Campaign Watchdog Tweaks, Upholds 'Unfair' Finding Against Murphy

Terrence Murphy, who is running for re-election to the state Senate, challenged the Westchester Fair Campaign Practices Committee's recent findings for inaccuracy. In response, the committee re-worked its fourth finding.

The committee had met Oct. 18 to consider four complaints brought by Peter Harckham, who is challenging Murphy for the 40th District State Senate seat. The committee found Murphy's ads misleading, false and unfair, including one for which he had been criticized by the committee months before.

Murphy's campaign challenged another of the findings, which referenced the non-profit agency A-Home's formation of a separate entity, A-Home Community Enterprises, in 2005 while Harckham was its president. A-Home Community Enterprises became the non-profit sponsor for Conifer, the company developing a controversial affordable housing project called Chappaqua Station, in 2010.

The committee in response re-worked and re-issued its fourth finding:

COMPLAINT #4: Peter Harckham complains that Senator Murphy falsely alleges that Mr. Harckham "...voted to give millions of taxpayer dollars to Conifer the construction company and A-Home, a non-profit that Harckham previously served as president of." Mr. Harckham complains that Mr. Murphy's statement that A-Home was involved in this project, and his implication of a conflict of interest on the part of Mr. Harckham, is not factual, as well as the statement that "this is just another conflict of interest scandal regarding State Senate candidate Peter Harckham."

FINDING: UNFAIR

Peter Harckham was president of A-Home from 2004 – 2007. He was not a member of that Board going forward. A separate 501(c)(3) entity called A-Home Community Enterprises was formed in 2005. From 2005 through 2007 there was a unity of board members between A- Home and A-Home Community Enterprises. A-Home Community Enterprises, which subsequently changed its name in 2012 to Allied Community Enterprises, was involved with the Conifer project that began in 2010. The County Executive and County Board of Legislators conditionally approved the Conifer project and funding in the fall of 2014. Since Peter Harckham's affiliation with A-Home ended seven years before the project was approved, there is no conflict of interest and the statement is false, as is the statement "another conflict of interest scandal regarding State Senate candidate Peter Harckham." Both statements are in violation of two of the Committee's principles: “The candidate will not use or condone any campaign material or advertisement that misstates, misrepresents or distorts material fact or any communication that misleads the public” and "The candidate will neither engage in nor be involved with false or misleading attacks upon the character of an opponent...”

“These rulings by the FCPC confirm Terrence Murphy’s campaign routinely engaged in unfair campaign practices,” said Harckham. “He deliberately made unsubstantiated allegations and spread falsehoods in an attempt to distract the public from the real issues in this race such as women’s reproductive health, common sense gun safety, adequate school funding, justice for child abuse victims and other topics."

New York State Senate District 40 includes parts of Northern Westchester (Briarcliff Manor, Buchanan, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Salem, Peekskill, Pleasantville, Pound Ridge, Sleepy Hollow, Somers, Yorktown) Putnam (Brewster, Carmel, Patterson, Southeast) and Dutchess (Beekman, Pawling).

Image via Shutterstock

SEE: Campaign Watchdog Finds Murphy's Ads Unfair

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