Using a classic–and some would say fitting–Thomas Nast illustration of Boss Tweed as a background, Democrats have launched a website using the name of County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef. The site, “The Truth About Scott Vanderhoef” resides on the domain scottVanderhoef.com and provides the opposing viewpoint to the spin put out by Vanderhoef’s own campaign.

Highlights of the site include a blistering denunciation of Vanderhoef’s fiscal acuity, highlighting that the County Executive had proposed a 60 to 84 percen property tax increase for 2011, and backing it up with official Rockland documents about the County’s cash flow problems.

Other items on the site highlight the $17,000 pay raise Vanderhoef weasled through last winter, his pay-to-play schemes with County contractors, and Rockland County’s spiraling taxes.

The site is a must-read for every undecided voter in New York’s 38th State Senate District.

Skelos and Espada were all smiles afer they swindled New York

State Senate candidate C. Scott Vanderhoef’s campaign sent out a smear mailer to Orange and Rockland County voters this week that wrongly links his opponent, David Carlucci to shady outgoing Senator Pedro Espada. The Vanderhoef mailer makes the erroneous implication that Carlucci is being funded by the forces behind Espada.

But nothing can be further from the truth and Vanderhoef should be retract his obvious and outlandish lies. If Vanderhoef’s campaign did any real research in regards to Carlucci, they’ll find that the Clarkstown Town Clerk has been a vocal antagonist of Pedro Espada, has protested in front of Espada’s Mamaroneck home  and has requested that Espada be expunged from the Democratic Party, saying:

There is no room for unethical behavior on the part of our elected officials from any political party, and I will do everything I can to return the trust of the people to it’s governmental institutions.

What makes the Vanderhoef campaign’s ham-handed lie even more damnable is that Vanderhoef is much more tightly bound to the dysfunctional and corrupt Senators that brought Espada to power in the infamous 2009 coup. State Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos, a huge Vanderhoef ally and financial backer, was the person responsible for the backroom machinations that eclipsed with Espada’s nefarious rise to power.

Republican billionaire Tom Golisano, upset with the new Democratic majority in the State Senate, held a series of private meetings with Senators Skelos, Republicans Tom Libous and George D. Maziarz, Espada, and  since-ousted Senator Hiram Monserrate. The conspirators even met at Espada’s house in Albany, where Monseratte and Espada agreed to caucus with the Republicans, which would flip control of the Senate back from Democratic to Republican.

Skelos promised to restore the $2 million of member items–or pork–to Espada that the Democrats in the State Senate refused him; money that Espada wanted to funnel into his non-profit Soundview Health Center and for his cronies. It was later found that Espada was using Soundview as his personal ATM, which provided for a $9 million severance package, financing his vacations, and even $20,000 in sushi. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, filed suit against Espada, accusing him of looting the organization’s charitable assets. So, it was Skelos and the Republicans that were fueling Espada’s crime wave, while the Democrats tried to deny Espada funds, prosecuted him, and tried remove him from the party.

Also, among Albany insiders and media, it is widely speculated that Skelos agreed to pay for Monseratte’s legal fees in his domestic violence case in return for his allegiance. However, Monserrate blinked and returned to the Democrats for reasons that are not clear. This left a 31-31 deadlock and with Skelos help, Espada hijacked the Senate and even became Acting Lieutenant Governor in the process. Eventually, Democrats held their collective noses and reluctantly allowed Espada to return to the fold, but only after he was promised the role of Majority Leader. In the end, it was Skelos that handed Espada a vise-grip on State politics.

And now we have Scott Vanderhoef claiming he’ll go to Albany as a reformer. But this too is a canard. Vanderhoef is Skelos’s boy and we can only assume that Skelos will remain a huge player in the corruption that addles our State. If Vanderhoef is elected, don’t count on him standing up to Skelos or the leadership of his own party. He will never vote for the needed reform to get our government working again, instead he will just become another cog keeping our state from ever achieving legislative reform and financial recovery. Scott Vanderhoef will not stop Dean Skelos from giving away millions of our tax dollars to miscreants and their cronies and he will look the other way as the Republican leader again hatches another fiendish back-room power play.

This article is republished as SD-38: Scott Vanderhoef’s ties to Albany corruption on the Albany Project, Vanderhoef has real ties to Albany corruption on Left of the Hudson, and SD-38: Scott Vanderhoef’s ties to Albany corruption on OpEd News.

