By JOE LOGAN (8/26/2008 6:21:04 AM)
Republican party leadership tactics against first time candidate may lead to indictments
When David Gunner decided to run for Aurora Highway Superintendent, he had no idea where to begin. He had never run for public office and in fact wasn't even registered with a political party. Gunner is the owner of Gunner Construction Services and has never been involved in politics.
His Ridge Avenue neighbor is village trustee Pat McDonnell who according to Gunner told him if he wanted to run he should become a Republican. "I had heard that in order to win anything in this town you had to be a Republican." So he filed for membership in the Republican Party but that wouldn't take effect until after the primary in September.
However he still had much work to do. Since he wasn't a Republican several Republican volunteers went around getting signatures from fellow Republicans to allow him to get on the ballot for the Republican Primary. Jeffrey Harris had announced that he would be running for the Superintendent position as well and would be Gunner's opponent in the election. Harris is a Republican. "To be honest the reason I decided to run is because I saw who was running and knew that I was more qualified," he said.
Gunner receives Republican Party endorsement
The next step in the process is to try and get the all important endorsement of the Republican Party. Candidates submit resumes to the party leaders and the Republican committee votes on who they will endorse.
After the first vote, Gunner and Harris were tied at 10 votes apiece. Attempting to break the deadlock they did a revote and Gunner won 12 - 8 to gain the endorsement. (2 committee members changed their vote after reviewing both candidates' qualifications for the position) This is extremely rare considering that Harris was the Republican and Gunner still had not formally obtained membership into the party. Even more ironic is that Harris is a Republican Party committee member and was able to vote for himself during the process.
We spoke to one member of the committee who said that comparing Gunner's resume to Harris' was like comparing a PHD resume against a high school graduate resume.
Mafia style threats waged against Gunner
"So far so good", he thought. Then he received a phone call that gave Gunner his first look at the dirty inner workings of local politics.
"I was at a fundraising event one night [May 31st] with my wife Laura and a man who I didn't know approached me and said 'I don't know if you've heard but Dave DiPietro is running against
[Dale] Volker for State Senate'", explains Gunner. "I said yeah, I heard something about that." Gunner said Wahl then told him "If you help DiPietro you will become my enemy. And if your wife supports him you will become my enemy."
Gunner went on to detail more of the conversation. "He told my wife,
'If you are friends with Theresa DiPietro you should start saving her moving boxes, because when I am done with her husband, she will be divorced. He will lose his house and his business.' Then he told us he had the resources available to make it happen."
Initially he thought it was a joke, but soon found out it was not.
Who was the man that approached him? Gunner said it was Harry Wahl. Wahl is husband of Town of Aurora councilmember Kelly Wahl and an Aurora resident. He is also the Chief of Staff / Director of District Operations for State Senator Dale Volker according to his page on
LinkedIn. Wahl was also part of an
investigation that led to the
guilty plea for intentionally failing to report expenditures of the committee called the "Friends of Terry Yarnall".
Gunner's wife Laura is a Democrat and has been in charge of DiPietro's charity golf tournament in the past while he was mayor.
According to Gunner, in addition to Wahl, Rob Ruffner and Earl Jann (chairman and vice chairman of the town of Aurora Republican party) called telling him to stay away from DiPietro or 'you will be in trouble'".
Gunner's wife attends DiPietro candidacy announcement and is photographed
Two days after this threat from Wahl, Gunner's wife and four year old daughter
attended DiPietro's public announcement declaring his candidacy for the State
Senate.
"You know, we almost did it out of spite. Here I am running for Highway Superintendent and some guy I don't even know is telling me and my wife who we can and can't support!"
Apparently someone from the party took pictures of Laura and their daughter at the DiPietro event and sent them to party leaders because only a few hours after the event he told us that Jann called him and told him 'I warned you, you shouldn't have been there...
I'm looking at a picture of your wife
at that rally right now. You were told not
to go there.' Later Ruffner called and told him 'You're done, you're not
gonna be on the ballot and we won't sign your Wilson Pakula for what you've
done,' said Gunner. A Wilson Pakula
needs to be signed by the head of the County Republican Party in order for a non
Republican to get on the ballot. It is required. He also told Gunner that he wouldn't give him
petitions.
Ruffner told Laura that he got the pictures from Wahl and said he sent them to Jann.
She was crying and yelled at him calling him a pervert for circulating pictures
of a little girl on the Internet. "I demanded to know where he got them from
and he said from Harry Wahl."
