ehhhem....... I believe they were "dumped" by party leadership. We will find out if they were dumped by the party when they force a primary. From what I understand they are doing fairly well when it comes to getting petitions signed.
So far their message rings with more clarity than what either the Rep or Con leadership is communicating.
Oh yeah,,,,,,,,,what is their message again?????? Ohhhhhhh,,,,, I remember,,, destroy the character of those who threaten the sacred party leadership.
Sissy
I was there when the endorsements were vetted. Unanimous for Joe/Joe. All proxy and present committeeman voted to DUMP Mortz; in so many words! OUCH
I was there when the endorsements were vetted. Unanimous for Joe/Joe. All proxy and present committeeman voted to DUMP Mortz; in so many words! OUCH
Funny you should say this. Now I am really confused. First, I don't know how YOU could have been there. And second....I talked with a few committee people myself who said they voted for mertz. I was told that it WAS the leadership, which everyone including registered reps already know has no credibility. Could ya help me out here?
And actually, I believe this goes far and beyond this being a 'mertz thing'. People are looking for that 'other' party. There are over 20,000 blanks out there, including myself, that have been and are sick of the politics as usual coming out of the dems, reps and cons. So a new party will truly be the key here!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Puddycat ~ ouch! How does it feel to have your protege get dumped? After all, you praised this guy as the next coming of Ronald Reagan for crying out loud! But, he dared to question YOU and he didn't play nice in the sandbox, awe, John Boy should have followed better directions.
Mertz is right, the Republican Party is split! That's because YOU ~ Tom and Jerry ~ YOU will now become the "Old Guard" Don't think it's going to happen? Whether Mertz wins or loses, there is no way you guys come out a winner. The more you guys attack him the more popular he becomes, after all "Howdy Doody" you're the one who dropped the ball. You're a joke, what a piss poor job you're doing on the county, now you're coming back to Rotterdam and getting quoted in the paper. Oh yea, let's see you save the party now.
Personally, I think you jokers should go ALL IN on Mertz! Nobody likes him AND you guys would be doing the town a favor ~ as DelGallo and company walk in.
I was there when the endorsements were vetted. Unanimous for Joe/Joe. All proxy and present committeeman voted to DUMP Mortz; in so many words! OUCH
Pud puller,
Committee people don't necessarily represent the true will of party, especially in the Republican Party which is in such disarray. Angelo Santabarbara is a prime example of a candidate that wasn't endorsed by the Conservative Party, yet when he forced a primary he received the line.
What is there, 50 committee people representing 6000+ registered republicans in Rotterdam? If they succeed in forcing a primary and it is even close, it shows how out of touch the current Republican leadership is.
Only time will tell. I'm sure the character assassins within the party establishment are loading their smear guns and sharpening their mud spears.
How dare these rouge candidate challenge party establishment.
Posted on: 08/05/09 Jackie Sher email: news@spotlightnews.com
John Mertz, Rotterdam Town Board member, and Mike O’Connor will take part in the Republican primary for seats on the Rotterdam Town Board on the GOP ticket, however the Rotterdam GOP Committee hasn’t endorsed either one.
Rotterdam GOP Chairman Gerard Parisi said the committee declined to endorse Mertz based on his “inability to cooperate with several departments – the police department, the highway department, etc.” Parisi also cited what he called Mertz’s “difficult personality.”
“He was the head of the police commission while he was a board member, which was a complete disaster primarily due to the way he handled it and the way he was dealing with the police – making it into a political thing.”
In a 50-0 vote, members of the committee chose instead to endorse Joe Suhrada, Joe Signore and Stan Marchinkowski.
Signore and Marchinkowski are current town board members who will be running for re-election. Joe Suhrada is currently serving as a Schenectady County legislator but decided earlier this year to run this year to pursue a position on the Town Board.
“Due to his Mertz’s past performance as a committee member, we decided to endorse three hardworking, cooperative, proven board members,” said Parisi of the committee’s selection.
Mertz and O’Connor, who will be running for his first political position, said that despite the political fallout, the two pledge to support each other and run a “clean campaign.”
“All too often candidates for office engage in dirty politics full of mud slinging and blatant distortion of their opponent’s record,” said Mertz in a written statement. “Today I am vowing to take no part in this type of deception. People are sick of it.”
Mertz was originally elected to the board for a one-year term, and then again for a four-year term in 2005.
He said that there was a falling out within the party last year over some “budgetary matters” involving numerous cuts that he was proposing that Parisi “apparently didn’t agree with.”
“At that point, without consulting the committee at all, he Parisi said he was dropping me from the GOP ticket,” said Mertz.
“He immediately dropped the support of me from the committee even though he was the only one doing it at the time,” said Mertz.
O’Connor said he and Mertz will focus heavily on taxes during their campaign..
“We’ve knocked on hundreds and hundreds of doors in our petition-gathering, and the people answering those doors are saying they can’t take it anymore,” said O’Connor of the town’s tax rate. “We’re committed to zero percent tax increases for the next two years.”
He said his main reason for running is that he’s a resident “fed up” with other politicians who have “stood on my doorstep promising tax relief that never materializes.”
Besides taxes, O’Connor said he is interested in proper comprehensive planning in the town.
“One thing I’m waiting to hear from endorsed candidates is what is their message? As a voter I’m not hearing a coherent message of what they intend to do, and I think our message is extremely clear. It’s not about trying to reduce taxes or providing tax relief … it’s about zero percent tax increase,” said O’Connor.
