Area Politicians Snatch Defeat From Jaws of Victory
A closer look at Congressman Pat Ryan's town hall teleconference, and State Senator James Skoufis's most recent public Facebook meltdown.
Above: A live look at State Senator James Skoufis as he responds to people on Facebook.
So, where should we begin?
Do you want to discuss Congressman Pat Ryan or State Senator Skoufis first?
Because neither of them had a good night last night.
(But one had a worse night than the other. Can you guess which one?)
Let's Start with Congressman Pat Ryan ...
I've heard from many of you, who sat and waited patiently, to ask Congressman Pat Ryan a question last night. I was also in the question line for the duration of his telephone town hall.
Here is the question I would have asked, if given the opportunity:
"South Blooming Grove residents don’t have clean drinking water. Congressman Ryan, you were last in the Village to pose with photos along with two men who have made this drinking water emergency worse, and have actively lied about it.
These two men, according to at least 3 constitutional scholars and counting, are also committing ongoing violations of the federal Constitution’s Establishment Clause.
I want to know what your plans are, as it relates to the constitutional violations occurring in South Blooming Grove, and what you will do to make sure village residents have access to clean drinking water."
According to a representative from Congressman Ryan's District Office in Newburgh, there was no set screening process for the calls last night.
I've asked them to confirm how many people did call in, and what the selection process was for the questions that were asked, if any.
They said they would contact the Congressman's D.C. office to gather that information since they did not know it offhand. If I hear back from the Congressman's office — and it's a big IF based on their track record regarding questions concerning our area — I will update this post.
I didn't catch all of the calls (we'll get to why in a minute), but of the ones I heard, only one was from near South Blooming Grove. There was also one call from Port Jervis, and I believe at least one other from Orange County.
Otherwise, the majority of the calls taken were from outside the region. Many of them gushed about how great the Congressman is.
So, I want to be clear on this point: I can't speak to whether or not the Congressman and his team were screening calls and questions.
Or whether those questions were from sock puppets—people from his team asking questions while pretending to be constituents. All political parties use this tactic to help manage the illusion of their representative’s responsiveness, and our State Senator, Mr. Skoufis, also uses it.
(I caught him doing that this morning on a Cornwall-based Facebook group where the sock puppet tried to dismiss concerns about Mr. Stern and Mr. Ekstein’s activity in South Blooming Grove as fear-mongering, the same line the Senator had used less than 24 hours earlier.)
I know a few of you asked about the sock puppets, and I don't have a specific answer about this specific teleconference.
What I can say is that, in this day and age, it would be exceedingly rare for there not to be pre-planned questions for any elected representative to answer during calls similar to this one. I can say that as someone who has worked in PR and Marketing for over twenty years.
When you're trying to manage public perception, you want to maintain total control of your messaging, which is a point we'll revisit when talking about the state senator, who could clearly use a lesson or two in public relations.
What I do know is that a lot of you were waiting patiently to ask your questions to the Congressman. And that many of you were frustrated by the process last night.
If you were on the call, and did not get to have your questions answered, I encourage you to call the District Office in Newburgh and share with the Congressman's staff your disappointment: (845) 443-2930
I wish I had better news for you, but here's the truth: If you want things to change, they will not change overnight.
You will meet obstruction like you did last night with the Town Hall.
You will have State Senators call you liars, fear mongers, and antisemites like you saw over the last 48 hours from Skoufis.
You will have to listen to very dumb people tell you that you're wrong on the Internet.
And some of those dumb people may even be your local elected representatives. Ones that you can do nothing about because "lol Home Rule."
(Meaning: Local municipalities in New York State have wide latitude regarding their activities, and it can be difficult for state-wide offices to wrangle them when needed. South Blooming Grove is a perfect example of this. But sometimes, those state agencies themselves don't want to do much wrangling either. While it is known that the Comptroller is investigating South Blooming Grove, for example, they absolutely refuse to publicize this ongoing audit. Can't imagine why that would be ...)
And when you do score a win?
It's usually going to be temporary because you're dealing with a near-limitless amount of money being spent to buy your elected officials and their votes.
