WESTCHESTER COUNTY FAIR CAMPAIGN PRACTICES COMMITTEE 14 North Chatsworth Avenue #3E, Larchmont, NY 10538 914-834-0615/ faircampaign@optonline.net www.faircampaignpractices.org October 31, 2010 Contact: Evelyn M. Stock, Chair FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 914-472-4719 Findings in the Complaints of Marianne Ybarra, Mary Vozza and Greg Sullivan against John Hofstetter, Toni Ryan and Sid Alpert, all candidates for Village Trustees in Mamaroneck. The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee met on October 31, 2010 to hear the complaints of incumbent Marianne Ybarra on behalf of fellow Republican candidates Mary Vozza and Greg Sullivan against incumbents John Hofstetter, Toni Ryan, and Sid Albert, all running for the Mamaroneck Village Board. Ms. Ybarra was represented by Antonio Vozza and Louis N. Santoro, the deputy mayor. No one appeared at the hearing to respond to the complaint. COMPLAINT: Ms. Ybarra contends that a campaign flier on behalf of the Democratic candidates is misleading and inaccurate because it implies that the Republican candidates endorse what is depicted in two pictures in the flier and that the pictures were fabrications because they do not represent anything currently before any board in the village. The pictures purportedly were of a proposed new facility for Sportime at Harbor Island, currently located at the village owned Harbor Island Park, and of a proposal for a seasonal housing development on private land adjacent to the harbor. FINDING: Unfair Campaign Practice The Committee determined that both pictures were inaccurate and misleading. The Sportime building, is not to be erected at the site of a popular soccer field but at its present location nor is it to take up 25 percent of the park as stated at the bottom of the picture. The sketch of the purported seasonal housing indicates it will be 46 feet high, six feet higher than the proposal, and that it will be at the edge of the water when, in fact, it is slated to be 100 feet from the water. Fair Campaign Committee Guidelines state that a candidate should not use campaign advertisements that depict fictional or hypothetical events; that advertising that depicts a scene that never took place undermines the distinction between true and false campaign advertising. Finally, the Committee found the headline on the picture, "A vision of Mamaroneck... ...brought to you by the Ybarra/Rosenblum majority" was misleading since Ybarra was not on the Village board that signed in 2002 or extended in 2007.the Sportime contract. If a candidate or campaign wishes to quote from a Finding, the Committee requires that it be quoted in its entirety. The Committee regards selective quotation of its Findings as a violation of fair campaign practices. Committee Members: Evelyn M. Stock (Chair), Miriam Cohen (Coordinator), Dennis Chillemi. Dan Franklin, Victor Goldberg, LaRuth Gray, Susan Pace Guma, Robert Kirkwood, Milton Hoffman, Lee Kinnally, Polly M. Kuhn,, Ernest Prince, Susan Schwarz, Lorelei A. Vargas. Ex officio: Representatives of the Republican Party, Democratic Party, Independence Party, Conservative Party, Working Families Party. The purpose of the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices 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. 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. The Committee has no power to compel anyone to stop doing what it has found it be unfair. If the Committee acts on a complaint, it will release its findings to inform the public. The Committee may choose not to consider a complaint; in that case, a hearing is not held and the parties to the complaint are so notified. Statement of Principles of the Committee, as stated in its Manual, available at www.faircampaignpractices.org. The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee believes that candidates should conduct their campaigns in accordance with the following principles: * The candidate will conduct a campaign for public office openly and fairly. The candidate will discuss the issues and participate in fair debate with respect to his/her views and qualifications. * The candidate will neither engage in nor be involved with unfair or misleading attacks upon the character of an opponent, nor will the candidate engage in invasions of personal privacy unrelated to fitness for office. (More) * The candidate will not participate in or condone any appeal to prejudice. * The candidate will neither use nor be involved with the use of any campaign material or advertisements that misrepresents or distorts the facts. * The candidate will clearly identify by name the source of all advertisements and campaign literature published and distributed. * The candidate will not abuse the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee process in order to obtain political advantage. . The candidate will publicly repudiate materials or actions from any individual or group that would violate this Statement of Principles.