Bethel Democrats split widens

Committee members lash out at Frangipane

By FRITZ MAYER

BETHEL, NY — Incumbent members of the Bethel Democratic Committee have criticized Democratic town council member Denise Frangipane in a quarter-page advertisement that appeared in the Times Herald Record on August 7.

The ad said the signers, Colleen Cunningham, Vicki Vassmer-Simpson and Ted Yeomans, “represent a coalition of Bethel residents concerned about the direction the town is taking with its newest member,” which is Denise Frangipane.

The ad appeared a day after an article in The River Reporter detailed turmoil in the Democratic Committee and explained that none of the committee members, including Cunningham, Vassmer-Simpson and Yeomans, would remain on the committee after September 16, except one.

Four of the committee members were disqualified from running for a seat on the committee because of a lack of valid signatures on petition and others decided not to run.

The signers of the ad downplayed the significance of the committee, saying, “The decisions that impact the town the most are made by the town board, not the Democratic Committee.” The signers then endorsed Republican Dick Crumley and Democrat Benji Friehling for election to council seats in November.

In an email to supporters, Frangipane responded to the ad. She said the new, incoming committee members “have come together, not for a personal agenda, but because they want to serve the Democratic party in the Town of Bethel and Sullivan County, in an open and inclusive way. This is a critical shift away from the insular self service that we have seen for many years,” she wrote.

The widening rift between the outgoing and incoming members of the committee dates back to the beginning of 2008, when the town board voted to appoint Yeomans to a vacant seat on the board. Some in the community thought Frangipane would have been a better choice.

Later in the year, Frangipane supporters turned out in heavy numbers to the Democratic caucus and she defeated Yeomans. She sailed to an easy victory to fill the seat Yeomans had earlier been appointed to.

Yet despite her caucus victory, some members of the committee supported Yeomans as an independent and, in fact, carried petitions for him. According to critics, this support violated the rules under which the committee operates. This led a number of residents to step forward and form a coalition called the New Bethel Democrats. They challenged the committee members in upcoming elections on September 15.

With some incumbent candidates choosing not to run and with others being disqualified, there will now not be an election. Instead, the new members will be appointed by petition.

Democrat Dan Sturm, who is the incumbent supervisor, is planning to run again in November against Republican Harold Russell, whom Sturm ousted in the election two years ago. Asked to comment on the split, he said, “I’m looking for a united party to back the Democratic candidates in the upcoming election.”