As you may have heard or read, this week a NY Court of Appeals ruling has struck down district lines for Congressional seats as well as State Senate seats that were redrawn earlier this year by the State legislature.  In addition, the County Legislature’s Commission on Reapportionment released a map of new County Legislative Districts this week with, we think, very negative implications for Gardiner.

Congressional and State Senate Districts Ruled Unconstitutional

New York’s highest court, the NY Court of Appeals, issued its ruling on Wednesday, to the shock and dismay of Democrats all over the state as well as all over the country, as detailed in this NY Times article. It held that the lines drawn by the State Senate and State Assembly earlier this year for State Senate and for U.S. Congress were unconstitutional and failed to comply with a NYS constitutional amendment passed in 2014 to curb partisan gerrymandering.  State Assembly districts were NOT affected by the ruling.

The court’s decision also thew into question (as it did not address) any modification to the state’s election schedule (with a primary scheduled for June 28) necessary to comply with the ruling.  Here is what we know, based on information received by the Gardiner Democratic Committee from Ashley Dittus, our Democratic Elections Commissioner:

• The current plan is to hold, as planned, the June 28^th primary for those contests not affected by the court ruling. This includes statewide offices (Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, U.S. Senate, etc.) as well as any Assembly districts with contests, including the race for Assembly District 103 in which incumbent Assemblyperson Kevin Cahill is being challenged by inexperienced newcomer Sarahana Shrestha of the Democratic Socialists of America.  Also as planned, Democrats will be voting members of the County Democratic Committee.
• The court ruling requires new districts for State Senate and U.S. Congress to be drawn by an independent “Special Master,” who will be Jonathan Cervas, a redistricting expert at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Cervas is well regarded and must produce new maps by May 20.
• There will be an additional primary held sometime in August (possibly on August 23^rd) for the State Senate and U.S. Congress. When the new district lines are known, Gardiner Dems will need to repetition to get our candidates on the new ballot.  So, you can expect another round of door knocking by members of our committee to get your signatures on new petitions.  When that will happen, we do not know.
• We also do not know whether Gardiner will fall into our current Congressional District 19 (currently represented by incumbent Antonio Delgado, endorsed for reelection by the Ulster County Democratic Committee) or some other congressional district. Neither do we know whether we will continue to be in the previously planned State Senate District 48 (represented by incumbent Michelle Hinchey, endorsed by the Ulster County Dems) or some other Senate District.  That’s up to the Special Master, who has until May 20 to issue his determinations.

None of this is ideal for Democrats.  Getting voters out for two primaries as well as a general (off-presidential year) election in 2022 is a heavy lift that no one had planned for.  It is more work for our committee as well as for voters who want to exercise their civic duty.  It will undoubtedly affect turnout in a negative way.  Moreover, the new districts to be drawn by the Special Master will likely not favor Democratic candidates, making it more difficult for our party to hold the U.S. House of Representatives in the fall election.

More Bad: Gardiner is Split in Two by Draft County Reapportionment Map

To make matters worse for Gardinerites, this week we found out that the County Legislature’s Reapportionment Commission, charged with re-drawing new County Legislature districts in the wake of the 2020 Census, has—in its DRAFT plan—for the first time in history split Gardiner into two county legislative districts.

The northern approximately one-third of Gardiner will be lumped into a legislative district (proposed legislative district 17) with most of New Paltz, while the southern two-thirds of Gardiner will be combined with a much larger portion of Shawangunk than was previously included in legislative district 16, currently represented by U.C. Legislature Chairperson, Tracey Bartels.  As such, the new LD 16 is much more red and thus much more likely to flip to the Republicans.

If this final draft map is implemented, it will change election districts within Gardiner and it is very likely that those voters lumped in with New Paltz will have to go to New Paltz to vote.  In addition to the fact that Gardiner issues and interests are not New Paltz issues and interests, we feel changing voting locations for a large part of our town is a great imposition on Gardiner voters.

Before the changes are implemented, however, there are two opportunities for public comment.  They are as follows:

• Monday, May 16 – 7:00 PM – Public Hearing – Turtle Creek Golf Course, 219 Plattekill, Ardonia Road, Wallkill, NY
• Thursday, May 19 – 7:00 PM – Public Hearing – Saugerties Senior Center, Cantine Memorial Field, 207 Market St., Saugerties, NY

The Gardiner Democratic Committee is hoping for a strong showing at BOTH comment sessions to testify to the negative impacts on Gardiner of the proposed map and to propose new configurations leaving Gardiner whole.  If you are interested in attending one or both sessions, you are encouraged to attend the meeting of the GDC on Thursday, May 5 at 7:00 pm in the Gardiner town hall and/or contact GDC Chair Tom Kruglinski at chair@gardinerdems4586.live-website.com.  There will also be a Zoom option for this meeting.  If you would like login information, please contact Tom.

