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Hudson
Taghkanic, NY
Hudson Valley troublemaker.
Interests: media, the environment, civic affairs, small-town life, culture and government.
Recent Activity
Resistance is Temporary
Posted Aug 14, 2020 at SamPratt.com
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In setback for gravel project, Hudson Planning Board declares waterfront proposal is ripe for a full review
JOINT NEWS RELEASE FROM THE V.A. & OUR HUDSON WATERFRONT The Hudson Planning Board voted last week to classify the proposed A. Colarusso & Son, Inc. project at the City’s waterfront as the type of action which requires the most stringent level of scrutiny The Hudson Planning Board voted 5-0... Continue reading
Posted Aug 3, 2020 at The Valley Alliance
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The Hudson Waterfront: Decades in the Making
Posted Feb 12, 2020 at SamPratt.com
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Dow bests Stamper for Dem Elections nod
Posted Jan 30, 2020 at SamPratt.com
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Supes reject reappointment of Martin to elections job
Posted Dec 11, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Chatham resigns
An hour after blowing his top for the third consecutive Hudson Planning Board meeting, chair Walter Chatham submitter a letter of resignation via email to sitting Mayor Rick Rector and incoming Mayor Kamal Johnson. A copy of the email obtained by this site reads: Dear Planning Board and Mayor Elect- In anticipation of a new Administration and a fresh point of view, I have submitted my resignation from the Planning Board to Mayor Rector. Thank you all for your help and collaboration; I wish those of you staying on the Board great success in your future dealings on behalf of the City. I look forward to staying in touch with you all and hope to be before you with my own planning proposals in the future. All The Best, Walter Walter Chatham wchatham@cityofhudson.org During Tuesday night’s public hearing on the Colarusso application for the Waterfront, Hudson resident Chris McManus spoke... Continue reading
Posted Dec 11, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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A month later, Election Board finally posts some real results
As of noon yesterday—a full month after Election Day—the Columbia County Board of Elections still was showing incomplete and outdated results of the November 5th election. A nudge from this site appears to have changed that. Since the mess of Election Day and the ensuing weeks of confusion, the Board had recanvassed and counted many additional results, along with those gathered from early tallies. But strangely, the BOE had not added these to tallies to publicly-released numbers. As of midday on December 3rd, its site had not been updated since November 21st. Those incomplete. results showed several candidates losing, who had since been known to have won. Considering the many mistakes, omissions, and errors which have plagued the Board this cycle, it seemed all the more odd that it would not have rushed to correct these numbers. This site messaged the two Election Commissioners, Democrat Virginia Martin and Republican Jason... Continue reading
Posted Dec 4, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Two updates on the previous post
More observations and additional background on the previous post about the County Dems’ wasted $23,500 in funding of losing candidates : : : : : : UPDATE #1: It’s worth also noting that two candidates who received some of the County Dems’ largest expenditures actually may have harmed other Democratic candidates. Few expected Gene Keeler to win the District Attorney’s race—and indeed, he lost by a wide margin, despite the CCDC’s $12,500 contribution to his campaign. As such, the main impact of Keeler’s futile candidacy was to activate the Czajka campaign and the Republican County committee. Mass-mailers and other get-out-the-vote efforts for Czajka almost certainly caused some Republicans countywide to turn out who otherwise would not have done so. These voters almost certainly then continued voting on Row B for GOP candidates further down the ballot. In close races in places like Copake and Ghent, where every vote counted, this... Continue reading
Posted Dec 3, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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County Dems blew nearly 24K on hopeless races
Posted Dec 2, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Nastke caves; Democrats take Ghent Town Board
Posted Nov 26, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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GOP commissioner and staff M.I.A. to finish ballot count
Posted Nov 26, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Democratic BOE vote was a squeaker
According to attendees, the Columbia County Democratic Committee required two votes last night to determine who it would recommend to the Board of Supervisors to be the party’s next Elections Commissioner No discussion among Committee members of the four candidates was possible after each made their presentations—because the vote was last on the agenda, and party leadership had failed to secure the basement meeting room in Valatie past 9:30 pm. Reportedly, candidates Erin Stamper and Virginia Martin received all but one or two of the votes on the first secret ballot, with neither breaking 50% of the weighted total. A mystery candidate from Clermont or Copake received the remaining support. Chatham Republican Maria Lull, who threw her hat into the ring, got 0 votes. On the second ballot, it appears a few people moved their support to Martin, giving her just enough over 50% to become the recommended candidate. It... Continue reading
Posted Nov 26, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Rare competition tonight for Dem Election Commissioner’s job
The Columbia County Democratic Committee is meeting tonight, and on the agenda is whom they will recommend to the Board of Supervisors for the job of their party’s Election Commissioner. But unlike most other two-year cycles, this time there is fierce competition for the job. Sources indicate that both the existing Democratic Commissioner, Virginia Martin, and party vice chair Erin Stamper are vying for the position, and have been lobbying for support among Committee members. In the past few decades, this site knows of no instance of any competition for these positions in either party, at least none which ever became public. That position is currently part-time, paying around $30,000 a year. But there is some talk of the Supervisors bumping both the Dem and GOP positions up to full-time. Stamper filled in at the Board of Elections for the last few weeks of this election cycle, after Greenport’s Jimmy... Continue reading
