Be Transparent

Full Disclosure

Early this year, New York State debuted its all-new, all-electronic filing system for campaign finance disclosures. Candidates and their fundraising committees use it to report the campaign donations they have received and to identify the donors. Along with the new filing system came a new and easier way to search the Board of Elections campaign finance disclosure database — and it’s available to anyone. Want to know whom candidates for state, county or town office get their campaign cash from? This database reveals all with a few clicks and keystrokes. It’s the kind of ease of access to campaign finance information that is vital for effectively keeping tabs on our politicians and lawmakers.

Frustratingly, candidates for village office in New York State are not always required to file disclosures with the Board of Elections. If an election is run by the village clerk rather than county election officials, village candidates only have to file disclosures with that clerk. The information can be obtained via Freedom of Information request, but it is not on the internet. (There are reasonable exceptions for campaigns that raise less than $1,000 — but South Fork village elections of late, most notably in Southampton, Sag Harbor and East Hampton, have become much pricier affairs.)

The good news is that village candidates who are not required to disclose campaign donations still have to the option to. East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen’s $100,000-plus in 2020 campaign donations can be searched in the state database, as can Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren’s more than $70,000 in campaign receipts since 2019.

Who else will step up?