Write-in \"Gay Lee\"

Dear Editor: 

On September 10, 2015, please write my name on the ballot.  A write-in campaign is necessary because of all the reasons below.

You
can write my name in the box just below Judy\’s where is says
\”write-in\”.  I have contacted the NYS boards of Ethics, and the AG\’s
office.  In the morning, I will send a letter to the NYS bar
associations and last, but not least, I am telling the Jesus Christ
about these dirty deeds.  Please ask you friends and family to write my
name on the ballot.

I think it is important for me to make a comment about being
removed from the Democratic Party line for Mayor of the City of Newburgh.  When Jonathan Jacobson and his Black running
mates challenged the petitions of Black candidates he sent paternalistic message
to the Black community that he knows what is best for them as if Black voters
are too ignorant to know what they want. 
He justified his actions by getting Blacks to do his bidding for him
ergo he is not a racist, because he had the help of Black people.  Well, to that I say, Harriet Tubman was
right, “I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only
they knew they were slaves.”  I am
outraged at his insistence that our signatures were erroneous.  Their argument is ill-advised, in poor taste
and hideous.   Residents of the City of
Newburgh are apathetic, because their voice is not heard; their leaders are
guilty until they prove themselves innocent. 
Enough! I bring a professional perspective to this argument that is
noteworthy.

Of course, during petition signing errors are made, but
never to the extent that Susan Bahren, Commissioner of the Orange County Board
of Elections (OCBOE) claimed.  While
Jonathan Jacobson Chaired the Orange County Democratic Party (OCDP), I served
as one of his Vice Chairpersons for three years. 

I never had a court hearing, because my claim was dismissed
on procedural grounds; consequently, no decision regarding signatures was ever
made.  I objected to Commissioner Bahren
having the authority to make any decision regarding my petitions, because
Jonathan Jacobson is her personal attorney. The fact that Commissioner Bahren
did not recused herself from this entire process raised glaring ethical
concerns and was bought to the attention of 
Judge Sam Walker, by my attorney, during their telephone conference call
with Judge Sam D. Walkers.  Commissioner
Bahren admitted that Mr. Jacobson was her attorney, but she perjured herself
when she said it was “seven years ago”. 
Without checking the facts, Judge Walkers dismissed my argument.
Jonathan Jacobson served as Susan Bahren’s Compensation Attorney less than four
years ago.  Judge Walkers should have
asked for the facts of that case while on the conference call, but I think he
trusted that Commissioner Bahren was being truthful and that I made a
mistaken.  

Commissioner Bahren blindly accepted Jonathan Jacobson’s
specific objections to my petitions without checking his facts.  Mr. Jacobson’s review of my signatures
appeared above and beyond normal.  His
review seemed far too oppressive and psychotic for a fiduciary to have
sanctioned them.  For example, he
reviewed over 4000 signatures, cross referenced them to determine who signed my
petition and the petition of another candidate, then he checked the voter
registration database of everyone who signed my petition, then challenged their
signatures by reviewing their board of election’s signature card, then he cross
referenced their addresses, and then he challenged the witness section of each
petition.  Therefore, if I was able to
recover from one challenge, I could not overcome the other, because he was
invalidating the signatures and the witness sections. 

I reviewed Jonathan Jacobson’s augment and concluded that
Commissioner Bahren could not have reviewed his specific objections, because
far too frivolous to be serious.  It is
clear that conspired to remove me from the democratic ballot by just blindly
approving Jonathan Jacobson’s objections on the basis of their friendship.  Commissioner Bahren violated her fiduciary
responsibilities by denying me the right to due process.  As a voter in the City of Newburgh,
Commissioner Bahren deliberately and willfully denied almost 2000 Black people
from a fair election process so that her friend and personal attorney could run
for Mayor of the City of Newburgh without Black opponents.  In addition, Commissioner Bahren may have
broken the law when she lied to Judge Sam Walker about the period when Jonathan
Jacobson served as her attorney. 

If Commission Bahren reviewed Jonathan Jacobson’s specific
objections, she would have known that he had gone far beyond a reasonable
protest.  She might have even cautioned
him about disfranchising black voters, might spoke to him about voter apathy,
or could explained, to her friend and former Chair of the Orange County
Democratic Party, that he has never opposed the Republican Party with the
ruthlessness he used to remove Black opponents from the ballot.   I had very expectation that Jonathan
Jacobson would use his knowledge of elections rules to challenge me, but I did
not think that his twisted obsession with winning would involve the collusion
of the Commissioner of the Board of Elections. 

Worst of all, Commissioner Susan Bahren reviewed my
signatures for accuracy and concluded that there were no errors.  All of the errors noted, by her good friend
and personal attorney, Jonathan Jacobson should have been noticed by her.   In fact, I took the time to review Jonathan
Jacobson’s petitions and found the same kind of errors. 

Commissioner Bahren “reported 135 “unidentifiable by name /
address”, but only recorded 95 unidentifiable names in her report.  She added 40 signatures to her overall
count.  Of the 95 remaining
unidentifiable 12 signatures, on page 35, should have been pointed out during
her review of my signatures.  Of the
remaining 83 signatures 12 signatures are identifiable leaving 71 very
difficult to read signatures. 
Commissioner Bahren incorrectly reported an additional 40 signatures as
unidentifiable.  Her failure to act as a
fiduciary and poor math skills caused me to lose 64 signatures.

Commissioner Bahren then ducted 41 signatures, “names
printed not signed.” Some voters prefer to print not sign, because it is easy
for them.  This has never been a cause
for removing a name from a petition. By the way, Jonathan Jacobson had 176
“names printed not signed.” 

According to the Commissioner Bahren, “6 witness statements
are defective” and Jonathan Jacobson had 11 “witness statements are
defective.” 

In a City like Newburgh, Commissioner Bahren found 53 people
“petitioners address not the same as registration.” These people include very
active members of the Newburgh and Orange County Democratic committee.  She could have easily checked her facts by
calling the members on their telephones. 
This has never been a reason to remove name from a petition.

Commissioner Bahren and Jonathan Jacobson are unprincipled!
They should never hold a public office! I considered their actions to be
aggravated voter suppression, an assault on the rights of Black people, an
insult to the Black community and a mockery of democracy.