All posts tagged scandal

Socialist Peekskill Council Member Refuses To Say Pledge, Against God. Unethical Behavior Rampant Under New Administration

No Pledge.jpg

We warned the citizens of Peekskill but too many didn’t pay attention or maybe just didn’t care. Now they wish they did!

Last fall, the local election held Peekskill’s future in the balance. The city could move ahead on the positive path it was finally taking, or, it could be drastically reversed. InsidePEEK exposed the Democratic (Progressive) Party’s true intentions and the unethical and fraudulent actions of the party’s sitting council members. Those running for office on their slate would only make things worse and create an unchecked and unchallenged ‘Gang of 7.’ That is exactly what happened and the people of Peekskill are upset. Sorry Peekskill, no do-overs.

We waited for the right time to begin to expose the actions of the new council. As always, InsidePEEK only brings forward collaborated facts and truth about issues. We couldn’t wait any longer since the latest issue is proudly admitted by the perpetrator involved.

Newly elected Councilwoman Vanessa Agudelo – yes, the one we warned everyone about, refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Peekskill Dem Party Slate – Beware!

Agudelo, who we knew as a devoted Anti-Israel activist, has publicly admitted to being a Socialist. Yes, a Socialist! And a proud member of the Westchester Democratic Socialists!

Agudelo-Socialists.jpg

She even gave a public statement about why she refuses to say the pledge:

She claims that “refraining from saying the Pledge of Allegiance is not because I don’t respect the values this country stands for, it is because of our country’s failure to truly uphold them.” She goes on, “There is also this level of unquestionable loyalty and mindless conformity in reciting the pledge on such a consistent basis that makes me personally feel uncomfortable.” WHAT?! Uncomfortable?!

She also doesn’t like the phrase “Under God,” calling it a “political ploy.” Really?! I wonder how her hundreds of peeps at Assumption Church feel about that? She apparently used her connections to the church through the Latino community to register people (some undocumented) to turn the election in her team’s favor. In fact, a member of her family works in the administrative office for the church and used her influence as well. Does that person also think saying the pledge and saying the words “Under God” is wrong?

We know most of Peekskill, and especially area veterans, are not happy.

Read more about it here:

Peekskill Councilwoman Under Fire for Refusing to Say the Pledge

This is scary stuff. Even scarier and more disturbing than we ever imagined.

Many are disappointed that Mayor Noodle is supporting Agudelo. He thinks that anyone who is critical of her is “disrespectful and unethical.” What?! This goes a long way in explaining how twisted the Peekskill Democrats are when it comes to ethics. The violations continue to pile up and the borderline criminal activity continues.

InsidePEEK has been inundated with requests to follow up on previous posts and report on the dysfunction in City Hall and stagnation brought by a council replete with inexperienced, uneducated, immature and unfocused members. There is no leadership, just dysfunction.

There are plenty of examples from the four short months of the new administration.

In the near future InsidePEEK will bring you the facts on:

The All-Democratic Council hiring their Political Campaign Manager to create a Deputy City Clerk position. A position she is not experienced to hold and doesn’t deserve while skipping over a very experienced African-American assistant clerk who has been working there 20+ years and who should have been given the job – without any objection from their political friends at the NAACP.

The final outcome of the Michael Morey New Year’s Eve assault case. He tried to mask what he did by filing charges against the person who struck him. Guess what? He lost in court. The facts of what happened that night will shock you.

Mayor Noodle using taxpayer funds to pay City employees overtime on a Saturday to set up his political fundraiser in the Dramatic Hall across the street from City Hall. He even had them carry the official City of Peekskill podium to the hall to use for the political fundraiser. See what we mean by unethical and borderline criminal behavior?

The outrageous number of cases in city court that have to be transferred to other courts because both Peekskill judges are closely tied to the Democratic Party. People are afraid of not getting a fair trial or hearing. We don’t blame them. We warned people about that when these judges were appointed.

Will the City require the Paramount to pay their $30,000 water bill or will they ignore it like all the other expenses the city covers for them?

