VIRGINIA, USA — We’re verifying an attack ad aimed at Missy Cotter Smasal.
It’s paid for and approved by the Super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund, and it targets Cotter Smasal for her attendance rate while serving on a local commission.
The ad states: “Missy Cotter Smasal could have helped us all in the Chesapeake Bay Commission, instead she skipped almost half the meetings since being appointed three years ago.”
Did Missy Cotter Smasal miss almost half the meetings since she joined the Chesapeake Bay Commission?
Our source here is the Chesapeake Bay Commission’s website.
It includes the minutes and attendance from the quarterly meetings. The meeting locations alternate between Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
We checked all the minutes dating back to her first meeting in May of 2021, and Cotter Smasal attended that meeting. But she missed the next one.
Out of the 13 meetings she would have been invited to, records show she was there for eight of them, and missed five.
That’s a 62% attendance rate.
So that claim that “she skipped almost half the meetings” needs more context.
The following is Cotter Smasal's attendance based on the meeting minutes:
2021:
May: YES (Teleconference)
Sept: NO (Easton, MD)
Nov: YES (Irvington, VA)
2022:
Jan: YES (Annapolis, MD)
May: NO (Lancaster, PA)
Sept: YES (Charlottesville, VA)
Nov: YES (Annapolis, MD)
2023:
Jan: NO (Annapolis, MD)
May: YES (Washington, DC)
Sept: NO (Harrisburg, PA)
Nov: YES (Richmond, VA)
2024:
Jan: YES (Annapolis, MD)
May: NO (Frostburg, MD)