Using Pearl River’s Pfizer Plant as a fitting backdrop, Clarktown Clerk David Carlucci insisted that New York cannot draw or retain businesses without creating incentives for them and streamlining how the State attends to economic development.

Pearl River, a hamlet in Orangetown, has been devastated by the ongoing loss of jobs since the pharmaceutical facility was bought from Wyeth a little over a year ago. Pfizer has been using employees at the state-of-the-art plant to train workers elsewhere and abroad while gutting the operations in New York.
a
Carlucci seemed especially upset by the job losses in Orange and Rockland Counties, and chastised the State for not creating the right environment for businesses. Once a State known for drawing leading-edge businesses, Carlucci said that New York has fallen behind in the information age, where businesses can much easier spread their employees about the globe. And other states have already recognized this and have created environments to draw and retain such employers.

New York’s method of attracting businesses was simply, “We’re New York, move to New York,” said Carlucci, which is a tactic he doesn’t think will attract businesses anymore.

In his speech, Carlucci acknowledged that a combination of out-of-control taxes, a lack of business development leadership, and a stubborn denial by our State’s leaders that the business climate here is not up to snuff has lead us to the brink of financial ruin.

An decent-sized audience of supporters and curious onlookers listened as Carlucci spelled out a sophisticated plan to bring jobs to New York State on this brisk Labor Day Morning. The plan includes offering businesses that increase their workforce payroll a tax refund of up to $3,000 per employee, as long as these employees are New Yorkers that have been unemployed for more than 60 days. In addition, Carlucci called for an 80 percent tax rebate of New York State Personal Income Tax withholdings on jobs created for 10 years or longer.

Carlucci also said that New York can help protect jobs by expanding the Department of Labor’s “Work Sharing” program, which enables companies looking at layoffs to reduce hours instead and letting employees keep their benefits. The difference in income to these employees’ paychecks will be made up with a small contribution from unemployment insurance. To help pay for it, Carlucci called for the end of so-called economic development monies that are doled out to various agencies and through the State Assembly and State Senate. All State economic development efforts would then be put under the authority of a single office that reports directly to the Governor. Anchoring Carlucci’s plan is the streamlining of business creation resources by making it easier for businesses to apply for licenses, permits, and certificates.

All in all, it was a substantial speech by Carlucci, who deftly used this day to actually talk about labor, rather than mutely marching in Labor Day parades. We’ve scoured the Internet for such a plan from David’s opponent, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, including his campaign Web space, and have not yet found any substantial job plan (but we did find some rehashed, meaningless bullet points on his site and calls for deregulation).

Regardless, Vanderhoef sure did show he had a jobs plan when he filled the post of County Tourism Director and gave a substantial raise to a political ally last month.

So here’s my Labor Day message to Scott Vanderhoef: Patronage appointments in your County government fiefdom does not qualify as a jobs program. Giving a six-figure salary to an unqualified crony to run an unneeded Tourism Department does not aid in our economic development. In fact, it is a crude slap in the face to the former workers at Pfizer and other unemployed Rockland County residents when they see their tax dollars wasted in such a manner.

This article is cross-posted at Left of the Hudson.

Carlucci is serving his third term as Clerk of Clarkstown. As an early adopter of information technologies, he has brought the town into the 21st Century by digitizing hundreds of thousands of documents and using advanced medias to make municipal government more efficient. As a candidate for the New York State Senate, Carlucci faces County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef in November.

Send your questions for David to lefthudson@gmail.com, and click here to tune in.

The Marcellus Shale, which reaches beneath the southern tier of New York and into Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia is one of the largest fossil-fuel reserves in the Western Hemisphere and could yield as much as 20 times as our natural current output of natural gas. You might think that such a large energy reserve seems too good to be true, and perhaps it is. It gets its name from a town in Western New York where there the shale formation juts out above the ground. The region’s energy richness has been known for decades. But extracting the natural gas from the pores in the shale in a way that would be cost effective and efficient has always been a problem.

Hydraulic Fracturing (mostly shortened to hydrofracking) was determined to be an efficient way of extracting the methane gas from the shale. The process is not new, it has been used in the oil industry for more than 60 years. Only in the past several years, with the rising cost of fossil fuels, has it been determined by the energy industry that the Marcellus Shale is worth hydrofracking’s high cost.