Republican Party leaders ask Gunner's wife to publicly denounce DiPietro to save
candidacy
Four days later Ruffner ended up saying that it is possible that people would carry
his petitions and possibly have their Pakula signed on the condition that Gunner's wife would send a letter to Dale Volker pledging his full support and promising
that they would not be in
contact with David DiPietro and that she would publicly denounce any association
with him. However even if they did that he couldn't
guarantee that they would sign the Wilson Pakula.
They couldn't believe it. "My wife was crying thinking she did
something wrong. I told her don't worry about it and she didn't do anything
wrong."
Ruffner later told them that this has gone all the way to Albany and that he was
getting pressure from there in addition to Wahl to ensure that he wasn't on the
ballot. "Ruffner told us 'This is bigger than you know. You don't mess
around with Dale Volker. They're trying to hold onto the majority in the senate.'"
"I told him that I wouldn't be in contact with DiPietro, but my wife refused to send
the letter."
We asked if he personally spoke with the head of the County Republican Party Jim
Domalgowski, the man who would have to sign the Wilson Pakula and he said "No.
We called him several times but he never returned out calls." "In fact, later
Ruffner called us and said that he had a message from Domalgowski, and that is to 'stop calling him because he will not to talk with you.'"
So although she didn't send the letter they decided to continue on, even though there was no guarantee that their Pakula would be signed. Ruffner told him
that he 'would handle turning in the paperwork.'
Ruffner offers Gunner a deal in order to avoid a review of Harris' signatures
Ruffner called with a proposition that would allow Gunner to possibly get on the
ballot. He said that Ruffner called and told him 'Jeff Harris is willing to
tell Domalgowski to sign your Wilson Pakula if you agree not to challenge his petitions.
I can make the deal right now for you.' "I really had no other choice since
either I made the agreement or I had no chance of getting on the ballot. I
wasn't planning on challenging his petitions anyway." (EastAurora.Org obtained a
copy of Harris' signatures and found numerous errors including Harris signing his
own name twice. It is very possible that if the petitions were challenged
Harris would not have been on the ballot due to lack of the minimum signatures)
Ruffner turned in the paperwork on July 10th for not only Gunner's Republican petitions
but also the Independence petitions. (Gunner had also received the independence
nomination by the recommendation of the Independence Party Chairman) The paperwork had to be turned in between Thursday July 10th
and Monday July 14th. In addition to the petitions, two other things needed
to happen in order for Gunner to get on the Republican primary ballot in September.
He had to get a Wilson Pakula signed, and he had to accept the Republican nomination. Jann told him he had three days to accept and sign the nomination.
On Monday at 1:06PM, Ruffner called saying he heard that Domalgowski is going to
sign the Wilson Pakula. After all that happened I was very suspicious so we were calling the Board of Elections all day long asking if it had been turned in since it had to be in by 5PM that day. Finally at 5 minutes to 5PM he finally turned up and turned in the signed petition. I said "Wow, he did it. We're on the ballot!"
The emotional tide turns against the Gunners
"The next day I was with Brian Higgins people in village hall talking about the flood rates here and got a call from Earl Jann who said 'Dave, why didn't you sign your acceptance paper?' I said 'What do you mean? I was told that I had three days to sign the letter after it was all signed off and approved by the party!'" Gunner said that Jann went on to say 'No, you need to sign and return it 3 days after the petition is signed.' So Monday was my deadline!"
"I called Ralph Mohr, the chairman of the Erie County Board of Elections who laughed and said its done, your nothing you can do. I told him I was going to get an attorney and he said 'go ahead and try. It's been challenged before. There's nothing that you can do.'"
So this means that he was off both the Republican ballot and the Independence ballot for the primary. These were the two parties that endorsed him.
"Our friends said 'No, this isn't over. We'll help you.' So we found
out that we had 2 days to collect enough signatures to get on the minor party lines
using something called the Opportunity to Ballot." They got on the Working Families,
the Conservatives and the Independence and they hope that they will be on those
lines during the actual election. They then created their own party called
the Integrity Party and collected
over 500 signatures to keep the processes going
and they will now be officially on the ballot in November for the election.
Another rookie candidate gets different treatment
Jim Collins is a Republican running for Town Council who gained the Independence Party endorsement and also needed to turn in an acceptance letter to formally receive the endorsement.
