Mark Dorsey still wants your vote in the three-way race for Burien City Council Position No. 3.
Rumors have swirled for weeks – mostly on social media – that the 53-year-old entrepreneur and executive mentor had dropped out of the race. And, until recently, The B-Town Blog could not reach Dorsey to confirm whether those rumors were true.
However, in a late Wednesday email to the Blog, Dorsey said his campaign remains active as the Aug. 3 primary election looms.
“I assure you that the rumor mill is not a cost-effective marketing plan,” Dorsey wrote. “I am not suspending my campaign.”
We reached out to Dorsey on Wednesday after spotting a fresh allegation that he had dropped out.
Earlier Wednesday, Ron Seale, a 77-year-old Burien resident, posted on Nextdoor, a neighborhood social-media app, claiming Dorsey had dropped out based on a note Seale said he had recently received along with a refund of a $25 donation he had made to Dorsey’s campaign earlier in July.
“For many reasons I have decided to drop out of the race for City Council,” the note read, according to Seale’s post on Nextdoor.
In his email to the Blog, Dorsey said he understands how some might have gotten the impression that he had dropped out: He did, in fact, refund many of his supporters’ donations and tell them he was no longer in the running.
“A few weeks ago I did not have a treasurer and attempted to file the required reports with PDC [the state Public Disclosure Commission] for the donations that I had received,” Dorsey wrote in his email. “After repeated attempts, I was not having success filing them and growing concerned given the regulations and existing campaign laws regarding the filing of reports.
“So I made the decision to refund all of the campaign donations I had received to date and let donors know at that time that I was no longer going to run for office (because I did not have a treasurer). Shortly thereafter I was able to find a great treasurer and continue my campaign.”
Dorsey is running against candidate Charles Schaefer and incumbent Mayor Jimmy Matta.
