Assemblyman admits to removing opponent's campaign signs - NEWS10 ABC: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports

Assemblyman admits to removing opponent's campaign signs

BETHLEHEM, N.Y. -- Assembly candidate Steve McLaughlin is accusing his opponent, current Assemblyman Tim Gordon, of taking down his campaign signs; something Gordon freely admits.

McLaughlin even went as far as videotaping him in the act, and then posted the clip on YouTube. McLaughlin said the clip shows Gordon taking down the signs in Bethlehem, at the corner of Beldale Road and Krumkill Road, and throwing them into the woods.

Gordon says he removed the signs because they are on his and his neighbor's property.

As for why he started videotaping the area, McLaughlin told NEWS10, "Our signs have been disappearing on almost a daily basis down there and we decided to find out who's taking our signs. And to our chagrin and dismay it ends up being a sitting member of the New York State Assembly, which I kind of find sad more than anything really."

Gordon responded, "There's been a sustained effort by my opponent of stalking and harassing me and my family. I think it should send the chill up the back of any decent person that my opponent's campaign is hiding in the bushes when I come out at 7:15 in the morning for the school bus stop. That's wrong."

Roseanne Salerna, the neighbor of Gordon mentioned in the incident, even chimed in.

In a statement issued through the Gordon campaign, Salerna stated, "We don't want Steve McLaughlin's ugly signs on our property and demand that he stop placing them there without our permission. The only person who has asked permission to place a sign is our neighbor Tim Gordon and we agreed. I also told Tim that he could and should remove his opponent's signs from our property because we simply don't approve of McLaughlin placing them there."

Gordon said signs had been placed on his property three different times over the past couple of days.

Gordon is one of two New York Assemblymen who are members of the Independence Party. McLaughlin is running against him as a Republican.

To view the YouTube video in question, click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwaHoCU4l54