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2 Rep. super PACs pay nearly $1 mil. to settle inquiry into Zeldin campaign
Two Republican super PACs paid nearly $1 million this month to quietly settle an inquiry into whether they illicitly coordinated with the campaign of former U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin, during his 2022 run for governor of New York. Nicholas Fandos and Shane Goldmacher report in THE NY TIMES that the state’s top elections watchdog spent years investigating the matter, using subpoenas to try to show that there was illegal overlap between the Zeldin campaign and two groups that spent $20 million supporting it, Save Our State Inc. and Safe Together New York.
An agreement to settle the case, reached in recent days, ultimately does not include an admission of wrongdoing by the super PACs, a copy of the document obtained through a Freedom of Information request shows. Zeldin, a Republican from Shirley, Long Island, who is now the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, was not a party to the agreement.
But the $900,000 fine is the largest ever paid in a super PAC coordination case in New York, where the free-spending groups seeking to sway elections have grown in size and number over the last decade.
In an unsealed report of the state’s chief election enforcement counsel provided to The New York Times yesterday, an investigator wrote that he had found that “substantial evidence demonstrates that respondents knowingly and willfully coordinated with candidate Lee Zeldin, both directly and through agents, resulting in unlawful contributions.”
The current chairman of the New York Republican Party, Edward F. Cox, is also linked to the investigation and his emails are included in the documents as a leader of one of the pro-Zeldin super PACs.
Eric Amidon, who was Mr. Zeldin’s 2022 campaign manager, said the campaign had “no involvement whatsoever” in the investigation. He called it “nothing more than political extortion by New York aimed at silencing political opposition.”
In addition to Lee Zeldin, the case has touched party operatives, a pollster for President Trump and Ronald S. Lauder, a billionaire cosmetics heir who helped bankroll the groups.
***
The Butterfly Effect Project is a nonprofit, community-oriented organization which seeks to empower young girls by giving them the tools to achieve emotionally stable and self confident futures, in hopes of bringing forth a generation of women who are strong, independent and knowledgeable. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that volunteers with the Butterfly Effect Project have brought the historic Tuthill farmstead in Jamesport back to its roots, creating a garden club to help bring fresh food to local families and teach gardening to the next generation. The garden club was created “as a means for kids to meet safely outside and also provide supplemental nutrition for the community,” said Brienne Ahearn, the BEP’s garden club coordinator. It supports the nonprofit organization’s mission of encouraging collaboration and youth empowerment.
The garden club first launched at the First Baptist Church in Riverhead, where the Butterfly Effect was headquartered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Butterfly Effect Project moved its headquarters to the Daniel and Henry P. Tuthill family farmstead, at 1146 Main Road in Jamesport last year…where it will host a ribbon cutting on Saturday, Oct. 4 from 12 to 2 p.m. to celebrate the new community garden. The public is invited to attend.
***
On Saturday, September 27…that’s tomorrow…from 7:30 a.m. until 2 p.m., the Hamptons Marathon will run through the Village of Southampton. The Southampton Village Police Department is advising motorists that they should expect sporadic travel delays as the event takes place. The event includes a 5K (3.1-mile race), marathon (26.2 miles) and half-marathon (13.1 miles), that will be run south of Hill Street and Hampton Road in Southampton Village. Pond Lane will be closed for the duration of the event. Motorists should expect intermittent closures and delays in the area of First Neck Lane. The Southampton Village Police Department urges motorists to avoid this area if possible. Most roads will be open to traffic, however, motorists are encouraged to proceed with extreme caution tomorrow in Southampton Village from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
***
Southampton Town officials will ask a judge for an injunction to halt a County Road 39 cannabis dispensary from operating until it has received the proper planning and building permits from the town. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the Southampton Town Board this week authorized Town Attorney James Burke’s office to take the dispensary, known as Charlie Fox, to court in Suffolk County and seek injunctive relief to compel the business to comply with town zoning, planning and safety codes.
Charlie Fox has been open since September 16 despite having never been approved to occupy its building which is next to the Tuckahoe School playground.
The town issued the business a cease-and-desist order within minutes of it opening its doors for business last week, because the property has not been issued a site plan permit to operate a new business at the site and has not been inspected by the town’s fire marshals or building inspectors for compliance with electrical, fire and public safety codes.
