Independence Party leader resigns in Monroe County after bribe claims
Davis campaign paid $5,000 to wife
The chairman of the Monroe County Independence Party has resigned after his wife accepted $5,000 in what party officials call “bribe money” from the campaign of Democratic congressional candidate Jack Davis.
Rafael Colon, a Rochester resident who works in a Batavia factory, quit his local and state positions after Monroe County Independence Party officials confronted him over the payment, according to Walter Schiemann, interim chairman.
“It’s all about what we call the bribe money from Jack Davis,” Schiemann said. “I’m not going to let this party fall into hands like that.”
The Buffalo News reported July 18 that Colon’s wife had received $5,000 from Davis under her maiden name for “campaign consulting.” The wife of Anthony L. Orsini, chairman of the Erie County Independence Party, also received $5,000 from Davis for “campaign consulting” through a firm she established in the couple’s Florida mobile home earlier this year.
Colon and Orsini are the party’s two most influential chairmen in the 26th Congressional District, now represented by the retiring Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-Clarence. The party has nominated Anthony A. Fumerelle, a Kenmore attorney and Orsini’s godson, as its candidate for the post.
But Orsini previously acknowledged that Fumerelle could end up “holding the line” until September, when he could receive an Independence nomination for State Supreme Court and be replaced with a major party candidate.
Orsini said the uncertainty surrounding the three-way Democratic primary for the Reynolds seat forced the party into taking advantage of election law technicalities until after the September contest.
“It’s too much of a mess out there,“ Orsini said last month, referring to the three-way Democratic race. “We don’t know who is going to win the Democratic primary.”
Schiemann, however, said Monday that he has no intention of collaborating with Orsini to replace Fumerelle. That could allow Fumerelle to draw votes away from the Democratic or Republican candidates and diminish the importance the third line on the ballot was expected to hold in this year’s congressional election.
“It can’t possibly work,” Schiemann said. “For Supreme Court, we’ll put who we want in there.
“Orsini does not control this party,” he added. “[Substituting the candidate] may have been a consideration that Colon and he had, but not for me.”
Schiemann said Monday that Colon evaded party officials for eight days as they attempted to discuss the situation. When he finally returned his call, Schiemann said, he told Colon he had done wrong and needed to resign.
“We can’t get them out of the party,” he said of the Colons, “but we can keep them from having any power.”
He also said the fact that the payments were made to Colon’s wife under her maiden name of Blanca Semidey underscored the party’s concerns over their questionable nature.
“It’s definitely a bribe — absolutely,” Schiemann said, adding that the resignation may satisfy party officials and preclude further discussions with the Monroe County district attorney.
Orsini said earlier this month that the services provided by Coastal Consulting South of Venice, Fla. — headed by his wife, Judith — represented a legitimate enterprise.
“She gives [Davis] names of contacts; that’s what he wanted her to do,” Orsini said. “It’s got nothing to do with the endorsement.”
While Schiemann described the payments as a bribe, Davis spokesman Luke Vaughn said they were legitimate.
“The goal of the payments was to help build relationships with Independence Party members, and that effort continues,” he said.
