Freeloading Fulton- Will he keep his promise?

Sometimes a good explanation of why people dislike politicians gets dropped right in your lap. Such was the case Friday night for one of my sources who went to a fund-raising dinner for Habitat for Humanity. 88th District State Rep. Fulton Sheen of Plainwell, the Republican recently touted as gallantly shepherding the Single Business Tax bill through the House, made an appearance at the dinner, not to eat or support Habitat, but to shake hands and kiss babies in the early stages of an election year. Sheen was as adept in the practice as Brian Calley, his near-clone who is seeking to win this fall in the neighboring 87th District. Christine Blanco, coordinator of the dinner, confronted Sheen after he worked the room for about an hour, telling him it's very bad manners to show up at a charity dinner only to promote your own chances of being re-elected to an $80,000-a-year job with the very best in free health care benefits. She asked him to at least have the courtesy to buy a dinner or make a donation like everyone else. Mr. Sheen informed her he didn't have his check book with him, which meant he arrived at the dinner without any intention of breaking bread with Habitat supporters or making any donations.

"I left my check book at home?" Isn't that the excuse you'd give some panhandler on the street and not the organizer of a charity dinner you decided to show up at in order to schmooze for votes? Of course, when you are used to lobbyists buying you a free lunch (or taking the free lunch at taxpayer expense) maybe you get used to not carrying around money like us working slobs do.

Now if you or I were to appear at a busy restaurant, not to eat or pay for a dinner, but to chat with the patrons to promote ourselves, we would get the boot a lot sooner than an hour and hear more than a few choice words from the owner or manager. That's pretty much what Sheen did in his solid portrayal of a slick, slimy, selfish, self-absorbed state rep interested not in helping a worthy charity, but instead in his re-election effort. Christine Blanco finally extracted a promise from Sheen to send Habitat a check for $50. Stay tuned as to whether or or not he wrote that check...

Brian Reynolds, one of the candidates for State Representative in the adjoining 87th District, has promised if he wins he will give back $10,000 of that $80,000 salary to Habitat, an announcement greeted by his detractors as grandstanding (we must assume that means their candidate will probably be taking the entire the $80 grand and putting it in their bank accounts- or using it to pay back their campaign finance committee's loans). It ain't grandstanding if Mr. Reynolds actually keeps his promise. We're still waiting to see if Sheen will keep his...