ANOTHER Verdict of Campaign Fraud Against a Democratic Candidate for County Legislature

First came this, on Wednesday.   Now, today, the Fair Election Practices Committee has issued another ruling against a Democratic candidate for County Leguislature.   This one against Democrat Mark Coon, running against incumbent Legislator Rick Antelli for the seat in Greece.

The Fair Election Practices Committee actually found three separate violations by Coon:

1.   Coon violated the provision to conduct his campaign "accurately and honestly."   A Coon campaign mailer fraudulently tried to associate Antelli with events that occurred before Antelli ever joined the legislature.   The mailer implied Antelli excused corruption and scandal, when in fact, as the Committee noted in its finding, Antelli had voted to terminate the county's contract with Robutrad and had sponsored legislation to protect whistleblowers.

2.   Coon violated the provision not to attack his opponent's character.   The Committee found that Coon's accusation of excusing scandal and corruption, in addition to being false, amounted to an attack on Antelli's character.

3.   Coon violated the provision to not use quotes or images out of context, or in a way to misrepresent his opponent.   The Committee found that Coon used a doctored image of Antelli in a campaign mailing, thereby committing a violation.

The Fair Election Practices Committee is a nonpartisan organization established by the League of Women Voters and the Interfaith Alliance.

We think today's finding of further campaign violations by Democratic candidates, and the findings, on Wednesday, of campaign violations by Coon and Democratic legislature candidates Moscato (Gates) and Condello (Henrietta), suggest that Joe Morelle is feeling control of the County Legislature slipping out of reach.   He's engaging in acts of desperation.

And if you think what he's done already is dirty, brace yourself for the next three days before the election.   Any further violations will come too close to the election to be able to be reported widely.   From now through Tuesday, Morelle can lie to voters with impunity.   Our prediction:   the weekend and Monday will be a bumpy ride.

Little Joe's going for broke.   And as these multiple ethical violations show, he's not too choosy about how he does it.