Annapolis Mayor Throws Candidate Under The Bus
As this blog has said repeatedly, the politics are going to get nasty leading up to the Mayoral election in Annapolis. This weekend, the current lame duck Mayor jumped into the mud herself on “The official blog spot for Mayor Ellen Moyer of the City of Annapolis, Maryland”.
While one might think that the current Mayor and a fellow democrat might remain quiet and let the political process of the primary elections take their course, Mayor Ellen Moyer appears to be doing her best to affect change by harshly criticizing candidate Trudy McFall. The following is an excerpt from her Sunday, August 30, 2009 entry done at 4:39pm:
I appointed Ms. McFall to the Housing Authority Board believing her experience with affordable housing would be an asset to the agency. I did not check her background and I have to assume some responsibility for what transpired in the Housing Authority under her leadership. As the Boards Chair the Housing Authority reached an all time high in drug and homicide incidents and received an all time low failing score from HUD on issues related to administration and management. The city as a whole has paid the price for this mismanagement.
Mayor Ellen O. Moyer, Annapolis, MD
The hypocrisy of the Mayor’s blog entry about Ms. McFall is beyond belief. To quote the introduction to her own blog:
“I would like to engage in a civil thoughtful dialogue on issues of concern. I am increasingly troubled by the growth of a mean spirited social climate. An inability to think about things substantively or to ask the questions how and why cripple the democratic and representative way of life that has inspired others in this world of ours to emulate. Once we were called the ugly Americans. Is that an undeserved title? I think so. Americans are welcoming and gracious and caring people. Yet there are a handful of hate mongers…the bad apples that spoil the bushel. So on this blog comments that include profanity or personal attacks or inappropriate material or anonymous commentary will be removed. Bullies not allowed. Civil commentary, new ideas, new facts welcome.”
If Mayor Moyer would have applied her own rules and checked the Facts Check link on Trudy’s website, she would have seen that according to the police department’s own data, crime actually decreased during Trudy’s tenure and according to the Police Department’s 2005 Annual report: “…we are experiencing a significant decrease in crimes in public housing in the past three years.” She would also have seen a full explanation of Trudy’s departure from CDA and a Baltimore Sun article where her department was called “one of the most sophisticated state housing finance agencies in America” and that “Maryland CDA walked off with all the top awards given to state housing finance agencies by their peer group.”
To use a taxpayer funded official blog by a Mayor to attack a candidate for elected office, of her own party no less, is beyond the pale and represents to me a severe ethics violation. This is one of the reasons Trudy is running – to bring real reform to City Hall and eliminate the politics that has dominated City Hall for so many years now.
Dennis Conti
Campaign Manager
Friends of Trudy McFall