At the end of last year, the Board of Supervisors rejected the recommendation of the Columbia County Democratic Committee that Virginia Martin be reappointed to the position she has held for more than a decade and continues to hold. At the beginning of January, the CCDC issued a second request for applicants for the position of Democratic Election Commissioner, which is now a full-time job that pays $65,000 a year with benefits.
On Thursday, January 30, the statutorily elected members of the local Democratic committees will be voting again on whom they will recommend to the Board of Supervisors. There will be four candidates to choose from. Martin has withdrawn from the competition. The four candidates are: Ken Dow, an attorney, who served as Democratic Election Commissioner in the early 2000s; Penny Panoulias, who currently serves as secretary of the Clermont Democratic Committee; Erin Stamper, who serves as CCDC vice chair and replaced Jim Dolan as Democratic Election Specialist at the BOE; and Mark Young, co-owner of Mexican Radio who from 2003 to 2014 represented Stuyvesant on the CCDC.
The meeting on Thursday, at which the CCDC is expected to make its choice, will be held at 6 p.m. in the Village of Valatie meeting room in the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building, 3211 Church Street, in Valatie.
COPYRIGHT 2020 CAROLE OSTERINK
Martin may be spinning it now as a withdrawal, but I’m told she has been trying to get the Dem BOS caucus to approve her — as they could have within a certain time period, but the clock ran out for that.
ReplyDeleteLacking that support, she now cannot be one of the candidates voted upon by the CCDC on the 30th, even if she wanted to be considered. So the word “withdrawn” is misplaced.
By rule, since the Board of Supervisors rejected Martin’s nomination in December, the Democratic Committee must now furnish a different name on the second round.
Nevertheless she has withdrawn, and I thank her for her service.
ReplyDeleteSam is correct. I cannot legally be a candidate for consideration in this next round. Not my spin, Sam. I was going to let Carole know that this was inaccurate but you beat me to it. However, what the full Board of Supervisors did on December 11th is irrelevant. The Democratic caucus had the authority, beginning December 27th and running through January 26th, to appoint me. They declined, obviously.
ReplyDeleteDisqualified then, nevertheless she deserves thanks for her service.
ReplyDeleteWhat a loss - for all of us. We can only hope Virginia has set a precedent for others to achieve ... and that Virginias future holds well deserved blessings.
ReplyDelete