Ulster Report Trivia

The staff at the Ulster Report are big fans of trivia so here is a trivia question we would like you are viewers to answer, the prize will be transparency in government of course.

What former Assemblyman's brother is the town of Ulster's Insurance consultant?

Bonus Question: What former Assemblyman and current Chairman of the Ulster Planning Board was just awarded the Insurance contract for the town of Ulster?

And to make it fun: Who would you rather : Jim Quigley, Chaz Buno or life long abstinence?

Leave your answers in our comment section. Happy trails.

What Say You Quigley's Shill??

The staff at Ulster Report have tried unsuccessfully to post a comment on the blog: Ulster is your town too, which is run by Joe Toscano who is good friends with Supervisor Quigley.

We just had a few questions for him.

1. Why did you put up a post against the Ulster Gardens project and than take it down almost immediately with a glowing endorsement of the project? Was it because you got a call from Supervisor Quigley?

DID THE CALL SOUND ANYTHING LIKE THIS:  Quigley Voicemail as found on Youtube..note you can now play this masterpiece anytime by clicking our "In the News Section"

2. Knowing what we know now about Mandelbaum and his special ways he finds to get around our NYS elections laws, do you still think it's right to rush this project?

3. As a fellow town resident that claims to love the town do you agree that Supervisor Quigley should ask for a full environmental assessment of the project to make sure our town is protected? After all what is the harm????

Supervisor Quigley Fires Animal Control Officer

I'm Sorry Supervisor Quigley - Rover

“I was employed by the town and I did what I was told,” she said. “I never made a decision to euthanize any of these dogs and 600 dogs have passed through my hands since 2002. Though (2010) the total that were euthanized was 11 on 600 dogs and all of a sudden in 2011 ... the town made the decision to euthanize 5 dogs.”

Quigley said he could not dispute the procedural steps taken by Trnka when determining to have dogs euthanized.

 The staff at the Ulster Report are very upset for Rover (above) who has no home and no one to take care of him as he wanders RT. 9W looking for something to eat.  Rover wants Supervisor Quigs to know how sorry he is for not being a purebred like all of the Supervisor's dogs.

Furthermore, Rover represents a bigger problem in the town, if you are like Rover and not in the in crowd with the supervisor, you may be left out in the cold begging like poor Rover and his buddy Animal Control Officer Susan Trnka who last week ws fired by the Supervisor.


We hear Officer Trnka's record was impeccable, and we wonder the Supervisor's real motives for removing her from her position. What say you?

Does Town of Ulster Planner Have Ties to Ulster Gardens Developer?

 Town of Ulster Planner Alan Sorensen, who serves as the Minority Leader of the Sullivan County Legislature, received a $500 contribution in June of 2011 from MJJ,LLC. Is that Mandelbaum? To be honest, we are not sure and are not making any accusations but being we do know that Mr. Mandelbaum has several different companies and uses similar names as the corporate contribution below "MJJ", we feel it's appropriate that we ask the question: Has the town planner ever taken a political contribution from Mr. Mandelbaum? If he has than there is a very clear conflict of interest. Lets not forget that the planning board (which we have already talked about that fiasco) is the lead agency on Ulster Gardens, not the town itself.

Y 12779	250.00	22-JUN-07	FRIENDS TO ELECT ALAN SORENSEN	2007 July Periodic	B	County Legislator	9
MJJ, LLC P.O. BOX 688 NEW HAMPTON, NY 10958	500.00	17-JUN-11	FRIENDS TO ELECT ALAN SORENSEN	2011 July Periodic	B	County Legislator	9

December 10, 2011 DEVELOPER MANDELBAUM PLANS 50 MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT IN SULLIVAN COUNTY RECORD..Click to read story.

Again, we do not know that Mr. Madelbaum made the above contribution, or if the two are connected. We are just asking the questions

Ulster Gardens Developer : "Nothing to be Ashamed of"

 (Excerpts from record story below. Click link below (Record online Mandelbaum for full story)

Business with government

You know what else they have in common?

They do business with various levels of government — and they say they're not looking for favors.

"There's no secret and I have nothing to be ashamed of.

-Jonah Mandelbaum


Supervisor Quigley just say no!

Supervisor Quigley please protect our town and say no to Developer Jonah Mandelbaum until more questions have been answered about this guys track record and until a full environmental study can be completed. I don't know bout you but this just sounds like it smells! JONAH MANDELBAUM AND HIS 57 ASSOCIATES HAVE KEPT THE PEOPLE OF NYS IN THE DARK THROUGH LOOP HOLES IN OUR STATE'S CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS, DON'T LET HIM DO THIS TO THE TOWN OF ULSTER. WE RE NOT FOR SALE!!!!!!!


RECORD ONLINE MANDELBAUM ONE OF NYS'S WEALTHIEST DONORS

"They need money to pay the bills, to get name recognition, to get TV spots to educate the voters about your position. It (getting elected) is about the money," says Taylor, a registered Republican, who also gives to Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-Hurley), John Hall (D-Dover Plains) and state Sen. Bill Larkin (R-Cornwall-on-Hudson) — and wants Republican Orange County to have a bigger say in Democrat Cuomo's administration. "What we do is within the law. But ethically and morally, is it right? It's not good. It's not pretty. But that's what it is."

It's also difficult for the average person to find out just how much a donor is giving.

For instance, Mandelbaum — or his businesses — donates under several names, including Jonah Mandelbaum, JDM Holding, MJJ Building of Orange County, and 57 Associates. His wife, Donna Applegate, also gives, as could her companies.

Donors get around the limits

If you try to track the donations, you'll find that, since 2009, Mandelbaum gave $62,900 in his name to the campaigns of candidates like Gov. David Paterson and Orange County Legislator Melissa Bonacic, daughter of the state senator. But if you search with his wife's name, you'll find that she gave $12,500 to Cuomo. And if you use an address they both use, you'll find another business, Devon Management, gave $5,000 to John Bonacic. That kind of perfectly legal giving from different entities allows you to avoid the $150,000 donation per person limit, or the $5,000 corporate limit.

So does this:

You don't just give to a candidate. You can give to political action committees and to legislative party committees, which are controlled by legislative leaders. This encourages loyalty to party leaders, who then control votes.

"If you know what you're doing, you can give as much as you want to anyone you want," says Horner of the system that already allows you to give more to legislators than to congressmen or senators. "It's a deliberate effort to keep people in the dark."