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Allegations of pledge violations cause stir
By Francesca Olsen
Though it has been signed, the Columbia County League of Women Voters’ pledge for candidates has been allegedly violated by multiple people running for multiple offices, in multiple towns.
Mariann Caprino, an adviser to the Democratic candidates in Claverack, has circulated a press release saying as much. Last Thursday, the League of Women Voters (LWV) sponsored its debate in Claverack, but only the Dems arrived for the event.
“It’s basic, good campaign practices ... really simple stuff,” said Caprino, who is not a member of the League of Women Voters. “One of the points is, ‘Yes, I will participate in debates.’”
The pledge’s first item says: “The candidate will conduct a campaign for public office openly, fairly and truthfully. The candidate will discuss the issues and participate in fair debate with respect to his/her views and qualifications.”
Mike Johnston, an incumbent Republican candidate for town board in Claverack, said he never received a copy of the pledge to sign, or an invitation to the debate.
“I never received an invite, or anything,” he said. “I didn’t know until the day before that it was the next night ... I can’t speak for anybody else, but I did not personally get [the pledge].”
Robert Preusser, another Republican candidate for Claverack town board, RSVP’d to the debate but said he had a prior engagement, representatives from LWV reported on debate night.
Claverack Supervisor Jim Keegan did sign the pledge; Caprino said he is in violation because he did not debate. “He promised to participate in a fair debate, and he doesn’t show up for the only opportunity to debate his opponent in public before the community,” she said. “It’s not as if these debates are once a week. This is the only one.”
Keegan told the Register-Star he signed the pledge, but made an edit to its wording. He said he was willing to follow the rules, but crossed out the “debate” part, “before I even knew they were having one.”
“They never give me a chance to say, ‘I had something that night,’” he said. “They just set a date and say, ‘You will be there.’”
Keegan said he had a family commitment he had to keep that night, and that he never heard verbally from anyone at LWV. “It was just a letter they sent that I signed,” he said. “I never got a call. I never talked to a person.”
Karen Vecellio of the League of Women Voters confirmed that Keegan had crossed out “participate in fair debate.”
“I would say that basically, the statement that he signed is invalid. You can’t selectively adhere to the statement of principles,” she said.
Vecellio said invitations to the debate were mailed to all candidates, as well as the pledge. As far as Johnston’s claim that he did not get either one, she said, “We mailed out pledges to all the candidates whose names were listed on the information we got from the county Board of Elections. Unless they had an incorrect address for him, it certainly was mailed to him.”
Vecellio said the county LWV had no plans to involve the New York state Board of Elections in the matter.
In the town of Kinderhook, incumbent Supervisor Doug McGivney has charged his opponent, Valatie attorney Pat Grattan, with the same violation. McGivney cites letters distributed by individuals on Grattan’s behalf with curious postage on them; the pledge says campaign letters should “clearly identify the candidate and contain the name and address, or other contact information of the sponsor.”
McGivney also cites a letter to the editor from Valatie Mayor Gary Strevell to the Register-Star dated Oct. 20 in support of Grattan that he said “contains many inaccurate statements and constitute an attack upon my character.”
“It’s a small town. Gary Strevell is the Mayor, but he’s a private individual ... I think he’s entitled to his opinion,” Grattan responded. “I can’t tell anybody not to write letters ... it’s not part of my campaign.”
McGivney goes on to say that other statements made in Grattan’s campaign were misleading, including statements indicating that McGivney refused to participate in application of an Energy Onix grant. McGivney said he was never asked to participate.
Grattan said he thought he had “absolutely” upheld the principles in the pledge from LWV.
“I think we’ve run a very clean campaign here,” he said. “If Doug disagrees with Strevell, that’s his right. I’m not going to reign in anybody’s right to free speech.”
McGivney said he hoped Grattan would “take steps to remedy the problem ... up here, they have always participated in the debate. Both sides.”
Vecellio confirmed that McGivney had filed a complaint with the LWV, and added that the LWV board would soon be discussing how to address it.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
Mariann Caprino, an adviser to the Democratic candidates in Claverack, has circulated a press release saying as much. Last Thursday, the League of Women Voters (LWV) sponsored its debate in Claverack, but only the Dems arrived for the event.
“It’s basic, good campaign practices ... really simple stuff,” said Caprino, who is not a member of the League of Women Voters. “One of the points is, ‘Yes, I will participate in debates.’”
The pledge’s first item says: “The candidate will conduct a campaign for public office openly, fairly and truthfully. The candidate will discuss the issues and participate in fair debate with respect to his/her views and qualifications.”
Mike Johnston, an incumbent Republican candidate for town board in Claverack, said he never received a copy of the pledge to sign, or an invitation to the debate.
“I never received an invite, or anything,” he said. “I didn’t know until the day before that it was the next night ... I can’t speak for anybody else, but I did not personally get [the pledge].”
Robert Preusser, another Republican candidate for Claverack town board, RSVP’d to the debate but said he had a prior engagement, representatives from LWV reported on debate night.
Claverack Supervisor Jim Keegan did sign the pledge; Caprino said he is in violation because he did not debate. “He promised to participate in a fair debate, and he doesn’t show up for the only opportunity to debate his opponent in public before the community,” she said. “It’s not as if these debates are once a week. This is the only one.”
Keegan told the Register-Star he signed the pledge, but made an edit to its wording. He said he was willing to follow the rules, but crossed out the “debate” part, “before I even knew they were having one.”
“They never give me a chance to say, ‘I had something that night,’” he said. “They just set a date and say, ‘You will be there.’”
Keegan said he had a family commitment he had to keep that night, and that he never heard verbally from anyone at LWV. “It was just a letter they sent that I signed,” he said. “I never got a call. I never talked to a person.”
