The Mind Of Manuela

What follows is a series of letters to our local newspaper, The Blue Stone Press. What is disconcerting is that Manuela Michailescu slimes the Ulster County Chairwoman, Terry Bernardo using innuendo and false rumor, going so far as to claim the Chairwoman "casually breaks the laws" without ANY corroborating evidence. I responded pointing out the utter hypocrisy of a woman who would charge Ms. Bernardo with "financial irresponsibility" when Manuela and her husband had declared bankruptcy due to abuse of nearly three dozen credit cards, a dozen or so business loans AND defaulted mortgage. Manuela responded, as is her fashion, using complete fabrication, making assertions that aren't based in reality and making false accusations against me. Yet, the BlueStonePress publisher, Lori Childers, refused to allow me a chance to respond to Manuela's untruthful slander. Therefore, included is my breakdown of Manuela's lies, distortions and outright fabrications as established via the official Bankruptcy Court documentation which are provided below. Realize that Manuela Michailescu ran against Terry Bernardo for UC Legislative seat in 2011 and is looking to run again in 2013.

Pride of Rochester?

To the Editor:

Considering myself an "accidental" politician - way "too honest" according to a party leader - I thought that upon ending my 4-year term as Councilwoman, I'd be out of politics for good.

I was honored with a plaque recognizing my dedicated service to the Town of Rochester. During the same January 2012 ceremony, Terry Bernardo - freshly elected Chairwoman of the Legislature - received a specially created "Pride of Rochester" certificate.

A few days later it was painful to watch our own Legislator from Rochester voting against the opinion expressed by Town Supervisor Carl Chipman. Later in the year the Legislature's budget for 23 legislators dwarfed the previous one for 33 legislators. Promises were broken. Ethics conflicts abounded. Finding solutions to important problems took a back seat to unnecessary partisan bickering. Soon enough I realized how hard it is to keep out of politics when a power-hungry politician bent on taking over the county acts with selfishness, financial irresponsibility and an embarrassing lack of leadership. How long are people going to vote for somebody who casually breaks the laws, hires all her friends on the people's dime, and avails herself of $160,000 in taxpayers' money, compliments of IDA (Industrial Development Agency)?

It's time to stop being used for one's political ambitions. Legislative District 21 needs a true public servant. Rochester and East Wawarsing deserve a Legislator who listens and truly represents them, able to find the best solutions to our local issues. If anybody is tempted to dismiss my concerns because I ran for the same Legislature seat as Terry Bernardo, here is proof of bi-partisan outrage: William West, former Chairman of Ulster County Legislature wrote to Roger Rascoe, the Ulster County GOP Chairman: "I would urge that as quickly as possible you meet with Ms. Terry Bernardo and ascertain whose team she is on - is her goal the destruction of the party? In a short two months she alone has caused more damage to our Republican party than any of the 30,000 county Republicans have ever done."

Jeanette Provenzano, the Democratic Legislator, made her opinion public: "We waited over thirty years for a woman to be a Chairperson, Bernardo has done a disservice to all women in Ulster County."

The reorganizational meeting for the coming Legislative year will be held on January 2. Bi-partisan predictions were made on Ulster County blogs, From the left (Ulster County Cloakroom): "But when it comes to Bernardo being bounced from her leadership post, I'll always wager on timidity and entropy. In other words, it's far easier to chicken-out and do nothing than it is to do hard work." From the right (Liberty Coalition):"Bernardo gets reelected because none of the Republicans have enough backbone or spine to challenge her even though they are sealing their own fate for next year's elections."

Look at the bright side: Terry Bernardo could recycle her 2012 inaugural speech.

Manuela Michailescu

Kerhonkson

Takes Michailescu To Task

To The Editor:

Manuela Michailescu (Blue Stone Press, 7 December 2012) claims to be "too honest" even as she starts her screed by lying. While stating she considered herself "out of politics for good" readers must remember seeing numerous letters/posts from her over the past year blatantly and desperately attempting to keep her name in the voting public's mind for her upcoming political run (2013 for county legislator or town council). Even in this letter she embellishes her resume with claims of "dedicated service to the town of Rochester" for which she received a plaque. Of course, ALL elected officials in the town receive such an award at the completion of their service. In Manuela's case it was more like a High School attendance award as she initiated NOTHING in her four years on the board.

