The BIA has launch an attack on Ken Mann, attempting to paint him as being beholden to outsiders. A truly ironic twist since the Building Industry owns Ken's opponent.
Whatcom County County District 2
Sam Crawford – Nearly 64.6* percent of contributions come from businesses, PACs and individuals involved in construction, development companies and realty.SOURCE: B'ham Herald - Politics blog
Ken Mann has done a good job of responding to these trumped up charges of outside influence on KGMI and on his campaign website.
**ALERT!!**
The Building Industry Association (BIA) has launched an attack ad! (Listen to Ken's Response on KGMI radio!) This national lobbying group has mailed a caricature of Ken's supporters to voters, labeling them "out of area" groups promoting a "national agenda." Their so-called "evidence" is a picture of a woman stepping off of the bus during a recent doorbelling event--in fact, the woman is Sarah Jaynes, and she was born and raised in Lynden--the heart of Ken's district!The BIA, itself a developer and realtor lobbying group with their own national agenda of limiting government regulations, wants to subdivide, pave, and sell Whatcom County to the highest bidder. DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT.
Keep up the fight for working farms, livable communities, and efficient government. See you on Saturday!
UPDATE:
The BIA put Bellingham Mayoral candidate Dan Pike's name on their mailer, but Dan Pike says:
Unfortunately, candidates have no control and no say over independent expenditures. The BIA has decided that I am the mayoral candidate of their choice in this election--which is probably tough for them in a race with two progressives--and added my name to their mailer as a result. The cynic in me suggests that they may also be trying to capitalize on my progressive credentials to broaden the appeal of Sam Crawford and Chris Hatch.
For what it's worth, I endorsed Ken Mann for County Council, the only race I made an endorsement in.
I hope this clarifies that I in no way approve of the mailer or candidates, and also had no say or knowledge in its production and
promulgation.
That quote is from a comment I just noticed in the B'ham Herald's Letters to the Editor section:
Pike's Whatcom Dem board comments:
I want to provide the following to indicate my own position regarding the BIA endorsement:
First, both Dan McShane and I interviewed for the BIA endorsement, but on thinking the matter over, I turned it down. We don't know what Dan McShane would have done, because to my knowledge he was not offered the endorsement.
When the BIA indicated to me that they viewed me as the better of two imperfect choices, I turned down their proposed endorsement because while I appreciate their green building initiative, I have disagreed with their broader agenda, and have been disturbed by some of their past tactics.
I am disturbed also at the manner in which they gathered the photos used in the mailer. In fact, someone used that occasion to target my own campaign, by 'spoofing' a threatening letter to the photographer so it appeared to be sent by me. Herald reporter Sam Taylor talks about this tonight in his blog: http://blogs.bellinghamherald.co...1&
pb=1#comments .Unfortunately, candidates have no control and no say over independent expenditures. The BIA has decided that I am the mayoral candidate of their choice in this election--which is probably tough for them in a race with two progressives--and added my name to their mailer as a result. The cynic in me suggests that they may also be trying to capitalize on my progressive credentials to broaden the appeal of Sam Crawford and Chris Hatch.
For what it's worth, I endorsed Ken Mann for County Council, the only race I made an endorsement in.
I hope this clarifies that I in no way approve of the mailer or candidates, and also had no say or knowledge in its production and promulgation.
No comments:
Post a Comment