Candidates brother accuses him of exaggerating accomplishments
The brother of Republican legislative candidate Gary Gearing has sent out a letter accusing him of trying to gain success at the expense of their late father’s memory.
Dan Gearing, the older brother of Gary Gearing, recently sent a letter to registered Republicans in the 51st Legislative District in which Gary Gearing is running, asking for his brother to “share with the voters his accomplishments, not those of our father.”
The letter is dated April 2012 and begins with “To the Taxpayers of Fayette County.”
Gary Gearing is currently a member of Uniontown City Council, a position he won as a Democrat. He has run for the same legislative seat three times previously, as an Independent in 2004 and 2008 and as a Democrat in 2006.
In response, Gary Gearing said simply that he and his brother don’t see eye to eye on issues. He said he has heard about the letter.
“I feel sorry for him and will keep him in my prayers,” Gary Gearing said.
Dan Gearing said he is a registered Republican and isn’t in politics, and put a lot of time into the wording of the letter before he wrote it and sent it out.
“The letter speaks for itself,” Dan Gearing said.
In the letter, Dan Gearing states that he has no personal problem with his brother running for or holding a public office, but he takes “exception to the personal information he has been disseminating concerning his personal accomplishments.”
Dan Gearing specifically sites that Gary Gearing claims that he worked his his family business, when in fact it was the business of their late father, Joe Gearing, Perma Cote Industries (PCI).
Dan Gearing clarifies that an award that Gary Gearing claimed to play a role in, the “SBA Entrepreneur of the Year Award,” was awarded to Joe Gearing, and not the company.
“My parents struggled for the better part of 20 years sacrificing a great deal and enduring much hardship to build Perma Cote,” Dan Gearing wrote.
Dan Gearing said he would like for his brother to cite his accomplishments.
“I’m certain my brother feels he was solely responsible for the success of Perma Cote, but it reality he was just an employee, as was I. I realize that in the political arena, candidates might exaggerate and manipulate facts to achieve a goal, and this is certainly one of Gary’s strong points,” Dan Gearing wrote.
“But I will not permit his success as the expense of my father’s memory. Perma Cote was sold and closed almost 13 years ago, two months after my father passed away. it is time of my brother to share with the voters his accomplishments, not those of our father,” Dan Gearing wrote.