It came as no surprise that the Aiken Board of Realtors endorsed all three Chamber of Commerce oriented candidates but it was something of a surprise that the Aiken Standard only endorsed two of them.
During the 2005 primary election when Jane Vaughters and Don Wells were elected the financial disclosure forms for all four candidates were published in the Aiken Standard. Though the reports did not cover the full campaign period they were useful in identifying the main supporters of each candidate. The Aiken Standard did not publish the reports this time so I went on line and looked at all of them. Predictably Don Wells received approximately 80% of his support from business and other special interests groups including developers, realtors and executive board members of the Aiken Corporation. Liz Stewart received approximately 60% from the same interests. Allen Brodie has no contributors thus far and appears to be self-financed.
The other candidates in the race have not raised nearly enough to run their campaigns and have been forced to use personal funds. If you would like to view the forms of all the candidates click on the following link:
Please consider a contribution to Reggie Ebner, Steve Homoki and Kent Cubbage . We need independent minded individuals on the City Council and candidates should not have to use their personal resources in order to represent all of the citizens of Aiken.
Letters to the Aiken Standard- During this campaign The Aiken Standard has published many letters reciting the virtues of the candidates and in general the mix was well balanced. The following letters contain interesting information that voters should be aware of but may not have noticed due to the large number of letters that were published today. Sometimes “we can’t see the forest for the trees.” For this reason I repeat them below:
“A couple of years back I attended a political forum at the Etheredge center and happened to sit next to Liz Stewart. While we backed different candidates, Ms. Stewart and I both lamented the fact that Aiken politics seemed to be becoming increasingly and needlessly divisive. We agreed that this was regrettable and welcomed the opportunity to work together someday to help remedy this situation.
As a result of this conversation and my knowledge of Ms. Stewart's fine reputation as a businesswoman and community activist, I contacted her early on when I decided to run for SC Statehouse last year and asked her to serve on my steering committee. Ms. Stewart thanked me for the invitation; however, she stated that she was deeply concerned that given her prominent role with the Aiken Chamber of Commerce that any direct involvement in my political campaign might create the appearance of a conflict of interest, and therefore subject the Chamber to undue criticism. While disappointed, I recognized that given the Chamber's political activism, she might be right and frankly appreciated her sensitivity to this matter.
Fast forward to today when of course Liz herself is running for City Council while serving as Chair-elect of the Chamber. Two letters to the editor have addressed the issue as to whether this has, or will create potential conflicts of interest? The simple and obvious answer is of course it will. No one can deny that matters frequently come before City Council that directly affect the Chamber and/or its membership.
The second question is should this preclude her from seeking political office? Conversely, the answer is no. However, if she is fortunate to be elected to City Council and ascends to the role of Chamber Chair Ms. Stewart must abstain from voting and participating in decisions involving the Chamber and its membership. State law as prescribed in the Code of Conduct is clear, "A public official should recuse himself from all matters in which a business with which he is associated has an economic interest. This includes non-profit agencies and boards on which a public official serves, unless he serves on the agency or board in his official capacity as a council member." Ref. SEC AO2000-11
Frankly, I am somewhat surprised Ms. Stewart and the Chamber have apparently chosen to ignore this issue. In my opinion, the appropriate thing for Ms. Stewart to have done was to take a temporary leave of absence from the Chamber Board pending the outcome of the election. This would have eliminated any criticism that she is using her Chamber office for political gain or that the Chamber is backing a particular candidate. Instead, they have needlessly opened themselves up to public criticism and may have done their respective constituencies a disservice by seemingly placing the political aspirations of one of its officers above that of its membership and the public at-large.”
“I read your article in which you asked the seven candidates for City Council the question "What City Council Action could have the most immediate positive impact on the City of
Candidates Stewart and Price suggested a youth center, candidate Homoki spoke about public safety and Ebner suggested Whiskey road traffic light synchronization. These are all good suggestions but resurrecting the Shop Aiken First campaign certainly sounds like the one that could immediately benefit our local businesses. After all, the "Spend 20 on the 20th" was well received.
Because the 2005 candidates for City Council had purchased much of their campaign material in Columbia
Liz Stewart didn't suggest the Shop Aiken First, but as the upcoming
President of the Chamber of Commerce, one would think that she would support the Aiken business community by spending all of her funds here. To date, of approximately $5200 in reported expenditures for the pre-election report, she spent $1900 for yard signs and campaign buttons in Orangeburg.
Liz Stewart didn't suggest the Shop Aiken First, but as the upcoming
President of the Chamber of Commerce, one would think that she would support the Aiken business community by spending all of her funds here. To date, of approximately $5200 in reported expenditures for the pre-election report, she spent $1900 for yard signs and campaign buttons in Orangeburg.
Candidates Cubbage, Ebner and Homoki have spent their funds in Aiken and longtime incumbent Lessie Price, who is unopposed, has not reported any expenses.”
Maureen Quinn
PLEASE VOTE ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH
Well it's all over and Aiken's citizens won.They have spoken so let's move on.
ReplyDelete