Our Readers Respond...

Push Polling Is Disgraceful


Dear Editor:

It’s no wonder that people are sick and tired of the Greenburgh Town Council. Dirty politics seems to be their stock and trade. First they meet secretly with a developer to try to cut a deal for themselves, now they are
lying about their opponents. I received a telephone “poll” last week and was asked that if I knew that candidate Kevin Morgan supported the policies of President Bush would I be less likely to vote for him for Town Council?

Why would Democratic primary candidates attack their fellow Democrats in such an unfair way? I know Kevin Morgan and I know that he does not support the policies of George Bush - not to mention the fact that national
policies have nothing to do with Greenburgh government.

What is the purpose for these divisive tactics? How will Democrats address such unethical behavior from supposedly Democratic candidates who are really a blight on the party? They are making it up, just like
the last election.

Two years ago the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee found that Frances Sheehan and Diane Juettner lied when they stated Kevin Morgan didn’t support a woman’s right to choose.

Guess what, they are lying again. I’m voting for Kevin Morgan for Town Council. It looks like the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee is going to have its work cut out for it again. Greenburgh needs a fair election with fair protection for true Democrats.

Garrett Cronin, White Plains


Fair Campaign Practices Committee Contact Info

Dear Editor:


The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee will be in operation for the 16th straight year, affording candidates an opportunity to bring charges of unfair campaign practices before our committee for a hearing and ruling. We need your help in alerting candidates about our service.

If you need additional information, please contact Stephanie Sarnoff, chair, at 914-276-0760.

Judy Hamilton


More On Push Polling And Dirty Tricks

Dear Editor:


Kevin Morgan, candidate for Greenburgh Town Council, said that Democrats in Greenburgh are being called by an anonymous “pollster”, whose real purpose is campaigning for his opponents. The poll asks voters what they think about Supervisor Feiner, Morgan, and his running mate Sonja Brown and Clerk candidate Judith Beville.

The poll, which asks a number of questions about each candidate, is actually designed to discourage voters from voting for Morgan and his running mates by fabricating stories about their record and views. Karl Rove would be proud.

Gary Cronin, a registered Democrat in Greenburgh and the recipient of the “poll”, said that he was angered when the “pollster” asked if he would think differently about Morgan if he knew that Morgan supported George Bush’s
policies. “I know Kevin, know that he is not a George Bush supporter and was offended that they would lie about him. This is dirty politics at its worst.”

Morgan attributed his 2005 loss to Francis Sheehan to last-minute mailings claiming that Morgan was not pro choice. The mailings were sent shortly before primary day so that Morgan wouldn’t have a chance to respond. Morgan has always been pro choice. Polly Rothstein, founder of Westchester Coalition for Legal Abortion, verified Morgan’s pro choice views, and even told Sheehan not to go forward with his accusations because they weren’t true. Truth, of course, was not what Sheehan was interested in. After the election the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee found that Francis Sheehan and Diana Juettner sent out unfair campaign literature. Morgan said, “I don’t want to lose the election again because my opponents are saying things about me that just aren’t true.”

Friends of Kevin Morgan


Former Correction Officer Expresses Concern for Richard DiGuglielmo

Dear Editor:


I would like to start by thanking you for a phenomenal newspaper, which prints an uncensored description of corruption within Westchester County.

I was reading the article in your August 9, 2007 paper regarding Richard DiGuglielmo (The Wheels
of Justice Finally Turn), and would like to give some insight. In 1996 I was employed by the Westchester County Department of Corrections. I clearly remember the incident which took place, and have been very upset with the unjust prosecutorial misconduct brought upon Mr. DiGuglielmo by our former DA, Jeanine Pirro. I remember
watching Richard walk down the long corridor, being escorted by a sergeant, to his housing unit within the institution. ere was a frightened, despondent look on Richard’s face as he approached me. I commented
to him, “Stay strong, my brother, we are here for you.” He glanced up at me and I could see a tear starting to fill his eye.

