Indirectly developers are financing Dem Committee’s chosen candidates

To the Editor:
Voters have a right to know who is paying for a candidate’s campaign. In a democracy, it is crucial that candidates for office are as transparent as possible about how they are raising money to pay for the campaign.

Campaign finance laws are not optional and should be followed even if there are no immediate consequences for failure to comply. The voters have an important interest in knowing how a candidate is paying for his or her campaign and from whom the candidate is accepting contributions.

There is an upcoming primary for the Democratic candidates for Guilderland Town Board on June 22, 2021, with early voting through June 20. Four Democrats are vying for two positions on the town board. Two candidates, Christine Napierski and Kevin McDonald, have fully disclosed who is contributing to their campaigns and have promised not to take money from developers. It appears their opponents have not.

There are deadlines for candidates to file the mandatory campaign disclosures listing their expenditures in the primary as well as from whom they have raised it. Only two of the four Democratic candidates, Napierski and McDonald, filed in time to meet deadlines.  

The candidates who did not file in time were incumbent town Councilman Paul Pastore and Guilderland Planning Board member Amanda Beedle. Pastore is a longtime incumbent, having been on the board for 16 years. He is seeking another four-year term. Presumably, with his experience in running for election, he should know the campaign finance rules well.

His opponent Christine Napierski posted on her Facebook page “Friends of Christine Napierski” that Paul Pastore had failed to meet the deadline, which met with a reply from Thomas Remmert, chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals, that the New York State Board of Election website was experiencing technical problems, or in other words, “The dog ate Paul’s homework.”

Shortly after this post on social media, pointing out that Paul had not filed the required disclosure, someone did file a report on behalf of Paul Pastore which indicated that Paul had not spent any money on the primary and had raised exactly $.01.  

How could a candidate be purchasing advertising and campaign flyers without spending, using their own personal funds or raising any money? A generic plastic blue sign that does not even disclose with which party Paul Pastore is affiliated has been used in past elections and is currently posted around the town of Guilderland.

But a campaign typically needs more than just signs and there are flyers circulating around town and ads in this paper for him. An inspection of the advertising and flyers on behalf of Paul Pastore and Amanda Beedle for Guilderland Town Board state that their advertising was paid for by the Guilderland Democratic Committee.  

It’s not unusual for political parties to provide some support to their endorsed candidates, but typically I don’t think they pay for the entire campaign. They’re really putting their thumb on the scale during a primary and you have to ask yourself why. Both Pastore and Beedle have their own committees for the purpose of raising money and purchasing advertising.

According to the NYS Board of Elections website, the Guilderland Democratic Committee has received contributions from numerous developers, Realtors, and firms that do business with the town of Guilderland. Crossgates Land Company, which has the same mailing address as Pyramid Management Group in Syracuse (according to the New York State Secretary of State), has contributed several times to the Guilderland Democratic Committee and to Paul Pastore’s 2017 campaign for town board.   

Developers and other firms that do business with the town of Guilderland are contributing to the Guilderland Democratic Committee, which in turn is now paying for advertising for their endorsed candidates running for Guilderland Town Board: Paul Pastore, who is currently serving on the Guilderland Town Board, and Amanda Beedle, who is currently on the Guilderland Planning Board and running for Guilderland Town Board.

So indirectly developers and other firms are financing the Guilderland Democratic Committee’s chosen candidates.

When the residents of this town appear before the town board, planning board, and zoning board of appeals, they may not be aware that the developer building a project close to their neighborhood may have been contributing to the Guilderland Democratic Committee indirectly and perhaps directly as well to the campaigns of various candidates who are making decisions affecting their lives and the future of our town.   

Even if a resident wanted to know who contributed to a town board member’s campaign, they may not think to search the New York State Board of Elections website every time to see who is donating to the Guilderland Democratic Committee, which is paying for their chosen candidate’s campaign.

So this turns out to be that old game of three shells and a pea. Your guess is as good as anyone’s as to what is going on. You may look up Pastore’s or Beedle’s campaign disclosures at the Board of Elections and never realize that there are contributions from developers being used to finance their campaigns.

To make matters worse, the Guilderland Democratic Committee-endorsed candidates, namely Paul Pastore, have in past elections waited until after the election to file amended disclosures, disclosing their donors.

According to the New York State Board of Elections website, Paul Pastore’s 2017 campaign filed an amended disclosure after the election, disclosing that Crossgates Land Company had donated to his campaign. This information should have been disclosed prior to the election so that any resident who lives in a neighborhood impacted by Crossgates’ expansion, could make an informed decision for whom to vote.

The residents of Guilderland have a right to know that Crossgates Land Company donated to the Guilderland Democratic Committee and to Paul Pastore in recent years. Could this be why our town is fighting to help Pyramid expand its business by adding a massive apartment complex and a Costco big-box store?  

There are two candidates running for the Democratic nomination for Guilderland Town Board who have not taken and will not accept contributions from Crossgates Land Company, or any company related to Pyramid or other developers that may be before the Town boards.

Christine Napierski and Kevin McDonald will be independent with no conflicts of interests, unlike their opponents whose campaigns are being paid for by the Guilderland Democratic Committee and the developers. Please join me in voting for Napierski and McDonald on June 22!

Gordon McClelland

Guilderland

Editor’s note: Gordon McClelland donated $500 each to Christine Napierski’s and to Kevin McDonald’s campaigns — their largest individual contributions. See related story.

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