Hello Everyone

We have gotten to know each other pretty well on here in the last few weeks. I have taken my hits but learned a good deal. I think I also have used the forums to get in touch with the voters.

You have seen my views. You have seen my opinions and most of all you have seen me. I do care about Hagerstown, Washington County and most importantly the people who live here.

It is all in your hands now. You the voter will determine who goes forward after tomorrow. I don't have the money of the slate for flashy ads. I don't have the name Bob Bruchey does. I do have drive, determination and a passion about your future, our future. I am asking for your vote on March 8th.

Sincerely
Tony Campello
Republican Candidate for Mayor of Hagerstown

www.tonycformayor.com

Good luck tomorrow, Tony C! Unfortunately, I don't think many of the forum regulars are city residents (voters).

Best of luck Tony!

Thank you both! It is in the hands of the voters now. For those wondering, I plan to stay active in the forums and to try and help better Hagerstown and Washington County where I can regardless of outcome.

I think the ideas that have started this campaign are important and hopefully will lead to victory.

Thanks Again.

Tony Campello
www.tonycformayor.com

Good luck today Tony!! Hope you do well. Look at it this way. You've got to beat old Charlie whatshisname

Good idea, Tony. I'll give you this -- you've tried to communicate. And you apparently have not done jail time!

No I haven't done jail time. Then again that might be a plus in this day and age look at all the publicity Martha Stewart has gottenfor doing time. LOL Plus Baker wasn't even a blip on the screen till this all came out.

Oh well! Living a clean life may be boring but at least you can run for office when the time comes.

Thanks for all the nice comments.

Tony Campello

www.tonycformayor.com

We here on the forums may also be acting badly by not realizing and recognizing that history is being made today by having the first Italian-American man named Campello run for Mayor in Hagerstown! Shame on us. Applause from everyone, please!

(Sorry -- you have to read yesterday's rant from Ms. Doleman to understand. It just rubs me the wrong way they way she and Ms. Parson have been acting of late.)

I suspect, as bad as the weather is today, that the number of people voting will be much less than usual.

If I lived in the city limits...I would have to vote for Dick Trump

what a name...almost as good as Dick Trickle

Greedy. Your avatar.

NBC 25 at noon is reporting record low voter turnout.

I told my co-worker the over/under on voter turnout today was 5K. I took under and he said I was crazy.

What would a normal turnout be...like 30% at best?

Looks like the votes are in and Trump is the winner.

GOP mayoral candidates Anthony "Tony" T. Campello received 32 votes and Charlie Baker, whose legal name is Roger Dean Weber, received 12.

32 votes?? I thought there were 32 people in here that would vote for you! Unfortunately I'd say over 50% of the people in here don't live in the city.

As for the 12 people who voted for the felon who can't remember his name.
This is the reason we should give IQ tests before we let just anyone fill out
a ballot.

Tony>> Better luck next time. On a positive note now you can bitch and moan along with the rest of us in the forums

Hi Samy0

Yes 32 was very disappointing. What disappointed me more was finding out how many of my own family are registered as democrats and couldn't vote for me :-(

I honestly feel I had more support than the vote showed basically because I was reaching out to everyone and not just pandering to one party.

I am not going to b!tch and moan. I am going to plan work hard and come back swinging. I am anoucing that I plan to run for County Commissioner next year. This time I will have the advantage of being able to fund raise and plan my moves more carefully. Plus my I will have more time to get my name and agenda out there.

Many of the ideas I proposed can be applied to the county and make sense for all of us.

My hardest decision now is: Do I stay with a Republican Party that has sold Hagerstown residents out? Or do I go the hard road and become an Independent?

Oh well I will stay here in the forums and see what happens.

Thanks
Tony

My advice, for what it's worth, is don't go independent. I think Independents rarely win any races. I could be wrong.

We'll continue to look forward to your postings here, and especially look forward to you competing in the County Commissioner's race!

You need to continue to get your name out there, let people recognize you and become more acquainted with you.

