2016 Campaign Starts Now- Cost of Living EP

I did a few posts this year about when candidates attack.  Of course the worst part about a candidate coming to town is a candidate coming to your town.

At least that is my takeaway from a Marshalltown, IA newspaper article that I thought had potential to go viral, and feel is worth sharing.

Marshalltown is a town of 27,000- so it is a decent sized city, helped by the fact that it is midway between Des Moines and Iowa City, and in the framework of Iowa, it is the 16th largest city.  So important.

It is also well known as being home of Billy Sunday- maybe the most famous of the early 20th century evangelical preachers.  Sunday was a baseball player who used the fame to combat the devil alcohol and sexuality.  Another famous person from the city was Cap Anson.  Anson was the first of baseball's greatest players, though his legacy now is more known for being the man who segregated the sport.

Marshalltown also too is the home of Eugene Debs' two-time running mate Ben Hanford, and unexpectedly, home of some of the best local music acts.

In any case, this is worth sharing:

The dust has settled from several high profile candidate appearances in January featuring former President Bill Clinton, Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson and Donald Trump, and former Secreatary of State and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

All put Marshalltown in the national limelight.

But the exposure cost the city $7,071.

hose were expenses the Marshalltown Police and Fire Departments said they incurred for duties ranging from traffic and crowd control to counting visitors entering public facilities.

The only candidate who paid was Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., seeking the Democrat Party's nomination for president. And he is the only one without a Super Political Action Committee funding his campaign.

Trump and Hillary Clinton appearances

By far the highest expense was Trump's visit to the Marshalltown High School Roundhouse early evening Jan. 26, which cost the MPD $3,596 in police overtime, according to an email sent to the Times-Republican last week by Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper.

Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul, drew 1,486 visitors, according to Marshalltown Fire Chief David Rierson.

To a lesser extent, Hillary Clinton's event at Miller MIddle School later the same evening cost $2,474.

She drew 400, said Rierson.

"These costs do not include the salary expenses for salaried employees who do not receive overtime compensation but still worked the events," said Tupper. "These costs also do not include the expenses (time) that were incurred planning and preparing for these events.

Carson and former President Clinton

"Additionally we incurred $800 in expenses for Carson's event at the Best Western Regency Inn Jan. 24, and $201 in expenses for former President Bill Clinton's event (campaigning for spouse Hillary) at Marshalltown Community College Jan. 15," said Tupper.

Tupper said not all candidates requested services and the MPD generally received requests from those who have secret service protection.

Sen. Sanders

"Occasionally, a candidate without secret service protection makes a request, but these are not common and are generally minimal," he said.

"Sen. Sanders was in Jan. 10," (at the BWRI). Tupper said. "He does not have secret service protection and did request security assistance. The Sanders campaign paid. That is a welcome deviation from the norm."

Marshalltown Fire Department

Fire chief David Rierson told the T-R in an email Jan. 29 it had incurred roughly $675 in expenses.

"Since deputy chief Johnson and I are salaried, no overtime was incurred," he said.

Rierson could be see dutifully counting people as they entered political events as part of fire safety concerns.

Offsetting city expenses

However, money spent at numerous Marshalltown businesses and elsewhere by campaigns was noticed.

"The visits from presidential candidates certainly had an impact on the Marshalltown economy," Lynn Olberding, executive director of the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce told the Times-Republican last month.

"(There were) extra visitors at hotels, facility and room rentals, stops in convenience stores and gas stations, restaurants and entertainment."

Marshalltown's image enhanced

Marshalltown's image gained too, she said.

"Visits from Democratic and Republican candidates has shown the media what a great community Marshalltown is and the important role our diverse community makes in the political arena. Iowa continues to be the first in the nation caucus for a reason and every four years, communities like ours play a part on the national stage as candidates vie for votes," she said.

The TL;DR version is that Bernie Sanders paid his way as he did require security (He did not have Secret Service detail as others did).  Whereas the people who have the most, also cost the most- Trump left a bill for $3600 in police overtime and Hillary for an event of 400 incurred almost $2500.

All told $7000 for visits from The Donald, President and Secretary Clinton separately, and Ben Carson.
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