Protesting too much over contributions

Shocking! A business executive held a campaign fundraiser for a politician! That must mean his company expects favors from the candidate if he's elected!

Actually, the only thing surprising about a Cox Communications general manager hosting a campaign event for a City Council candidate is that some council members thought it inappropriate.

Gary McCollum, general manager of Cox Hampton Roads, and his wife held a campaign event Aug. 20 at their home for two Virginia Beach candidates. One of them, Andrew Jackson, is challenging Harry Diezel for his council seat representing Kempsville. As The Pilot's Deirdre Fernandes reported Wednesday, Diezel is the council's liaison to Cox, which has a cable television franchise agreement with the city.

As a private citizen, McCollum has a right to participate in his city's elections. The event was neither sponsored by nor affiliated with Cox, and McCollum is not an elected or appointed city official.

Diezel, a member of the council since 2002, saw no reason to object to the fundraiser for his opponent. "I don't have any heartburn about it," he said.

But Councilman Jim Wood, who supports Diezel, sent an e-mail to McCollum and to a Cox executive in Atlanta suggesting that the fundraiser was a conflict of interest and "may cause people to think that Cox Cable is supporting a particular candidate."

Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson, who is running for re-election, said she'd never heard of a Cox executive taking sides in local races.

Does that mean the $500 Wood received from development attorney R.J. Nutter, who regularly appears before the City Council on behalf of his clients, is suspect? What about the $5,000 contribution Wilson got from developer Ramon Breeden Jr., whose projects in Virginia Beach include apartment complexes and shopping centers?

If council members are going to look sideways at community leaders' political contributions, they first need to inspect their own campaign stashes for donors' motives.

Otherwise, save the heartburn for something that matters.