County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef announced today that he rescinded his proposal to give eight county employees, including himself, substantial raises in 2008. He listed a recent, unexplained slump in sales tax revenue from the state as the primary reason for the change, but also said that the raises had become a “distraction” and that [...]

These were sent to me by Legislator Doug Jobson, R- Stony Point. He is facing challenges tomorrow by Michael Diederich, a Democrat, and John Kezek, a Democrat running on the Working Families Party line.

The Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic Action Fund endorsed the following candidates for Rockland County Legislature:
—Michael Diederich, D, District 1
—Legislator Ilan Schoenberger, D-Wesley Hills, District 4
—John Fellas, D, District 5
—Legislature Vice Chairman William Darden, D-Hillcrest, District 8
—Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, D-West Nyack, District 10
—Legislator VJ Pradhan, D-Nanuet, District 14
—Legislator Connie Coker, D-South Nyack, District 17

So I’m giving a recent Legislature press release a first read and at the top is a name I haven’t seen in awhile  … at least on a press release anyway.

Aaron Troodler, former spokesman for former Assemblyman Ryan Karben, is now the new assistant to Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, D-West Nyack.

“I’m back!” he said.

After Karben [...]

Today The Journal News’ editorial board heard from the County Legislature’s District 12 candidates: Legislature Patrick Withers, Airmont Trustee Joseph Meyers and real estate broker Larry Weinstein. The editorial board was there to get information for its endorsement. I was there to get information for my story on this race.

It’s certainly not a rule, but [...]

Presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be coming to Rockland on Oct. 31 for a fundraiser, according to Jeff Barker, Giuliani’s Northeast communications director.

Barker said Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, who has been tapped by Giuliani’s campaign to build support among New York’s county executives, is helping organize the [...]

We’ve been holding endorsement interviews here at The Journal News, asking candidates for various county and town races to share their views and ideas with our editorial board.

I like to sit in on as many County Legislature interviews as I can:

a.) Because I cover the County Legislature
b.) Because it helps me to know where the [...]

Blauvelt business owner Paul Valentine announced today that he filed a lawsuit today, challenging the primary results which put him two votes behind Legislator Connie Coker, D-South Nyack, in the Independence Party primary.

Coker had received the support of the party, but Valentine mounted a write-in campaign. He said earlier this week when the final vote [...]

Rudy Dent, who describes himself as Preserve Ramapo’s “sign guru” must have suspected something nefarious was going to happen at the organization’s New Hempstead headquarters when he trained a video camera on the property.

Sure enough, a man was caught bicycling up to the lawn, stealing a sign and riding off into the night.. er.. [...]

Fellow reporter Hannan Adely and I have been waiting for the last couple of hours for absentee and affidavit ballots totals to be released in a few local and county races.

Tick, tick, tick…

The Board of Elections told Hannan yesterday (and this morning!) that they would beging counting the ballots at 2:30 this afternoon. So we [...]

Rockland Democratic Committee Chairman Vincent Monte is holding a press conference tomorrow to announce the party’s new position—but we ain’t waiting.

Kenneth Ingenito, former County Legislature chairman and chief of staff to the late Assemblyman Kenneth P. Zebrowski, will now work for the party (in an unpaid position) as the executive director of strategy and policy.

Ingenito [...]

Rockland County Legislator Connie Coker is doing something a little bit different to promote herself in the upcoming election. Instead of doing the palm card, glossy mailing, bumper sticker or pen-with-her-name-on-it bit, Coker’s drawing on a bit of life experience.

She’s handing out scrubs. Yup- as in the medical kind. But I guess it’s only natural [...]

It wouldn’t be election season without some less-than-friendly competition in Spring Valley.

Several candidates for village and county seats are planning not to participate in tomorrow night’s candidates’ forum, hosted by the Spring Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Signed by the members of the Caucus to Save Spring Valley, village [...]

Inspectors from the county’s Office of Consumer Protection have been visiting local retailers looking for evidence of price-gouging on kosher products in advance of Rosh Hashana next week.

“We’ve done this for both the High Holy days and around the Passover season,” Director Terry Grosselfinger said today.

While there’s been no evidence of such price gouging in [...]

County Legislature Vice Chairman William Darden, D-Hillcrest, is not happy that two signs bearing his name were ripped from the ground this weekend and, in one case, tossed over a fence onto the sidewalk.

 The campaign signs promoted Darden, along with village trustee candidates Joseph Desmaret and Anthony Leon and justice candidate Christine Theodore. He said [...]

The latest piece of campaign literature to come out of the District 12 County Legislature race contains an error that some say really isn’t an error at all.

Sent out by Preserve Ramapo in support of Airmont Trustee Joseph Meyers, the back side of the glossy mailing talks of Legislator Patrick Withers’ support from Ramapo Town [...]

A short film has been circulating around The Journal News’ Rockland office. And it starts (oops!) stars Republican Ramapo town supervisor candidate Anthony Mele.

The 2004 film, “A Dream Day,” was shot in black and white and is set in Nyack. Mele stars as a cop who gets with the wrong girl. The film can be [...]

Legislators David Fried, Ian Schoenberger, Philip Soskin, Bruce Levine Patrick Withers and Vice Chairman William Darden, all Democrats from Ramapo, have issued a press release stating that they are planning to draft legislation that would call on County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef to investigate whether the county could acquire the New York Country Club in [...]

I’ve been trying to reach the Rockland County Board of Ethics for a couple of weeks. Last week I started calling daily.

I got a call today from Robin at the Board of Ethics. When I explained to her that I would like to speak to the chairman for a story I’m working on I was [...]

Somehow I knew Ryan Karben knew how to throw an impressive party.

From the red and white checkered tablecloths on the outdoor dining tables to the waitresses serving multi-colored mojitos and fruit kabobs, patrons of the Karbens’ backyard barbecue all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

And that was before the caterers busted out the burgers and hot [...]

The Rockland County Legislature has a new picture up on its Web site with all the legislators and with everyone’s head on his or her own body.

Several media organizations—starting with The Journal News, thank you very much—got a chuckle last week out of a doctored Legislature portrait that had new Legislator Jay Hood Jr.’s head [...]

Legislator Ed Day said he did not accept anything from a county vendor last weekend when his campaign was treated to a fundraiser at the Nyack home of Carl Wortendyke, a principal of Cal Mart Enterprises. Cal Mart is a county vendor.

“Cal Mart is a county vendor,” Day said, “Carl Wortendyke is not.”

Day, R-New City, [...]

Three members of the Rockland County Legislature are celebrating a birthday today!

• Ed Day, R-New City, is the youngest of the three. He’s 56.

• VJ Pradhan, D-Nanuet, the “middle” child so to speak, is the big 6-0.

• Gerold Bierker, C-Bardonia, turns  68 today. No worries—you don’t look a day older than 67!! Ha!

Their birthdays aren’t [...]

Legislator Ed Day wants to make the controversial campaign finance a little more clear—and more strict.

Day, R-New City, announced today that he has submitted several amendments to the county’s 1997 campaign finance law that prohibits candidates in county races from taking more than $100 from any entity that does business with the county.

Those amendments include:
—Prohibiting [...]

Seems with elections coming up and all, the county legislators were too busy to gather for a group shot with newly-appointed Legislator Jay Hood Jr. So they stuck his head shot on the body of former Legislator Roman Rodriguez.

And whoever did the graphics maybe needs to take a few extra computer classes.

We’ve compared the two [...]