The Rockland County Legislature’s Environmental Committee will hold a public hearing on a proposal to a 25-cent fee for paper or plastic carryout bags at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 in the legislature’s chambers in the Allison-Parris County Office Building, 11 New Hempstead Road in New City.

Legislator Connie Coker, D-South Nyack, who chairs the committee, worked with Andy Stewart, the executive director of Keep Rockland Beautiful, and wrote legislation that to charge the carryout bag fee.

In a news release, Coker said today that paper and plastic bags threaten the environment, are a source of significant litter, and contribute to overburdened landfill sites.  She said the legislation would discourage the use of these bags while encouraging the use of environmentally friendly reusable bags.

Coker has also expressed her support for  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to charge city shoppers a fee for every plastic bag they receive when checking out at the supermarket.

“While I hope that New York City ultimately passes Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal and I am certainly eager to pass similar legislation in Rockland County, I believe that this issue would be more effectively addressed on a statewide level,” Coker said today.

“Until such time as a statewide law is put into place, each municipality throughout New York State should take steps to discourage the use of plastic and paper carryout bags and promote reusable shopping bags,” Coker said.

I attend most of the County Legislature’s meetings, held the first and third Tuesday’s each month. They are interesting for the most part, but can get a little dry.

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.

Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, D-West Nyack, has made a few changes in the committees and their leadership.

She created one new committee on economic development to be headed by Majority Leader Michael Grant, D-Garnerville. The committee will deal with the “stimulus, development and revitalizaton of Rockland County’s economy” according to a new release issued by Cornell.

Newly returned Legislator Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern, has been named chair of the Government Operations Committee, a spot formerly held by Grant. And Legislator Jay Hood Jr., D-Haverstraw, will replace former Legislator David Fried as the chairman of the Public Safety Committee.

Returning to their posts are:

Legislator Ilan Schoenberger, D-Wesley Hills: Budget and Finance

Legislator Connie Coker, D-South Nyack: Environmental

Vice Chairman William Darden, D-Spring Valley: Rules

Legislator VJ Pradhan, D-Nanuet: Planning and Public Works

Legislator Philip Soskin, D-Monsey: Multi-Services

That leaves two Democratic legislators, Joseph Meyers from Airmont and Jacques Michel from Spring Valley, without leadership positions. The two are new to the Legislature this year.

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

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 tally was announced, he with 30 votes to her 32, that several voters had told him they received inaccurate information when trying to write in his name on the ballot.

That inaccurate information, Valentine said Tuesday, led to voters either writing his name on the wrong line or not voting for him at all.

In a news release issued today Valentine said he would prove in court that 15 votes for him were not counted.

No matter the outcome, Valentine, a Republican, and Coker will face off in the Nov. 6 general election.

Michael Mandel said he will not challenge the results of the Conservative primary for Orangetown Town Board that show him losing by one vote.

Sometimes when candidates loses by a tiny (or not so tiny) margin, they ask for a recount or file a lawsuit.

For instance, Republican Paul Valentine said he was considering a legal challenge in the Independence Party primary race in District 17, which he lost by two votes to Legislator Connie Coker, D-South Nyack.

But Mandel said he was satisfied that the Board of Elections did a proper count. He said he personally went over the votes, and they looked legit.

“I was up there and we went over all the election forms from all the election districts, and the numbers all jived,� he said.

Mandel won’t be on the November ballot, but said he plans to launch a write-in campaign.

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 given her career as a nurse midwife.

(Photo by Peter Carr/The Journal News)

The cranberry-colored scrubs, which she showed me at a recent candidates’ forum, say “Midwife Legislator Connie Delivers” on the front and “Rx: Vote for Legislator Coker” on the back.

Coker said she got the idea from the California Nurses Association who designed similar scrubs to promote filmmaker Michael Moore’s most recent movie, “Sicko.”

Coker, D-South Nyack, is being challenged by Republican businessman Paul Valentine.

Coker supporters can buy the scrubs for $15. Call 845-348-1525 for more information.

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 all they share. Bierker and Day were quick to point out this week that they both graduated from Brooklyn Tech.

August is a popular month for Rockland County Legislature birthdays.

We’ve also got:

• Bruce Levine, D-Montebello: 8/1

• Phil Soskin, D-Monsey 8/10

• Connie Coker, D-South Nyack: 8/13

No secret handshake necessary.

The Rockland County Legislature is hopping on the ban-the-”N”-word bandwagon. The Legislature’s Multi-Services Committee has on its agenda a resolution, introduced by Vice Chairman William Darden, D-Hillcrest, to “symbolically” ban the use of the “N” word as well as all derogatory words referencing race, ethnicity and religious practice.

It’s certainly not a new idea, especially in this area. Last month Nyack village trustees and the Westchester County Board of Legislators passed a resolution calling for an end to the word’s use. Earlier this month the New York City Council also adopted a nonbinding resolution that prohibits the use of that word.

The Multi-Services Committee, which meets at 6 p.m. tomorrow in New City, will also tackle a proposal to ban smoking in a vehicle with children under the age of 18. That resolution, sponsored by Legislator Connie Coker, D-South Nyack, aims to prevent damage caused by secondhand smoke.

They will also discuss a proposal by Legislator David Fried, D-Spring Valley, that would direct County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef to create a telephone and e-mail hotline to report businesses that sell alcohol and tobacco to minors.

If the committee votes to pass all these items through, the full Legislature will vote on them at an upcoming meeting. The law against smoking in vehicles with children would require a public hearing.