Apply today for $500 toward college expenses for one applicant who demonstrates drive “to foster and advance the goals and ideals of our American democratic society through education and community involvement.”
Petition Bonanza
After a month of feet on the streets, the Cornwall Democrats are filing petitions for the November ballot. Thanks to the diligence of all who carried (and the enthusiasm of those who signed) we have exceeded our goal and collected 388 signatures (update: and counting) for our slate of Cornwall town candidates, as well as a substantial number for our county and judicial delegates.
Progressivism vs. Centrism
By Jessica Wu
The beginning of 2019 has already seen a number of Democrats officially put themselves in the race for 2020, with many more giving indications that they too plan to throw in their hats. Democrats are campaigning with several important issues on the line: universal healthcare, staggering personal and national debt, the opioid crisis, and zero hour of the climate change battle. The question becomes how each candidate will address each issue, or, rather, how voters will decide they want these issues to be resolved. It is very clearly going to be a race between progressivism and centrism. Some, like Amy Klobuchar, promise a moderate plan of leadership, whereas progressive candidates like Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren have declared they will demand rather drastic change, now.
Even within progressives, there are new and old faces. Sanders was really the one who led and popularized the conversation on single-payer healthcare back in 2016, but four years later, perhaps it is time for slightly younger faces like Warren and Harris to take over the movement. All things considered, maybe Democratic voters will decide that universal government programs for healthcare or education aren’t conducive to the national debt that just broke $22 trillion, and that things like Medicare-for-more might be a safer option.
The way the vote swings will say a lot: are we ready for a revolution, or are we desperate to get back to a sense of stability, even if it means remaining stagnant? Regardless, a lot is at stake, and all the 2020 candidates know this.
Hate Has No Place In America
On Sunday February 10 the Orange County Democratic Womenheld a Town Hall Meeting, “'Hate Has No Place In America”. The audience, estimated at over 150 people, packed the room to take part in a discussion led by a distiguished panel that included State Senator Jen Metzger, Attorney Michael Sussman, Rabbi Rachel Rubenstein and high school student Gabe Girault. The discussion was moderated by our own Virginia Scott. The OCDW has plans to follow up.
Petition Season Starts!
Now there's a slate! Petition pickup day today, and our candidates are ready to walk and talk—let's go!
Erica Nichols, Wynn Gold, Virginia Scott, Richard Randazzo, Justin Kimple, Joshua Wojehowski making it happen. Much more info to come…
CORNWALL DEMOCRATS ENDORSE TOWN CANDIDATES
-Six Community Leaders Advanced for November Election-
FEBRUARY 21, CORNWALL, NY—The Cornwall Democratic Committee on Thursday endorsed six candidates for Town of Cornwall offices on the November ballot. The candidates offer unparalleled experience as leaders in public service, volunteerism, enterpreneurship, advocacy, business, and law.
Richard Randazzo, Incumbent Town Supervisor, received the Committee’s endorsement based on his financial stewardship, management professionalism, and years of service to Cornwall. As a lifelong Democrat who finds bipartisan solutions, Supervisor Randazzo has presided over the Town Board for a cumulative 23 years. In a new term he seeks to continue work enacting the new Comprehensive Plan, balancing costs and exceptional Town services, and helping guide Cornwall’s continued positive, sustainable development.
That work requires experienced, dedicated community leaders, which the Committee finds in its three unanimous Council endorsements:
Virginia Scott (2-year term) has taught science in Washingtonville for 25 years and has volunteered in the community for 26 years. She is a life-long resident of Orange County, mostly in Cornwall with her husband Mark and two sons—the entire family are CCHS graduates. Ginny has led work in the Garden Club as co-chair of Main Street Beautification, youth sports, women’s organizations, the Downing Park Planning Committee and Balmville Grange in Newburgh, and citizen advocacy for fair taxes. Focused on affordability, government accountability, and sustainability, Ginny believes that a truly representative government represents all people, who all have common concerns and goals as residents.
Wynn Gold (4-year term) is a 13-year veteran of the Cornwall Planning Board, RiverFest organizer, long-time Boy Scout leader, former Economic Development committee chair, and founding board member and former president of the Cornwall Community Co-Op. He serves on the Comprehensive Plan Committee for the second time, helping the Town determine the best direction for our future development. Mr. Gold owns Auric Information Packaging, the printing and packaging business he founded here. He is First Vice President of the Greater Cornwall Chamber of Commerce and on the Board of the Cornwall Lions Club. Wynn and his wife Carol’s adult children graduated from CCHS; his family first came to Cornwall more than 40 years ago. Building up Cornwall and protecting our unique way of life have been two major goals of his career, which call him to run now.
