Seven Villages, Janet Joakim

dirty deeds done dirt cheap

Did you know that stealing politcal signs is against the law?

The phrase candidates who measure support by political signs often hear is, “signs don’t vote.”

That is a good thing for James Tinsley, because his signs are disappearing, quickly.

In the little discussed but just as important race in precinct nine, the one guy who isn’t blogging, who isn’t connected to special interests, who just wants to get involved in his community, has had close to half of his signs stolen. 

James Tinsley is not jumping into the blogs, sitting on couches with coggers, or endorsed by any group.  He is just one of the good guys with no connections, who wants to be a councilor for all of the right reasons…  a rare breed.  

His opponent was quick to claim that he was also a victim of the same thefts, but clearly COX signs are still standing.

Blame it on the dirty tricks of Halloween pranksters, but why would they choose to steal only one guy’s signs?

James Tinsley has been living in precinct nine for 14 years. He and his wife are raising their children there, one has already gone off to college, the other is in the middle school.  Both he and his wife work in Hyannis. 

 He is eager to listen to what his constituents want, but not so eager to get involved in the nastiness of hate blogs. This has kept him out of the spotlight unlike his opponent, who has been drawn into the COG spotlight and is being endorsed by Gary  Lopez and Eric Schwaab.

When James Tinsley learned that there was questionable behavior surrounding the debate hosted by The Barnstable Patriot, he chose not to make the debate a priority. 

In addition to learning about the hanky panky before the debate, both Tinsley and his opponent were  overlooked in the debate invitations, (despite the fact they were included in printed schedules, an error David Still admits to making). When it was clear that they wouldn’t be included in the debate, Tinsley’s opponent visited him at work where they agreed that they couldn’t find a time when they were both available, and neither seemed to think it was a big deal.

But as blogging goes, his opponent signed onto the Patriot  blogging page and announced that Tinsley “would support him when he won”… this generated rumors, and before you knew it, the rumors were flying that Tinsley had dropped out! Of course, this was NOT true…. This guy wants to win, and he should.

He won the primary by grinding shoe leather and he has done the same for this election…..he is working hard, without the bravado of his opponent.  He has listened to people and has shared some great ideas for solving the problems that are really bothering his constituents, not manufacturing issues.

In this case the Good Guy should finish first. 

Lets hope the residents of precinct 9 will vote for James Tinsley, even without the lawn signs!