The time Mary Foster refused to leave a City Council Executive Session. The City Manager stood his ground and Mayor Noodle finally had to ask her to leave.

We would like to thank our loyal readers who continue to bring us the issues they are concerned about, helping us to shine a light on the activities of local government officials.

Keep the information coming and stay tuned…

1 Comment
by insidepeekblog on May 2, 2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by insidepeekblog on May 2, 2018

https://insidepeekblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/02/socialist-peekskill-council-member-refuses-to-say-pledge-against-god-unethical-behavior-rampant-under-new-administration/

Peekskill Dems Create Political Circus of Judge Loehr Scandal

Loehr at Car Post.jpg

Caught in their deliberate and calculated acts of political favoritism, the Peekskill Democratic Party is doubling down. They are taking the advice of their political directors (aka, Morey and Rigger) and desperately attempting to change the focus of Judge Loehr’s inappropriate acts by throwing around accusations of their own. Their minions have been unleashed on social media calling those exposing Loehr as “political” and even bringing up anti-immigration issues as a defense. The public is not buying it.

Mayoral candidate Noodle Noo is leading the charge along with candidates for council, Fernandez, Agudelo and Smith. They have made a political circus out of the issue, hoping it will wane public interest and scrutiny. Based on the overwhelming responses we received at InsidePEEK over our post exposing Loehr’s failure as a judge and her personal relationship with Noodle, nothing will change the public’s minds on this issue. If fact, a concerned group of citizens has come together and created an online petition to remove Loehr as judge. See below:

https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/calling-for-the-resignation-of-judge-melissa-loehr

Loehr Petition

Click on the link above to sign the petition.

The outrageousness of the Peekskill Democratic Majority’s hand-picked judge forced Mayor Catalina to hold a press conference to outline the issue, beginning with Loehr’s selection. He described how he requested the judge interviews be held publicly. He knew what the Democratic Majority planned on doing – to select their political and person friend (Loehr) over the much more qualified candidates. Catalina was not granted his request so the interviews were held in private. Based on Catalina’s description of that interview we know exactly why the Democrats wanted to keep it private!

Catalina asked Loehr “what do you think is the most pressing criminal justice issue in Peekskill” her answer was “police profiling and misconduct” – wow! Catalina also asked her “what is your most satisfying career case to date” she replied “getting a criminal client off on a technicality” – double wow!

After News12 covered Catalina’s press conference they tracked down Judge Loehr as she ran from the court and tried to get into her car before commenting – she didn’t make it. When asked about her actions she said, “I can’t comment, I can’t be involved with politics.” Really?! What a joke! She should have thought about that a long time ago!

We showed in our previous posts how Loehr was absolutely unqualified for the judge position. (See links below). Her father’s influence in the Democratic Party and the Peekskill’s Democrats requirement to obey his request put her on the bench. But there is another key fact that will help us understand Loehr’s skewed view of law enforcement and the law. She is a Legal Aid attorney in the Bronx. So how do these two conflicting positions jibe in Loehr’s mind? She spends most of her time getting criminals set free to continue their illegal activity, then spends time on the bench where she is supposed to be impartial and objective – which clearly, she is not. It is not hard, then, to understand why she let perpetrators of a violent crime go free without bail in Peekskill.

The article below may help explain what we mean:
http://nypost.com/2017/07/22/the-bronx-has-the-lowest-conviction-rate-in-the-city/

Back to the Circus

As mentioned above, the Peekskill Democratic slate is desperate to flip the switch on this unnerving issue. They know that Noodle Noo Rainey, a sitting councilman, is eyeballs deep in this corruption. Not only did he lead the fight to have Loehr selected, his personal relationship with her has also been exposed.

So, what do they do? How can Morey and Rigger design a strategy? Of course! – since two of their candidates are Hispanic and the crime victims are Hispanic, let’s show our support for them and, oh by the way, throw in there that anti-immigration may be a cause for the public backlash against Loehr and the Dems. It may sound like a good strategy but it is not working – in fact, it is backfiring on them.

