Shockingly, the News and Record endorsed this morning County Commissioner Bruce Davis for the North Carolina Senate. Davis was recently discovered to have tax liens against his business.
Davis is running as an independent against Republican Trudy Wade and Democrat Gladys Robinson. Davis' party affiliation, however, is Democratic.
This is not the first time in area politics that elected officials have persisted in public office, or even attempted to run for higher office, in spite of tax problems. We saw it previously in the case of Rep. Earl Jones and former Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson.
I think we should be able to arrive at a broadly agreed upon civic agreement that people who fail to pay their taxes should not be entrusted with making decisions to tax other citizens. It should be considered a civic prerequisite that people who run for elective office should have a clean tax record.
How did the News and Record address Davis' tax issues?
He’s got some problems. One is a debt to the IRS on taxes owed by his child-care business. He should clear that up as quickly as possible. And, he is simultaneously running as a Democrat to keep his county seat. He made it clear that’s not his real interest, and he should have abandoned that race.
"He should clear that up as quickly as possible." That is tantamount to almost glossing over the issue after it had been raised only in the latter part of the editorial.
When we fail to hold elected officials accountable on matters such as these, we enable them.
The irony is that the paper's endorsement might potentially further split the Democratic vote, and unintentionally assist Trudy Wade. But that would be OK. As far as we know, Dr. Wade is not in trouble over her taxes. And she is the better candidate anyway.
Update: Piedmont Publius has more.
Once again, the News and Record inserts their institutional foot in their mouth. Individual staff members do that sort of thing quite frequently too, as we've recently witnessed.
Posted by: bubba | October 28, 2010 at 09:24 AM
Trudy Wade's camp is not completely innocent. Her campaign manager's company was suspended by the Department of Revenue in 2003 for not paying taxes, and he is accepting funds still under that company name
http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/corporations/Filings.aspx?PItemId=4885704
Posted by: Concerned about crooked politics | October 28, 2010 at 09:39 AM
Concerned, the gentleman is essentially a contractor, an "employee". He is not the candidate.
Posted by: Joseph Guarino | October 28, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Being delinquent on your taxes is not a negative for Democrats in Greensboro. As I recall this has been an issue several times before, but not an impediment to election.
Posted by: Stormy | October 28, 2010 at 04:46 PM
Questions previously posted for Doug Clark:
Hey Doug, did Bruce Davis continue to draw a salary using public funds from the state while he did not pay the federal government the federal withholding monies (941) that he had deducted from his employees paychecks? If that be the case wouldn't that be sort of like stealing from the federal government?
And wouldn't you be as much a part of it as he by endorsing him and allowing that behavior to be glossed over as if it is not important?
Someone famous (might have been Calvin Coolidge) once said..."We will make no distinction between the candidate who committed these acts and those who endorse them".
Posted by: Tony Wilkins | October 28, 2010 at 06:16 PM
Tony, those are great questions. I hope we get some answers.
We also need to know whether Davis drew an income from his business. We can only presume that he drew his income as a county commissioner.
Posted by: Joe Guarino | October 28, 2010 at 07:05 PM
Stormy, this continues the old pattern. They don't pay their own taxes; but they want other folks to pay LOTS of taxes.
Posted by: Joe Guarino | October 28, 2010 at 07:17 PM
This N&R Davis endorsement might have been favorable for Wade in a different way. Could further split the Dem vote between Robinson and Davis and as a result enhance Wade's chances.
Sorta like the Murkowski-Miller tiff in Alaska. Polls are now saying the Dem candidate's got a great chance to win this three-way race. If the Dem does, Sarah Palin assisted in losing what should have been a very very safe seat for the Republicans. Palin is helping the Dem causes by going out and backing these fringe, extreme candidates like Miller and O'Donnell and as a result has probably caused the Republicans to lose what at one time was a very good chance to win back the Senate.
Posted by: Harold | October 29, 2010 at 12:16 PM
Harold, I agree that the N&R endorsement could possibly redound to Trudy Wade's benefit. I don't think that was their intent, but who knows? There was obviously a certain reluctance to endorse Robinson.
Posted by: Joseph Guarino | October 29, 2010 at 12:52 PM
Doug Clark posted this response on another thread:
"Tony, we aren't saying we're not concerned about Davis' tax issues. Overall, we thought he was the best candidate. And, by the way, Trudy wasn't our second choice."
Posted by: Doug Clark | October 29, 2010 at 09:07 AM
Posted by: Tony Wilkins | October 29, 2010 at 01:36 PM
Tony, here is what I think I am hearing.
There was little chance the News and Record editorial board was going to endorse a white Republican for a heavily Democratic, heavily African-American district. Perhaps they liked Davis overall better than Robinson, for whatever reasons, and decided to look past his tax problems as a result.
Posted by: Joseph Guarino | October 29, 2010 at 01:52 PM
The Feds have thrown employers into jail for misusing employee federal trust fund monies. I personally know of a restaurant owner in our community who was just shy of getting arrested for not paying these type funds. Borrowed the money during better times, and to this day erse babysits his financials. Don't mess with your employee's withholdings.
Read the N&R endorsement of Davis and it's almost as if they're saying a White candidate, Trudy Wade, cannot effectively represent what is largely an African American community. What happened to the color blind society we were promised.
Posted by: Harold | October 29, 2010 at 03:00 PM
Harold, those of us who started a business and employ other people know what it is like to pay the government (and pretty much everyone else) before we pay ourselves. Some in our local political culture have been exempt from that requirement for obvious reasons.
But hey, let's jump all over Bill Randall and Virginia Foxx for something they SAY... and consider them unworthy. Makes no sense.
Posted by: Joseph Guarino | October 29, 2010 at 03:12 PM
One could be forgiven for questioning their criteria.
Posted by: Roch101 | October 29, 2010 at 03:22 PM
"And, by the way, Trudy wasn't our second choice."
The News and Record is NEVER our first choice when it comes to media, so I guess Clark's revelation should come as no big surprise.
Posted by: bubba | October 29, 2010 at 03:45 PM