Manuela Michailescu has spent the past year using innuendo and making unsubstantiated claims against the UC Legislature chairperson which beat her handily (3:1 margin) in the last election. Manuela has charged Terry Bernardo with broken promises (without ever stating what those promises were), with ethics violations (without being specific in a single instance), with not finding solutions to important problems (without a single example).

But, perhaps most telling of all, is Michailescu's charging Ms. Bernardo with "partisan bickering." To prove her case Manuela uses a quote from William West (without identifying for the readers that Mr. West is a true blue-blood Republican) in which the former Chairman of the UC Legislature confabbed with the head of the county Republican Party and chastised Ms. Bernardo for not playing partisan politics. Thus the inter se squabbles. For, the Republicans she quotes, as does Manuela Michailescu herself, prefer dirty partisan politics and has demonstrated her preference with repeated slimy attacks.

The rest of Michailescu's screed goes on to imply that Ms. Bernardo somehow illicitly took money from county coffers via tax breaks given to her jointly owned business, Skate Time 209. The reality, however is that all new business ventures in UC use the tax breaks allowed them by law. Ms. Bernardo's use of those tax breaks was no different than any other business that have located in Ulster County.

But, the most outrageous element of Michailescu's letter is her complete self-absorption to the point of cluelessness. For she continually drags out some fictitious "conspiracy" of party leaders to keep her off the ballot when running against Ms. Bernardo. The FACTS, however are that Manuela DID get on the ballot of the county Republican caucus, DID get on the primary ballot, DID run in the 2011 General Election and LOST all races handily. What Manuela Michailescu cannot fathom is that the PEOPLE did not think she was a good candidate. By a three to one margin, Terry Bernardo beat Michailescu. What's not to understand?

Unfortunately, Manuela Michailescu doesn't understand due to her own projectionist delusions. It has nothing to do with conspiracies and everything to do with it becoming public knowledge that she and her husband "somehow" secured over THREE DOZEN credit cards and MAXED OUT every one of them to a total of just under a MILLION DOLLARS. Serving on the Town Board she received a salary from taxpayers while failing to pay her own taxes.

Yet, even as the realities of Michailescu's profligate spending and completely irresponsible use of credit cards led to a declaration of bankruptcy, she attempts to denigrate a public servant (holding the job she'd love to have) by virtue of charging Ms. Bernardo with being "fiscally irresponsible."

Steven L. Fornal

Accord, NY

Enough is Enough

To the Editor:

When attacked – most recently by Steven Fornal in his December 21, 2012 letter – I remember what a good friend told me in church, on a Sunday morning: “with so many attacks, you must be doing something right!”

I came to America with a suitcase, little English and a Master of Arts (class Valedictorian). I worked full time while getting an MBA in Marketing/Advertising (top 10% of the class). My last year in college I won the Phillip Morris Marketing / Communication competition. After graduation I joined my husband’s advertising agency as VP of Point Blank, Inc. For 25 years I managed the advertising budgets of quite a few countries. We built a reputation for creativity and excellence in service. As Kent Victoria’s Board President I was in charge of the co-op’s million dollar budgets for over 20 years. And I have the records to prove everything.

Apparently, moving upstate in 2001 completely altered my character. My applying for a volunteer position on the Historic Preservation Commission triggered accusations of being responsible for the Internet pornography. Two judges ruled in my favor but Fornal still brags of seeing my porno site. Nice man.

Daughter of a political prisoner in Communist Romania, I was granted political asylum in the USA. I kept my maiden name in my father’s memory. Becoming an American citizen in 1989, I added a “c” to my last name, to make it easier to pronounce. In 2007, Ruth and Alan Bendelius sent a letter to every town resident asking “who is this woman with two identities?” and absurdly suggested that I changed my name “to get away from the porno site.” Nice couple.

Our travel advertising business was greatly affected by the 9/11 tragedy. One by one, our clients closed their New York offices until there was no business left. Upon moving to Kerhonkson we started another business; unfortunately, the recession began a few months after we spent all our money to finish building the antiques store on Route 209. We chose to simplify a complicated financial situation through a voluntary ASSET bankruptcy. Terry Bernardo posted our bankruptcy petition online. Guess who sent defamatory letters to NYS Bankruptcy Trustee and to Attorney General’s office? Very nice.

