Steve Pigeon

Today Buffalo News politics reporter Bob McCarthy writes that GOP county election commissioner Ralph Mohr is asking DAs an three counties—Erie, Genesee, and Niagara—to investigate Steve Pigeon’s squirrelly campaign finance maneuvers. In doing so, he joins Sam Hoyt operative Jeremy Toth, who has asked the DAs in Erie, Monroe, and Albany counties to investigate Responsible New York, the $5 million committee funded by Tom Golisano and directed by Pigeon. Toth alleges that Responsible New York illegally coordinated its activities with the Barbra Kavanaugh campaign. Rivals of Joe Mesi, whom Responsible New York supports for the 61st District State Senate seat, have made the same accusation of coordination, which is a felony.

According to McCarthy’s piece, Mohr has latched onto Citizens for Fiscal Integrity, which was started in 2005 and spent a great deal of money on Erie County Legislature races that year; among its donors were the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, which gave an eye-popping $20,000, and then County Executive Joel Giambra, who gave $11,000.

Here’s the registration form for CFI. A curious fact: Angela Irvin, designated as CFI’s treasurer, was just 18 when this form was filed in 2005, and registered to vote at 119 Treehaven Road, which is Steve Pigeon’s mother’s house. The other authorized check signer for CFI, Alexandra Lawkowski, is also known as Alexandra Schmid, who also worked for Change WNY Now, a Pigeon-controlled PAC, and for People for Accountable Government, another Pigeon-controlled PAC run by Pigeon’s ally David Pfaff.

Earlier this year Schmid received $1,000 in consulting fees from CFI, which itself received $4,000 from Responsible New York. CFI also gave $1,000 to Mesi, $500 to Kavanaugh, and $500 to Frank Sedita—the front-runner for Erie County DA, who, if elected, will decide whether to investigate Pigeon’s money-handling. CFI made these donations even as it was, according to its campaign finance disclosure forms, in the hole more than $7,000. So CFI, with no money of its own to give, must have acted as a pass-through—laundering Responsible New York money, essentially, as Mohr alleges in his complaint.

This presumes, of course, a faith in the accuracy of CFI’s campaign finance filings. That faith is difficult to sustain: The committee quit reporting after a flurry of initial activity in 2005, then suddenly began filing again this year, when election officials began to scrutinize the committee’s finances. One curiosity that scrutiny uncovered, according to a source at the Erie County Board of Elections, is a habit of skipped checks in the committee’s checkbook. For example, there might be accounts of check numbers 1001-1005…and then the next check accounted for is number 1014. What happened to all the checks in between?

Unfortunately for Pigeon, it seems Tom Golisano is not so careless with his checks. According to Mohr’s complaint, Golisano signed a Responsible New York check and noted on the memo line that it paid for consulting fees in the 61st District. An unauthorized committee such as Responsible New York may purchase advertising for a candidate it supports, but it may not directly purchase services for that candidate. It may not pay a consultant to the candidate. That would constitute coordination.

Last month, Golisano told Artvoice that what Responsible New York’s discosure filings called “consulting” fees—specifically, consulting fees paid to Pigeon’s firm, Landen LLC—were in fact used to purchase radio and TV advertising. He said the disclosure forms were “wrong.” Perhaps that’s the case, too, with the check Mohr is waving around now.

Former Erie County Democratic Party chairman Steve Pigeon at the DNC in Denver.

Throughout the Sam Hoyt-Barbra Kavanaugh campaign and after it, Hoyt supporter Jeremy Toth accused Responsible New York—the commitee funded by Paychex founder and Sabres owner Tom Golisano and managed by former Erie County Democratic Party chairman Steve Pigeon—of illegally coordinating its activities with Kavanaugh’s operation.

Unauthorized committees can spend as much as they’d like to support a candidate, but they can’t coordinate their activities with that candidate’s authorized committee; if they could, contribution limits would be rendered meaningless. Such coordination is a felony.

Last week Toth present his case to Erie County District attorney Frank Clark, who this week got a hold of Buffalo News political reporter Bob McCarthy, who subsequently wrote this piece about Toth’s allegations. Clark told McCarthy he would consider the evidence of coordination Toth had presented.

