Pay-to-Play? Supervisor’s Sole Outside Campaign Donor Benefits from Decision

Dick’s campaign finance manager was
so busy buying Charlie McCluskey’s
soul he couldn’t be bothered with
state finance laws.

Dr. Dick was extra keen on being town supervisor; so keen in fact that he funded his campaign entirely out of his own pocket. As engrossed as he was in his role-playing game, he blatantly overlooked the state campaign finance laws, filing precisely zero of the required campaign disclosure reports until the board of elections slapped his wrist. After being chewed out, he begrudgingly filed ONE report–still not compliant, but hey, apparently being supervisor means you can ignore pesky laws.

Publicly available reports available on the BOE website show Dick’s lust for the job burned so badly that he dumped half his annual salary on getting elected – a cool $33,000. (Small wonder he reneged on that campaign pledge to forgo his raise.) At least $5,000 of that went to fund fawning coverage in the Village’s vanity so-called newspaper, the Hornet. It just goes to prove that if you can’t get good coverage from real newspapers, deep enough pockets can ensure adequate coverage from a self-published yellow tabloid. Another $13,000 went to mailing his smarmy mugshot to residents (“Dick who?”). Dick was sure jonesing for the supervisor job; it makes you wonder why he doesn’t put more effort into doing what he was elected to do.

The same reports reveal a fun fact: Dick received, count carefully, one actual campaign donation. Intriguingly, this donation was received in February 2018 – well after the election – from an individual identified in public records as an owner of property on Old Post Road. Said property is home to number of apartments near Aroma restaurant and Adams Fairacre Farms, and said donation was made surprisingly soon after the owner was told he could tie into the town water line that serves those two businesses. This will allow him to erect more apartments there and substantially inflate the value of his property. A sterling example of how to boost the town economy, this is not. More like a perfect example of “pay for play” and unethical behavior. Dick: Doesn’t taking $1,000 from someone who sat before the town board and begged for a boon seem like textbook corruption?

As a footnote on the subject of ethics and lack of responsibility, Dr. Dick has not filed any other required disclosure reports, both before and subsequent to the election. Since Mr. Shah’s money should still be sitting in Dick’s account, such filings are required until Dick decides to stop playing elected official and go home. Assuming the money hasn’t already disappeared into Dick’s pockets, of course.