Fornal writes that we “somehow” secured “over THREE DOZEN credit cards and MAXED OUT every one of them to a total of just under a MILLION DOLLARS.” Final court documents – accessible here and here – show that the proceeds obtained by selling our paid-in-full-properties ($304,000) exceeded by $45,000 the total of the legitimate creditor claims ($259,000). Steven Fornal is a liar.

Here is another Fornalism: “Serving on the Town Board Manuela received a salary from taxpayers while failing to pay her own taxes.” The inconvenient truth: we never owed back taxes. You might have heard the double-dipping-double-residence rumor. The Attorney General dismissed it three years ago, but Fornal is still spreading it. You might have heard the grant-restoration-money-used-to-build-the-store rumor. The inconvenient truth: when the economy deteriorated, NYS rescinded the grant. That did not stop a Bernardo campaign worker to tell people not to vote for “Manuela the thief.”

Rumors and innuendos – spread by the same bunch of people – have been used for years in order to damage my reputation. When I defend myself, they accuse me of playing the victim. I have courage, determination, and – because my father could not be heard – I always speak the truth. When I tell the truth, they accuse me of seeing imaginary conspiracies.

When you are told in front of 10 witnesses – by former UC GOP Chairman Catalano – “you are not married to the right guy” and “I’d do everything in my power to get you out of my way,” that’s reality. When same Catalano writes “Terry Bernardo needs to be one of them. The Chairman of the Independence Party would like his wife to win as a Republican and I EXPECT you to honor that request!” – THAT is conspiracy.

My message to the Bendeliuses, Bernardos, and the Fornals in our town: enough is enough. Stop repeating the same spicy rumors of your own making. If you can’t help it, at least come up with something new.

Manuela Michailescu

Kerhonkson

Now, I could have easily gone through the above letter paragraph by paragraph and completely demolished Manuela's claims but that would've required more than the 500 word limit so (even though as is so often the case, Manuela got 690 words for her reply), instead I put together a letter observing the word limit. The Publisher, Lori Childers emailed me saying she would not print the letter. First my letter of response, Lori Childers' response, my response to that response, then the more thorough deconstruction of the above letter.

Enough Is Enough? Not Quite

To the Editor:

Manuela Michailescu's letter (BSP, 4 January 2013) begins, "When attacked," followed 10 melodramatic paragraphs later with, "When I defend myself, they accuse me of playing the victim."

That's because, right in front of readers' eyes, she DID IT YET AGAIN! Apparently Michailescu forgets SHE was the one that attacked UC Legislature Chairwoman Terry Bernardo with slimy "rumor and innuendo." My response was to demonstrate Manuela's utter hypocrisy especially when it came to her charge of fiscal irresponsibility. I used data procured from the actual Federal Bankruptcy Court papers filed in 2009 by Manuela and her husband, Jon Dogar Marinesco. These papers were signed by Manuela and Jon Dogar and serve as sworn affidavits. [Email me and I'll send all interested readers a copy of the official documentation.]

When I claimed she and her husband abused dozens of credit cards and ran up nearly a million dollars of debt, Manuela responds by saying she's being unfairly attacked and "defends" herself by calling me a liar. Yet the court papers SHE AND HER HUSBAND filed states total indebtedness at $916,902. The credit cards are listed. Final dispensation papers are irrelevant. The point is their fiscal irresponsibility over a decade; of abusing dozens of credit cards without any intention of paying them off; of running up $10,634 a month in expenses with only $1,981 in monthly earnings. Those are the relevant points.

When I claimed she didn't pay her taxes, she responds by again saying I'm a liar for she and her husband "never owed back taxes." Yet the court papers unequivocally show they hadn't paid $4,269 in federal taxes for 2007 and had just entered an installment agreement to, IN FACT, begin to pay off those back taxes.

Manuela next "defends" herself by accusing me of spreading rumor: "You might have heard the double-dipping-double-residence rumor." Yet, PAGE ONE of the court documents filed by Manuela and Jon Dogar claims that her principal residence was an apartment in Rego Park while his principal residence was the Antique Store in Kerhonkson. When Manuela learned that in order to run for county legislator she needed to reside in the voting district, she then claimed to live in Kerhonkson also.

