by Timothy Chipp timothy.chipp@niagara-gazette.com Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Sun Nov 06, 2011, 12:48 AM EDT
NIAGARA FALLS — The race for the Niagara County Legislature’s 5th District pits an 18-year-old legislator against a 36-year-old Niagara Falls firefighter.
Brittany Catchpole is running on the Republican and Conservative lines against Jason Zona, who defeated Catchpole in a primary battle for the Democrat line. Zona also won a write-in campaign for the Independence Party line, while carrying the Working Families ballot spot.
The new district encompasses the Town of Niagara, where Catchpole resides, and some of the city, including the DeVeaux neighborhood, which Zona calls home.
Because of this geographic split, Zona said, the campaign has turned into a battle between city and suburban interests.
Instead, he said, the focus should be on lower taxes for property owners in the county. He said the chats he’s had with residents have focused overwhelmingly on taxes, with residents in the Town of Niagara charged more taxes due to a change in the equalization rate.
“We should, as candidates, put the qualifications of the two candidates in front of (the voters), not the neighborhood they come from,” he said. “That’s a horrible way to campaign and to govern. A person living next to the air base in the Town of Niagara is the same to me as my neighbor in DeVeaux.”
But Catchpole, who is a registered Democrat but endorsed by the Republican party, said she’s not just focusing on her town’s needs. She said she’s concerned with Niagara Falls voters as well, and said she’d make figuring out what to do with Lewiston Road a priority should she be elected Tuesday.
“I’m going to continue what I’ve been doing,” she said. “I want to continue to help the community, to figure out what to do with Lewiston Road, and to help get more businesses into the Town of Niagara.”
Catchpole’s campaign came under fire this past week after City Democratic Chairman David Houghton filed a complaint with the attorney general’s Public Integrity Bureau in New York City Oct. 12 over whether the young candidate filed necessary paperwork by deadline concerning campaign expenditures and reporting guidelines.
Catchpole said she did file, but the online listing didn’t update in time. She said she waited until the final day to report her finances because of last-minute donations.
“I filed,” she said. “I’d been getting extra donations, so we waited for the last possible day to be as accurate as possible.”
Zona, meanwhile, doesn’t believe it to be an issue.
“That’s for the authorities to deal with,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep this simple. I want the voter to just look at the qualifications of the two candidates, and decide who should be next 5th District legislator.”
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