Midwest Voices

Yael T. Abouhalkah

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The Crystal Williams-Henry Rizzo race for the Jackson County Legislature’s 2nd District at-large seat is heating up. The latest: Williams properly lashed out at Rizzo’s attack on her livelihood, when he called her a health care lobbyist in a negative TV ad.

Naturally, Rizzo wants to tap into the idea that lobbying is inherently bad. I’d agree this far; many Americans right now are mad at plenty of lobbyists, especially those in banking and Big Oil and, yes, health care.

In a press release, Williams said:

Henry Rizzo, among other professional pursuits, profits from being a predatory lender, and yet he’s criticizing my career? That’s a crystal clear example of poor judgment on the part of my opponent.

So Williams ticked off her record of serving two Jackson County not-for-profit organizations.

I’ll stack my 10-year record of fighting for the children of Jackson County against Mr. Rizzo’s any day of the week.

But my favorite part of William’s press release was her use of a quotation from Missouri State Representative Beth Low, who has served six years in Jefferson City.

For years, we’ve had a broad-based coalition of private and public interests in Jefferson City fighting for Jackson County families. Crystal is a terrific advocate and is always there when the children need her. But I can’t recall receiving even a letter or a phone call from Henry Rizzo while we were debating important legislation regarding children and families of Jackson County.

Ouch.

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