Auerbach foe gets probation, stay-away order
Conservative candidacy in question
The man who was convicted of violating an order of protection by pestering Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach has been sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to not contact Auerbach or his family.
Michael Wendel, 59, of 7034 U.S. Route 209, was sentenced Monday in Shawangunk Town Court. He faced a maximum of one year in the Ulster County Jail.
Wendel, a registered Conservative, plans to run against Auerbach in the November election. He secured his party’s nomination last week.
Ulster County Conservative Chairman Edward Gaddy said Monday that he was unaware of Wendel’s legal issue regarding Auerbach.
“I am going to call a meeting of the Conservative Party Executive Committee, and we are going to have to come to a resolution on this matter,” Gaddy said.
He said one option is to withdraw the party’s support of Wendel’s candidacy.
“That is certainly one possibility,” he told midhudsonnews.com. “We are going to have to discuss this as the entire group. This is a very serious matter.”
As part of the protection order imposed by Shawangunk Town Justice Kevin Hunt, Wendel must stay at least 500 feet away from Auerbach and his family during any political activity attended by both parties.
In March, a Shawangunk Town Court jury convicted Wendel of criminal contempt, a misdemeanor, after less than 15 minutes of deliberation, according to the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office.
The District Attorney’s Office said Wendel violated a previous order of protection the evening of Dec. 17, 2015, when he “aggressively approached” Auerbach in the Wawarsing Town Hall in the village of Ellenville, “placed himself within inches of Mr. Auerbach with a camera in his hand” and made statements to the comptroller “of a harassing and taunting nature.”
Wendel has been a frequent and outspoken critic of Ulster County’s government.