Posted on 06/25/2002 5:09:58 AM PDT by areafiftyone
YONKERS - A News 12 Westchester investigation finds the Yonkers Democratic City Committee, which is a political fundraising group, has been in violation of state law for years. The law maintains that if you run for political office or form a political committee and raise money, you must file financial disclosure forms.
The law is designed to keep candidates, committees or political parties honest. Legally, they must report all the money taken in and spent on political campaigns. Those who don't file on time could face fines. Any false information can result in jail time.
News 12 Westchester's Tracy Everson reports that many of the committee's disclosure forms turned up only after News 12 Westchester requested to see them.
It's a trail that should be fairly easy to track thanks to the public disclosure law. It's designed to keep candidates, committees or political parties, honest. Legally, they must report all the money taken in, and spent on political campaigns.
Those who don't file on time could face fines. Any false information can result in jail time. Yet, at least one fundraising group, the Yonkers Democratic City Committee, has been violating the law for years. Many of their forms turned up only after News 12 Westchester requested to see them.
"I should think its very troubling."
That's what Pace University law professor and ethics specialist Jay Carlisle had to say after News 12 Westchester showed him what we found. Proof that the Yonkers Democratic City Committee is violating state election law. Here's why: any Westchester political candidate, party or committee must file two mandatory financial reports a year in January and July. More in an election year. And the records should be on file at the Westchester Board of Elections in White Plains.
"The law asks you to file the law doesn't say you can wait til somebody forces you to file," Carlisle said.
That's what happened in one instance after we started asking questions.
Questions surrounding the 2000 Yonkers City Primary, when hundreds of absentee ballot votes were thrown out following an election fraud scandal.
This spring after the ballot harvesting trial of Dennis Wedra, the head of the Yonkers Democratic Club, wrapped up, we decided to come here, to the board of elections, and look at the financial disclosure statements for the Democratic Club and other democrats out of Yonkers. And what we found out about the Yonkers Democratic City Committee was quite surprising.
We got only four reports from 1998 on. And all of them came in only after we filed a request to see them. The date stamped April 16th of this year for reports due over the past three years.
Pauline Galvin chairs the Yonkers Democratic City Committee.
"Instead of people thinking that the democratic party...the democratic city committee is hiding something...we got something in there...as opposed to nothing...and leave it up in the air," Galvin said.
Still missing, key filings surrounding the September 2000 Yonkers primary when the ballot fraud scandal was unfolding. Galvin, who is an attorney by trade, blames the past treasurer Linda Blake. But Blake, who declined our request for an on-camera interview, says Galvin and the board of elections knew she'd resigned in 1999; so she was no longer responsible. The person who did file the forms William Stallings, who is not a treasurer of record.
Democratic Elections Cmsr Reginald Lafayette said, "This is still considered not filed because its not correct."
We showed Westchester's election commissioners what we uncovered. Carolee Sunderland is the Republican Elections Commissioner.
"The power of the press has more credence than what we do sometimes..it shouldn't," Sunderland said.
"Maybe its because they want to comply with you more so than us," Lafayette continued.
Democrat Reginald Lafayette in turn, revealed several years worth of correspondence from the board of elections...going after the Yonkers Democratic City Committee to comply with the financial disclosure law.
"What we have here is a couple of notices from the board of elections and by the commissioners for all statements from 1999, 2000,and 2001," Lafayette added.
The letters were sent to Blake, the treasurer who had resigned, and Galvin as chair of the committee.
"I was sent notification that they were looking for the filings," Galvin said.
Yet, the forms weren't handed in, until we asked to see them. Plus, many have still not been filed, including those involving the controversial September 2000 primary. Back then an absentee ballot rigging scheme was unfolding in Yonkers.
The scheme involved Phil Werbel, a democrat for City Court Judge, who ran away from our camera in February after pleading guilty to one count of election misconduct. Werbel shared office space with this man, Dennis Wedra. Wedra runs the Yonkers Democratic Club. And the Yonkers Democratic City Committee also rents space there but nobody was talking.
"I'm not talking to News 12....shuts the door," Wedra said.
Wedra was paid by republicans and democrats to collect petition signatures for several candidates. In February, a jury acquitted him of any wrongdoing in the fraud case.
But did democratic organizations benefit, financially, from the scheme ?
A close inspection of financial reports from the Democratic Club, the City Committee, Werbel's campaign and other political funds controlled by Galvin, reveal money was being moved from one entity to the other. Which is allowed if properly noted. Pauline Galvin the head of the Yonkers Democrats also controlled the chairwoman's trust. The day before Election Day 2000 the trust contributed $1,900 to the Yonkers City Committee.
That amount did show up in that committee's report but it was dated several days prior. A transaction that didn't necessarily correspond on the financial disclosure reports.
Again, it was not until News 12 Westchester asked to see the financial disclosure forms that anything turned up at the board of elections.
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