BAINBRIDGE – A last minute change of venue for Chenango County District Attorney candidate Zachary Wentworth and company couldn't foil a band of loyal supporters and curious community members who attended a meet and greet last Friday.
Those in attendance were given bullet points of Wentworth's educational background and heard the Republican candidates reasons for running against incumbent Joseph McBride, who has served as Chenango's District Attorney unopposed since 1999.
In his speech, Wentworth spoke of how important it is for the DA's office to take a collaborative, multi-agency approach with regard to thwarting the county's escalating drug problem.
“One of the real problems that we have right now is the lack of intensive drug treatment, folks have to go to Utica, Syracuse or Binghamton in order to receive treatment,” said Wentworth. “To make matters worse, someone who might be an unemployed addict with a criminal record in Norwich isn't going to be able to keep an appointment 50 miles away, much less meet the requirements to be admitted into a viable treatment center that could save their life and save taxpayers thousands in re-prosecution.”
Saving taxpayer dollars was a recurring theme on Wentworth's agenda. “Taxpayers pay for errors, and as District Attorney I will work hard to study the evidence and research to avoid unnecessary trials and the cost it represents to our community.”
During the question-and-answer portion of the meet and greet, Wentworth alluded to at least one high profile case – a murder conviction overturned twice and tried three times due to judicial and prosecutorial errors – that cost the Chenango tax base at least $1 million in avoidable expenses.
“We need to have consistency in sentencing and resolving cases,” said Wentworth. “We shouldn't have separate standards for sentencing separate groups of individuals – and I feel that is happening currently.”
But the meeting's pomp and circumstance was only after a last minute venue change which had been slated for the 7 p.m. in the Bainbridge Town Hall. Shortly before 5:30 p.m., and after event organizers had set up the Town Hall ice cream social, Gilda Ward, who headed up the coordination of the venue, received word from Bainbridge Town Supervisor Delores Nabinger who stated that the meeting couldn't be held at the Town Hall.
According to Nabinger, the order to pull the plug on the event had trickled down from Assemblyman Clifford Crouch's office.
“Apparently, Cliff Crouch had been contacted that he needed to investigate the event at the Bainbridge Town Hall because it was 'illegal' to hold political meetings there,” said Ward. “The Democratic Caucus is held there as well as number of other meet-and-greets for other candidates in the past.”
“I did receive a couple of calls from concerned individuals who were worried that Mr. Wentworth was campaigning in the Town Hall, so I had my team research the legalities, and I made the recommendation to Town of Bainbridge Highway Superintendent Gary Richmond that the Village should err on the side of caution and not allow the meeting to be held there,” said Crouch in a phone interview Monday.
According to Crouch, his contacts based their decision on the advice of the N.Y. State Association of Towns in Albany as the authority.
Both Crouch and Chenango County Republican Commissioner Mary Lou Monohan confirmed that had Wentworth's group “rented” the facility for a nominal fee, the show could have gone on.
At the end of the day, the loophole had little effect on the turnout and tenor of the event, Wentworth said in a follow up interview. After relocating to General Clinton Park, Wentworth and company moved forward with the meet and greet was able to field questions from the Bainbridge community.
Said Ward, “The meet and greet was a great success and ended with an absolutely beautiful sunset.”