We will not display it here for obvious reasons, but the Democratic slate thought it would be a good strategy to publish a photo of them with the victims’ families. They also publicly stated their names! Now they have put the entire victims’ families in harm’s way! This egregious and extremely irresponsible exploitation for political gain is beyond the pale. We can only hope that perpetrators of the original crimes or their friends do not retaliate against these innocent people. Shame on Rainey, Fernandez, Agudelo and Smith.

In a recent Letter to the Editor, outgoing Councilman Vincent ‘Boo’ Vesce called for an outright apology from his Democratic Majority colleagues. He correctly pointed out that the city was in the position it now faces at the courthouse because of blatant politics. According to Vesce: “While many may not want to hear it, the problems stem from the political games and patronage displayed time and time again by the Democratic majority on the Common Council.”

Vesce ended his strong statement:

“They owe this community an apology, and I would hope that at least a couple of them realize that listening to their party faithful and playing political games does nothing but hurt our residents. I also hope that this community is paying attention and does not allow this type of governing to continue within our great City of Peekskill.”

Read the full statement here:
http://www.peekskillpost.net/councilman-vesce-peekskill-democrats-owe-community-apology/

There seems to be another possible reason behind Loehr’s action to set the attackers free – one of them was a former boyfriend of her daughter! A number of readers sent us this information and it has also appeared in various social media posts. Mayor Catalina mentioned it in his press conference. News12 also mentions it in their coverage. While there has been no smoking gun evidence that proves this allegation, there has been no denial either. We include it here because there are many sources claiming to know and it was stated publicly without rebuttal. Besides, we already know Loehr violated ethical protocol by calling the Cortlandt Court to get her daughter out of trouble after her arrest. It seems plausible that she would use her own power to help her boyfriend.

Peekskill Judge Melissa Loehr Caught In Ethics Code Violation

We at InsidePEEK believe Judge Loehr cannot survive this latest, and serious, breech of ethics and judicial procedure. Can the Judicial District Administrator remove her for cause? Probably not – but they can put pressure on her to resign and help bring confidence and integrity back to the Peekskill Court.

Here is what a few of our readers think about this issue:

“Looks like the evidence is too much to overcome. Why doesn’t she just leave and do Peekskill a favor?”

“Thank you InsidePEEK for bringing this to the public’s attention. You are providing a valuable service to the community by keeping us informed.”

“Omg, how was that photo taken without them knowing? Whoever sent that to you had guts!”
(*this statement is referring to the photo included in our previous post on Rainey and Loehr)

“When you elect a clown you get a circus, that is all I can say about this Noodle guy.”

“As a registered Democrat in Peekskill I am very saddened to see what was once a proud party turn into such an embarrassing spectacle of fools. How did this happen?”

“How can anyone have faith or confidence in the Peekskill court after this?”

“I didn’t realize the Peekskill Democrats were so against the Latino community! How can anyone in in that community in Peekskill consider voting for them!

Based on the uproar and continually growing social media activity surrounding this issue we at InsidePEEK do not see this going away any time soon. We will closely monitor the situation to see if any further posts are needed. Stay tuned…

Related links:

Peekskill Dem Judge Loehr Sets Violent Criminals Free Without Bail!

Peekskill Judge Melissa Loehr Caught In Ethics Code Violation

Peekskill Council Democrats Continue Unethical Ways with Associate Judge Selection

Peekskill Dems’ Corruption Spreads To Associate Judge Selection

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by insidepeekblog on July 26, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by insidepeekblog on July 26, 2017

https://insidepeekblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/26/peekskill-dems-create-political-circus-of-judge-loehr-scandal/

McKenzie Property Tax Scandal Exposed, Doesn’t Pay and Hides Facts from Public

McKenzie Taxes.jpg

We thought we already knew why Vivian McKenzie couldn’t run for mayor – there were too many issues she didn’t want to become public. At least we thought we knew all the reasons – you’re not going to believe what we discovered!

