Over the past week, Todd Donovan has posted accusations on facebook against his opponent Amy Glasser that are, to say the least, strident and over the top. Todd seems to feel either entitled to hold office and no one is allowed to criticize him or he is unable to take criticism from a woman. Below are snippets from a long running dialog. You can click on each to enlarge for easier reading. As Todd Donovan felt so strongly that the public should know of his feelings, he can hardly complain about our posting them here. If he looks bad, then this is self inflicted. The snippets speak for themselves.
First he accuses Glasser of using corporate money to attack him.
He accuses Glasser of lying about his record and more. He compares Glasser to Trump. Others note this is not true, and Donovan insults them, suggesting they are dumb as wood.
Donovan suggests supporters of Amy Glasser are funding destructive attacks on other council members. His supporters ask him to calm down. He refuses…
Apparently he is outraged over Amy being against the jail tax issue that is on the ballot. He finds questioning of county council decisions to be out of bounds.
He posts more of Glasser’s flyer as evidence. His anger seems to be that Amy would have a campaign flyer that compared herself to her opponent.
Posted for the voters to judge. I have written since last July that Todd Donovan seems to feel entitled and is less than honorable in his campaign. I did not expect him to post examples of his over the top feelings on Facebook.
Comments by Readers
Elisabeth Britt
Oct 27, 2017At least Todd is genuine. I don’t mind reading about someone’s real feelings on their Facebook page. In fact, it’s refreshing to learn that he’s just as human, and prone to a range of emotions as the rest of us. Why did it take you so long to find this? Or, were you just saving it for ballot time?
John Servais
Oct 28, 2017To answer the questions, as can be seen at the very top of the first screenshot, he wrote these accusations just a week ago on Oct 21 - very much during this campaign. I received these screen shots on Oct 25 and posted on Oct 26 - pausing long enough to consider the pros and cons of posting and to ask a few trusted political friends for their opinion.
As I write in the last paragraph, his accusations are for voters to judge the relevance. I posted because these comments go towards verifying my writings on him since July that he is unduly harsh and bullying of his opponent Amy Glasser. This entitled attitude has existed through out the summer and fall and is behavior that I find repugnant and contrary to what any politician should practice. Amy Glasser has run a very clean and straight forward campaign. She should not be attacked in this manner by this powerful and influential man.
Dick Conoboy
Oct 28, 2017This is really petty ad hominem shit from Todd. I was not voting for him anyhow and this confirms my choice not to. I fully support Amy.
Elisabeth Britt
Oct 28, 2017Dick, no offense intended. But you have stated the most obvious fact about this race - your mind is made up and you will cast your vote accordingly. I’m not judging you. I’m just stating that at this point, all progressives have made up their minds and will be casting their votes according to their individual opinions about this race.
What I find disagreeable about this particular campaign - is the fact that local progressives decided very early on that it is perfectly okay to attack another perfectly viable progressive candidate, whose only sin was “filing” to run for the second district seat during filing week…
My vote has been cast in concrete since the last day of filing. (The real filing week, not the one that has a sliding “early” and “late” filing date that has been manipulated since the first day of the campaign.
I firmly believe Todd Donovan is the right person to represent the Second District. I listened to Amy while she discussed the issues on stage at the Democrat endorsement meeting. I walked away knowing that she is ill prepared to represent the second district (or any district) on the County Council. She does not have a comprehensive understanding of the issues that are threatening to rip this county in half.
John, I like you. And, I respect your right to disagree with me regarding my choice of candidates for a particular office. That said, just this one time, I’ve decided that you might be meaner than Amy and Todd and all of their supporters combined…
You can disagree with me about this statement after the election. Oh, and Riley and his brother are also included on that list. I may be female, but I’m not an idiot…
Tim Paxton
Oct 28, 2017What is up with all the vitriol towards Mr. Donovan? Filing week is filing week. Anyone with a modicum of local experience could have filed and beat Amy. Todd is allowed to file. Lots of people file at the last minute.
If Amy wants to be a County Council member, she could possibly learn from this campaign. I think we might agree that the “entitled” and/or “victim” campaign tactic ain’t gonna do it for a majority of Whatcom County voters. Who ever is running Amy’s campaign should consider dropping the Hillary campaign tactic and focus on issues.
Todd is running a winner campaign and is known and respected internationally as a political expert. I don’t see it being a problem when he gets elected for this seat.
Does anyone get the feeling that the Glasser campaign has endeared her to being even considered to be appointed to the County Council seat soon to be vacant?
I look forward to more comments from Ms. Britt but heard that she is blocked now?
What is up with that? I would hate to see NWcitizen lose one of its few female writers.
David Donohue
Oct 29, 2017What Elizabeth and Tim said. This commentary is short on issues, long on smear.
John Servais
Oct 29, 2017Classic, David. Shoot the messenger. That is your take. The words are Donovan’s and he is smearing Glasser. His words are part of the issue of our voting decisions - as they go to his character. And character is relevant.
You turn things 180 degrees. No one has an issue with Donovan filing to run. We have stated that very clearly here. It is a straw man that is put up so it can be criticized. However, Donovan has criticized Amy’s decision to file and run - and we have been criticized for reporting that.
Tim asks about the vitriol towards Donovan. Again, we simply posted evidence of the vitriol by Donovan towards Glasser that he has engaged in since July. To suggest we are engaging in vitriol against Donovan by posting his own statements rather begs the question. Donovan is engaging in vitriol and we are reporting proof of it. The article is the messenger.
When someone “…known and respected internationally as a political expert.” as you write, stoops to comparing his legitimate opponent to Trump and worse, then that is news. Why would he? Yes, he is fully expected to win, yes, he is a phd and is a very powerful man in this community. And that is why I am reporting it. He is abusing his power in bullying and demonizing a fine woman who is running a clean campaign. He is the one who should stick to the issues and not keep accusing Amy Glasser of things she is not doing. That is the essence of why I am reporting this.
David Donohue
Oct 29, 2017Calm down, John. I didn’t shoot the messenger, just the “massager.”
Tim Paxton
Oct 29, 2017Elisabeth Britt reports that the comment she submitted on the 28th has now appeared, only some time later than when she hit the comment submit button. So, only a minor mystery on what was causing a delay in comment appearance, now.
Enjoy the sunny weather everyone. Winter is coming!