Analysis Shows 89% of George Amedore’s Large Business and PAC Donations Came from Real Estate and Developers

Real Campaign Finance Reforms, Including Publicly Financed Fair Elections, Critical to End New York’s Corrupt Campaign Finance System

Amedore Supports Interests of Developers and Landlords Over Needs of Environment, Tenants, Workers

Albany, NY – A new analysis that includes campaign data for donations reported up to this month finds that 89% of the large contributions ($5,000 or more) received by 46th Senate District candidate George Amedore (other than from Republican committees) this year came from developers, landlords and their affiliated trade organizations and PACs.  Assemblyman Amedore, a builder, has an extreme voting record that favors the interests of the real estate industry over the interests of the environment, tenants and workers.

“George Amedore’s voting record in the Assembly, paired with his watered-down campaign finance reform plan, shows that he’s a candidate who’s in favor of keeping the status quo: an election system that breeds corruption,” said Karen Scharff, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York. “Amedore’s contributors know they will get what they paid for: a legislator who votes again and again to increase real estate industry profits, no matter the consequences for working families. The absence of publicly financed Fair Elections from Amedore’s plan shows that he’s unwilling to make tough choices on behalf of his constituents. Voters will decide between continued corruption at the Capitol, or, for just $2 per New Yorker per year, a system that puts voters back in charge of their elections.”

Citizen Action analyzed 2012 campaign contributions data for George Amedore’s Senate campaign on the State Board of Elections website as of October 18th and determined which large donors were connected to the real estate industry and to developers. We found that:

• Of the $549,357 Amedore received, $326,275, or 59%, came from just 31 entities (including businesses, executives and political committees) contributing at least $5000, showing the influence of large corporations and wealthy individuals.
• Of the $326,275 Amedore received from donors of $5000 or more, $168,500, or 52%, came from the real estate industry and developers and their PACs.  But, excluding contributions or transfers from Republican affiliated campaign committees — including Amedore’s own Assembly campaign account and the Senate Republican Campaign Committee — 89% of Amedore’s private donations of at least $5000 came from donors affiliated with real estate and development interests.
• Developers and landlords have poured almost $20,000 ($19,000) into Amedore’s campaign since August 1st, adding to the well over $100,000 various Senate Republican campaign accounts gave during this critical pre-election period.

(See the chart below of donations of at least $5000.)

“In the next legislative session, when the Legislature will be facing high profile fights over issues critical to New Yorkers like hydrofracking, tenants’ rights and rent regulation, it is clear that George Amedore intends to continue to do the bidding of his biggest campaign contributors — disproportionately from downstate real estate interests — rather than looking out for the interests of his constituents,” said Scharff.

“It is clear that George Amedore’s driving political ambition is to serve his own personal business interests and the few wealthy donors that advance his campaign,” said Roger Downs, Conservation Director for the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. “Amedore’s Assembly voting record reflects a vision for the state where over-scaled development and gutted environmental regulations trump the needs of everyday people.  Unless we as New Yorkers reclaim our voice in this electoral process, we will certainly face a legacy of contaminated water, polluted skies and fractured communities.”

One of the most dramatic examples of influence-peddling by Amedore donors is that three of the largest private contributors to Mr. Amedore (Arwin 74th Street LLC, 80th Street Realty LLC, 79th Street Realty LLC) — giving a total of $40,000 — are all connected with Glenwood Management, a major realty company based in New Hyde Park headed by 97 year old billionaire Leonard Litwin that manages dozens of high rise buildings in New York City.  Several contributors (i.e. Donald Zucker Co., Arwin 74th Street LLC, 80th Street Realty LLC, 79th Street Realty LLC) have current or past affiliations with the Real Estate Board: a powerful trade group that plays a lead role in the fight against rent regulation and other tenant protections.

Assemblyman Amedore has a record of consistently favoring his corporate contributors over the interests of working families.  For example, Amedore:

• was one of the two Assemblymembers to vote against the State Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act, a 2010 law requiring state agencies to consider “smart growth” principles like using existing water and sewer services when undertaking construction projects;
• voted in 2011 against legislation supported by the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations to close state regulatory loopholes that exempt hazardous wastewater generated by hydraulic fracturing or “hydrofracking” — containing highly toxic chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde — from proper handling, treatment and disposal rules;
• voted repeatedly against the interests of tenants, including against legislation that would require the return of tenants’ security deposits plus accumulated interest within 30 days after the end of their leases;
• has consistently been one of only two members of the Assembly to vote against legislation to prevent lead exposure and lead-related health problems by penalizing building owners who allow this dangerous condition to exist on their properties; and
• voted against legislation to improve the accountability of contractors and subcontractors at public construction sites and ensure the payment of the prevailing wage.

“George Amedore is a local builder who time and time again has put the interests of developers against the interests of residents of his district, who are seeking to protect the good quality of life they have here in the Hudson Valley through such protections as smart growth requirements,” said Judtih Simon, a Saugerties resident. “Instead of taking a simplistic ‘drill baby drill’ and ‘build baby build’ position like George Amedore does, we need legislators who balance the needs of the community against the interests of corporations seeking short-term profits. That’s going to happen only if we establish a fair elections system in New York.”

On October 24th, Citizen Action of New York sponsored a “Caravan of Corruption” to highlight Albany’s long history of state officials (legislators and the State Comptroller) convicted of corruption-related charges as a means of highlighting the need for publicly funded fair elections legislation.  Citizen Action is urging the Legislature to return to pass Fair Elections legislation during an expected special session this year.

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