Iannello, Mesi seek dueling inquiries
Joe Mesi wants the district attorney to investigate Michele Iannello, and Iannello wants the attorney general to investigate Mesi.
Back-and-forth allegations of election impropriety are the latest chapter in what is becoming an increasingly ugly campaign for the 61st State Senate seat.
“We all want to make sure this is a fair election, a clean election,” said Mesi campaign manager Nicki Weiner.
Mesi, a Democrat and former professional boxer, sent a letter this week asking District Attorney Frank Clark to investigate Elections Commissioner Dennis Ward.
Ward is Iannello’s husband and the brother of Daniel Ward, the other Democrat running for the Senate.
Mesi charged Dennis Ward with using his office and Board of Elections employees to benefit his wife’s Democratic primary campaign. He also noted that Ward loaned $8,000 to his wife’s campaign.
“Those are just allegations without proof,” Iannello, a county legislator, said Friday. “There’s been no improper use of board employees.”
Mesi’s allegations followed a request from Citizen Action of New York, a
statewide good-government group, that Dennis Ward recuse himself from the election.
The group sent a letter to Ward suggesting he abstain from any board decisions involving disputes among the three Senate candidates.
“Dennis is a fine man,” said Citizen Action President Ellen Kennedy of Buffalo. “We just want to avoid any problems down the road.”
Ward said that he plans to do just that and, in fact, it’s Board of Elections policy for commissioners to recuse themselves whenever a conflict of interest arises. “That’s a long-standing tradition,” he said. “It’s not necessary, but it’s the right thing to do.”
The allegations of election wrongdoing are nothing new to this race. Iannello has spent the past several weeks questioning Mesi’s relationship with Responsible New York, the political committee created by Buffalo Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano.
Iannello claims Golisano’s committee has broken state election law by exceeding the legal limits for contributions while working hand in hand with Mesi’s campaign.
Mesi, meanwhile, is dealing with revelations that his Organ Donation Foundation paid his father, Jack Mesi, $16,500 in salary over a four-year period while handing out only $13,500 in grants.
“Both my father and I have given countless talks and appearances in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation,” Mesi said in a statement. “I am sure the money paid to my father during those years barely covered his expenses.”
Mesi’s claims were echoed by executives at Kenmore Mercy Hospital and Upstate New York Transplant Services.
“We are grateful for all of the work Joe Mesi and his foundation have done on behalf of organ donation,” said John Herman, chief operating officer at Kenmore Mercy Hospital. “The project has been a success, and we feel it had a positive impact on organ donations.”
Democrats Mesi, Iannello and Ward are running for a seat now held by Republican Mary Lou Rath, who is retiring. The winner of the primary will face County Legislator Michael Ranzenhofer, a Republican, in November.
