By Michael Risinit
Campaign literature mailed by Republican Assemblyman Greg Ball in the race for the 40th state Senate District contained incorrect data and unfair claims about his Democratic opponent's financial oversight, a political watchdog group has ruled.
The Westchester Fair Campaign Practices Committee took up three complaints filed by Westchester County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz concerning Ball's political mailer.
Most of the mailer's text attacks Kaplowitz on Westchester's spending and finances.
The independent committee agreed with all of Kaplowitz's complaints and specifically faulted Ball for an illustration featuring a 2010-2011 tax bill that includes figures from a longer period.
The committee's purpose "is to promote a climate in which candidates conduct honest and fair campaigns" but it has no power to compel anyone to comply with its findings.
"It is clear that Assemblyman Ball, a desperate career Albany politician, has been misleading voters for the past months and years," Kaplowitz said in an e-mail. "We are glad that the (committee) has seen through his veiled attempts to misrepresent my record of standing up for the people of Westchester."
The group met Thursday evening and listened to arguments made on behalf of both candidates.
Ball on Friday didn't back down from his claims.
"In desperation , Kaplowitz is now using this board, which is packed with Democrats, as an extension of his campaign," Ball wrote in an e-mail.
"The record is clear, Tax Hike Mike as Chairman of Budget and Appropriations, as the Sheldon Silver of White Plains, was in the position of delivering tax relief. Instead, he raised spending by over $1 billion, rubber stamped the $60-million federal low-income housing disaster … and increased property taxes by 42 percent."
The committee similarily admonished Ball in 2008 after his opponent in the Assembly race complained about a mailer.
The independent committee agreed with all of Kaplowitz's complaints and specifically faulted Ball for an illustration featuring a 2010-2011 tax bill that includes figures from a longer period.