Candidates' characters are hot topic

Breaches of ethics, conflicts of interest and negative advertising — oh, my!

Oswego County voters peppered state Senate candidates Darrel J. Aubertine and David A. Renzi with questions about their personal character Thursday at G.S. Steamers Bar & Grill, Oswego. Some shot from the hip; others recited typed-out questions from strips of paper.

Sandy Blanchard, Hannibal, asked Mr. Renzi about the Watertown Daily Times story Thursday that said the Republican candidate accrued retirement credits he was not entitled to while serving as legal counsel for the town of Pamelia.

"If you behaved in a totally lawful manner, why don't you call for a special investigation to clear your name?" she asked. "If you did nothing wrong and you denounce the Watertown Daily Times for muckraking, why not call for the DA or the comptroller's office to perform an independent audit?"

The Republican candidate replied, "The person I'm accusing of muckraking is Sen. Aubertine," drawing groans from some audience members.

"I did nothing wrong and what was put out there was lies," he said. "This is nothing different than thousands and thousands of state and county employees throughout the state. It's been going on for 50 years. What happened in this situation was the comptroller switched the rules halfway through."

The state does not agree with Mr. Renzi's assessment. The Rules & Regulations were amended earlier this year to more clearly define the difference between an employee, which Mr. Renzi had been incorrectly classified as, and an independent contractor, which is what the attorney actually was.

That does not mean an independent contractor improperly classified as an employee is entitled to keep his or her pre-amendment service credits, according to Emily K. DeSantis, the comptroller's office spokeswoman.

"The amended regulations more clearly defined what was already established in case law and by IRS guidelines," she said.

Mr. Renzi then noted in the debate that the Times began its investigation after receiving his benefit records from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.

"Sen. Aubertine and the Senate Democrats put that information out there because he recognizes what's happening with the scandal involving his sister and hiring her illegally," he said. "The reality is, Sen. Aubertine co-sponsored a bill for anti-nepotism and the first order of business he had as senator was to break that law. He continued breaking that because the money isn't paid back."

Mr. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, said nothing about Mr. Renzi's pension situation in his rebuttal.

"My sister — yes, I did hire her. She worked for me for 21 days," he said. "And we are currently in the process of returning those funds."

Mr. Aubertine's sister, Debra A. Wiley, earned $1,917 as a constituent liaison before she resigned, according to Andrew G. Mangione, the senator's spokesman.

Mr. Mangione said it is his understanding that Mrs. Wiley soon will return the money and that Mr. Aubertine will reimburse his sister out of his personal account.

By hiring his sister, the senator violated an amended section of the state Public Officers Law. Mr. Aubertine voted in favor of that amendment in 2007 as an assemblyman.

A person who "knowingly and intentionally" violates the provision can face a penalty of up to $40,000 and the value of the compensation.

Mr. Aubertine is not being and has not been investigated by any oversight committee, Mr. Mangione said.

Melissa M. Ryan, the state Legislative Ethics Commission's executive director and counsel, said her agency comments only on its findings. She said she will not comment on complaints or investigations.

Georgiana Mansfield, Scriba, asked Mr. Aubertine about voting for a 2003 bill that exempts agricultural land used for wind power generation from penalties that are assessed when land that is under an agricultural district exemption is converted to non-agricultural use.

Mr. Renzi seized that opportunity to accuse his opponent of having a conflict of interest.

"The issue has to do with elected officials voting on something that could financially benefit them," the Republican said.

Mr. Aubertine and his late father, Paul J., sold their farm's wind rights to AES/Acciona Wind Power New York in summer 2004. AES has a five-year option to build on his land, but has not sited any turbines in Cape Vincent.

The Democratic candidate said in February that he saw no personal economic benefit from that bill, which passed 142-0, because wind developers had offered nothing to him at that time. Mr. Aubertine also said in February that he and his father received one $700 check each annually after leasing their wind rights.

"I in no way support conflict of interest," he said Thursday. "I certainly wouldn't support any elected official taking it upon themselves to vote in a fashion that would benefit them and them alone."

Brenda Earl, Oswego, asked Mr. Renzi about his pledge to run a "positive" and "uplifting" campaign in light of his recent television advertisements attacking Mr. Aubertine.

"How do you expect us to believe you if you haven't been able to keep your word?" she asked.

Mr. Renzi defended his campaign.

"Sen. Aubertine is very good at saying, 'Wow, I'm being picked on again,'" he said, again drawing groans. "This is a great example of it. I have had commercials that are specific to the issues — about his tax record, about his voting record. Tonight, I touched base about his voting record on his sister, ethical issues. I asked him about votes on windmills. Those are issues. I've never said anything personal about the man."

Mr. Aubertine declined to offer a rebuttal.

Thursday's debate was moderated by the Oswego YMCA. The next debate is Wednesday in Gouverneur.