Gossips has learned that something out of the ordinary happened at the DCDC endorsement meeting. One of the things members of political party committees do is carry petitions for candidates, petition signatures being required to get candidates on the ballot. It is a longstanding policy of the DCDC that only the petitions of endorsed candidates are in the packets distributed to members at the end of an endorsement meeting, but it has been reported that Sam Hodge and Evan Menist, who is running for State Senate in District 39 (Hudson is in District 41)--neither of whom were endorsed by the committee--added their petitions to the packets. It was also reported that, owing to their actions, some members of the committee left the meeting with only the petitions of Hodge and Menist and not the petitions of any of the other candidates, including Pat Ryan. The actions of Hodge and Menist have been described as showing "an incredible lack of judgment and ethics."
The Columbia County Democratic Committee is scheduled to hold its endorsement meeting on Thursday, February 26.
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It’s not clear to me if those committee members who left with only the Hodge and Menist petitions did so purposefully or were duped.
ReplyDeleteThough it does seem that those candidates’ actions smack of desperation. They reinforce my belief that those who seek political power should never have it.
Exactly what happened is a more complicated story than I thought needed to be told here, but it did not seem that ending up with only the two petitions was intentional on the part of the committee members.
DeleteWhat are their platforms and how have they showed up in their legislative actions matter more than this silliness. Also still waiting on info of an alleged car crash of a certain city official..
ReplyDeleteAll excellent questions... as a WFP leader...
DeleteWill WFP be running Claire Cousins or Caitie Hilverman for mayor in 2 years?
Or might you return, become a resident of Hudson again, and run yourself?
Or are you now 100% Albany Free School focussed?
County leadership is supposed to be "big tent" and competence, but Sam Hodge is neither.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, between his silence on Kamal's messy administration and totally screwing up the County referendum with basic legal errors, the man is a walking liability for the Dems.
He tried to hide behind the "Columbia Forward" group, but everyone knew he was the one pulling the strings on that "bipartisan" trojan donkey. No wonder the county is more political now and the two sides do not talk to each other at the Supervisor level.
Sam has a JD and still couldn't beat Matt Murell legally or democratically.
Imagine getting outplayed by a retired guy from Stockport with no law degree because you couldn't handle your own filings and left no time for a legal challenge.
Then he politicized constitutional offices and turned our respected Sheriff Jackie into a human NASCAR jacket of far-left logos when she was/is just trying to be bi-partisan and serve all equally.
It’s all sound bites and spending other people's money.
Didi actually works for everyone, Sam just works for his next campaign.
Real talk Sam, just get a real job, or better yet, have you ever created jobs?
If you want to help immigrants or the climate, start a business that employs immigrants or build ADUs. How do they say on progressive campuses like NYU; "do the work".
It is unwise to try to "fix" Albany when you can't "fix" Columbia County.
Frankly, this is why the GOP beats the Dems and why Rubio might be your next president.
There are hundreds of little Sam Hodge Veblenian politicans* all over the country putting themselves before the big tent of the party.
When Sam lost against the local GOP, and was then replaced by the County Dems for losing their trust, his instinct was to run against a beloved and respected local Dem leader...
not, say, to remain a humble party servant and spend a year winning one of the larger Supervisor seats,
not to create local jobs that pays taxes and creates jobs...
but to further divide his own party and push it more left.
Are you sure you are not a GOP plant?
*"Veblenian politicians" treat political power like a form of conspicuous consumption or "conspicuous waste."
From Thorstein Veblen’s "leisure class" theory, it describes leaders who care more about the display of high-status moral or intellectual positions than actually getting results.
Basically, they "consume" policy and political positions not to fix anything, but just to signal they’re part of some enlightened elite.
This is how you end up with a group of people who pick a new fashionable cause every month but still live with a failing school district, highest taxes in the nation, and no good jobs in the area.
Sam, now that Ukraine, #BLM, #NoKings, the Green New Deal, DEI and Gaza is déclassé... can you let Gossips readers know about the next hash tag that you guys will drop after "Abolish ICE".
While you get your posters and signs ready the rest of us will still be worrying about the real "cost of entry" for regular Americans who have to pay for the skyrocketing cost of living in the state, county, and City, run by Democrats.
I have no idea on any of this although Didi and Sam interviewed with WFP yesterday. The party you all speak so negatively on the Dems two candidates are seeking endorsement from. On a personal note I have resigned from leadership as I believe this moment calls for new ideas, vision and leadership. Would love to listen and learn from folks who have engaged with them more than I.
ReplyDeleteNoted.
DeleteAre you still a resident of Hudson, or just hoping to influence things from Albany or Botswana?
We’re focused on housing stability for year-round residents — that’s the issue.
ReplyDeleteTrying to shift the conversation to geography avoids the actual policy question: how do we protect housing in a tight market?
HCHC works in Hudson and the surrounding region because displacement doesn’t stop at city lines.
If there’s a policy argument to make, let’s keep it there.
Fun to chat with ChatQC -
DeleteHere are two questions that go to the core of your self-stated mission, and the core of your avoidance of US taxes:
1. If you mandate "stability" for current residents in a tight market, aren't you just using the government to make it illegal for anyone new to move in?
At what point does "protecting residents" just become a government-sponsored wall against the next generation?
2. Why do you guys (HCHC) hide who your fiscal sponsor is, or not share your tax filings like every other 501c3 in town?
As a 501c3, If you are above board... it should be easy to prove... right now you may be bringing disrepute and more attention to your officemates the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement...