The look back is for a certain elected official in Rockland. Not too long ago, columnist Bob Baird showed me a newspaper from July 14, 1976 and asked me if anyone on the front page looked familiar.

Do you guys recognize her?

It’s Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell!

She was speaking at a Democratic caucus at the Waldolf Astoria during the Democratic National Convention, calling for a tribute statement for former Postmaster General and Stony Point resident James A. Farley, who had died that year. Farley was also a former chair of the Democratic National Committee and ran the presidential campaigns for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Sorry Harriet— I had to do it!

SATURDAY, JULY 19

Town of Clarkstown
• Pascack Community Center: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Congers Community Center: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Central Nyack Community Center: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Palisades Center Mall Community Center: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Town of Ramapo
• St. Lawrence Center: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Village of Haverstraw
• Village Community Center: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Village of Suffern
• Village Hall Community Room – top floor: 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Village of Spring Valley
• Louis Kurtz Civic Center: normal operating hours

OPEN SATURDAY, JULY 19 AND SUNDAY, JULY 20

Town or Orangetown
• New Court Room  (use police entrance)

Village of Sloatsburg
• Sloatsburg Volunteer Ambulance Corps: 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.

So while we focused primarily on this year’s candidates I took a peek at the statements of County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef and some of his rumored 2009 opponents.

Vanderhoef, a Republican now serving his fourth term in office, brought in more than $105,800 in contributions in the last six months—more than any of the people running for statewide office this year. He reported a balance of $166,577. 27 after opening with more than $131,200.

Much of his money came from corporate donations and several of his expenditures were on fundraisers.

Among the rumored challengers is Orangetown Town Supervisor Thom Kleiner, who’s getting really good at being charmingly coy when asked about the subject.

He raised nearly $41,000 this period, ending with a balance of $112,788.28. Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence took in nearly $76,000 and Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack took in nearly $61,500.

That’s big money in an off-year compared with Haverstraw Town Supervisor Howard Phillips who took in just more than $1,200 and Stony Point Supervisor Phil Marino who raised about half that.

All five supervisor seats, now filled by Democrats, are up next year as well.

Bill sponsor Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern, knew the demise of the so-called LEED law was coming — he’d been told the Legislature’s minority party members would side with Republican County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef — so he took the time normally spent pleading for votes to castigate the exec’s office for poor communication.

It’s been a running theme of the Legislature this year—that Vanderhoef’s office is either less than forthcoming on certain issues or gratingly mum on others.

Wolfe detailed to the Legislature his attempts to get the county executive’s input and how he had heard from his chief of staff only after it was too late to make any changes to the proposal.

Chief of Staff Sean Mathews, who was in the audience during Wolfe’s speech, released the following statement through spokeswoman C.J. Miller: “The (LEED) law was flawed. We could not support a law that puts the County in direct conflict with the intent of the  legislation. Secondly, we work with everyone. With over 350 pieces of legislation passed so far this year with only one veto, Legislator Wolfe’s comments seem unfounded.”

The veto override failed 11-6 with Legislators voting among party lines. Twelve votes were needed to overturn Vanderhoef’s veto.

The proposal had been vehemently opposed by local Little League organizations, with officials coming to a recent committee meeting on the subject.

“I’m pulling it out for one reason: because Nanuet Little League has taken the first step toward safety,” Pradhan said. “They are asking their pitchers to wear a shield to protect their heart.”

Pradhan said he hopes other local Little Leagues will follow Nanuet’s lead. Nanuet started using the chest guard recently.

The whole issue came back into the limelight in May when the family of a 12-year-old New Jersey Little Leaguer sued an aluminum bat maker, the league and the store where the bat was sold. In 2006, the boy’s suffered brain damage after a line drive off such a bat hit him and stopped his heart.

Minority Leader Ed Day, R-New City, called, as a longtime coach, to say he was glad the matter was being pulled, saying the ban would have been unnecessary.

There will be only two more Legislature meetings this summer, on July 1 and Aug. 5, as well as committee meetings.

Next week, legislators will host a public hearing on the 2008-2009 Rockland Community College budget with a vote to follow in August.

Legislators will return to twice-monthly meetings in September.

When someone from the audience asked how the state could clean up politics in Albany, C. Scott Vanderhoef deadpanned “Well, if they elected another governor last time, I would have been helpful.”

Vanderhoef, who then broke into a smile, ran for lieutenant governor in 2006 alongside John Faso, the GOP’s gubernatorial candidate. They were crushed in the polls by the Democratic Spitzer/Paterson ticket.

He noted that, while campaigning, Spitzer had promised to do away with unfunded state mandates, but that the most recent state budget had more than ever.

Other county executives at this morning’s forum were Andrew Spano from Westchester, Edward Diana from Orange and Steve Levy from Suffolk.

They are:

Town of Clarkstown

• Central Nyack, Congers and Pascack community centers: 7:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.