Let's face it, Breichner, Bruchey and Trump all had that name recognition. But, I'm really surprised that Trump beat out Bruchey.

I, too, am surprised that Trump won.

Tony -- stick it out and I can assure you you will get fair consideration from at least one voter who is not happy with some current commissioners. And I agree with Yoss -- don't go indy.

Maybe we can get some of the other commissioner candidates to participate here. It will probably be under duress, though!

As for the people who voted for Baker --

Hi Yossarian

I am not surprised if you look at the number is was proportional on what each candidate had to spend pretty much. Also as someone stated about Baker getting 12 people to vote for him some voters aren't that smart.

My guess is some saw all of those signs and said to themselves "oh he must be good look how many sign he has." I think Bob would be a much better choice than Trump. Bob has plans and ideas much like I did. Trump doesn't.

What really surprises me is that not to many people seem concerned at how much money the Slate has. This election is being bought and paid for by developement companies ones that if elected Trump and the Slate will have issues before them that concern those companies. Do people really believe that these comapnies are doing this out of the goodness of their heart? Don't they realize no one is going to give that much money without expecting something in return?

That is why I am supporting some of the Democrats running. We can't allow the slate in there and to allow them to have total control. We need checks and balances.


Tony

Sorry your numbers weren't that great, Tony. I can't say that I saw a single sign with your name on it when I've been driving around. Advertising goes a long way to name recognition at the polls. Definitely look forward to seeing you in the CC race, when you have time to organize yourself a little more!

Hi momsapilot

You are right there just weren't enough signs for one thing. I did have signs out mostly in the west end and in my neighborhood. I know that was one failure in my campaign because of lack of time anbd funding. It will not happen next time.

I am already laying the ground work and actually have people who are ready at a call to be volunteers. As soon as they say I can file I intend to.

Tanks for writing.
Tony

Funny you mention the sign thing... D. Souders had hundreds of them around town and he didnt do well at all. That was a shocker to me...

Tony

I haven't added my two cents before now because I'm not a Hagerstown resident. I just wanted to say that I admire your determination.

I am a Washington County resident and will certainly consider voting for you for CC. I would also consider volunteering, or at the very least donating, to your campaign if you do become an Independent.

Snoopy and Yoss are probably right about it being more difficult to win as an Independent, but you also have to live with yourself when the election is over.

You seem like a person who can make his own decisions.

Good luck to you.

And Republicans can't make their own decisions, Idiot??

Can Democrats?

Or just Independents?

Or what?

I would vote for you for county commisioner. You seem like you have some good ideas and seem to be your own guy. the only thing about being an independent is that I don't think people take you as a serious candidate (just my opinion). Of course you'll be faced with an entirely different set of problems but you seem like the type of person who would immerse yourself in the issues and come to some sensible conclusions. Of course if you do win and raise my taxes I'll be the one leading the recall vote

Thanks Idiot and Samy0

I am very independent and go with my heart and mind what is right. I don't believe even if you are in a party that you vote the party line. A person who sticks completely to a party line is a fool. Like it or not Republicans, Democrats and all other parties have good people, good ideas and bad paople and bad ideas.

I am going to check the possibilities running as an INdy but I probably will stay with my present affiliation. Although I don't believe that will benefit me any because I am nto a Republican insider nor will I ever be bought off or owned by them or a special interest.

CommuterMike I do have to comment about Don Souders. I have met the candidates and the people who are in office. Very few if any have the passion Don has for the city and of all the new candidates who ran not one of them took as much time to learn about the city and what it needs as Don did. It is really a loss for the city that he was not sent into the May election.

Well I must be off. My Girlfriend has had surgery and I am taking care of her. I will check back as often as I can.

Oh and Idiot even if I don't make the switch I hope you would consider volunteering with my campaign. I intend that any campaign I am will be an inclusive one. I am will not run to represent one party or one interest I will be running to represent everyone and I want eveyone involved. I will not be a politician ever, just a concerned citizen who thinks he can make a difference.

