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John Purcell 06/09/11More articles
Court says notification of meeting invalid, but county GOP vote echoes town picks

The original Rotterdam Republican Committee’s endorsements for the upcoming election were ruled invalid, but the Schenectady County GOP has voted to endorse a similar slate with two last-minute changes.

In late May, State Supreme Court Justice Vincent Reilly Jr. ruled in favor of former Rotterdam Town Board member Gerard Parisi’s lawsuit against the Town Republican Committee endorsements for the 2011 election. The decision hinged on the committee not providing proper notice of the April 14 meeting. According to the committee’s by-laws, a meeting to vote for endorsements requires each member to receive a mailed notice five days before the meeting.

While the letter notifying members of the meeting was post-marked April 9, Parisi did not receive the letter at his home address until April 11, which was only three days before the meeting.

“I think that it is important to follow the rules and the by-laws. I misinterpreted the by-laws with the five-day rule,” said Town GOP Committee Chairwoman Tracy Donovan.

Before Donovan received the court’s decision, she had already mailed out letters on Thursday, May 26, announcing a new vote. The town GOP met Monday, June 6, prior to the county vote to forward the names for new candidates filling vacancies. Later that night, the county GOP officially endorsed the slate.

The town committee had voted to endorse Brian McGarry for supervisor, Chris Tomaselli and Aurelia Lazzari for Town Board, as well as incumbent Highway Superintendent James Longo and incumbent Town Justice Kevin Mercoglan. Lazzari recently withdrew her bid for personal reasons. Nicola DiLeva, a current Town Board member whom the town GOP supported for a seat on the County Legislature, also withdrew her bid. The town also endorsed Wade Abbot in his bid for County Legislature.

At Monday’s meeting, Republican Joseph Villano was selected to fill the opening created by Lazzari, and Republican Stanley Marchinkowski was chosen to run in place of DiLeva.

Donovan said she was pleased the GOP endorsements were all Republicans and said the party is strong moving forward.

“[The endorsements] give fresh faces and they are registered Republicans,” she said. “It is starting to get really vicious out there. … We have a united front and we are going to keep going.”

Parisi said he was not pleased that the endorsements for the town’s GOP candidates came from the county committee.

“They are not endorsed by the Town of Rotterdam,“ said Parisi. “Rotterdam candidates should be endorsed by the Rotterdam Republicans. … That is a shame because that is the way it has always been and the way it always should be.”

Parisi was troubled there wasn’t a town GOP meeting held to vote on endorsements and he questioned if McGarry would be able to garner the support of the committee.

“They have never had a proper meeting to endorse the supervisor candidate … unless they know they can’t get an endorsement,” said Parisi.

When Parisi filed the lawsuit, Donovan said there appeared to be a grudge against the No New Tax Party, which McGarry started, but Parisi previously said he had nothing to say against the party.

Court decision

The Court ruled solely on the late notice to invalidate the endorsements.

“Under the Town Committee by-laws, this notice was insufficient. Accordingly, the Court concludes that any action taken at the April 14, 2011, meeting including endorsements or recommendations for endorsement, is invalid,” read the court’s decision.

Parisi said he was pleased with the court’s decision and previously said he just wants endorsements to be done properly.

“I am satisfied that the court agreed with our position that the meeting was invalid and that the attempted endorsements of candidates was declared invalid,” said Parisi in an email. “These candidates are misleading the general public by stating that the GOP endorsed them for public office.”

The court did not address Parisi’s other claim, in which he alleges there were not enough committee members present during the meeting to hold a legal vote. The decision said since improper notification was given, it wouldn’t address those claims.

Donovan said she wished an attorney in the committee, such as Parisi, with a better understanding of the law could have advised her in advance of the meeting. Parisi was out of town when he received an email from his wife about the meeting, and he was still out of town when the meeting occurred.

“If something comes to my attention, I am sure I will ask a question, but I am not hunting around and looking for it,” said Parisi. “I am not the meeting police. I can’t go around and make sure everyone does everything proper all the time.”

Donovan said she takes complete responsibility for the late notice.

“It just goes to show you that I am trying to bring unity, and it is very difficult when other people are trying to tear it down based on a notice,” said Donovan. “Something is definitely wrong within our party. I don’t think we are playing as a team. I think a team would communicate other than going to the court with something of that nature.”

Although, Parisi said the lack of communication was his reason for going to court. After emailing the committee several times and not receiving a response to his questions, he said, the deadline to file a lawsuit on the meeting was nearing. He said he was left with no choice.

“It is not that I wanted to challenge it in court, but nobody would answer my questions.”