The following Benstorming commentary is about community associations and political campaigns.
It’s that time of year where political campaigns are underway as local elections are scheduled for late June.
Many candidates are promoting their candidacy and their fund raising events.
Joshua Sines is one of those candidates running for County Council in 2026. Sines is the president of Essex Middle River Civic Council.
I’m sure many members of the Essex Middle River Civic Council support their leader for office, but the group appears to follow the code of ethics and hasn’t promoted Sines’ campaign on their social media pages.
That is the right approach, but there is an ethical question with another community group.
The White Marsh Cowenton Improvement Association shared a post of Sine’s upcoming campaign event.
If an individual of the group wants to publicly support a candidate they have the right to share the information on their personal page, but is it appropriate to share the event on a community association page?
If other candidates decide to run in that race, will White Marsh Cowenton Improvement Association promote Sines’ opponents campaign events?
Community associations should invite and encourage ALL candidates to speak at their meetings to inform their members the options available in the next election, but should they promote a candidate’s campaign event?
