Board says Amicone improperly tapped public funds to back referendum
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- January
- 30
In the midst of last fall’s mayoral campaign, the Yonkers Board of Ethics admonished Mayor Phil Amicone for using public funds to promote three referendum measures that he had supported during the previous election. The opinion, dated Sept. 27, however, was only recently released after a Yonkers activist had requested the documents from City Hall through the state Freedom of Information Law. They are posted on FOIL YONKERS.
The one-page letter concurred with an opinion written by Yonkers Corporation Counsel Frank Rubino in early February of last year to the city’s Inspector General Phil Zisman. Rubino wrote “it is clear that the use of public funds cannot be countenanced to allow any attempt to influence public opinion on matters that affect the democratic process.”
Public money was used to fund a letter from Amicone that featured check marks and the word yes next to three Yonkers City Charter revisions that he supported, and a card meant to be taken to the polls that features a portion of the ballot with the yes lever circled on all three amendments. Rubino said state law does not call for the spending to be refunded or any other penalty. He also said that because the amendments were overwhelmingly approved, it seems unlikely that the mailings affected the outcome.
Rubino, instead, urged the Mayor to set up a legal review of all mailings to be sent to voters and constituents to prevent a repeat of the occurrence.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 12:39 pm by Len Maniace.
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While I, personally, have no dog in this fight, the sentence: “Rubino said state laws [sic] does not call for the spending to be refunded or any other penalty,” is typical of the way politicians protect themselves from penalties for disregarding laws, the same or similar, that apply to the general populace.
This is much ado about nothing. And it amounts to
nothing. But if technically it shouldn’t have been
done, then that’s all there is to it.
amicone has sent out so many mailings using taxpayer dollars it’s ridiculous. this all started around the time david simpson became communications director. with no regard for taxpayers dollars and treated the mayor’s franking privileges as an extension of his campaign, it’s no surprise things like this are happening.
amicone may a good mayor but that’s where he should stay. with the typical ethical clouds that surround any yonkers politician there is no chance that he’ll be elected to anything higher than mayor.
Phil Amicone can do it because his friend and co-conspitator Janet Difiore allows theft of public funds. District attorney Janet Difiore is by far the most political of all prior DA’s.
Is there a political way of fighting crime?
There is so much crime with in politics, so much theft, so much patronage, so much betrayal of the publics trust and yet Janet Difiore hears nothing and sees nothing. Janet Difiore protects them all because she her self participates in the exact thing I and all the Citizenry of Westchester complain about. She made arrangements for a patronage no show job for her boy friend Peter Viviano at the Westchester County Medical center. How can we trust the DA to protect and serve the public when she her self is part of the problem.
When will Janet Difiore come clean with the people of Westchester and apologize and resign.?
When will Janet Difiore pay the salary from her own pocket for the no show job for her boy friend?
When will Janet Difiore stop violating the rights of the black and latino community?
When will Janet Difiore stop protecting the rogue and brutal police of Yonkers and other towns and villages who regularly violate the Civil Rights of our Citizens?
When will Janet Difiore bring to Justice all the elected officials who have stolen and betrayed the publics trust?
When will Janet Difiore fight for the rights of the people?
When will Janet Difiore defend Civil Rights?
When will Janet Difore do the job she was elected to do?
When will Janet Difiore pay back all the money that was paid by County residents to her boy friend for a no show job arranged by her and Andy Spano?
When will Janet Difiore indict her self for all the wrong she has done as a Prosecutor and Ex Judge?
Yonkers is just the tip of the IceBerg, its county wide and all under the watch of the disgraced Janet Difiore.
We deserve better! We deserve a real crime fighter and not a criminal disguised as a prosecutor.