Looks like we have our first official candidate for the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates.
(Yes, the assembly. Stop laughing.)
That candidate is Andrew V. Putnam of Falmouth, who is planning to challenge veteran delegate Julia C. Taylor (that is, assuming she runs for re-election). He’s a member of Falmouth Town Meeting and the current chairman of the town’s Affirmative Action Committee.
Mr. Putnam said he wants to enhance the assembly’s visibility among voters, and in doing so increase transparency in county government.
Check out Mr. Putnam on-line at www.youtube.com/andrewvputnam, www.facebook.com/andrewvictorputnam, and www.twitter.com/andrewvputnam.
What, no Foursquare or Pinterest accounts? Slacker.
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Some people run a campaign. So far it looks like C. Samuel Sutter is stumbing his campaign for US Representative of the Ninth Congressional District.
The Federal Election Commission recently posted online Mr. Sutter’s latest campaign finance report, which shows that as of March 31 the Bristol County D.A. has about $21,000 in campaign funds. Meanwhile, his primary opponent, incumbent William R. Keating (D) had close to $400,000 in his campaign war chest as of the end of March.
Add Mr. Sutter’s lackluster finances to his DA-related woes (accusations of professional misconduct) and you’ve got a campaign that’s one step away from needing a hougnan to bring it back to life (no offense to the voodoo priests out there).
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Someone whose campaign apparently is apparently faring much better is that of Sandwich Republican Thomas F. Keyes, who is challenging Senate President Therese M. Murray (D – Plymouth).
Mr. Keyes has been assembling “leadership teams” throughout the district, people within each town to lead campaign efforts, and last week he named Ralph Crossen, Jr. and Bill LeBeau as his Sandwich town captains.
It looks like Mr. Keyes is forming a much more solid and coordinated organization than he had in 2010, so Sen. Murray could be in for a decent fight this year.
Now, that all said, I have to shake my head in disapproval over Mr. Keyes’ recent announcement that he has signed a “no new taxes” pledge with the Citizens for Limited Taxation.
All pledges of this nature are nothing more than quick and easy and ultimately meaningless campaign gimmicks. It is President George H.W. Bush’s famous “No new taxes!” slogan in written form — and Bush, as you might recall, abandoned that pledge when the cold hard practical reality of running a government reared its ugly head.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cutting government waste and I’m not thrilled about having to pay taxes. I’m also not thrilled about understaffed police and fire departments, inadequate public schools, and roads that are impassible by anyone not driving a Panzer.
Political news and announcements may be e-mailed to Michael Bailey, senior political reporter, at bailey@capenews.net.
Tags: Andrew Putnam, Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, Julia Taylor, Ninth Congressional District, Sam Sutter, Senate President Therese Murray, Tom Keyes, William Keating
The views and opinions in the Enterprise blogs are those of the author and are not neccessarily shared by Falmouth Publishing.
“understaffed police and fire departments, inadequate public schools, and roads that are impassible by anyone not driving a Panzer”
And yet these are all local responsibilities. Tom is running for STATE Senate, not Selectman. And before you claim that the state ‘helps’ with all these things, take a look at how Plymouth/Barnstable is stiffed over and over by the Ch. 70, Ch. 90, and local aid ‘formulas’ that address these issues, while our cash cow status continues as the legislature ships tax dollars to its favored Boston/urban destinations (Having the lady as Senate President didn’t impact any of that, did it, despite her ‘campaign’ for Ed Reform).
So what’s the message here? That because Cape Cod doesn’t get a fair ROI in terms of tax money out and local aid in, Mr. Keyes’ only option is to oppose tax increases across the board with no consideration of individual circumstances? That he can’t play any role in changing the aid distribution formulas? If so, then it’s inconsistent to chide Sen. Murray for failing to change the Chapter 70 formula. And if the issue here is how local aid is distributed, then why sign a no new taxes pledge? Why not sign an “equitable aid formula” pledge?