Whatever the final outcomes to these challenges, the Gardiner Democratic Committee will keep fighting for Democrats as well as our shared Democratic Values.  Stay Tuned.

1. Voter Outreach.  The Gardiner Dems have decided to take part in an Ulster County Democratic Committee effort called Neighbor-to-Neighbor (N2N).  N2N is a program of “relational canvassing” designed with three goals in mind: to build community, to engage voters, and to increase turnout.  To learn more about N2N and understand how you can be a part of it, visit our website at this link:
   http://gardinerdems4586.live-website.com/neighbor-to-neighbor-initiative/
2. Constituent Communication.  The Gardiner Dems will build a concrete communications infrastructure to communicate effectively with all of our voters.  We are doing this primarily by developing a new and strong database of our voters to communicate to them not just messages like this, but also timely updates from our Democratic Elected officials at all levels of government.  Stay tuned for more.  In addition, we are hosting a Spring Town Hall Series, the first of which will be on April 3 in the Gardiner Town Hall, featuring County Executive Patrick Ryan and Gardiner County Legislator and Chair of the Ulster County Legislature, Tracey Bartels.  Future town halls will be held on May 22nd and June 12th and are in the planning stages.  Stay tuned for details.
3. Fundraising.  Winning elections cost money: signs, advertisements, printed material (palm cards and other literature, newspaper inserts), lawn signs, political events, and direct monetary contributions to our endorsed candidates. The Gardiner Dems have set an ambitious goal of raising locally $8,000 by October 2 and spending all of it on electing Democrats.  Our only fixed costs are our website, the email service that got this message to you today, and a post office box.  We don’t pay for space or employees or anything else.  We are powered by 100% volunteer labor and are always interested in attracting more volunteers to make our work lighter and more effective.

   We will hold at least two fundraising events this year, which are in the planning stages.  Please stay tuned.  Also, please consider making a generous and secure donation at our website.  Every dollar is well-spent on electing Democrats and is greatly appreciated.

Retiring Gardiner Town Board member, David Dukler

The Gardiner Democratic Committee will host a fundraiser in Majestic Park on Sunday, September 26, from 1:00 to 4:00 in the Pavilion.  The guest of honor will be David Dukler, who is retiring after serving two distinguished terms on the Town Board.  Dave is known all-around as a team player who worked best forging consensus as well as championing issues such as his work on the Transfer Station, the kennel law, and achievements in parks and rec.  As an avid biker, he is also a champion of maintaining and improving the rail trail.

The event is billed as a FUNdraiser focused on family.  There will be yard games for kids (those -12 and under are free), good food and drink, and fellowship with other Democrats.  The signature event will be a live auction with a wide variety of items donated by local and area businesses and individuals.  The highest value items include a session with award-winning photographer, Michael Gold, valued at $400, and a skydive donated by The Ranch in Gardiner, valued at $300.  The marquis item on the auction block will be one week (seven nights) at the Marriott Orlando Cypress Harbor resort, June 4 – 11, 2022. It has two bedrooms two bathrooms and accommodates up to eight people. The value is $1750.  The winning bidder can trade it for any other available week (any time prior to that week) in the Marriott timeshare system, including Kauai, Oahu, Virgin Islands, Mallorca, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Scottsdale, and many others. Transportation is not included.  These highest valued items will be available for advance bid.  For more information, contact Tom Kruglinski at chair@gardinerdems4586.live-website.com.

Also set up near the FUNdraiser and available to anyone in the park will be the Democracy Tent, an project of the Ulster County Democratic Committee.  It is a tent with a variety of information on progressive causes as well as voter registration and absentee ballot requests.  It will have kids’ activities such as “kid voting” and campaign button making.

A number of elected officials will be in attendance, including County Executive (and Gardiner resident), Patrick Ryan, Assemblymember Kevin Cahill, County Comptroller March Gallagher, our County Legislator (and Gardiner resident), Tracey Bartels, Candidate for Supreme Court (and Gardiner resident), David Gandin, Candidate for Ulster County Family Court, Sarah Rakov and Marisa McClinton, candidate for County Legislator representing Plattekill.  The event will also include all local (Gardiner) town candidates, including Supervisor Marybeth Majestic, Town Board member Warren Wiegand, Town Board candidate Carol Richman, Town Justice Bob Rich, Town Clerk Michelle Mosher, and Highway Superintendent Brian Stiscia.

