Kingston City Alderman Leonard Walker (Disclaimer: I am proud to call Lenny a friend of mine and have interviewed him several times on my radio show) has announced that he is leaving the Democratic Party and will become a Republican. Kudos, Lenny, for your courageous step. Too bad you're not becoming a Conservative, though. Just kidding.
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KINGSTON ALDERMAN ABANDONS DEMOCRATS
By Paul Kirby, Freeman staff03/07/2007
KINGSTON - Two Common Council Democrats on Tuesday shrugged off Alderman Leonard Walker's decision to abandon the party and become a Republican.
Majority Leader Bill Reynolds and Alderwoman Ann Marie DiBella said the move is politically suspect and is intended to advance Walker's own political ambitions.
Walker, who represents the city's Third Ward, has been at odds with fellow Democrats for some time and said he's leaving the party because of their constant inability to stand up for the right causes.
"The bottom line is that I now won't have to look over my back to see who is stabbing me in the back," Walker said. "This isn't about the party. It is about the people who are elected who are supposed to do the right thing for the people who elected them."
Walker has filed the necessary paperwork at the Ulster County Board of Election to effect the party switch, but his new enrollment won't take effect until seven days after the November election. So for now, he's still an enrolled Democrat.
The switch means the Common Council will have a 5-4 Democratic majority instead of the current 6-3 margin, but Reynolds, D-Ward 7, noted that Republican Aldermen Albert Teetsel of Ward 1 and Robert Senor of Ward 8 usually vote with the Democratic majority, meaning Democrats should have no trouble continuing to control the agenda.
Only Walker and Minority Leader Richard Cahill, R-Ward 6, tend to oppose Democrats on key votes.
"My suspicion is that Mr. Walker would join any party under the sun that would further his own political agenda," DiBella said. "It is not about serving the community or about loyalty. It is about his own ego.
"I will like to see how the Republicans are gong to respond to Mr. Walker's knee-jerk plans, which generally have no basis in fact or substance," she said.
Walker makes no bones about the fact that he wants the Republican endorsement to run for mayor this fall. The current mayor, James Sottile, is a Democrat and has not yet said whether he plans to seek re-election.
Reynolds wonders whether Walker made a deal with the GOP that involved announcing a party switch in order to get the mayoral nomination. Walker said there was no deal and noted that he had the city Republican Committee's backing when he last ran for alderman, in 2005.
Walker said he no longer can be a member of a party that does not want him because he "bucks the system" and that stripped of his position as a Democratic committeeman. That action was taken after Walker said the Kingston Democratic Committee wanted to keep poor people "dumb and stupid."
Walker also drew the wrath of Democrats for complaining about Sottile's son being allowed to take home a city vehicle and for criticizing the Sottile administration for not having a city policy about giving away excess dirt.
Walker calls himself a "reformer," but fellow Democrats say he's nothing of the kind.
Cahill said the last straw for Walker, who is black, was a comment by DiBella that racial profiling may have played a role in trying to set up a crime task force for the city.
DiBella didn't mind Cahill blaming her for Walker's defection.
"If the reason he is leaving is because of me, I feel honored," she said.
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KINGSTON ALDERMAN ABANDONS DEMOCRATS
By Paul Kirby, Freeman staff03/07/2007
KINGSTON - Two Common Council Democrats on Tuesday shrugged off Alderman Leonard Walker's decision to abandon the party and become a Republican.
Majority Leader Bill Reynolds and Alderwoman Ann Marie DiBella said the move is politically suspect and is intended to advance Walker's own political ambitions.
Walker, who represents the city's Third Ward, has been at odds with fellow Democrats for some time and said he's leaving the party because of their constant inability to stand up for the right causes.
"The bottom line is that I now won't have to look over my back to see who is stabbing me in the back," Walker said. "This isn't about the party. It is about the people who are elected who are supposed to do the right thing for the people who elected them."
Walker has filed the necessary paperwork at the Ulster County Board of Election to effect the party switch, but his new enrollment won't take effect until seven days after the November election. So for now, he's still an enrolled Democrat.
The switch means the Common Council will have a 5-4 Democratic majority instead of the current 6-3 margin, but Reynolds, D-Ward 7, noted that Republican Aldermen Albert Teetsel of Ward 1 and Robert Senor of Ward 8 usually vote with the Democratic majority, meaning Democrats should have no trouble continuing to control the agenda.
Only Walker and Minority Leader Richard Cahill, R-Ward 6, tend to oppose Democrats on key votes.
"My suspicion is that Mr. Walker would join any party under the sun that would further his own political agenda," DiBella said. "It is not about serving the community or about loyalty. It is about his own ego.
"I will like to see how the Republicans are gong to respond to Mr. Walker's knee-jerk plans, which generally have no basis in fact or substance," she said.
Walker makes no bones about the fact that he wants the Republican endorsement to run for mayor this fall. The current mayor, James Sottile, is a Democrat and has not yet said whether he plans to seek re-election.
Reynolds wonders whether Walker made a deal with the GOP that involved announcing a party switch in order to get the mayoral nomination. Walker said there was no deal and noted that he had the city Republican Committee's backing when he last ran for alderman, in 2005.
Walker said he no longer can be a member of a party that does not want him because he "bucks the system" and that stripped of his position as a Democratic committeeman. That action was taken after Walker said the Kingston Democratic Committee wanted to keep poor people "dumb and stupid."
Walker also drew the wrath of Democrats for complaining about Sottile's son being allowed to take home a city vehicle and for criticizing the Sottile administration for not having a city policy about giving away excess dirt.
Walker calls himself a "reformer," but fellow Democrats say he's nothing of the kind.
Cahill said the last straw for Walker, who is black, was a comment by DiBella that racial profiling may have played a role in trying to set up a crime task force for the city.
DiBella didn't mind Cahill blaming her for Walker's defection.
"If the reason he is leaving is because of me, I feel honored," she said.
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