News
Slog Skips Basic Reporting, Hypes Non-Story
The Stranger's Brendan Kiley reports
today that port commissioner Gael Tarleton has taken money from a list of folks with a vested interest in Port decisions.
"A look at her campaign contributors—plus cheerleading from the conservatives over at Sound Politics , who lost their taste for her after she sent campaign emails from her UW address—is a little troubling," Kiley writes, citing contributions from real-estate developers, military contractors, cruise-ship operators, and people who have supported Republicans in the past.
(Incidentally, Tarleton is a sitting port commissioner, and is not, as Kiley initially reported, running against Bob Edwards, whom she defeated in 2007.)
I'm not sure why Kiley suddenly found this "troubling" enough to report. It's hardly surprising. The donors he outs here were all Tarleton contributors in her first race as well. If Kiley had done some rudimentary reporting—as we did when Tarleton's foes pitched us this same story a few months ago—he would have figured this out.
Indeed, when Tarleton critics pitched me this story, I didn't bite, because once I looked into it, it was clear there was no story. Tarleton took money from the exact same people back in 2007, when she was hailed as the progressives' darling. In fact, in many cases, they gave more generously then than they have this year.
Let's go through the examples Slog chose from Tarleton's donor list with our reporting on 2007 donations added in.
Bob Wallace of Wallace Properties gave Tarleton $700 this year, and $500 in 2007.
Jim Blackmore of Cruise Terminal of America, gave Tarleton $1,400 in both her races.
Employees of military contractor EP Systems gave $1,900 this year, and $2,000 in 2007.
Employees of Engility Corporation, another military contractor, gave $250 this year and $200 in 2007.
Employees of TAIC, a military contractor, gave a total of $650 this year and $1,050 in 2007.
Employees of Battelle, a military contractor, gave a total of $850 this year and $1,456 in 2007.
Employees of SAIC, a military contractor, gave a total of $2,207 this year and $4,050 in 2007.
Jordan Royer of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association gave Tarleton $50 this year, and didn't contribute in 2007.
Republican Ralph Munro gave Tarleton $50 this year, and didn't contribute in 2007.
Republican contributor John McCullough gave $550 this year and $1,250 in 2007.
Eugene Wasserman, an industry lobbyist and Republican contributor, gave $100 both years.
"A look at her campaign contributors—plus cheerleading from the conservatives over at Sound Politics , who lost their taste for her after she sent campaign emails from her UW address—is a little troubling," Kiley writes, citing contributions from real-estate developers, military contractors, cruise-ship operators, and people who have supported Republicans in the past.
(Incidentally, Tarleton is a sitting port commissioner, and is not, as Kiley initially reported, running against Bob Edwards, whom she defeated in 2007.)
I'm not sure why Kiley suddenly found this "troubling" enough to report. It's hardly surprising. The donors he outs here were all Tarleton contributors in her first race as well. If Kiley had done some rudimentary reporting—as we did when Tarleton's foes pitched us this same story a few months ago—he would have figured this out.
Indeed, when Tarleton critics pitched me this story, I didn't bite, because once I looked into it, it was clear there was no story. Tarleton took money from the exact same people back in 2007, when she was hailed as the progressives' darling. In fact, in many cases, they gave more generously then than they have this year.
Let's go through the examples Slog chose from Tarleton's donor list with our reporting on 2007 donations added in.
Bob Wallace of Wallace Properties gave Tarleton $700 this year, and $500 in 2007.
Jim Blackmore of Cruise Terminal of America, gave Tarleton $1,400 in both her races.
Employees of military contractor EP Systems gave $1,900 this year, and $2,000 in 2007.
Employees of Engility Corporation, another military contractor, gave $250 this year and $200 in 2007.
Employees of TAIC, a military contractor, gave a total of $650 this year and $1,050 in 2007.
Employees of Battelle, a military contractor, gave a total of $850 this year and $1,456 in 2007.
Employees of SAIC, a military contractor, gave a total of $2,207 this year and $4,050 in 2007.
Jordan Royer of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association gave Tarleton $50 this year, and didn't contribute in 2007.
Republican Ralph Munro gave Tarleton $50 this year, and didn't contribute in 2007.
Republican contributor John McCullough gave $550 this year and $1,250 in 2007.
Eugene Wasserman, an industry lobbyist and Republican contributor, gave $100 both years.
