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Al Schmidt, City Commissioners and Inquirer brawl erupts-on Facebook
Sample ballots published in the Inquirer and Public Record misspelled City Commissioner candidate Schmidt's name, sparking accusation and confusion on Facebook and beyond
Al Schmidt, City Commissioners and Inquirer brawl erupts—on Facebook
Who is this person named Al Schmidit? Well, he’s not Al Schmidt, the anti-machine Republican running for City Commissioner. But that’s how recent sample ballots in the Inquirer and Public Record misspelled his name, an error that is sparking accusation and confusion on Facebook and beyond — primarily between Schmidt and the City Commissioners office, the office that he is running for and that manages elections.
“Ahh, the rush of pride when you see your name on the official sample ballot … misspelled by the City Commissioners,” Schmidt posted on his Facebook wall.
“The official election materials such as the absentee ballots, pink sheets and machine sheets are all correct and have Al Schmidt on them the correct way,” City Commissioners official Timothy Dowling commented back. “The Philadelphia newspapers altered the CORRECT proofs without permission for spacing needs … Grow up be a man and admit you are wrong.”
Schmidt responded that someone from the Commissioners’ office had called to apologize, saying that “an ‘earlier version’ had been sent to the newspapers by accident.”
Dowling was not pleased, and responded in all caps: he suggested that any interested parties should come by his office to inspect the official documents, “not an altered ad by a broke joke of a newspaper.”
Schmidt Campaign Manager Don Garecht said that before today’s Public Record came out with the same error, Schmidt had thought that perhaps he had jumped to conclusions and that it was the Inquirer’s error after all.
“Maybe I spoke too soon. Maybe it was the Inquirer: that’s what the City Commissioner’s office had told him. But I just saw it in the Public Record, and it would refute that argument.”
Or not.
Mark Block, who is Vice President of External Relations at the Philadelphia Media Network, which owns said newspaper, took responsibility for the error when alerted to it by City Paper.
“We had to rebuild the ad,” he says, because it didn’t fit the paper. “We’re doing a correction to that part of the advertisement,” which will run before Tuesday’s elections.
It is unclear as to whether any Philadelphia politicians, officials or journalists were defriended during the melee.
“If elected, do you promise to use spell check for ballots?” joked conservative Inquirer columnist Kevin Ferris, who also jumped into the fray.
Dowling contends that the Public Record must have obtained its sample ballot from the Inquirer, which he scolded for “altering something that we sent them.”
Dowling is a spirited defender of the Commissioners office. In May, he accused good-government group Committee of Seventy of taking potentially illegal political action when they petitioned to have those politicians enrolled in DROP (the controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan) knocked off the ballot. The offending officials were Councilman Frank Rizzo, Councilwoman Marian Tasco and Dowling’s boss: City Commissioner Marge Tartaglione.
If reformer Al Schmidt wins, it seems possible that Dowling will follow elections guru Bob Lee out the door. Lee was angry about Tartaglione’s defeat at the hands of Democratic reformer Stephanie Singer, and, like Tartaglione, he took a lump some of DROP money with him: $250,000.he walked away from $250,000 in DROP money. [We regret the error.]
Schmidt will need a slew of poll workers since the Democratic Party, Brady, cut a deal to push Republican Duda. Watch the Democratic ward leaders and their committee people.— phillygrlinfl- RE: "he took a lump some of DROP money with him: $250,000." Try reading the Inky article by Warner correctly. It said Lee walked "away FROM" $250,000. Maybe you need someone proofing your articles— ElecFact
- @ElecFact: I just uploaded the correction. I sincerely apologize for the error.— daniel.denvir
- this coming from a paper that is connected to the paper that misspelled his name blame it on anyone but your own company. Al will come close but not close enough he will lose by under 1000 votes. then he will go back on the payroll of robert gleason.— matthews
- City Paper has a content-sharing agreement with Philly.com but we are owned by different companies.— daniel.denvir
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