Dems did well around the county

Thanks to the leadership of Tom Wade, Democrats had quite a few big wins this election day.

Highlights for Rensselaer County were Lou Rossimilia for Troy mayor, DA Rich McNally despite the last minute smear campaign by the GOP and Judge Tom Breslin.

In the towns, most races saw gains by Democrats, especially Flora Fasold winning the Sand Lake Supervisor race and council members taking back the majority.


Here is a list of all the winners (so far - some races are still being decided.)

• Richard McNally, District Attorney
• Thomas Breslin, New York State Supreme Court 
• Dean Maxon, Berlin Town Council
• Anne Maxon, Berlin Town Clerk
• Pamela DeShane, Berlin Tax Collector
• James Winn, Berlin Superintendent of Highways
• Walter Yerton, Berlin Assessor
• Lawrence Kronau, Brunswick Town Justice
• Philip Malone and Sue Mangold, East Greenbush Town Council
• Antonette Murphy, East Greenbush Receiver of Taxes
• Ray Darling, Grafton Town Supervisor
• Barbara Messenger and Rick Ungaro, Grafton Town Council
• Francis Higgins, Grafton Town Justice
• Mary Gentner, Grafton Tax Collector
• Kathryn Connolly, North Greenbush Town Clerk
• Mark Premo, North Greenbush Superintendent of Highways
• Paul MacNoughton, Pittstown Town Justice
• Gregory Kronau, Poestenkill Town Justice
• Flora Fasoldt, Sand Lake Town Supervisor
• Mark Cioffi, Sand Lake Town Council
• William Jennings, Stephentown Town Council
• Alden Goodermote, Stephentown Superintendent of Highways
• Lou Rosamilia, Troy Mayor
• Lynn Kopka, Nina Nichols and Rodney Wiltshire, Troy City Council - At-Large
• Kevin McGrath, Troy City Council - District 1
• Robert Doherty, Troy City Council - District 4
• Kenneth Zalewski, Troy City Council - District 5
• Gary Galuski, Troy City Council - District 6
  
  We are still waiting for the final results for the second Supreme Court Race with Ray Elliot within range of a win.

  
  Congratulations to all who ran and gave it their all!

  
  
  

East Greenbush GOP Dirty Tricks Come to Light

Times Union 11/06/2011, Page D06



Target sees dirty trick

Town’s GOP chief pays cash for ad listing seemingly fictitious writer

By BRENDAN J. LYONS

Senior writer

EAST GREENBUSH — The town’s Republican committee chairman, Chris DeFruscio, paid cash to publish a political-attack advertisement in a local publication that was made to appear like it was a letter-to-the-editor from a town resident.

The letter, which contained false accusations directed at a town official, was attributed to “Martha Andiago, East Greenbush,” which is apparently a fictitious name.

The advertisement appeared in Thursday’s edition of The Advertiser, a non-subscription weekly publication mailed to town residents. The letter targeted Toni Murphy, a Democrat seeking reelection Tuesday as East Greenbush tax collector. The letter accused Murphy of ordering an elderly man at a recent town meeting to “Sit Down!”

“While a senior citizen was trying to explain his disapproval of the way he was treated at the tax receiver’s office and the tax assessor’s office, Ms. Murphy was very vocal and rude in telling the elderly man to ‘SIT DOWN!’” the letter reads. “HOW DARE SHE, or any public figure ... try to silence people who are only looking for this administration to do the job they were elected and hired to do.”

Robert Wells, 75, who is the man referred to in the letter, said it did not happen. He said he went to the town meeting to appeal for a more fair process in resolving a tax issue and asked if he could sit while speaking.

“At some point, a female voice said something to the effect ‘Yes, sit down,’ or an offer was made to get me a chair and someone said ‘by all means, sit down,” he said, adding that he feels he is being “used” in a political fight.

Reached Saturday, DeFruscio sought to distance himself from the ad and repeatedly talked over a reporter. He refused to answer questions about his role in purchasing the ad or to identify the alleged author.

“You don’t understand, it’s not me. It’s not the committee,” DeFruscio said.

DeFruscio admitted paying $148 in cash to publish the letter when he went in-person to the office of The Advertiser on Oct. 28.

Susan St. Pierre, a sales rep for The Advertiser, said DeFruscio purchased several political ads and paid by check for all of the ads except the letter, which he paid for in cash.

On Saturday, DeFruscio, 49, told the Times Union: “I had an envelope. She (Andiago) was with us. She was outside. I went inside and dropped stuff off to Sue.”

But St. Pierre said she did not notice anyone else outside her office when DeFruscio was there. Under a standard verification process she called a number listed for the letter’s author and a woman confirmed her name was “Martha Andiago.” A search of public databases, including voter and property records, shows no one by that name in New York state.

On Friday, as questions surfaced about the letter, St. Pierre said she called back the number and the woman again confirmed her name is “Martha Andiago.” St. Pierre said she asked her to come to the Advertiser’s office with identification. “Then I said ‘May I ask your address’ and there was silence on the phone for a minute, and then the dial tone,” St. Pierre said.

St. Pierre said there were several “red flags” about DeFruscio’s ad purchase.

“He had told me that several people were pitching in to pay for that ad,” St. Pierre said. “My original email I received for that ad wasn’t signed by “Martha Andiago,” it was a different name but Chris changed it.”

She said DeFruscio asked her to make out a receipt for that ad to “Martha Andiago” while other ads were invoiced to the town GOP committee.

DeFruscio insisted the person who wrote the letter was real and that she would contact the Times Union to verify her identity. But no one called. DeFruscio also said her name was spelled wrong in the letter, but he declined to provide correct spelling or her telephone number. He also would not say how he knows the woman or why he had paid for her advertisement.

Murphy said the ad is part of a pattern of dirty political tactics by town Republican leaders.

“They’ll do anything at this point, you know elections,” Murphy said. “Usually my position isn’t contested like this. I just collect the taxes and don’t make decisions on who to hire.”

Murphy is being challenged for the job, which pays about $44,000 annually, by Corine Sheldon, a Republican. Sheldon could not be reached for comment.

“I’m angry because I was totally taken advantage of,” St. Pierre said.

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