Dear Editor:

You can judge a person’s character by the company they keep “Defending the chairman”(Serphin R. Maltese, Frank Padavan and Michael J. Abel, Letters, April 18) concerning current Queens County Republican Chairman Phil Ragusa.

The indictments of both GOP Councilmember Dan Halloran and Queens County Republican Party Vice Chairperson Vincent Tabone are just the latest chapter in the spiraling decline over the past three decades of the once-relevant Queens County GOP.

One way of judging the health of any political party is looking at the number of candidates who qualify for ballot status on their line.

Up until the 1980s, the GOP routinely qualified candidates for all Congressional, state Senate, Assembly and City Council seats.

After the 1982 reapportionment, Democrats eliminated the districts of Queens GOP Assembly members Rosemary Gunning, John LoPresto, John Flack, Al DelliBovi and John Esposito. Sen.Padavan voted for this plan as it protected both his and the late Sen. Martin Knorr’sown gerrymandered districts.

In 2012, there wereno GOP candidates on the ballot for one of six Congressional, three of seven state Senate and 13 out of 18 state Assembly races in the general election. Watch how many Democratic City Council members will geta free pass with no GOP opponent this year.

After being elected in 1972, Padavan listed Republican-Conservative affiliations on his headquarters’ storefront. In the 1990s the Padavan and Assemblyman Doug Prescott team proudly campaigned as your local Republican/Conservative team. But Republican and Tea Party activists in 2010 were disappointed by Padavan’s campaign headquarters. There was no literature, bumper stickers, posters or lawn signs for his fellow GOP running mates.

A party’s ticket is only strong when all the candidates, from top to bottom, work as a team. Republicans are in trouble when they are afraid to identify party affiliations and campaign on their own. Other Republicans were confused with Padavan’s standard campaign theme, “Nobody Cares Like Frank,” when he obviously didn’t care about them. Both Padavan andMaltese failed for decades to build a Republican brand name when they ran from it. No wonder Maltese lost in 2008 and Padavan lost in 2010.

Queens Republicans are on the way to political extinction like the dinosaurs of old! How disappointing that voters will have to look elsewhere for any alternatives to the Queens County Democratic Party machine monopoly.

The failure to build a viable Queens GOP is the inheritance the lastunderdog Republican City Council member,Eric Ulrich,has to live with.

End Zone Industries, the company tasked with cleaning up dangerous chemicals at a former industrial site in Ozone Park, came to Community Board 9 on Tuesday to explain the process in which they will clean up the location under the former Rockaway Beach Long Island Rail Road line.

Representatives from the company received a healthy interrogation from concerned members of the board, including some questions that could not be answered immediately.

The proposal to alienate two-thirds of an acre of Flushing Meadows Corona Park for the United States Tennis Association’s $500 million construction project was approved by Community Board 6 during its March meeting.

The joint-application submitted by the USTA and Parks Department seeks to add a strip of city-owned property to the 46 acres already leased by the group.

A key question has arisen as the United State Tennis Association’s plan has come before six different community boards: How much is a fraction of an acre of parkland worth?

Two boards tried to answer the question last week, with one slapping a $15 million price tag on .68 acre of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, along with numerous other stipulations.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis) defended his decision to join the Independent Democratic Caucus at a packed town hall meeting in Cambria Heights on Jan. 30 at the Alpha Phi Alpha Senior Center.

But activist, minister the Rev. Charles Norris was not satisfied with the explanation being offered, and the exchange between the two became heated. Smith accused Norris of seeking media attention. Norris called Smith a bad senator before the lawmaker cut him off and abruptly ended the meeting.

Democrats appeared to retake control of the state Senate Tuesday, as Republicans failed to win a Queens race they had poured resources into and may have lost several other tight contests around New York.

The likely changeover from GOP control would be one more victory for the party that saw President Obama re-elected and solidified its control of the U.S. Senate even as it lost a few more seats in the House of Representatives.

Driving down the ramp toward Shore Front Parkway off the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge, it is common to catch the red light at the end of the ramp before the Rockaway Freeway.

But the view from the stop light has changed. Now, the view is uninterrupted straight to the ocean.

“It’s not a crazy theory.”

That was Flushing Democratic Assemblywoman Grace Meng’s response to a question posed to her by the Queens Chronicle earlier this week during a sit-down interview that focused on her race for Congress against City Councilman Dan Halloran, the Whitestone Republican.

The New York City Panel on Climate Change and Climate Change Adaptation Task Force will be meeting regularly to assess how they can best prepare the people of New York City for any intense storms to come.

Established in 2008 by Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council, the Climate Panel and Task Force are designed to issue climate change prediction once every three years.

In the final weeks of the Republican primary for the 15th state Senate district, Forest Hills attorney Juan Reyes, backed by the Queens GOP leadership, whacked his opponent, Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), for being supported by the state Republicans, for often voting against the wishes of his party and even for being a devout Catholic with gay friends.

In the end, none of it appeared to have worked. If anything, it might have backfired.

Government agencies and opponents of a solid waste transfer station in College Point have been invited to a town hall meeting tonight, Sept. 20, at the Flushing Branch of the Queens Library.

The meeting is being sponsored by Assembly members Grace Meng (D-Flushing) and Michael Simanowitz (D-Flushing) and state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Whitestone).

