BENNETT AND CLAXTON CALL FOR RETRACTION BY LOCAL PAC SUPPORTING BILL SCHMIDT; PAC PUBLISHES FALSE INFORMATION OF BUDGET VOTES

-Political Action Committee, Peekskill First claims Bennett and Claxton voted against 0% tax increase for 2006 budget; Claxton and Bennett voted yes to the budget -

-Democrats call for retraction to be sent to voters –

A local Political Action Committee (PAC) supporting Republican Bill Schmidt for mayor recently mailed an error laden campaign brochure stating Bennett and Claxton voted no on the 2006 city budget with a zero percent tax increase. Claxton and Bennett voted yes to the 2006 budget. The Democrats are calling on the PAC to mail a retraction to all households who received the falsehood.

"This is a perfect example why we need to more heavily regulate political action committees," said Peekskill Councilwoman Drew Claxton. "We have a small group of big dollar donors who decided to knowingly publish a falsehood in the hopes of misleading the public about my voting record. That brochure is exceptionally inaccurate and I am demanding that the PAC publish a retraction and deliver it in the same fashion in which the original lie was delivered. I expect to see it in my mailbox and the mailboxes of my neighbors."

Peekskill First, a local Political Action Committee established to support the Republican/Conservative candidacy of Bill Schmidt and his running mates, claims they are "putting progress for Peekskill" and state in their brochure "Don't listen to what they say. Look at what they do." Though the organization suggests it’s an independent group, the Mayor's Public Information Officer, Tony Seideman, has served as the group's spokesperson and was involved in the publication of the newsletter.

"I find it hard to believe that Mr. Seideman, whose job is to report the goings on of the city to the press wouldn't have know how we voted on the 2006 budget," said Councilman Don Bennett. "Either he's incompetent as a public information officer or he knowingly published false and defamatory information with the intention to mislead. I am waiting to hear from Mr. Seideman as to which it is."

The brochure goes on to state that Councilwoman Drew Claxton voted no to preserving the Wiccoppee Reservoir (the city's water supply) from future development. The Wiccoppee Reservoir was never slated to be developed as it was wholly owned by the City of Peekskill when it was sold to the State of New York for $1 million dollars. Claxton voted against the Wiccoppee sale because it transferred ownership of the reservoir to the state thus taking away the city's ability to guarantee it never be developed. With the transfer to the state, the City now has no ability to guarantee it won't be developed.

Additionally, the brochure states Claxton voted against downtown development on four separate occasions. Claxton voted against the CPC Development Project, which is now caught up in a major legal battle with the City of Peekskill. In 2003, Claxton raised concerns about the ability of the developer to finance to project. The Republican Majority sold seven properties to the developer at a cost of $250,000. As predicted by Claxton in 2003, the developer was never able to get the project off the ground and now has possession of the properties. The city is now in a major lawsuit to gain the property back.

"I know most of the individuals involved in the PAC only moved to Peekskill in the last few years and may have been misled as to our voting record," said Claxton. "But surely Mr. Seideman and ex-councilman Bill Schmidt knew the truth. The fact that they went to print with such outright lies demonstrates the true nature of the Peekskill First Political Action Committee."