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Who is giving money to candidates?
06/09/2008 4:37 PM by John M
A Save Richmond piece on mayoral candidate Pantele linked out to the Virginia Public Access Project. VPAP is a non-profit group the makes it easy to access the public records of who has donated how much to a candidate for office.
VPAP doesn’t appear to have listings for school board candidates, or school board candidates have not received donations large enough to report, or there has just been no reporting. 7th District Council Representative Delores L. McQuinn has a page, as does her challenger from the previous election cycle Reginald Malone, our illustrious mayor, and mayoral candidates Grey, Pantele, and Goldman, among others…
I HIGHLY recommend reading the Save Richmond piece. It is very alarming to learn about some of Pantele’s connections, especially the discussion about Gwen Hedgepeth.
VPAP is following money in the city council and mayoral elections. But VPAP does not have the resources to extend sunlight to the school board elections. We’d love to do the schools race, but our staff is stretched too thin.
David Poole
Executive Director
Virginia Public Access Project
Another resource along these lines:
Follow TheMoney.org
the ethics rules governing our city council are pretty unique in that a person can be both a council member and a paid lobbyist at the same time as long as they promise to recuse themself from any vote where a conflict of interest might be apparent.
Most other states forbid this type of practice.
So, who actually thinks that this practice does not taint the city council? That, even if they recuse themselves, their political allies will feel free to vote their conscience?
What a searing piece on Save Richmond! Why must elected officials lose their souls upon entering city hall? Bribery is not an innocent mistake or accident.