Congressman Pat Ryan, for example, has received $61,282 over the course of his career from the same guy who bankrolled Trump’s pick for Vice President, J.D. Vance.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Congressman Ryan has received more money from Peter Thiel than the average American makes in a single year ($59,228.)
In the case of State Senator Skoufis, he's received in 2024 alone over $100,000 in money from Political Action Committees.
According to Zip Recruiter, the average annual salary in New York State is $51,979 a year. Meaning that if we're JUST talking about the amount of money provided to the senator form these PACs alone, he's received the equivalent of a year's worth of pay for at least two of you reading this.
The largest PAC contribution this year, so far, for Senator Skoufis is $9,000 from the New York State Funeral Director's Association, which is appropriate, because our state senator's re-election campaign is effectively dead after his latest online meltdown. The man has found a way to piss off and alienate voters across Blooming Grove, South Blooming Grove, Monroe, and Woodbury in an incredibly short amount of time.
But the point here is to not give up.
The Climate Emergency is a clear and present danger to you, your family, and everyone on this planet.
You are in danger. I can't stress that point enough. That's not hype. That's not hysteria. That's not fear mongering. That is proven, incontrovertible scientific fact agreed upon by nearly every scientist who studies Climate Change.
If we're lucky, we still have a very narrow window available to keep the planet from getting any hotter.
IF. We're lucky.
But solving this crisis takes time, dedication, and a lot of patience. Patience that many of you exhibited while waiting to speak to the Congressman.
So, while the Congressman won't do it, I'd like to thank you for making the effort last night. I appreciate you taking the hour out of your day to make those calls and listen to the Congressman drone on or "stall," as some of you put it.
So, why was it a bad night for Congressman Ryan?
Because, once again, when people from Southern Orange County tried to reach him and his team about the issues they face, there was no response.
And this time, there were a lot of witnesses to the Congressman’s unresponsiveness. So it’s no longer just talk on the Internet. It’s a verifiable fact.
Now Let's Talk About State Senator Grievances
It's been a hilariously bad 48 hours for State Senator James G. Skoufis. (The G stands for Grievance. Hence, Senator Grievances.)
To briefly recap: Last week, a rep from the State Senator's office attended the ZBA meeting in South Blooming Grove.
The rep, Matt, was great. Terrific job. Talked to everyone. Heard their concerns. I honestly wished he was our state representative.
Coming off from that meeting, there was definitely some optimism that, finally, the State Senator would be taking action concerning South Blooming Grove.
One would think Skoufis would have been smart enough to capitalize on this good will by putting out a press release that answers the questions his rep, Matt, received from attendees of that ZBA meeting:
1. What is in his power to help area residents in South Blooming Grove and Blooming Grove?
2. What is NOT in his power to help to alleviate confusion about what a State Senator can and can't do?
3. What is he CURRENTLY doing to address the issues that were shared with his representatives?
That's not what happened. As of this writing, he has still not done this.
Instead, we're told through back channels that his team is working on these things, which is great if it's true.
But what's become clear over the last 48 hours is that the Senator himself has little to offer people in terms of action and plenty to offer them by way of grievances.
Specifically:
1. Everyone who disagrees with him is a liar. I now have a list of at least ten people the Senator has called a liar while researching my story on the ongoing issues between the Town and Village of Woodbury. When there's that many people on a list like that, it's safe to assert that maybe the problem isn't those people, it's you.
2. Anyone asking about South Blooming Grove and Blooming Grove has been ignored. You can see this for yourself here.
As I already pointed out yesterday, Dr. Maya Angelou said, "When people tell you who they are, believe them the first time." The Senator spent 48 hours fighting with people (myself included) on Facebook while ignoring questions from residents of South Blooming Grove and Blooming Grove.
I think that speaks volumes about who Senator Grievances is as a man and as an elected official.
Clearly, his ego takes priority over the people.
3. Finally, Anyone asking about Rebbe Teitelbaum's statements, or the encroaching theocracy and its related constitutional violations, is "fear-mongering." Which is just a new way to call someone antisemitic. (The Senator is not able to call me an antisemite because I’m a Jew, so he’s going with fear-monger. Great name for a band, absolutely dumb thing for a senator to claim.)
