by Anthony Rifilato
Republican Fifth District candidate Kevin Kamen of Baldwin is criticizing Legislator Joe Scannell (D-Baldwin) for a mailing Scannell sent out recently, updating residents about recent and upcoming projects in the district. The mailing, done 15 weeks before the Nov. 4 election, is, according to Kamen, a misuse of taxpayer dollars and a blatant attempt at self-promotion.
"Joe Scannell is wasting taxpayers' money promoting himself with an expensive mailing while the county is struggling to balance its books, services are being cut and jobs threatened," said Kamen in a press release.
But Scannell maintains that Kamen is playing dirty politics and that his criticism is misguided. "Kevin Kamen is mistaken," said Scannell, noting that all county legislators, Republican and Democrat, have a mailing budget of $33,000 per year to update constituents about projects. Scannell says he has sent one newsletter and four other mailings this year, which have cost a total of $21,000.
"Every elected federal, state and local official, including every Nassau County legislator, Republican and Democrat, has a mailing budget," Scannell said. "As for pre-campaign mailings, the Democratic majority already has an internal policy not to mail during the 60 days prior to an election."
Scannell contends that Kamen misuses his position as library board president for self-promotion, citing a mailing that the library sent out in April. It included a profile of Kamen, highlighting his 25 years as a trustee, with a photo of him on the phone. The article also mentioned Kamen's position as chief of the Auxiliary Police and lauded his work in the community. At the end of Kamen's profile, the library board wrote, "Whatever he chooses to engage in, we know that it will be for the betterment of the Baldwin community, its library and its organizations."
Scannell argues that it wasn't appropriate for the library board to use taxpayer money for a "puff piece" about Kamen a month before he was re-elected to the library board and while he was gearing up for his legislative run.
Stanley Klein, a professor of political science at C.W. Post-Long Island University, agreed, saying of the library mailing, "That's a political statement. They are endorsing his activities other than those attached to the board."
But Kamen said that he was running unopposed for the library board, and that he did not receive the Republican party's nomination for county legislator when the library newsletter was sent out. "I didn't have the nomination at that point and wasn't an official [legislative] candidate," he said.
He insists that Scannell's recent mailing, printed on an 8 X 11 sheet of thick paper with his photo on one side, is too costly and inappropriate, calling it campaign literature because Scannell received the Democratic nomination.
Of Scannell's mailing, Klein said, "It's clear that he is blowing his own horn," but that Scannell is "within his legal limits if he's merely updating his constituents" before the legislature's cut-off date for mailings. The mailing, according to Scannell, "is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary."
In his press release, Kamen said that because the county is in a deep fiscal crisis, he would sponsor county legislation that would prohibit current office holders running for re-election from sending out taxpayer-funded mailings once they receive their party's nomination. County funds for mailings should cease during a race, he said.
"It's legal but it's unethical," said Kamen, who denied that his outcry was a political campaign tactic.
For his part, Scannell said that the mailings are vital to keeping the 72,000 residents in his district informed.
While the candidates argue over the merits of the mailings, the latest accusations indicate a sign of things to come as the legislative race picks up steam.
"I would anticipate that Kamen's next press release will declare his outrage at his Republican Town of Hempstead colleagues, Kate Murray and Anthony Santino, for their excessive mailings," Scannell said.