Sincerely
Tony Campello

I understand what Idiot was trying to say. Unfortunately not all candidates/politicians can look themselves in the mirror each day and feel good about what they have said or accomplished.

Tony, sorry that you didn't get more votes.

The absentee ballots were counted this morning and Trump received 22 out of 62 ballots. Bruchey received 40. The old saying is that the absentee ballots usually follow the way the voting public votes. This was not the case this time. If it had been then Bruchey should have received 2/3 of the ballots cast. I beleive that the mailer received by the rep's. sent by the Trump campaign, that and Munson doing his normal thing, (anyone but Bruchey) played into the final outcome immensly. The absentee ballots were in before the phone calls from Sen. Munson and the negative mailer sent by the Trump camp could have a negaive impact for Bruchey.

Tony I will be looking for your candidacy next spring. By the way, you can register right now if you want.

I hear that Bruchey may run a write in campaign. That would definetly make history. Having a Mayor elected from a write in.

I'll definitely write him in.

I am sure that his base is more the working class of the city not the elite in the North End. He actually won 7 of the 13 districts and Trump won 5. They tied at one. By the way, final count, Trump takes the primary by 52.

I merely meant that he didn't need me, nor you and Yoss, to tell him what to do.

But it's interesting that you took it that way.

Tony

I never rule anyone in or out simply because of their party. I just have a soft spot for Independents.

Why should Bruchey have received 2/3 of the absentee ballots cast (based on the "old saying") when he did not get 2/3 of the regular vote?

What phone calls by Munson? Who were they made to? How could Munson call enough people to make a diffrence?

I have not been a city resident for years now, but one thing that I think ticked-off lots of people regarding Bruchey (who otherwise I thought was okay) was his stubborn insistence (with Glendening) that the UM campus be downtown. IMO even lots of city residents realized that was not in the best interest of the majority of users.

Snoopy

Apparently you don't follow. The reason the Bruchey received 2/3 of the absentee ballots was because no phone calls or mailers went to them, but if they did, the absentee ballots were already on their way.

As far as Bruchey's tenacity in acquiring the U of M for downtown, you speak of it as if it is a bad thing. Not only did Bruchey save the taxpayers of Hagerstown nearly $1Million in demolition cost of the Baldwin House complex, he acquired $14Million in redevelopment money from the state. Money that could have went somewhere else. Granted, I agree with you about the location, education with education makes all the sense in the world. But at HCC it would have done only one thing, education. Downtown it does many things. There has been a flurry of activity in the downtown core. Developers are coming into downtown to buy empty buildings and rehab them, something that would never have happened otherwise. So, the U of M is good for development of existing infrastruture. It does not require acres of land to perform the task of education. And yes, before you say it, it will help with the unwanted element in the downtown core. Simply because the undesirables do not want to be around where the good people are.

As far as the phone calls from Munson are concerned. Talking with Bruchey he informed me that he spoke with Munson in Dec. and was assured by Munson that he would stay out of this election. Apparently Munson is not a man of his word. Then again, he does reap the benefit of campaign contributions from the same people as Dick Trump. I guess I can't blame him in trying to preserve his campaign cash flow. But then again, see my earlier post about feeling good about what they have accomplished. That's one thing I know for sure. Bruchey can go to bed at night and look himself in the mirror in the morning. I don't think there are any mirrors in Munson's house.

Maverick,

You have not offered any proof whatsoever that Munson made any phone calls about Bruchey. If you're gonna call a State Senator a liar and suggest that he helped sway the election perhaps you can offer some proof to support such an assertion. Otherwise it looks like sour grapes and nothing more.

If Bruchey's support was swayed by a few alleged phone calls and a last-minute mailer, maybe it was not strong support. I dunno.

It is easy to case aspersions about someone but around here many folks will ask for some proof.


"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." --George Jean Nathan

You beat me to it Snoopy.

You know I can't resist a good scandal.



Edited by Idiot.

