County Fair Campaign Practices Committee Releases Findings in Rosenblum vs. Natchez

The following two releases are from the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee:

FINDINGS IN THE COMPLAINT OF NORMAN S. ROSENBLUM AGAINST DANIEL S. NATCHEZ, CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR OF THE VILLAGE OF MAMARONECK

HARTSDALE, NY (October 28, 2015) - The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee met on October 27, 2015, to hear the complaint of Norman S. Rosenblum, candidate for Mayor of the Village of Mamaroneck, against Daniel S. Natchez, candidate for the same position. Mayor Rosenblum was represented by Mr. Andres J. Bermudez-Hallstrom; Mr. Natchez was represented by Mr. Thomas Caruso and Ms. Liz Shollenberger.

COMPLAINT:
Mayor Rosenblum complained that an advertisement and mailer by Mr. Natchez depicted four Village projects with the unfair headline “Mayor Rosenblum Projects,” and made assertions about each project which were misleading.

FINDINGS:

UNFAIR: The words “Mayor Rosenblum Projects” imply full responsibility for these projects by Mayor Rosenblum, when in fact his vote was only one of four or five trustees voting on them. It would have been fair to state that “Mayor Rosenblum supported these projects.”

UNFAIR: The section on the Bridge project fails to mention that the bridge is co-owned by the Village of Mamaroneck and the Town of Rye, and that the costs are shared equally. It also mentioned that the project is “in litigation,” but fails to state that the litigation has been brought by the Village against the contractor, not the reverse as might be assumed by the context of the material.

UNFAIR: The banner at the bottom of the material states “Mismanagement of $2.3 million costs.” This number is an overstatement because it includes all of the bridge costs, when one half was the responsibility of the Town of Rye. Nor is the estimate of what FEMA might pay considered.

FAIR: The section on the Parks Building project stated that “FEMA funds could have been better used,” and is normal political discourse.

UNFAIR: Plus (“+”) signs have been shown after each of the cost overrun findings, which most people would assume means “might be added costs.” No convincing evidence was presented as to whether those plus (+) signs were valid in all four cases, nor does the material make clear whether the number is “total cost” or “overage.”

FINDINGS IN THE COMPLAINTS OF DANIEL S. NATCHEZ, CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR, VILLAGE OF MAMARONECK, AND THOMAS H. BURT, CANDIDATE FOR TRUSTEE, VILLAGE OF MAMARONECK, AGAINST NORMAN S. ROSENBLUM AND LOUIS N. SANTORO, CANDIDATES FOR THE SAME POSITIONS, RESPECTIVELY

HARTSDALE, NY (October 28, 2015) - The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee met on October 27, 2015, to hear the complaints of Daniel S. Natchez, candidate for Mayor, Village of Mamaroneck, and Thomas H. Burt, candidate for Trustee, against Norman S. Rosenblum and Louis N. Santoro, candidates for the same position, respectively. Mr. Natchez and Mr. Burt were represented by Mr. Thomas Caruso and Ms. Liz Shollenberger. Mr. Rosenblum and Mr. Santoro were represented by Andres J. Bermudez-Hallstrom.

COMPLAINT: Messrs. Natchez and Burt complained that the “palm card” (a small brochure intended to be handed out to the public) of Messrs. Rosenblum and Santoro incorrectly listed Messrs. Rosenblum and Santoro as appearing on ballot lines B, C and E whereas the Westchester County Board of Elections had denied Messrs. Rosenblum and Santoro line E because of insufficient valid signatures on the nominating petition. These facts were not disputed.
FINDING: UNFAIR. Use of the incorrect palm card is unfair because it is misleading to the public and Messrs. Rosenblum and Santoro failed to either have the palm cards corrected or reprinted correctly.

COMPLAINT: Messrs. Natchez and Burt complained that the “palm card” of Messrs. Rosenblum and Santoro incorrectly states that they have “continued flood mitigation river silt removal” whereas in fact there has been no river dredging in certain recent years.
FINDING: UNFAIR. The claim that the village was doing river silt removal throughout the period claimed is untrue, even though the village administration may have been doing other types of flood mitigation in those years.

COMPLAINT: Messrs. Natchez and Burt complained that the “palm card” and other campaign items of Messrs. Rosenblum and Santoro use the phrase “KEEP MAMARONECK NUMBER ONE!!!” without citing any source.
FINDING: FAIR. The use of such phrases in campaign literature is normal political discourse or rhetoric.

Committee Members: Victor J. Goldberg, [Chair], Miriam Cohen [Coordinator], Paul C. Atkinson, Elizabeth Bermel, Gisele Castro, Daniel S. Franklin, Jr., LaRuth Gray, Susan Guma, Lee Kinnally, Robert C. Kirkwood, Polly Kuhn, Philip M. Maley, Harry Phillips III, Joy Rosenzweig, Susan Schwarz, Evelyn M. Stock

Party representatives (ex officio): Republican Party, Democratic Party, Conservative Party, Working Families Party, Independence Party, Green Party, Reform Party

The purpose of the Westchester Fair Campaign Committee is to promote a climate in which candidates conduct honest and fair campaigns. The Committee encourages candidates to conduct campaigns openly and fairly, to discuss issues, to refrain from dishonest and defamatory attacks, and not to use campaign materials that distort the facts.

The Committee does not sit as a censor of political discussion nor as a body to enforce election law or make legal decisions. Its task is to accept written complaints about alleged unfair campaign practices and to determine whether the action complained about is indeed unfair. Among other things, the Committee will consider to be unfair any campaign practice that is a misstatement of a material fact or that misleads the public.

The Committee has no power to compel anyone to stop doing what it has found to be unfair. If the Committee acts on a complaint, it will release its findings to inform the public. The Committee may choose not to consider a complaint; in that case, a hearing is not held and the parties to the complaint are notified.

Statement of Principles of the Committee, as stated in its Manual, is available at www.faircampaignpractices.org. The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee believes that candidates should conduct their campaigns in accordance with the following principles:

• The candidate will conduct a campaign for public office openly and fairly. The candidate will discuss the issues and participate in fair debate with respect to her/his views and qualifications.
• The candidate will neither engage in nor be involved with unfair or misleading attacks upon the character of an opponent, nor will the candidate engage in invasions of personal privacy unrelated to fitness for office.
• The candidate will not participate in or condone an appeal to prejudice.
• The candidate will neither use nor be involved with the use of any campaign material or advertisements that misrepresent or distorts the facts.
• The candidate will clearly identify by name the source of all advertisements and campaign literature published and distributed.
• The candidate will not abuse the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee process in order to obtain political advantage.

The candidate will publicly repudiate materials or actions from any individual or group that would violate the Statement of Principles.