Joshua Wojehowski (4-year term) founded, owned, and ran Fresh restaurant on Main Street for five years, and now manages Fresh catering and restaurant consulting, while leasing the space to a new restaurant. He serves on the Economic Development Advisory Committee with a focus on Main Street viability and revitalization. Before opening Fresh in his home town he was a culinary instructor and program manager for New York City’s Human Resources Administration, helping those on public assistance attain self-sufficiency. He became legislative and budget director for a City Council member, helping manage the agenda of the Council’s Economic Development Committee. Josh then became the director of public affairs for the YMCA of Greater New York while also leading its grant management efforts, securing or renewing $30 million+ funding annually. Josh’s family has lived in Cornwall for generations, and he and his wife Heather have two children in the Cornwall schools. As a parent to young children and a direct investor in Cornwall’s success, he is running to preserve future local opportunities for Cornwall residents.
Erica Nichols, for Receiver of Taxes, is a powerful organizational administrator and family advocate inside and outside the military. Erica was an Army Family Readiness Group (FRG) Leader and treasurer for 15 years, ensuring finanical and social stability for deployed soldiers and families; she held functions, raised funds, and handled all financial and transactionsal accounts and tax issues in compliance with federal laws and DOD policies. Erica later served as a Family Readiness Support Advisor, overseeing accounting, banking, and regulatory compliance within other FRGs. In both roles she worked directly with families to access assistance, whether personal, financial, medical, insurance-related, or educational. She was Treasurer and Vice President of a combined forces Spouses Club, and her volunteer work inside and outside the military includes domestic abuse prevention, youth sports, Girl Scouts, military housing justice, and more. She will be a Reciever of Taxes that recognizes Cornwall taxpayers as both customers and families, and will provide efficient, friendly service with integrity.
Justin Kimple, for Town Justice, is an attorney with Levinson, Reineke & Kimple in Woodbury, where he has practiced for 13 years in criminal defense and civil litigation in local courts, supreme court and county courts in Orange County. Born and raised in Cornwall, Justin knows the impact that courtroom outcomes can have on individuals and families; he has substantial experience representing individuals and families with drug addictions, particularly young adults, in need of rehabilitation. With his wife Aggie, Justin is co-owner of the Dance & Music Design School, and he has been a Cornwall youth soccer coach and Cornwall adult soccer team member. He regularly assists with community activities, including the Cornwall Fall Festival and the Cornwall 4th of July celebration. As a Town Justice, Justin will balance the needs of the people, the law, and the individuals in each case to protect the essence of Cornwall while dealing with changing demographics, as well as issues such as drug addiction and domestic violence.
“Our Democratic candidates represent the best of Cornwall,” said Jon Chase, Committee Chair. “Their clear dedication to our community’s success and their wide-ranging expertise can make us all confident that every Cornwall resident will be ably represented when they are elected this November.”
It’s On!
Election Season 2019 Opens with Democratic Candidates’ Declarations
The Cornwall Democratic Committee met for their regular monthly business on Thursday, January 17. At the meeting, incumbent Town Supervisor Richard Randazzo announced that he would proudly be seeking reelection. CDC secretary Erica Nichols announced her candidacy for Town Clerk. CDC members Viginia Scott, Wynn Gold and Joshua Wojehowski each declared for Council seats on the Town Board. Justin Kimple, a Cornwall native and local lawyer, announced his intent to run as a Democrat for Town Justice.
Along with the local races there will also be an election for New York State Supreme Court Justices. The 9th District includes the counties of Orange, Rockland, Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester. Hoping to fill the bench in Orange County Michael Isgur and Steven Milligram made their cases before the Committee.
With the filing deadline nearing on COH village elections and an uncertain date for the Town of Cornwall primary schedule, the meeting took on extra importance as seven positions will be on November’s ballot. To lend additional significance to the meeting is the fact that not all positions on the ballot have been contested in recent years. This year the CDC expects to field a full slate of candidates for Town Supervisor, two full term seats on the Town Council, one 2-year term to fill a vacancy, Town Clerk, Receiver of Taxes and Town Justice.
The CDC’s next monthly meeting will be on February 21 during which the committee will officially endorse its 2019 slate of candidates. The meeting is open to the public but only elected members of the committee may vote.
Watch this site for candidates’ biographies and platforms.
Interested in running and need more information? Contact the Cornwall Democratic Committee.
