Pay it back, Giff

(by mgh)

Flyers promoting City Council speaker Giff Miller's mayoral campaign platform and featuring his photo were produced and mailed using City Council funds at a taxpayer cost of $1.6 million. The best thing thecampaign can do now is to pay that money back.

I wrote previously that while these loophole-jumping maneuvers are completely legal, they turn ethics into a sporting event.

This rule-bending may be small potatoes compared to (for example) spending public money on an aircraft carrier joyride, and it is laughable to hear criticism about use of funds and competitive bidding from Mike Bloomberg, who just tried to give away public land to a friend for $500 million under value while politically blocking higher offers.

But Miller's mailing, distasteful at the original report of $37,000, is impossible to stomach at $1.6 million - particularly when the candidate is so flush with cash he has had to start a second primary campaign to spend it all.

The best use of that money is to show the voters he hears their disgust, apologize, and pay the money back. It's not just politically expedient — it's the right thing to do.

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Pay it back, Giff

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