Posted Nov 25, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Testy and close, Ghent vote count finally kicks off
Posted Nov 22, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Nastke runs down what happened at the Board of Elections
Posted Nov 14, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Mystery still swirls around Board’s handling of 2019 vote
Many questions remain unanswered about the odd and confusing way this year’s Columbia County election results have been counted and reported. A lengthy article in the Register-Star featuring numerous quotes from Republican Election Commissioner Jason Nastke provided some context. But Nastke’s answers didn’t address the fundamental issues which plagued both the numbers and their reporting. Republican Commissioner Nastke has agreed to further discuss what happened, and this site will report on that conversation. Democratic Commissioner Martin only acknowledged that the Countywide results were published late on Monday, and ignored other questions. It took the Board just a few hours shy of a full week to report the results of Countywide races and propositions. With the District Attorney’s race being the most closely-watched contest of this cycle, it’s perplexing that the Paul Czajka-Gene Keeler results were among the last to be disclosed. A week later, the Board’s results finally confirm that... Continue reading
Posted Nov 14, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Now, was that so hard? (Apparently, yes)
DOWNLOAD CORRELATED RESULTS: XLS | PAGES | CSV Sometime on Friday night, while Columbia County residents were washing the dishes after supper or scrolling through Netflix in search of something to watch, the Board of Elections finally posted Election Day and early voting returns. It had been roughly 72 hours since polls had closed, with no explanation why such numbers were taking so long to be published. The new numbers significantly alter the picture in several closely-watched towns—and show why many candidates and campaigns were tearing their hair out as the unexplained and highly-unusual delay dragged on all week. A number of candidates who were previously losing surged into the lead, or into a near-tie. Some of these races have flipped, and others will have to wait for absentees to be counted. For some reason, the new data does not include countywide results for the District Attrorney’s race, for which... Continue reading
Posted Nov 9, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Candidates, officials call on BOE to get its act together
Nearly 67 hours since polls closed, candidates and their supporters continue to wait for the Columbia County Board of Elections to release comprehensive results of Tuesday’s local elections. Some are starting to get understandably antsy, and wondering what the hold-up could possibly be. “This truly could not be more unfair to the candidates and the process,” wrote one candidate early on Friday. That town’s race has already had all its early votes either tabulated by the machines, or hand-counted, but has not seen those numbers released. On Thursday, the Board’s site promised full results by the end of the day; that deadline was not met. The same promise appears again today, on Friday, but as of 3:30 pm no new data have been released. “Not posting accurate results is causing so much confusion and yes, the conspiracy theories are swirling,” that candidate also wrote early on Friday. “This has to... Continue reading
Posted Nov 8, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Still no word from County Elections
44 hours after the polls closed, the Columbia County Board of Elections has still only posted partial results for Tuesday’s elections. And the wait will reportedly continue into tomorrow. Yesterday the Board pulled some early vote returns from its site, replacing them this morning with a notice stating that “Unofficial GE19 early voting results will be posted later today (Thursday) with the tally of unscanned ballots.” But that “later today” promise apparently is going to be broken. Admitting that “incorrect” numbers were initially posted on Election Night, Democratic Commissioner Virginia Martin also vowed in email that they would soon have a comprehensive tally of all known results. However, a source says that Republican Commissioner Jason Nastke now does not expect any updates to be reported until tomorrow—Friday—but says he will attempt to “explain everything” once they finally get those numbers together. Meanwhile, candidates, their campaigns, their family and friends, not... Continue reading
Posted Nov 7, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Confusion reigns at the Columbia County Board of Elections
THURSDAY UPDATE: 3 PM: 42 hours after polls have closed, the Columbia County Board of Elections still has not published a consolidated tally of results in either Countywide or Town contests. The Board pulled its three separate Early Vote tallies down from the site, and is promising to have new numbers “later today.” Reports in both The Register-Star and a direct message from Commissioner Virginia Martin state that “incorrect numbers” were published on Election Night. Why there is continued reluctance to publish a full tally, including Early Votes already counted, remain unclear. : : : : : : WEDNESDAY UPDATES: NOON: The County Election Board has posted a new set of results, but bafflingly these actually show fewer votes than the previous reports. Martin says they will have yet another posting soon. 1:30 PM: Incredibly, the BOE has made things even more confusing, by posting four separate sets of unofficial... Continue reading
Posted Nov 6, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Columbia County voting today by party
Posted Nov 5, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Election 2019: Odds & ends & codas
Posted Nov 4, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Czajka vs. Keeler: The challenger has issues (Part II)
Posted Nov 1, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Czajka vs. Keeler: It’s not a close choice (Part I)
Posted Oct 28, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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Legal ethics expert calls D.A. candidate’s actions “totally unethical” and “bizarre”
Posted Oct 26, 2019 at SamPratt.com
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