On November 25th, I submitted the following FOIL request to both Mr. Brassard and Mr. Quail, the Commissioners at the Schenectady County Board of Elections.

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November 25, 2007

Art Brassard
Republican Commissioner
Schenectady County Board of Elections
388 Broadway, Suite E
Schenectady, New York   12305

Dear Mr. Brassard:

Under the provisions of the New York Freedom of Information Law, Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, I hereby request records or portions thereof pertaining to the following:

Each and every document and data of every name, nature and kind in the possession of the Schenectady County Board of Elections pertaining to the financial disclosures for the Schenectady County Conservative Party and the Schenectady County Democratic Party filed for the year 2007.

If there are any fees for copying the records requested, please supply the records without informing me, if the fees are not in excess of fifty dollars ($50.00).  If the fees are assessed to exceed fifty dollars, please contact me so that I may inspect said documents, once compiled, and identify those for which copies will be requested.

Enclosed please find the completed and signed Application for Access to Records Pursuant to The New York State Freedom of Information Law.  Please note that this request is being submitted to both the Republican and the Democratic Board of Election Commissioners.  A single and unified response is acceptable.

As you know, the Freedom of Information Law requires that an agency respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request; therefore, I would appreciate a response as soon as possible and look forward to hearing from you shortly.
If for any reason any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of the reasons for the denial, in writing, and provide the name and address of the person or body to whom an appeal should be directed.

Sincerely,
Bradley E. Littlefield
197 Eaton Corners Road
Delanson, New York   12053

Cc:  Brian L. Quail, Democratic Commissioner

I remitted payment of fifteen dollars for hardcopy of the campaign filings.  Last week, I received sixty (60) pages (total) of 2007 filings by the Democratic and the Conservative parties.  They are being scanned and will appear on this forum within the next several days.  

I understand that some of this information is available (and searchable) at the New York State Board of Elections web site ( http://www.elections.state.ny.us/portal/page?_pageid=35,1,35_8617&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL ) --> Campaign Finance link.

The information that was provided in response to my FOIL request was informative and provided some insight to politics in Schenectady County.

My gratitude to Commissioners Brassard and Quail for their prompt response to my inquiry and request.

I would encourage those who have interest in this information to consider FOILing for the campaign filings of the other parties (i.e., Republican, Independent, Working Families).

Brad, What are you looking for?  What type of information is disclosed in these documents?

The filings contain the list of donors and the expenditures by the party, including contributions to individual candidates.  I find the donor information to be the most interesting.  In particular, those donors to the Democratic Party who happen to be recipients of Metroplex grants/loans and county contracts.  The campaign filings that I have obtained are for the county committees, not those of individual candidates.

Should we be surprised that individuals and/or businesses donated money to candidates that were able to secure funding for them or that were awarded contracts by them?  Hasn't that been going on for hundreds of years by every politician for every political office? Or are there politicians that don't accept contributions except from those people who can in no way, shape or form benefit from a decision made by a candidate or by a political party?  I would be more intereted in seeing the names of candidates like that.  Good luck!

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Quoted from jnotar:
Should we be surprised that individuals and/or businesses donated money to candidates that were able to secure funding for them or that were awarded contracts by them?  Hasn't that been going on for hundreds of years by every politician for every political office?

Valid points jnotar.  Buying of influence has been occurring probably as long as there have been politicians running for office.  I believe that the public has the right to know to whom the politicians and parties are beholden.  Having all of the pieces of a puzzle make it possible to see the entire picture, even if it is displeasing.

Could this be why the developers in Rotterdam can do pretty much what they want with no fear of being reprimanded.

http://www.elections.state.ny......l&_schema=PORTAL

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New York State Senator
     Resident of state for 5 years and resident of district for 12 months immediately preceding election. (In a redistricting year, may be a resident of county for 12 months immediately preceding the election.)     

Hey, was Hillary a resident of NYS for 5 years before she was elected? It didn't seem like 5 years to me...although I could be wrong here.

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Should we be surprised that individuals and/or businesses donated money to candidates that were able to secure funding for them or that were awarded contracts by them?  Hasn't that been going on for hundreds of years by every politician for every political office? Or are there politicians that don't accept contributions except from those people who can in no way, shape or form benefit from a decision made by a candidate or by a political party?  I would be more intereted in seeing the names of candidates like that.  Good luck!

The voters are just cogs in the system.....powers and principalities......money is just a form of bartering, and what do folks want more of??? ...........money to barter for power to obtain more money to barter for power to obtain more money.........blah blah blah........

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Quoted from jnotar  Hasn't that been going on for hundreds of years by every politician for every political office?

Not me.  Realize I'm very, very small potatoes and I don't have any clout to speak of, but I pay for my own campaign out of my own pocket.  I don't receive funds from the Republican party nor the Independence or Conservative party of which I am endorsed.  In a year with an opponent the cost is close to $2,000. Just wanted to let you know that.

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Having all of the pieces of a puzzle make it possible to see the entire picture, even if it is displeasing.

Brad I agree. And probably the more the pieces of the puzzle you get, the more displeasing it will become. But the more information we have, and the better informed we become, the better informed decisions we can make.

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Not me.  Realize I'm very, very small potatoes and I don't have any clout to speak of, but I pay for my own campaign out of my own pocket.  I don't receive funds from the Republican party nor the Independence or Conservative party of which I am endorsed.

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!  Beholden to no one - that's my motto too!  People say I'm nuts for considering a political campaign w/o the party funding.  I'm glad to see someone else is already embracing such a principle and succeeding no less.  Rock on, Rene.

As far as Brad's initiative, you've absolutely got to know who's in bed with who to understand their decision-making.  It's hard to navigate the waters otherwise.

I was thinking about my last post.  One time, during my first campaign for a Town Board seat the local Republican Club was holding a ziti dinner fundraiser.  A "young man" and his dad came in for dinner and to my total surprise wrote me a check for my campaign.  That young man was Brad Littlefield.  I will never forget it because it made me feel great that someone supported me.  Not that the amount was inconsequential, but it was not enough to be beholden to them and Brad will attest that in the eight years since we probably only had three or four more conversations until the sex offender issue came up.  
I will say that for the candidates running for the county it is a different story.  It is my understanding it costs around $15,000.  That is ashame as it keeps good candidates from running since not everyone can afford that kind of money.  I know I can't.  Any one know how much a board seat in Rotterdam costs these days?

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Any one know how much a board seat in Rotterdam costs these days?

A little league field, clean-fill, snow removal etc etc..........

Being able to clear cut trees in a wet land and to burn illegally and not have to worry about doing it.