By Bryan Schwartzman
A spokesman for the Board of Elections said candidates' campaign finances disclosure forms had to be postmarked by Friday, Oct. 27, and would not say whether or not Scarborough's were considered late. Scarborough told the Times-Ledger this week that his financial reports were sent out on time.
Scarborough, who was first elected to office in 1994, is seeking a fourth term and faces no opponent on Election Day. He defeated challenger Sandra Pope in September's Democratic primary.
The 29th Assembly District covers St. Albans, Laurelton, Rosedale, and parts of Springfield Gardens, Jamaica, and Jamaica Estates.
Between September 1999 and October 2000 Scarborough raised $28,168 in campaign contributions, substantially less than many of the Queens incumbents seeking re-election to the Assembly. For example, Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin (D-Flushing) raised $350,000 for an election in which he does not have an opponent and Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio (D-Richmond Hill) attracted more than 200,000 in donations for a race against a little-known Republican challenger, according to New York State Board of Elections records.
“I've raised enough money to wage an effective re-election campaign,” said Scarborough. “I hold one fund-raiser a year.”
Scarborough spent $31,048 in the same period. He was able to spend $2,000 more than he received in contributions for the current race because of donations logged prior to September 1999, records show. He currently has $3,380 in campaign funds.
Scarborough received $15,868 in donations from individuals, most of them constituents in his district ranging from $60 to $500. He was given $7,750 from political action committees and other special interest groups, which included donations from several other Democratic politicians.
Corporations contributed a total of $4,730 to Scarborough's campaign.
Joseph Mattone donated $500 to Scarborough's campaign and his son, Michael Mattone, gave $250. Joseph Mattone is the head of the Mattone Group Inc., which is developing One Jamaica Center, a shopping mall in downtown Jamaica that will be anchored by a multiplex movie theater.
In July, Laurelton resident Rosetta Mosses gave $185 to Scarborough's campaign. Three months earlier Mosses pleaded guilty to federal money laundering charges, said Eric Tirschwell, the prosecuting attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn.
On Tuesday she was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $24,970, Tirschwell said.
“She came to my fund-raiser because I believe she was supporting what I was doing in the community,” said Scarborough, who said he did not know of Mosses's guilty plea but was aware of the charges against her. “We had no previous business relationship.”
Celestine Miller, the controversial former superintendent of School District 29, contributed $100 to Scarborough.
Scarborough received money from other Queens Democrats including McLaughlin; Morshed Alam, who is running for City Council; and Thomas Manton, the head of the Queens County Democratic Organization.
He received $3,000 from the Speaker PAC, which is money controlled by the powerful state Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan).
Scarborough received $500 donations each from the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, the Black Spectrum Theatre Company, and contributions from other local groups as well. Both were listed as corporate sources.
His biggest expense for the year was a $10,556 for a fund-raiser at Antun's, a Queens Village catering hall, out of total outlays of $31,048, the records showed.
Over the course of the year Scarborough reimbursed himself a total $4,031 for expenses.
Scarborough said he is in favor of campaign finance reform, which would allow candidates to use public money and eliminate the need for aggressive fund-raising in politics.