•Town Hall Auditorium: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

•Adler Center, 4th floor, Palisades Mall: noon – 10 p.m

Town of Haverstraw

•Rosman Road Town Hall:  noon – 5 p.m.

Town of Ramapo

•St. Lawrence Community Center, Hillburn: noon – 5 p.m.

• Town Hall, Rte 59, Tallman:  noon – 5 p.m.

• Spook Rock Pool:  noon – 7 p.m.

Village of Haverstraw

• Community Center: noon – 5 p.m.

Village of West Haverstraw

• Community Center: noon – 5 p.m.

Village of Sloatsburg

•Village Hall:  noon – 5 p.m.

Village of Spring Valley

• Kurtz Civic Center: noon – 5 p.m.

Village of Suffern

• Village Hall: noon – 7 p.m.

The Bardonia Conservative said he’s looking forward to time spent fishing, playing with the grandchildren and getting back into his target shooting hobby.

“At the end of this term, I’m going to be 72 years old,” he said.

Bierker, a former high school principal, was elected in November. His term ends in 2011.

The former minority leader said he hopes the leaders of the Republican and Conservative parties will start looking for a replacement soon so that person can learn about the job and make him or herself known to community members before the 2011 election.

His wife gave birth this morning to their third child, Thomas Dominic, who weighed in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces.

Edited to add: I’ve been informed that the new dad’s official title is chief of staff.

So I was surprised to see that June’s ceremony will be held at the Orange & Rockland Utilities Operations Center auditorium in Spring Valley.

Debbie Vobroucek, the county clerk’s confidential assistant, told me today that O & R specifically requested the ceremony be held at their facility and that they planned to hire a professional photographer to take pictures of each of the new citizens. The photos, along with memento frames and a packet of seedlings, will be given to the new citizens along with their new documents.

This is O & R’s way, Vobroucek said, of getting more involved with the community.

“I thought about it for a period of time. I had supporters over there and I truly treasure their support,” Darden said this afternoon.

Even though he knows it’s cliche, Darden said he honestly likes what he’s doing on the Legislature.

Still, he said, a run for the Assembly is “not out of the future.”

Jaffee had been facing as many as five challengers from within her own party.  Of them, only one, Ramapo Town Clerk Chris Sampson, has decided to run. The others were Darden, Suffern Mayor John Keegan and former Legislators David Fried and Patrick Withers.

The Republicans are expected to run a candidate against Jaffee, who is finishing out her first term. The district includes Orangetown and parts of Ramapo.

Okay—they weren’t that heavy. But the Legislature must have needed some pretty intense staplers for those things. They were thick.

So I was surprised Tuesday when I got my packet. It was very thin, even though I knew it was going to be a doozy of a meeting.

To save on paper the Legislature, at the request of the Environmental Committee, now prints packets using both sides of each sheet of paper.

Kudos guys!

Though I’d still like to see that lean, mean stapling machine…

The vote didn’t happen until around midnight. Yikes.

After hearing hours of comment, mostly negative, legislators voted 11-4 to approve the law with the “nay” votes coming from Legislators Gerold Bierker, C-Bardonia, Ed Day, R-New City, Joseph Meyers, D-Airmont and Frank Sparaco, R-Valley Cottage.

The Legislature previously struck down a motion to table the issue, 5-11 with Bierker, Day, Meyers, Sparaco and Legislator Doug Jobson, R-Stony Point, voting in favor of tabling the proposal.

Several members of the Legislature sit on the Solid Waste Management Authority.

The proposal died in committee last week with four “ayes” and three “nays.” Proposals need six “ayes” to make it out of committee.

Day, R-New City, also the Legislature’s minority leader, had faced criticism for the proposal. The county executive and county finance commissioner said it would end up costing Rockland about $1.5 million in lost revenue that would need to be made up through an increase in property taxes.

Day said he would try to get the item put on tomorrow’s full Legislature agenda as a new business item, but Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, D-West Nyack, said she wouldn’t support it.

Day, she said, is welcome to make a motion to do so, but if it is going to be considered it needs to go through the proper channels, i.e. the committees.

Okay, not it’s not that bad. But there has been a running theme this year of the Legislature complaining that County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef has been less than forthcoming with information, something his office says just isn’t true.

Last month, at the April 30 Government Operations Committee meeting Legislator Ed Day, R-New City, asked Hospitals Commissioner Richard Maloney for a detailed breakdown of how much overtime pay is included in the department’s payroll figures.

At last night’s Multi-Services Committee meeting, Day again asked Maloney about the figures and Maloney replied that he’d gotten the numbers to the county executive’s office two days after the request was made.

So Day, visibly miffed, questioned Vanderhoef staffer Vince Altieri who told him he’d have to check and get back to him.

