Gary R. Tabor and Olympia Master Builders

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Gary R. Tabor and Olympia Master Builders

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 3:05pm.

It has come to my attention that Gary R. Tabor, candidate for Thurston County Superior Court, has received considerable campaign support from the Olympia Master Builders (www.omb.org). Maybe you have seen the advertisements on IT Buses [pdf].

Tabor's challenger, Ed Holm, is not without his own issues. As the director of the Thurston County Prosecutor's Office he is accused of mismanagement.

The campaign of Gary R. Tabor has received over $15,000 from Olympia Master Builders via the OMB political action committee "Peoples Choice for Leadership" (this information is tricky and very difficult to find on the Washington Public Disclosure Commission website (www.pdc.wa.gov, but here's a short-cut: type "peoples choice for leadership" into first entry field ["filer name"]). In a time of increasing environmental peril, is this the kind of influence over the judiciary that will do society good?

It seems that those of us who are concerned with the issue of how to best approach the problem of creating a truly sustainable society are left with a difficult choice.

Is it too late to organize a write-in campaign?

- bert

Robert Whitlock's blog
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Ed Holmes

Submitted by Ehver Green on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 3:57pm.

It's not looking good for Holmes. [HTML / The Olympian]

...Now back to the poll. As mentioned in the news story, Carol Murphy outpolled Charles Williams 106-54 for one Superior Court seat, while Judge Gary Tabor outpolled Ed Holm, the county prosecutor, 125-34.

Received my ballot in the mail today.

That's a terrible poll

Submitted by Guglielmo on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 4:16pm.

It clearly does not represent potential voters, or even the population they polled (barely a 50% response rate). It's almost sinful (I don't mean you EG) to present these data without a clear explanation of their limitations. And I also think reporting web-based polls is a crime against humanity.

All polls are terrible with

Submitted by Ehver Green on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 4:36pm.

All polls are terrible with the understanding that they don't count for squat. I agree this one in particular is a bad poll but it can't be ignored altogether. It's the start of a conversation.

Holms must have a lot of confidence in winning on a label. [HTML / The Olympian]

Yes, it's a conversation starter all right...

Submitted by Guglielmo on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 5:06pm.

and a pet peeve of mine. This poll sucks. There are much better polling methods that provide valuable, reliable information about the population sampled. To say they all count for squat simply justifies the continued use of bad polling numbers. A good random sample, high response rate survey of potential voters would provide a considerably better estimate of where the votes are going (today), and it would even provide you a margin of error. How cool is that!? Whether or not good polls matter in the long run is a good question. I'm not sure what the anwser is.

Anyway, this isn't a conversation about polling.

Tracing OMB to PCL

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 4:11pm.

I had some help tracing the not so aptly named "Peoples Choice for Leadership" to Olympia Master Builders. Otherwise I would have been lost in the wilderness. Basically the path is from OMB to the "Affordable Housing Council" to "Progress for Our Community" to "Peoples Choice for Leadership."

Seems like a lot of intermediaries. I wonder why.

The why is very simple...

Submitted by Matthew Green on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 4:27pm.

...to hide the source of money. Sure, you can find it if you dig enough, but the vast majority of people who see those bus signs will never know, even if they read the fine print on the sign itself.

It should be illegal

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 4:35pm.

Hiding the source of money for campaign support is immoral, it should be (if it's not) unethical. It should also be illegal.

Isn't this basically money laundering?

Master Builders...

Submitted by jlw on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 4:54pm.

... gave a lot of money to our City Councilmembers under the guise of the Thurston County Affordable Housing Council.

under guises

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 5:01pm.

It seems that they used a couple more intermediaries to support Tabor.

But how about these names - not very accurate, or honest perhaps, portrayals of the interests they represent.

More information from the public disclosure commission about these organizations can be found by searching for the organization's name in the first field ("filer name") here: http://hera.pdc.wa.gov/wx/fieldsearch.asp

The Thurston County Affordable Housing Council.

Submitted by Laurian on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 9:12am.

has been active in local politics for at least a decade. Anyone with at least a passing knowledge of campaign contributions knows what the Thurston County Affordable Housing Council on a C-3 and C-4 form means.

In defense of TCAHC they represent a slim percentage of all contributions to most campaigns. On the other hand they have can have an inordinate influence on a campaign because they are exceptionally responsive to requests for money.

A decade ago I managed a city council candidate's campaign. When we needed money to do a mailing just before the election timed to minimize our opponent's response TCHAC came through. My candidate raised the needed cash, roughly $300.00, with a single ten minute phone call. Timing and responsiveness of a contribution is often more important that volume. This is how TCAHC has real influence.

Couple of Things

Submitted by Ehver Green on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 1:55pm.

Can we fix the spelling on Holm (Holmes above)?

Seems the $15,000 figure might be only a 1/3 of the actual contribution. The Olympian is reporting $45,000+.

The last paragraph in the URL above is interesting. It's important to note there's nothing illegal about any of this. PAC's are a part of the political process as we know it today. PAC's make contributions to both ends of the political spectrum here in Olympia.

Spelling Fixed

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 2:44pm.

Holmes changed to Holm

Thanks.

Submitted by Ehver Green on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 3:10pm.

Thanks.

Ethics and Campaign Transparency / Honesty

Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 3:15pm.

I think it's unethical to deceive and hide the original source of campaign funds. This isn't about whether Tabor conspired with OMB or anyone of the apparently several OMB PACs. This is about a culture of deception and of dishonesty. The names of these groups misrepresent their interests. They funnel money from one group to another in an attempt to confuse and hide where the money is actually coming from.

"Peoples Choice for Leadership"? Which people? Is this a popular movement? A social movement - the building industry? please

If Tabor objected to support from the building industry, the development industry, OMB or any one of its PACs, then he could quite easily request for them to remove their paid advertisements in support of his campaign.

It's no secret why they support Tabor. He has yielded decisions which go their way, decisions which many in the environmentally minded community disagree with.

The "Peoples Choice for Leadership" have their candidate. But who is the candidate for the People?

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