BERNE — Defying expectations, the Berne Democratic Committee is rolling out of the way for the GOP this election year, having chosen not to endorse any candidates. 

The Democratic Committee said in a statement that the committee is “well aware” the current Republican-controlled town board “has not followed the law and has shown no regard for working with all members of the board,” but feel that, with only two town board seats and a justice position available, the Democrats would not be able to secure a majority and that their efforts would be wasted.

The Berne GOP has endorsed incumbent Al Thiem and planning board chairman Joe Martin for town board, and Jeff Harvey for justice. 

“It is not possible to make changes by running candidates this November with the limited Town Board seats that are available,” the statement says. “This is because this board has disregarded town code, state law, improperly managed town finances as certified by the Comptroller of NY, and has taken constitutional protections away from every citizen of Berne — all by showing that they will not work together for the betterment of the town and follow the law.

“The Berne Democratic Party is preparing for a strong showing in the 2025 election,” it goes on to say. “At that time they will be able to make real change that affects the strength, finances, and well-being of the Town of Berne for all of its citizens.” 

The decision to not put up any candidates is surprising in light of the strong partisanship in the town, which has seen scandal after scandal since the GOP took power in 2020 (and for some time before, when the GOP held just two of the five board seats), all of which have drawn condemnation from Democratic affiliates. 

The statement obliquely references the difficulties faced by former Democratic board member Joel Willsey, who, from 2020 until he decided not to seek re-election in 2021, was the only Democrat on the board.

In that time, Willsey had been subject to an ethics investigation stemming from an incident in 2019, in which he had questioned the stability of board member Dennis Palow, an Army veteran who is now the supervisor and who claimed that Willsey was being prejudiced about his military service. 

Willsey denied this, and extensive documentation from that time, including emails and meeting recordings that captured Willsey’s thoughts, do not support that allegation, but a lawyer hired by the GOP had nevertheless determined that Willsey had discriminated against Palow, resulting in a board censure. 

Prior to the GOP taking control of the town board, Willsey, who often clashed with former Republic party chairman and Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger, had been subject to other dubious investigations, including one where Palow accused him of sexual harassment for using the term “erected” in an email about campaign signage. 

The town ultimately spent over $15,000 on investigations into Willsey, according to town documents. All of these, except the one that resulted in a censure, went nowhere. Former Democratic board members Karen Schimmer and Dawn Jordan said that they, too, were subject to frivolous investigations by the GOP. 

The Democratic Committee had made a point about highlighting these and other episodes in the 2021 campaign season, when they ran a full slate of candidates. It was not enough to convince voters, however, who remained enthralled by the GOP and elected that party’s candidates by wide margins. 

It was a particularly nasty campaign that included allegations of animal abuse against highway superintendent and farmer Barbara Kennedy, which were proven false by police, and false information about town clerk candidate Jean Guarino’s criminal history, who was arrested in the 1990s for a theft committed by her ex-husband. 

When asked whether this affected the willingness for anyone to step up as a candidate, committee member Jeff Marden, stressing that he was passing on the committee’s response, told The Enterprise in an email that the decision not to run anyone was “not because candidates did not want to step up to fight. 

“What the Republicans had previously done to Barb Kennedy and Jean Guarino is only one factor that is influencing the development of our strategic plan for the next two elections,” the email says. “Those actions confirmed that even if we took both available seats in 2023, the other Town Board members would act as adversaries as they have always done and nothing would get accomplished.”

Marden also passed on from the committee that it doesn’t think withholding now will make it more difficult to get a majority in 2025, when the Democrats would have to win all three board races to achieve their goal. 

“We are waiting until that election because even if we won both seats this year, we would only have a small minority,” the email said.

“That small minority,” the email went on, “combined with this board’s unwillingness to work together, which we all have seen in previous terms, told us that we would not be empowered to be productive in any way. We would be barred from proposing and passing any motions, having any budgetary impact, or even at the minimum being recognized to speak by the supervisor during meetings.

“Additionally, in that extreme minority, we would be unable to stop the illegal, unethical, and hurtful actions that we’ve seen members of this board take in the past,” the email said.

Since the last election, more scandals have fallen at the feet of the GOP, seemingly setting Democrats up for a strong challenge this fall. 

The most significant of these was the unjustified removal of former Berne supervisor Kevin Crosier, a Democrat, from a crowded public hearing on a now-tabled ATV law. Palow had told Crosier to “sit down and be quiet” before Crosier had a chance to say anything of substance, and eventually called on Albany County Sheriff’s deputies to remove Crosier from the meeting, which they did. 

Crosier, who had not broken any of the rules established at the beginning of that meeting, is expected to seek $100,000 from the town for civil-rights violations after the town board failed to issue an apology at his request. 

The town board also failed a follow-up audit by the state comptroller’s office last year, which was checking to see if the town had implemented the changes recommended by an earlier audit, which found problems in the way the board oversaw finances although it did not find any evidence of improper spending. 

This was just a few months after an Enterprise Freedom of Information Law request revealed several outstanding electric bills from National Grid, along with disconnection notices for service at Switzkill Farm.

The email sent by Marden on behalf of the committee said that, until 2025, the Democratic Committee will continue to engage with voters, watch what stance the Republican-backed candidates take on issues, and wait to “see how the town’s finances develop.”