When asked by Gunner who turned in his endorsement letter, Collins told them 'I don't remember.' Gunner believes that Collins received the treatment that he didn't receive because they did not listen to Wahl when they initially met.
District Attorney's office interviews Gunners as part of a larger investigation
District Attorney Frank Clark personally called the Gunners and asked them to come
down to his office and talk about their experience with the Republican Party.
"He told us that 'crimes have been committed' and 'and we are opening a criminal
investigation'. He also said there is a difference between dirty politics
and coercion." In this case the coercion is that the Gunners were punished
for not doing what they were told by going to the DiPietro announcement.
In addition, the DA is looking at the threats against DiPietro that he could lose his business, wife, and home. They consider the threat of financial harm illegal.
Clark also asked if they would testify against Ruffner if the case against him moves
forward and if they would testify as to what Wahl had said.
Can/Should an average Joe run for office?
The Gunners are rightly concerned about the repercussions of standing up for their beliefs. "Will this hurt my business? After all they have done, who knows what else they will do. Yeah, I'm a little concerned," said Gunner.
The same is true for village elections. During a recent Mayor election, Heidi Potenza had anonymous mailings sent out against her and Art Giacolone and Betty Cheteny and nobody took responsibility for it. They were vicious and attacked her family. Another anonymous attack mailing went out against Clark Crook, another political rookie, during the last campaign. Most citizens certainly fear these types of attacks and simply do not want to risk the possible tribulations of going through a campaign.
"It's really strange. Things that you told while being raised as a child about right and wrong are completely thrown out the window. It's like a whole other world," Gunner said. "I hope I win because I feel like I can do a good job and represent the average people. But win or lose I think I am doing the right thing."
It's important to note that Gunner is not upset with the Replublican Party committee, only their leaders.
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User Comments:
Elad ...(10/26/2008 9:16:02 PM)
It's a shame when local politicians behave like spoiled children. We are losing our nation and culture and this imbecility is the best we can come up with? Good Lord! They can't win on ideas in Nothing, NY so threaten people and their families??? Vote all of the incumbents out. That will help stop these local cartels.
Maggie ...(9/5/2008 11:10:18 PM)
The whole Gunner petition mess up lays totally on the Aurora Republican Chairman's shoulders !!! It is the duty of a Chair to hand in out of party endorsements with all the Wilson/Pikula Papers filed right on the pile with said candidates petitions
Russ ...(8/31/2008 1:19:16 AM)
So let me get this straight. Longtime Village Trustee Pat McDonald who was a longtime 7 year employee at the Board of Elections before he got his big job at the Youth Detention Center got Gunner into this in the first place (they can be seen everyday together driving around town in his truck) and now Earl Jann, former Town of Marilla Supervisor, who was with Gunner "from the start" of this titanic themed campaign (who's close relative has and still works at the board of elections for the last few years) are all pointing fingers and claiming "Not me. I don't know nuthin about nuthin". Are we to believe none of these two knowledgeable insiders supposedly have no knowledge of what to do to be put on the ballot? Or who to call? Now these two guys are blaming who for what and huh? Really? Wow. I must have just hatched out of the egg this morning. Sad guys, sad.
Stan ...(8/30/2008 6:54:07 AM)
Laura, thats great, your husband has a job. I think the point here is that he (and you) chose to surround yourselves with the shadiest political people in this Town. The likes of Pat, Dave and Earl. By the way, nobody warted Earl in his last Town so he had to move.
Laura Gunner ...(8/29/2008 11:31:27 PM)
My husband's business provides a living for us and FAMILIES in our community. You drive on roads that were built with his guidance, like the 400. You park in lots he constructed and paved. You were able to safely pull in and out of lots after he removed the snow. Water is pumped through lines he helped install. Though it seems Bindig has much rubbish, my husband is busy working on the Parkdale school expansion.
He will have to pass. Bindig also seems to have forgotten that he circulated a petition for my husband after he conducted a phone interview.
