Eric Crafton Accused of Campaign Impropriety

The City Paper reports* that lightning-rod Council Member Eric Crafton has been accused of printing a thank-you note from Metro School Board Chair Marsha Warden on to his campaign literature as if to suggest that she is endorsing him in his race to keep his Bellevue council seat. She was thanking him for what I have called his "gravitas."

Milking a common courtesy for political gain may be just a minor faux pas on Mr. Crafton's part, but his eventual response (Ms. Warden had tried to reach him by phone and e-mail several times) sounds practically ungracious:

As councilmembers, we don’t get a lot of thanks for the job we do. … It’s a thankless job many times, and I appreciate her thanking me.

On the one hand, I am aware of widely shared letters and e-mails to Council Members that thank them for their service to the community, and I wouldn't call the job "thankless." I do not think Council Members should take even one note of thanks for granted. On the other hand, if one campaigns for Metro Council with the expectation that one will be thanked after one is elected, then perhaps one should consider some other line of public service where praise is more forthcoming. Perhaps Metro Council is just plain hard work (a reward in itself?) that is not worth the price of the pay or the degree of expressed appreciation.

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*I cannot link the NCP's story, because of the user-unfriendly changes they made to their website. So, you're on your own finding it; if you figure it out, please come back and teach me.