Special Interest Money
Dive Bombs Block Party
Think you’ve heard it all?
Councilman Mark Brown and his family joined their neighbors last weekend for what promised be an enjoyable and relaxing block party. It was a time to kick back, share some potato salad and catch up with what the other families on the block had been up to. It seemed like a perfect way for the residents of Pearl Ridge to say so long to Summer and usher in the Fall.
But, as anyone who has ever been to a picnic knows, there is always the threat of unwanted pests. Usually we’d be talking about the relatively minor annoyance of ants or mosquitos. The kind of pests you can go to the store and buy a repellent for. But what do you spray when the peace and serenity of a neighborhood block party is invaded by the drone of a private plane? Especially one circling your picnic with a banner that reads, “Recall Mark Brown”.
Now not just every group of private citizens, trying to claim they’re a simple “grass roots” organization, have their own air force. It’s the first time in local politics that I recall of a group using a weapon of mass annoyance.
A legitimate grassroots organization wouldn’t have the excessive cash it takes to hire planes to fly around and buzz their opponent’s social functions.
Most professional campaigns, would have the common sense not to make such an ostentatious display of the special interest money being poured into their coffers. And almost anyone would have the common decency not to target someone’s home, family or neighborhood block party.
I was never much of a poker player, but I know when someone has overplayed their hand. For months paid workers have been going door-to-door trying to collect signatures to force a recall of 7th Ward Councilwoman Dottie Greer. They are paying a temporary employment agency to send people out collecting signatures. Most of the people collecting the signatures don’t even live in the City of St. Charles!
The reaction I’ve heard from many residents of that ward is they think it’s a joke. People who didn’t even vote for Dottie Greer think it’s silly.
After the first three mailings attacking Councilwoman Greer landed in mailboxes, the annoying phone calls started. A recorded voice, that doesn’t identify themselves, makes some attacks on Councilwoman Greer and asks for you to call a number. If you call the number, you don’t get a live person to question or complain to about the call...just another recorded voice telling you to leave your name and number.
I believe these types of unsolicited electronic phone messages should be added to Missouri’s NO CALL LIST law. People relaxing at home, eating dinner or trying to watch their favorite television show, should not be subjected to front groups like this, trying to force you to listen to long winded political commercial.
Not surprisingly, the same group responsible for these annoying electronic phone calls also came up with the strategy of dive bombing block parties.
The group hasn’t had much success in Dottie Greer’s ward. After six months of paid workers going door-to-door, they still haven’t been able to get enough people to sign the recall petitions to get on the ballot. So the same group shifted gears and started a recall against Mark Brown. In Mark Brown’s 3rd Ward, the same electronic calls, with the same phone number, have been playing for weeks. They have also sent out six separate mailings against him.
So just who is bankrolling these costly recall efforts? Campaign spending reports show that most of their money is coming from millionaire homebuilder Tom Hughes.
Of course Tom Hughes doesn’t live in the 7th Ward where he wants to recall Dottie Greer. And he doesn’t live in the 3rd Ward where he wants to recall Mark Brown. But he thinks he knows better than the voters of those wards who should represent them. In fact, in the last Council race, Howard Hughes, sorry, I mean Tom Hughes, spent thousands of dollars trying to elect his own slate of candidates in every ward. He failed, but decided to try to take over City Hall again through the abuse of the recall process.
Of course, being a good sport about it would have been another option. Without gracious losers, the ones who shake hands and get on with their lives, our political system suffers. With no end to elections, voters could become further disillusioned with voting at all.
Recall is an important right the voters have under our City Charter. But every right brings with it responsibility. Recall efforts should be home grown, not imposed by big monied special interests hiring people to collect signatures from outside of a ward. Recall should be reserved for elected public officials who break the law or demonstrate clear disregard for their oath of office.
Of course, in a fair world we would all have the home phone numbers of the political groups that call us and get to call them during dinner and play our own electronic messages. Or hire people to knock on their doors with petitions, stuff their mailboxes with hate literature or hire a plane to buzz their next picnic.
Maybe someday they’ll invent a repellent for such annoying political front organizations and the excessive amounts of special interest money they are spending. Until then, at least we can swat at them with the First Capitol News.
