliated unions – more to highlight the idiosyncracies, for lack of a better term, between written and oral communication. (I'm hardly one to criticize someone's spelling, as I clutch my Webster's New World Dictionary like a security blanket.)

Perhaps a more relevant observation – though only slightly more relevant – was the way Ruggiero described Steinhaus in accepting the endorsement. As with many political candidates, he dispensed with the proper name altogether for the impersonal "my opponent."

Suddenly a three-way race for county clerk

Behind the Independence Party’s endorsement for Dutchess County clerk, there are a few intriguing wrinkles worth ironing out.

The party announced Tuesday that it had chosen Susan McGuire to face off in November against incumbent County Clerk Brad Kendall, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Dick Anderson.

Who is McGuire?

First of all, she is the treasurer of the county Independence Party, which has Dennis Zack as its chairman. Zack also is a councilman in the Town of Fishkill, and McGuire works for the town as human resources director.

McGuire was registered as a Republican as of last year, and she ran as a Republican two years ago in the race for county Legislature in District 16 but lost to Democrat Alison MacAvery.

McGuire’s boss is Joan Pagones, the Republican town supervisor in Fishkill. Pagones had sought the county clerk job last fall after Clerk Colette Lafuente announced her retirement, but Gov. George Pataki chose to appoint Kendall instead to finish Lafuente's term.

As for Dick Anderson, he served for a term as county clerk until he was unseated by Lafuente, a Republican, in the 2003 election.

Whew! That’s a lot to digest.

District 1 a race to watch

The parties are finalizing their slates of candidates for the Dutchess Legislature in anticipation of an epic battle for control of county government in November. One race to watch might be the District 1 contest, which is without an incumbent.

Legislator Patrick Nesbitt, R-Poughkeepsie, is choosing not to run after four years in office so he can spend more time with his family and focus on his new job (he recently was promoted to detective in the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department.)

Taking his place on the Republican line is Jeff Magee, an IBMer who lives down the road from Nesbitt on Cedar Street.

The Democrats, meanwhile, have chosen to back Jim Doxsey, who is enrolled as a conservative. If elected, he would caucus with the Democrats.

Gillibrand in the cross hairs

There must be more people gunning for New York's 20th Congressional District seat than there are candidates for president in 2008. And U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, hasn't even made it to the half-year mark in office.

Today, I got an e-mail promoting a small-donations pledge from two more 20th District candidates, a Republican named John Wallace from Columbia County and a Democrat named Morris Guller from Greene County. Other announced and rumored candidates include Richard Wager, Sandy Treadwell and John Sweeney, the incumbent whom Gillibrand beat in November.

As a reporter who has covered a handful of Congressional elections in the past, I find this quite refreshing. When I worked in Wausau, Wis., the congressman was House Appropriations heavyweight Dave Obey, our hometown Democrat, who has been in office since Nixon was president. Needless to say, elections in Wisconsin's 7th District were humdrum affairs. No Democrat ever challenged Obey. The Republicans didn't even bother looking for a legitimate candidate. And most of the poor underdogs who ran against Obey were little more than sacrificial lambs.

What's different about Gillibrand?

First of all, she's new. It's nearly impossible to beat Obey now that he has served so many years in Congress. As a freshman congresswoman, however, Gillibrand is still vulnerable. This may be the Republicans' best chance of ousting her before she becomes one of those unbeatable incumbents.

The other big factor is the 20th District, which stretches from Poughkeepsie north toward the Canadian border. Its electorate is heavily Republican – 43 percent of registered voters as of April, compared to 25 percent of voters registered as Democrats. So Gillibrand pulled off quite the upset last year, and Republicans figure its their turn in November 2008.

In the 19th District, where Democrat John Hall also upset an incumbent Republican in November, Republicans still have the edge but not by much. Of all registered voters as of April, 36 percent were Republicans and 33 percent were Democrats, according to the latest data from the State Elections Board.

Of course, it's insanely early for most voters to be thinking about the next election when Gillibrand still has three fourths of her two-year term left to serve. But the political world follows a different schedule. Potential candidates have to get their momentum going now or forget about booking that victory party on election night.

As for Dave Obey, the best the Republicans can hope for is that he gets tapped for a cabinet job in the next president's administration. After all, President Bush did Democrats a favor in 2001 when he named Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson as health and human services secretary, paving the way for Democrat Jim Doyle to win the gubernatorial election in 2002. But I digress.

Wager to leave job, hit campaign trail

Richard Wager checked in today to pass along this news: He's planning to leave his job in New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration at the end of the month to begin campaigning for Congress full time in July.

"Things are coming together awfully well!" Wager said in an e-mail.

Wager is vying for the Republican nomination in the 20th District to challenge U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from Hudson who was elected to her first two-year term in November. Gillibrand will be up for re-election in November 2008.

Wager, a native of Hyde Park, recently bought a house in the Millbrook area. He is the son of former Poughkeepsie Journal publisher Dick Wager.

