Pilla: Campaign Phone Calls Were Not Made at Port Chester's Expense

Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla says automated campaign telephone calls made throughout the village on Monday showed a Village Hall phone number on Caller ID features, but the calls were paid for by the Port Chester Democratic Party.

Pilla, who is seeking re-election in the ongoing balloting in Port Chester, said the Village Hall phone number showed up in error. Pilla took the blame for the error, saying he used his Village Hall office telephone to make a toll-free call when his cell phone battery ran out of power.

Here's a statement Pilla posted today on Port Chester Patch:

I would like to offer an explanation about the campaign robo-call that many voters received from me this past Monday night. Several people have written comments that this call was made at the Village’s expense, as the Caller ID number associated with the robo-call was that of Port Chester Village Hall. 

That robo-call was paid for by the Port Chester Democratic Party. I assure you, the Village did not incur ANY expense for that call. 

On Monday afternoon, I used my Village Hall office telephone to dial a toll-free (1-800) number and record a message. I did this because I was at Village Hall in meetings and visiting with the seniors at the center, and my cell phone had died. I wanted to get the robo-call message recorded so that it could go out that evening, so I used my office telephone to make the toll-free recording. I was anticipating that the Caller ID on the robo-call would be that of the 3rdparty vendor I was using to send out the robo-call, as this had been the case when using this vendor for my past campaigns. I did not realize that the 3rd party vendor now has a new system in place whereby it captures the Caller ID of the telephone making the recording. 

My error was unintentional. I apologize if my honest mistake mislead or upset anyone. Please rest assured that the Village did not pay for any aspect of that robo-call, nor did the calls go out to you from Village Hall. 

Respectfully, 
Dennis G. Pilla

Pilla, a Democrat, is seeking re-election and is being challenged by Port Chester Repbulican Neil Pagano. Election Day is March 19, but the village's advance voting began Tuesday at Village Hall and continues until Saturday.

In the election, 10 candidates are also running for six trustee seats on the village board.