By John Mariani and Frederic Pierce
Staff writers
Joanie Mahoney was being less than frank when she said in a televised debate Saturday that she hadn't taken money from the developer of the proposed Destiny USA resort, spokesmen for Mayor Matt Driscoll said Monday.
Driscoll's campaign staff says campaign finance reports show she has taken money from Pyramid executives. A Post-Standard review of Mahoney's recent reports confirms those contributions.
The Post-Standard also reviewed Driscoll's reports and found he received money from Destiny executives in 2002. In the debate, he said he didn't know if he received Destiny-related money.
Mahoney, Democrat Driscoll's Republican challenger, said she stood by her answer during WSTM-TV's debate and called the Driscoll campaign's announcement "a clear effort on the part of the mayor to distract people with issues that aren't important."
The dispute stems from a question posed by a WSTM viewer during the debate, which the station aired live at 9 a.m. Saturday:
"Has your campaign received any contributions from Robert Congel, the Pyramid Corp. or any Pyramid Corp. partner company?" the viewer asked.
"We have not received any campaign contributions from Robert Congel or the Pyramid Cos.," Mahoney told the audience. She said she would work with any developer who was trying to make Syracuse "vibrant" and acknowledged that her campaign is seeking and accepting "resources" needed to get her message out.
Driscoll campaign coordinator Dan Maffei and consultant Erick Mullen challenged Mahoney's statement during a Monday afternoon news conference at Driscoll campaign headquarters.
Destiny partner Bruce Kenan and two other Destiny partners contributed a total of $1,000 directly to Mahoney's campaign, Maffei and Mullen said, citing Mahoney's Oct. 7 campaign finance report. In addition, Destiny developer Robert Congel; his son, Stephen; and 10 other Destiny executives contributed $7,000 to the Onondaga County Republican Committee between July 12 and Oct. 3, a period during which the party transferred $56,500 to Mahoney's account, they said.
The Post-Standard confirmed those contributions.
Mahoney's response during the debate was "disingenuous at best," Maffei said.
"And it's a question. I mean, why hide it?" Mullen said.
"If it's all going to support
her anyway, why not just have them go on the record and give them the money? Why funnel it through the Republican Party?
"Is it because you have to be an honest broker in dealing with taxpayer dollars in the Destiny project? I don't know. That's a question she should answer."
During the debate, Driscoll responded to the question about campaign money this way:
"With all of the tough questions I've been asking on behalf of the public, I don't know that he's (Robert Congel) actually been supporting my campaign," Driscoll said, adding he would "continue to represent the interests of the community as I have done all along."
Asked Monday whether Driscoll's campaign or the county Democratic Party's Citizens for a Greater Syracuse had received donations from Destiny, Mullen said Driscoll professed on television not to know. Mullen encouraged the media members to review those filings.
Driscoll's Foundation for the Future campaign committee received $2,000 from Congel and $250 from Kenan in June 2002, according to a Post-Standard review of foundation reports from as far back as January 2002, two months after Driscoll was elected.
Citizens for a Greater Syracuse filings show Congel, Kenan, The Pyramid Cos. and other Destiny entities being steady contributors, donating a total of $5,650 between August 2003 and August of this year.
For example, Destiny USA donated $1,000 to the Democratic campaign fund June 24, 2004, and Green Worlds Coalition Fund NY, a Destiny-connected political action committee, contributed $1,750 on Feb. 18, 2004, according to the Citizens' July 2004 campaign finance report. During that same six-month period, Citizens transferred $57,000 to Foundation for the Future.
Mahoney said she had decided not to accept Pyramid's money, even though it was legal to do so, because she didn't want questions over such contributions to cloud the campaign.
Kenan attended one of her campaign fundraisers and donated $250, a fraction of the $156,000 her campaign committee raised between July and October, she said.
What the Republican Party raises and from whom is up to the party, she said.
"They better be careful with the words they are using," she said, referring to the suggestion that Pyramid money was being funneled to her campaign. "They are talking about things that are illegal. I don't think the mayor intended that."
In the debate, Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, said Congel and Pyramid had never offered money to his party and that the party would not accept it if they did.
2005 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.
Posted by syracusegreens at October 18, 2005 02:07 AM