Before we dive into the latest scandal there is a question we at InsidePEEK have been asking ourselves – what is it with these Peekskill Democrats? Why does the illegal, unethical and malfeasant behavior persist? Why do they think they can get away with such behavior? We refer to a comment by one of our readers who posed the same question – “They have been allowed to get away with things for too long. They had full control and hid everything.”

McKenzie has been in hot water before. She should have been forced to resign over her illegal exposure of a city employee by sharing a confidential email with the press. Thanks to having the majority on the council and friends in high places she got away with it – and that’s the problem. Being protected by equally unethical and power hungry ‘friends’ has emboldened McKenzie, Claxton, Rainey, Talbot and others to put themselves over the constituents they represent.

https://insidepeekblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/09/mckenzie-forwarded-emails-to-political-operative-violated-employee-confidentiality/

This time McKenzie has gone too far – and she has a newly exposed friend who helped her.

InsidePEEK has learned that Councilwoman Vivian McKenzie owns 3 properties in Peekskill. One is her 979 Main Street business, Kathleen’s Tea Room, and also 2 homes (McKenzie was recently overheard admitting one of the homes is in her sister’s name but really owned by her). People are allowed to own real estate, we at InsidePEEK realize that. BUT – the owners are required to pay the taxes on that real estate – even council members. McKenzie doesn’t seem to think so.

Last fall the City of Peekskill conducted an “In-REM” sale of property. The process is basically a seizing of property that has been delinquent in paying property taxes for at least two years. The law allows the City to follow a specific legal process to take title to the property so it can be sold with the City recouping its lost tax revenue.

It just so happens that McKenzie’s Main Street commercial property turned up on the “In-REM” list for not paying taxes – or did it?

InsidePEEK has discovered that although McKenzie’s property was on the ‘internal list’ it never made the list distributed to the council and the public. Normally, the entire list of delinquent properties is discussed by the council and staff to determine which, if any, properties were legally able to be retained by their owners through a process of paying back the taxes in arrears by a prescribed date by law. Somehow, McKenzie’s property that should have been listed wasn’t. Why? How?

It turns out McKenzie had her friend, City Comptroller Ann Scaglione, remove her property from the list before it was made public! We at InsidePEEK are not sure if that is illegal, but we are sure it is unethical. But that is not the whole story.

Bridgewater-header

How could this agreement happen without three members of the council knowing? Was the down payment made?

Scaglione, without the Republican council members’ knowledge, made a private agreement with McKenzie. The issue of making such an agreement may or may not have been done according to the specific legal process, but it was not done according to the city’s established process, nor by the ethical standards of treating a council member as every other citizen would be treated. Did the City Corporation Council need to approve the agreement? Did she even know of the agreement? It is a legal document but there is no signature by the Corporation Council on the document. We find that odd in this day and age, especially for a municipality. The City’s lawyer should have initiated the document. On top of that – did the City Manager know? Did he approve such a deal? We hope Mayor Catalina will be able to obtain all the facts and expose the entire scandal and the employees involved. The Democrats once again abused their power in office to take care of one of their own. Remember, Scaglione was hired by Foster and the all Democrat council to help deceive the public on the City finances. And speaking of City finances – it is rumored that Scaglione was telling fellow staff that she is looking for another job to get out before those deceptions come to light. More on that we get the details.

Bridgewater-signatures

Why didn’t the Corporation Council sign this agreement? Did she even know about it? Did the City Manager know? Is it legal?

That is all bad enough but it is not the full story!

InsidePEEK has obtained a copy of the City’s agreement with “VG Bridgewater Inc.” (the legal name of McKenzie’s holdings). In the agreement, McKenzie agrees to pay the City back over two years for a total of over $24,000 in unpaid taxes – does everybody in this position get this type of agreement? We are not sure about that.

Wait, there is still more!

InsidePEEK has also obtained a copy of the pay schedule to the City. At least they did that much. It contains a shocking revelation – McKenzie may have defaulted on her November 2016 payment! She has one payment left at the end of May. Will she pay it on time?

