[Vision2020] MCA Debates
Art Deco aka W. Fox
deco at moscow.com
Fri Oct 22 09:43:57 PDT 2004
All,
Attached below the line is a private response to a private email from
commissioner candidate Jeff Harkins and that email from Jeff Harkins. I am
providing this information because the Mr. Harkins is proposing to be a public
official and consequently his views on public matters merit the widest public
exposure.
You can compare his two explanations. If you read this email from the bottom
1/3 first , then you can follow it easier.
In a posting today, Melynda Huskey echoes the sentiment of many of us
independent voters. I too have supported some local republicans in the past (at
least four still hold office). After this MCA Forum mess, I conclude most are
liars, cowards, and think little of a sizable part of their potential
constituency. Therefore, for reasons given in my response to Mr. Harkins, none
will get my vote.
Wayne
Wayne A. Fox
waf at moscow.com
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID 83843
208 882-7975
_______________________________
Jeff, thank you for your thoughtful email.
When I lived in Boundary County many years ago and was very active in the
politics of both parties there were much fewer pre-election candidate forums.
However, the main forum was sponsored by the Farm Bureau. The local hierarchy
of the Farm Bureau was almost the same as the hierarchy of the local republican
party. At that time, no Farm Bureau member would even consider admitting
publicly that they would vote for any democratic candidate. All local Farm
Bureau board members' yards were crammed with republican signs and their fair
booth only handed out republican literature.
The forum itself at that time was very similar to what the MCA now proposes
except the questions were not screened but came orally directly from the
audience. Further, audience members were allowed to engage in multi-question
exchanges with the candidates. The moderator for this forum was the chairperson
of the local republican party. Needless to say, this forum was a very
free-wheeling affair that often became almost a free-for-all.
Never-the-less all local candidates participated regardless of party
affiliation.
As a matter of fact, this lopsided, biased forum actually helped the more able
democrats. When the public saw how well and reasonably an able democrat
performed under the obvious prejudice of the moderator and republican
questioners (to whom the moderator gave obvious favor), minds and voting choices
were changed. Many of the more open-minded, neutral community members remarked
that they received a real education at this forum.
Hence, a well-qualified candidate of either party has nothing to lose by
participating in a hostile forum and perhaps much to gain.
Elected public officials must have the skill to learn graciously from all,
including hostile, sometimes abusive inputers and to consider their ideas. If
they do not have this skill, then in my opinion, they will not make effective,
fair public officials.
If you have read many of my V 2020 posts, you know that I am a fanatical
proponent of free expression and the critical examination of ideas and opinions.
None of us own the entire truth. It is only by the many forms of discussion
(some of it very rancorous) that experimentation and progress toward the truth
occurs.
For example, when Douglas Wilson refused to continue presenting and defending
his ideas on V 2020 and in the Daily News, I considered that an admission that
he believed his views could not withstand the critical examination that occurred
in those forums. I consider such behavior anti-democratic, dishonest, and
cowardly.
My wife is a LWV member. She will be a timer at their forum this year. She is
a past president of that group. However, I consider the LVW forum to be a milk
toast affair at best with little in-depth informational value and little chance
to test the mettle of the candidates.
I, and I suspect almost all voters, want to see how candidates perform under
pressure, in a hostile situation, and extemporaneously. Why? Because most
public officials must perform under these conditions at times. The public has a
right to see them under conditions that will occur a few to many times
(depending on the office they seek) during their tenure.
This year, I am particularly concerned about one candidate who appears to have
some disturbing mental health problems. I had hoped the MCA forum would give
the public an opportunity to see this person for what they are.
I have voted for republican candidates many times in our local elections.
However, I will not vote for any local candidate this year who refuses to face
his opponent in the MCA forum. I suspect there are many voters of like mind.
Jeff, thank you again for your thoughtful note. I would like to suggest that
you reconsider your personal decision, and regardless of the
anti-free-expression, voter-insulting position of the local republican party,
participate in the MCA forum. Such a move would show your political and
intellectual independence, present an opportunity to showcase yourself, and most
important, show that you respect all voters enough to address their questions
and
concerns.
Wayne
Wayne A. Fox
waf at moscow.com
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID 83843
208 882-7975
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Harkins" <jeffh at moscow.com>
To: "Art Deco aka W. Fox" <deco at moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 8:10 PM
Subject: Fwd: RE: [Vision2020] TALK SHOW 6/27/04: Jeff Harkins, Latah Co.
