The three winning candidates in the March election for Buchanan village board acted unfairly when they mailed a flyer with false information about their Republican opponent, according to the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee.
Al Donahue, a former GOP mayor who was seeking a return to office, had complained to the committee that a mailer falsely claimed he had negotiated and signed the original PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) program with Entergy, the company that owns Indian Point. The agreement, however, was signed after he had left the mayor’s office in 2002.
In finding in Donahue’s favor, the committee ruled that a document signed by him in 2001—the “Real Property Tax Implementing Agreement for Indian Point 3 Nuclear Power Plant”—and featured on the mailer was not the same as the actual PILOT deal signed the following year.
“These three Trustees made these false accusations while still in Office, lending the appearance of an official declaration to their intentional lies,” Donahue wrote in his complaint. “This mailing, made at a time when these Trustees knew and possessed proof their allegation to be false, was made so close to the Election date I was precluded from refuting their lies with concrete evidence.”
Donahue’s opponents—Incumbent Trustees Richard Funchion and Nick Zachary, plus newly elected mayor Theresa Knickerbocker—argued the language they used was entirely truthful, and Donahue misled the committee about what taxpayers were told. They called his charges “entirely false and baseless,” adding that their mailer did not say if a PILOT agreement was depicted.
Indian Point was a hotly-debated issue in the campaign, with Donahue and his running mate calling for a hardline stance on pursuing future tax dollars from Entergy Corp. The owner of the nuclear power plant has paid about $1.9 million annually to the village under a payment in lieu of taxes agreement expiring in 2015.
Knickerbocker and her team suggested the village pursue a more measured approach, acknowledging that there are major unknowns regarding the power plant.
The complaint to the committee, the only one made in Westchester County regarding the March 18 election, was heard on Friday after being submitted in the days following the vote.
The committee is tasked with accepting written complaints about alleged improper campaign practices and determining whether the action complained about is unfair. It does not serve as body to enforce election law or make legal decisions.
Photo: Al Donahue
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