Editor, The Spotlight:
Mr. Sherman disappoints many of the loyal Democrats in the election district he represents as a committeeman with his letter to The Spotlight, “BDC’s Endorsements is a Matter of Principle.” Mr. Sherman misrepresents: “Coffey and Wagoner have strong records as people who have served the Town of Bethlehem well in other positions of authority. Neither Harder nor Morin have a record of such service.” George served on the zoning board of appeals for four years, 2012-2015, and has served proudly as a Bethlehem Democratic committeeman, at times on its executive committee, for longer than some of the current BDC members have been alive. Dan has been a laborer in the highway department for the past 13 years – not a position of authority but a position in which he witnessed Brent Meredith’s repeated failures as an absentee, unresponsive-to-citizens, political-patronage highway superintendent and he could understand how his fellow employees of the highway department, working together with the support and affection of Bethlehem’s citizens, will be able to fix the problems in the department, once it is rid of Coffey/Cunningham/Clarkson, Working-Families-Party cronyism in its leadership.
Mr. Sherman misrepresents: “Although Harder and Morin both claim to be Democrats who will work with Democrats, they baselessly accuse the Bethlehem Democrats of being a corrupt political machine, … and have eliminated the Democratic voters’ opportunity to choose candidates through the primary process with their successful lawsuit based on a legal technicality.” George and Dan will work with willing Democrats to restore competent and honest government to Bethlehem. George and Dan have reached out several times – once in a letter sent to Chairman Kuhn to be distributed to the committee, a copy of which has been provided to The Spotlight – that offered them and their volunteers full support of ALL Democratic Party candidates for town office with the expectation of equal party support for their Democratic candidacies. Jeff Kuhn rejected this sincere offer with ad hominem contempt. Only David VanLuven has discussed with Dan the problems in the department and their solutions. Anyone who doesn’t believe the current Coffey/Cunningham/Clarkson political machine is corrupt should visit Keith Wiggand’s “Bethlehem Resident News” page on Facebook, where he can be enlightened. Mr. Sherman indefensibly continues to assert the Working Families Party’s “talking point” that George and Dan denied Democratic voters the opportunity to choose candidates in a primary with a successful lawsuit based on a technicality. I would suggest that Chairman Kuhn, First Vice Chairman Coffey and Second Vice Chairwoman Skripak’s failure to comply “substantively” with the requirements of Election Law §6-148, as six state judges in two courts unanimously determined, by attempting to pass off to the Albany County Board of Elections as a sworn affidavit completed by all three members of the Committee on Vacancies Dan Coffey’s printing of all three names on the substitution certificate that cost Giles Wagoner and Dan Coffey their opportunity to compete for the Democratic Party nomination in a Democratic primary.
Jared King,
Delmar
Editor’s Note: Jared King’s nomination to replace Dan Coffey as first vice chair of the Bethlehem Democratic Committee by town board candidate George Harder was not acted upon in a recent meeting of the committee. The committee claimed King needed to be a committee member before filling the role.
The requirement, however, was later found
to be mistaken.