:) Cheers & Jeers :(
Cheers:
to the New York State Senate and new Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. In the first two weeks of the new legislative session a backlog of bills that had been passed in the Assembly in previous years—in some cases every year since 2009—were pushed through to the Governor’s desk. Among these bills are Electoral Reform, LGBTQ protections, Education Reform and laws protecting reproductive rights. It’s hard to remember a time when any major legislation passed both houses in Albany before February.
In addition Leader Stewart-Cousins’s choices for key leadership roles in the Senate demonstrate that business as usual will have a different look going forward.
Jeers:
to Colin Schmitt, the newly elected member of the Assembly from the 99th District, the seat held by James Skoufis for the previous six years. On the very day that the New York State legislature approved a series of landmark bills making sweeping changes in election laws, Assemblymember Schmitt released photos of himself accepting his winnings (a box of donuts, a growler and a pie) from a wager on the Army-Navy Game. Schmitt cast a no vote.
The next day Schmitt joined fellow Orange County Republican Karl Brabenac in voting against the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA). The bill, passed in the Assembly only to die in the Republican Senate annually since 2009, adds gender identity as a protected class in housing, employment, and public accommodations.
The following week Schmitt voted no on a package of bills including the Reproductive Health Act, the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act and the Boss Bill which will prevent an employer from dictating healh care coverage based on personal religious grounds. The RHA codifies Rowe v. Wade in New York. Before this bill was signed into law abortion was still illegal in New York State. In voting no on the RHA Scmitt called it “a radical bill that conflicts with the values a majority of New Yorkers and residents of my district hold” as he repeated the falsehoods used by Republicans to block its passage in the past.
A New Day Dawns in Albany
Long-blocked Reproductive Health Act, Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act and Boss Bill Signed into Law
In January the new Democratic majority Senate was seated in Albany. Joining the Democratic-led Assembly the Empire State can expect long-awaited legislation from this young and diverse group of law makers.
Under the leadershp of Andrea Stewart-Cousins, New York State’s first woman Senate Majority Leader, the senate has already tackled Voting Reform, Reproductive Rights and Women’s Health, LGBTQ protections, and is poised to pass the Child Victims Act which would extend the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse (see Rally for Child Victims Act, TDC Vol.1 No.1 page 1). All of these issues had been blocked by previous Republican majorities, most never making it to the floor for a vote after passage in the Assembly.
At the January 20 swearing-in of Senator James Skoufis at the Monroe-Woodbury Middle School Leader Stewart-Cousins promised that New York willl be a progressive trailblazer and that the whole country will be looking to New York as an example.
To be sure, the rapid pace of change in Albany and the Progressive agenda that it supports is only possible because last November New York’s voters overwhelmingly declared that we’re “mad as hell and (we aren’t) going to take it anymore!” As a result fourteen new Democratic Senators were elected–two in Orange County!
Democratic-Controlled State Senate Finally Passes Historic Voting Reform
New York Enters the 21st Century as Early Voting Comes to the State
By Michael Kochler
After years of Republican obstruction in the State Senate the new Democratic majority quickly joined their counterparts in the Assembly and passed a series of bills that overhaul New York’s outdated election laws.
A pillar of Sentor James Skoufis’ election campaign, the new laws bring early voting to the Empire State along with a host of other measures designed to makevoting easier, thus increasing New York’s historically low election day turnout.New York typically has among the lowest voter participation rates in the nation.
New Democratic Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins swiftly brought the badly needed and long overdue legislation to the Senate floor to begin just her second week of leadership. Besides early voting the bills consolidate New York’sstate and federal primaries; provide for preregistration of 16- and 17-year-olds and voting by mail; and sharply limits the influence of money in elections through L.L.C.s. Said Senator Stewart-Cousins, “We should not fear making it easier for those who are eligible to vote, to vote,” adding, “We should not fear restricting theflow of money into our electoral system.”
Another of Senator Skoufis’ promises was that the so-called L.L.C. loophole would be closed. Under the old statute corporations could spend almost unlimited amounts of money on election races through multiple limited liability companies (L.L.C.s). Typically created by real estate and other powerful interests the true owners of these L.L.C.s are often difficult to identify.
The Assembly, under Democratic leadership, has passed similar bills in past sessions only to see the measures die in the Republican controlled Senate. Republicans regularly sited the expense of making these changes which theymaintained would penalize upstate counties. In truth, consolidating the state’sprimaries will save those counties millions of dollars.
