Let’s be clear
Sometimes a reporter writes a story and gets the facts right but unintentionally opens the possibility for a misunderstanding.
Such is the case in a Feb. 19 article about several councilmen who are raising money for a possible run for county executive. Councilman Kevin Kamenetz left me a voice mail to say that the language in the story could lead the casual reader to believe he raised money this year during the comprehensive rezoning process.
The portion of the article that drew concern reads as follows:
Councilman Kevin Kamenetz has managed to enlarge his bankroll despite an agreement among councilmen to not raise money during the county’s quadrennial rezoning process that ended in September.
The Democrat raised more than $145,000 in the last three months of 2008 and finished the year with more than $727,000 in his campaign finance account. (You can read the entire article here.)
What I had hoped to convey was that he managed to raise $145,409 in just three months.
Kamenetz is the author of a resolution that asks council members to refrain from soliciting or accepting donations or setting up future events while the rezoning process in ongoing. The resolution does not carry the force of law and is more like a gentleman’s agreement. Kamenetz, however, takes the matter seriously.
Kamenetz, in his voice mail message and subequent e-mails, acknowledged that the story does state the end of the rezoning process and that he raised his money during the last part of the year, outside the blackout dates. He said the word “despite” could imply something else.
To be clear, state campaign finance records show that the councilman raised all of his money last year outside of the period set in the council resolution.