DL Exclusive: Dave McBride Hasn’t Lived In His District For At Least 10 Years.
Politicians lie. Some lie about where they live. Dave McBride and Cathy Cloutier are two of them. As Democratic State Chair Erik Raser-Schramm has made clear, it is unethical to run for a seat when you don’t live in the district. He said that about a Democrat, Melanie George Smith. Dave McBride isn’t only running although he’s not a resident of the 13th Senate District, he’s perpetrated a fraud on both the state and his constituents since 2008.
Politicians lie. Sewer records don’t. Unless Dave McBride goes somewhere else to relieve himself, he hasn’t resided in his home at 7 Nicole Court since at least 2008, with a possible exception in 2017-18. (Pro Tip: Kids, if you want to lie to your constituents about where you live, do what Cathy Cloutier did: Get a kid, preferably your kid, to flush the toilet a couple of times a day.)
The President Pro-Tempore did not do that. Since 2008, according to those public records, Dave McBride has paid the minimum New Castle County sewer bill: $50 per year from 2008 to 2016, and $56 (the newly-established rate for 2019 and 2020). There is no way that you can only pay the minimum unless you don’t reside at the address. In this case, an address that Sen. McBride claims as his residence in order to run in the 13th Senatorial District. In fact, a cursory review of homes adjacent to McBride’s Nicole Court address reveal that all the homes paid more than the minimum that McBride is paying. I confess that I don’t know why there was a higher bill for 2017 ($206.65) and 2018 ($68.88, which is still pretty damned low), but the records clearly reveal that McBride does not live in his district and hasn’t for the better part of the last 12 years. Meaning, that McBride does not meet the minimum residency eligibility requirement for being on the ballot: He just doesn’t live there.
As we all know , McBride also has a residence in Lewes, and has had that residence since 2005. Sales price over $800K. In case you are wondering, I have McBride’s official sewer tax payment records, and I have the sales information on McBride’s property at 35759 Tarpon Drive in Lewes.
The conclusion is obvious and inescapable: Sen. David McBride resides in Lewes full-time, and not in his alleged residence in the 13th SD. In general, he has not lived in his district since 2008. That calls for an exclamation point(!). He should be removed from the ballot by the Delaware Department of Elections. The Department has indeed been officially informed by letter from within the 13th Senate District of McBride’s transgressions (not from his opponent) and has been requested to take such action. DOE will either follow the law or perpetuate Delaware Way casual corruption. I would also ask the Attorney General to investigate whether McBride has committed elections fraud and has been receiving a state salary while illegally serving as an elected official in a district where he has not lived consistently since 2008.
Remember: Politicians lie. Sewer records, however, always provide the straight poop.
Politicians lie. Sewer records, however, always provide the straight poop.
I see what you did there.
Without expressing support for any candidate, sewer records in NCC tell very predictable lies.
The NCC sewer bill is calculated by adding together the usage of a users two LOWEST quarters of water bills of the year and multiplying by 2. so if a person spent May through September primarily living at the beach, they would have no usage in the 3rd quarter and only about 1/3 of the usage in the second quarter. Yet, the person would still have only lived at the beach for 5 months, with 7 months in New Castle County.
It would be very hard to convict on this sort of flimsy evidence. But this is about politics, so your mileage may vary.
https://www.nccde.org/DocumentCenter/View/544/Frequently-asked-questions-2019—sewer-bills?bidId=
Provide some evidence to the contrary before you call evidence flimsy.
He bought the house in 2005. For the first three years, he had a normal sewer bill at the 7 Nicole Court address, meaning he lived there. Then…the minimum for 8 consecutive years. What changed?
This is not about ‘convicting’ him, it’s about determining his eligibility.
Say, I’ve got an idea, why don’t you ask McBride where he lives? You’re in a position to do something about it. And/or the DOE could ask him under penalty of perjury to answer the question.
That approach makes sense…unless you’re just looking to protect a powerful Democrat.
Come to think of it, I have another idea. Sen. McBride, please feel free to respond right here. I will give you carte blanche. If I am incorrect, if, for example, Geek is right, I will apologize. Profusely.
I’m saying it’s flimsy based on the math of how sewer bills are calculated. They specifically underreport usage (see the FAQ). The FAQ points out that this is to avoid charging people for filling pools or watering their lawn during the summer (since that water doesn’t actually go into the sewer system). In a court of law, based on this data, it would probably be dismissed out of hand.
But as I said, this isn’t necessarily a matter of law, but a matter of politics. Voters may have the ultimate say in this.