Toth has sent his package of materials to District Attorney Mike Green of Monroe County (where responsible New York is headquartered) and District Attorney P. David Soares of Albany County. You can have a look at  Toth’s case for yourself. The first four pages make the argument; everything that follows is supporting evidence.

Some of the main points:

—Pigeon was an authorized check signer for Joe Mesi’s campaign, and Mesi subsequently benefited from Responsible New York once it was formed in July (Michele Ianello, one of Mesi’s primary opponents, made the same complaint to state election officials; her complaint is included in Toth’s materials);
—Pigeon associate Jack O’Donnell worked on the Kavanaugh campaign while simultaneously helping to organize Responsible New York;
—O’Donnell subsequently benefited financially from Responsible New York’s expenditures on behalf of Kavanaugh;
—further overlap between personnel associated with both those two campaigns and with Responsible New York render incredible the notion that there was no communication between the camps;
—the manner in which Kavanaugh’s campaign spent money suggests its operatives knew how and when Responsible New York would use its resources on Kavanaugh’s behalf.

Read it for yourself, see what you think. Toth acknowledged that what he’s presented to the DAs is circumstantial, but believes it is enough to warrant a more thorough investigation, including subpoena of emails, phone records, etc., which might prove or disprove his allegations.

More on this tomorrow.

I don’t know why I take local politics so seriously, when I’d be better off doing analysis First Amendment Club style (from today’s Buffalo Rocket):

Marc Panepinto discusses the Kavanaugh matter with Michael LoCurto as Judy Einach, Sean Ryan and Jonathan Rivera “Listen and Learn!”

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli!

(The Godfather of Primary Seasons!)

This year, the Democratic Party was going about its family business when its capo, Sam Hoyt, decided to stop on Elmwood Avenue for some fruit.  While there, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a couple of political operatives making a run at him. An ambush had been planned and they opened up on him with everything they had.

His close ally, Barbra (Fredo) Kavanaugh, had failed to protect him and by doing so endangered the entire neighborhood; leaving it vulnerable to Lord Byron Barzini.

Lord Byron had secretly struck up an alliance with Steve (the pigeon) Sollozzo, sometimes known as the Turk. The operatives failed and Marc Hagen-Panepinto, Sam’s consigliere, could be heard yelling; “They shot him 5 times and he’s still alive!”

Byron Barzini now gets a funny feeling every time he walks up the stairs to City Hall. “Who is the hunted one now?” he keeps muttering.

Sam’s second in command, Jeremy (Sonny) Toth, was furious. He now wants to take out the entire other side. It’s nothing personal he says; it’s just business.

Santino Toth now had to travel back and forth across the Grand Island bridges. He had counseled Sam to have the toll booths removed. He hated getting stuck in the toll booth traffic stating; ‘these booths tie up traffic and concentrate pollution, what I need is some ventilation.”

Shortly after, Sam recovered and blogger Joe Illuzzi went missing. Coincidentally Byron Barzini asked why he received two dead fish wrapped up in a newspaper article by Bob McCarthy.Steve Lucabrasi-Casey is actively trying to find out what the family plans now that Steve The Pigeon failed at taking out the godfather. Some say he plans to stop in at The First Amendment Club; he was told that they have some great pre-war Scotch.

It’s nice to see everyone getting along so well after these latest battles. Michael Corleone-LoCurto plans to invite Steve The Pigeon and Captain Joe Golombek-McCluskey to Santasiero’s Restaurant. It’s kind of old fashion there. If Mike remembers correctly; they used to have a pull chain toilet…

How does it end?

It ends, as it always ends; with a reading of “the Mighty Casey striking out!” at the club, while eating the Cannolies, drinking the wine and telling the mumaluca jokes!

Sammy Bacala said that it is so great at the Club; that he’ll send two free fish to who ever doesn’t agree.

* * * * * * *

Five Years before the West Side Times was founded in 1893,
the results were best quoted in the San Francisco Examiner –
June 3, 1888 by Ernest Lawrence Thayer:

“Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.”