Jerome Block, Sr., the father of the Democratic PRC candidate for District 3, sent myself and two others a note last Thursday with a simple question:
Now that you have reported extensively about the grave crime of peeing in the bushes, when will you report about the candidate who beats women?!
It’s definitely a fair question. Of course, contrary to popular belief lately, I don’t actually report things. Instead, I tend to opine on things reported. The good news for Mr. Block, Sr. is that “the candidate who beats women” (as he put it) was reported on by one of my favorite political reporters, Mr. Steve Terrell of the Santa Fe New Mexican:
And Lass apparently won’t be making an issue of Block’s past legal skirmishes. He told The New Mexican this week that he thinks it’s “odd” Block doesn’t remember his disorderly conduct violation. “I actually consider this a bit of a distraction from the main campaign that I plan on running, talking about how important the PRC is and how we need an advocate for the people,” Lass said.
Lass, in a 2004 interview when he was running for a state Senate seat, admitted he’d been arrested in 1999 on a misdemeanor charge of simple battery in a fight with his girlfriend. He said the charge was dropped after he successfully completed the Municipal Court domestic-violence program, which he said involved anger-management classes.
But at least he remembered it.
Mr. Block Sr., a seasoned politician in his own right, should have told his son that pretending something didn’t happen doesn’t make it go away. Block Jr.’s problem is less about committing “the grave crime of peeing in the bushes,” and more about his unwillingness to come clean with that and other details. What could have been written off as juvenile stupidity has instead turned into a questionable character trait of an adult – namely, the ability to come clean with the truth.
As to Mr. Lass, well, he has come clean; however, that does little in my eyes to make him electable. I said the first time I wrote about Mr. Block Jr.’s problems that his opponent deserved a second look. Now, after a second look at both candidates, I’d suggest that the citizens of PRC District 3 might want to encourage a write-in candidate for the $90,000 a year job. On the upside, if the candidate does not have any past criminal charges, he or she would already have a leg up on the competition.
I don’t know what it is about the PRC, but for such a small group, they sure do attract individuals who seem to have more than their fair share of legal troubles – from misdemeanor battery charges to peeing in the bushes to sexual harassment to possession of marijuana.
Geez, what a bunch. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the PRC is one of those elected positions that the candidates get to run for on the taxpayers’ dime. Yup, there is no doubt about it. Taxpayer funded elections sure are bringing us a higher caliber of candidate.