Update on Voting and Genga
I worked the campaign signs this morning and again in the evening. I had a great time putting smiles on the faces of voters at Goodwin School. The 6:00 AM voting line was backed up through the parking lot and the cars were forced to park on the field.
As of about 12:40PM when I left Goodwin some 1700 voters had cast their ballot. Needless to say this is the best turnout my limited political experience has exposed me to. A poll worker informed me as I left this evening that turnout is believed to have been around 75% at Goodwin.
I also had the opportunity to ask Henry Genga about his campaign expenditures. His answer was just about exactly what I expected. In short, what Henry told me is that he decided to spend the money because he could, because the law (which he helped create) allows it. Henry does not believe that his duty to the taxpayers should take precedence over his personal desire for political recognition and related aspirations.
Henry defended his actions by explaining that he feels it is his duty not to just win the office, but to spend any money available to spread his message, even if that means using state campaign dollars.
Apparently Henry and I differ on our vision of what a good state rep does. Henry believes to be a good state rep he must take money from the taxpayers’ pockets to tell them what a good rep he is, whereas, I believe a good state rep puts money back in the taxpayers’ pockets or better yet, doesn’t take it to begin with.
When I asked how much Henry spent in previous elections he wasn’t forthcoming. He informed me it was public information and left it there. I looked it up and found another rabbit hole. It appears that Henry started a PAC called the “Democrats for Excellence” which is a funnel for excess campaign dollars from previous elections to the campaigns of his friends and the East Hartford and State Democratic Committees. Gotta repay your friends eh Henry?
After his 2006 re-election campaign Henry funneled $765 to the EH Democratic Town Committee, $260 to Melody’s Mayoral Campaign and $380 to the State Party and other Campaigns. Maybe next time Henry comes knocking for a donation you ought to seriously question whether it’s wise to trust him with your donation because it might not be used for what you think.
What I also find interesting is that this PAC has been buying admissions for Henry to various events which would qualify as campaigning in my book. Being that this PAC is run by Henry they should qualify as coordinated expenditures under CEP rules and count as a donations which need to be disclosed by his candidate committee, but haven’t been.
I could go on about what’s wrong with Genga and his approach to our wallets, but I encourage you to talk to him yourself and find out first hand. My biggest regret is that we didn’t have a candidate to run against him and expose how little he respects we the people.
Inquiry Into Genga Campaign Expenditures
I made a call to the SEEC’s legal division to inquire about the legality of the Genga Campaign’s thinly veiled donations to the Democratic Town Committee as well as the Podunk Bluegrass Festival and Summer Youth Festival organizations. The guidelines are clear that donations to political committees and non-profits are forbidden but the campaign may have exploited a loophole to make the donations legal.
It’s also confirmed that both Genga and LeBeau are utilizing their campaign funds with postal mailers and color full page ads showing up this past week in our mailboxes and the Gazette. For a short while I had hoped that these candidates were simply showing their support for the Citizens Election Program by participating but would return the funds unused at the end of the election season as the CEP rules provide for. Sadly it appears that these two do not have any respect for our tax dollars.
If the SEEC legal department indicates any wrong doing you can be certain I will file a full complaint against the Genga Campaign which would hopefully result in disqualification from the CEP and an order to return all CEP funds. I want my tax dollars back from these two crooks.
As an aside, I’m glad so many people are interested in voting this year. My most prevalent search engine query in the last 24 hours has been for voting locations in East Hartford.
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*Tax Payer Abuse* Genga donates state funds to EH Democratic Town Committee
According to Genga’s latest filings it appears that rather than campaigning, which he doesn’t need to do since he has no opponent, (so why take our money?) Henry Genga has been utilizing his election grant, also known as our tax dollars, to support political and pet organizations.
So far Henry has used our tax dollars to support the Podunk Music Festival, a Democratic Town Committee Golf Tournament and The East Hartford Summer Youth Festival. While I encourage Henry to support these organizations on his own, it’s wrong plain and simple to be using a reelection campaign as a front for taxpayer abuse.
I can only hope that Genga will return the remaining 7K of his state funds and LeBeau will return his 30K or so. Or, maybe we’ll see a barrage of LeBeau/Genga ads come Monday night.
As an aside, sitting Town Councilor and MDC commission member Bill Horan is Genga’s treasurer. Sitting by while Genga abused us by receiving state funds in the first place and not stepping down as treasurer when seeing our tax dollars abused in this manner makes Bill just as culpable.
Also, town halls was swamped with last minute registrations tonight. Turnout will likely be through the roof Tuesday.
*Update*
