Dear Editor,
I am writing this before the results of Tuesday’s Village of Owego elections are known because I do not want it to be seen as “sour grapes” or “piling on”, whichever way the election goes. Elections are a way that citizens show what they want their community to be and how they want that to happen. Elections occur within a tight legal process so that the results accurately reflect the will of the electorate. There are laws about how to get on a ballot, what ballot line a party is on, how an election is conducted, etc.
There are also laws on financial disclosure so that voters can know how a campaign was funded, who donated how much and what it was spent on. This year one political party in the Village of Owego election filed “No Activity” for the mandatory 32 day and 11 day pre-election financial disclosure reports with the New York State Board of Elections, www.elections.ny.gov.
A “No Activity” report means that there were no donations and no expenditures 32 days and 11 days before the election. You’ve seen the large signs and received many mailings. Were they done with no money?
The same political party sent out a campaign piece last year that was mislabeled as an official government mailing. A political consulting firm, Brightside Communications, LLC, ran their Village of Owego election campaign last year and developed the illegal “survey” mailed as official. We don’t know if Brightside Communications, LLC is running this year’s campaign because the mandatory campaign finance reports have been filed as “No Activity”(no money spent).
The purpose of this letter is to let Village of Owego voters know that big money campaign spending and professional political operatives are becoming the norm in Village of Owego elections. On the national political scene both parties are in revolt over the role that secret contributions and invisible consultants play in politics. If that’s what you want in Owego, then do nothing. But if you think that local politics emulating the national dysfunctional process isn’t a good idea, then speak out, speak to candidates and tell them that integrity in your elections is important to you.
Sincerely,
Kevin Millar
Owego, N.Y.
