Our primary election will be held in five months. Here is where the candidates stand with a rating from CP as to the level of campaign seriousness exhibited. A means candidate is ready to be mayor, B means candidate really wants to be mayor, C means candidate wants to be mayor but we'd like to see more conviction and D means if you want a decisive person in office, you'll probably have to find someone with a higher rating than this person. In order to get an "A", the candidate must have filed with the city clerk, made a public announcement, have an active campaign and active web-site. These numbers merely try to reflect my candid observations of the campaigns at this point, and in no way reflect any type of endorsement of any candidate:
Republicans:
Dave Cordle, announced, actively campaigning, papers filed, active web-site Rating A- (has not knocked on my door yet)
Mike Pantelides, still thinking...and thinking...and thinking about it Rating D
Frank Flyntz, announced ( June, 08..at least he said so..may be announcing again), Rating C (inactive web-site, inactive campaign, not filed)
Democrats
Josh Cohen, announced, actively campaigning, active web-site Rating B (has not filed)
Sam Shropshire, announced, actively campaigning, active web-site Rating B (has not filed)
Trudy McFall, announced, actively campaigning, papers filed, active web-site Rating A
Zina Pierre, about to announce, active campaign and web-site Rating B- (waiting on 4-24 and I got her postcard invite so it's moving)
Wayne Taylor, announced, actively campaigning, inactive web-site Rating C
Gil Renaut, I believe he has announced perhaps not with a public presence or kickoff party, but he has not filed, and his web-site is hardly active, so I'm gonna have to go with a C
Independent
Chris Fox, detailed but not recently active web-site, collecting signatures to be on ballot Rating B-
And if I were giving out extra credit for having knocked on my door, one would go to Trudy McFall and one-half point to Wayne Taylor because it was not him but a campaign supporter, although I am told he was in the neighborhood.
Other candidates not yet rated: Alfred E Newman, Pat Paulsen, Hugh Romney a.k.a. Wavy Gravy, Louise Beauregard, Arthur Kungle, Arthur Greenbaum, King Arthur, Arthur Treacher's Fish N' Chips, Arthur Godfrey, Arthur C. Clarke, Arthur the Rabbit from the PBS children's cartoon, Chester Arthur, Arthur's Famous Pizza in Bridgeport, CT...oh and of course Arthur from the Babar stories....
Please send comments, subscribe, share with your friends, and support our sponsors.
Bay Daily on Hiatus
-
Congratulations to Bay Daily creator, Tom Pelton, who has accepted a
position with another organization working to make the world a better
place. In his ab...
10 years ago
4 Comments:
Why does filing many weeks before the deadline show that you are "ready" to be mayor? Seems like a weird criteria. Anyone can file at anytime. Would think the strength of your announcement, fundraising, website etc. would come into play, rather than just checking the box.
Judd Legum
Dear Judd
As a lawyer, a campaign staffer, and now as a candidate, you know the importance of properly signing and filing required paperwork. While it may seem like a weird criteria to you, it is the only one required of all candidates aside from fund and expense reports which come later because of filing. Therefore it is perhaps the most valid of all criteria, and it is not just a matter of checking a box but of having certain things in place and providing that information properly. You cannot get elected unless you are on the ballot and to get on the ballot you have to be filed as a candidate, so I disagree that it is a weird criteria. And as you say, "anyone can file at anytime" then I have to ask, why not now?
Anyhow, the criteria you mention such as "the strength of your announcement, fundraising, website" were certainly considered and I made that quite clear. Another criteria might be whether or not a candidate advertises in the most important and visible media, but that would be a weird criteria for the media to judge the campaign--would it not? Therefore, I left it out, but readers can see which candidates are advertising and which are not, and make up their own minds about that criteria and whether or not it reflects the seriousness of the campaigner.
Ok, fair enough. But there is a deadline for when that information is due legally. I don't think filling those forms out in advance makes any one candidate more qualified than another, but that's just my opinon. I do agree that if a campaign were to fail to comply with a legal requirement that would reflect very poorly. Prior to starting my campaign I formed the required committee, which involved filling out a two page form and getting them stamped by the board of elections. I don't think this particularly qualifies me to be delegate.
Judd Legum
Part of the process of filing as a candidate in the City of Annapolis is also submitting a several page financial disclosure statement. So it seems to me that this, more than anything, is justification for why it is important to the voters for a candidate to file sooner than later.
Dennis Conti
Post a Comment