I’ll admit it, I’m a bit naïve. I tend to look for the
silver linings. I tend to think the best of people. I am, as they say in
Chicago, a goo-goo – a good government type, to be laughed at and reviled by
those in power. And most of the time I'm cool with it.
But this race.
This particular race. This race just makes me sad.
I am talking about the City of Kent Council Position No.
6. I already vented my frustration on getting the primary wrong over here. Short version
– I read the write-ups for the primary and said “Yeah, they all sound pretty good”. And then I
find out that one of the candidates has been arrested for stealing from his own mother. No, seriously. Candidate Ken Sharp has been accused, arrested, and will
stand trial on November 20 for pillaging his mom’s saving account of nearly
$300,000.
And this is particularly maddening given that Mr. Sharp
is running as the sound-businessman, former President of the local Chamber of
Commerce type. Despite the appearance that American Business seems to be overwhelmed with
thieves and sociopaths these days, would it have KILLED them to have a guy in charge that
wasn't, you know, ripping off his own mother?
And even Mr. Sharp is exonerated (and yeah, I’m still an optimist), I’m
going to say that a guy with major criminal charges is going to be a tad bit
distracted when it comes to governing. And if found guilty, he would have a hard time making it to council
meetings.
So, we have the other guy at least, Bailey Stober. Well,
not so fast, cowboy.
As might be expected in such a situation where a candidate is facing serious time, there has been a lot of mudslinging
going on, primarily in Kent Reporter’s letters to the editor and their Facebook
page. A wide variety of claims have been made against Mr. Stober, some of which have risen to the
point of being commented upon by the candidate. In general, the mud has been flying so thick
that the Carpinito brothers are looking a bumper crop this year (local joke).
But in all this kerfuffle there is one point that does stick – Mr. Stober
has not put in his paperwork with the Public Disclosure Commission (you have to dig it out here from the database), which shows his campaign raising money but not its expenditures. Normally
this is a small point, but it is the one I can look at, dust off the muck, summon my goo-goo mojo and
say yeah, what’s the deal here?
And to further cloud the issue, there is another candidate in the mix, now. Former council
member Debbie Raplee has recently put her name in as a write-in candidate because of concerns
about Mr. Sharp’s legal problems and Mr. Stober’s residency requirements (Mr.
Stober has denied there is a problem). And while I respect Ms. Raplee’s
decision, we knew about Mr. Sharp’s ongoing legal situation for some
time, and only NOW she decided she needed to enter the race?
So where am I on this? Well, if all accusations against
both candidates are true, then Bailey Stober remains the better choice,
because his accused sins are venal, not mortal. Furthermore, they are not
currently before a court of law. If NONE of the accusations on both sides are true,
I’m going to recommend Bailey Stober still, because he’s going to be more
focused on the job.
So we go with BAILEY STOBER, with a good sharp kick to
get his bloody paperwork in.
More later,