The Case of the Lurking Staffer

A commenter identified as "demdawg" posted the following here below the preview of my PJM column on David Scott:

Actually, it took over a week to have a new sign commissioned and replaced.

The reference is regarding the sign outside Scott's Cobb County branch office, which was allegedly vandalized on August 11, 2009. Based on the time that post was made, 10:29AM on March 11, 2010, "demdawg" is almost certainly a David Scott staffer. According to my server logs, a reader from an IP address associated with house.gov who'd been hitting Google's blogsearch for "congressman david scott" was here at WillCollier.com at that time. Here's a screen shot (click on it to enlarge):



"demdawg" is also full of it. Scott had a new sign up by noon on August 12, 2009; I blogged about it here after I saw it on my lunch break that day.

But we here at WillCollier.com do appreciate Congressman Scott's D.C. office at least acknowledging the existence of his constituents--even if we are too declasse for him to visit, or even live in the same district with. We also wish you well in your upcoming career change to minority-party staffers.

UPDATE: In the comments, "demdawg," aka Michael (I'm assuming Michael Andel from Scott's D.C. office) replies:

Will, there are three signs at the Smyrna office. The one that was replaced took at least a week to change. In order to obligate funds for a sign, the Franking Commission must sign off on the expenditure. The Franking rules are very specific. And, to replace the damaged sign, a police report had to be obtained and submitted with the replacement obligation form. After that is approved, then the sign company is allowed to start work on the sign. In other words, the office would not be reimbursed for just buying a sign for any reason. It also has to be up to local codes. Maybe you saw one of the two other signs when you drove by.

The most visible sign at Scott's Smyrna office--and the one that was spray painted--is on Concord Road. There's another around the corner on Brown Road (if there's a third, it must be well away from traffic; I don't think I've ever laid eyes on it). Concord Road is the main east-west drag through that area, and the sign on Concord was spray-painted on the morning of August 12, but clean by noon the same day. If perhaps one of Scott's other signs was moved around the corner to replace it during the interim, that'd be a reasonable explaination.

That said, the sign defacement, coming as it did at a time when Scott was (a) "enjoying" quite a bit of media attention for blowing his stack at an anti-Obamacare questioner, and (b) hiding from his constituents during the August recess, was mighty politically convenient for Scott.

At any rate, though, I do genuinely appreciate Michael's response, and hope that he'll also pass along his boss's thoughts on matters such as, say, whether congressmen representing large districts should hold multiple public meetings during weeks-long recesses, whether those congressmen should actually live in their districts, and whether or not it's appropriate for congressmen to throw their weight around in fits of NIMBY-ism.