That mayor’s race thing has gotten just goofy. So many red flags. I hope Fitchburg does the right thing!
Campaign suck. Especially local ones that don’t get much coverage in local media, even in years when not that many people are running. And cities like Fitchburg get even less attention than in Madison. So I’d like to believe that after the Isthmus article, NO ONE was taking the candidacy of Jason Gonzalez seriously . . . attorney public reprimands are rare, 95% of the 2000 complaints filed each year are never made public!, but this one was. I don’t think misconduct and dare I say “incompetence” is something to be blown off and it is appropriate for voters to consider. Gonzalez may want to argue that “that’s different”, or “its my day job” and that it has “nothing to do with being mayor”, but dude, it does. It goes to your integrity and says a lot about your due diligence and how you will act as mayor. And it goes even further than that. I’m sickened by the way he describes his client and throws him under the bus. I’d hate to have him as my lawyer in a criminal defense case if he treats all his clients with that kind of dismissive attitude. Plus, for an attorney and politician, that Isthmus article was just way over the top defensive. It’s seemed like one of those he-doth-protest-too-much moments! Seems like he should have kept his mouth shut, said he was taking this seriously and hopes justice prevails – end of story. Instead, he made it a story with his ridiculous comments – not too savvy for a guy running for mayor! In contrast, Arnold stayed above the fray and didn’t take it public, because that is the kind of guy he is.
I interviewed the two candidates last January with Progressive Dane. We also got their candidate answers and it was a no-brainer. Steve Arnold was the candidate that was more progressive and has a long record that shows that. But more importantly to me, he truly believes in open government and given the way things have been going at the state and even in Madison and definitely Dane County government, that is so refreshing. In fact, he so believes in it that some elected officials complain that he takes it too far and requires too much discussion to be held in the public eye. I love it! I can see why politicians who are used to backroom dealing don’t, but for the public, this is awesome. Good, clean, open and transparent government the way it should be. Fitchburg has ALL of its meetings video taped and available to the public and they do most of their business in front of those cameras – the way it should be. I just don’t trust his opponent would do the same. They like to shut down debate.
One of the things I like to do – sorry, I’m a a geek – is to look at campaign finance reports and see who’s funding the candidates. Looking at Gonzalez’s report, seems like the realtors and developers are . . . and that’s usually not a good thing. Here’s Gonzalez’s latest report:CLERK-FINANCES-2017-03-GONZALEZ
A quick looks shows the following contributions in this last period – from developers and business interests that are readily identifiable – there are likely more . . . but this is nearly half the money he raised in this period.
$500 Saris Cycling – Christopher Fortune
$250 Developer – Scott Kelly
$200 Realtor – Shawn Pfaff
$50 Developer/Builder – Don Esposito – through a conduit
$50 Construction Company – Jeffrey Parisi – through a conduit
$100 Barbara Slack – through a conduit
$200 Builder – Jennifer Acker – through a conduit
$200 Builder – Chad Wuebben – through a conduit
$400 – Real Estate – John Heinrichs
$400- Builders Association – Building a Better Wisconsin PAC
$200 Land owner/developer – David Fahey
$50 Developer spouse – Tamara Armstrong [Chris Armstrong is President of Scott Kelly’s Avante Properties. Tamara is his wife.]
$100 Land owner – Patrick O’Brien
Wonder how much more will pour in during the last days of the campaign . . . :(. We’ll find out after the election, in July when the next report is due.
Plus, of the 54 donations Gonzalez got during this period, only 32 were from Fitchburg . . . 40% came from elsewhere. Of the 64 donations Arnold got, 11 were from places other than Fitchburg. 82% of his contributions came from Fitchburg. I’m just not a fan of Gonzalez’s type of special interest campaign financing. Arnold has no conduit money and only one developer. (Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha – I just found out the the “developer” is a SOFTWARE developer. Giggle. I understand Arnold doesn’t take money from people who need permits from the city, not just zoning, but liquor and others.) I’m sure if I looked into the campaign finance reports more, I’d find more not to like, but that was a quick review.
I hope voters in Fitchburg make the right choice. I don’t spend a lot of time following their issues – I have my hands full with the City of Madison, Dane County and the very little I dabble in school board. But this still seems like a no-brainer as it did last January. I hope the vote for the transparent government, not-bought-and-paid-for more experienced progressive candidate.