The company’s owners have said they do not need any town permits because New York State issued them a retail cannabis license to operate at the location.
But that authorization stated that the business is still required to meet all other regulatory demands.
The state law that legalized the retail sale of cannabis in 2021 requires that dispensaries meet local zoning and regulatory codes.
The state law did put limits on local regulation to ensure that municipal governments did not try to effectively ban cannabis stores from operating with unreasonable restrictions and allows dispensaries to appeal to the State Office of Cannabis Management if it feels it is being inappropriately constrained.
Southampton Town Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara said the state’s licensing of cannabis dispensaries, like that of the State Liquor Authority, does not mean the businesses can sidestep the basic zoning and building safety codes the town requires of any business.
“It doesn’t matter if you are selling T-shirts or cannabis, the town has a process for businesses to open and operate,” she said of Charlie Fox’s opening last week. “Not only wasn’t it followed in this case, they gave public notice that they weren’t going to follow it. We responded accordingly.”
On Tuesday, McNamara joined all four of the other Southampton Town Board members in approving the town turning to the courts to force the business to close and said she is confident a court will agree the business is operating outside of all the applicable laws.
***
The Supreme Court of New York has granted a preliminary injunction that protects more than 150 licensed dispensaries from forced relocation or closure while the case proceeds against the state's Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). The injunction showcases the validity of the plaintiffs' case and was issued without prejudice, allowing for it to be renewed after six months. As reported in prnewswire.com, signed by Judge Savona, the order requires the OCM to revert to its previously established method of calculating distances between dispensaries and schools, as outlined in its March 11, 2024 "Guidance for Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries." This injunction remains in effect through February 15, 2026, covering both license renewal applications expiring on or before that date and new applications submitted by existing licensees, provisional licensees, or applicants during this period. Carl Campanile reports in THE NY POST that the preliminary injunction issued by Albany Supreme Court Judge Kerri Savona protects operators of cannabis selling stores that were approved under a rule mandating licensed marijuana sellers must be located at least 500 feet away from schools. State Office of Cannabis Management officials admitted in July that they’d mistakenly calculated the distance requirements using a “door-to-door” measure. Under the law, the buffer zone should have been measured starting at the “property line” of a school, not its doors, officials said — a stricter requirement that put 152 approved cannabis licensees out of compliance. A dozen cannabis operators sued the OCM and Cannabis Control Board over the sudden change.
***
Tomorrow…from 7:30 a.m. until 2 p.m., the Hamptons Marathon will run through the Village of Southampton. The Southampton Village Police Department is advising motorists that they should expect sporadic travel delays as the event takes place. The event includes a 5K race, marathon, and half-marathon that will run south of Hill Street and Hampton Road in Southampton Village. Pond Lane will be closed for the duration of the event. Motorists should expect intermittent closures and delays in the area of First Neck Lane. The Southampton Village Police Department urges motorists to avoid this area if possible. Most roads will be open to traffic. However, motorists are encouraged to proceed with extreme caution tomorrow in Southampton Village from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
***
The Riverhead Town Republican Party has agreed to have its Town Council and Supervisor candidates attend just one Meet the Candidates forum this fall, hosted by the Greater Calverton and Wading River Civic Associations on Oct. 16.
The Greater Jamesport and Heart of Riverhead Civic Associations have decided to go ahead with their candidate forums without them.
Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that members of the Greater Jamesport Civic Association, which had been planning to hold a Meet the Candidates forum with all the candidates as well, had been informed Sept. 6 that the Republicans will not attend their forum. They voted this weekend to hold the forum Sept. 30 regardless of whether the Republicans attend. The Civic Association added, “All candidates for Riverhead Town Supervisor and Riverhead Town Board were invited and are welcome to participate.”
“The Greater Jamesport Civic Association is a non-partisan organization that does not endorse candidates,” according to the Civic Association’s statement.
The Republican candidates have agreed to one Meet the Candidates event being held by the Greater Calverton and Wading River Civics on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Riley Avenue Elementary School in Calverton.
The Greater Jamesport Civic Association Meet the Candidates event is scheduled for the Jamesport Meeting House at 1590 Main Rd. in Jamesport, next Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.
The Heart of Riverhead Civic Association is also planning to hold a candidate forum on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 10:30 a.m. at the Riverhead Free Library at 330 Court Street. No Republican candidates are expected to show.
