Painted With An Obscure Brush

From the field office, comes this weird one, as if many of you hadn’t already seen S. Fred Simmons’ most recent defacement.

What’s different this time is the vandal’s literacy. Supplanting the anarchy symbol and goofy, tagger-style lettering of the preceding spray-painting is a quote from Ayn Rand’s more obscure philosophical ramblings: “The law of identity does not permit you to have your cake and eat it too.” I suspect the vandal chose this quote because it sounds like something a bad sport would say to someone he or she had defeated in, say, a local election – or dodge ball.

Read in context, however, this cryptic quote means next to nothing unless you’re a member of the rarified, crusty, Randian faithful (Alan Greenspan is in this group, if that tells you anything). Some say it has tangential ties to Aristotle, but a cursory, meaningless Internet search for the nature of the great philosopher’s connection to this cursory, meaningless quote turned up little.

The thing that has us a bit puzzled on this one is, it takes some real moxie to climb up and deface a billboard that’s out in the open on Route 40, and has been tagged at least three times before. I’m picturing a middle-aged person, pulling his or her car over to the side of the road, and just going for it – or a young punk reading off a cheat sheet some middle-aged person gave him along with a $20 bill to carry out the misdemeanor.

At any rate, this detail comes to The Dagger from a local journalist, a friend of ours who notes, “The workman who was getting ready to cover up the latest mess told me it was the fourth time he’s replaced the billboard, so the State Farm ad was going to be moved to a higher billboard up in Churchville and a public service announcement put in its place.”

His nameplate removed from the dais, his big black truck no longer parked outside city hall, his 15-foot head no longer greeting travelers from the north, and his Wetlands annexation ally, Sam Smedley, arrested on gun charges, it seems that – for the moment – the only indelible mark Simmons has left on the city from his two years as mayor is the large bell hanging in the council chambers.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Some final thoughts and field notes on the 2007 Aberdeen Election:

I began the day throwing up in my car on the way to work (how’s that for full disclosure). I’d have taken the bout of sickness as an ill omen if I hadn’t made the same ineffective claim during the last Aberdeen election. In 2005 while campaigning for re-election in Park, Councilman Ron Kupferman was stung at least once by an infuriated yellow jacket. As he swatted at the fleeing insect, I mentioned it probably was something of an ill omen to be stung on Election Day. He agreed and promptly went on to be re-elected in two subsequent elections.

Continue reading What a Difference a Day Makes

Simmons/Yensan Out, Bennett/Young In (Unofficial Aberdeen Election Results)

More than 2,500 Aberdeen voters cast a ballot Tuesday, a greater number than participated in the record-setting pace of the December 2006 special election, flushing Mayor S. Fred Simmons and his right-hand man Councilman Dave Yensan out of office and ushering in a new era for the city with Mike Bennett as mayor and first-time candidate Ruth Ann Young joining incumbents Ruth Elliott, Ron Kupferman and Mike Hiob on the council.

With just 68 absentee ballots left to count Tuesday night and an undisclosed number of provisional votes to be tallied Thursday morning, the results of the 2007 Aberdeen municipal election are unlikely to change.
Elliott, who considered running for mayor herself about a year ago, garnered 150 more votes than Bennett, even though she ran in a field of 10 from which voters could select 4 candidates. Bennett collected about 400 more votes than Simmons and 19-year-old challenger Nicole Burlew didn’t have the impact many hoped she might - bringing in fewer than 200 votes. Continue reading Simmons/Yensan Out, Bennett/Young In (Unofficial Aberdeen Election Results)

Aberdeen Candidate Class Superlatives

In less than 24 hours, the polls will open in Aberdeen and a revolution will be underway to sweep clean City Hall…or voters will show their support for the direction the city has been moving the last two years and return the incumbents to office.

Either way, The Dagger couldn’t pass up a final chance to poke and prod the curious collection of characters that made up this year’s candidate class. Without further ado, we present the 2007 Aberdeen Election Candidate Class Superlatives:

Continue reading Aberdeen Candidate Class Superlatives

Artfully Done: How To Win An Election The Wrong Way

Like cigarettes, booze or Russian Roulette, it is almost assured that too much of a bad thing will kill you.

