Chamber forum: Candidates tackle finance questions
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com
The following is part three in a series on the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Meet the Candidates” forum held Thursday, Sept. 13, for candidates of the Boone municipal election.

It was the question all the present candidates anticipated.

When mediator Ron Hester asked if candidates attending the Sept. 13 Boone Area Chamber of Commerce “Meet the Candidates” forum accepted any contributions from special interest groups or political action committees, each candidate was ready to answer.

Council candidate Jeremy Blocker said he hadn’t received any contributions from such groups, nor had he been endorsed by any. “I’m running on my own, and the reason that I really wanted to do that is because I didn’t want to have an agenda,” he said.

Council candidate Ethan Dodson said he received a number of contributions from special interests, those being citizens and fellow students, from where his campaign is being financed.

The political action committee (PAC), Citizens for Change, which formed out of dissent with the town’s steep slope and view-shed ordinances, endorsed four council candidates, Dodson among them.

“The PAC has not given me any contributions to my campaign,” he said. “I was endorsed by the group, and I did accept and am very pleased with how it’s gone.”

However, Dodson said he hadn’t much contact with the PAC since July, and that he was running his own campaign, as well.

Council candidate Kevin Freeman said he had not received financial contributions from any group whatsoever. A benefit was held at the Boone Saloon for the campaigns of Freeman and candidate Rob Taylor, who did not participate in the forum.

The PAC only interviewed candidates members felt would meet their collective goals, and incumbent council candidate Lynne Mason was not one of them. In fact, Mason said she was proud not to receive such an endorsement.

“I would not feel comfortable being endorsed by this PAC,” she said. “I’m upset that this PAC is actually spreading a lot of misinformation and dividing the community. This PAC is creating wedge issues that don’t really exist.”

Mason was interrupted by several PAC members in the audience, including local developer Phil Templeton, who demanded she answer the question rather than criticize Citizens for Change.

Mason continued, “This is all about divisiveness and not coming to the table to work together by misleading the community. I think our voters are smarter than that.”

Council candidate and Boone planning commissioner Stephen Phillips said that although he was endorsed by the PAC, he did not receive any money from Citizens for Change or any special interest groups. In fact, he placed a $100 per household limit on donations “to make fair decisions to benefit the community as a whole.”

Incumbent council candidate Bunk Spann said he was not invited to the Citizens for Change interview and that he would not have accepted sponsorship, regardless.

“I think what happens when you move in that direction, there are expectations that come with PAC endorsement,” he said. “If you’re going to weigh all the facts before council ... in a fair and impartial way and act on the best information you have available to you in the best interest of the community, you need not be connected with any special interest group that’s going to expect favors from you farther down the road.”

Incumbent council candidate Dempsey Wilcox said he has not accepted any money from Citizens for Change. “I did accept an endorsement from them,” he said, “and I’ll accept an endorsement from anyone in the audience.”

Further, Wilcox said he has not made any promises to the PAC, except to serve as he has during his last 12 years on the Boone Town Council.

Mayor Loretta Clawson, running for re-election, was not endorsed by Citizens for Change, and she said she did not share its members’ values. “I do not believe the PAC interests represent the best we could be,” she said. “I do not condone either the tactics or the issues of the PAC. I want to represent all the people ... I believe in progressive values, not the values of the PAC.”

Although endorsed by CFC, mayoral candidate Tim Wilson said, to date, that he has not received any funds from any political action committee or special interest group, nor has he received any official memorandum regarding an endorsement.

Council candidate and planning commissioner Liz Aycock said she hasn’t received any contributions from any PAC or special interest group, nor was she interviewed by Citizens for Change.

“I believe that special interest groups ruin the political process, and I represent all Boone citizens,” she said.

The Boone municipal election is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 9. Three of five council seats are opening, as is the office of mayor. Each candidate must file a campaign finance report with the state no later than Oct. 1.