And when I did ask this of Senator McBride, he told me that he lives in the district and he used some sort of frequent dining card at the restaurant (in NCC). The waitress not only knew him, but knew his regular order. This too is not definitive, obviously, but it did allay my concerns somewhat.
Were it not for Covid, I would have had a similar sit-down with Marie.
I have no dog in the fight. My role is to ensure that the fight is fair. And when I read this, I checked to see how sewer rates were calculated. I don’t know how they are calculated in Sussex and I have not reviewed anyone’s records.
First of all, as you know, the reports of McBride sightings in Lewes are legion. This information is in addition to all of that. A McBride assertion and a waitress’ memory are not exactly compelling.
GeoBumm’s right. If Dave’s telling the truth, the records he cites would verify it. He’s also right when he says that, even if Dave could contort himself into a Rosemary Woods’-shaped pretzel, the records nevertheless PROVE that McBride spends as little time in his district as he can get away with. Which I don’t think he does.
The Department of Elections needs to investigate and to act on this. Do you agree?
@liberalgeek: No, you’re wrong. These bills are consistent all year long, not just in the summer months.
Add to that the fact that his wife has been registered to vote in Lewes for 15 years. So she, at least, acknowledges living there full-time.
Dismissed out of hand? Bullshit. You have your reasons for pretending this isn’t an issue; one of them appears to be carrying water for this piece of shit simply because he’s an incumbent.
Please check the FAQ that I linked to. I thought the same thing until I googled it an hour ago.
I didn’t realize they threw out six months, I thought it was just the summer. Mea culpa.
So all he has to do is show us his water bills, which are the basis for the sewer bills. See if they back up the notion that he spends months at a time living in New Castle County.
An investigation not only clears all this up, it establishes a precedent that legislators indeed live in the districts they represent, as opposed to simply owning property there.
This is, at its root, a voter fraud issue. We don’t let people claim residency at places they don’t live. I realize that lots of people who own beach homes pull this trick — one person registers at the second home so the couple has a vote there — but it’s wrong when they do it, so I have to think it’s wrong when taken to this extreme.
Mea culpa accepted. My ONLY point here is that this is not the huge smoking gun that some are presenting it as.
I know the person that signed the complaint, and I respect her a great deal. And Marie is a great person that is running a good campaign.
First-it’s a smoking gun that. at best, he MIGHT spend a minimum of about half a year out of the district–and he has provided no empirical evidence to the contrary that he’s virtually not there at all.
Second, he could provide information verifying that he spends at least SOME time in the district, and he could be interviewed under penalty of perjury by the DOE.
Do you agree that he should?
I don’t provide political (or legal) advice to candidates in primaries except to make sure that they file their finance reports in a timely fashion.
All this is is smoke. Maybe it’s from a gun, maybe it’s a fireplace. You want to build a whole picture to support the inference, fine. But I suspect that there are a bunch of well-to-do Delawareans that use “summer” as a verb that have sewer bills just like Sen. McBride. So when I say that it isn’t a smoking gun, I mean that it is not, in and of itself, irrefutable proof.
I know several people with summer homes at the beach. I will ask them, but I suspect they pay more than the bare minimum because they don’t spend six entire months down there. They summer there and go down on weekends at other points during the year.
People should remember that this was a letter sent to the Department of Elections calling for an investigation. If you’re going to compare it to the legal process, this is evidence you submit to a judge in requesting a search warrant.
When I did ask this of Senator McBride, he told me that he lives in the district and he used some sort of frequent dining card at the restaurant (in NCC). The waitress not only knew him, but knew his regular order. This too is not definitive, obviously, but it did allay my concerns somewhat.
I asked Putin if Russia meddled in our elections, and he assured me it didn’t.
I’d imagine that the county keeps all records that they used as a basis to determine the 2 lowest quarters. Seems to me it would be trivially easy for anyone with the authority to request all records. Given the dicey position one might be in, it would be best to come clean either way. Last thing you’d want is to be caught in (perhaps) another fib, which would be monumentally worse. The person in question could provide their power, gas, and water bills over the past 10 years to back up their residency claims. I think the utilities keep pretty deep records. Regardless, why would a voter support someone who doesn’t live in their area for the busiest part of the year? Seems like false advertising to me.
What high school did his kids graduate from?
Heh, I think you know. The schools are, um, not in NCC.
You know how McBride could avoid all of this?
Live in the fucking district.
He could just leave a tap running while he is away….
His kid graduated from Cape Henlopen High School and his wife votes for Pete Schwartzkopf. What else are you looking for LiberalGeek?
