Letter writer calls for greater transparency in campaign endorsements

Christian Serena’s recent opinion piece urged voters to back Barry Graham and Michelle Ugenti-Rita. It was presented as the view of a former planning commissioner and concerned resident. While he is entitled to his opinion, Mr. Serena did not mention that he is chair of Barry Graham’s campaign. That is not a minor omission. A campaign chair supporting his own candidate is making a campaign case, and the label should say so lest readers believe it is an objective opinion. This paper should adopt a standing policy requiring disclosure of opinion piece authors when writing about their own candidates.

As for his actual commentary, Mr. Serena scrutinizes who funds his candidate’s opponent, urging readers to “follow the money” and weigh who stands to benefit. By that standard, readers deserve to know that the author, himself, has a direct stake in the outcome. He also fails to disclose the developers and business owners supporting his own candidate. This is important given Mr. Graham’s promises not to accept money from developers and because it creates a potential conflict of interest in future Council matters, conflicts that apparently Mr. Serena believes are only a concern for the opposition. Further, Mr. Graham’s being found guilty of ethics violations, the ongoing investigation by the State Attorney General into potential violations of Open Meeting Laws (as recently reported in the media), open complaints about his campaign finance reporting, his misuse of police and County Attorney resources against residents and Mayor Borowsky, and his incessant falsehoods are far more important for voters to consider.

I certainly will not be voting for Barry Graham (or Michelle Ugenti Rita) because character matters.

Dan Ishac
Resident and Former Council Candidate