Leaders of the Year?

Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them – Ronald Reagan

Carl Paladino, who ran against Andrew Cuomo for Governor of New York in 2010, recently referred to Rockland County’s GOP ‘Chairman’, Vinnie Reda as a ‘dinosaur’ and a ‘shoplifter’. He asked “What kind of a character does a man like that have?"

Paladino was referring to the time Reda made major local headlines when arrested and charged with shoplifting a coat from Macy's. Paladino went on to state that Reda stands accused of being disloyal to Republican candidates – a behavior that was also mentioned in the Rockland County Times article 'Republican Rebels Launch Assault on Reda'.

The Republican party headed by Reda also did not support the Republican candidate for supervisor, Ralph Sabatini, in the 2011 Town of Clarkstown’s election for Supervisor thus tacitly endorsing Democrat Gromack. According to Sabatini: "Reda stabbed me in the back". Sabatini also stated that Reda offered him a patronage job in the County not to run against Gromack which Sabatini declined. But that was not surprising since Gromack was the candidate whose name Reda put on the Republican line in the election of 2009 and he may have wished to do so again. According to Sabatini, the former Republican minority leader in the County Legislature and major player in the 'cesspool' Independence Party, Frank Sparaco, also betrayed Sabatini's candidacy by supporting Democrat Gromack with a targeted campaign mailing three days before the election.

Paladino believes that Reda’s behavior is that of a RINO (Republican In Name Only) declaring that Reda is occupying his local position in Rockland County illegitimately by surviving a challenge to his leadership through the illicit procedure of being reelected by a 'voice' vote.

As recently as this week Reda claimed that it was he who got Ed Day elected as County Executive.  Apparently, this ‘dinosaur’ wants to steal credit for Preserve Rockland’s achievement in generating over 8,000 votes for Day after the Board of Elections tried to prevent the Preserve Rockland line from appearing on the election ballot at all.

As Mr. Paladino has said: “What kind of a character does a man like that have?"

Reda’s preposterous claim was called out by Paladino who said:  “I’ve called upon Ed Cox, the State Chairman, to deal with a guy named Vince Reda in Rockland County, who should not be a leader of Rockland County, who has abused his office. He’s a shoplifter, he’s just a very ornery person.”

"I have no idea why he attacked me and called me a RINO (Republican In Name Only)" Reda replied pointing to the recent election cycle, in which Republican Day won the Rockland County executive's seat in the heavily Democratic suburban county. "My county just delivered a county executive again," Reda said. "After having a Republican county executive for 20 years, we delivered another Republican to the seat in a county where we're outnumbered two-and-a-half to one."

Paladino has a different take on Reda’s putative achievement. He criticized Reda for his "vicious opposition" to Day and said Day won "because the rank and file wanted new leadership and change in the status-quo."

Mr. Paladino is 100% correct.  Mr. Reda is living in an “Alice in Wonderland” world but his behavior has now been denounced for what it was and continues to be – disgraceful.

A GOP gala, pompously described as the 'Annual Lincoln Day 'Victory' Ball', is scheduled to be held on May 3, 2014 during which Reda’s dinosaurian Republicans will celebrate and honor Rockland County's 'Business Leader of the Year', Richard Brega. The event is billed as a 'black tie dinner dance' at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Suffern, New York in the presence of the new Rockland County executive, Ed Day, and the Republican candidate for Governor of New York, Westchester County Executive, Rob Astorino. 

Brega is the owner of Brega Transport and Brega DOT Maintenance. These two companies have over $75,000,000 in County contracts and should not be confused with Peter Brega Inc which is a school bus company in Rockland County that has been in business for over 60 yrs and has a highly distinguished reputation. Richard Brega won a 5 year 'low bid' contract from the Rockland County Legislature and took over the operation of Transport of Rockland and Tappan Zee Express from Coach USA on November 2, 2013.

The strange thing about this 'Reda bestowed’ honor is that Richard Brega, his employees, family members and friends made numerous and repetitive donations to Democrat Ilan Schoenberger who was vying to be the Democratic candidate for County Executive against Day.  The donations of approximately $55,000 were reported in the Rockland County Times in 2013.

Since then there have been some indications that Brega could not properly run a fleet of the size and scope of Rockland’s Public Transportation system and concerns arose as to whether he could maintain the contractual relationships that Rockland Transit (Coach USA) had with the employees when Brega took over operation of the company.  

Former County Executive, Vanderhoef, opposed giving the contract to Brega saying: “By awarding a contract that materially varies from the bid specifications, the county legislature is altering the specifications after the bidding process and is giving the successful bidder an unfair advantage of permitting that bidder to calculate its bid on a basis different from that afforded to the other companies." 

Legislator Ilan Schoeberger, chair of the budget and finance committee, said the reason the  County was ordered to “award the bid to the lowest responsible bidder was because the County’s specifications did not make it a level playing field for everybody. That was the inherent problem with the bidding process. This legislature didn’t create those bids, they were created by staff.

