Friday, November 02, 2007

Campaign Commercial Review - Toledo Municipal Judge

I've just heard another Judge Mike Goulding commercial on the radio and I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed.

His commercials up to this point have been issue-oriented and positive. This latest one, however, has what could be considered by some to be an inaccurate statement. It starts with circus music which, considering the general premise of 'can you believe this?' is rather ear-catching. I'm sure it's rare to have two brothers-in-law running against each other, and this commercial plays upon that aspect. (I could not find a campaign website for Jim Bishop.)

But the statement I take exception to is the description of former auditor Larry Kaczala who is the third candidate in the race. It says that Kaczala 'saw to it' that our property values were increased - and that's not a good description of the role the auditor plays in appraising property values every three years as required by law.

Lake County Auditor Edward H. Zupancic has a good explanation of what is done and how such valuations are determined. After reading this, it's clear that no county auditor 'sees to it' that property values go up or down...

I doubt that the wording in this radio ad constitutes a campaign violation, but it perpetuates the incorrect idea that the county auditor's valuations are arbitrary - and Judge Goulding didn't need to do this in the ad, especially considering his other commercials (radio and tv) and the standard he's set so far in the race for Toledo Municipal Court Judge.

2 comments:

Hooda Thunkit (Dave Zawodny) said...

Maggie,

Thanks for the Lake Co. information.

Mike should be less than proud of having his name associated with this clearly spurious allegation.

This is NOT the best way to treat a contender..., ANY contender.

It smacks a bit of desperation as I see it.

Maggie said...

I received an anonymous contact that said the reference in the ad to "saw to it" was related to a computer program used in the auditor's office that Kaczala knew to be 'flawed.'

If anyone knows about this or can explain it, please post here.

Even if this is correct, I still don't believe that Goulding needed to use it in his otherwise positive and upbeat messages about himself throughout his campaign.

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