This is opposed to the "unofficial" race that started months ago with petitions, fundraising, etc.
Glad to know the "game" is on.
It will be important to document developments in thius very important race.
The presence of three solid candidates should promote vigorous review of a major criminal justice agency badly tarnished by Frank J. Clark's "politicization" of the office.
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregio...ry/389749.html
DA hopefuls Sedita, LaVallee, Case start their race to succeed Clark
By Matt Gryta NEWS STAFF REPORTER, Updated: 07/11/08 6:52 AM
The three-candidate race for Erie County district attorney kicked off Thursday with each of them vowing to make the county’s chief law enforcement agency one of the best — if not the best — in the state.
Deputy District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III, 46, the acknowledged front-runner to succeed retiring Frank J. Clark, vowed to eliminate highly paid purely “administrative” posts that have developed in the office since the 1950s.
Diane M. LaVallee, 49, a state and local prosecutor for 25 years and the first woman to seek the post, said she was pleased that the county Republican leadership crossed party lines to endorse her, a Democrat.
Kenneth F. Case, 46, once a top homicide prosecutor in the district attorney’s office who was a key member of the Bike Path Rapist Task Force, said he hopes to “repair” dwindling public confidence and “low” staff morale in the office.
The three registered Democrats all turned up at the Board of Elections on Thursday, the final day to submit designating petitions. Each campaign has until late next week to challenge their opponents’ petitions. The three are vying in the Sept. 9 primary for the Democratic line.
LaVallee was Sedita’s former bureau chief and headed the Sex Crimes Bureau under then District Attorney Kevin M. Dillon. She is now deputy director of the state Tax Department’s special investigations unit.
She pledged to “make the necessary changes” to restore public confidence in the criminal- justice system and remove what she called “the stigma of politics” that tainted the office in recent years.
Case was a 14-year prosecutor in the district attorney’s office who resigned from the legal staff of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct in February to stage his first political campaign. He said, “The fact that I’m not a politician seems to be playing well” with voters.
He said he got into the race to give voters “a choice” and because “Erie County deserves a district attorney who does the right thing under difficult circumstances,” citing the recent cases of Anthony J. Capozzi and Lynn M. DeJac, both of whom were released after being wrongfully imprisoned for years.
Case also cited the indictment and later acquittal of Sheriff’s Deputy George A. Avery Jr. on charges of homosexual rape involving a suspect and what he called his unanimous endorsement by local law enforcement, saying neither of his opponents received a single law enforcement endorsement.
Sedita, one of the area’s most successful homicide prosecutors and the son of a well-known state judge and grandson of one of Buffalo’s most prominent mayors, pledged that under him, every assistant district attorney will return to the courtroom.
Like his opponents, he stressed his nonpolitical nature, saying, “I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a politician.” A prosecutor for 20 years, Sedita said, “I know what it takes to bring cases against the area’s most serious lawbreakers.”
Regardless of the outcome of the Democratic primary, all three will remain on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, with Sedita on the Conservative and Independence party lines, Case on the Working Families line and LaVallee on the Republican line.
mgryta@buffnews.com
This is opposed to the "unofficial" race that started months ago with petitions, fundraising, etc.
Glad to know the "game" is on.
I just discovered Frank Sedita III's website: www.SeditaDA.com.
The other two canditates' websites are:
www.DianeLaVallee.com &
www.Case4DA.com
Here is the latest from the Case campaign.
It is not yet clear wheter Dennis Delano is ready for a whole different world of partisan Erie County & Albany politics:
From: MrD341@aol.com
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:04:17 -0400
Subject: campaign
To: Case4da@live.com
Hello Ken,
I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that a lot of people have been asking me who I am supporting for District Attorney, but since I'm technically still a PO, I don't think that I can "officially" endorse a candidate, but you should know that your the guy that I would like to see running that office come January 1st!!
I think that you also know how I feel about Frank Clark and Frank Sedita being "two of a kind". Neither one of them gave a damn about Anthony or Lynn being in prison for all of those years,even after we brought it to their attention that they were totally innocent of the crimes that they were convicted of. It has never been about justice with these guys, only about the "wins and losses" and the next election cycle!!!!
