Ruling on a complaint by mayor-elect Gregory Schmidt, the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee has found “unfair” statements made by the Croton Democratic Party in both a mailer and online during the last week of the recent Village of Croton-on-Hudson elections. This is the second consecutive election in which the committee has cited the Croton Democratic Party for unfair practices.
The most recent complaint relates to Gregory Schmidt’s record on taxes during his previous terms as mayor from 2006 to 2009. For details see the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee finding here.
For a copy of the 2014 finding see here.
In the finding, the Westchester Fair Campaign Committee states that its mission
“. . . 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.
The Committee does not sit as a censor of political discussion nor as a body to enforce election law or make legal decisions. Its task is to accept written complaints about alleged unfair campaign practices and to determine whether the action complained about is indeed unfair. Among other things, the Committee will consider to be unfair any campaign practice that is a misstatement of a material fact or that misleads the public.”
For additional information on the committee see their website: www.faircampaignpractices.org