Politics out of control

Editor,

I do not have a Facebook account by choice. Therefore, I am unable to respond to the allegations asserted by Kris Johnson regarding the donations made by Al Engle to certain candidates.

(1) comment

RWC_Resident Sep 14, 2018 7:49am

The author of the letter fails to address the two questions (not allegations) I asked each of these two candidates (Hale and Galisatus) who both accepted a $2,500 donation from a mobile park owner and a $1,000 donation from a PAC representing mobile park owners. Both of these candidates are new to the political scene and had no prior relationship with the park owner or PAC.

I raised legitimate questions directed at two candidates, which is my right as a citizen and enabled by campaign finance laws that ensure the transparency of large donations. These public disclosure laws ensure that government and elected officials should represent the interests of all people, not just those with financial means to influence policy. There is a very good reason why campaign donations above $1,000 are immediately accessible to the public -- it’s so we can ask these very exact questions of our candidates. And remarkably, there is no mention that Mr Engels admitted in a letter that the donations were intended to “establish access with elected officials”. Say what?

So my questions remain:

1. Why did candidates Hale and Galisatus accept $2,500 checks of this significance from the owners of the Harbor Village Mobile Park and $1,000 checks from a mobile home park when they have no history with either of these entities?
2. And why did the mobile park owners seek out these two candidates?