As far as I am concerned, a vote for Frank Sedita is a vote for Frank Clark, and you and I both know that the people of Erie County cannot afford that!!!!! I wish you all the best in your endeavor to do what is right for the taxpayers of Western NY.
Honored to call you my friend,
Den Delano
Interestingly, Illuzzi is the only writer to date to underline Delano's questionable political judgment in "endorsing" Sedita (Illuzzi's pay-for-praise client) as both Delano (?) & LaVallee are endorsed Republicans.
Delano has been an important voice for honesty & decency in Erie County, but I am not comfortable that his choice to enter 'politics' was well considered.
COPY: ******************
July 15, 2008
DENNIS DELANO PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS!
GOP 58th District NYS Senate candidate Dennis Delano has broke with GOP headquarters & endorsed Ken Case (D) for Erie County DA.
Case retained consultant Jack Cookfair to run his campaign; the kiss of death. Case will not get 20-25% of the vote in the Democratic primary.
Diane LaVallee also a Democrat is the endorsed GOP candidate.
PoliticsNY.Net & Democratic endorsed candidate Frank Sedita III will win the Democratic primary handily. Sedita will also have the IP & Conservative lines in November. ###
This answers the early questions about what DA Frank Clark would do with the generous "gifts" of his 90-100 ADA's, usually donated every year as 'job insurance'.
This makes pretty clear that Sedita does NOT represent "chance & reform" . . . Apparently electing Sedita is 'insurance' for Clark that more revelations of his past dubious practices go unmentioned.
Is anybody in Bflo watching this important campaign?
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregio...ry/400840.html
DA staffers shift cash from Clark to Sedita
Candidate leads in money raised
By Matthew Spina, Updated: 07/27/08 9:25 AM
When District Attorney Frank J. Clark complained about the poor salaries of his prosecutors, county lawmakers granted him another $112,000 to spread among his staff this year so he could slow the exodus and not have to hire “a bunch of kids,” as he put it.
Clark was heading into a reelection year, too, and this time he would have an opponent.
But were Clark’s prosecutors really hurting?
Almost as soon as they started collecting their raises, those reportedly underpaid employees, who serve at Clark’s pleasure, started donating to his campaign. In six months, they poured $29,000 of their extra earnings into his fund.
That was before a single nominating petition was filed or Clark felt the heat of primary season.
Clark later chose to drop out of the race and returned that $29,000 to his staff. But the staff and the “Friends of Frank Clark” fund have given a similar amount, $27,000 so far, to Clark’s desired successor, Deputy District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III.
Sedita’s campaign account — fed largely by the staff and his own $20,000 loan — reported nearly $89,000 in cash on hand this month, leading the field.
Ken Case had $51,730 and Diane LaVallee $77,608.
Sedita says that he’s happy the employees of the DA’s office have given to his campaign but that they can give to any candidate they wish.
“I am not putting the arm on anybody,” he said recently. “There are all these rumors that I have made all these promises. I won’t make promises to anybody. Because it’s unethical. And it’s probably illegal.”
A dozen years ago, Erie County saw another district attorney’s race in which an incumbent chose not to run again. A deputy district attorney with some name recognition won it all: Frank J. Clark.
You have probably heard the Sedita name: Frank A. Sedita Sr. was a three-term Buffalo mayor. His son is a State Supreme Court justice. The mayor’s grandson just prosecuted some high-profile homicide cases and shaved off his mustache to begin his run for district attorney.
Case and LaVallee’s names are less familiar. So their ability to fatten a campaign fund will become a factor in the race.
In the 2005 race for Erie County comptroller, the winning candidate, Mark C. Poloncarz, spent about $250,000. Poloncarz also went through a three-way Democratic primary and a general election contest. But a race for comptroller lacks the public safety overtones of a DA’s race.
“Unfortunately, money is an important ingredient in today’s campaigns,” said Joseph F. Crangle, a former Erie County Democratic Committee chairman. “You need the exposure. They will have to spend a lot on TV.”
