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This belongs to you. Take it back...
Michael Nozzolio 
Mon Nov 03, 2008 at 13:14:07 PM EST
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It looks like Paloma Capanna's efforts to get her Republican opponent Sen. Michael Nozzolio to return contributions he received from nonprofits will fall flat with Nozzolio, who will keep the money, arguing that it is in accordance with state election law and that the only issues would be for the nonprofits, not for his campaign.
Capanna said nonprofit organizations are prohibited by Internal Revenue Service code from making political contributions, supporting or endorsing any political candidates.
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"Once again, I'm sounding the trumpet for campaign reform," said Capanna, a Rochester-area lawyer, who is trying to unseat Nozzolio in the 54th District.
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State elections board spokesman Robert Brehm acknowledged that candidates can receive campaign donations from nonprofit groups, under election law.
"It could be a tax code issue on the federal level (for the nonprofits) but it is not a state election law issue," Brehm said.
So if it's a tax code issue and nonprofits are giving money, wouldn't that be improper anyway? The tax code isn't anything to screw around with. Nozzolio should have returned these contributions or not accepted them.
Capanna has made it a point during this campaign to emphasize small, grassroots donors. She hasn't deviated from that strategy because she feels that it's the best way for her to push campaign finance reform on the trail. In other words, do as I say and do as I do. She is saying it on the trail AND doing it at the same time.
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Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 14:21:08 PM EDT
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Paloma Capanna has been hot on the trail of her Republican opponent Sen. Michael Nozzolio. This time around, Capanna has caught Nozzolio accepting contributions from a nonprofit organization.
"Senator Nozzolio is taking the hay right out of the horse's mouth," said candidate Paloma Capanna as she called upon her opponent to immediately refund a $2,500 contribution he accepted from the nonprofit group Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program (FLTAP), Inc. on July 30, 2008. The campaign contribution was disclosed on Nozzolio's 32-day pre-general filing with the NYS Board of Elections. Capanna (D, WFP - Webster) is challenging Nozzolio (R, C - Fayette) for the NYS Senate in the 54th District.
FLTAP is a registered nonprofit corporation based in Farmington for thoroughbred horse adoption at the end of a racing career. $60,000 of taxpayer money went into the construction of the organization's barn.
"Whether it is taxpayer money or tax-deductible contributions, nonprofit organizations are strictly prohibited from giving money to a political candidate," said Capanna. "Given that Nozzolio, himself, delivered taxpayer money to FLTAP, he should have known it was a nonprofit corporation and he should have immediately refunded the contribution."
In a 1954 Congressional amendment to the Internal Revenue Code, the 501(c)(3) the nonprofit corporation became prohibited from making political contributions or supporting or endorsing any political candidates. The restraint is a condition of its preferential tax status.
Nozzolio also accepted contributions from the nonprofit corporation CDS Foundation, Inc. in the amount of $4,250 through three checks on July 6, 2007, December 13, 2007, and February 7, 2008. Capanna has likewise requested that these contributions be immediately refunded.
This is not the first time Nozzolio accpeted money from a nonprofit corporation. He accepted a contribution of $2,500 on July 20, 2007 from Auburn Memorial Hospital, made at the time that the hospital was seeking Bankruptcy Court permission to discharge creditors, laying off hundreds of employees, and shifting the employee retirement benefits to the federal government's Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. According to Nozzolio's Board of Elections filings, he finally refunded that contribution on January 22, 2008.
It seems like Nozzolio has been getting away with bending (or breaking) the rules for quite some time. The thing was that, before this year, he had never had a challenger. He has run unopposed and having a challenger is a new thing to him. Win or lose, Capanna has sent a clear message to Nozzolio: You might be an incumbent, but don't get comfortable.
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Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 17:00:23 PM EDT
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(CORRECTION: I had stated earlier that Paloma Capanna received $5,000 from Responsible New York and only accepted $2,000 of that money. In fact, Capanna never received $5,000 from RNY. They only offered her that amount and she accepted her self-imposed maximum of $2,000. My apologies for the error.)
Paloma Capanna's campaign unearthed some interesting and questionable charges included in Sen. Michael Nozzolio's campaign finance filings. According to Capanna, Nozzolio charged his campaign $66,507.70 for car payments, insurance, gas and other transportation expenses. Upon reviewing the filings dating back to January 2007, that certainly appears to be the case.