In the final weeks of the Republican primary for the 15th state Senate district, Forest Hills attorney Juan Reyes, backed by the Queens GOP leadership, whacked his opponent, Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), for being supported by the State Republicans, for often voting against the wishes of his party and even for being a devout Catholic with gay friends.

President Obama and his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, have two very different visions for the future of Medicare, a program that affects millions of older adults — the question is whom do elders and their advocates side with?

The crux of the debate is this —Romney stresses that Obama’s plan would cut $716 billion from Medicare, making it unsustainable, while Obama says Romney’s idea of turning the program into a voucher system would be disastrous.

Last week, the world saw the Republican Party on display at our party’s National Convention in Tampa. And though you might not have been able to see it on TV, there was a decidedly New York flavor.

Yes, our state was well represented at the RNC. New York isn’t in the mainstream with the national GOP, as we all know. But it’s worth remembering that New York has an incredible Republican tradition. We’re the home of the Rockefellers, Teddy Roosevelt and Rudy Giuliani. We bring an important perspective to the party, even if we’re in the minority. We don’t agree with the national party on every issue, and that’s okay. But we do agree with the most important GOP principles — cutting taxes, creating jobs and getting government out of the way of hardworking people and small business owners.

On a hot weekday morning, children studied the ducks swimming in Meadow Lake, while a steady succession of joggers made their way along the bordering trail.

Former Mayor Ed Koch, whose backing of U.S. Rep. Bob Turner (R-Middle Village) in last year’s Congressional special election was cited as a major reason for the latter’s victory, is making another endorsement

The Democrat, known for often crossing party lines, is sticking to his own in the competitive 15th state Senate District race. Koch announced he was endorsing incumbent state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) for re-election. Addabbo is facing Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) in a more conservative district that includes Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods like Far Rockaway and Kew Gardens Hills.

The ducks and geese are gone. No one knows why, but an unsightly red tide algae that could be toxic has taken over Bowne Park pond and residents are seeking answers.

Area resident Sharon Wohlgemuth and her friends noticed the red-colored algae around June 13 and called 311. It took over the pond and emitted a foul odor. “I come here everyday,” Wohlgemuth said. “I visit with friends, walk and read. Nothing like this ever happened here before.”

The Harley Davidson rider, guitar player, area school story-time reader and hard-on-crime Astoria councilman unapologetically spoke his mind about several issues concerning his district at the Queens Chronicle office on Friday. In fact, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.’s no-filter approach, he said, has prompted him for about two years to not ride the trains — fearing physical confrontations with people opposing him, some of whom have assaulted him in the past. However, although some disagree, many back the councilman as shown by his 10 years in office and over $1 million raised for future campaigns.

He touched on how power plants need to burn clean, how illegal immigrants who are arrested should be deported, how stop and frisk cuts crime and how he is seriously thinking about running for borough president.

As a key Republican Party nomination battle for state Senate shapes up between Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) and Forest Hills attorney Juan Reyes, the Queens Conservative Party today gave Ulrich an ideological boost by throwing him its support.

Not surprisingly, the Queens Republican Party has selected an Asian candidate to run in the new 26th State Senate District, which was designed to be an Asian-majority area.

J.D. Kim, 39, a lawyer who lives in Flushing, was endorsed by the party on Friday. “Kim has the values and ability to be a great representative and can be counted on to work with and for everyone in the community,” said GOP Chairman Phil Ragusa.

Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) threw his hat into the race for the 15th Senate District seat held by state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) this week — a move that pits the Republican against a Democrat in a district redrawn to include more conservative neighborhoods and which has been known to be a political wildcard.

“For the past three years, I have been honored to serve the people of my community at City Hall,” Ulrich said in an announcement made Tuesday morning via a number of social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. “I am now ready to take the fight to Albany, where I will be an independent voice for the taxpayers of Queens County. I will be a state senator that never stops fighting for the middle class.”

With ducks quacking in the background and a forceful wind whipping the American flag and red, white and blue balloons, Republican City Councilman Dan Halloran of Whitestone announced his candidacy Monday for the 6th Congressional District seat, saying it’s time for a real change.

Speaking to supporters, party officials and the press at Bowne Park in Flushing, Halloran, 41, said he is in it to win it and “the campaign won’t be distorted by non-issues.”

Everyone who took the podium at a tribute to Pat Dolan at the Kew Gardens Hills Library on Feb. 15 recalled her as a relentless civic advocate who kept her teeth firmly clenched on the ankles of politicians.

Then there was Norma Stegmaier, who also remembered Dolan as her neighbor, best friend and library buddy. The two would take weekly strolls down Main Street, where Dolan would note the graffiti and litter around the neighborhood. Afterward, they would head to the library to check out new books.

Dozens of Democrats welcomed now-former Republican Councilman Peter Koo of Flushing into the fold on Monday as he officially changed party affiliation.

It was a Democratic love fest as Congressman Joe Crowley (D-Queens and the Bronx), who is also Queens Democratic Party chairman, was joined by a host of area elected officials at the Board of Elections office in Kew Gardens.

Richard Italiano, the district manager and former chairman of Community Board 4, died last Wednesday, Jan. 18. He was 59.

Italiano collapsed while working at his desk, according to CB 4’s office and Dan Andrews, a spokesman for the Borough President’s office. He had recently undergone heart surgery, Andrews said. He was transported to Elmhurst Hospital Center.