Since Brega Transport was awarded the contract to run TOR and TZXpress there have been hints of problems one of which involved the complete destruction of a bus by a fire. Now it appears that Brega Transport might not fulfill obligations associated with the medical insurance of its employees.  In articles in New City Patch, the Journal News and the Rockland County Times we read that on March 14th the Union representing the drivers of Brega Transport notified the county of Rockland that it will be necessary to take Brega to arbitration. Why? On July 3, 2013, the Union was notified that Brega Transport Corp. was designated the lowest and responsible bidder for RFB-RC-2012-002, and had represented to the County that it was committed to full compliance with all federal and state laws.  Yet Brega's possible failure to comply with "all laws" has now placed the County in jeopardy of additional financial distress. Ninety members of the union have been without health insurance for months, while only some were given the expensive option to receive coverage through COBRA with Brega Transport paying half the cost.

According to the Rockland County Times:  "Workers with Brega Transportation Corporation announced legal proceedings against their employer this week at the Rockland County Legislature, petitioning the lawmaking body to assist them in securing contractually promised healthcare from their employer. Representatives of the United Transportation Union announced to the legislature on Tuesday that they believe Brega had not fulfilled its end of contract bargain guaranteeing medical coverage to employees. Specifically, concerns had been raised about the discontinuance of medical insurance since the awarding county bus contracts to Brega last year. “You need to know that currently, those employees are being harmed.” UTU representative Bonnie Moor said. “If Mr. Brega does not provide these protections and benefits, the responsibility will flow to Rockland County,” Nasca said."

The worrisome thing is that now one of the County Legislators, Tony Earle, is planning to sit in on the negotiation sessions because he is “concerned” by what he heard at the March 18th meeting of the legislature. 

What is Earle going to do?  Solve the problem at the expense of Rockland’s taxpayers or just rearrange it?

Given the above, we fail to understand with this record why the Republican Party would be crowning Brega as its "Business Leader of the Year" following assurances that he could perform the contract he was given by the County Legislature. Brega now appears to be placing the County (i.e. the taxpayers) in the position of possibly having to fulfill his obligations on healthcare contractual requirements when several months ago the County was down to approximately $40,000 cash in the till to pay its current obligations. 

In our view County Executive Day should pray, not pay, for Richard Brega to get his act together and fulfill the conditions of his contract at no further cost to Rockland County's taxpayers. Brega's company and his employees seemed quite flush with cash before they were given the contract considering the campaign donations they showered like 'manna from heaven' on Democrat Legislator Schoenberger. 

The non-RINO elements of the Republican Party should perhaps insist that their 'voice-vote elected dinosaur’, Vinnie Reda, would find a more suitable "Business Leader of the Year" who is capable of performing the terms of a lowest-bid contract. Unfortunately, most such Republicans appear to have lost any say in their own destiny as Republicans. Their only alternative may be to stay at home leaving these two undistinguished leaders, Reda and Brega, to break 'bread' and drink 'wine' on their own.  If contracts are no longer 'sacrosanct' to Rockland County's Legislature then such a 'communion' as is proposed on this evening is one 'sacrament' in which no non-RINO Republican should participate.

One must confess, however, that any such miracle is unlikely. Any future - 'Father, I may have sinned’ appeal to the Legislature might easily be answered with: "Thy sins are forgiven - take this from our taxpayers and go forth to receive the ‘dinosaur’s’ award".

Perhaps the time has finally come for the members of the Republican Party to repent their association with Reda rather than to sin further by continuing to repast with him?

Perhaps they might consider providing recognition to some other business leader who has grown the Rockland County economy and who is getting the County out of its fiscal problems? 

Perhaps, non-RINO Republicans could explain to their ‘voice-elected’ leader that the Republican Party is not 'HIS' Party but 'THEIR' Party?

If they do not have the courage to do so then they may as well smile and back-slap their way through another evening of 'black-tie' splendor genuflecting to their geriatric “dinosaur”.

Meanwhile those of us who are not ‘dinosaurian’ Republicans and who gave much time and sweat to County Executive Day’s victory will boycott this farce while wondering how many more deals will be hatched at the 'Lincoln Day Victory Ball' to filch more taxes out of our pockets and fix yet another contract at our expense.

Lest they too be “stabbed in the back”, perhaps County Executives Day and Astorino should likewise stay home and bring this sham and shameful Rockland Republican Party and its ‘victory’ party to an end so that a new Party can be built from fresh and principled leadership? After all Abraham Lincoln once remarked: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves”.

Poor Abe - he is turning in his grave given that his name is to be associated with a ‘Victory Ball’ organized by a “dinosaur” about whom the question is being asked:

“What kind of a character does a man like that have?"

This blog is authored by Michael N. Hull, a retired senior citizen. Hull contributes to the Facebook page Clarkstown: What They Don't Want You To Know and is participating in the startup of a new Rockland County internet newspaper Rockland Voice