So much for that no-negative-campaigning pledge in the increasingly dirty 48th SD special election race, which was basically a blink-and-you-missed it moment.
Here’s the latest hit on Democrat Darrel Aubertine from Republican Will Barclay’s campaign – a spot that accuses Aubertine of failing to abstain on windmill-related votes while profiting off the sale of wind rights on his dairy farm to turbine prospectors.
According to Aubertine spokesman Cort Ruddy, who’s on vacation from Sen. Dave Valesky’s staff to work on this campaign, Aubertine has received $1,000 a year since 2004 from a company that wants to build a wind farm in the North Country and has already received approval from the local town (Cape Vincent) planning board. (Fixed).
If the wind farm doesn’t get developed within five years, the wind rights revert to their original owners.
The vote in question here was one that Aubertine cast in favor of the Assembly Democrats’ Article 10 power plant siting bill, which would expand the definition of “power” to include wind farms. It would also create a so-called “intervenor fund” that communities interested in fighting energy projects would be able to access to fuel study and potential opposition.
Article 10 expired in 2002 and the powers-that-be in Albany have since failed to reach an agreement on a new law.
UPDATE: The Aubertine campaign e-mailed over this statement from spokeswoman Cathy Calhoun:
“This is another desperate lie by the Barlcay campaign which is reeling from yesterday’s poll results. Darrel voted for Article X because it’s good policy and will help create jobs by encouraging many forms of energy production.
The Cape Vincent wind farm has already been approved by the local planning board, and would not have been impacted by the Article X vote. Darrel abstained from the only vote that was germane to this project.
To our knowledge, Barclay has never recused himself from votes, despite these facts: Will Barclay votes against Empire Zone reforms while his law firm collects Empire Zone Benefits. Will Barlcay votes on funding for the Salmon River fish hatchery while the company he is president of makes money by charging people to fish in the Salmon River. Will Barlcay was, until he got bad press during this campaign, head of the Lobbying & Election Law Compliance practice area for Hiscock & Barlcay, where his job was to “assists clients in maximizing the benefit of their political contribution efforts while ensuring compliance with all applicable state and federal election laws, rules, and regulations.”
Since this became public, Hiscock & Barclay has changed thier website to hide Will Barclays’ work.”
Elizabeth Benjamin
The Daily Politics – NY Daily News
21 February 2008
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/02/22/gloves-off-again-in-48th-updated/