GOP Candidates Fire Back at Dems

Barely an hour after sharing the stage at a Chamber of Commerce event, the Republican Bucks County Commissioners slammed their Democratic counterpart for negative campaigning and breaking her own ethics pledge.

Charley Martin and Robert Loughery called a press conference Friday at Republican headquarters in Doylestown to refute allegations of corruption made by Diane Marseglia and Det Ansinn.

"Instead of addressing the important issues facing Bucks County, the Democratic candidates have chosen instead to try and tarnish our personal reputations and our public record," Martin said.

Marseglia and Ansinn called a to promise to divorce politics from the business of county government.

The Democrats signed a pledge that, among other things, said they would make county employees work on Election Day - they currently get the day off - and would not mix politics with official county business.

On Friday, the Republicans charged that the Democrats already have broken their promises. 

Ansinn and Marseglia mixed politics with official business when they were seen together wearing campaign buttons at the official Bucks County booth at a recent business expo sponsored by the Newtown Business and Professional Association, the Republicans said.

They also produced an email from Penndel tax collector Donna Caracappa, which includes the tag line "Candidate - Bucks County Register of Wills" and "Penndel Borough Tax Collector" in its signature.

But Amy Fetherolf, spokeswoman for the Marseglia Ansinn campaign, said the email was sent from Caracappa's personal account.

Loughery also took issue with Marseglia's claim that she had a letter stating that Bucks County is in danger of losing its triple A bond rating.

"This is an outright lie," he said. "There is no such letter."

As for taking away the Election Day holiday, it is an "empty promise," the GOP said, since it is part of a union agreement that can't simply be arbitrarily eliminated.

Martin and Loughery also skewered the Democrats' campaign literature as "grossly inaccurate" and misleading.

One piece charges that Martin approved a "sweetheart deal" for indicted former Register of Wills employee Candace Quinn that included a taxpayer funded pension, unemployment compensation and health benefits after termination.

County officials said that is not true. Quinn received the money she paid into her own pension, as required, but was not paid the interest on the investment, they said. They also said the state, not the county, controls unemployment benefits, and Quinn's health insurance ended at the end of the month in which she was terminated, as is standard insurance practice.

Another of the Democrats' pledge points - to establish whistleblower protections - already is state law and county policy, the Republicans said.

But when reached after the press conference, Marseglia and Ansinn said the case against Register of Wills Barbara Reilly, accused of coercing employees to do political work at the polls for her and other Republicans, then compensating them with taxpayer-funded time off - prove that existing protections are weak.

"Clearly, whatever whistleblower policies in place aren't doing anything, as evidenced by the fact that the Grand Jury presentment stated that employees forced to do political work feared coming forward," Marseglia said in a written rebuttal.

Another of the Democrats' campaign pieces alleges that Loughery, a partner in real estate investment firm Keystone Redevelopment Group, "lined his company's pockets" with millions in taxpayer dollars.

Documents provided by the Republicans show that seven of Loughery's company's projects invested a total of $5.75 million in public funds and $62.1 million in private funds. The projects created 343 jobs and retained 335 jobs, they said.

When reached later, Ansinn said he takes issue with the way Loughery funded his business.

"Rob has used his political connections and leveraged his influence to get tax dollars. He has used the taxpayers' stimulus money to acquire properties, and if they make money, Rob directly profits from it," said Ansinn, a Doylestown businessman and Borough Council member. "If they don’t, the taxpayers are on the hook. Jobs are created every day without stimulus money grants. Good business should be able to stand on its own without that."

Ansinn said he and Marseglia stand by their comments and their campaign pieces. Marseglia said she has begun talks with county union members about removing the Election Day holiday.

Appearing at the press conference with Republican candidates Bill Snyder, longtime Treasurer, and new candidate Don Petrille for Register of Wills, Loughery and Martin said they were disappointed the Democrats' campaign started out so negative.

"We didn't start our campaign this way," Loughery said. "This shouldn't be the way it's done. We want to campaign on the issues. But they're dealing in lies and distortions and we have to deal with them."

Martin said the commissioners candidates will meet in a debate at The Waterwheel restaurant outside of Doylestown on October 21. The election is November 8.