What Does a Developer Get in Return? Questions Every Voter Can Ask About Campaign Donation
Please note: Dan is not suggesting that any law has been broken. Political donations are legal and regulated, and every candidate has supporters. This article is about how certain patterns of donations may look to a voter, and why it is reasonable for constituents to ask questions.
Quick answer
Campaign contributions are public record. Voters can look up who funds a candidate and ask whether the donors have business before the committee that candidate leads. That is not an accusation. It is basic civic homework.
Why Dan is raising the question
Dan's opponent chairs the county's Housing and Planning committee. That committee shapes decisions that affect developers, architects, paving companies and others bidding for work and approvals. When donations to a committee chair come from those same kinds of businesses, many constituents will naturally wonder how it looks, even if everything is lawful.
In one video, Dan points to a "Say no to high-rises" sign on Woodward Avenue and Ravine, and asks what a resident who wants less overdevelopment should think when large developers appear among a chair's donors.
Here is a snap shot of Dan's opponent's top donors over the past 2 years:
$2,630.00 | Elite Feats Inc- Race event company, my opponent just had a 5k race she host's yearly. |
$1,000.00 | Park Square Yonkers LLC- Just broke ground on 500,000 square feet luxury rentals. 340 units divided into studios and 1 bedrooms. |
$1,000.00 | Peckham Industries Inc- Large scale road contractor |
$1,000.00 | Ginsburg Developer Comp LLC- "GDC is a leading developer of luxury rental apartment buildings in Westchester and Rockland Counties". |
$1,000.00 | Park Square Yonkers LLC |
$2,725.00 | Elite Feats Inc |
$1,600.00 | Pertillo Family LLC- Yonkers Construction |
$1,600.00 | Ginsburg Developer Comp LLC |
How Dan is funding his own campaign
Dan says his support comes from friends, family and neighbors, ordinary people who want better for Yonkers. He is not asking for support from developers looking for favors.
Do your own research
Anyone can look at the filings:
Read for yourself, compare candidates, and decide.
The principle
Whoever sits on a committee that decides contracts and approvals should be free of even the appearance of a conflict. Voters deserve to ask.
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