Bridgewater-PaymentsHL.jpg

Did McKenzie default on her agreement and get away with it? How can we believe the payments were not only made according to the agreement but whether they were ever made at all?

Here is the final, and maybe the most disturbing thing in this whole sorted story – while in default herself and side-stepping the disclosure process, McKenzie publicly never said anything while she voted to seize fellow citizen’s property for not paying property taxes. How could she do that in good conscience? She hid her own circumstance while willingly not affording others the same benefits she used for herself. A most shameful act. This raises another question – was her vote a serious conflict of interest? Does it open up the City for a legal challenge by those who lost their homes and disqualify the vote? We do not know but perhaps we will learn soon.

A side note regarding McKenzie is the excessive garbage throughout the downtown. It is unsightly, dangerous and embarrassing for the city. McKenzie has berated members of the public over it and continuously complains about it. All while she remains the worst culprit of the problem! The garbage in front of her business is troubling. InsidePEEK was sent photos by one of our readers who pointed out her hypocrisy on the issue. Does she have an illegal apartment above her business? The explosion of these apartments has happened in the downtown ever since the zoning change two years ago. The honest businesses downtown are suffering because of business owners like McKenzie and the misinformed and destructive policy decisions made by her and her fellow Democratic council members.

The bigger question is what can be done with McKenzie? Is there a legal process to have her removed from office once and for all? She has become a liability for the City and her political party. Her business is suffering from her actions along with her nasty demeanor and treatment of the public at meetings. She should resign and move on to take care of her business and family. But then again, if she leaves office how could she continue to protect herself from the law? A difficult situation indeed.

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by insidepeekblog on April 19, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by insidepeekblog on April 19, 2017

https://insidepeekblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/mckenzie-property-tax-scandal-exposed-doesnt-pay-and-hides-facts-from-public/

Peekskill Democratic Majority’s Latest Target – The Volunteer Firefighters

dems-hate-fd

The Peekskill Democrats are at it again. It has been well documented over the last decade by actions, policies and public comments that the members of the Peekskill Democratic Party, especially those in public office, have utter contempt for local law enforcement. They treat the police as the enemy, and have gone so far as to appoint their friends as local justices just to prevent criminal convictions and fines imposed on their friends and family. InsidePEEK has reported on this pattern repeatedly over the previous year – most recently for their vote against accepting a donation of a new drone for the Police Department.

Now they are setting their sights on one of Peekskill’s most respected and VITAL organizations, the Peekskill Volunteer Firefighters. InsidePEEK has been barraged with emails regarding the attempt by the Democratic majority on the Common Council to oust the Peekskill Fire Chief, who has been dedicated firefighter for decades from a respected long-time Peekskill family. They claim it is a conflict for the Chief to continue because his son is becoming a member of the career firefighting staff. InsidePEEK has discovered that the Democratic Council Majority told the City Manager to demand the Chief’s resignation or the son cannot be hired for a career position. Why do this?

Come to find out Drew Claxton and Kathie Talbot were part of the Council during the Mary Foster administration that created a convoluted and poorly thought out nepotism policy. It has been the goal of Foster, Claxton and the Democrats to find a way to get rid of the volunteer firefighting force and they see this as an opportunity to make that happen. The new firehouse was the original vehicle to fade out the volunteers but that has taken too long to come about so this opportunity presents itself for them to take advantage of.

Their grand plan may have backfired on them in a big way.

Social media has been on fire since the Chief’s resignation came to light a few days ago. The general public is outraged about this issue, and rightfully so. InsidePEEK has received a record number of comments from our readers over this and they clearly show the backlash about to be brought against the Democratic Majority. InsidePEEK predicts they will not succeed in their attempt to have the Chief resign. Especially since it has been shown the policy as written does not apply in this specific case. The Chief is elected by the members of the department and has no direct supervision or influence over his son as a career firefighter.

It seems strange what Claxton, McKenzie, Noodle Rainey and Talbot see as a professional “conflict” requiring someone’s resignation from their elected post.