Snoopy, I never would have picked you for a Nathan fan. I think Mencken stole most of his good quotes from Nathan. My favorite Nathan quote is:

"I only drink to make other people seem more interesting."

BTW, now I know who to blame for Bush.

(You know me, I can't resist.)

Snoopy,
I would like to point out that I made a comment about the phone call that I received from Sen. Munson. A recorded message asking for support for Dick Trump on March 8th.

Some poll workers for Bruchey were at Northern Middle on Tues. and they said at least 7 couples came to vote who had not intended to vote that day. They said that Don Munson asked them for a favor. I hope that you can add two and two and come up with a conclusion. If I had the recorded message I would invite you by to listen to it.

I am not the only one who received it.

As far as sour grapes. I take it that you are a Republican. I won't hold that against you. But in 2001 when Bruchey ran for re-election Munson swayed the vote and Bruchey lost by 68 votes. Now I have talked with Bob and informed him that no matter what office he intends to run for, Munson will be there to make his presence felt.

If you want to talk about sour grapes, look at Munson first.

Sorry, I did not see where you said previously that you got a call from Munson -- perhaps you will point it out for me.

Why do you think Munson opposes Bruchey?

If a heavy-hitter in politics had offered to endorce/help Bruchey do you think he would have accepted the endorcement/help?

Hi Maverick

I am surprised you said I could file now. When I spoke to the board of elections they said I couldn't till July. I guess when I get a chance I will have to go down there in person.

I personally hope Bob decides to run as a write in candidate. I think it would be good.

Tony

A Bruchey write-in campaign would be a microcosm of the Bush 1/Clinton/Perot campaign of 1992. Perot took enough of Bush 1's votes in key states to give the electorals to Clinton. Bruchey would take enough of Trump's votes (edit - or vice versa) to give Breichner the win.

It doesn't bother me, but the local Republicans might have a gripe.

Snoopy,
The post is in City Elections forum March 4th.
The reason that Munson opposes any office that Bruchey would hold is over the very thing that you complained about, The UofM. Munson wanted it anywhere but downtown. Again, I can't argue that the HCC site wasn't the most logical choice, but again all it did there was education.

Oh, by the way, the remark about not holding it against you being a Rep. I am too!

I just get irritated that someone who was bested, as Munson sees it, could hold a grudge that would negatively effect the City of Hagerstown.

The lesser of two evils, which one is it?

Trump has already stated that business can do what it wants, and Breichner is against the hospital move. Where does that leave us?

I have lived here all my life. I am for growth. But at what cost? I have not seen it but I hear that the money is all coming from big developers and land owners in the county for the slate of candidates and Trump.

I am sure if Munson had said that he would support Bruchey he would have gladly accepted it. Bob and I are friends. I have known him a long time and I know he is an honest man. That is what I kept telling him while he was in office. People unfortunately don't want to know the truth. They want to know the truth as it pertains to them. Bob is not like that. He calls em as he sees em.

If you live in the City, I wish you luck. If Bob decides to run a write-in, I'll be there for him.

Tony,

Sorry, I just got ahead of myself. You're right. I am sure that you can't file until sometime next year. But, good luck anyway. Let me know what I can do to help when the time comes.

Mav,

I'll assume you are correct -- Munson did make phone calls. IMO it is not dirty pool -- it is politics. It is poeple voicing their opinions, trying to convince others to think (vote) their way. So long as lies are not told, and nothing illegal is done, I have no problem with it.

You're here as a big Bruchey supporter ("friend") saying bad things about other candidates for mayor and about Munson. I would prefer to see facts support serious allegations, but otherwise I have no problem with that. Why is it so terrible for Munson to do basically what you are doing?

Also, why did Bruchey not come to this forum himself to get his message out and interact with the people?

I'll ask him if he would like to join this forum or others. I know that he has been busy. I also know that his wife has been here. Let me work on him. I think part of the problem is that here, people don't have to acknowledge who they are. He has never liked the mail call format.

But again, I'll try.

Thanks for bringing that up.