At least that’s the hope of Art Helton - political dinosaur, Democratic kingmaker and frequent target of opponents looking to tank the campaigns of candidates with whom he is associated.

Over the weekend, Helton was again the main character in the latest in a string of negative advertisements and vicious smear campaign tactics targeting the candidates he and the New Harford Democratic Club are supporting in the Nov. 6 Aberdeen municipal election. Continue reading Artfully Done: How To Win An Election The Wrong Way

When The Going Gets Weird…

Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of
principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
-Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911

Things started turning weird here at The Dagger this past week, and after kicking it around amongst ourselves for a few days, we’ve decided to open the books and let you all take a look.

First things first. A group of local businessmen, the prospective developers of the Wetlands Golf Course, bought a roughly $250, bumper sticker-size ad in The Record newspaper today to promote The Dagger. Continue reading When The Going Gets Weird…

Elliott’s (Post)Date With Destiny

Ruth Elliott, an incumbent Aberdeen City Councilwoman and former mayor, may have participated in election fraud this March when she allegedly had members of the city’s Board of Elections sign and back-date the official results of a special election held months prior.

Such election fraud, according to the city charter, is considered a misdemeanor and, if prosecuted and found guilty of such an offense, Elliott Ruth Elliottwould have to resign from office immediately upon conviction.

The disturbing details came out recently during depositions and testimony in the lawsuit filed against the City of Aberdeen by a group of annexation opponents.

Even more staggering than the revelation itself are its origins and implications. Continue reading Elliott’s (Post)Date With Destiny

Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off

As of 9 o’clock this morning life is officially back to normal in Aberdeen.

Well, as normal as can be expected in a city where the gun-toting, airplane-flying mayor is being taken on by a 19-year-old college student, the best source of potable water is straight from the Bay and a Hall of Fame baseball player has nearly bankrupt the place.

Ignoring the advice of his lawyer and legal counsel, who still believe his case to be winnable, Steve Johnson, the would-be city council candidate who may or may not live in Aberdeen, has decided to officially abandon his quest to appear on the Nov. 6 election ballot.

That’s right, I said Nov. 6. Because of Johnson’s decision to withdraw his injunction, he believes the election can proceed as originally planned instead of being postponed until February 2008 or later.

“More important than my candidacy is for this election to go off on time,” Johnson said in an interview Sunday afternoon. Continue reading Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off

Show Me The Money

The 13 Aberdeen candidates for mayor and city council have raised more than $40,000 among them, but more than two-thirds of those funds are found in the campaign war chests of just two people – Mayor S. Fred Simmons and incumbent councilman David Yensan.

The duo, which campaigned together two years ago when they were both elected for the first time, has raised more than twice as much money as the other 11 candidates for mayor and city council combined.

Unsurprisingly, Simmons and Yensan, who have been joined at the hip both politically and in their city voting records, share nearly identical campaign finance reports, which show thousands of dollars being donated by entities and individuals with vested interests in the mayor and his right-hand man staying on board for another term.

Get familiar with some of these campaign contributors and political donors. Their names will pop up time and time again. Just like the Matrix (hey, whatever happened to the city’s infamous Matrix anyway?!), the longer you stare at these lists, the better you’ll be able to see the true alignment of the candidates. More so than the color of a T-shirt or which side of the aisle they sit on in city hall, nothing tells the story of an election more than where the money is coming from. Continue reading Show Me The Money

The Day the Election Stood Still (updated)

Experts say the most important thing to remember in a hostage situation is to not attempt to negotiate or argue with the hostage taker.

They also recommend against making threats, demands or personal attacks as a means to diffuse the situation.

On Thursday, the Aberdeen City Council got about half the guidelines right – avoiding direct confrontation with the man holding its future hostage, but at the same time laying into him with a savage display of public repugnance.

You see, as of Wednesday afternoon, would-be council candidate Steve Johnson and his team of lawyers and political advisors effectively took the Aberdeen election hostage. Continue reading The Day the Election Stood Still (updated)

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