I’m not looking for anything. I’m pointing out that if you are making a case, the sewer bill isn’t the best measure of residency. It is relatively easily explained away.
Melanie George sold her house and “rented a room” in the district. That is a bit more damning, IMHO, than having a low sewer bill. If the complaint uses this as it’s sole bone of contention, I would expect it to be dispatched. If it was based on more than a low sewer bill, it might have more standing.
I don’t think “explained away” means what you think it does. At best he’s only living in his district six months a year. It’s strong evidence that further investigation is required.
Does your position include some provision by which you cannot admit the obvious? Because you look like a fool.
You seem to be saying that if a complaint doesn’t contain conclusive evidence by itself, the Department of Elections has no role to play.
I’m thinking “Democratic Official Brushes Off Evidence of Voter Fraud” is a story all by itself.
Do you somehow think that I have enforcement authority for Delaware laws? I’m telling you that I doubt that the DoE will do much more than defer the question to the voters.
You could have just said that.
If he has a drivers license and (potentially) a passport that indicates that he lives in the district, don’t come bearing a sewer bill claiming that it is a smoking gun. At best, it’s a data point.
As I’ve said before, the outcome doesn’t concern me here. The facts in the post are explainable, legally. Which, historically, means that the DoE is likely to leave it to the voters.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what I say here. I expect that it will be up to the voters to decide whether they believe it or not, which is why I said that this will come down to politics.
In summary, I wouldn’t get my hopes up on this challenge succeeding. Do YOU have a backup plan, or will it just be cursing the darkness and the Delaware Way instead of lighting a candle?
Dave McBride is 78 years old. He has had serious health problems recently. In order to believe that he lives in the district, you would have to believe that he leaves his wife and kids (who went to Cape Henlopen) in order to spend six months a year in his Nicole Court townhouse alone with his infirmities.
You keep saying that you don’t have a dog in this fight. Every argument you throw out there says just the opposite. Hey, why don’tcha get Dave to come out and clear this up for all of us? That would be political leadership.
Actually, every comment I have made has been of the scope of the actual complaint as it is documented in the original post. I don’t have to believe much based on that, just that he has light water usage for 5 or 6 months. I keep getting asked about further evidence that isn’t in the complaint.
As you said, there have been persistent rumors for years, but the only evidence brought to bear is the sewer records? And you want me to defend myself? Sheesh.
The only ‘evidence’ you’ve brought to bear is a waitress. Since this has been posted, not one resident in the 13th SD, not one, has come on here to say that they see Dave in the district. The proof is there, in the form of his other utility bills, among other tangible items.
He can release them, he can make a public statement, he can do a whole lot of things. If he so chooses.
We have established, and it’s beyond dispute, that DAVE MCBRIDE SPENDS AT LEAST HALF OF THE YEAR out of his district.
You’ve tried to argue that it’s at least POSSIBLE that he spends the rest of the year in the district, as if that’s acceptable to his constituents. It’s also, of course, at least possible that he lives in Lewes year-round and spends next to no time in the district. I can’t resolve it, you can’t resolve it.
Time for Dave to speak for himself. Dave, how much time do you spend in the district, and what proof do you have?
And this is wrong. If he doesn’t live in the district then he is guilty of voter fraud.
So he gets a pass because he’s a ‘better’ liar than Melanie Smith? Gotcha
Like you said, this is the court of public opinion. I’m sure there’s a great lawyer out there that could shoot down his wife’s voting record, his kids school, and his sewer bill. But this isn’t a trial. I’m sure he’ll write a book called “If I did it, this is how I would have done it”
Melanie decided against going that route. She had publicly speculated about it, she got pushback, and she ultimately decided not to run from a district she no longer lived in.
Don Peterson, Pete’s primary opponent in 2016, got an earful from McBride’s wife when he door-knocked their door.
Bottom line, 78 y/o and been there for 30/40 years…time to go…not healthy to be around that long…he is just running again to have a voice in redistricting after the census. When I’m 78, I hope I’m relaxing with grandkids, not pushing for a job.
The guy likes to feel like he is king and his wife is just as bad. The staff even dislike him. Remember the articles that came out about him not allowing the public to film session, removing most seating on the floor, and creating a lounge for lobbyists? Time to put the old man to pasture.
OK, let’s not make this an all-purpose bash McBride thread. Stay on topic, please. Trashing wives is especially frowned upon.
