Complaint filed against Amenia Strong candidates

Part I

AMENIA — Though it’s a new year, the residual strain and tension that built up among the nine candidates who ran for the Amenia Town Board last November remains.

With two candidates competing for town supervisor and seven candidates competing for two councilperson seats, the Nov. 2, 2021 General Election in the town of Amenia was even more contentious than usual — and that’s really saying something.

Last year, in order to put its own candidates up against the incumbents and other favored nominees running on the Republican ticket, a group of Amenia residents splintered from the GOP to form their own independent party called Amenia Strong (AS).

As with all political parties, AS was required to file as a political committee and its candidates to file disclsosure forms with the New York State Board of Elections (NYSBOE) to keep the process as transparent as possible. It’s not only good practice, it’s the law.

According to NYSBOE Spokesman John Conklin, as of Thursday, Jan. 27, he could find no record of AS in his department for the 2021 election cycle.

“If they have not registered a committee with us and disclosed, we would have no way of knowing,” he acknowledged.

When asked if he saw Amenia Strong registered as a political committee, he confirmed he did not.

“No, I don’t see it,” he said.

Conklin looked to see if the party filed the required disclosure forms after a complaint was filed by an Amenia resident with the NYSBOE against not only AS, but against its three candidates, for not filing or completing the registration of their financial reports: Julie Doran, who ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Victoria Perotti for town supervisor; Jamie Vitiello, who ran unsuccessfully for town councilman (AS, CON); and Brad Rebillard, who was the only AS candidate to win on Nov. 2, gaining a seat at the Town Board table (AS, REP).

Leo Blackman (DEM, WF) won the other open seat on the Amenia Town Board.

When contacted about AS  and its candidates not filing their disclosure documents or filing them to completion, Blackman Campaign Treasurer Ken Monteiro said that’s typically a red flag for people who disregard the rules.

“I think they think that the rules don’t apply to them,” he said of AS, bringing up the Silo Ridge luxury housing development that was closely tied to AS and its slate of candidates.

The Silo-AS connection

Doran is Silo Ridge’s office manager and was named as one of three petitioners in an Article 78 lawsuit filed by Doran, her estranged husband, Peter Doran, and Silo Ridge principal Juan Torres against the town of Amenia, former Amenia Assessor Christopher Boryk, the Amenia Board of Assesment Review, Amenia Town Clerk/Records Access Officer Dawn Marie Klingner and the Amenia Town Board on Oct. 29, 2020.

Additionally, more than 42 Silo Ridge residents filed individual lawsuits, which were later refiled, against Amenia claiming unfair property assessments.

Property values and taxation were just two issues on which AS candidates based their campaigns, along with transparency and improved communication.

Vitiello is a resident of Silo Ridge, and is on the Board of Directors of the Amenia-Wassaic Community Organization, a fundraising arm and local foundation created by Silo Ridge to benefit the town of Amenia and its residents.

Montiero said Silo Ridge abides by its own playbook, and so did AS.

“They don’t care what the rules are,” he said, referencing the lawsuits as an example. “They think they’re too rich for the laws to apply to them.”

Filing as a committee

Montiero added he filed the proper paperwork for Blackman, under a committee named Friends of Leo Blackman. He said it was simple.

“If you Googled ‘What I do as a candidate in New York State,’ it would link to the Board of Election’s website,” Montiero noted.

What he couldn’t get online, he simply called the NYSBOE.

“The people at the BOE are incredibly helpful,” said Monteiro. “I would call them if I had a question and they would walk you through and tell you how to do it. On scale of 1 to 10 it was like a 3 — not onerous at all — I just Googled what to do. I certainly knew I had to follow certain things to get on the ballot.”

This article will continue in next week's issue of The Millerton News.