As demonstrated, if anyone is lying and playing fast and loose with the facts, it's Manuela and Jon Dogar.

But, I agree that readers should visit websites RochesterSmokeOut.com and RochesterRepublicans.com in order to get a distilled dose of Manuela's brand of "speaking truth to power", viz., TeaPartyism in all its sick glory: adolescent mockery, conspiracies galore, personal attacks, slanderous commentary, bullying; a level of hostility now common among Tea Party-ites. What you won't find, not a trace, is reasoned, articulated proposals for making government work better for the People. You'll find no logic based dialog. You'll find nothing but toxic teardownism.

As for coming up with something new, how about this, Manuela? You've been perpetrating a hoax by claiming to be a speaker of truth to power. For that to be true you would've had to have STAYED in Romania with all those courageous citizens that stood in defiance against the brutality of the Ceauşescu regime and finally broke it. Your fleeing to America was to turn your back; a selfish act of utter silence. Talk of inconvenient truths!

Steven L. Fornal

Accord

Email from BSP Publisher, Lori Childers:

Steve--

We appreciate the time you put into your letters. We welcome letters that educate and inform on the many topics that you have written on over the years. But at this point we are going to let this string of letters stop. Thank you for your understanding. Happy new year. --Lori

Lori Childers

BlueStonePress

office: 845-687-4480

cell: 845-331-1905

www.bluestonepress.net

My response to BSP Publisher, Lori Childers

Lori

How disappointing. Especially since you're in possession of the documentation that proves Manuela is not telling the truth. So, I guess the lesson to be learned here is to slime early and often as Manuela did. She gets to slime Terry and Len Bernardo then plead victimization even as she slimes Ruth and Alan Bendelius and myself and we do not get to defend ourselves against outrageous accusations; outrageous in that the truth is easily ascertained via the documentation that you've actually viewed.

This woman is running for office this November. You have a chance to demonstrate her character via publishing my response offering access to the documentation that Manuela and Jon Dogar signed off on (serving, as I said, as sworn affidavits) which proves their fiscal irresponsibility, their lying to avoid owning up to it, refusal to take responsibility for their actions. Not important?

If you didn't want this "string" to devolve as it did, why did you allow her the first sliming of Terry with rank innuendo? I know, free speech and she's entitled to her opinion. But don't you think it's going too far to protect sliming while prohibiting defense against same?

Seems all turned about now, doesn't it?

Steve

And now for the point by point for people not in the know. The regular font is from Manuela's letter, the bold italic is my commentary:

My applying for a volunteer position on the Historic Preservation Commission triggered accusations of being responsible for the Internet pornography. Two judges ruled in my favor but Fornal still brags of seeing my porno site. Nice man.

What happened was two very prominent women on the Historic Preservation Commission caught wind of a pornographic link affiliated with Manuela and Jon Dogar's Brickhouse Antique website. The link was real and was witnessed by dozens of residents over the span of a couple of months. The prominent women DEMANDED that Manuela be questioned about the porn site. I, in fact, pleaded with the town board NOT to question Manuela about it as the link, while real, could never be definitively proved to have anything to do with Manuela (although very possible her husband's doing as he is a webmaster). They went ahead and asked (NOT accused) her if she had any affiliation with or knowledge about the porn site. Manuela went ballistic. She began screaming and got up and unilaterally stopped the interview. She proceeded to go to the parking lot, get in her car and ram somebody's car. She went to court saying the interview had so upset her that she shouldn't be held responsible. NY State Motor Vehicular law is very clear: Whoever is behind the wheel is responsible for what ensues (the insurance holder of the car in question is responsible for property damages; in this case Manuela was the operator and the insured party). To avoid conflict of interest the case was referred to Hurley Town Court. A prominent rightwing judge ruled that Manuela should get restitution from the town for the cost of fixing the damaged car. The town immediately appealed, but then, within months, lost the election and the new board dropped the appeal. So, ZERO judges ruled on her involvement with an internet porn site as she claims. Accusing me of bragging is again typical. More than a year ago when an online back and forth soon led to the unjust charge against Manuela, I remarked that the link was real, I and many other people had seen it over the course of months, and that once the Town Board brought it to her attention, the site disappeared within 24 hours. So the supposed fiction of a porn site connection was, in fact, a fact! Town Board members had actual printouts of the Brickhouse site, the connecting link (Manuela's Playhouse) and the porn site. As anyone who has printed out a webpage knows, at the bottom of said page is the web URL; proof of the linkage. The fact that the site disappeared so suddenly could very easily indicate a Jon Dogar Marinesco hand in the porn link.

