The comment deletion policy at the recently bought out Times-Call continues in an agenda-driven direction. This time comments relevant to their story Gallegos to run for at-large Longmont council seat were deleted en-masse when the issue of the McCoy campaign possibly coercing former Ward 3 councilmember Ron Gallegos from running against Sean McCoy.
One of the registered agents for the McCoy campaign, and listed as "campaign manager" on their documentation, is Tom McCoy, former councilmember and Sean McCoy's father. The rumor going around from several sources is that Tom McCoy paid Mr. Gallegos a visit strongly advising him not to run against his son. Much of this is second and third hand, but terms like "you'll never win any office ever again" were thrown around and that "millions of dollars will be spent in this race" - that second one is a little hard to believe, but it portrays some Democratic Party infighting and bullying.
After starting collect signatures for the Ward 3 race, Mr. Gallegos then switched to the At-Large race, presumably at the suggestion of Tom McCoy, pitting him against fellow Democrat and incumbent Sarah Levison - who is also getting a challenge from another Democrat Heath Carroll. So, Longmont Area Democrat member Tom McCoy throws Councilmember Levison under the Democrat bus to protect his kid. If the above coercion is true, this is a violation of the Longmont Fair Campaign Practices Act (LFCPA) 2.04.211(C)11 - Encouraging withdrawal from a campaign: $499.00.
Will the Times-Call cover this? There are two people (McCoy & Gallegos) who can confirm or deny this story. Here are some comments they've already taken down:
UNElectMcCoy Longmont Fair Campaign Practices Act 2.04.211(C)11 - Encouraging withdrawal from a campaign: $499.00. The Times-Call should look into reports of Tom McCoy strongly coercing this candidate from running against his son in Ward 3.
youareglue Wow. I'm sure the above post will disappear. But, I find it shameful that a 22 yr veteran of council "discouraged" him from running for the Ward III office. Good luck to Ron!
Dwide Schrude Funny, I had heard Ron was running in Ward 3 against McCoy and Finley and then I saw this article this afternoon and wondered what triggered the sudden switch (especially since Gallegos was collecting signatures for the Ward 3 run as recent as Tuesday night's council meeting). Why am I not surprised that Sr. McCoy is making threats to try and keep baby boy's seat? I had heard that Sean was a mere puppet with daddy pulling the strings, but I guess this really solidifies that as fact. I wonder what Sarah has to say to Tom about throwing her under the bus?
Longmont Area Dems are calling Tom McCoy a "longtime statesman and patriarch". Yes, the above behavior is very statesman-like.
ReplyDelete