sheff tom | Newton MA News and Politics BlogAs regular readers of this blog know, mayoral candidate Tom Sheff has on multiple occasions complained that this blog — and really me in specific — aren’t taking his campaign seriously. Here’s one example..

Greg, when you go around and say to people that X is not a contender, etc. you are sending a message to people that read the blogs and don’t write (probably 100′s if not 1000″s) to not vote for X, because X has no chance.

This is old school politics, this is what Cohen and supporters tried to do and if they couldn’t convince you to vote for their candidate they tried to discourage voter turnout. Old School.

Fortunately for Sheff,  his fledgling campaign has been able to garner more respect from the TAB and Patch.  Sheff has also been smart enough to get himself out there through letter writing, blog participation  and tirelessly attending events.

When our local media does write about Sheff, he’s generally referred to as a “small business owner,” as TAB editor Emily Costello did here and Trevor Jones did here.

But how many people actually know what Sheff does? I don’t. And his LinkedIn page doesn’t help: It still says he’s a candidate for governor’s council!

I know people will accuse me of picking on a guy who is a genuinely nice fellow who really cares about Newton.  But if Sheff wants to be taken seriously, wanting to know what he does for a living, seems like a fair question. After all, isn’t work experience a key factor one should consider when choosing a chief executive?

So on Tuesday I sent Sheff this email.

Hi Tom:

Here’s something I’ve been wondering and now that you’re a candidate for mayor, I feel it is fair to ask.

What do you do for a living? Are you self employed? What’s the name of your business? Do you work out of your home or in an office?

A few hours later, I received this reply…

I work 2 jobs.  The first is VP of a start-up non-profit called 2nd Life Computers.  The 2nd I am in insurance.  In both jobs I have flexible hours.  I do work out of my house.

A few hours later that same day, I responded with these follow-up questions..

What’s the name of the insurance firm? What kind of insurance do you sell? Are you a licensed broker?
I didn’t hear back. So on Wednesday I wrote back …
I just wanted to see if you are interested in answering these questions.  thanks very much.
I’ve yet to hear back.  But I do hope that if Sheff believes people should consider his candidacy seriously, he will respond here.