(Hamburg, NY) On Monday, Stefan Mychajliw, who shows up to work 5 weekdays per month and is running for his 3rd different office since moving to Hamburg 4 years ago, finally filed his campaign finance disclosure 11 days after it was due.
Campaign finance disclosures, which are required under state election law, are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, and a level playing field for candidates running for office. Unfortunately, Mychajliw, who is known to run one “the worst government agencies in WNY” according to WGRZ News partner Investigative Post, continues to show his incompetence by using his Comptroller campaign finance account, rather than amend or open an account for Hamburg Supervisor.
An account for his Supervisor candidacy would have been required to be open before any money is received or spent for the purposes of this year’s election due to the different donor limits of $31,484 for Comptroller, as opposed to $2,196 for Hamburg Supervisor.
The disclosure filed by Mychajliw shows 2 illegal donations that exceed the contribution limit for candidates running for Supervisor. Mychajliw illegally obtained a $5,000 donation from Tarver Transit of Tonawanda which is more than double what’s allowable by law, and 2 donations totaling $3,500 from Depew based Accadia contracting, $1,300 more than what’s allowed by law.
In addition to the illegal contributions, Mychajliw’s filing shows a lack of support among Hamburg residents. Of the 88 contributions Mychajliw received since the beginning of the year, only 16, or 20%, were from donors residing in Hamburg. Donors living outside of Hamburg accounted for more than 90% of money Mychajliw raised for his Supervisor run. Of the $26,250 contributed to his campaign, $14,599, or 56%, came from corporate interests such as law firms, banks, and contractors who often benefit from business dealings with friendly Town Supervisors. The average donation to Mychajliw was almost $300.
In contrast, Randy Hoak’s filing shows a much different picture. Hoak received 316 donations, more than 3.5 times more than Mycahjliw received, averaging $117, for a total of $36,868 raised. Hoak did not accept any corporate donations, and 64% of his donors, and 58% of his donations, were from Hamburg residents.
“Stefan Mychajliw’s fledgling campaign reeks of desperation as his filing proves it,” said Hamburg Democratic Committee Chairman Terry MacKinnon. “The fact that less than 10% of the money he’s raised is from Hamburg residents, and that he’s had to turn to non Hamburg residents and corporations to keep his campaign afloat proves he has no business running in this race.”
