Richard’s opponent is taking the low road in his campaign. In typical career-politician fashion, he’s decided to only way to be re-elected is to assassinate the character of a good man.
The people have had enough of these misleading tactics that always pop up when politicians are desperately running away from their own failed records.
Below are the facts from two independent news outlets that set the record straight.
We’ll continue updating this page so we can hold Richard’s opponent and his Washington allies accountable.
| Michael Arcuri’s False Attacks: | The Truth: |
| “Hanna got over $4 million in government contracts – $1.2 million while his uncle was mayor and comptroller of Utica.” | The claim is misleading.
Richard did a lot of work over nearly 30 years in the construction business. He built a good reputation as an honest businessman who provided quality work and always watched out for his customer’s bottom line. The Utica Observer-Dispatch wrote, “Of the five contracts Utica was able to provide detailed information on from when Edward Hanna was mayor, Hanna Construction was the lowest bidder or only bidder on four contracts. It was the second-lowest bidder for another project on which questions were raised about the company that submitted the lowest bid, records show.”[i] |
| “… his construction company overcharged taxpayers thousands…” | This statement is an outright lie. Richard never overcharged taxpayers. In fact, the Utica Observer-Dispatch found “change orders in five contracts between the city and Hanna Construction” that “increased by a total of almost $56,000…” However, “Deputy City Engineer Goran Smiljic, who also is involved with the Board of Contract and Supply, said he doesn’t consider change orders to be an overcharging of taxpayers. Change orders must be approved by the Board of Contract and Supply and become part of the contract, he said.”
The story goes on to reveal that “[c]hange orders take place when something unexpected occurs in a project and more work is necessary – such as working in the ground and finding a fuel tank that officials didn’t know was there, Smiljic said. About 50 percent of projects include change orders, he said.” “‘There’s always unknowns,’ he said.” WKTV backs up these finding by reporting, “Records show that when he was awarded a job, Hanna, in all but one instance was the lowest or only bidder for the project, going through the normal, legal process. Those bids were also publicly advertised.”[ii] |
| “…was sued three times for injuries caused by faulty construction.” | Another distortion of the truth.
The Observer-Dispatch writes, “The cases referenced in the advertisement were all available in Oneida County Clerk’s Office records and show lawsuits involved with incidents related to construction jobs. Hanna Construction was one of multiple defendants for each of the lawsuits.” “All three cases ended with a stipulation discontinuing action ‘without costs to any part as against any other,’ according to county records.” |
| “… was cited 12 times for health and safety violations and paid thousands in fines.” | The Observer-Dispatch writes, “Hanna has said he only considers two of the violations to be serious. The other violations were for occurrences such as a worker not wearing a seatbelt or not wearing orange or red clothes on the job, he said.”
WKTV reports, “[Hanna] says construction is often dangerous work with many variables that can occur while operating heavy equipment and moving the earth.” Thirty years |
| Washington-based Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Fabricated Attacks:
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The Truth: |
| “Hanna used his money to support an organization with a radical agenda to privatize Social Security …” | Richard has never and will never support privatizing Social Security.
In the 2008 campaign, Richard is on-the-record opposing Social Security privatization. In early September 2010, the Observer-Dispatch ran a story with the headline, “Arcuri, Hanna: Social Security shouldn’t be privatized.” In the story, Richard even reiterates his commitment to preserving Social Security by saying, “The government is going to have to meet its obligation to keep [Social Security] solvent.” |
[i] “Election watch: Arcuri ad takes aim at Hanna’s business activities,” Bryon Ackerman, Utica Observer-Dispatch, 09/25/10, http://www.uticaod.com/elections/24th_congressional/x552734315/Arcuri-ad-takes-aim-at-Hanna-s-business-activities
[ii]“24th Congressional Commercials go from introductory to accusatory,” Dave Dellecese, WKTV NBC 2, 09/25/10, http://www.wktv.com/news/local/24th-Congressional-Commercials-go-from-introductory-to-accusatory-103548204.html?m=y&c=y