County Executive Chris Collins' re-election campaign returned the $2,560 it got from the University at Buffalo, according to a top campaign spokesman, but UB officials have declined to reveal much else.
The controversial political contribution – shown on New York State's website as two payments of $2,500 and $60, respectively, from UB Foundation Activities, Inc. (UBFA, a tax-exempt not-for-profit) – was initiated by The Center for Industrial Effectiveness (TCIE), according to TCIE Executive Director Timothy Leyh.
TCIE makes up "the business arm of UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences," and it uses UBFA for its accounting services, Leyh said.
Collins, a Republican, will run for re-election against Democrat Mark Poloncarz in November. The latest polls show the race to be close.
On Thursday, one day after a Spectrum article revealed the donation, Collins campaign spokesman Stefan Mychajliw emailed a one-sentence statement to The Spectrum:
"While we are grateful for our support throughout the county, including the Center for Industrial Effectiveness at the University at Buffalo, we have returned the contribution that was mistakenly made in the UB Foundation's name."
Both Leyh and UB Foundation Executive Director Edward Schneider characterized the political contribution as an "honest mistake" in emailed statements to The Spectrum.
"In order to develop clients for our services, we are always networking in the community," Leyh said. "My staff and I attend as many events as possible where we can make contacts and inform people about what we offer. Last spring, I bought tickets for a breakfast event, and a dinner, which I now realize were fundraisers for the Collins campaign.
"At that time, I didn't realize that our purchase would be regarded as a campaign contribution," Leyh continued. "That was not my intent – I just wanted to attend the event so that we could do our usual networking. It was an honest mistake and one that I take responsibility for."
When The Spectrum asked Leyh and UB Assistant Vice President for Media Relations John Della Contrada for more details about the $2,560 meal tickets – such as the names and dates of the events and a list of people who attended them – both declined to provide answers.
"You have the statements," Della Contrada said. "We don't have anything else to add. We acknowledged the mistake, we've corrected it, and we're taking steps to prevent it from happening again."
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