Campaign Spending Questioned In Ossining Justice Race

OSSINING, NY — The hotly contested primary election in Ossining concerns the Democratic race for town justice.

The two men vying for the Democratic line on the November ballot are Mike Tawil, an appointed incumbent who was censured in 2019 by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, and Jeff Gasbarro, a local lawyer who was endorsed by the Ossining Town Democratic Committee.

In New York, all candidates are required to file campaign finance disclosure forms. State law requires a 32 Day Pre-Primary filing, which was due in May, and an 11-day Pre-Primary filing, which was due last week.

Ossining Town Justice Mike Tawil, running in the Democratic primary June 23, has not filed any.

The state's campaign financial disclosure database has eight records for Tawil, including his run for county court judge in 2019, but no filings in 2020. Tawil had not responded to a request for comment by the time this article was published.

According to the database, as of June 16 Jeff Gasbarro has spent $5,921.30.

"It is very important for the integrity of our local court that we have a Town Justice who complies with the law," Gasbarro said in a news release. "If elected, I promise to serve as Town Justice in a fair, impartial, and ethical manner. Ossining deserves better."

Tawil, a previously elected town judge, was appointed at the end of 2019 to serve out the unexpired term of Justice Nancy Quinn-Koba despite just having been censured. SEE: State Censures Ossining Town Justice.

The Commission found that Judge Tawil should be censured for invoking his judicial office during a profane confrontation with store owners over a window display of smoking products, and for making an ethnically derogatory remark as an attorney during his summation in a case and then invoking his judicial office when the trial judge upbraided him for it.

This spring, town Democratic leaders instead picked Gasbarro as their candidate.