Then, Crangle said, it’s vital to get out the vote on Primary Day and Election Day, the only day that really matters. Again, Sedita seems to have an advantage. He is the rare candidate who has the support of the Erie County Democratic Committee — meaning Chairman Leonard
R. Lenihan— and Lenihan’s nemesis, former Chairman G. Steven Pigeon.
Lenihan commands the party infantry.
Pigeon can help raise money. His billionaire friend, B. Thomas Golisano, recently gave Sedita $5,000, according to Sedita’s campaign reports.
LaVallee on ballot
LaVallee, who has spent nearly her entire career with prosecutors’ offices, will have a major party line in the November election no matter how she performs in the Democratic primary: The Republican Party has endorsed her.
“I hate asking people for money,” she said. “I hate the fact that we live in the second-poorest city in the United States and campaigns are exorbitantly expensive. It seems that it’s a necessary evil in the campaign. And in these days of mass media, the way to get your message out is to use the media, which is expensive.
“We don’t have an incumbent running, but we do have the incumbent’s hand-picked successor with a great name and a dynastic name. So for those of us who are proud of our families and aren’t as well known, raising money is a huge factor in getting the message out there.”
Case spent 14 years in the district attorney’s office, with seven years prosecuting homicides. But turning to his former co-workers for campaign money would put them in a pickle, he said.
“When I was running against Frank Clark, I had pledged not to ask my friends and colleagues in the office for support because I knew the position I would put them in,” Case said of his campaign against Clark before the incumbent dropped out. “And I hoped that Frank, since he was their boss, would do the same. I feel the same way about Frank Sedita. He’s a deputy in the office, and it makes for a coercive situation.”
Case’s success hinges on the Democratic primary.
“With a primary, as you know, it comes down to about 60,000 to 80,000 votes, and you really gear your advertising to those prime Democratic voters. Obviously, the general election is a completely different thing.
“We are going to try to do radio advertising that tries to pinpoint prime demographics, and mailings and literature drops. We also have a great deal of support from labor, and we are going to try to utilize that to get out the vote.”
Sedita said he expects Case and LaVallee will make Frank Clark a campaign issue.
“If the race were about our credentials, and our character and our qualifications, I am very confident,” Sedita said, citing his years as an active courtroom prosecutor. But he grew up in a political family and has been reminded again of how politics works.
‘No quid pro quo’
“When you get in one of these things and you talk to the political people out there, they basically tell me that, if I am running against you, I am going to make you into Frank Clark,” he said. “They will try to make you into Frank Clark because Frank Clark is so wildly unpopular, because of the way he appears in the media, because it’s the my-way-or-the highway attitude that they see.”
“I have a much more different attitude about me,” Sedita said. “Everyone who knows me knows I am not like Frank Clark . . . nobody gets into more screaming matches with him than I do.”
Sedita wants prosecutors in the office to know they do not have to give to his campaign.
“I am not an incumbent district attorney,” he said. “I don’t control anyone’s job around here. No. 2, I have my campaign manager take care of all the solicitations. I do not get involved in that. I do not solicit any of the district attorneys. I do not come up and put the arm on them. Do you know why? Because I have been in that position for many years.”
“I’ll say it both ways: If you don’t contribute to me, you are not going to be in jeopardy of losing your job, and if you do contribute,” he said, “there is no quid pro quo.”
mspina@buffnews.com
WGRZ scheduled the airing of these interviews weeks ago, then cancelled them.
The interviews are now airing all week on different topics important to the DA's office:
http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story...59658&catid=37
Erie County District Attorney Race: Hear From The CandidatesPosted by: Athan Kompos Date last updated: 7/29/2008 7:52:19 AM
Frank Sedita (D)
Ken Case (D)
Diane LaVallee (R)
2 On Your Side's Scott Levin recently spoke with all three Erie County District Attorney candidates. All this week, we will air their thoughts each night at 11pm and on wgrz.com
After serving for 12 years, Frank Clark is about to retire from his position as Erie County District Attorney. Now, three candidates are trying to replace him.
