You will note the lack of an exclamation point at the end of the hed. That is on purpose. At the risk of seeming hypocritical (I’ve been screaming for someone to challenge Delcollo), this smells fishy to me. Real fishy.
I personally like Spiros. With that out of the way, he had been a corporate lobbyist for quite some time before he became part of Kathy McGuiness’ ‘Greek Squad’ in the Auditor’s Office, where he is listed as Chief Of Staff. Among other things, he handled PR for that Delaware City Refinery, you know the one:
Previously, he served as External Affairs Manager for Motiva Enterprises’ (a joint venture between Shell Oil Products US and Saudi Aramco) Delaware City Refinery. There, Spiros managed the plant’s comprehensive public affairs program during a three-year period of intense public, media and regulatory scrutiny. Spiros played a vital role in formulating government relations and communications strategies to manage multiple and evolving issues, maintaining the facility’s license to operate.
Before he became a corporate lobbyist, he spent a few years as Dave McBride’s top assistant in the Senate. Dave even once bought Spiros a set of golf clubs as a gift. Or maybe it was just a bag, but it was clear he wanted to play golf with him.
At first glance, this looks like (a) a convenient candidacy designed to ensure that McBride stays in charge, whether Spiros wins or not; (b) an attempt to cement McGuiness as a political powerbroker; and (c) an attempt to discourage a more progressive challenger (and a real strong potential candidate has been considering the race) from entering the race and facing a divisive primary before the general.
I’ll have lots more to talk about in Friday’s Political Weekly piece, but this my first impression. In fact, the stench has only increased during my writing of the piece.