RETURN TO DEMOCRATIC PARTY 9/22/06
On Friday, September 22, 2006 I filed a change of party enrolment form at the Albany County Board of Elections, changing my party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.
My reasons for doing so are detailed on: http://www.gopalbanycity.blogspot.com
I served as Albany City Republican Committee Chairman, from 2000 to 2006. I was Republican candidate for State Senate, from Albany County, in 2000 and Republican candidate for Mayor of the City of Albany in 2001 and again in 2005. The record of my 2005 mayoral run is contained on this site.
The Albany County Republican Committee, with Captain Queeg Kermani, at the the helm, is a sinking ship, with no compass, no rudder, no sails and no oars.
On June 8, 2004, at the call of Kermani, Albany County Republicans from the Towns, voted to take away the right of self-determination from Republicans in the cities of Albany, Cohoes and Watervliet, through certain party rules changes. Those rules changes are invalid because they conflict with state Election and are unconstitutional because they treat Town and City Republicans unequally.
Kermani and his ally, Counsel Tom Marcelle, barred me from attending and speaking at the organizational meeting of the Albany County Republican Committee, serving me with a summons returnable in Federal District Court. I gave Notice to them that I had a right to be at the meeting because I was, by law, a holdover member of the county committee, holdover chairman of the Albany City Republican Committee and, as such, a holdover member of the county Republican executive committee, with privilege to have the floor to address the assembled county committee members at the statrt of the meeting.
I advised Kermani and Marcelle that by barring me and preventing me from having the floor, any actions they took at said meeting would be found, in a court, to be null and void.
It is difficult enough to be a Republican in Albany City, but worse still when the County Chairman , his Executive Assistant, Barbara Davis, and his Counsel, Tom Marcelle, continually undermined my efforts to build a viable Albany City Republican Committee. Despite their obstruction, I still managed to recruit more than 90 committee members in more than 50 election districts. But, to no avail.
There is simply no point in staying aboard a ship that is headed for the bottom in the storm tossed seas of campaign 2006.
The Democratic Party in Albany, is deeply divided, as well. The Town Democrats are at war with the City Democrats.
In both the Republican and Democratic Parties in Albany County, the Towns seek to marginalize the cities. This is unacceptable and foolhardy.
I will do my best to assist both Albany City Democrats and Republicans to resist ,and defeat ,efforts by those in the Towns to make city residents second class citizens.
I can be most effective in this effort by being a member of the majority party. Thus, I have gone back to the Democratic Party.
Joseph P Sullivan
Tel/Fax (518) 438 5230
