Here’s a shocking news development:
Andrew Cuomo has announced that he will run for the office of Governor of New York.
Isn’t that a big surprise?
I’ll say this for Mr. Cuomo. He wastes no time in giving us a taste of his plan for New York. But you don’t have to take my word for it because he says it all in the following video announcement.
The Plan from Andrew Cuomo on Vimeo.
So, now that the Democrats really have a candidate for governor … let the games begin!
Just in case you hadn’t noticed that note over there (in the sidebar) —->>
the Delaware County Democratic Committee will be celebrating our 2010 Annual Dinner on June 19th at the Hanah Mountain Resort & County Club on West Hubbell Hill Road in Margaretville. Gorgeous spot with reasonable parking located at a convenient distance from the facility.
This year, we will be honoring C. Peter Cordes as our Democrat of the Year. Pete hails from Sidney, where he has served on the Town Board for three full terms and was elected to his fourth term last year, making him one of the county’s longest-serving Democrats currently in public office.
As for our dinner speakers, we are expecting both our House Representatives — Scott Murphy (confirmed) and Maurice Hinchey — as well as Max Finberg, a local lad who wound up serving in the Obama Administration for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Max’s dad is Mike Finberg, a member of the DCDC from the town of Middletown.
Tickets for this year’s dinner are $45; you can purchase tickets from your local Town Chair or you can click here to buy them online right now.
This year’s celebration looks like it’ll be a great one, so be sure to get your tickets and come join us!
Last weekend, members of the NY State Democratic Committee’s Rural Conference (including Chair Cindy and two of the state committee members from Delaware County) met in Niagara Falls for our annual conference and straw poll.
A good time was had by all and the straw poll acted as a sort of opening salvo in the feverish campaign season that will be 2010, with an unusually large number of offices up for grabs: governor, lt. governor, attorney general, comptroller, U.S. Senator (both of them), U.S. Representative, plus all members of both the State Assembly and the State Senate.
It’s unfortunate that we haven’t been able to find candidates to challenge either Pete Lopez in the 127th Assembly District or Cliff Crouch in the 107th Assembly District — which brings me to the real topic of this post.
Meet David Sager.
David is a Sullivan County legislator, a former Republican and the probable Democratic candidate to challenge Senator John Bonacic this year for his Senate seat here in the 42nd District.
Sager was endorsed by the DCDC at our last meeting on April 28th but has not yet received the similar nod from the other counties in the district: Sullivan, Ulster and Orange.
So, while we wait for that, let me tell you a little about David.
He is, as I said, a member of the Sullivan County Legislature representing District 1, which includes the towns of Bethel, Cochecton, Delaware and Tusten. Before that, he was twice elected Sullivan County Coroner (in 2000 and in 2004). In fact, he was the youngest person in history to be elected to that office.
I won’t venture to guess how old he is but I will say simply that he is youthful but not inexperienced. Best of both worlds, in fact.
The issues he is most concerned about are gas drilling (”It must be safe, legal, economically beneficial to all, and subject to local control.”), watershed flood mitigation, the environment, local agriculture, and accountability in government.
“I will meet with the people and talk with them about what-ever issues they have,” Sager told us. “I want the people to know that I care, and that I will fight like a dog for you.”
As of this writing, David’s web site isn’t live yet. As soon as it is, it will be added to the candidate web sites in the side bar.
Farm Catskills has invited author and economist Michael Shuman to speak in Delhi (at the Legion Hall) on Saturday October 24th at 2pm, on the topic of “Building Living Local Economies”.
They would like to get feedback from as many locally owned businesses as possible prior to the event to help tailor Michael’s talk to the needs and interests of Delaware County. There is a short online survey for business owners, available at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=aO6RyE1MI_2bENzDWiAbJSJg_3d_3d
FMI, call Amy Kenyon, 607-643-1724
Building Local Living Economies
Free and open to the public!
Saturday October 24th 2pm
American Legion Hall, Delhi
Special Guest Speaker Michael Shuman
followed by local foods and business reception and book signing
From our farms to our Main Streets, locally owned small businesses are the foundation of our communities. How can we do more to grow our local economy and encourage thriving local businesses? Come to this event to learn more about what everyone, from local government leaders to banks, from business owners to consumers can do to be part of the movement to strengthen sustainable, vibrant communities in the Catskill region.
Michael Shuman is a dynamic speaker on local economy concepts. He is an economist, attorney, entrepreneur, and the author of several books including The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age.
Shuman has been involved with a variety of projects related to small and locally owned business development and support, including: creating a small business venture capital fund in New Mexico; launching a community-owned company in Salisbury (MD) called Bay Friendly Chicken; organizing university-government-business collaborations in St. Lawrence County (NY) and in the Katahdin Region (ME) to study opportunities for import replacement; preparing a buy-local guide and coupon book for Annapolis (MD); and building the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).
This event is organized by Farm Catskills, with funding support from the O’Connor Foundation and the Pure Catskills buy local campaign.