Karen Vecellio of the League of Women Voters confirmed that Keegan had crossed out “participate in fair debate.”
“I would say that basically, the statement that he signed is invalid. You can’t selectively adhere to the statement of principles,” she said.
Vecellio said invitations to the debate were mailed to all candidates, as well as the pledge. As far as Johnston’s claim that he did not get either one, she said, “We mailed out pledges to all the candidates whose names were listed on the information we got from the county Board of Elections. Unless they had an incorrect address for him, it certainly was mailed to him.”
Vecellio said the county LWV had no plans to involve the New York state Board of Elections in the matter.
In the town of Kinderhook, incumbent Supervisor Doug McGivney has charged his opponent, Valatie attorney Pat Grattan, with the same violation. McGivney cites letters distributed by individuals on Grattan’s behalf with curious postage on them; the pledge says campaign letters should “clearly identify the candidate and contain the name and address, or other contact information of the sponsor.”
McGivney also cites a letter to the editor from Valatie Mayor Gary Strevell to the Register-Star dated Oct. 20 in support of Grattan that he said “contains many inaccurate statements and constitute an attack upon my character.”
“It’s a small town. Gary Strevell is the Mayor, but he’s a private individual ... I think he’s entitled to his opinion,” Grattan responded. “I can’t tell anybody not to write letters ... it’s not part of my campaign.”
McGivney goes on to say that other statements made in Grattan’s campaign were misleading, including statements indicating that McGivney refused to participate in application of an Energy Onix grant. McGivney said he was never asked to participate.
Grattan said he thought he had “absolutely” upheld the principles in the pledge from LWV.
“I think we’ve run a very clean campaign here,” he said. “If Doug disagrees with Strevell, that’s his right. I’m not going to reign in anybody’s right to free speech.”
McGivney said he hoped Grattan would “take steps to remedy the problem ... up here, they have always participated in the debate. Both sides.”
Vecellio confirmed that McGivney had filed a complaint with the LWV, and added that the LWV board would soon be discussing how to address it.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of registerstar.com.
OV Observer wrote on Oct 30, 2009 11:05 AM:
" I have seen the Kinderhook letter and, in addition to violating the League of Women Voters campaign pledge, it may also violate the regulations of the State Board of Elections, which prohibit the distribution of "falsely identified" writings. The letter in question claims to be from a concerned "ordinary" citizen who "reluctantly" writes to express her dismay at the purportedly malevolent actions of Supervisor McGivney and other Democrats and encourages support for Mr. Grattan. Although the writing style of the letter – as well as its gratuitous praise of Mayor Strevell – suggests that the letter was written by Mayor Strevell himself, the most compelling evidence of its true source comes from the envelope, which is affixed with a union label, a bar code and an uncancelled stamp which reads "Presorted Standard", all hallmarks of a mass mailing carried out by a political organization with considerable financial resources. It therefore seems clear that the letter was intended to mislead; a political attack distributed via the money and organization of the Republican machine, but camouflaged as a letter from an unaffiliated concerned citizen.
As for Mayor Strevell's own editorial in this paper, Mr. Grattan's attempts to disassociate himself from it are disingenuous at best. After all, this is how the Valatie Republicans run a campaign. Mayor Strevell's own campaign this past March was punctuated by a letter from Mr. Grattan, written in his capacity as Village Attorney, in which he voiced his support for his ally Strevell. Another ally, Village Trustee Nancy Bryant, has written on Grattan's behalf this fall, again in her official capacity. Moreover, throughout Mr. Grattan's campaign for Supervisor, Mayor Strevell has obediently served as Mr. Grattan's attack dog, assailing their collective political rivals in the pages of this paper, at Village meetings and on the Village's official website, and thereby allowing Mr. Grattan to portray himself as somehow above the fray. While Mr. Grattan's attempt to distance himself from Mayor Strevell is certainly understandable, it's perfectly obvious to anyone who is paying attention that the two are joined at the hip. A vote for Grattan is a vote for extending the influence and reach of Mayor Strevell. Think about that when you go into the voting booth on Tuesday. "
As for Mayor Strevell's own editorial in this paper, Mr. Grattan's attempts to disassociate himself from it are disingenuous at best. After all, this is how the Valatie Republicans run a campaign. Mayor Strevell's own campaign this past March was punctuated by a letter from Mr. Grattan, written in his capacity as Village Attorney, in which he voiced his support for his ally Strevell. Another ally, Village Trustee Nancy Bryant, has written on Grattan's behalf this fall, again in her official capacity. Moreover, throughout Mr. Grattan's campaign for Supervisor, Mayor Strevell has obediently served as Mr. Grattan's attack dog, assailing their collective political rivals in the pages of this paper, at Village meetings and on the Village's official website, and thereby allowing Mr. Grattan to portray himself as somehow above the fray. While Mr. Grattan's attempt to distance himself from Mayor Strevell is certainly understandable, it's perfectly obvious to anyone who is paying attention that the two are joined at the hip. A vote for Grattan is a vote for extending the influence and reach of Mayor Strevell. Think about that when you go into the voting booth on Tuesday. "
JFromKinderhook wrote on Oct 30, 2009 12:39 PM:
" This story occurs during every local election cycle. It is old and tiring, a terrible distraction, The solution may be to eliminate the pledge. it clearly does not work. The fact that a supposed offended party then resorts to discrediting letter writers and supporters of the opposing candidate is in of itself a violation of the spirit of the pledge. My challenge to the League of Women Voters' is to try something new. "
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stonepound wrote on Oct 30, 2009 6:51 AM: