Dirty trick
Web of deceit
Pennsbury voters have more to consider than just the candidates’ positions on issues.
We wouldn’t be surprised if Ethan Shiller has a poster of Richard Nixon hanging in his home. Among other things, the former president was known for the “dirty tricks” that were part of his ill fated 1972 re-election campaign.Shiller’s running for Pennsbury school board.
We refer to the dirty trick Shiller’s campaign pulled on his opponent, incumbent Gene Dolnick. Shiller’s software development company purchased the domain name reelectdolnick.com. And anybody who went to the site was directed to Shiller’s own campaign Web site, where Dolnick is bashed.
The phony Dolnick site was taken down a few hours after our reporter called Shiller, who immediately offered to donate money from the sale of the domain to the school district. But that doesn’t mean Shiller accepted responsibility for the incident. He blamed it on his “campaign” and he called it a “regrettable mistake.”
Pennsbury watchdog Simon Campbell blew the whistle on the site. He called the incident a “serious ethical and legal issue” and reported it to the county Board of Elections.
We agree the incident raises questions about ethics; the Board of Elections will determine if it violated the law, as the state election code seems to state. If so, the state attorney general could request Shiller’s removal from the ballot.
Said Dolnick of the incident: “It demonstrates the true character of my opponent.”
That assessment is among information voters should evaluate in determining who they want to represent them on the school board.
If you support the NSNs, what do YOU know about their true character? And are you really sure that you want to elect them? All they have run on is the short-sighted "No New Taxes" issue. Just take a short look at the short sighted Iraq policies of the Bush Administration and ask yourself for just a minute if you really want to go down that same type of road again.
And a half-hearted "Thumbs Up" to the BCCT for raising this issue of true character. I just wish that they would use the same benchmark when reporting on Morrisville issues. Open minded independent reporting would be a refreshing change. Stop parroting press releases and actually look into the issue of a new school with an independent view.