Advance registration is necessary.  Admission is $25 for adults (18 and up), $5 for teens (13-17), and kids are free.  For more information and for registration, please go to: gardinerdemocrats.com/fundraiser .  Attendees can pay securely online via PayPal with their credit cards or PayPal account.

The event flyer is here.

Here is an update from our local (county and town) elected officials on the effort to have a traffic signal placed at the intersection of 44/55 and Bruynswick Road.

Letter UCTC Crash Analysis Rt 44 55 Gardiner in color June 16 2021

Int_Route 44 & Route 7

HSM_CPM_RuralTwoLaneRoads_v3.0 (3)

As you probably know, in years when there is no congressional election (odd-numbered years) there are elections for local offices.  In 2021, Gardiner voters will elect officials to the following offices on November 3 (Note: we do not know, at this point, whether our Democratic nominees will face opposition by Republicans or Conservatives):

This Year for Gardiner Democrats, It’s a Primary, Not a Caucus

Traditionally, for the town-level positions, the Gardiner Democratic Committee has held a caucus in late spring, with candidates for all town offices being nominated, giving speeches, and voting by all registered Gardiner Democrats in attendance.  That’s a tradition we like, because it is visible participatory democracy in action.  HOWEVER, this year, because of COVID, in January we decided to nominate local candidates via petitioning, with any (Democratic) contested offices decided in a June 22^nd Primary Election. This year, the Gardiner Democratic Committee endorsed a slate of candidates in February and carried nominating petitions for those candidates in March, all of whom gained access to the November ballot for the Democratic Party.

Our endorsed candidates were generally unopposed, except in one instance, Town Board Member, where our two endorsed candidates, Carol Richman and Warren Wiegand were contested by a third candidate (for two seats), Todd Baker.

The only decision Gardiner Democrats will make at the June 22^nd Primary Election is which two of the three candidates for Town Board will gain access to the Democratic ballot line in November.

We encourage you to support Carol and Warren in the June 22^nd Democratic Primary.  We will soon send out more information on their backgrounds and qualification in another message.  Please stay tuned for that.

ONE MORE THING: Location, Location, Location

Voting in the June 22^nd Primary Election will be at the Town Hall only.  If you are a registered Democrat in Gardiner who usually votes at the Firehouse, this year you will vote at the Town Hall.

Questions about any of this can be referred to Tom Kruglinski (914) 475-3601 or tom.kruglinski@gmail.com.

Candidates Sought for Gardiner Offices

Gardiner, NY— 1/3/2021 — The Gardiner Democratic Committee (GDC) is looking for Gardiner residents interested in running for town offices this coming November and being endorsed by the GDC.  The positions on the ballot include County Legislator (UC District 16), Town Supervisor, Town Board Member (two positions), Town Clerk, Highways and Roads Superintendent, and Town Court Justice.

Residents interested should send an email to chair@gardinerdems4586.live-website.com expressing interest and, briefly, their reasons for possibly seeking office.  A resume is also requested if available.  Questions can be sent to the same address, but be sure to include a phone number for a return call.  Those interested will need to complete a questionnaire that will be sent to them shortly after their initial email.

November 22, 2020

Fellow Gardiner Dems:

This is the first chance I have had to communicate with you since the election and I wanted to give you an update and a call to action on Georgia.

Key Races 2020

We have a lot to be thankful for this week of Thanksgiving.  Our four-year Trumpist nightmare is almost over.  Despite his pathetic attempts to hold onto a job he obviously detests, Donald Trump will vacate the White House and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States on January 20 2021.  Personally, I am looking forward to the beginning of recovery from the damage the Republicans have wrought and, at a personal level, simply not hearing from the worst president in our nation’s history multiple times every day.  THANK YOU for going out to vote and for everything else our volunteers and supporters did to make this victory a reality.  Your engagement wins elections!

Antonio Delgado will be our Congressman for another two years.  He was re-elected with 52% of the vote to Kyle Van De Water’s 46%.  The remaining two percent was split among the third-party candidates.  We congratulate Congressman Delgado and will do all we can to make help this next term a success for him and for all of us in New York’s 19^th Congressional District

Jen Metzger’s race for State Senate has not been called yet, after a week of counting absentee ballots.  As of Friday, there were still about 10% of those still left to be counted, mostly from Sullivan County.  Senator Metzger was about ten points behind on election eve and she still trails by a significant margin we are told.  There is still a path to victory possible, but chances, frankly, are not good.  The good news is that redistricting will take place soon and our 42^nd Senate District will look different in a couple of years, hopefully transformed to not heavily favor Republican candidates as it is now.  I will keep you posted on the results as they come in.  Jen has been a great State Senator and we hope for the best.

