From Barbara Risacher, Co-Chair, Friends of Art Helton:
To Whomever It May Concern:
When a person decides to run for public office, there is always the possibility that attempts will be made to smear that person’s integrity and moral character with false rumors and innuendo. Such attempts have been made against Art Helton, who has announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination to the State Senate from District 34.
Mr. Helton has long been involved in redeveloping underused commercial properties in the Aberdeen area into vibrant, tax producing properties for use by local businesses, resulting in new job opportunities for local residents. It is his ownership of one such property that has led some of his political opponents to try to smear his good name.
Here are the facts:
– A tenant in one of his commercial properties fell behind in rent payments and could not complete her obligations, resulting in a request to vacate the property.
– Angered and disappointed with the failure of her business, the tenant filed a police report alleging certain actions which were later proved to be untrue following an investigation by the Aberdeen Police and the State’s Attorney.
– The tenant subsequently signed a letter to Mr. Helton apologizing for “filing these unfounded charges” against him.
Art Helton has been an upstanding member of the Aberdeen and Harford County business community and has done so much to improve the quality of life for everyone. It is unfortunate that his political opponents feel they must resort to a smear campaign against him.
As Co-Chair of his campaign for the State Senate, I can attest to his honesty, integrity and moral character. His opponents appear to be lacking in those qualities.
Barbara Risacher, Co-Chair, Friends of Art Helton.
Be smart Barbara! If a woman who fell behind on rent decided to make up fake charges against Mr Helton, don’t you think hewould have removed her from the property and rented to someone else. Not alone filed some sort of charge against her for filing a false report. instead a private meeting was made and a letter was signed, silencing her without any recourse. He has removed many clients from his properties in the pass. So why is she still there? SOunds very fishy!!!! and it stinks!
Also, who are you pointing fingers at claiming a smear campaign? No one has said anything negative about the man. Maybe they should… or maybe you are just worried! Be Smart!
FYI Be Smart, appropriate action was taken. Tenant in question moved out of premises almost a year ago.
At least his opponents live in the district they want to represent and dont get involved in Aberdeen elections to get what they want.
On Looker, tell Mike Hiob to move on. The Aberdeen election is over.
“Laughable”, your comments reflect your moniker….(foolish). First of all, I read some articles / comments in The Dagger on a regular basis, but I seldom post. I especially don’t waste my time worrying about Art Helton, his “supporters” and their antics. I do however support Rovall Washington’s primary candidacy for State Senate District 34. I support Mr. Washington’s candidacy for many reasons, but only ONE of those is that he is NOT Arthur H. Helton (more reasons will be disclosed at at later and more appropriate time).
Oh….and by the way “Laughable”, I’m NOT “moving on”. In fact, I’ve LIVED in Aberdeen (DISTRICT 34!) for the entire 51.6 years of my life (something that doesn’t apply to “Senator” / Candidate Helton even today as you read this. “Laughable”, if you want to come out of the closet and reveal yourself, then I’ll be happy to have a legitimate conversation with you regarding this, or any issue. If not….then stay hidden in the slime that you support.
Sincerely,
Michael G. Hiob
P.S. On Looker: Thanks for the comment. They appear to reflect the truth.
P.P.S. Barbara: You should be ashamed of yourself.
Yea like Helton doesn’t try to smear a person’s integrity and moral character with false rumors and innuendo. Give me a break. Maybe he can buy a building in another state and run for office there. At least no one there would know what he was really like.
i remember Barbara, way back when she dated Ron North..she’s a sharp lady, and was savvy in local politics for sure…but Barbara…keep in mind, we all earn our reputations..and every time Henry Helton, as we used to call him, runs for office, the stuff starts to fly…why is that?…hey, if he was as good as he says he is…this wouldn’t happen…would it?
When Ann Helton ran for County Exec a couple years back I thought she was gonna win…nice lady, smart and punctual…
a pal of mine in havre de grace said “Hell, Jimmy, she could very well pull it off…no doubt about it…only trouble is her last name is Helton…and that’s a problem.”
seems some of the stuff just doesn’t wash off, no many how often it’s laundered…
just sayin’…
Art Helton has been the victim of smear and innuendo campaigns for at least 15 years, maybe more. They have been vicious; they have been subtle; and I believe that they might be the reason he lost to Harkins by around 3,000 votes in 1998 (for County Executive).
Oh yes … as far as I can tell, the smears were also false.
If anyone takes the time to check it out, that person will find that Art Helton had a very, very influential and successful tenure as a State Senator, and is responsible (and should be credited with) much legislation that benefits his district. I’m not a member of his campaign, I don’t live in the district, and I haven’t even set eyes on him for years and years, but I know that this is true.
Yeah….Right! The “smears were false”? Any you call yourself “Realistic Thinker”?
“If anyone takes the time to check it out, that person will find that Art Helton had a very, very influential and successful tenure as a State Senator, and is responsible (and should be credited with) much legislation that benefits his district.”
This may be true, but the question remains: what is his district? This should be very easy to prove, and if you think about it, laws are designed to prevent people with money from buying a house in this or that district for the purpose of running for office. There are many things that show residence: car registration, utility bills, voter registration, driver’s license, etc. And they should all match. Just parking a car in a driveway certainly is not enough.
Macbeth: “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
Okay, 3 quick things:
1. “Power corrupts”:
The quote in question is not from Shakespeare, but from Lord Acton in 1887, speaking about the problem of the doctrine of Papal Infallibility:
“I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or certainty of corruption by full authority. There is no worse heresy than the fact that the office sanctifies the holder of it.”
So the line is only 125 years old or so. Not that it is incorrect! But remember that Acton said that power “tends to corrupt” — I believe that the qualifier is important. But the final sentence perhaps is even more apposite — I would that it were as familiar as the earlier phrase!
2. I agree that what Art Helton accomplished as a State Senator has no bearing on whether or not he meets the legal qualifications to run in this district. If he meets them, then he qualifies. If he does not, then he cannot. But I believe that it is dangerous to try to extend the legal requirements to add transactional or judgmental components — “how many days does he sleep there?” … “is it a residence or what?” In all these cases, the strict letter of the law must prevail; anything else would be foolish. Interestingly enough, there is no such requirement in Britain — many a famous MP was “put up” to run in a district by the local select committee (we call them central committees), regardless of where that MP actually lived. After all — if the PARTY wants the person to be the candidate, wouldn’t that be enough?
I fear that many people do not fully understand or appreciate the nuances of a representative democracy — how it works; why it works; why it doesn’t work (when it doesn’t).
3. I have voted for Art once in my life. I knew of the rumors then. I asked and I decided that they were false — they were intentional melding of otherwise unrelated things that, taken together in a way chosen by Art’s opponents, made things look bad. In my reasonable and rational opinion, Art is innocent, and the smear-meisters are guilty.
BUT the electorate always has the last word.
If that is all you got to do is “smear” someone, then you need to find another libe of work. PREFERABLY OUTSIDE of Harford County, MD.
If that is all you got to do is “smear” someone, then you need to find another line of work. PREFERABLY OUTSIDE of Harford County, MD.