As the bankruptcy papers prove (Page One - Page Three of the Bankruptcy Petition), Manuela was still using the Mihailescu spelling as of February 2009, twenty years after she claims to have changed it.

There was nothing at all complicated about their financial situation. They had 45 creditors not counting the mortgage and second mortgage holders, the Rondout Valley School District and the IRS. The trail of credit cards (see below; Creditors_P4-P12) shows an absolute lack of judgment on Manuela and Jon Dogar's part. With their business dying they continued to accumulate debt knowing they had no way to repay it. When the debt load became too much, they declared bankruptcy. Of the 45 creditors, only 25 got paid at a 66.3 percent rate. Manuela puts her typical spin on this by characterizing the creditors who got paid as being, "legitimate." You see how she does it? As the process made clear that half of those with claims wouldn't get a penny, they gave up the ghost rather than paying attorneys' fees for no possible retrieval of funds and instantly become illegitimate. Manuela refuses to take responsibility for stiffing creditors.

Those Final Report documents are below (Final Report_P1 - P3), and they show Manuela to be lying. She claims to have had $45,000 left after paying off creditors. But as the final dispensation documents clearly show, she and Jon had ZERO dollars left after only paying off half of the creditors (at only a 66.3 percent rate). Their accumulated debt was $916,902. The obvious credit cards number 30 with several more possible. I used the term "somehow" because the ONLY way I know of getting so many credit cards while not paying off previous debt is to use fraudulent claims of income they didn't have or leave out indebtedness from the application forms or lying about assets they didn't have or were otherwise compromised by previous loans being secured by the asset claimed.

The official documents below (Creditors_P3) show clearly that AGAIN Manuela isn't telling the truth. The IRS was owed back taxes and Manuela and Jon Dogar were forced to enter into an installment plan to pay off $4,269 in back taxes at a $180 per month rate (Expenditures_P1). The double residence "rumor" supposedly being spread by me (NOT!) derives from, again the official documentation, page one, showing Manuela claiming to be living in Rego Park. Not until she learned that she had to reside in the voting district she wanted to run in (for UC Legislative seat) did she then claim to live in the Kerhonkson Antique store. So, AGAIN she doesn't tell the truth. As many folks around here know, her husband's alleged affair with a campaign worker and subsequent falling out with Manuela, led to her leaving for awhile in 2007 [In fact, on Income_P1, marital status is listed as Separated. On Expenditures_P2, Manuela lists expenses of $249 a month for transportation costs and co-op parking]. Further, seeing as the documentation is conclusive that Manuela was NOT using the Kerhonkson address as a primary residence, Manuela must have lied to the Town Attorney who contacted the State AG office (not necessarily the actual Attorney General - yet another "stretch" by Manuela) about primary residence status vis-a-vis continuing to serve on the Town Board. As for the barn restoration grant money, it was rescinded due to new information that came to light and not due to the recession.

Manuela and Jon Dogar have some nerve complaining about "rumors and innuendos" being used against them as those are their favorite tools to use against anyone that disagrees with them. Also, as I wanted to point out in my letter of defense/response, Manuela claims to be speaking truth to power when, IN FACT, she left Romania, running away from the repressive regime. That is NOT speaking truth to power. It was turning her back and staying silent. Talk about "inconvenient truth!" So, yet another example of Manuela Michailescu creating a reality that isn't real but is to her liking.

So, in the final analysis of the documentation, what can people otherwise think but that Manuela Michailescu will lie to cover the truth, will fabricate to project onto other people what are her own failings, refusing to take responsibility for her profligate spending and wonton indebtedness and will accuse people of lying when they are clearly telling the truth. More importantly, Manuela KNOWS what the truth is even as she charges people speaking the truth to be liars. That's sick! That's disturbing! It shows a disturbed personality at work; one who will say anything, deny anything (even documented truth) in order to gain a political position even as she excoriates government.

Beware! Do not be duped by Manuela Michailescu, a pathological liar!