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By WLIW-FMTwo Republican super PACs paid nearly $1 million this month to quietly settle an inquiry into whether they illicitly coordinated with the campaign of former U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin, during his 2022 run for governor of New York. Nicholas Fandos and Shane Goldmacher report in THE NY TIMES that the state’s top elections watchdog spent years investigating the matter, using subpoenas to try to show that there was illegal overlap between the Zeldin campaign and two groups that spent $20 million supporting it, Save Our State Inc. and Safe Together New York.
An agreement to settle the case, reached in recent days, ultimately does not include an admission of wrongdoing by the super PACs, a copy of the document obtained through a Freedom of Information request shows. Zeldin, a Republican from Shirley, Long Island, who is now the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, was not a party to the agreement.
But the $900,000 fine is the largest ever paid in a super PAC coordination case in New York, where the free-spending groups seeking to sway elections have grown in size and number over the last decade.
In an unsealed report of the state’s chief election enforcement counsel provided to The New York Times yesterday, an investigator wrote that he had found that “substantial evidence demonstrates that respondents knowingly and willfully coordinated with candidate Lee Zeldin, both directly and through agents, resulting in unlawful contributions.”
The current chairman of the New York Republican Party, Edward F. Cox, is also linked to the investigation and his emails are included in the documents as a leader of one of the pro-Zeldin super PACs.
Eric Amidon, who was Mr. Zeldin’s 2022 campaign manager, said the campaign had “no involvement whatsoever” in the investigation. He called it “nothing more than political extortion by New York aimed at silencing political opposition.”
In addition to Lee Zeldin, the case has touched party operatives, a pollster for President Trump and Ronald S. Lauder, a billionaire cosmetics heir who helped bankroll the groups.
***
The Butterfly Effect Project is a nonprofit, community-oriented organization which seeks to empower young girls by giving them the tools to achieve emotionally stable and self confident futures, in hopes of bringing forth a generation of women who are strong, independent and knowledgeable. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that volunteers with the Butterfly Effect Project have brought the historic Tuthill farmstead in Jamesport back to its roots, creating a garden club to help bring fresh food to local families and teach gardening to the next generation. The garden club was created “as a means for kids to meet safely outside and also provide supplemental nutrition for the community,” said Brienne Ahearn, the BEP’s garden club coordinator. It supports the nonprofit organization’s mission of encouraging collaboration and youth empowerment.
The garden club first launched at the First Baptist Church in Riverhead, where the Butterfly Effect was headquartered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Butterfly Effect Project moved its headquarters to the Daniel and Henry P. Tuthill family farmstead, at 1146 Main Road in Jamesport last year…where it will host a ribbon cutting on Saturday, Oct. 4 from 12 to 2 p.m. to celebrate the new community garden. The public is invited to attend.
***
On Saturday, September 27…that’s tomorrow…from 7:30 a.m. until 2 p.m., the Hamptons Marathon will run through the Village of Southampton. The Southampton Village Police Department is advising motorists that they should expect sporadic travel delays as the event takes place. The event includes a 5K (3.1-mile race), marathon (26.2 miles) and half-marathon (13.1 miles), that will be run south of Hill Street and Hampton Road in Southampton Village. Pond Lane will be closed for the duration of the event. Motorists should expect intermittent closures and delays in the area of First Neck Lane. The Southampton Village Police Department urges motorists to avoid this area if possible. Most roads will be open to traffic, however, motorists are encouraged to proceed with extreme caution tomorrow in Southampton Village from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
***
Southampton Town officials will ask a judge for an injunction to halt a County Road 39 cannabis dispensary from operating until it has received the proper planning and building permits from the town. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the Southampton Town Board this week authorized Town Attorney James Burke’s office to take the dispensary, known as Charlie Fox, to court in Suffolk County and seek injunctive relief to compel the business to comply with town zoning, planning and safety codes.
Charlie Fox has been open since September 16 despite having never been approved to occupy its building which is next to the Tuckahoe School playground.
The town issued the business a cease-and-desist order within minutes of it opening its doors for business last week, because the property has not been issued a site plan permit to operate a new business at the site and has not been inspected by the town’s fire marshals or building inspectors for compliance with electrical, fire and public safety codes.
