Tim Sheldon and the definition of “Conflict of Interest”

Councilman Tim Sheldon (D), in a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, released a press release today accusing his opponent in the Jan 13th special election, Tom Kovach (R), of having a conflict of interest because Kovach’s law firm may have clients who appear before county council.   Kovach has already been quoted as saying “he will recuse himself if he has a client with a project in the county, or might even refuse to represent such clients altogether.”

In an effort to add an extra zing, Sheldon included the definition in the press release:

con•flict of in•ter•est

A term used to describe the situation in which a public official or fiduciary who, contrary to the obligation and absolute duty to act for the benefit of the public or a designated individual, exploits the relationship for personal benefit, typically pecuniary.

Remember the old 3rd grade joke – “If I looked up ‘ugly’ in the dictionary there would be a picture of your mom!” ???

Well, it seems that Sheldon forgot to include the picture:

Yeah – let’s not forget about Sheldon’s fellow Democrat County Executive Paul Clark’s conflict of interest with his wife’s law firm.

Oh yeah and isn’t Sheldon a union boss??   You really think he’ll take the taxpayers’ side when it comes down to pay negotiations with the unions?   Give me a break.

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VoteNoToJoe.com – Do we really need a Biden Elementary School?

If you think it is stupid that the Brandywine School District is considering naming a new school after Vice President Joe Biden, then you want to check out this site:

www.VoteNoToJoe.com

They want you to vote for Hanby, but a vote for anything except Biden is fine by me.    It is insane that we are naming a public school after a politician who is still in office!   You don’t have to live in the district (or even Delaware) to vote, so send in your ballot by January 31st.

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Vote for Tom Kovach on January 13th – The Smart Choice

It is less than two weeks until the special election to fill Paul Clark’s former council president position.   About a month ago it was reported in the News Journal that Mr. Clark had been admonished by the Ethics Commission for presiding over a County Council debate of an issue involving his wife’s law firm.

There has since been an executive order given by newly elevated County Executive Clark to create a firewall that removes him from any decisions involving his wife’s law firm.   Councilman Tim Sheldon, the Democrat running for the open council president position, says the first thing he would do as council president is to draft a resolution asking the ethics commission to look into Mr. Clark’s potential conflict of interest.   Why hasn’t Mr. Sheldon already drafted the resolution?   He is a sitting member of council – there’s no need to wait.

It seems Mr. Sheldon isn’t quite up to speed on most of the issues and is ducking debates with Kovach.  Paul Clark’s conflict of interest, land use (Mr. Sheldon admits his aide knows more than he does about it), and Vince Meconi are all included in this video:

If you are interested in ethics, responsible development, and bringing balance to the one party rule in county government, be sure to vote for Tom Kovach on January 13th.

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