Contributor Information Request

My opponent was recently quoted by the Commercial Appeal regarding ethics in local government. He states that he would like to see a citizens "blue ribbon" ethics panel to study what we should do locally to change ethics rules. In addition, he is calling for more public access to information, such as posting Campaign Financial Disclosures on the internet. I have no problem with either idea, as I have always been a champion of higher ethical standards in government. However, theory is where the similarity ends on this issue between my opponent and I.

I recently challenged my opponent to submit his contributor list to the club that will be hosting our first debate - prior to the debate. I plan to submit the list of my contributors, so that the public can see that I have absolutely NO conflicts of interest that would cloud my judgment as a County Commissioner. My opponent has denied this request and will not be submitting his list of contributors. Although he claims to believe in full public disclosure of information, I assume he means AFTER you vote, not while you are making your decision. Nice try, but I believe the public is much smarter than that.

I assure you that I practice what I preach, and I plan to post my list of contributors on my web site as soon as possible. We are in the middle of a transition from .asp hosting to dotnukenet, so it may be a few weeks. However, I will make this information public, so voters will see right away that I have no conflicts of interest. I wish my opponent would do the same. However, if you attend my debate, you will see this list at that time.