Ball makes the "society pages"

The Washington Post has been digging up some dirt on Greg Ball, the freshman New York Assemblyman from Carmel. In a story today, the paper links Ball's annual Courage Cup polo match, which raises money for a charity, to a political action committee that later contributed to Ball's Assembly campaign.

Ball called the story a "hit piece" prompted by his ongoing battle with an ex-girlfriend over control of the Courage Cup. After all, the story ran in the Post's Style section – what once might have been called the "the society pages."

The story's placement in the Post makes sense, given that the newspaper's local angles are the Courage Cup and the tiff with the ex-girlfriend.

Back home, where most of his constituents probably have never even heard of the Courage Cup, the question for Ball is whether there was any political funny stuff going on.

Ball insists the answer is no. The Courage Cup earns the money it gives to charity by selling tent space to organizations that then can sell tickets to the event. In 2005, one of those organizations happened to be the political action committee, and he was not involved in the committee at the time, he said.

TGIF tidbits

Dutchess County Executive Bill Steinhaus participated with other county executives from the region in a forum Thursday on potential solutions to a variety of problems in the Hudson Valley. Steinhaus makes a reference in that story to affordable housing, but Westchester Executive Andrew Spano has the more colorful quote, about dancing the Funky Chicken.

Dutchess Legislator Joel Tyner, meanwhile, is preparing for one of his long walks to raise awareness of county issues. Tyner, D-Clinton, plans to leave at 10 a.m. today from the Rhinebeck town hall and trek 13 miles to the Clinton town hall carrying a sign promoting a county-coordinated, privately funded program to distribute compact fluorescent bulbs that would conserve energy. (On a fitness note: Tyner must have calves of steel after walking so many miles for so many causes.)

Republicans in the state Assembly are holding a two-hour forum on property tax reform at 10 a.m. today at the East Fishkill town hall, 330 Route 376, Hopewell Junction. Ball, Molinaro and Miller should be there, as well as several representatives of taxpayer groups and school districts. The public is invited. And my apologies for an error in today's print edition of the Journal, which reported the wrong starting time of the forum. It's correct here.

And if you're around Saturday, stop by the LaGrange Community Day at Freedom Park on Skidmore Road. U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Hudson, plans to be there at 2 p.m. for the latest stop in her "Congress at Your Corner" series. You can call it, for one day at least, "Congress at Your Community Day."

County GOP Election Roundup: Spring Edition

Looking back at my posts so far this month, I realized I've been devoting an inordinate number of pixels to the Dutchess Democrats. I have to attribute this to old-fashioned newspaper bias: Voting no often makes for better news stories than voting yes.

In pursuit of that ever-elusive ideal of balance, I checked in this morning with Dutchess County Republican Committee Chairwoman Corinne Weber, who was in her car on Interstate 87 heading south toward Maryland. (Cell phone in the car? No lawbreaker here. Weber had a hands-free device, she said.)

The Republicans' lineup for the fall hasn't really been a surprise for a while – maybe not since the last election or before, with one exception.

All four party incumbents in county-wide offices will be in the running in November. That means County Executive Bill Steinhaus, County Clerk Brad Kendall, District Attorney Bill Grady and Sheriff Butch Anderson.

“How can you beat that ticket?” Weber said.

The exception to this somewhat anti-climactic ticket is Kendall, who was appointed in December to fill out the rest of retiring Colette Lafuente's term. November will be his first county-wide election, and that makes him the most vulnerable of the four Republicans by default.

Weber isn't worried about Kendall, though the party is keenly aware of its losses two years ago in the Legislature. The Democrats gained four seats, reducing the Republicans' majority to one.

"It's of great concern," Weber said, "but we're not only looking to maintain what we have but get a few more back."

Dems vs. DCC: The movie

The meeting Wednesday night between the Dutchess Legislature's Democratic caucus and top Dutchess Community College officials featured a diverse cast of characters and some lively dialogue.

Not enough for boffo box office in the summer blockbuster season, but an intriguing scene all the same.

Legislator Fred Knapp of Poughkeepsie was typecast as the enforcer. He is an outspoken opponent of the college's annual tuition increases, and he made it clear he wasn't happy with the new increase. He also took the hardest line on withholding support for DCC's improvement bond without concessions on tuition.

"You want a bond resolution?" he said. "We want a budget with no tuition increase – this year. How do we get there?"

He made that argument twice during the meeting.

A new vote on the defeated bond resolution could come Monday at the Legislature's monthly meeting. The DCC budget with a $100 tuition increase is scheduled to be approved by the Legislature in July.

In asking for the Democrats' support for the bond resolution, DCC Board President Thomas LeGrand and Trustee Vincent DiMaso seemed to take on the good cop/bad cop roles. LeGrand came offering the proverbial olive branch while emphasizing that the college needs to move forward with the improvements, with the Legislature's help.

"I don't believe we have a troubled relationship. I think we have a good relationship," he said, adding that the college and the Democrats just seem to be at odds on tuition.