From the Capanna campaign:
Under NY Election Law s.14-130, campaign funds may be used for "any lawful purpose," but "shall not be converted to personal use." According to Advisory Opinion 86-4 (6/2/1986), a candidate must reimbuse a campaign for any personal use of campaign assets. If campaign funds are used to pay for the purchase of an asset, a candidate may buy that asset from the campaign for the fair market value of the asset, as per Advisory Opinion 84-6 (7/14/1986).
"My opponent receives more in campaign travel benefits than most people earn in a year," pointed out Capanna, "No wonder he hasn't done anything in 28-years to reform New York's campaign finance laws."
Capanna is a zealous advocate for campaign finance law reform. She has not requested any reimbursement from her campaign for travel-related expenses. She owns and drives a Ford Escape.
It is worth noting that Capanna was offered $5,000 from Responsible New York. However, in keeping with her own pledge to limit contributions to no more than $2,000 per person and group, she only accepted $2,000.
It is also worth mentioning that This isn't the first example of Nozzolio using campaign dollars or taxpayer dollars for travel. Earlier this year, I obtained all the travel expenditures for our state legislators for the 2007 calendar year. Nozzolio was reimbursed $22,151.00 for his travel to Albany. Now, this might not seem significant to some. It might seem petty or small in the grand scheme of things. But during these hard economic times, I'm sure these legislators could find a much more cost effective way to travel that saves taxpayer dollars. And, most importantly, they should be paying for their own travel.
Of course, there is a difference between the two. Using taxpayer dollars to get refunded for travel is legal. Using campaign funds to pay for personal expenses is breaking election law.
So here you have two very different candidates. You have someone (Nozzolio) who is using his campaign money to help pay for personal expenses. Then you have another (Capanna) who pays for her own gas, own car and own insurance while taking no more than $2,000 in campaign contributions from individuals and groups and has run an honest, grassroots campaign. And why has she done this? She told me a few months ago that she hopes to stand on the floor of the New York State Senate and fight for campaign finance reform (REAL reform) while using herself as an example of what kind of reform we should have.
If that's not the kind of candidate we want to elect to the New York State Senate, I don't know who is.
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Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 15:20:13 PM EDT
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Make no mistake: The race for the 54th Senate District seat currently held by Republican Sen. Michael Nozzolio is not going to be easy for Democrat Paloma Capanna. But she is doing everything in her power to make sure that Nozzolio hears her footsteps.
Yesterday Capanna signed the Fair Campaign Pledge put forth by the League of Women Voters - Rochester Metropolitan Area and by The Interfaith Alliance of Rochester that holds candidates to a high standard on the campaign trail.
Paloma Capanna, candidate for the NYS Senate (D, Webster) today signed the "Fair Campaign Pledge" of the League of Women Voters and the Interfaith Alliance of Rochester. The signing ceremony took place at the Monroe County Office Building in Rochester. Capanna's opponent, Mike Nozzolio (R,C, Fayette), did not sign the Pledge and was not in attendance.
"The Fair Campaign Pledge is the gold standard of campaign integrity," said Capanna. "We will continue to conduct our campaign with a focus on issues and our future, without any resort to personal attacks."
The Pledge itself is a five-point list of dos and don'ts of ethical campaigning. The League of Women Voters - Rochester Metro Area and the Interfaith Alliance of Rochester also offer a procedure for filing a grievance in the event of an unfair practice. The procedure is available to all candidates who have signed the Pledge, regardless of whether their opponent has signed the Pledge or not.
This is the second campaign pledge that Nozzolio failed to sign. The first campaign pledge was written and signed by Capanna in January 2008, relating to campaign fundraising and candidate financial disclosure. Capanna supports public funding of state office elections and public disclosure of candidate finances.
Capanna has run a clean grassroots campaign to date and I don't see that changing leading up to November 4. I also don't see her grassroots fundraising abilities slowing down. With over 1,000 donors to her campaign, Capanna has something special going. If she doesn't win, she can still take great pride in the fact that she was able to reach many doors in the district and talk with many voters, 1,000 of whom decided to give to her campaign.
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