Press Center

DiCarlo: Foley broke the law

The North Shore Sun
9/7/07
By Anna Gustafson

Republican candidate for Brookhaven town supervisor Robert DiCarlo accused his opponent, Brian Foley, of breaking the law by spending taxpayer dollars on a "political piece of mail," and town officials have thrown accusations of political foul play back at Mr. DiCarlo, saying tax dollars were not misspent nor were any laws broken.

Mr. DiCarlo called last Thursday for Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota to investigate a mailing sent last week to 180,000 Brookhaven households and businesses. The mailing, which the DiCarlo camp called campaign literature and town officials said was a regular financial update, details what the town deemed fiscal victories — such as no tax increases in 2008.

"Brian Foley spent $100,000 on this absolute political piece," Mr. DiCarlo said at a press conference outside Town Hall on Thursday. "There's nothing but opinions in this mailing, and I call for Mr. Foley to return the $100,000 to taxpayers."

Town spokesman Tom Burke said the town spent approximately $33,000 — not $100,000 — on the mailing that was previously approved by the town council.

"This is sent out by the town, and the public information office has a budget approved by town council for communications, and this mailing is clearly one of the things that was budgeted for," Mr. Burke said.

Mr. DiCarlo said on Thursday his $100,000 figure came from his own estimates.

Mr. Burke said the town spent approximately $7,500 to print the mailing and about $25,500 to mail it. The town receives a bulk rate from the post office and does not have to mail letters at the regular rate of 41 cents per stamp.

Mr. DiCarlo criticized the town's Ethics Board for not investigating "suspicious fundraising practices along with this recent mailing."

Ethics Board chairman Don Garber said the bipartisan board has investigated "a number of things the administration has not been happy about" and added that neither Mr. DiCarlo nor any of his representatives have filed an official complaint with the Ethics Board regarding the mailing.

"There's a clear procedure for filing complaints before the board, and no one has taken that opportunity to initiate that type of request," Mr. Garber said. "The Ethics Board wants to really focus on ethics matters, and we don't want to be used in the back and forth political process."

Frank Tassone, a spokesman for the DiCarlo campaign, said Wednesday they have mailed their official complaint and board members should receive it this week.

Mr. Garber did not say if the mailing was in direct violation of town ethics regulations.

Brookhaven officials running for re-election are legally not allowed to send direct mail to town residents with candidates' names on it within 45 days of a primary or general election. The mailing questioned by Mr. DiCarlo does not have Mr. Foley's name, or those of any other candidates, on it.

"This information piece simply fulfills the town's responsibility to keep the public informed about important issues such as taxes, Wall Street's restoration of the town's positive outlook and the coming budget's planned tax freeze," Mr. Burke said. "This newsletter is part of the town's public dialogue and is funded through the public information budget passed by the town council. It follows the rules established on a bipartisan basis by the town council."

Mr. DiCarlo questioned how the mailing could promise "no tax increases for 2008," a line printed near the top of the piece, when next year's budget has not been approved.

Mr. Foley announced on May 22 that the town's general fund tax, which accounts for approximately 7 percent of residents' taxes, would not increase in 2008.

"Our financial forecasting allows us to begin the 2008 budget process by announcing that we can freeze the tax rate at 2007 levels," Mr. Foley said in a statement.

The mailing details what the administration called savings for tax payers.

The "town's common sense reforms have saved taxpayers $6 million by publicly bidding insurance contracts, eliminating $1.1 million in overtime costs, and cutting $1 million by using in-house labor rather than expensive outside contractors," the mailing states.

Mr. DiCarlo said he has not filed an official complaint with Mr. Spota. Mr. Spota's office did not return phone calls for comment.