Fair Campaign Committee Finds Fault with Both Candidates in Mayoral Race

Mayoral candidate Bart Didden misrepresented the facts when he accused incumbent Mayor Dennis Pilla of cutting code enforcement positions, and a March 5 mailer by Pilla did not reveal the source of the note.

Those were the findings of the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee, a non-partisan group tasked with reviewing the campaign literature and practices of local political hopefuls.

The committee ruled in favor of Didden on one of four complaints, and ruled in favor of Pilla on two of three complaints. Both candidates met with the committee Wednesday night.

Didden's three other complaints centered around a full-page ad Pilla's campaign ran in the Westmore News, the local print weekly. The ad includes the full text of a fair campaign pledge, along with a note that reads, "I signed this fair campaign pledge. Why won't my opponent?"

The ad became a sticking point recently when Didden argued that signing the pledge–and noting Didden did not–was itself tantamount to a "personal attack." The Republican candidate used that argument as a pretext to back out of a late with half a dozen clergy members from Port Chester congregations.

The meeting, designed to privately relay the concerns of churches, temples and their congregations, fell apart when Didden left and the clergy felt they could not fairly meet with only one candidate. Local spiritual leaders have declined to comment; some have said privately they felt they were dragged into a political stunt, and church leaders are often wary of running afoul of the IRS for engaging in perceived campaign activity.

Although Didden argued that Pilla's campaign pledge should be considered a personal attack, the committee made "no finding." In their ruling, members said they were "troubled by inconsistencies regarding the date that Mayor Pilla had signed the pledge himself, and by the graphic representation of the pledge in the mayor's ad."

The committee found in favor of two out of three allegations brought by Pilla's campaign.

In the first, the committee said that Didden was "mistaken" when he claimed in an editorial that "Pilla negligence could cost taxpayers more than $5.8 million."

"Mr. Didden admitted that the information was mistaken," the ruling reads. "The committee determined that he had not corrected the website posting when he learned of the error. He said it will be corrected now."

The committee also ruled Didden had engaged in an unfair campaign practice when he blasted the mayor for cutting positions in code enforcement. Didden claimed Pilla had slashed the number of inspectors, but the committee said Didden used information from 2009. Didden correctly noted there are two current vacancies in the department – but didn't acknowledge that the part-time positions were vacated when two employees were promoted to full-time inspectors. The village is currently looking to fill the vacant part-time code enforcement jobs.

To read the full reports from the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee, click the documents attached to this story.

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