First District Commissioner Dennis Fink did not seek the endorsement of AFSCME or the Central Labor Body. The two have combined and have a new name this year but will still offer two endorsements. It seems odd to me that one group would hand out two endorsements under the false precedence of being two groups.
This is not the first time that the commissioner has declined the endorsement by the union, in fact the only time he excepted the invite was when he first ran in 1996. He has declined ever sense then. He has done so for a number of reasons.
Fink noted that he has seen instances when the AFSCME leadership has reminded elected officials that they are endorsed by them and they expect to get what they want. He pointed out one such case. He read in the Reader an article by Barb Olson that two union representatives went to the meeting to remind the council that seven of them where endorsed by AFSCME and one even said he expected a 7-2 vote. My question is should elected officials be held to represent a group on all issues even if they are endorsed by them? I don’t believe so.
Also there was a flier in the county court house that read, contract negations start at the ballot box. A poster that clearly was in violation of code. Yet the union took no shame in posting such a flier.
He added that he values the work and workers of the county and is proud to represent the first district and all of St.Louis county but because of the the union leadership he could not in good faith except the invite to the screening.
Commissioner Fink said in a statement that “We are elected by the citizens of the county to represent their interest.” I am one that commends commissioner Fink for standing up to special interested groups. This is a non-partisan race and endorsements that lead to beholding to any group should not take place.