Hmmm, let’s look back over this past year: Claxton, McKenzie, Noodle Rainey and Talbot got caught holding an illegal meeting and taking an illegal vote to pass an illegal budget, they lose in court and violate the City Charter – did anyone resign? Nope.

Claxton got caught committing serious fiscal improprieties, illegally obtains grant funding for a building she owns and is the personal residence of her son, does not pay the money back when caught, admits she improperly signed the documents to obtain the ill-gotten funds – did she resign? Nope.

McKenzie gets caught red-handed sharing confidential emails regarding a Personnel issue, thus illegally exposing an employee to the press. The employee is humiliated in public and found to not have committed what McKenzie accused him of, violating his constitutional rights to due process and privacy – did she resign? Nope.

Noodle Rainey is discovered to have an outstanding warrant against him from an upstate New York town/college for purposely not paying a restaurant bill and fleeing the area. Once made public, Noodle’s Democratic Party “friends” went to the location and made a deal to pay the money owed and a fine to satisfy the authorities – did he resign? Nope.

These are just a few of the violations made by these elected officials who found no need to follow the ethics or criminal laws of the city –but – they want a sitting Volunteer Fire Chief to resign his position (with just 18 months left to serve) over the hiring of his son – who has earned the career position through taking a test and graduating from the fire academy. He has commendably accomplished this on his own. His father had nothing to do with his hiring and will not be directly supervising him in his job.

InsidePEEK agrees with Mayor Catalina who is upset over this situation and is calling on the Common Council members to vote to keep the Chief in place. Councilman Torres and Vesce support allowing the Chief to finish his term. Only one Democrat on the Council will be needed to make that happen. Only one Democrat will be needed to have the guts to go against their party and do the right thing for Peekskill. We’ll see if Claxton even shows up for the meeting. She misses so many and always seems to miss meetings where ‘controversial’ votes are required. Maybe she and her Democratic colleagues will be shamed enough to agree to let the chief stay.

According to a number of our readers – if the Chief is ultimately forced to resign, then the volunteer firefighting force is prepared to turn in their gear and walk away. That will be a very dangerous and expensive scenario for the citizens of Peekskill.

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by insidepeekblog on February 27, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by insidepeekblog on February 27, 2017

https://insidepeekblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/27/peekskill-democratic-majoritys-latest-target-the-volunteer-firefighters/

Noo News -Arrest Warrant Issued

having-a-bad-day

There is a well-known saying, ‘people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.’ It can also be a wise bit of advice – just ask Councilman Andre Noodle Noo Rainey in Peekskill.

Rainey has readily adopted the all too familiar tactics of the Peekskill Democratic Party – to personally attack anyone they do not agree with and to do so is such an organized and extremely vicious manner. Rainey has recently launched a slanderous and vile social media tirade against a community member that Mayor Catalina nominated for a position on a local board. InsidePEEK has received multiple examples of these posts by a few of our readers. This local resident has a record of community outreach and has personally helped many residents in need. According to one reader – this person is even a relative of Rainey’s! Political power, real or perceived, can cause someone to feel superior and untouchable, causing serious miscalculations and missteps. This is precisely what has happened to Rainey. He feels he is above criticism and scrutiny for his own actions – and even above the law!

InsidePEEK has learned that Rainey is avoiding arrest for an outstanding warrant against him for a theft he committed in Morrisville, NY (Madison County) just east of Syracuse. Thanks to a ‘courtesy card’ given to him by a policeman friend, Rainey was able to avoid arrest for this outstanding warrant when pulled over recently for speeding upstate. When the attending officer searched Rainey’s name in the police database the outstanding warrant information showed up. Thanks to the officer’s loyalty to the ‘courtesy card’ he allowed Rainey to leave – but refused to return the card. So, Rainey’s ‘stay out of jail’ security is gone. It is now just a matter of time until he is picked up.

