Thompson: Island GOP broke law

State Supreme Court filing is planned

by Karen Keefe
Grand Island Dispatch, December 2, 2005

Unsuccessful county Legislature write-in candidate Rus Thompson has filed a complaint alleging Election Law violations by the Republican committees of Grand Island and the county Legislature’s 10th District. The Grand Island resident’s complaint was filed with Erie County’s Republican and Democratic elections commissioners.

Thompson said the committees broke the law with improper campaign contributions and illegal signs, leading up to the Sept. 13 primary election.

Alleged ‘criminal offenses’

“There’s not supposed to be any financial help or public promotion” by the political parties before the primary, Thompson said. “According to the law, they’re actually criminal offenses.”

But according to Bruce Kaiser, a registered Conservative who won the GOP primary, Thompson’s allegations are baseless.

Despite securing the GOP and Conservative lines, Kaiser lost the 10th District seat to Democrat Michele Iannello in the Nov. 8 general election. The seat is now held by Chuck Swanick, a 25-year veteran of the Legislature who did not run for re-election.

GOP: ‘Nothing illegal done’

Kaiser said there was nothing illegal or improper done in his campaign.

Grand Island Republican Committee Chairman Dick Planavsky said: “Our committee is very careful to abide by all election laws and rules, and I’m confident that we did that in this case.”

Thompson, a registered Republican, contends that he might have won the seat, if not for illegal behavior by the Kaiser campaign and the Republicans.

“I beat him in every part of the district but Grand Island,” Thompson said. He pointed out $1,500 in pre-primary monetary contributions from the Island GOP committee, as well as promotions of Kaiser as part of its team, all of which he said were unlawful. “That could very well have had an effect” on his loss, he said.

Lawyers examined all

Kaiser counters, “I think he’s just unaware of the real timeframes.” The winner said, “We had our lawyers look at (everything) very carefully,” to make sure the filings properly met the law and the deadlines.

In reviewing Kaiser’s pre-primary campaign finance records, Thompson said he found five violations of the law.

Money and publicity

•Specifically, Thompson charges that the Grand Island GOP committee, in care of Chairman Richard Planavsky, made a cash donation of $1,000 to the Kaiser campaign on July 5, violating the provision that prohibits contributing money to primary campaigns.

•Also, he alleges that a $500 contribution was made to Kaiser’s campaign on Aug. 23 by “Friends of the Chairman.”

•And, he claims that illegal signs were put up at Staley and Baseline roads and at Grand Island Boulevard and Webb Road 10 days before the primary. He said the violation is that the signs promoted primary candidate Kaiser for Legislature as part of the Republican team.

Parade sign challenged

•Thompson also said that in the July 4 parade on the Island, the town GOP committee pulled a billboard on a trailer that promoted Kaiser as part of the Republican team. “This billboard was also displayed at all their party/committee functions thereafter,” Thompson’s complaint said.

And Thompson notes that the name of Mark Frentzel, then a primary candidate for town justice, was also on the signs. Frentzel also was victorious in November.

“When the chairman of the Grand Island Republican committee, Richard Planavsky, was informed that the signs were in violation of New York state Election Law … he stated he could care less, or words to that effect,” Thompson’s complaint said.

Few Primary Expenses

Further, Thompson notes in his complaint that in the post-primary reports filed by the Kaiser committee, there are no expenditures for the primary except for $789.96 for updated polling by Barry Zeplowitz Associates of Buffalo.

“This raises the question, who or what committee paid for all the district-wide mailings before Sept. 13 sent out by the Kaiser campaign. There were at least five,” Thompson’s complaint states.

Write-in Votes ‘Denied’

Thompson also claims voters were denied the right to cast write-in votes or denied assistance in such balloting. He said formal complaints about the write-in balloting have been filed with the state Board of Elections and the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Thompson said his lawyer, James Ostrowski of Buffalo, would next file in state Supreme Court.