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The committee ruled that both campaigns have been acting unfairly in the campaign to control the Croton Village Board. Ann Gallelli and Brian Pugh, Democratic incumbents are running against Mark Aarons and Dan McNatty of Croton United.
Aarons complained that a post on Pugh's Facebook page claimed Croton United was associated with the Croton Republican Party by inserting a link to CrotonGop.com below a photo of Aarons. The committee found that to be unfair since it gave an inaccurate impression that Croton United was related to the Croton Republicans, which is not the case.
"This is the third year that Croton United has brought complaints about Croton Dem campaign flyers," Roseann Schulyer of Croton United said. "This year, as in the past two years, the committee confirmed that their paid campaign material was unfair because it contained false and misleading statements".
Pugh complained that Croton United claimed there was a massive reduction in borrowing under Croton United's leadership. Aarons claimed that the Democratic administration had planned to borrow $8 million, while Croton United had reduced it to $1.5 million.
The committee found while there apparently was a plan to reduce the borrowing from $8 million to $1.5 million, the actual borrowing was $8 million.
"We appreciate the hard work of the Fair Campaign Practices Committee," Richard Masur, chair of the Croton Democrats said. "We should all resolve to do better in the two weeks until Election Day."
The purpose of the Westchester Fair Campaign Committee is to promote a climate in which candidates conduct honest and fair campaigns. The Committee encourages candidates to conduct campaigns openly and fairly, to discuss issues, to refrain from dishonest and defamatory attacks, and not to use campaign materials that distort the facts.
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