“liberalgeek says:
July 29, 2020 at 12:32 pm
I have no dog in the fight. My role is to ensure that the fight is fair. ”
Ok and as you bend yourself into a pretzel being “fair” I refer you to the last time McBride was featured here. He was exposed for advocating the return of the medieval Whipping Post 17 years After it was abolished! I have seen no statement from McBride or the Democratic Party on this. What I do see is the “Delaware way” swirling around the bowl!
lol, lets hear from McBride….sounds like he is a liar like trump.
I’m trying to understand liberalgeek’s point he brought up about sewer rates taking the 2 lowest quarters of the year to calculate the bill.
In his example of 7 months in NCC and 5 months at the beach, wouldn’t the lowest 2 quarters still include at least 1 month in NCC? That means there would have to be some bill even if really small.
From the sound of this charge it sounds like there’s a $0 balance on the sewer bill.
If it was the other way around where he spent 7 months in Sussex and 5 in NCC, then the 2 lowest quarters could equal a $0 balance though.
Regardless of his argument, here is what is incontrovertible: McBride spends AT LEAST 6 months out of the district every year, and no evidence has been presented that he spends any time in the district.
It may be technically possible that McBride spends every day in his district EXCEPT for the time that is captured by the sewer bills. Does anybody, ANYbody, believe that’s true? This is what Geek calls ‘flimsy’ evidence. Lips, meet butt.
Speaking of ‘flimsy’, Geek, have you spoken to Dave’s only character witness, that waitress? Or are you just taking Dave’s word for it? I’m willing to stipulate that, after one of McBride’s two failed marriages, he very likely could have eaten somewhere frequently and had a regular order. Of course, that would have been more than 15 years ago. Absent your confirmation, that’s not evidence. That’s just a politician lying.
My waitress story is that I was meeting with Sen. McBride at the restaurant, as I try to do with all candidates (shakes fist at Covid-19). The waitress in question didn’t say that he was a regular, she treated him as she would a regular. He used some sort of frequent diner card to get “points” for future purchases. The only conversation that I had with the waitress was when I placed my order.
This is why I literally said “This too is not definitive, obviously, but it did allay my concerns somewhat.”
See, that’s me talking about the relative quality of the evidence presented. I didn’t claim that it was a smoking gun or that it definitively proves anything. You should try that some time.
I also have no dog in this fight (beyond living in DE). But PUUHHHLlleeeezzz. Are you sh*%ing me!? You imply that sewer records which show that no one lived in the house from April 1 until October 1* is the same level of “flimsy” as your anecdote about your perceptions on how waitstaff reacted towards a diner? With out even talking to said waitstaff? When was the last time you saw any waitstaff be anything less than cordial and familiar, assuming the wanted to keep their job? I think any right thinking judge would laugh in your face if you implied that both should have equal standing.
*I base this on the FAQ you provided. The average bill is something like $289, so $50 is a few standard deviations less. Even still, the lowest bill I could find for my elderly father, who also owns a beach house, was $70, one year when mom was in the hospital and he worked a lot. The rest of the time is it about $150 for two older people who travel and work.
Yes, it is only a data point. Yes it might be explainable. But your counter argument for residency is insulting and the WORST type of political hand waving. “Liberal”geek my a$#
There is a minimum sewer charge. You just need to stay under $50 of usage for that month. My sewer bill is just over $300/year with 3 or 4 of us living here (inc. teenagers), so $50/month wouldn’t seem to be too difficult for a family of 2.
As for evidence, it is incumbent upon the accuser to provide evidence (and the sewer bill is flimsy), not for the accused to provide evidence that they aren’t guilty. That’s not how this workslegally . As I said, politically you can try him in the court of public opinion all day long. The voters will be the jury.
Hello-o-o-o? Family of two? His kids pooped somewhere else? People who lived in the same neighborhood had bills higher than Dave’s. Why?
It’s not about innocence or guilt, it’s about whether McBride is eligible to run in the 13th SD. Which you know, but which you’re trying to obscure.
And what about that waitress, Geek?
You are now simply circling the wagons around a corrupt politician.
Admirable.
See above for waitress answer.
I don’t know how old his kids are or if they still live with them. Either way, the math is still plausible. Are you really still going on about the sewer bills?
Let me end my engagement with this post with this: If you are hanging your hat on sewer bills to get someone removed from the ballot or charged with a crime, I suspect you will be disappointed. But the point of this post is about making political hay of the sewer bills. Go for it. I just hope that this doesn’t make Marie look bad, because win or lose, I think she can really be a force to be reckoned with going forward.
