That Kingston mayor Steve Noble says he will seek another four-year term next year was one of the worst-kept secrets at City Hall. We asked him point blank on our “Me and Mario” radio show a month ago and he said something like he liked his job and there was still a lot of work to do. Bingo. The “official” announcement was made at a 40th birthday fundraiser last week at an Uptown bistro.

The “boy mayor” is no longer the untested youth he used to be. Nor is he a mortal lock for re-election.

Being something of a contrarian, I wonder why he announced almost a year in advance (like next June) and if any prominent Democrat is waiting in the wings to primary Hizzoner a year from now. Answer No. 1 would be obvious even to clueless media. The mayor seeks to get out front of the parade before would-be challengers can coalesce. Raising a boatload of money would discourage most.

They’re out there. Former alderman Bill Reynolds, retired from state employment on a nice pension, doesn’t quite say he’s not interested. And I would not be surprised if some new-to-town Democratic Socialist of America launches a door-to-door campaign.

Pundits always look in-house for future talent and nobody’s closer in stature than Noble’s Kingston High classmate and alderperson-at-large Andrea Shaut. The city’s No. 2 has been in No. 1’s doghouse almost since she took office on Jan. 1, 2019.

Busing for Free

Free busing for poor people, one of the more hare-brained ideas conjured by that debating society called the Ulster County Legislature, emerged recently to something less than overwhelming support.

Kingston Democrat Phil Erner, the socialist who drove long-in-the-tooth Dave Donaldson into retirement last year, wants to give free rides to “poor people” and underserved minorities.

For sure, there will be plenty of room on those monstrous almost-vacant buses the county operates with millions in federal and state subsidies. Equally certain is the few fare-paying customers who ride these behemoths aren’t even paying drivers’ salaries.

An exchange a few years ago with a former official may illustrate the mindset behind Erner’s headline-grabbing brainstorm.

The city had just taken delivery of two of the (diesel-driven) buses when I had this chat with a former poo-bah.

“Why buy these huge buses that nobody rides on?” I asked him. “Why not smaller buses with better mileage?”

“Who gives a damn?” he replied. “The feds are paying for most of it.”

Well, free money isn’t always exactly free. As pointed out by several legislators, there are rules attached to those federal/state “mass transportation” handouts, among them, that grants are based in part by the participation of paying public.

Kingstonian Sued. Again.

This act is getting petty stale. Developers of the proposed Kingstonian in the city’s Uptown Stockade District are being sued by New York City-based rivals for at least the fifth time, though some litigation tallies have the figure at lucky 13. Having previously lost every time in state Supreme Court, this latest attempt confirms in some quarters that these lawsuits, which have often contained locals as co-defendants, are little more than delaying tactics.

After repeatedly petitioning the same court on what looked like minor issues, it’s hard to imagine that any judge who’s seen this show before is going to look the other way this time. My prediction: they’ll keep suing until Kingstonian developers either run out of patience or money.

Stick to the subject at hand

As longtime readers understand, I don’t make a habit of commenting on national affairs, It’s not that I don’t keep an eye on events. I just like to keep it local.

Lately, I’ve felt like throwing a shoe at my TV as I’ve watched the congressional Jan. 6 hearings unroll in Congress and the Republican response.

Personally, I don’t consider a panel consisting of a dozen Democratic Trump-haters and two fellow-follower Republicans fair and impartial in any sense of the words.

And yet, the attack on the Capitol, our American Cathedral, the seat of our democracy, must be thoroughly investigated and the guilty punished.

Republicans consider it all a partisan show — they like to use the expression “show trial” — aimed at leveraging the midterm elections. Instead, they say Congress should be focusing its attention on current issues like inflation, gas prices, the southern border and Russia’s genocide in Ukraine.

Instead? As if we are to ignore the outrage of Jan. 6, 2020?

I don’t know who’s worse, and I only have two shoes.

Flyover for Vernon?

As I was leaving former county legislator Vernon Benjamin’s wake in Saugerties last week, I looked up to check out a low-level flight of helicopters heading south just above the village.

There were five of them, four flying in a group, the fifth trailing by about 100 yards. “Missing Man formation?” for the dearly departed Vernon, I wondered. Probably not, but a cool coincidence Vernon would have appreciated.

Twenty years ago in Kingston, I witnessed a similar event, only it wasn’t helicopters.

Our Kingston Post American Legion color guard was paying last respects to former mayor John Schwenk at St. Mary’s Cemetery. “Schwenkie,” as friends called him, had died at 103, served in the First World War and had lived in three different centuries.

As Legion bugler Joe Forte sounded the first notes of “Taps” for our departed comrade, I looked up at a large flock of birds flying just above treetop level from the north. As the flock dipped over Schwenk’s casket, it suddenly, without breaking formation, veered sharply due west and flew off. To me, there was no question where the beloved Schwenk was headed. And he had an escort.

Notes: Friends of former Wallkill county legislator Albert Meyer called and asked for equal time. Meyer, a Republican, served 10 years after Democrat Benjamin. They died about a week apart.