Panel Deems Democrat Advertisements Unfair

Advertisements bashing Harrison council candidate and former supervisor Steve Malfitano were "unfair" and should not have appeared in local newspapers and circulated literature, according to a ruling by a League of Women Voters panel.

Malfitano and supervisor candidate Ron Belmont brought the complaints against current supervisor Joan Walsh at a meeting Tuesday evening.

Most notably, the advertisements placed Harrison's current debt on the shoulders of Malfitano (R), referencing "his" spending or "his debt" as a reason for the town's financial problems in recent years. The LWV panel decided this wasn't fair, mostly because Malfitano represented one of five votes on the board.

Another complaint focused on a palm card promoting incumbent councilman Patrick Vatere (D). The card reads: "Pat has been standing up for taxpayers on the Town Board, voting against Steve Malfitano's irresponsible gimmicks". The panel noted that Vetere actually voted with Malfitano on a regular basis during their shared time on the board.

The panel reviewed a total of five complaints. At least one aspect of all five complaints was determined to be unfair. Most of the complaints were focused on the debt. Other complaints cited miss quoting from a comptroller's report released in December that criticized Harrison's budgeting practices. Other complaints were on smaller items, like that placement of "candidate for" on political signs for non-incumbent candidates Howard Hollander and Frank Corvino.

The forum decided that quotes about Harrison's use of one-time expenditures and the use of sales to fund operations taken from a 2010 audit were fair because they were quoted correctly, although the criticisms in the audit were applied over both the Walsh and Maflitano administration.

Malfitano and Belmont were critical of the Walsh team in their response to the findings.

"Joan Walsh and Pat Vetere have intentionally misled Harrison residents. Their campaign practices, particularly with regard to spending and town finances, are unfair," Malfitano said in a statement. "Harrison deserves better."

Belmont said the campaign ads show that Democrats aren't interested in avoiding mudslinging, something both sides said they hoped for before the election season began.

"It goes against what we agreed would be a campaign that was going to be centered on issues and accomplishments," he said, also in a statement. "It is obvious from (Walsh's) unfair campaign practices that she has no issues or accomplishments on which to campaign.”

Walsh downplayed the panel's findings, saying that although using the word gimmicks was a mistake in one specific ad, she stands by her party's assertion that projects approved under the Malfitano administration led to many of the financial problems Harrison has experienced in recent years.

"Steve can say what he wants," she said. "But he was the guiding force behind all of those projects."

The LWV panel does not stand as a disciplinary body and does not evaluate actual legal complaints, so the Walsh campaign won't face any disciplinary measures as a result of the decisions.

Walsh will seek her third term in office against Belmont on Nov. 8. Malfitano, Howard Hollander (D) and incumbents Fred Sciliano (R) and Vetere will run for two open seats on the town council.

The LWV decisions as well as the December 2010 audit of the town’s finances are attached to this article.