Other legislators, including Jay Hood Jr., D-Haverstraw, Philip Soskin, D-Monsey and Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern, said they were disappointed that the county’s administration had shared so little with them regarding the construction of the new hospital and nursing home. Soskin said he’s gotten most of his information about the project from media reports.

The Legislature, earlier this month, also accused Vanderhoef of not communicating effectively with them when his office requested approval for a $24 million bond related to the Mirant tax dispute.  Vanderhoef countered that the Legislature knew about the issue because it was discussed at a 2006 meeting.

C.J. Miller, spokeswoman for the county executive, said yesterday that claims the Legislature can’t get information on finances are bogus. The  Legislature’s fiscal analyst has access to the same numbers as the administration’s finance personnel.

“That information is open and accessible to everyone,” she said

As to the rest of the complaints, Miller said Vanderhoef’s office isn’t trying to hide anything or play games with the legislators.

“Maybe communication isn’t the problem here,” she said. “Maybe it’s a lack of understanding … a lack of comprehension.”

Legislation has passed both state chambers to declare Friday as Thurgood Marshall Day in the state.

The measure was sponsored by State Sen. Thomas Morahan,  R-New City, and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, to honor the Supreme Court justice for his contributions to the civil rights movement.

Marshall visited Rockland in 1943 to call for desegregation of a Hillburn school.

According to a press release issued jointly by Morahan and Jaffee, several prominent Rocklanders joined the lawmakers in Albany on Monday, including Legislature Vice Chairman William Darden, D-Hillcrest, his brother Spring Valley Mayor George Darden, Spring Valley NAACP president Willie Trotman, and Willie Bryant from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

Sampson was one of several area Democrats who said this winter they were interested in the seat. The others were County Legislature Vice Chairman William Darden, Suffern Mayor John Keegan, and former Legislators Patrick Withers and David Fried.

Jaffee and Rockland’s other state representatives are up for re-election in November. Jaffee is completing her first term.

The county’s Democratic convention is coming up in the next few weeks. We’ll be checking in with the four stragglers soon. Stay tuned.

During budget season you often hear him trying to wrangle more money out of the budget for certain organizations, most notably the Hi-Tor Animal Care Center and Project Turning Point.

He helped honor the latter last night before the Legislature meeting when he and Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, D-West Nyack present the group and it’s leaders with the Legislature’s Distinguished Service Award.

Operating out of Spring Valley since 1985, the group has provided services to thousands of homeless and runaway teens from every town in the county.

Having faced budget cuts from the federal, state and local levels, Project Turning Point currently operate a six-bed shelter as part of St. Agatha’s Home.

I was driving along, cursing getting stuck in construction traffic during an already long commute, when I saw one of Patrick Withers’ campaign signs. Wha??

Withers, a Democrat from Suffern and a former county legislator, was one of several politicians last fall who used the sides and back of trucks to promote their candidacy.

And one of his old advertisements, albeit faded and peeling, has been parked along the side of Route 17 in Monroe for the last few days. The smaller details of the ad are almost gone—one can make out the word “keep”—but the Pat Withers, now dulled to a light gray,  is clear as day.

Withers was defeated last year by Legislator Joseph Meyers, D-Suffern.

Well last night was anything but. A simple public hearing and subsequent vote on a law to mandate recycling programs for plastic bags turned into an all out snit-fest.

It all started when Legislator Gerold Bierker, C-Bardonia, called for motion to table the resolution until it could be heard by the Solid Waste Management Authority. (Keep in mind that the SWMA doesn’t recycle plastic bags.)

The only votes of encouragement he got were from the five members of minority parties (the sixth—Legislator Doug Jobson, R-Stony Point—was absent.) So Bierker’s motion got shot down by Dem power.

But the motion then causes Legislator Ilan Schoenberger to remark that no member of the minority parties had brought up the SWMA issue previously and that it was a display of party-line voting. He also noted that if a minority member had sponsored the law along with him and Legislator Connie Coker, D- South Nyack, it would have passed smoothly.

Which then led Bierker to comment “that when the lower tier votes, it’s a called a party line vote. But when the Democrats vote I presume it’s called democracy in action.”

Ding! Round Two.

So then Legislator VJ Pradhan chimes in that members of the minority parties who brought up the SWMA issue during the regular meeting instead of the committee discussions may have done so to score some extra camera time (the meetings are broadcast on Channel 78.)

Next up? Legislator John Murphy, R-Orangeburg, who said he was extremely offended by Pradhan’s comments.

“I don’t like anybody to suggest I vote for that camera,” he said.

Schoenberger then apologizes to Murphy only.

Ding! Round Three!

At this point the argument descended into whether or not Coker and Schoenberger’s original law (finally! we get back to the law!) was strong enough or whether the Legislature should wait and vote on something that would go farther to rid the county of all plastic bags.

This whole thing lasted for about an hour and half. Most everyone spoke—some people multiple times.

End result? A unanimous vote on the law to mandate a recycling program for plastic shopping bags.