2 On Your Side's Scott Levin recently spoke with all three candidates who are trying to earn your support.
Click on the video links on the right hand side of this page to hear what they have to say.
Assistant District Attorney, Frank Sedita has worked in the Erie County office for close to 20 years and has the endorsement of the Democratic Party.
Ken Case is another former assistant district attorney. The Democrat is challenging Sedita for the party line and has the backing of several police unions.
Dianne LaVallee is the first woman to run for the postion. The Democrat has found a home with the Republican party and will be on their line in November.
Scott spoke with the candidates about a number of issues. This week, we will air their thoughts each night on Channel 2 News Tonight at 11 and wgrz.com
Monday: What changes would they make to the office?
Tuesday: The candidates talk about their endorsements. (only on wgrz.com)
Wednesday: The candidates share their thoughts on the Capozzi and DeJac cases.
Thursday: the candidates explain how they would run the district attorney office on a budget.
WGRZ-TV
For some reason WGRZ has not continue to post links to their 4 part series on the three DA candidates this week.
Here is the main link:
http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story...59658&catid=37
And the Wednesday eve interviews about how the DA candidates would have handled the DeJac & Capozzi cases differently:
http://www.wgrz.com/video/vplayer.aspx?aid=46628
Other videos:
http://www.wgrz.com/video/vplayer.aspx?aid=46583
AND
http://www.wgrz.com/video/vplayer.aspx?aid=46486
There has been puzzlingly little discussion on SUWNY about this important race for Erie County DA.
The latest from Bflo News:
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/406727.html
Case, LaVallee differ on whether angling for a job was part of chat at fundraiser
Case and LaVallee clash over discussion about job
By Matthew Spina NEWS STAFF REPORTER, Updated: 08/04/08 8:19 AM
At an early campaign fundraiser, Erie County district attorney candidate Kenneth F. Case accepted kind words and a $99 check from Diane M. LaVallee. LaVallee is now running against him in the Democratic primary.
Each has a different version of their chat at his fundraiser, in the Bayou on West Chippewa Street in downtown Buffalo, and whether LaVallee was angling for a job.
Case says she did just that. LaVallee insists she did not.
They had remained chummy even after LaVallee entered the race. LaVallee saw it as the chance of a lifetime but still offered to drop out if Case won the county Democratic Committee’s endorsement.
They don’t appear chummy anymore.
First, their discussion about a job:
“She came up to me and said, ‘I think it’s wonderful that you are running. Somebody needed to do this,’ ” Case began.
Like Case, LaVallee thought someone should challenge the temperamental three-term incumbent, Democrat Frank J. Clark.
“And then she said, ‘If you are successful, would you ever consider bringing me back into the office?’ ” Case said.
LaVallee, according to Case, was asking for a job.
Case said he gave her a noncommittal response.
He told her he would want to hire good people who are effective trial attorneys, he said, and he knew she was both. (They had worked together in the prosecutor’s office in the 1990s, when Kevin M. Dillon was district attorney.)
“But then I said, ‘You can’t make
promises when running for office,’ ” Case added.
Case volunteered the story recently to show that one of his challengers had supported him — with words and dollars — and indicated she was open to a job as something less than the top prosecutor.
“Oh, my gosh,” a disgusted LaVallee said when told of Case’s recollection.
“I was at his fundraiser,” she agreed. “I did support him.”
That was back in April. And the job?
“I didn’t bring it up. He brought it up,” she said.
“He said something to the effect of ‘I
want to bring back some great people. I would love to have you back.’ ”
She said Case rattled off the names of a few other of their contemporaries as prosecutors whom he would like to hire.
“He mentioned that he would like to have the office be like it used to be,” LaVallee said.
But they soon agreed they should drop the subject.
LaVallee said she would have considered but then rejected an offer. “I have a great job with the state now,” she said, adding that she would not take a cut in pay to be an assistant district attorney.
She oversees the state Tax Department’s investigative offices in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, earning about $115,000 a year. Most posts in the DA’s office pay less. But the DA’s job pays $136,700.
Case says he’s telling the truth.
“She doesn’t want it to come out that she asked for a job,” he said.