Hydrofracking removes fossil fuels from shale by pumping a pressurized cocktail of toxic liquids, diesel fuel and water, into the shale to fracture the rock, which would in turn release the fossil fuel, in this case natural gas. These fractures are then maintained after the injection by introducing materials such as sand, ceramic, or other particulates, that prevent the fractures from closing when the fluid injection is stopped. The water, diesel, and other chemicals that is left over is stored in pools, sometimes unlined, above the surface until it is hauled away for treatment or disposal.

Some landowners in the Marcellus Shale area are experiencing a modern day gold rush. Energy-industry representatives are paying princely sums, rumored to be as high as eight figures in some cases, to obtain drilling rights beneath private property.

But environmentalists are warning that hydrofracking is not only bad for the region, it can cause a catastrophe in New York as great, if not greater, than the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill. They’ve presented evidence that it can provoke earthquakes and above-ground explosions, and that it can pollute our groundwater and create dry beds out of our streams, ponds, and rivers, which are used to supply resources for the hydrofracking process.

In Pennsylvania, where hydrofracking has been taking place in the Marcellus Shale, wells have been ruined, tainted with salt, benzene, and other toxic and volatile chemicals. There is evidence that these compounds have also entered into nearby streams, not only affecting fish, but nearby farms that use this water for irrigation.

The problems with hydrofracking in have been outlined in the documentary Gasland, which is currently playing on the premium cable network HBO. The most famous segment of the film shows a resident near a hydrofracking well setting his methane-infused tap water on fire in his kitchen.

Environmentalists point to evidence from hydrofracking regions in Wyoming, Colorado of people and wildlife being made sick from the process. Diseases such as rare adrenal tumors and cancers are attributed to the extremely toxic compound “2-BE” that’s used in the process. There is no list of the chemicals used in hydrofracking, but clean-up sites left in the wake of the process have shown excess levels of toxins such as hydrochloric acid, benzene, toulene, and xylene (the last three toxins are commonly found in diesel fuel).

Why is the list of chemicals used in hydrofracking kept secret? Perhaps it had to do with a conflict of interest between the Bush Administration and the energy corporations, specifically Halliburton.

In 2005, the energy industry was exempted from clean water protections by the Bush Administration. As part of Vice President Dick Cheney’s infamous and secretive “Energy Task Force” in 2001, the captains of the energy industry and the administration touted hydrofracking as the future of fossil-fuel extraction, while redacting any evidence of human health hazards caused by the process. Halliburton, the company that pioneered and continues to develop and utilize hydrofracking, benefited greatly from the Bush Administration’s deference to the energy industry. Thus, the lack of clean water provisions in regard to energy development are known as the “Halliburton Loophole.”

Vice President Cheney, if you need be reminded, was the CEO of Halliburton prior to becoming Vice President. He continued to be paid millions a year in deferred compensation from his vested financial interests in the corporation while serving in the Bush Administration.

Where does New York stand on hydrofracking? Right now, industry-supported State laws are in effect to disencumber hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale and New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has been busy stamping permits for drilling. But the DEC might be moving the process along too quickly: Instead of studying the environmental impacts of each individual well (which is typically needed under State law) the DEC has opted to hastily get through this process by only gauging the collective impact of the hydraulic fracturing process. Such generic evaluations are similar to the type of loose regulation used in deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. These evaluations can also be easily disputed by the legal departments of large energy interests. In effect, New York’s DEC has chosen to marginalize its impact as the lead regulatory agency and seems more than happy to perform a mediocre job of protecting our state’s environment.

But local governments are stepping up and taking action and there is particular concern in this region. While Rockland County is outside of the Marcellus shale, it is only a short 70 miles from its eastern boundary and our natural water systems are directly affected.

Rockland County may take action soon in calling on Governor Paterson to impose a moritorium on hydrofracking. The County Legislature’s Environmental committee has recently passed a resolution calling for this. County legislator Connie Coker, who chairs the committee is hopeful that this resolution will be passed by the full legislature after its referred to them in a meeting on July 6.

“This procedure presents many environmental, human and wildlife health concerns,” said Legislator Coker […] the prime sponsor of the resolution. “There is the potential to contaminate groundwater, the surrounding landscape and the quality of air. What happens to all that solid material that is no longer just innocent sand, but toxic waste? This resolution asks the Governor to impose a moratorium and to withdraw the flawed impact statement until the results of on-going studies are made available, studied and concluded. I believe it would be viewed as a responsible and prudent action on his part.”