Dr. Todd S. Bindig ...(8/29/2008 6:30:50 PM)
I saw the photos that were sent to Ruffner (E-mailing is different than posting on the Internet). There were no pictures of children. Ruffner told Gunner to sign the papers and has a credible witness to support this. What more was he supposed to do: take him by the hand and whisper encouraging words as he signed?! My children need less guidance and are not running for a job that is responsible for thousands of taxpayer dollars. I hope everyone reads my article, which Joe will soon post. Any rational person, who looks at the evidence, will see THERE IS NO CONSPIRACY against Gunner. He screwed up and then blamed everyone he could think of. His position is based on arguments that are Ad Hominem (attacking the one giving an argument rather than the argument itself) and Ad Populum (based on appeals to emotion to gain popular support). I wouldn't trust him with taking out my garbage, much less a job responsible for thousands of taxpayer dollars.
actions speak for themselves ...(8/29/2008 11:29:03 AM)
After the document was not filed, did the party leaders help Gunner get back on the ballot? Is the party doing what they can to support their endorsed candidate? The actions after the fact could determine if the if the missing document was an oversight or intentionally neglected.
Earl Jann ...(8/29/2008 8:58:33 AM)
I supported Dave Gunner from the time he sought the endorsement for Highway Superintendent and I still do because I think he is the more qualified candidate. On July 11th Dave called me to tell me he received his post card from the Board of Elections. He thought it meant that his Wilson/ Pikula had been signed by the County Chairman. I told him it only meant that his petitions had been filed. I also told him he had to sign an acceptance form since he wasn't a member of the Republican Party yet. I said I wasn't sure how much time he had to do that because I hadn't done that in a long time. I told him to check with Rob Ruffner, the Town Chairman or the Board of elections since I was leaving for a weeks vacation. On Tuesday I called from vacation to see if Dave had signed his acceptance. Since Dave is a novice in politics, Rob should have followed up properly and made sure his acceptance was filed. Had I not been away I would have made sure it was done.
Sam ...(8/28/2008 3:50:49 PM)
To go along with whats been said about McDonnell, he and the goof(because what term should be used would be edited by this web site) who thinks he can beat Mr Volker, are trying to take over the Aurora Republican Comm. They have had petitions signed for a guy who is a convicted felon to be on the ballot this fall for a Rep. Comm. position. And these are the guys crying foul. WHAT A JOKE!!!!!!
kevin biggs ...(8/26/2008 9:34:00 PM)
holding this criminal activity against jeff harris would be the wrong thing to do...judge the canidates by their qualifications.i doubt mr.harris would condone the activities of the republican heirarchy.also dont blame the committee as a whole.a few bad apples gave alot of good republicans a very bad name.INDEPENDENT REGISTRATION HERE I COME....
Jim ...(8/26/2008 6:49:01 PM)
Joe, apparently the elephants are guilty already? All I see in your story is hear say. Pat has his strings on this guy and has feed him everything to say. I bet if it is really being investigated, it is found to be unfounded just after the primary. I think its time to get rid of McDonald and his puppets for good.
Laura Gunner ...(8/26/2008 5:04:49 PM)
Mr. Barciniak, Earl Jann was my husband's campaign manager. I find it ironic that you are not a resident, but you seem to have knowledge of the ex-mayor, his opponents and McDonnell’s work history. Resort to second grade name calling if you will. Private citizens do not have YEARS of familiarity on election law and the process. Candidates do rely on the committees that endorse them to guide them through the process. If you believe my husband is "looking to blame", you are mistaken. My husband took responsibility for his lack of understanding of the process and worked very hard to get back on the ballot.
Wow, you believe McDonnell should have been more attentive? Maybe the chairman and co-chair could have been! Instead they were looking at pictures of me and my daughter on the internet!
Paul Barciniak ...(8/26/2008 2:59:16 PM)
Although I do not reside in East Aurora, I feel compelled to comment. The ex mayor was responsible for both attacks on his political opponents,contrary to his claim of innocense. I also find it ironic that Mr. McDonnell was not only Gunner's neighbor but also his political advisor. For someone that has worked the Board of Elections for many years, It seems that Mcdonnell should have been a little more attentive to his neighbor's plight and steered him in the right direction concerning politcal protocol. Personally, I feel this Gunner gentleman dropped the proverbial ball and is looking for someone to blame so as not to appear like a political nitwit. I will be amazed if a legal suit of slander and libel are not lodged against Mr. Gunner.
Hugh ...(8/26/2008 1:56:49 PM)
There are two sides to every story. I wan't tohear from ALL parties named before any rushing to any judgement
Bill ...(8/26/2008 9:14:15 AM)
Although it is sad to see this sort of thing happen in our town, I'm glad to see the Gunner's did not give in and that the DA is pursuing the matter. Also, I thank Joe for writing about this "mess".
I hope this article is also printed in the Advertiser and Buffalo News to more fully expose this outrageous behavior. Maybe it's time to bring out the tar and feathers.