So, you'll have to excuse me if I take the "he's working on it" line as just another round of bullshit from Senator Grievances and Team.
I hope I'm wrong!
I'll let you know if I am. Because I sure as shit don't always get it right and I've been plain about that since the day this thing started ... But I'm not holding my breath.
Why did the Senator have this meltdown?
Instead of sending out the smart choice of press releases, he sent a factually deficient letter to multiple local media outlets proposing reconfiguring the local governments of Woodbury.
This plan was almost unanimously panned online, which resulted in the Senator spending hours responding to people on Facebook, instead of, you know, taking that time to write or do any of the following:
- Ask the DEC to revoke Keen Equities permits. To this day, the Senator will absolutely not respond to requests or questions about this. When I brought up the point to his chief of staff, her response was, “Only you would stoop so low.”
How is asking a State Senator to revoke the permits of a verifiable bad actor stooping so low?
Your guess is as good as mine on that one.
-Use his chairmanship of the Investigations and Government Operations Committee to investigate South Blooming Grove and the Town of Woodbury.
-Asking the Comptroller's office to investigate the ongoing issues with the Woodbury Town Board and Chief Watson’s contracts.
-Proposing legislation for the next session that would give the FOIL law some balls when local municipalities like SBG and Monroe actively try to circumvent the FOIL process.
-Address the violations of the NYS Establishment Clause through legislation or request for AG action.
-Ask Orange County's Department of Health for a public status update concerning South Blooming Grove's water emergency.
-Offer to personally come to South Blooming Grove to hear from residents directly.
(The State Senator thought he would somehow “win” an argument with me by pointing out that I was in attendance at last week’s ZBA meeting, while he was not. His point being, I said I was moving to LA, what was I doing there? To which I answer, I said I was moving, not that I had moved. Details don’t matter to Senator Grievances, apparently.)
-Ask the AG's office to investigate the activities of Mr. Joel Stern and Mr. Isaac Ekstein.
-Introduce Land Preservation bills (although I guess that would upset his friends in the NYS Realtors Association)
He did none of that.
And that's just the stuff he can do off the top of my head. Instead, he fought with people on Facebook because his plan for Woodbury proved to be deeply unpopular, and he had to save face by picking a fight with absolutely everyone he could manage.
The Woodbury Plan started out with the claim that it would save taxpayer money. When he was called out on this dubious claim by residents, he then backpedaled and claimed the plan would stop the fighting between Town and Village. What he didn't mention is that the Senator is one of the main causes of the latest round of infighting.
You'll notice, by the way, that in discussing taxpayer savings, the State Senator hasn't mentioned that Supervisor Luciani is the highest-paid Woodbury Town Supervisor in the Town's 21st Century history. (This is despite multiple efforts by other Town Supervisors to reduce the pay of the Supervisor's role because of their limited responsibility.)
He hasn't mentioned the abuse of overtime by the Town operated Woodbury Police.
He hasn't mentioned the $200k+ that Chief Watson makes and whether or not the Chief is also making money from vendors in Kiryas Joel on the side.
The Senator also didn't mention his previous attempt at merging the Village and Town, almost a decade ago, which died in the Assembly.
Instead, if you read the letter (which you can do so here), it's basically a temper tantrum. It's a thinly, or perhaps not-so-thinly, veiled attack on the Mayor:
"Last but certainly not least, spanning multiple supervisors and mayors since day one, the town and village have been in constant conflict. There have been fights over virtually every issue imaginable to the point where, just several years ago, the town and village were in court over a property dispute – taxpayers were absurdly paying taxes for one of their local governments to sue the other to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars."
What the Senator did not mention is that this lawsuit was triggered by a Town Supervisor, Frank Palermo. The Senator also did not mention the thousands Woodbury taxpayers were on the hook for after a legal settlement was made between the Town and a former police chief based on the behaviors of a former town Supervisor.
The conflict, in other words, has only come from one end: The Town of Woodbury. The taxpayers of Woodbury, both village and Town, have been on the hook explicitly for the actions of the Town. (And yet, he won’t ask the Comptroller to investigate the concerns raised about the Current Supervisor. That sure is convenient…)
"Even today, the village is now trying to take over control of the town’s police department and animal shelter – against the town’s will. It would not surprise me if this, too, winds up in court, all at the expense of local taxpayers."