More good news came Friday night with the announced victory of Michelle Hinchey in her race in our neighboring 46^th State Senate District.  She was significantly behind the Republican Rich Amedure on election eve but more than made up the difference when the absentee ballots were counted this week.  The Democratic pick-up (the seat had been held by Republican George Amedore, who retired) leaves our party just one seat shy of a supermajority in the NY State Senate.  New York continues to rock Democratic!

Georgia! Georgia! Georgia! We Win Georgia, We Change America!

As Democrats, we had two significant disappointments on Election Day.  One was simply that, despite losing, Donald Trump got 70 million votes from our fellow Americans, including many of our neighbors. While Joe and Kamala’s victory has turned out to be significant (it will turn out to be 306 to 232 in the Electoral College and more than a six million margin in the popular vote), there will be strong headwinds along the way.

The other disappointment was not outright taking the Senate.  As of right now the Republicans hold a 50-48 majority in the Senate with both Senate races in Georgia headed for a January 5 run-off.  If the Democratic candidates win both races, the Senate will be evenly divided and, with Kamala Harris casting the deciding vote, the all-important Senate majority will go to us.

This means that ALL of our efforts for the next five or six weeks need to go into ensuring that Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win their run-offs challenges against their Trumpist Republican incumbents, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.  It is the responsibility of each and every one of us give and do what we can.  We all know that if Mitch McConnell continues to control the Senate, he will obstruct everything Joe Biden and Kamala Harris try to do.  On the other hand, with our own Chuck Shumer running the Senate and Kamala breaking ties, we can change America!  So PLEASE, give until it hurts and volunteer your time and effort between now and January 5 to pitch in and help bring about victory.

Here is a list of worthy organizations and ways to get involved (thanks to Melissa Servant for help with this):

• The Warnock campaign website is here and the Ossoff website is here. You can find out more about them and donate using their donate buttons and you can also volunteer to do phone banking by clicking the sites’ volunteer buttons.
• The Democratic Volunteer Center helps volunteers make calls, write to voters, and send texts to help get out the all-important Democratic vote in Georgia. This is a great way to contribute.
• The work of Stacey Abrams and others helped turn Georgia blue in the presidential race for the first time in almost 30 years. Her organization, Fair Fight works to raise money for progressive candidates, organize on the community level, and register voters.  This is a great cause to contribute to and will help flip both Georgia Senate seats blue.
• The New Georgia Project also holds volunteer registration drives and other activities to register progressive voters. It is also a great organization to volunteer for.
• Indivisible Ulster for Georgia Run-offs runs a phone and text bank Mondays and Wednesdays from 4-6 pm. Contact Indivisible Ulster if you wish to participate with a group of your neighbors trying to bring about change in Georgia.
• Black Voters Matter is an organization whose goal is to increase power in black and other minority communities to allow community members to determine their own destiny. They focus on voter registration, GOTV, and policy advocacy.
• Post Cards to Voters focuses on having volunteers write friendly, handwritten reminders from volunteers to targeted voters giving Democrats a winning edge in close, key races. This is an easy and satisfying way to pitch in on the Georgia fight.

Please do something—contribute what you can, volunteer to make calls, or write letters or post cards.  Your activism helped us make gains on election day this year.  We are extremely thankful for your generosity in that regard.  But Georgia on January 5 will be make-or-break.

THANK YOU, and I wish you a peaceful and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.

Tom Kruglinski
Chair, Gardiner Democratic Committee

The Gardiner Democrats, in conjunction with Ulster Activists (U-Act) will be doing a fundraiser to support the reelection of our State Senator, Jen Metzger on Saturday, September 12 from 1:00 to 3:00 in Gardiner at a private home.  This in-person fundraiser is limited to 50 people.  Attendees can mingle with the candidate and her supporters as well as bid on a variety of great items in an auction (part silent, part live).  Auction items include:

• Handcrafted Jewelry
• A Skydive from The Ranch in Gardiner
• Pottery and other items from local artists
• Majestics Hardware Gift Certificate
• Gift Certificates from Cafe Mio, The Mountain Brauhaus, and Garvan’s
• Services such as an acupuncture session, a professional photography portrait session, and haircuts
• A poster signed by Jerry Seinfeld
• Wine, wine, and more wine
• Much more!

All proceeds go toward the Senator’s reelection effort.

For tickets (minimum contribution $50) click here