Rockland’s Year In Review Dec. 31, 2007 (Part 1)
- December
- 31
This is part one of our Year In Review podcast. Check out part two above. Happy New Year!
Part 1:
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Archive for the 'Francis “Bud” Wassmer' Category
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Rockland Year in Review
- December
- 3
It’s December, and that means we’re gearing up for the annual Year in Review, a look at the 10 biggest news stories in Rockland in 2007.
The main criteria we look at is that the news has to be Rockland-specific, so the war in Iraq would not qualify, but news regarding the criminal military case stemming from the fragging death of U.S. Army Capt. Phillip Esposito would.
We’d love your thoughts and suggestions. Some stories we’re looking at so far, in no particular order:
• Election defeats of District Attorney Michael Bongiorno and Haverstraw Mayor Francis “Bud” Wassmer.
• Wyeth Pharmaceuticals celebrates 100 years in Pearl River.
• The rabbi banned from baking matzos on a converted bus in his backyard.
• Rats, roaches in Clarkstown North.
• Scientists at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades share in the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.
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Two Haverstraw Democrats endorse Republican candidates
- October
- 18
Angelo Cintron and Ricky Sanchez, both Democrats and former Haverstraw village trustees, will be formally endorsing two Republican candidates, not their fellow Democrats, in November.
According to a statement released yesterday, Cintron and Sanchez support incumbents District Attorney Michael Bongiorno and Haverstraw village Mayor Francis “Bud” Wassmer.
Democrat Tom Zugibe, former West Haverstraw village justice, is challenging Bongiorno. Democrat Mike Kohut, Haverstraw village trustee, is running against Wassmer.
Sanchez ran against Kohut in the Democratic primary in September and was defeated by 36 votes.
Cintron unsuccessfully ran for mayor against Wassmer in 2003.
“In the past, both Angelo and I have had disagreements with the mayor, but we have never questioned his dedication and hard work in improving the village,� Sanchez stated in the press release. “Of the two candidates for mayor, there is no question that Mayor Wassmer is the best choice.�
Cintron said that he decided to support the Republicans because he believed that they were the best people for the community.
“We know that it’s highly unusual for two lifelong Democrats like ourselves to endorse Republican candidates,� Cintron said.
Cintron and Sanchez will officially announce of their endorsement at 2 p.m. tomorrow at 41 New Main St.
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Sanchez is undecided whether to support Kohut for Haverstraw mayor
- October
- 2
Ricky Sanchez, who finished second in the Haverstraw mayoral race in the Democratic primary, recently said he had not decided if he would support the winner, Mike Kohut.
Kohut, who got 385 votes in the primary, will run against Republican incumbent Francis “Bud” Wassmer in November.
To Kohut, getting support from Sanchez, who got 349 votes in the primary, appeared to be critical to beat Wassmer.
But Sanchez said he was seriously assessing which candidate he wanted to support, indicating that there was a chance that he might pick Wassmer.
If Sanchez decided to support Wassmer, he would have to explain his reasoning to his supporters because people may still remember the public scuffle in 2002 between Wassmer and Sanchez, when he was a village trustee.
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Haverstraw Mayor goes on diet
- June
- 14
Haverstraw village Mayor Francis “Bud� Wassmer said today that he started a diet June 3 and had lost about 18 pounds so far. His goal was to lose about 30 pounds more.
Wassmer said he was closely watching daily calorie intake and keeping it about 1,100 carolies. To maintain his calorie intake low, he said he stopped drinking.
Wassmer’s drinking became an issue last year. The driving-while-ability-impaired case was at the end dismissed by a Clarkstown justice.
During the court procedure, his drinking was closely watched by others, but he didn’t stop drinking.
So you can imagine how strongly he was determined to lose his weight.
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Haverstraw village wants to condemn Mirant’s property!?
- May
- 10
Town board and village board meetings can be amusing, but I would list the recent Haverstraw village board meeting as one of my favorites.
Straight-faced Mayor Francis “Budâ€? Wassmer, sitting in Village Hall’s meeting room Monday night, told the board members that he recently sent a letter to Mirant  the energy company that successfully challenged its property assessment and got $275 millions of refund from north Rockland’s towns, villages and school district  to notify that the village wants to buy the company’s property in the village for $100,000.
Why $100,000? His explanation continued.
For the village’s 2007-08 tax roll, the company once again filed a grievance, challenging the village’s assessment on the piece of company land, about $3.2 million. The company was asking the value be reduced to $100,000.
Outraged by this challenge, Wassmer said, he made the offer to buy it for $100,000.
Wassmer continued and said that the company sent him a reply, saying that the company was not interested in selling the property to the village at that price.
Learning about this exchange was pretty amusing.
But the climax was yet to come: After he finished reading Mirant’s replay, Wassmer made a motion to condemn that property!
“I’d like to recommend to our board that we pass the resolution tonight to proceed with a process of condemnation,� Wassmer declared. “I think it’s time that we send a clear message to Mirant. We must move forward with this.�
Village Attorney J. Nelson Hood immediately interrupted Wassmer, politely asking if he could advise the board.
Hood told the board that the village should first hire an eminent domain lawyer to review state law and that the village must have a public purpose to condemn the property.
Wassmer modified his motion based on Hood’s advice, and the village board unanimously approved it.
Also at the meeting was Bruce Kanner, co-owner of the old chair factory on the river who is fighting the village’s condemnation of that property.
Kanner told the board during the public input session that the village should stop trying to condemn privately owned land, including Mirant’s.
The village’s plan won’t move forward because the company dropped the assessment challenge based on the recent deal facilitated by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. But the deal only says the company can’t challenge its assessments for two years.
So, we’ll see. Check back in 2009.
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