Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Campaign fund flap warranted

As a former County Councilman I have followed the campaign donation story with interest. The cost of running for office evidently has skyrocketed. In my first run in the mid '90s I spent $3,500. The second run was $2,500. In the latter I accepted no donations. Believe me, had I received a single $1,000 donation I would have known exactly who it was from and why such a large amount was provided. Evidently, based on comments reported in The Sun News, $1000 checks are commonplace and don't warrant that scrutiny any longer. Whether true or not, the message conveyed is votes can be bought.

Unless there are some facts not being reported, the question is: "why the need for 24 LLCs, evidently all controlled by one individual"? There is much discussion these days regarding transparency by politicians. Shouldn't the same transparency be applied to those who support those politicians? As of today, this "factual" information has come to light.

A tax for advertising by the chamber passed City Council (May) followed the next month by the General Assembly.

Twenty four $1,000 checks were distributed to four members of City Council and seven state representatives and senators.

Some of those checks were distributed by the chairman of the chamber of commerce.

Several of the LLCs used to distribute the money appear to have been misused.

No one has disputed the above, so what is the basis for crying "dirty politics"? What has happened may be entirely legal (although I have my doubts) but that doesn't make it right. If the source of the over $300,000 is known, it hasn't been published for the community.

My sincere hope is that the General Assembly will correct the situation in their next session. They could make a great start by returning the money they received as evidence of their belief that reform is needed.

The writer lives in Myrtle Beach.