Kraft: Caught with his pants down in Foxborough!

Wow! After so many years of not being questioned, Bob Kraft reacted....over-reacted with a nasty mailing attempting to influence an election.

He got caught!

After so many years of genuflecting to KraftCo, wonder if the folks of Foxborough will wake up and recognize: It's about the MONEY!

Isn't it disgusting what the arrogant and the wealthy leave in their wake to amass more money?

Doesn't anyone wonder when/why the 'line on the map' got moved?

Kraft flier 'electioneering'
BY FRANK MORTIMER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Saturday, April 21, 2012

Billboard flier requires financial report, town clerk says
FOXBORO - By singling out a member of the board of selectmen, a Kraft Group mailing last month on its billboard controversy with the town was engaging in "electioneering" and must file a finance report, the state agency overseeing election campaign finance has told town officials.

Town Clerk Robert Cutler confirmed Friday that the Office of Campaign and Political Finance notified him about two weeks ago that Kraft Group must report the expenditure to his office. Cutler said the Kraft Group had not yet met the reporting requirement, which is triggered when a mailing clearly identifies a candidate within 90 days before an election.

Kraft, in the brochure, portrayed selectwoman Lorraine Brue, a candidate for re-election in the May 7 town election, as a central figure in the breakdown in the company's relationship with the town. Although six elected officials had agreed to put the billboard matter out to bid, Brue alone was named in the mailing.

The Kraft Group flier, titled The Billboard Issue and sent to thousands of Foxboro homes around March 24, named Brue three times in connection with problems with the billboard negotiations.

Brue responded after the flier hit the mailboxes, saying the mailing was "definitely politics. The Kraft Group would prefer to see me not re-elected."

Kraft Group denied Brue's claim at the time, and reiterated that stance Friday.

Kraft spokesman Jeff Cournoyer Friday said the company has been in touch with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance and will file the spending report with the town clerk, but denied it was a political mailing.

"For us, this is not about politics, but some town officials seem determined to make it so," he said, echoing comments made by Kraft executive Ted Fire in a March 27 appearance before selectman after Kraft Group obtained a court injuction requiring the board to allow the company to be heard.

"Some people are going to say this is all politically motivated, but you all know this has been going on for well over two years on the billboards," Fire told selectmen that night. "This has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with our right to speak in public and with a threatened eminent domain taking of our land."

Two weeks earlier, on March 13, town manager Kevin Paicos urged selectmen Chairman Larry Harrington not to let Kraft Group officials speak on the billboard advertisement bidding issue because, Paicos said, the comments could prejudice the bidding process. Fire and Kraft attorney James Cobrey the next morning gave Fire's statement to the press. That statement named Brue six times in connection with the bidding troubles, ending with the statement that Brue is proposing a "destructive, short-sighted path" in her determination to go out to bid for the billboard management contract.

Friday, in a statement, the Kraft Group said: "Ms. Brue's quotes were included in the mailing because she is the only member of the board on record as being strongly in favor of seeking a better billboard deal than the one the town and The Kraft Group have enjoyed for years. While it was not intended to be an electioneering communication, was very specifically about the billboard issue and the timing had everything to do with the March 27 meeting, we have been in contact with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance and it does trigger the 90-day rule requiring that we file a report to the Town Clerk. We intend to do so along with a letter clearly stating that it was not a political mailing.

"For us, this is not about politics, but some town officials seem determined to make it so."

[This was a deliberate attempt by Kraft to influence a local election and they got caught doing so. Maybe next time they won't be as transparent.]

Jason Tait, a spokeman for the Office of Campaign and Political Finance said the agency "does not confirm or deny" that it has received a specific complaint and that the identify of any complainant is kept confidential.

Common Cause offered this:
Hidden Money: The Use of Electioneering Comminications in Massachusetts