Clarkstown Town Clerk, David Carlucci, who is running for State Senate in the 38th District, which includes Rockland County and parts of Orange County, is also calling for a moratorium, and says that in many respects hydrofracking is New York’s equivalent to the Gulf of Mexico’s deep water oil drilling process and must be treated with similar seriousness. A recent press release form his campaign makes some lucid points about further reviewing the hydrofracking process:

It is my belief that we do not know enough about either side of this issue to allow widespread hydro-fracking in the Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale formations to begin. We need to thoroughly investigate and understand reports of ground water and nearby stream contamination as well as the health impact to local residents before we jump into this process, or we may end up with an environmental disaster on our hands. Such a disaster would make any economic gain offered by the gas companies seem small by comparison.

Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, who is running against Carlucci for the open Senate seat, has worked as an environmental attorney in the past. Disappointingly, he has not issued a statement concerning the Marcellus Shale in either his capacity as the advocate for the county, nor as a possible future State Senator, which may have to make decisions about hydrofracking going forward.

There is bigger concern in New York City. It’s source of drinking water is in the Catskill watershed, some of it within the Marcellus Shale. New York is one of the few municipalities that gets its water untreated from its reserviors. Contamination of New York City’s water supply would be a man-made disaster of monumental proportions and affect the health of more than 8 million people.

Until we get some answers and perhaps some alternatives to the chemicals and processes used in hydrofracking, residents of Rockland and Orange Counties need to back resolutions to call for a moratorium of this process in New York State.

This article is based on a similar piece written for the Left of the Hudson blog.

At the end of the meeting, a quorum of more than 20 percent was recognized from the overall membership and a roll call vote was taken. Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci got 90 percent of the vote, with 18 votes. Upper Nyack resident Lou Tharp received two votes from the membership in the audience. One member abstained from voting.

A formal endorsement, in the form of a press release, is coming from Rockland Progressive Democratic Caucus Chairman Cliff Weathers.

The Progressive Dems would like to thank all four candidates for coming to our organization’s forum. The Progressive Dems will post videos on its site and on You Tube for voters to help them make their own selection among the candidates.

It wasn’t unanimous, but very close to it. Carlucci was up 150-2 over his three rivals before tired Rockland Democratic Committee members pleaded that they would rather endorse the Clarkstown Town Clerk by acclamation. Candidate Grant Valentine received two votes. Lou Tharp and Tuxedo Town Supervisor Peter Dolan received no votes before the Committee switched to an acclamation vote.

To get the endorsement, a candidate needed 122 votes, just over half of the number of those in attendance plus known proxies being carried.

Although Carlucci won the endorsement of the committee by a decisive landslide, some political leaders in Ramapo are unhappy with the way the evening played out.

County Legislator Bill Darden and Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence led a very small group who sought to block the gathered Democrats from backing any one candidate. Their effort failed when a motion was made on the floor to force the vote to go through with large majority of those present backing it.

Ironically as this drama played out, Rep. Eliot Engel made a passionate speech from the floor, and one of its main themes was Democratic Unity. Engel’s speech received resounding applause, but I think the message was lost to some.

This effort by a small faction of Democrats to change the rules int the middle of the game was disappointing. And after their efforts failed, St. Lawrence and several Ramapo Committee members left the Convention as the votes were tallied. Many Ramapo Democrats, however, stayed to vote for Carlucci.

The Rockland’s convention fast on the heels of the Orange County Democrats’ and Rep. Nina Lowey’s resounding endorsements of Carlucci.

Valentine, Tharp, and Dolan all appear to be remaining in the race.

The next major event on the State Senate contender’s schedule is the Meet the Candidates night at the Nyack Public Library on June 7 at 7 pm.

Carlucci was in attendance at the Orange County Convention.

“I’m couldn’t be more pleased and humbled, and I want to thank everyone who showed up tonight to participate.” said Carlucci in a press release. “It’s important that we all come together this fall to elect someone who is willing to fight for reform and not just use it as a campaign slogan. I am that candidate. “I’m looking forward to the Rockland County Convention tonight where we hope to gain their support as well,” Carlucci said.

The Rockland County Democratic Convention is tonight at Clarkstown Town Hall.