Lawsuit to stop investigations responds to half-truths, innuendo
Why are we suing our opponents? Because we’ve had enough.
There is really only one allegation against us and the media recycle it again and again. The charge is that Responsible New York — or the people associated with it — somehow coordinated our election efforts with particular candidates. This is categorically untrue and there is no evidence or credible claim to support it.
Coordination means just that—coordinating a campaign with an unauthorized committee to the extent that mailings, voter targets, issues and expenditures are brought into common action or movement. I challenge anyone to produce any evidence of such coordination.
I do not like litigation, but I am forced to it by the constant repetition of baseless allegations by The Buffalo News. The News simply has gone too far, continuing to print the half-truths, innuendo and meritless allegations concerning me, Responsible New York and my associates. Make no mistake, we shall see this through to the end and will be completely vindicated.
The allegations against us are that we knew candidates and knew something of their activities prior to the formation of Responsible New York. That is not coordination. Every election cycle, people who are involved in campaigns and government then leave to work on independent expenditure campaigns.
These charges have been repeated and repeated by the media and as such have taken greater importance only because of the number of times they have been repeated. No independent group has offered any corroboration. The media have failed every test of journalistic standards by printing them without any attempt to ascertain their veracity. Two Erie County district attorneys have rejected the allegations and there is absolutely no evidence that the Albany district attorney is pursuing or will pursue an investigation.
Where do these allegations come from? Two sources. One, the staff of an assemblyman recently admonished by the Assembly Ethics Committee. Second, by Elections Commissioners Dennis Ward and Ralph Mohr.
Let’s examine this. The Board of Elections is the largest patronage bastion in Erie County. Commissioners are chosen not because of any expertise but for faithful service to their party. For instance, Ward is the secretary of the Erie County Democratic Party and chairman of the Amherst Democratic Party. Ward attacks us because we do not support his hand-picked candidates (including his wife). The commissioners actually have a great racket. They are paid more than $100,000 per year for a part-time job and both maintain lucrative law practices.
The way to start cracking down on election offenses is to make Board of Election employees into civil service workers, hired based on objective qualifications instead of the current system where commissioners trade jobs for political gain.
In fact, while Responsible New York did not coordinate with any campaigns, I challenge the Board of Elections and its workers to make the same claim. These employees are the party workers who get petitions, give money and do the work for candidates favored by the party — a clear conflict of interest.
At issue here is nothing less than our city and our region’s future—a future I am heavily invested in. I created a company that created thousands of jobs in Buffalo and Rochester. I bought the Sabres out of bankruptcy to keep the team in Buffalo.
I got involved in these campaigns and pledged my personal resources to these campaigns because I believe the status quo is killing jobs, destroying the economy and tearing families and communities apart.
Politics is about choices. I do not agree with any official 100 percent, nor am I happy about everything that has happened.
I ran for governor three times and co-founded the Independence Party to offer voters a real choice. Last election year, we tried very hard to elect challengers in order to change the status quo. Two incumbents were defeated and the balance of power changed.
Last June, we supported leadership change in the State Senate because leadership had failed. The result took longer than we had hoped but the Senate passed substantial, meaningful rules reform that will change that body for the better.
I continue to believe utterly and completely that only radical change can help upstate New York, but The Buffalo News has tried to thwart change at every turn. In 2008, when we endorsed challengers, The News endorsed incumbent state legislators in 12 of 13 races. It has held me and my associates to a higher standard. Its coverage of Responsible New York Cochairman Steve Pigeon — in terms of frequency, headline size, tenor and headlines — is outrageously biased and borders on hysterical.
Buffalo and all of New York State face serious challenges. There are politicians who regularly and systematically violate election law. There are red-letter violations of the law that somehow garner only a few lines in the media while headlines blare the same old tired attacks on me.
I reiterate: There is no evidence or proof of coordination by Responsible New York or anyone associated with Responsible New York because there was no coordination. I cannot force the media to stop but I do refuse to sit by quietly and take it any more.
Tom Golisano is the founder of Responsible New York.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments
Learn more about our moderation system.