I think my favorite SBE filing today would have to be Clement “Kim” Tingley. He’s the guy who waltzed into town and decided to run for the House of Delegates, promptly declaring that Thomas Jefferson had endorsed him. He’s got no supporters that anybody’s been able to find. The majority of his yard signs have been planted on public property, not in yards. (David Toscano signs and Rich Collins signs are entirely confined to private lands, as it should be.)
So the big question about Tingley has been this: Where’s this guy getting his money? Well, now we know.
His campaign has taken in $53,057 thus far. That’s $7,057 in contributions, and $46,000 in personal loans to the campaign.
So it’s a vanity race. Fine. But who are these 34 people who have given him $7k? Why bother? Tingley’s plainly going to get pounded — it’s a waste of money. Who’s in Charlottesville has been suckered into giving him money?
Answer: Two people. There’s one $200 contribution and one $101 contribution from within the district. (A $101 donation is just over the limit, which is a way of declaring, for all the world to see, “look at me, I gave money to this guy,” for whatever reason one might want to do that.) All the rest of the money is from outside of the district.
I’m going to repeat this and italicize it for emphasis. Kim Tingley has raised $301 — 0.56% of his total — from the district.
So where’d the rest come? $1,000 from a developer in Ashland. $500 from a developer in Richmond. $1,000 from his own developers’ PAC. $1,000 from a developer in Midlothian.
I don’t know who he thinks he’s fooling. This campaign is just sad.
To be fair, I have seen several Tingley signs on private lands (JPA, most natably), and I have seen Toscano and Collins signs on public land (Cherry Ave comes to mind, I forger which intersection).
GO COLLINS!
I drove Cherry this evening and didn’t see any Collins signs on public land. If I did see any, I’d yank ’em up, because that ain’t right.
I think it was Cherry, or somewhere in the area. There’s sort of an island where CHerry connects with another road. I believe I saw all three candidates there a few days ago.
Oh, I don’t doubt that it was there. :) I’m just hoping it’s gone now.
I think I know the spot that you’re thinking of (the corner of Cherry and Hanover), and we were there on Sunday, planting a sign in front of a house right there, facing the island. There were some Tingley signs planted in that island, which I’m quite sure is public property — I wonder if maybe the folks who live in that house didn’t move the signs out to the island, thinking they’d be more visible, without considering the matter of public/private property.
Do you really know so little about Tingley? He absolutely did not just “waltz into town” and start his campaign. He’s been in C’ville for five years. What more do you want from the guy? Apparently in your ideal political world, only lifelong Charlottesvillians are eligible for office.
The guy has an impressive resume, and is genuine in his desire to serve the public.
So really, what’s your beef?
Do you really know so little about Tingley? He absolutely did not just “waltz into town” and start his campaign. He’s been in C’ville for five years
The guy was late for the forum yesterday because he got lost. Nobody’s ever heard of him — I seriously don’t know a single person who ever heard the guy’s name in their entire life before he declared. Not a single soul.
When asked about the Meadowcreek Parkway last night, everybody laughed at his answer: he hadn’t made up his mind. There’s not a soul in town who hasn’t made up their mind on the Meadowcreek Parkway. I haven’t met one person with that perspective, and running for office in 2002, I talked to a whole lot of people about the Parkway. It’d be like running for president in 2004 and saying “yeah, I really haven’t made up my mind on this terrorism business.”
If his desire to serve Charlottesville were serious, he’d have done it in some capacity already — tried his hand at a board, showed up at a meeting, any meeting, of Democrats, helped out during the last election, maybe tried to meet some people. He’s a complete and utter stranger to the whole of Charlottesville. If that were otherwise, more than two people would have contributed to his campaign.
What I find mysterious is that you know anything about Tingley — you’re the only person I’ve encountered who can state a fact about him. His website says nothing about having been in town for five years. I’ve read nothing to that effect in newspaper articles, at least that I recall. How’d you know that?
Gee, and here I thought you had your finger on the pulse of Downtown C’ville.
http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2005/05/06/hotseatPrimaryDareKimHopes.html
Read the first line of the article.
I realize that any opponent of “your man” Collins is the devil incarnate in the World According to Waldo, but good grief, try not to treat EVERYBODY who stands in the way of your chosen candidates as complete scum. It makes you look pretty silly.
I realize that any opponent of “your man” Collins is the devil incarnate in the World According to Waldo, but good grief, try not to treat EVERYBODY who stands in the way of your chosen candidates as complete scum. It makes you look pretty silly.
On the front page of my website, I describe David Toscano as “a smart guy” and “a nice guy.” You’d be hard pressed to find my saying a bad word about him, least of all “the devil incarnate.” Don’t pretend that I’m attacking Toscano — he’s a good guy, and I’ll be happy to help him, should he get the nomination. If Rich weren’t running, I’d be helping David.
Tingley is a spectacularly unqualified candidate — a veritable train wreck — nowhere near the class that Rich or David are in. If it makes you feel better to attack the messenger, go for it, but that won’t change the fact that Tingley is going to get low single digits on Tuesday, and nobody in Charlottesville will ever hear the man’s name again.
Incidentally, the irony of the only person defending Tingley being in Richmond is not lost on me.
So tell me, honestly… if you lived in New York, would you vote for Hillary Clinton for the U.S. Senate?
Man, you just can’t make anything stick, can you?
That question hit home, eh? LOL! Nice dodge.