The Virginia Public Access Project has BoS candidates’ latest campaign finance data up on their site now. In Rivanna, Democrat Marcia Joseph is out-raising incumbent Republican Ken Boyd, $24k to $18k. In White Hall, incumbent Republican David Wyant is out-raising Democratic challenger Ann Huckle Mallek $29k to $20k (thanks to a $10k contribution from one of his appointees). And in Scottsville, incumbent Democrat Lindsay Dorrier is significantly out-raising his two independent challengers with $14k — Kevin Fletcher has raised $575 and Denny King has raised $5k. Lists of individuals contributions greater than $100 are available for all of the candidates, and there are some interesting numbers in there.
There are reports for the City Council races, too, but the lack of Republican candidates and the minor role that money will play in that contest makes the money a lot less interesting.
Well I see that Marcia Joseph got a $7,500 donation. Considering the last thread on the subject, I still have zero problem with it. I would like to hear from the democrats/posters were worried about the influence that kind of money buys. Since the donor works in money management, there is probably no business he will ever have in front of the county- that is just a wild guess on my part.
I also found it amusing that when asked about the $10,000 donation Denny King said “When I read the article in the newspaper… I was jealous…”. No others person running for Albemarle Supervisor had any problem with it either when asked the about the $10k donation at the Senior Statesmen.
I don’t recall anybody objecting to the size of the contribution to Wyant from Zobrist — the concern is that it followed Wyant giving Zobrist a plum political appointment, naturally raising the question of whether this political appointment was purchased, either explicitly or tacitly.
Both $7,500 and $10,000 are stunning amounts of money to come from a single donor in a BoS race.
If you want to understand the votes of the incumbants over the past term then just follow the money… What is most telling to me is the large amount of money from people with real estate and development interests all supporting the incumbants. If anyone ever doubted that they are all in the pocket of developers, then doubt no more…
The money proves already that there’s no doubt that this election is primarily going to be a referendum on how the county feels the BOS is (or isn’t) managing growth.
I don’t recall anybody objecting to the size of the contribution to Wyant from Zobrist
It certainly was mentioned as jaw dropping and You know because 5,000 is TWICE as much as 10,000 and is unprecedented . If it were smaller I doubt there would have been much discussion.
I do find it amusing that people believe someone would give a bunch of money to be on a board that meets twice a month and gets paid nearly nothing. The is little question that Zobrist was qualified to be on the planning commission and it’s a lot of work.
Does this mean that Benjamin Brewster may not be appointed to a county board that was studying whether or not to issues bonds? Or is he unable to serve on any level? Or is he just unable to be appointed to a Rivanna seat?
I think Lonnie’s comment about incumbents getting money from realtors certainly does explain the huge influence in decisions being made locally. I was interested to learn from your link that even the Mayor of Charlottesville is being primarily funded by the realtors. Of his 4 campaign contributions over $100 the highest tied with the Democratic Pact is from the Virginia Assoc. of Realtors (Charlottesville chapter)
If we really care about the quality of life of our region we’ll elect candidates not in the pockets of realtors and developers. Isn’t it about time to stop building, building, building without roads, water, schools, fire and police protection.
You truncated my comment. Again, the concern isn’t solely the amount of money but, rather, the money combined with who it’s coming from.
IMHO, it would be inappropriate for Marcia Joseph to vote in any business directly concerning him, certainly to appoint him directly to a position of power.
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