The company’s owners have said they do not need any town permits because New York State issued them a retail cannabis license to operate at the location.
But that authorization stated that the business is still required to meet all other regulatory demands.
The state law that legalized the retail sale of cannabis in 2021 requires that dispensaries meet local zoning and regulatory codes.
The state law did put limits on local regulation to ensure that municipal governments did not try to effectively ban cannabis stores from operating with unreasonable restrictions and allows dispensaries to appeal to the State Office of Cannabis Management if it feels it is being inappropriately constrained.
Southampton Town Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara said the state’s licensing of cannabis dispensaries, like that of the State Liquor Authority, does not mean the businesses can sidestep the basic zoning and building safety codes the town requires of any business.
“It doesn’t matter if you are selling T-shirts or cannabis, the town has a process for businesses to open and operate,” she said of Charlie Fox’s opening last week. “Not only wasn’t it followed in this case, they gave public notice that they weren’t going to follow it. We responded accordingly.”
On Tuesday, McNamara joined all four of the other Southampton Town Board members in approving the town turning to the courts to force the business to close and said she is confident a court will agree the business is operating outside of all the applicable laws.
***
The Supreme Court of New York has granted a preliminary injunction that protects more than 150 licensed dispensaries from forced relocation or closure while the case proceeds against the state's Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). The injunction showcases the validity of the plaintiffs' case and was issued without prejudice, allowing for it to be renewed after six months. As reported in prnewswire.com, signed by Judge Savona, the order requires the OCM to revert to its previously established method of calculating distances between dispensaries and schools, as outlined in its March 11, 2024 "Guidance for Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries." This injunction remains in effect through February 15, 2026, covering both license renewal applications expiring on or before that date and new applications submitted by existing licensees, provisional licensees, or applicants during this period. Carl Campanile reports in THE NY POST that the preliminary injunction issued by Albany Supreme Court Judge Kerri Savona protects operators of cannabis selling stores that were approved under a rule mandating licensed marijuana sellers must be located at least 500 feet away from schools. State Office of Cannabis Management officials admitted in July that they’d mistakenly calculated the distance requirements using a “door-to-door” measure. Under the law, the buffer zone should have been measured starting at the “property line” of a school, not its doors, officials said — a stricter requirement that put 152 approved cannabis licensees out of compliance. A dozen cannabis operators sued the OCM and Cannabis Control Board over the sudden change.
***
Tomorrow…from 7:30 a.m. until 2 p.m., the Hamptons Marathon will run through the Village of Southampton. The Southampton Village Police Department is advising motorists that they should expect sporadic travel delays as the event takes place. The event includes a 5K race, marathon, and half-marathon that will run south of Hill Street and Hampton Road in Southampton Village. Pond Lane will be closed for the duration of the event. Motorists should expect intermittent closures and delays in the area of First Neck Lane. The Southampton Village Police Department urges motorists to avoid this area if possible. Most roads will be open to traffic. However, motorists are encouraged to proceed with extreme caution tomorrow in Southampton Village from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
***
The Riverhead Town Republican Party has agreed to have its Town Council and Supervisor candidates attend just one Meet the Candidates forum this fall, hosted by the Greater Calverton and Wading River Civic Associations on Oct. 16.
The Greater Jamesport and Heart of Riverhead Civic Associations have decided to go ahead with their candidate forums without them.
Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that members of the Greater Jamesport Civic Association, which had been planning to hold a Meet the Candidates forum with all the candidates as well, had been informed Sept. 6 that the Republicans will not attend their forum. They voted this weekend to hold the forum Sept. 30 regardless of whether the Republicans attend. The Civic Association added, “All candidates for Riverhead Town Supervisor and Riverhead Town Board were invited and are welcome to participate.”
“The Greater Jamesport Civic Association is a non-partisan organization that does not endorse candidates,” according to the Civic Association’s statement.
The Republican candidates have agreed to one Meet the Candidates event being held by the Greater Calverton and Wading River Civics on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Riley Avenue Elementary School in Calverton.
The Greater Jamesport Civic Association Meet the Candidates event is scheduled for the Jamesport Meeting House at 1590 Main Rd. in Jamesport, next Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.
The Heart of Riverhead Civic Association is also planning to hold a candidate forum on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 10:30 a.m. at the Riverhead Free Library at 330 Court Street. No Republican candidates are expected to show.