When Mayor Catalina learned of this unlawful behavior and arrest warrant, he called on Rainey to do the right thing and resign gracefully before the City Charter must be imposed to remove him. There is also Rainey’s Las Vegas history (yet to be exposed) that forced him to move to Peekskill in the first place.

It has been suggested that Rainey’s inexperience and child-like thinking has enabled him to be manipulated and used to carry out the Democratic party’s agenda. One reader even referred to Rainey as “a tool of the democrats to carry out controversial and destructive attacks against their enemies while shielding themselves from blame.”  If this is true, then he truly has been used by the Peekskill Democratic Party leaders and council colleagues.

This adds another notch to the long list of disturbing and illegal activity by members the Peekskill Democratic Party. A list that Jacob Marley would call “ponderous in length” and growing. Now that it is 2017, a local election year, how will the Democrats defend these illegal and unethical acts? We are told that McKenzie has recently decided against running for mayor due to her and her family’s history. Who will be their candidate for mayor then?  Paglia or Talbot as has been suggested? InsidePEEK has learned that desperation is starting to impact the Peekskill Dems and the party may need to rely on former failed candidates to run for office again due to the lack of viable and/or willing candidates. We will find out soon.

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by insidepeekblog on January 24, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by insidepeekblog on January 24, 2017

https://insidepeekblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/24/noo-news-arrest-warrant-issued/

Dem Strategist Morey Knocked Out, Peekskill Court Compromised

morey-knocked-out-post

While Peekskill was enjoying another New Year’s Eve celebration downtown, the Peekskill Democratic Party Svengali’s night didn’t go very well.

According to various reports Peekskill Democratic Party mastermind, Michael Morey, was doing what he does best – being obnoxious, overly political and taxing people’s nerves at a local party that evening. In the eyes of one of the other party guests Morey went too far so the guest let Mikey have it – with a single punch. In a split-second Morey was out cold on the floor. The extent of any physical injury is unknown at this time.

Morey initially did not file a police report (did he feel he probably deserved what happened?) – and he surely didn’t want the story to become public knowledge. That only lasted a day or two. He was encouraged by others go to the police and file a report – he did. InsidePEEK is attempting to get a copy of the report.

THAT IS JUST THE BEGINNING! The real story takes place after the report is filed. The ‘slugger’ of Morey was arrested but, unfortunately for him, he is not a close friend of the Peekskill Democratic Party. InsidePEEK has reported repeatedly over this past year about the Peekskill City Judge appointments and the reasons they were selected by the Democratic Majority on the council – mainly to protect their friends, family and potential voters. There is so much criminal activity within their party that they cunningly used their voting power to appoint their friends as the judges. We at InsidePEEK predicted that the influence would show itself but we didn’t realize just how right we were.

Normally, Judge Johnson would not assign bail for such an incident – he has a history of rarely doing so. He could have imposed the ‘set’ bail for such a charge: $2,500. Since this was a case involving his close friend and mentor he imposed a higher than usual bail at $3,500. Why? Let’s face it – he would not even be judge without Morey. Besides, these types of incidents don’t typically cause an arrest to be made, just a hearing and then the lawyers take over.

InsidePEEK has received numerous messages about this incident and the story is far from over. It would be in the best interest of the ‘slugger’ to hire a good lawyer and demand a different venue for the case. He will NOT get fair treatment in Peekskill – that has already been shown. A good lawyer will also take Judge Johnson to task ethically for not recusing himself from this case. The administrative judge for the district will surely be contacted to look into this matter – he has had cause to investigate the Peekskill court numerous times since Johnson took over. To put it lightly – things are not going well at the Peekskill City Court.

InsidePEEK will bring updates when they are available.

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by insidepeekblog on January 7, 2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by insidepeekblog on January 7, 2017

https://insidepeekblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/07/dem-strategist-morey-knocked-out-peekskill-court-compromised/

Peekskill Email Scandal Uncovered

Claxton_Dem-email

Long before Hillary’s email issue came to light the City of Peekskill had their own email scandal by elected officials. In fact, it cost the City $1 million in a settlement plus approximately $1 million in outside attorney fees, all for a lawsuit that was brought against the City due to the secret plan by certain council members and citizens to illegally ignore the rights of the plaintiffs of the suit.

