From the Desk of Dede Feldman dedefeldman Dear Friends and Neighbors, I write this note with some urgency. Public Financing and Transparency are being thrown out the window in the North Valley as the Republican Party uses a wedge issue to divide voters and vilify the one Democrat from the Valley still standing on the City Council: Ike Benton. Benton, is now running for District 2, after his own downtown district was eliminated by a Republican gerrymander and consolidated with the North Valley seat formerly held by Debbie O’Malley. To recap: Mayor Berry appointed Republican Roxanna Meyers to the seat and she is now benefitting from a classic smear campaign, funded independently by Jerry Ginsburg who has now contributed $40,000 (and counting) for a push poll and flyers that depict Ike as a shady character and Meyers as a sunny progressive. The independent spending, of course, subverts the whole intention of public financing, which folks like me, Jason Marks, Eric Griego, Ben Lujan and others fought to accomplish at the state and local levels. But it’s legal, thanks to Citizens United. But what really disturbs me is the subterfuge with which Ginsberg’s PAC has acted—claiming to be an independent, down home, folksy, just one ordinary–citizen operation. Today I found out that the PAC is actually operated by Republican consultant Doug Turner and his brother—who laundered Ginsburg’s money through a phony California operation called the Barbarossa Social Club (yes, really). The “Club” is just an address used for billing purposes to shield the identity of those who produced and pocketed money for the deceptive ads—Republican DW Turner/Agenda-Global Consulting and Turner’s brother Adam, who operates the Albuquerque “branch” of Barbarossa in an office down the hall from Turner’s office downtown. Ironically, this is the same Doug Turner, who sits on the Board of the Foundation for Open Government (FOG), which may be unaware of his les-than-transparent activities. The mission of the group is transparent government. Hmm. Ike Benton is the only Progressive in this Race… and I urge you to vote for him. He has been a supporter of the GLBT community for years—not months—a Spanish speaker, a Vista volunteer, a supporter of working people and women’s health. He rides a bike. He takes public transportation, and was an early supporter of green building and controlled growth. He believes in the democratic process—he voted to lessen his own power by putting a vote on the Mayor’s “Plan” out to vote rather than merely a council vote. And, as required by law, he disclosed his firm’s involvement in building projects whenever he was even remotely connected. I am not usually this partisan, but I have to call this one the way I see it. The Republicans are trying to take over this wonderful, adventurous, liberal district—and they are using deceit and Big Bucks to do so. Their means go beyond just character assassination—and they have dire consequences for the democratic process here at the grassroots level. I hope you will join me in voting for Ike Benton for City Council District 2 on Tuesday Oct. 8. You can vote early at the City Records Center at 604 Menaul from 9 am-6 pm. Monday –Friday. You can find other locations here. Or volunteer for the Benton campaign by sending an email to VolsBentonforABQ@gmail. More later on the Oct. 1 launch of the New Mexico Health Exchange, the Bosque controversy and other topics. With continued faith in “people power,” Dede Feldman
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 15:16:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015