As the Memorial Day parade feast fades and the long weekend of door knocking for votes ends, Rockland County Democrats prepare to meet Thursday, May 30, at Clarkstown Town Hall to discuss and determine and dither — but not yet decide.
Where the recent Republican County Convention was a coronation for Rockland County Executive candidate Ed Day, Rockland Democrats are not expected to hold a vote on their nominee for County Executive.
The current contest is a three man race between Suffern Mayor Dagan Lacorte, long time Rockland County Legislator Ilan Schoenberger and former county legislator and former judge David Fried — with a fourth candidate in political newcomer Vladimir Leon, who truly faces long odds in winning the nomination.
Rockland County Clerk Paul Piperato, recent Memorial Day guest speaker in Sloatsburg, is expected to get the clerk nod again as he runs for re-election against Rockland Republican nominee Donna Held. Piperato’s recent tenure was tinged for his sharing with The Journal News Rockland gun permit data — who has a pistol permit, complete with names and addresses — which the clerk was required to do by state law. LoHud’s interactive map of permit holders infamously became art to choke hearts.
Early odds were that the Rockland County Democratic Committee would favor establishment candidate Ilan Schoenberger, who has been a Rockland Legislator for some 20 years, holding the position of Chairman of the Legislature’s Budget and Finance Committee. With Rockland County nearly $100 million in debt, that seat has lost much of its luster.
Both Fried and Schoenberger have been relatively quiet leading up to the big Committee pow-wow, though Fried shows confidence in scheduling a grand opening for his new campaign office, Sunday, June 2, from 3-5 p.m. — a demonstration of fight.
Suffern Mayor Dagan Lacorte has taken another tack altogether – attacking the rim, as they say in basketball. On Tuesday night Lacorte met with Democratic party leaders to make his pitch that the old ways should be cast aside.
“Rockland’s Democratic Party leaders have a choice,” said Lacorte in a press release leading up to Thursday’s Democratic convention in Clarkstown.
“They can make a clean break with the 100% property tax hike of Scott Vanderhoef and his ‘Yes Men’ in the County Legislature by telling Ilan Schoenberger and David Fried that Rockland needs new leadership. Or the establishment can continue to defend the failed county government that is slashing services to our seniors, our towns and our villages.”
And therein lies the rub. Lacorte’s strength is also considered by many his Achilles heel — his propensity to upset the apple cart by aggressively attacking the proverbial rim and publicly debating party issues. Not many county Democrats want to hear that they’ve been complicit in the mismanagement of county government.
But data does not lie. Ask NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. One of outgoing County Executive Scott Vanbderhoef’s final acts was to cede some of Rockland’s financial authority to Albany — to get a bond for the $96 million in county debt.
A current bill pending in Albany would require the comptroller to review Rockland’s proposed budget and make recommendations to the county Legislature that the Legislature would be required to incorporate — ceding financial authority to finance debt. Rockland’s taxes have skyrocketed to cover a debt-filled bloated budget.
“I’ve never served in Rockland’s government and I’m independent of the interests that run it,” Lacorte continued. “Rockland Democrats need to unite behind the only proven progressive who kept taxes down.”
Lacorte recently delivered Suffern’s budget with a below the NY state recommended property tax increase — a pinch instead of a bite, which residents feel but don’t complain about because the water runs hot and cold, the streets get cleaned and the police arrive on the scene in time.
The likely outcome of Lacorte’s exhortation is agitation and silence. In the end, after Thursday’s Democratic convention, after the applause and speeches, the Democrats will likely still not have an official candidate for Rockland County Executive. Given the dithering, perhaps people power is the proper platform to determine who represents.
If the Rockland Democratic Party doesn’t make a decision, voters will make it for them in a September 10 primary. Then it’s on to the general election in November. Meanwhile, Republican candidate Ed Day can content himself to run his populist campaign unopposed because as the Democrats hem and haw, every day is a new day for Ed to deliver his message to Rockland voters.
