Sunday, October 28, 2007
Contribution Contradictions
I got some disappointing news in the Sunday Richmond Times-Dispatch. And unless you live in the Richmond area and have the articles on newsprint, you can't find out how much support an arbitrary Chesterfield supervisor candidate received.
Many of the Chesterfield Supervisor candidates have received support from developers, some as much as 58%. What I find really disappointing is that some of the candidates who I thought would do the most to combat growth in Chesterfield County are getting substantial contributions from developers. This is according to an article by Sharon Walker in the Richmond Times Dispatch; her source is "Chesterfield campaign finance reports."
Take for instance Bermuda District. This I have been following closely, since I live in Bermuda. In Ree Hart's latest installment in Chester Village News, she says, "The way to manage growth without increasing proffers is to just say no to developers and development.". However, she receives 11.7% or $3442 of her support from developers, according to the newspaper article. This causes me to pause a moment before considering voting for Ree Hart. Is she saying one thing now and will be persuaded by contributions from the developers later? The same can be said for the Great Developer Terminator Dorothy Jaeckle. She won the Repulbican nomination on a highly anti-developer campaign. But now she is receiving $1279 in support from the developers. That's 4.9%. Roy Wallace so far has received only $718 in campaign contributions; he has received absolutely zero from the developers. So shall I now vote for Roy Wallace? I wonder if he stands a chance of being elected. Ree Hart seems to be more knowledgeable, but Roy is not swayed by developer money. It's the Impartiality Principle in action, again (see my previous blog on Al Gore).
Even worse is what's happening in Matoaca District. Here there seems to be a candidate that stands out way above the others, especially in dealing with growth. I have gotten good word on her from several people. But she has received $6217, or 27%, of her contributions from developers. That is really high and it makes me wonder about her viability as a candidate who would rein in growth in the county. Recently I found out that most of these developers are commercial developers. Are they any good? If businesses get next to existing new developments, it reduces travel times from the future residents of those developments to work. That would be good. But if a business, especially a Wal-Mart or something like that, were just to plop down in the county, it would attract developments. But maybe the developments cause the Wal-Marts. In any case, maybe the 27% developers for Marleen Durfee are not that bad. The Democratic candidate, Bill Hastings, Jr., gets only 6% from developers. However, I hear that Hastings does not know as much about curbing growth as does Marleen Durfee. If I were in Matoaca District, as it stands now, I would vote for Marleen Durfee.
I certainly would not vote for the Republican candidate, Mark Tubbs, who gets 58% of his contributions from developers. In fact, there are three candidates, Tubbs, Donald Sowder, and Kelly Miller, all of whom get about half their support from the developers, and all Republican. So if you are in Midlothian District, vote for Dan Gecker. If you are in Dale, vote for Jim Holland. Those are the easy ones to decide. Also, choose Floyd Bayne in Clover Hill, who has received no contributions of any kind.
But in Bermuda, the picture now seems muddled. I need to find out more about the candidates' contributions before I get into the voting booth on November 6. And by the way, here are the figures, since Inrich saw fit to provide them on paper but not on the Web:
Many of the Chesterfield Supervisor candidates have received support from developers, some as much as 58%. What I find really disappointing is that some of the candidates who I thought would do the most to combat growth in Chesterfield County are getting substantial contributions from developers. This is according to an article by Sharon Walker in the Richmond Times Dispatch; her source is "Chesterfield campaign finance reports."
Take for instance Bermuda District. This I have been following closely, since I live in Bermuda. In Ree Hart's latest installment in Chester Village News, she says, "The way to manage growth without increasing proffers is to just say no to developers and development.". However, she receives 11.7% or $3442 of her support from developers, according to the newspaper article. This causes me to pause a moment before considering voting for Ree Hart. Is she saying one thing now and will be persuaded by contributions from the developers later? The same can be said for the Great Developer Terminator Dorothy Jaeckle. She won the Repulbican nomination on a highly anti-developer campaign. But now she is receiving $1279 in support from the developers. That's 4.9%. Roy Wallace so far has received only $718 in campaign contributions; he has received absolutely zero from the developers. So shall I now vote for Roy Wallace? I wonder if he stands a chance of being elected. Ree Hart seems to be more knowledgeable, but Roy is not swayed by developer money. It's the Impartiality Principle in action, again (see my previous blog on Al Gore).
Even worse is what's happening in Matoaca District. Here there seems to be a candidate that stands out way above the others, especially in dealing with growth. I have gotten good word on her from several people. But she has received $6217, or 27%, of her contributions from developers. That is really high and it makes me wonder about her viability as a candidate who would rein in growth in the county. Recently I found out that most of these developers are commercial developers. Are they any good? If businesses get next to existing new developments, it reduces travel times from the future residents of those developments to work. That would be good. But if a business, especially a Wal-Mart or something like that, were just to plop down in the county, it would attract developments. But maybe the developments cause the Wal-Marts. In any case, maybe the 27% developers for Marleen Durfee are not that bad. The Democratic candidate, Bill Hastings, Jr., gets only 6% from developers. However, I hear that Hastings does not know as much about curbing growth as does Marleen Durfee. If I were in Matoaca District, as it stands now, I would vote for Marleen Durfee.
I certainly would not vote for the Republican candidate, Mark Tubbs, who gets 58% of his contributions from developers. In fact, there are three candidates, Tubbs, Donald Sowder, and Kelly Miller, all of whom get about half their support from the developers, and all Republican. So if you are in Midlothian District, vote for Dan Gecker. If you are in Dale, vote for Jim Holland. Those are the easy ones to decide. Also, choose Floyd Bayne in Clover Hill, who has received no contributions of any kind.
But in Bermuda, the picture now seems muddled. I need to find out more about the candidates' contributions before I get into the voting booth on November 6. And by the way, here are the figures, since Inrich saw fit to provide them on paper but not on the Web:
| CANDIDATE | TOTAL | PCTDEV | AMTDEV | DISTRICT |
| Rosemarie Y. "Ree" Hart [D] | 29415 | 11.7 | 3441.56 | Bermuda District |
| Dorothy A. Jaeckle [R] | 26097 | 4.9 | 1278.75 | Bermuda District |
| Roy L. Wallace [I] | 718 | 0 | 0.00 | Bermuda District |
| Floyd C. Bayne [I] | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | Clover Hill District |
| A.S. "Art" Warren [R] | 1725 | 0 | 0.00 | Clover Hill District |
| James M. "Jim" Holland [D] | 2175 | 0 | 0.00 | Dale District |
| Kelly E. Miller [R] | 19470 | 43 | 8372.10 | Dale District |
| Marleen K. Durfee [I] | 23029 | 27 | 6217.83 | Matoaca District |
| W.S. "Bill" Hastings Jr. [D] | 12640 | 6 | 758.40 | Matoaca District |
| A. Eli Jones [I] | 3172 | 0 | 0.00 | Matoaca District |
| Mark D. Tubbs [R] | 45903 | 58 | 26623.74 | Matoaca District |
| Daniel A. Gecker [I] | 11120 | 9 | 1000.80 | Midlothian District |
| Donald D. Sowder [R] | 34126 | 45 | 15356.70 | Midlothian District |
