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Lisbon man who lost GOP 116th Assembly District primary wants people to not vote for Republican candidate Byrne

Posted 11/3/16

By CRAIG FREILICH LISBON -- A Lisbon man who lost to John Byrne in the Republican primary for the 116th Assembly District GOP nomination is determined to keep Byrne from being elected. Outspoken …

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Lisbon man who lost GOP 116th Assembly District primary wants people to not vote for Republican candidate Byrne

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

LISBON -- A Lisbon man who lost to John Byrne in the Republican primary for the 116th Assembly District GOP nomination is determined to keep Byrne from being elected.

Outspoken conservative Russ Finley is calling Byrne’s character into question and says he won’t vote for Byrne, and neither should anyone else, “especially Republicans.” But Finley says neither is he a supporter of Democratic incumbent Assemblywoman Addie Russell of Theresa.

“We are not responding to baseless accusations that have been disproved time and time again,” said Byrne’s campaign spokesman Nick Wilock, after repeated requests for comment.

The Assembly “River District” includes all communities along the St. Lawrence Seaway in St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties, as well as Potsdam and Canton.

Finley has been contacting and talking with North Country media in recent weeks to charge that Byrne, of Cape Vincent, has lied about the success of his plastics business and violated state liquor authority regulations numerous times. Byrne is not a fit candidate to represent people in the Assembly, Finley says.

Finley lost electoral contests to Byrne twice in two years, first as the Conservative Party candidate in the 2014 race for the district seat which was won by Russell, who narrowly beat Byrne, leaving Finley behind in third place. This year, Finley lost the Republican primary and failed to get the Conservative Party nomination, which Byrne secured himself.

“Yes, I will admit it, I lost. I’m a man. I’m a competitor. I fought hard and I didn’t win,” Finley said.

“I’m Livid”

“But I’ve followed politics my entire adult life, and I’m livid. He’s proven time and time again to be lying,” he said.

“The reason we have elections is so citizens constantly have a chance to trade up and get better representation,” Finley said.

He does not believe Byrne would be an improvement.

“I cannot vote in this race. As a person, I like Addie. But professionally, I disagree with her on every level. The fact that she’s an admitted progressive – I cannot vote for her. But I can’t vote for John Byrne either.”

He believes Byrne is deceiving people about his background and his character, and that those qualities could lead to trouble down the road.

“I’m encouraging people, especially Republicans, to show their dissatisfaction. Yes, Addie is wrong on every issue, including the Second Amendment. But when it comes to John Byrne, we don’t need another corrupt politician.”

One selling point of Byrne’s candidacy is the success he claims as a small businessman, but Finley has pursued research that could be indicative of a less-than-stellar career.

Plastics Factory Questions

Finley says Byrne’s stories about his businesses have changed many times, about how well his plastics business is doing, about how many employees he has.

He went to Byrne’s plastics factory in Otsego County, and says he found not a booming business but what appeared to be an abandoned building and lot. He took pictures.

The depiction is similar to a photo that accompanied North Country Public Radio’s story on Nov. 1 about Byrne’s businesses. The story can be viewed here. The report called into question several of Byrne’s claims about his success.

But Wilock said the issues raised in the public radio report are “behind us now.”

A public radio reporter went to the plastics business site and described grass growing in what appeared to have been the parking lot, and weeds and bushes crowding the steel building. There were no apparent signs of activity.

However, Wilock charged that a public radio reporter “trespassed” on Byrne’s property when they took a photo outside of the facility. “We have photos of the inside, too, and we’d be happy to show them to you and anybody,” said Wilock.

Other reporting revealed that the lot is recorded with the Otsego County building inspector as vacant with improvements, and no mention of manufacturing. One man told NCPR that he had been Byrne’s bookkeeper for two years, that the financing was shaky, and that his relationship with Byrne ended badly.

Multiple Liquor Law Violations

Finley went so far as to ask the state liquor authorities, under the Freedom of Information Law, for copies of the paperwork involved in numerous violations accrued during Byrne’s ownership of the Brass Rail in Oswego.

The documents show that Byrne, as licensee, was charged twice with serving liquor after hours, on Sept. 6, 2003 and was ordered Nov. 13, 2003 to pay a fine of $1,000, and again on May 8, 2004, and was subsequently ordered on Aug. 5, 2004 to pay a $3,000 fine.

He was accused of serving minors the evening of Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2005, and also that he “offered, sold, served or delivered” an unlimited number of drinks during a set period of time for a set price at the bar, also a violation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.

On Feb. 3, 2006, he was ordered to pay a $6,000 fine. On My 7, 2008, he was cited for allegedly serving tap beer without an indication of who the brewer was, having containers at the bar that did not contain what the labels said, and failure to keep accurate records.

There is no indication of a resolution to those charges, but on June 20, 2008, he was accused as licensee of violating “governmental regulations regarding employment of security guards” and was assessed another $6,000 fine, and the order is annotated, “License to remain in safekeeping.”

When asked about the liquor authority violations last month, Byrne said, “I had a bar in a college town and the kids are really smart. They made their own IDs that were so good they fooled the local police. It’s hard as a small business owner to overcome such a hurdle.”

In his zeal to get his story out, Finley says he has spoken with North Country Public Radio, NorthCountryNow and North Country This Week, and the publisher of the Watertown Daily Times, Daily Courier-Observer and the Ogdensburg Journal. He has also called in to former Watertown Mayor Jeff Graham’s “Hotline” radio program on WATN radio.

“I don’t have much of a political future, but I have a voice,” Finley said. “There are people who listen to me. People deserve to know the truth about who’s going to represent them. It’s a travesty that someone like John Byrne could be our representative. He will collect a paycheck but wouldn’t do much to represent the North Country.”

“It’s disgusting that he would lie and then win that position, and have that much power.”

Byrne is also running on the Independence and Reform party lines.