DiMaso fought back directly against some of the Democrats' criticisms, their opposition to the tuition increase and their defeat last month of the bond.

It's hard to pick one quote as representative – so many good ones – and like a good movie you had to see it to appreciate it. But DiMaso seemed to sum up his arguments with this: "You should have come to us first before making this vote."

Minority Leader Roger Higgins of New Hamburg, the Democrats' ringleader, moved the meeting along while pointing out that he personally made the Democrats' case to the DCC board last month just before it approved the tuition increase anyway.

"There was no effort at all made to try to compromise," Higgins said.

Toward the end of the meeting, DCC President David Conklin played the pragmatist and caught the Democrats' attention when he said that the Legislature's Republican leadership "didn't want a $100 increase. A $100 increase is a victory."

The implication was that the Republicans would have preferred an even larger tuition increase to offset more of the county tax dollars in the college's budget.

How will it end? Stay tuned for the sequel Monday night.

Until then, there are the previews, such as Poughkeepsie Legislator Barbara Jeter-Jackson's assessment of the minority party's chances of reversing the tuition increase this year.

"Until there is a majority on this side, it's not going to happen," she said after the DCC officials had left.

Dems pick Joe, Dick, ?, ?

The Dutchess County Democratic Committee made it officials Tuesday night and designated Joe Ruggiero as the party's candidate for county executive and Dick Anderson as the candidate for county clerk.

Ruggiero is the Wappinger town supervisor and chairman of the county party. Anderson is a former county clerk, who was unseated in 2003 by Republican Colette Lafuente, who retired last December.

The Democrats still don't have anyone yet to challenge District Attorney Bill Grady or Sheriff Butch Anderson, but they still have time.

“We certainly are actively continuing to look for qualified candidates who would step forward for those positions," said Jane Barbara Smith, who stepped down Tuesday night from her role as the committee's vice chairwoman. (She said she wants to focus on her candidacy for Dutchess Legislature. She is challenging Legislator Rob Rolison, R-Poughkeepsie, in District 8.)

The Democrats also are scheduled tonight to heap praise on Beacon Councilman Steve Gold as the party's candidate for mayor. A news conference is set for 6 p.m. at Howland Cultural Center. The Republican candidate is former Councilman Fred Antalek.

DCC to make case to Democrats

The Dutchess Community College bond resolution defeated last month by Democratic legislators isn't dead yet. The college's president and board president are scheduled to attend the Democratic caucus meeting Wednesday evening, perhaps to let bygones be bygones.

The Dutchess Legislature already passed one bond resolution pledging to borrow half of the cost of $2 million in improvements. The new resolution included modifications but no additional cost, and it was opposed by Democrats in what Assistant Minority Leader Sandy Goldberg said was a message to college officials to listen to their concerns.

If the college officials listen and the Democrats are mollified, the resolution could come up for another vote Monday and pass. End of story.

But Goldberg suggested that, even then, the bygones within the Legislature won't be bygone. The Republicans still hold a mere one-vote majority, and relations between the two parties are strained. They could continue to be strained at least through the November elections.

County Dems to hold convention

The Republicans held their convention last month. Now it's the Democrats' turn.

The Dutchess County Democratic Committee will hold its convention at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Polish-American Club, 19 N. Bridge St., Poughkeepsie. The committee is expected to endorse Wappinger Supervisor Joe Ruggiero for county executive. Former County Clerk Dick Anderson is expected to get the nomination for clerk.

If that's all the endorsing the committee does, then District Attorney Bill Grady and Sheriff Butch Anderson, both Republicans, could be looking at uncontested races in November.

Dutchess Dems make it online

I stand corrected. The Dutchess County Democratic Committee has its new Web site up and running, contrary to my post from yesterday. My problem was that I was trying the wrong address. It's dutchessdem.com.

Now we can watch the two parties duke it out in cyberspace for control of the county. The Democrats' new site looks a tad more professional than the Republicans' site, but I'm no expert on Web design. Anyone care to critique the two sites?

Legislative replay: Clarification & addendum

After reading over my post yesterday about the Dutchess Democrats' vote on mortgage tax distribution, I realized at least one detail might not have been clear: The measure passed, even with all 12 Democrats voting no. So the county's 30 municipalities will continue to receive the money they were expecting to balance their budgets.

But what does this mean for party politics and the proper functioning of county government? You could make the argument that it doesn't matter what the minority Democrats do. As long as the Republicans do the right thing, all is well because they have the majority. You also could make the argument that the Democrats, though in many ways powerless, have an important role in a 13-12 Legislature – the role of the opposition, putting pressure on the party in power. After all, they only need one Republican defector to become a majority.

A completely different dynamic occurs when the Legislature votes on bond resolutions, which need 17 votes for approval. The May 14 board meeting offered a perfect example. All 13 Republicans and Bill McCabe, D-LaGrangeville, voted in favor of borrowing money for improvement projects at Dutchess Community College. The measure failed because the other 11 Democrats voted against it. What does this mean for the projects? More on that soon.