That's not accurate either.
But I'll let the Village Attorney explain that in an upcoming post.
What I will say is that the Town and Senator are actively misleading people here about the nature of the Intermunicipal Agreement and what happens when it expires. He's quick to call your friendly neighborhood reporter a fear monger, but what are we to call someone who says, "It would not surprise me if this, too, winds up in court, all at the expense of local taxpayers"?
The rest of the letter is just Skoufis attacking the Village Mayor. The two of them are engaged in a pissing match. The Mayor misspoke when discussing a grant the Village received. The Senator got mad. The Senator refuses to meet with the Mayor, all while holding up the grant in question. That’s where that situation is. The Senator is incapable of governing when his ego is hurt, and instead of being a functional adult, he’s decided to pick a very public fight with the Mayor while delivering a lay-up for Rebbe Teitelbaum with this proposal.
"For nearly two decades, almost all village and town elected officials – of both parties – have supported a responsible merging of the two boards. Once the legislation is finalized in the coming days, I will be formally requesting both boards pass the required resolution and, at that point, we will know who is truly willing to put our community ahead of political self-interest. I will be calling out each local elected official who refuses to partner on this commonsense solution."
That statement is also incredibly misleading, but I think you'll hear soon enough from some of those people mister Skoufis is pretending to speak on behalf of. I’ll let them do the talking.
"we will know who is truly willing to put our community ahead of political self-interest."
This is an interesting statement to make, given that this proposal to have one governing body oversee both Town and Village is a political gift to Rebbe Teitelbaum.
Oh. Wait. We're not allowed to say that. That too is "fear mongering." So, I guess we're supposed to ignore the Rebbe's public statements about the areas of Woodbury he has claimed for himself.
According to Senator Grievances, much like Bruno, we’re not allowed to talk about the Rebbe.
Let's be clear here. The only person putting political self-interest ahead of the community is Senator Grievances.
When people tell you who they are, believe them.
So, What Can We Do Here?
There is at least one thing.
If you're a Democrat, and if you're still going to vote for Senator Grievances, that's ok.
I'm not telling you how to vote.
I am simply pointing out facts, no matter how unpleasant and inconvenient those facts may be for our elected officials.
And the fact is, this guy sucks.
But if you’re going to vote for him, there’s a way to signal you’re upset with the Senator.
You can vote for him on the Working Families Party line.
That's a nice little fuck you to the State Democratic Party, and it sends a message to them that you're not satisfied with the Senator, his activities, his grievances, and all the other bullshit he brings to the table.
The Working Families Party made the difference the last time Congressman Ryan was up for office, and it very well could be the difference here in the race for the New York State Senate. The WFP has also said, in a statement to The Monroe Gazette:
“When a large percent of voters cast their ballot on the WFP line, it sends a clear message to the candidates that people want them to lead on progressive issues, like taxing the rich, fully funding public schools, and stabilizing out-of-control rent costs.
The WFP ballot has been the margin of difference in dozens of races in recent years, especially in the Hudson Valley and Central New York. Our line was the difference maker in Pat Ryan's win for Congress and the decider in DA races in Ulster and Dutchess Counties.
Voting on the line lets you vote your progressive values without playing the role of spoiler. We work to shift the center of gravity in state politics in a more progressive direction, and we've been successful in electing dozens of progressive state legislators, including Upstate. Legislators like Sarahana Shresta, Gabriella Romero, Lea Webb, MaryJane Shimsky are all WFP-backed candidates.
It's also not just a paper endorsement. We canvass, call, and text for our candidates. And then work to hold them accountable to their promises after election day. So it's year-round organizing work. (Emphasis Added.)
I have been in touch with representatives of the WFP to share my concerns about Senator Grievances, specifically concerning his lack of action on the water emergency in South Blooming Grove. It’s my hope that the WFP will indeed hold Skoufis accountable for getting the people of that Village the clean drinking water that they need.
We’ll see.