Stark divide laid bare in debate
DA candidates tussle over qualifications, track records
Experience versus ethics is what the candidates running for Rensselaer County district attorney reduced their campaigns to in the closing minutes Monday night in their only debate before the Nov. 6 election.
Republican District Attorney Joel E. Abelove went with his 23 years of experience as a prosecutor for the county, state and Army to argue why he should be re-elected to a second four-year term. Democratic candidate Mary Pat Donnelly, a former East Greenbush town justice, countered with the ethical and criminal issues Abelove has faced.
Both candidates agreed the differences between them couldn’t be more stark.
“My opponent has never prosecuted a single case in the state of New York,” Abelove said.
“To trust the significant position of district attorney to somebody who says I watched it happen is like saying my daughter loves ‘Law and Order,’ so she’s qualified to be district attorney,” Abelove said.
Donnelly said she entered the race because she could see the district attorney’s office was not being run properly. She said she would not use the office to benefit political friends and pursue enemies.
“The experience I have is absolutely crucial to running a district attorney’s office. It is not just the law, it is the ethical background to do the right thing all of the time,” said Donnelly, who works as an attorney in the Albany city courts advising judges.
“I have not been a prosecutor. I have not been investigated by a grand jury. And I also have not been indicted by a grand jury,” Donnelly said about her New
York experience, although she was a prosecutor in Vermont.
Abelove opened the forum by attempting to neutralize the state attorney general office’s investigation of his actions in handling a fatal Troy police shooting of a DWI suspect in April 2016.
Abelove was indicted on two misdemeanors and felony perjury for allegedly lying to the grand jury. The charges were dismissed by Acting State Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Nichols of Columbia County. But the attorney general has moved to appeal the decision, which currently is pending.
About 150 people attended the nearly 90-minute-long candidates’ forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Chapel and Cultural Center.
Donnelly criticized Abelove for the high turnover rate of assistant district attorneys, which she said was more than 30. Donnelly, an enrolled Independence voter, said this was due to the way that Abelove ran the office, not just salaries.
Abelove said he had taken steps to raise salaries and to mentor young assistant district attorneys. He said staff turnover is a problem that local district attorneys face as a result of higher salaries in private practice.
Abelove said he was proud of a 90 percent conviction rate. Donnelly countered that he had an 89.5 percent conviction rate for drug crimes but that it dropped to 68 percent in other categories. She also condemned his office for not handling felony cases on a timely basis, which led to high dismissal rates when the cases were sent back to the local courts from county court.
Abelove said he never heard from town justices about concerns about how cases were handled. Donnelly said she called Abelove but never had her calls returned.
The two candidates also exchanged jabs on the use of forfeiture funds.
Donnelly criticized Abelove for purchasing vehicles for himself and his investigators. Abelove said the cars were needed for the office and it saved money for the county. Abelove questioned Donnelly’s proposal for using forfeiture funds for helping to reopen Troy’s closed pools. Donnelly said the funds can be used as a way of preventing crime by providing activities for children.