Marie will look bad only if it turns out that McBride lives in New Castle. Which he doesn’t. I know it, you certainly know it, and it does you no credit to carry this water for him.
I understand your compromised position, and will point to it as my evidence that even the best people are forced to compromise to have a voice. Indeed, that’s what they count on, because once you’re besmirched with the stench of having bullshat the public, it’s hard to wash it off. The mob calls it “making your bones,” but it’s done everywhere, in every field of endeavor I’ve ever looked at. When I was promoted into management at the News Journal, the first thing they did was order me to “make book” on some poor schmuck they wanted to fire. The last thing they wanted was an editor who took the side of reporters, and firing a guy for no legitimate reason was a way of making reporters not trust me.
They want you besmirched, because now they’ve got you by the short ones. You can never take the high road again without people saying, “Yeah, he’s the guy who made excuses for Dave McBride. Fuck him.”
Here’s the tell: You didn’t have to come here and say a word. If you actually had no dog in the fight you would have kept your mouth shut.
You didn’t. You pissed on the story in hopes of making it go away.
Actions speak louder than words.
You are completely and utterly incorrect and I’m not sure why you would project your guilt onto me.
I’m not guilty. I didn’t fire the guy.
If you’re doing this of your own volition, you’re not who I thought you were, and you ought to give yourself a new gravatar.
You didn’t have to come here and defend him, yet you did. I don’t know why you think you haven’t shown your true colors.
It’s a good thing I’m not involved to make friends or impress you. I’m certain that I haven’t done either.
But when someone says “Aha! I see that someone has committed a crime and here is rock-solid proof!” I do like to fact check that. In this case, I find it lacking, legally, which makes this post a lot of smoke and mirrors.
And the idea that Sen. McBride would engage me to defend him is literally laughable. Almost all incumbents engaged in a primary think that I am giving aid and comfort to their opponents.
Marie should make a public messaging point of making McBride answer why his district isn’t good enough for his wife to live in and why the district’s schools aren’t good enough for his kids to attend. He’s been in office longer than a lot of voters have been alive, and he hasn’t helped the schools be good enough for his own kids? He wants your kids to attend schools he won’t send his own kids to? w
Bittle gets the story out.
https://twitter.com/MatthewCBittle/status/1288906412320600064
The highest-ranking member of the Senate has two homes — one in his district and one at the beach. Does he still reside in his district? He maintains he does: https://delawarestatenews.net/government/sen-mcbride-denies-claims-of-residency-issues-ahead-of-primary-election/ #netDE
Heh. Yeah, the ol’ I don’t want to waste water defense (said no one ever over the past 10 years where precipitation is through the roof). Seriously, maybe I’m late to the game, but liberalgeek’s “I saw a waitress take his order once” and this puff piece passes as serious vetting of political leaders in Delaware? Really? Jeebus, just bulldoze us into Maryland already. At least Ed Hogan is a competent leader, whatever you think of him, and they have the Chesapeake Bay.
We are such pikers.
In the span of one week, we have had substantial allegations of residency violations by a sitting member of the Red Clay School Board, a member of Wilmington City Council, and the President Pro Tem of our Delaware Senate. At what point, if these elected officials aren’t willing to police themselves, do we as a state stand up and demand action?
Do we need a “Lay Your Head Down” law in Delaware, where regular checks are made with elected officials to make sure they sleep an overwhelming majority of nights in the districts they are elected to represent? I
Well this story has been out there for a few days and was featured on the front page of the Delaware State News. We have a pathetic attempt to “explain” by a party official and McBride’s own laughable responses to Matt Bittle. What we also have is crickets from every state wide endorsed Democrat who are on the ballot with McBride. If they at least had the courage of Susan Collins we would have one or two expressions of “concern”. Maybe one of these great public servants will break their silence. I won’t hold my breath. I take solace in the fact that Marie Pinkney is in and of her community. She looks like and is similarly situated as her neighbors who are dealing with a pandemic, systemic racism racism and a cratered economy. While Mcbride has admittedly spent less than half his time in “his” district in the past 12 years Marie is earning the trust of the voters. This sad chapter of the “Delaware Way” can be closed once and for all on September 15! Its clear that McBride believes he “owns” his seat and can do as he pleases. Over the past 12 plus years he has been right. Help Marie prove him wrong and help him enjoy his Million Dollar home in Lewes permanently please send her a few buck! Thank You! https://secure.actblue.com/donate/marie4senate
Can we talk more about Cathy though? At least a challenge to her residency could actually net us a new democratic seat!