Cornwall Democrats Showed up to March
Cornwall Democrats put feet on the street in Port Jervis and Hudson with the Women’s March on Saturday, January 19, while Democrats and our allies marched around the country and around the world to stand up for liberty and justice for all.
Times Herald-Record: “Women’s March in Port Jervis hard to ‘RESIST’”
Hudson Valley 360 (Hudson): “Marchers brave frosty temperatures in support of women”
Albany Times-Union: Hundreds brave cold for third annual Albany women's march
New York Daily News: Women's March 2019 in New York City
Washington Post: Thousands gather for third Women’s March
New York Times: Women’s Marches Around the World Reflect Worry Over Violence and Populism
The Cornwall Democratic Committee Resolves for 2019…
To knock on the door of every registered Democrat in the Town of Cornwall
To learn more about what Democratic voters in the Town of Cornwall find important
To register new voters and increase the number of registered Democrats in the Town of Cornwall
To encourage every Democrat in the Town of Cornwall to vote Democrat
To recruit volunteers for Democratic campaigns
To encourage young people in the Town of Cornwall to become engaged
To identify and encourage new and aspiring Democratic Candidates
To challenge every incumbant Republican in the Town of Cornwall elections in 2019
To run to WIN
To uphold the ideals and values that define the Democratic Party and fight for the Founding Fathers’ vision of an America that stands for Liberty and justice FOR ALL in 2019 and beyond!
The Young Democrats Space
By Michael Kochler
This month’s column was not written by one of the Cornwall Young Democrats due to scheduling problems (the result of a late deadline by this publication’s editor) but by this publication’s editor.
I have the pleasure, indeed honor, to be a liason and mentor for this group of amazing young ladies and men. Together they are educating and organizing their fellows. They are in fact the future of our community – and the communities they will spend time in - as they take their place among the leaders of society.
Galvanized by the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and the March for Our Lives a number of students organized an event at Cornwall Central High School. This led to the formation of the Cornwall young Democrats.
The Cornwall young Democrats have identified the following goals: Advocating for affordable education and equal access to a quality education for all; Bringing an end to gun violence; Protecting the future of the environment; Raising awareness among their peers; Educating their peers about the electoral process; Protecting and expanding women's rights; and Promoting active participation in the political process at all levels.
I for one feel heartened by their involvement.
Thanks to Jessica Wu and Katie Skoog for their contributions to this month’s column.
Cornwall Leads Orange County in Voter Turnout
Cornwall has many charms that draw residents here from near and far and keeps many natives from leaving – at least permanently. Whether it’s the schools; the scenery or the proximity to NYC, West Point and the Catskills that brought/keeps us here Cornwall’s citizens are passionate about our town.
That passion was manifested in the highest voter turnout rate in Orange County this past November 6. What’s more is that the rate at which Cornwall Democrats came to the polls was higher than the combined rate of the town’s registered Republicans and Conservatives combined (70.9% to 69.4%). It’s a small but significant edge.
It’s significant in that this is the first time Cornwall Democrats proved to be more motivated than our GOP counterparts. This is the town that has historically left nearly half of the elected positions go uncontested because it was taken for granted that Republicans had a lock on Cornwall government, in spite of our Town having elected a Democratic Supervisor.
A more comprehensive assessment of the election results and their implications from the CDC’s Data Subcommittee will appear in the January edition.
There's Still Time to Run in Village Election
Interested in serving as Village Trustee or Mayor in Cornwall on Hudson? The election for Mayor and two Village Trustee seats is coming up March 19, 2019, but if you’re planning on being a candidate, you’ll need to pick up a set of nominating petitions from the Village Clerk ASAP--the petitioning period begins January 2!
Running for re-election this year will be Mayor Brendan Coyne, Trustee Mark Edsall and Trustee David Carnright. All terms are for two years.
To be eligible to run, a candidate must be 18 years old, a Village resident for at least 30 days, and be a registered voter. Candidates must obtain 75 signatures from Village residents who are registered voters. The time for circulating petitions is coming up fast – petitioning begins January 2 and runs through February 13, 2019. Completed petitions may be filed with the Village Clerk between February 5 and February 13, 2019.
Village elections often take place under the radar, with very little notice. Running for these positions is a great opportunity for Democrats in our community to get a good grounding in municipal governance.
Interested in running and need more information? Contact Cornwall Democratic Committee Chair, Jon Chase, or Committee Vice Chair Bill Braine. But don’t delay! Nominating petitions are available from Village Clerk Jeanne Mahoney, contact 534-4200, X310.