Manley hits back against Democrats’ questions about donor

TOWN OF NEWBURGH – Republican Supervisor candidate Scott Manley is pushing back against questions from the Town of Newburgh Democratic Committee about his relationship with landscaping company owner Lynn Warren, calling the criticism “false and baseless” and accusing opponents of personal attacks.

“This attempt to smear a candidate and a local business owner shows that (Orange County) Legislator (Stephen) Hunter and Stephen Krasner would rather trade in petty attacks than present solutions,” Manley said. “They campaign on negativity because they lack a record of their own. I am running on a proven record of service to Newburgh.”

Warren donated $1,000 to Manley’s campaign in April, according to the Democratic Committee. The Democrats questioned the relationship after workers wearing L. Warren Landscaping shirts allegedly installed a large Manley campaign sign along Route 300 on Oct. 8.

Manley said his campaign hired Warren’s company to install the sign and paid for the work.

“Our public campaign finance filings reflect that lawful payment,” he said.

The committee said Manley’s campaign filings through Oct. 2 showed no payments to Warren’s companies or in-kind contributions. Manley said the invoice was paid on Oct. 8.

“There is a good reason it wasn’t in filing,” Manley said.

The Committee said it was not alleging any law had been violated but questioned whether the sign expense would appear in future filings.

The committee also cited Town Board records showing Manley voted in favor of 10 of 11 actions involving Warren’s landscaping company from 2016 through 2022. Warren also heads LRW Inc., which has two pending court cases seeking property assessment reductions. In 2022, Manley seconded a resolution settling an earlier case that lowered an assessment from $803,320 to $615,000.

The committee is asking whether Manley, the town’s deputy supervisor, will recuse himself from votes involving the pending cases and is seeking disclosure of town payments to Warren’s companies.

“Voters deserve to know whether Scott Manley will step aside when his donor’s company asks the Town for a tax break, and who paid for the crew putting up his signs,” committee Chairwoman Vanessa Tirado said in a statement.

Tirado did not return a message seeking any photos of the signs that L. Warren Landscaping put up for Manley.