Mertz agreed, saying, “There is no bigger issues for the residents of the town of Rotterdam than taxes.”
“When you pay them, you should be comfortable that you’re getting the services that everyone has come to expect – infrastructure, public safety, etc. – but we’re not in the business of running, for example, the ambulance district,” said Mertz, who said he supports Rotterdam EMS but not the creation of an ambulance taxing district.
Joe Suhrada is currently serving as a Schenectady County legislator but decided earlier this year to run this year to pursue a position on the Town Board.
shadow government forming? purpose? goal? what? $$?
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
we certainly dont need a REMS taxing district.....it's a freakin' ride to the hospital....unless you go ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT (which there are fees/equipement/training that cost ALOT OF $$)...dont get me wrong ambulances are important....there is no need to add the tax....
in the longrun it WILL cost too much $$(EVERYTHING DOES)...and then guess what.....
headline: Local man purchases REMS at a rate/cost blah blah blah to be paid back to the town blah blah blah......
nice freakin' business all set up via our backs........
DONT DO IT,,,,,JUST DONT DO IT......IF YOUR WILLING TAKE IT NOW AND IF YOU THINK YOU'RE THAT GOOD DO IT NOW.... DONT USE YOUR TOWN/MY TOWN/OUR TOWN.......DONT BE A LEECH
NO REMS TAX DISTRICT.......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Rotterdam GOP Chairman Gerard Parisi said the committee declined to endorse Mertz based on his “inability to cooperate with several departments – the police department, the highway department, etc.” Parisi also cited what he called Mertz’s “difficult personality.”
Ahhhhh....so true. How dare Mertzie go against Rotterdam's political establishment and concern himself with the taxpayers. How dare him to go against the status quo. How dare Mertzie try to save the taxpayers millions of future dollars on an ambulance tax district. How dare Mertzie to go against the good ole boy's club. He just couldn't leave things alone, could he?
Yup....keep Mertzie outta there and sweep in the dems. Bring in Sparky, Nix and God. They will work so much better with the status quo and in the good ole boy's club. At least there would be a guaranteed new ambulance tax district. At least the dems know how to tax and spend. Something Mertzie has yet to learn. It appears that Mertzie was not an quick study. Mertzie has that 'difficult personality' that keeps getting in the way of the status quo politics.
Tom and Gerry are brilliant leaders. Everyone knows that. They both would have surely endorsed Mertzie if they even thought for one minute that he would be a good representative for the people. They clearly know best! They sure know how to pick 'em!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
The Rotterdam Town Board primary is certianly not a friendly family feud. The hostility in the establisment attack on Mertz is turning him into an outsider and somebody you want to root for. And nobody looking at Mertz a year ago would have been able to anticipate him being cast in that role. He sounds above the fray, centered on the issue that matters most (tax burden) and every bit the rational outsider. Mertz? Really?
People in Rotterdam voted for Mertz before -- and pretty solidly. They, in particular Rs, like him. So when the party went in another direction for selecting a candidate I think they should have said something like: "We thank John for his past service and wish him well, but at this time the right team for Rotterdam is....." Instead they say they sized him upm found him lacking in every respect and call him a difficult troublemaker with a bad personality. It will strike many as very mean and this will in and of itself provide Mertz with support he would not otherwise have.
Perhaps the Party Establishment can redeem itself in how they talk about Mertz's replacements. Instead they say they found people who better served the committee -- as opposed to saying they found people who better served the community. Nice.
The early campaign assessment shows Mertz is on a trajectory to win. The Republican establishment is bungling this badly. Then who does he beat? His best odds are against Suhrada, but I suspect he may take aim against Signore or at least not focus in on Suhrada who is a closer ideological soul mate for Mertz. Politically this would be a mistake because Signore is a veteran of Republican primaries and a proven big winner with those voters. Signore will probably finish first. Suhrada has the baggage of leaving the county leg and having come off a very narrow win in his last election. He leaves enemies in his wake. Both Mertz and Signore won their last contests by big margins. Signore's margins, unlike Suhrada's, have shown growth not contraction over time.
A prediction at this point is not worth the value of the calories used to type it, but here it is, based on how things look today:
Signore, Mertz, Suhrada. There is an outside chance Mertz will be so popular as a second choice that he could actually come up to first place. After the Republican blood-letting, in November the Dems are poised to win both seats. Once Mertz beats either Suhrada or Signore, one of the two Joe's will be stuck on the Independence Line drawing votes away from Mertz in the general. Even if Mertz loses he will still be on the No New Tax party line which will siphon votes away from one of the other Republicans. The vote deflation that occurs in any scenario plus the residual impact of the primary will be devastating on the GOP.
Watch the REP dead enders turn on Mertz harder than they would any KRAT. It's already started. What we need are more REP primaries not less. Mertz is so "disloyal" that he was the only one to run against horrible Bridge to Nowhere Paul Tonko a few years ago. These people have selective memory. Why didn't they run?
Typical REP to waste precious resources tearing each other up so the KRATS can take over. The best thing John Mertz did was start a NO NEW TAXES PARTY. No matter what happens Mertz, O'Connor, Littlefield and McGarry will be on the ballot in November-many others are in danger of being finished in September.
Logged
Watch the REP dead enders turn on Mertz harder than they would any KRAT. It's already started. What we need are more REP primaries not less. Mertz is so "disloyal" that he was the only one to run against horrible Bridge to Nowhere Paul Tonko a few years ago. These people have selective memory. Why didn't they run? 