One day later, I was working the visitation room when Richard entered, only to see his mother and beaten father sitting at a table waiting to greet and console their son. I couldn’t help but notice the casted hand of his father, along with the massive dark bruise on his thigh area because he was wearing shorts.

At this point, I said to myself, “what is this man doing in a cage?” He did not only do what he was trained to as a police officer, but was expected by every son to do to protect their father from a bat-wielding, violent assaulter.
Not only did our DA at the time maliciously prosecute him in order to uphold her 98 percent conviction rate, she sent him to prison. As I understand it, there might be another Constitutional violation which Richard’s defense is concerned about. is is very troubling to the citizens of Westchester County who placed their trust and faith
in the hands of our former DA. She abused her power, not only once with the denial of Jeffrey Deskovic’s
plea for DNA comparison, but with Brady violations involving the DiSimone case. How many other violations did her office commit?

How many other people did she maliciously prosecute and convict? Ninety-eight percent is a big ratio.
Even the New York Yankees can’t win every game.

Mr. Garcia, isn’t it about time you step up to the plate and indict this criminal who instructed her ADAs
to follow her lead like a chorus line, violating the trust and faith of every citizen within this county? Please,
don’t be intimidated by her $400 snake skin shoes or her $200 haircuts ($1.5 million joint tax return).

After all, how would she feel wearing an orange jumpsuit! It was also stated that she had a confidential
hook within your department. You surely have a lot of work ahead of you, Mr. Garcia.

From a concerned law enforcement officer

What A Coinkadink


We would prefer to give everyone, within reason, the benefit of the doubt. And so, we would prefer to think that the reason Mayor Amicone’s payroll swelled by $1.2 million after he accepted Nicky Spano’s endorsement
has nothing to do with the fact that Nicky’s State Senate payroll, before he lost to Andrea Stewart-Cousins, had been, you guessed it, $1.2 million. We would prefer to think that it’s only a coincidence.

Yes, it’s true that there are Nicky People all over Yonkers City Hall, and they’ve been there for many months, some weaving baskets, still others twiddling their thumbs, since about the time of the endorsement. But, We would prefer to think that everyone of those 30 or more new Yonkers City employees were really qualified and very needed to fill the particular essential jobs they now perform. After all, there are certain Civil Service rules and regulations that govern the hiring of public employees you know; something to do with being chosen off a competitive performance list.

Imagine some observers have been going around suggesting that Nicky’s former staff were actually given preferential treatment, in fact, hired to do little, if anything, at their old pay scale. Once again, We prefer to believe that it’s all just a coincidence.

Then again, suppose, just suppose, those observers are on to something, that it’s not merely a coincidence that all those new hires from Spanoville just happen to be costing what they were costing when they worked in the office of the State Senator from the 35th Senatorial District. Why, if that is the case, then the unimaginable might be true, and We would prefer not to think of Phil Amicone and Nick Spano in that light. If that really is the case, then Mr. Amicone would be paying off Nick Spano for his worthless, oops, endorsement with more than a million dollars-worth of jobs for Nicky’s flunkies, with money from the public treasury.

We ask ourselves, “Is Phil Amicone the sort of person who would do such a corrupt and underhanded thing? Would he cut a deal with a tired ‘has-been’ who’s unemployed only because he couldn’t steal another election?”

We consider the Mayor’s conduct in office in weighing our conclusion. Phil Amicone has done absolutely nothing to quell the frightening proclivity for violence of the Yonkers Police Department, a department known for its brutality even amongst other police departments. Phil Amicone is capable of lying about having performed a life-saving maneuver just to make himself look heroic. Phil Amicone cannot tolerate fair, and truthful scrutiny and criticism, as evidenced by his confiscation of 56 distribution boxes of The Westchester Guardian, and the arrest of Guardian employees in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, as well as applicable New York State statutes.

In light of all of the above We must, reluctantly, but reasonably, conclude that yes, Mayor Phil Amicone is quite capable of cutting such a cynical deal with the likes of Nick Spano, and paying it off with taxpayers’ money.