(Originally published on Mar 7, 2010 @ 17:18 – Updated to review Motley’s appearance on Jessica Griffith’s TV show tonight)
Updated
If Thomas Motley wants to have a real chance at getting elected to Danville City Council, his choosing not to look back or comment on his past isn’t going to cut it.
Motley talks about City Council campaign
I’ve got no problem giving Thomas Motley a 2nd chance, a 3rd chance or even a 95th chance if he deserves it. Having said that, any candidate for public office that has drug convictions (or plea bargains from drug charges) and was charged with assaulting a student while he was a teacher has to talk about what happened… if only to clear the air and stop any stories that will inevitably start floating around the city. I really can’t recall any other time that the Commonwealth Attorney bought a newspaper ad to put their side of the story out.
Thomas Motley’s “doesn’t like to talk about the past” won’t play very well to Danville voters. Motley is scheduled to appear on Jessica Griffith’s “Danville Tonight” show on Monday, and I’ll be watching. You can watch on Danville Comcast Channel 17, Chatmoss Cable Channel 14, over the air on digital channel 47.1 or on the internet from WGSR’s website.
It’s early in the City Council race, but Thomas Motley’s got a make-or-break opportunity on TV Monday night.. Let’s see what he does with it.
So that happened. Thomas Motley appeared on Jessica Griffith’s “Danville Tonight” show tonight. To his credit, he did address his drug convictions and the incident regarding the school assault charge. I was satisfied with his answers and I’ve got no problem putting all of that “in the past” when considering his bid for City Council. I didn’t like him talking about “character assassination”, but that’s just rhetoric That being said, did anyone know that Motley’s main focus is on the high cost of Danville Utilities? If you watched tonight’s show, you’d think that’s his only focus. 40 minutes and nothing about economic development or the crime problem. One caller asked him about his failure to appear on Johnny Robertson’s show to challenge his religious views (big deal). After that, we heard more about his campaign against Danville Utilities’ rates and policies, then we heard more about his campaign against Danville Utilities’ rates and policies. After more about his campaign against Danville Utilities’ rates and policies, he moved to the topic of his campaign against Danville Utilities’ rates and policies.
Wrap-up: Motley handled himself well on air. By talking relatively freely about his past, he took care of a major roadblock for his campaign. If he had spoken that freely for the newspaper article, it wouldn’t have been much of an issue. Motley’s got a long way to go though. I want to know what’s in his mind besides Danville Utilities.
One final thought… The fact that he’s “Reverend” Thomas Motley means absolutely nothing to me. This is a political election and I do not care what his spiritual status is. I am going to vote for the four best candidates for the office and religious views will not play a factor in that.
Yeah, Yeah, yeah… Utility Bills. I pay mine every 2 months. Mine went up. Rates have gone up just like everything else. Is that his only platform. If so I don’t see how he is going to survive on council. There are so many other issues that council has to decide on.
Jobs, Working with other areas, budgets for all of the departments in the city. people wanting their property rezoned to add a business or renovate their homes. Right now the budget short fall in Richmond and he is upset cause he upset cause the city turned someone power off. When a person runs for office people look at the past no matter when it what or what they did or didn’t do. If you have a skeleton in your closet or did something come clean or someone will find it.
Yes, let’s get the skeletons out of the closet. And while we’re at it let’s get Gilstrap’s skeletons out as well, in the sense of “fair and balanced”. There was the scandal that caused his staff to get demoted. There was the missing five thousand dollars scandal of the mid-eighties that cost people their jobs. There’s the “private” Directors parties at the state conference each year. Why did the mayor have to go to the state Parks and Recreation conference, for city business, or the party? If people are afraid of government growing, they need to take a serious look at the Parks and Rec budget over Gilstrap’s reign. The focus over the last decade of his administration was on “elitist” sports to enhance the quality of life for people that can afford three thousand dollar bikes and a hundred or two for their geo-cachers. Or perhaps one of parks and recs thirty-five dollar skiing trips. Where Gilstrap needed to focus Danville’s resources was on the bloody gash up the middle of town that North Main has become. Where he lavished it was on his friends. Visit the recreation center at Bradley Road and North Main and then to Karen’s “Bridge Over the River Dry” out at Anglers Park and tell me where the focus is. The Tourism Division has just become a party machine for the upper crust of Danville under the guise of “come to our fair city and celebrate with us”. This doesn’t foster tourism. The only people that show up are the same thousand or so elitist or corporate shirts that show up at every gala we have. Every division of parks and recreation should focus for a on the “young non-professionals” in Danville for a while. We can’t blame Sginia for the state of parks and rec, he inherited a ticking time bomb. If Gilstrap gets elected to city council it will just be more of the same. The bigger Gilstrap can make the budget he controls, the bigger he is.