LaVallee says Case has disappointed her. She said that at one point, after Clark said he would not seek a fourth term, Case actually welcomed LaVallee’s decision to run and saw her entry as part of a strategy that might help him win.
“He was very enthusiastic about having me join in,” she said. “Why? For the reason he now very clearly wants me out: to serve his purposes.”
LaVallee won’t disclose the strategy. Case says he never asked her to run.
For a time, she was in his corner.
“I told everybody . . . that if Ken got the Democratic endorsement, I would withdraw,” she said. It was her way to acknowledge that Case — the first challenger in the race — had prompted Clark to drop out.
Case did not get the endorsement and the party resources that come with it. They went to Frank A. Sedita III, a deputy district attorney who is supported by Clark.
“She came to me to say that she was getting in it,” Case recalled, “but she did say to me, ‘If I am hurting you, I will drop out.’
“I thought that’s nice.” Not only did Case not gain the Democratic endorsement, he saw the Republican endorsement go to LaVallee after the GOP could not find its own candidate.
LaVallee says she’s in the race to stay.
“I don’t believe that he can be elected Erie County DA,” she said of Case, “and I believe I can be.”
Case says he doesn’t think LaVallee’s candidacy will hurt him on primary day, yet his camp challenged her nominating petitions at the county Board of Elections in an unsuccessful attempt to knock her off the ballot.
Like LaVallee, both Case and Sedita will compete in the Nov. 4 general election, regardless of their finish in the primary, because other parties have endorsed them.
The Working Families Party endorsed Case. The Conservative and Independence parties endorsed Sedita.
mspina@buffnews.com
Here is the latest update on Kenneth Case on Gramaigna's pay-for-praise site.
Interestingly, both Case & LaVallee advertise on Gramigna, while both Sedita & LaVallee advertise on Illuzzi.
It is likely that advertising on both sites may in effect buy "protection". Illuzzi has been silent on the DA's race recently, attacking Hoyt in behalf of Kavanaugh instead.
http://www.newwnypolitics.com/index....d=726&Itemid=1
Case: "I Had The Guts To Challenge Clark When No One Else Would"
Written by Glenn Gramigna, Editor , Monday, 04 August 2008
ARMED WITH UNANIMOUS POLICE UNION SUPPORT, DA CANDIDATE KEN CASE IS MAKING THE CASE THAT HE'S THE ONLY INDEPENDENT CHOICE
"What is the most important issue in the current race for Erie County District Attorney? In the view of candidate Ken Case it's the fact that he was willing to go out on a limb to challenge incumbent DA Frank Clark while others were playing it safe.
"I had the courage to run against Frank Clark and I did it, not because I thought it would benefit my career, but because I believed there was a public safety problem involved here and I thought that someone needed to come forward and insist that a change needed to be made," this former Asst. District Attorney points out. "I thought we needed a DA who would work more closely with the police to make cases against habitual criminals, who would be much more aggressive in using tools such as Project Exile and the witness protection program to fight crime and protect our citizens. Others might have agreed with me, but they didn't have the courage to get out there and put themselves on the line to take a stand. I did."
The result of Case's early decision has been a remarkable run in which he has garnered the support of literally every police union in Erie County that makes endorsements, with the Buffalo Police Benevelent Assn. recently added to the list.
"I have also been endorsed by the WNY Police Assn., the Police Council of the State of New York, the Erie County Sheriff's PBA, the NFTA police union, the NYS Troopers union, the Cheektowga Police Club, and the Amherst,
West Seneca, and Village of Depew police unions," he reports. "Some local police unions don't make endorsements. However, the WNY Police Assn. includes officers from 23 town and village departments, including those that don't make endorsements individually."
Why are all these police unions backing Case, while none are supporting either of his two opponents?
"I think it's because they understand that I listened to their concerns about the current DA back when Frank Clark was still a candidate and was willing to stick my neck out to do something about them," Case replies. "I think they like my message and respect my courage."
What are some of the changes Case would make?