What Drew Claxton and Mary Foster didn’t realize before they erased critical emails and illegally destroyed evidence was that every email has both a sender and a receiver of the message. Just because it is deleted, it doesn’t mean the person on the other end didn’t save it. That is what did them in. Claxton and Foster thought they could hide their involvement in the illegal plan to deny the constitutional rights of the plaintiff by eliminating the evidence of communications with their political supporters living near ‘The Cove’ development project.

The problem is that the project, no matter what one’s feeling is about it, went through the proper legal process to obtain the property and all the approvals connected with its construction. Yes, the developer was caught adding additional height to the building that was not part of the approved plans. Appropriately, the City placed a Stop Work Order on the project until the situation was corrected. Once any fines and additional punitive measures were complete, the developers would have the right to complete the project – but only according to the plans previously approved by the City’s Zoning and Planning Boards. Claxton and Foster didn’t see it that way. They had promised their supporters in the neighborhood that they would stop it at all costs and turn the property into a city park. It didn’t mater that the property was legally owned by someone else and had the legal approvals for the size and scope of the project.

DMAC Adverse Decision cover

Click on image to read entire document

In the September 2012 Adverse Decision by Southern District Court of NY, both Councilwoman Drew Claxton and Mayor Mary Foster were determined to be “grossly negligent in the destruction of emails in question” and that the destroyed emails “would have been favorable to the plaintiffs case.” Meaning that Claxton and Foster obviously destroyed the emails because they knew they would help the case against the City. In fact, in one of her emails Claxton stated, “litigation could be imminent.” So she knew full well that a lawsuit was coming based on what they were perpetrating on the developer. Even more evidence she purposely deleted the emails.

Of course Claxton and Foster pleaded ignorance and that “nobody told” them to save emails. Sound familiar? The judge did not buy it one bit, stating that they both were in a “culpable state of mind” and performed a “willful destruction” of evidence. They were also admonished for using private email addresses for official government-related business. There are specific email use and retention laws and policies that must be followed by elected officials. Claxton and Foster ignored them completely.

Needless to say, the City was going to lose a very expensive lawsuit caused by Claxton and Foster’s (and the Democratic Majority on the Common Council) actions. Also, both Claxton and Foster were now facing individual charges of destroying evidence. The only way out was to offer a settlement to the Plaintiffs and hope to make a deal to not proceed with the additional charges. Luckily, the Plaintiffs wanted the nightmare created by Claxton and Foster behind them and accepted the City of Peekskill’s lucrative settlement.

Until now, the details of this episode were kept from the public. Thanks to one of our readers InsidePEEK was provided the judge’s decision (attached to this post) showing the outrageous actions by Claxton and Foster. It should have caused both of them to be unqualified to continue as elected representatives in government.

Peekskill’s Email Troubles Continue Today

There seems to be a new email controversy created by two new council members in connection to recent events.

It has been widely reported that two city employees have been recently suspended due to circumstances not yet disclosed. Disturbingly, the emails generated by the City Manager to council members announcing each suspension were shared with a press contact. Within minutes of being received both emails were forwarded to an online press outlet and immediately made public. Confidential personnel issues, including the individual’s names, were inappropriately made public. At the very least this type of breach of confidentiality of employees is unethical and may even be illegal. Regardless, the actions of those who shared the information will likely trigger another lawsuit against the city by either the union representing the employees or the employees themselves.

It should be simple to determine who forwarded the emails. If Councilwoman McKenzie or Talbot forwarded the email to the press it should be indicated on the City server system. Wait, could that be why the IT employee was suspended without reason? Could it be that the majority doesn’t want the other council members or public to know what they did?

We are all eager to know the truth.

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by insidepeekblog on February 2, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in Peekskill
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Posted by insidepeekblog on February 2, 2016

https://insidepeekblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/peekskill-email-scandal-uncovered/