A little more of the iceberg

Here's a little bit in the "who's looking out for you" category of life.

Part 1

You all know Tom Hockensmith, Polk County Supervisor District 3. We all know him as the loveable Democrat union leader who now negotiates union contracts with your property tax dollars. Well here are some interesting tidbits.

Tom's raised $78,050.73 in cash since he's been in office. We all know that unions, union members, Democrat real estate developers and their lawyers make up most of that total. Now whose interest s do you suppose he's serving?

The most troubling and blatant conflict of interest is AFSCME Council 61 sending out bi-monthly mailings for which they are reimbursed by Tom's campaign. Every other month Tom's campaign cuts a check to AFSCME Council 61 for sending out hundreds of letter at 37 cents each. What could be in those mailings that causes Tom's campaign to pay for them? While Tom's reimbursing postage, whose printing or writing those letters? Whose stuffing them? Whose tongue is licking those envelopes. Perhaps more importantly, when is all that stuffing and licking going on? My guess is that some of it, perhaps all of it, is on your time but that's something we'll never know.

While this probably isn't criminal it is another example of the abuse we just take for granted in Polk County. How could Tom Hockensmith be expected to negotiate a contract that favors the taxpayer and not AFSCME when the negotiaters across the table are writing him large checks and staffing his campaign office? We don't have the numbers in yet, but whose betting that a pretty large number of those $25 checks don't come from AFSCME members as well?

The point is simple-we all know that the County is getting soaked by the unions. The unions don't represent even a majority of the labor and trade in Polk County. The same arrogance that produces CIETC, where the Democrats feel like they've been victimized, produces having an AFSCME client like Tom Hockensmith negotiating the number one tax item in the county with AFSME, his patron.

Don't you feel a little sense of outrage knowing that the Democrats don't juse serve their union masters but that they rub it in thetaxpayer's face? If so, get out and join the Polk County Republicans campaign to clean out the Courthouse.

Part 2

Another interesting tidbit in the Democrat iceberg is the relationship between the Democrat Supervisors and their allies in the Machine. We all know Ako Samad, the parrot bedecked Democrat HD 66 candidate, has one of the many non-profits that find a way into the taxpayer's largesse-which kind of takes the voluntary away from the charitable nature of the thing don't you think.

Well, courtesy of his Democrat political allies who control the Board of Supervisors its been reported that Ako's Creative Visions operation has received some $145,000 in Prarie Meadows grants-with Labor leader Dan Albriton and Dem Supervisor John Mauro in charge of that operation-and another $155,00 in additional various other grants in 2004 alone. Its also been reported that Ako received a pretty sizeable chunk of change from CIETC. If only his bird could talk.

Does anyone begin to see a pattern............perhaps an iceberg? What are you getting out of all of this, 'cause it really is about all of the people. Think about how much the Project Labor Agreement cost the new property tax payers in Altoona, Runnells, Pleasant Hill, Polk City and Bondurant. If you're one of those people do you feel good about your property taxes being used for cronyism and union payoffs?

If not, help us sweep out the Courthouse!

We plan to stay of the offensive this year, we might lose but we'll at least put up a fight. So stay tuned, more and better to come, 'cause a good writer saves the best for last.