"We are Christian people and God will be my rock, my sword, my shield ... I will not be intimidated or deterred ... No weapon formed against me shall prosper. I send you right back into the fire in the name of Jesus Christ ... I'm a woman who trusts the Lord."
Lynette Boggs McDonald, June 5, 2002
If a substantial portion of what has been written about the county commissioner during the last fortnight is true, Boggs McDonald will need that trust because God help her if it is.
You can smell it now, a familiar scent in politics. No, not the sulfurous presence of the devil - or, in Boggs McDonald's eyes, the Mephistophelean forces of organized labor.
I refer to the unmistakable odor of blood in the water, when the hint of a scandal causes hemorrhaging that attracts sharks (she might prefer media jackals) to start circling for the kill.
Boggs McDonald, who generally does most of the intimidating and deterring, unleashed her fiery sermon four years ago as a councilwoman during a debate over whether her congressional ambitions had caused her to violate government policies about using a city event to promote herself.
But that evaporative charge did not have nearly the depth of what is swirling around her now, including a lawsuit by the Culinary and cop unions over her residency, and allegations that she took a loan from a county supplicant to buy land in Arizona and did not disclose it.
A few things cannot be underestimated as Boggs McDonald looks for rocks and swords and shields to save her career against many weapons seeking to prosper:
And on top of that, reporter Tony Cook's story in the Sun last week made it look as if she had essentially been given a sweetheart deal on Arizona land, including a loan for most of the purchase price from a developer who has contributed to her and won her vote. (Boggs McDonald's attorney, John Mowbray, said Friday that his client did not get any special favors from the developer and did not intend to hide the common arrangement of an owner-financed loan.)
A School Board member is not an inherently strong contender for anything. But Susan Brager suddenly is looking viable against the wounded incumbent.
Then we should devote the resources to see how many local and state government officials took money in proximity to votes. And then we should probe how many elected folks are doing business with those they regulate. Does any of this ever end?
How ironic, though, that business, development and gaming folks who have loaded up on Boggs McDonald are now hedging their bets and must consider the prospect of a commission with a union-friendly majority. As they reluctantly write checks to Brager and consider the incipient commission, how many must be muttering: God help us.
archive