"For example, I would use the federal Project Exile program much more aggressively to send those who commit crimes with guns in this community away for a long time," he pledges. "It's a great program because it gets rid of these criminals without costing us anything. The feds prosecute the cases and we get the benefits. Also, I would use the money available to us from the witness protection program to aggressively recruit witnesses who can send the really bad guys to prison."
Other examples involve measures that would simply put the Erie County DA's office into the 21st Century.
"Right now we are still sending out court notices by mail instead of by e-mail, which would be faster and allow us to know when our messages have been received," Case notes. "I would be a firm DA but also a fair one. I would always stay flexible enough so that I could react to new information, even if I had to admit I had been wrong before....In short, I would be the kind of District Attorney that the people of Erie County want and need."
Ken case and Dennis Delano are both Gramigna "clients".....It would seem to me that Glenn is writing their stories and then posting them on his website. They are not issued by either "campaign"...
Latest update from Illuzzi, actually published today . . .
An interesting side note to the DA's race is Illuzzi's disclaimer that his article about Brown reversing himself on withholding police crime data from the media & public. It is an unsigned "guest editorial" not Illuzzi's own view. Illuzzi early mocked Margaret Sullivan about making the issue of cop-secrecy.
It would be interesting to know DA candidate Frank Sedita's view on cop secrecy.
From Illuzzi:
http://politicsny.net/
August 10, 2008 (actual publication date)
FRANK SEDITA RECEIVES ENDORSEMENTS
PROMINENT BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY OFFICIALS
Mayor Byron Brown, Council Members Demone Smith and Brian Davis, and Legislator Barbara Miller-Williams Endorse Frank Sedita for Erie County District Attorney
Frank Sedita, endorsed Democratic candidate for Erie County District Attorney, received the endorsements Friday of several elected officials from the City of Buffalo and Erie County. Mr. Sedita was joined in front of Buffalo City Hall by Mayor Byron Brown and City Council Members Demone Smith (D-Masten) and Brian Davis (D-Ellicott). Also endorsing Mr. Sedita was Erie County Legislator Barbara Miller-Williams (D-District 3), who was not able to attend today’s announcement.
Mayor Brown praised Sedita’s proven record of prosecuting cases as an Assistant District Attorney. "Frank Sedita has the experience, knowledge and extensive legal insight that makes him the best choice for Erie County District Attorney," said Mayor Byron W. Brown. "I know Frank well and I am confident he will be an excellent District Attorney, protecting the interests of all Erie County residents and ensuring the fair and just application of the law. He has a proven track record of success, prosecuting some of the area's most high profile court cases as an Assistant District Attorney. I encourage all enrolled Democratic voters to support Frank Sedita and vote for him in the upcoming Democratic Primary in September."
Councilman Demone Smith also praised Frank Sedita’s experience and qualifications for District Attorney. "Frank Sedita has an exceptional and proven track record of being tough, honest and fair as a prosecutor," said Councilman Smith. "Mr. Sedita is by far the most qualified candidate, and I am confident that he will be an excellent District Attorney."
Sedita was honored to receive the endorsements of these prominent officials and community leaders. "I wish to thank Mayor Brown, Legislator Miller-Williams and Council Members Davis and Smith for their support and for their endorsement of my candidacy for Erie County District Attorney," said Sedita. "As a fellow Democrat, as a fellow City of Buffalo resident and as a professional prosecutor deeply committed to the safety of our fellow citizens, I am honored to accept your endorsement."
Mr. Sedita further said, "Being a prosecutor is about doing the right thing for the right reason each and every day. That’s what I’ve been doing for 20 years as an Assistant District Attorney, and that is what I’ll continue to do as the Erie County District Attorney."
With over 20 years experience as a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office, Sedita currently serves as the Deputy Erie County District Attorney and Homicide Bureau Chief. Mr. Sedita is running to replace Frank Clark as the next Erie County District Attorney. He is the endorsed candidate of the Democratic, Conservative, and Independence parties.MAYOR BROWN ACTS TO DEFUSE CENSORSHIP FLAP (Guest Editorial - Not the view of Publisher Joe Illuzzi)
Mayor Brown hopefully acted in time to defuse a potential devastating fight over freedom of information.
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