Commission Candidate
| Hi Wayne,
|
| I have always enjoyed reading your postings on V2020. You seem to frame
| issues reasonably well. I am writing to you personally so you will have
| a deeper understanding of my position and perhaps recognize that there are
| indeed two sides to this matter.
|
| Personally, I am sympathetic with your argument, which is why I agreed to
| participate in the forum to begin with. But when the ground rules were
| changed, and we were told to bring our own shills to the forum, my
| willingness to participate chilled. I am trying to bring accountability
| and integrity to the county and this sort of "cooked" agenda is not the way
| to do it. When I asked about the moderator and the individual who was
| going to select the questions and manage the event, I was told that those
| individuals would be named later. For me, that was the last straw. I am
| investing too much of my time in trying to bring a better government and
| quality of life for this county, which has been my home for 17 years and I
| am not going to get myself entangled in the agendas which I am pretty sure
| are originating from one source.
|
| Once I learned that at least seven (7) members of MCA board (including
| Solomon's wife) had already publicly supported Dem candidates , it became
| obvious to me that it was not going to be a fair event.
|
| If MCA is serious about a "debate", then I suggest that, in the future, the
| group approach the UI to organize and manage the event. That would remove
| most hints of favoritism and bias would be removed.
|
| I did peruse the board minutes of MCA and confirmed what I read with a
| member with whom I am friendly. During the primary, MCA actively supported
| Pat Vaughn - and once that candidate was defeated in primary, they have
| decided to be apolitical with respect to county races - as least
| officially. Something seems very wrong about that.
|
| You might be interested in the email that I received before the primary
| from one of the individuals associated with MCA. This was posted to the
| entire V2020 list. When I confronted Mr. Arnold about this email, he
| admitted that he made a mistake. He also said he was going to post an
| apology - which has not arrived on V2020 to this date. You can peruse my
| campaign disclosures to find that I don't have any support from outside the
| county, including mining interests. And I have no land for sale. This
| man, by the way, was reported to have approached the daughter of an
| individual running for an elected position ( a young woman who I might add
| was brutally assaulted a few years ago) and asked her if her father ever
| touched her.
|
| No, I am not going to get into this kind of activity and I will not be
| presenting to MCA. I hope you at least understand the issue from my
| perspective. Thanks for reading my thoughts.
_______________________________
----- Original Message -----
From: Jeff Harkins
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Cc: Mark Boehne President Moscow Lions Club
Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 11:37 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] MCA Debates
Many have inquired about the reasons that some candidates are not
participating in the MCA debate. I have decided not to participate in the
Monday evening debate. And I agree that you are entitled to have an explanation
of my decision.
For some time, I have been intrigued by the MCA. It set a bold agenda for
itself and I was impressed by that. But organizations are defined not only by
their missions, goals and objectives, but also by the deeds of their members.
First, I had hoped that a reasonable compromise would be reached with MCA that
would address the concerns raised about the original format, but unfortunately
that has not occurred. And then today, Ms. Blackburn, President of MCA in her
published editorial (Daily News) made it very clear as to the kind of
shenanigans and pressures being applied to force candidates to participate in an
event that had questionable protocols which could be unfair to the participating
candidates.
Ms. Blackburn noted:
For an example of possible bias in the organization of a candidate forum,
Schroeder need look no farther than a representative of his own party, Jeff
Harkins, Republican candidate for Latah County commissioner. Harkins, as the
program chairman for the Moscow Lions Club, organized the club's candidate forum
this year.
It is true that I am a member of the Moscow Central Lions Club - and I am
proud of the work that we do. It is also true that I am the Program Chair for
the fall, 2004. But what Ms. Blackburn did not tell you is that before I
accepted the Program Chair responsibilities I advised Lion President Mark Boehne
that:
I would be willing to serve, provided that he would agree to serve as
moderator for the two (2) sessions I would schedule for the local candidates.
He agreed to those terms. So, yes indeed, I accepted the program chair
assignment for the Moscow Central Lions Club.
And the services I provided were:
(1) to select two dates for the forum,
(2) compose an email inviting local candidates to the forum,
(3) notified club members of the dates,
(4) send a reminder to candidates of the forum.
It is not clear to me why Ms. Blackburn would want to try to discredit the
good name of the Moscow Central Lions Club or my service to that organization.
But it is a clear example of why I am choosing not to participate in the MCA
forum.
It is important for all of you to note that my specific service to Lions was
clearly articulated to Mr. Bill London two weeks ago - and to Ms. Blackburn on
Monday, October 18th.
Here is what I want you folks to try to understand. I am running for a
political office that I believe demands the highest levels of integrity and
principled behavior. My interest in participating in forum events is to make
myself known to folks and to answer their questions. Obviously I am interested
in having them cast votes for me. And here is the tough part - if what you see
is a candidate that will knuckle under to this kind of negative pressure in
order to obtain votes, how can I possibly expect you to believe that I would not
knuckle under to that kind of pressure once I am in office.
No, I find the statement by Ms. Blackburn to be, at best, insensitive and
inadvisable and, at worst, despicable and mean-spirited. But it remains as a
clear example of why I am choosing not to participate in the MCA event. My
participation would simply signal that their behavior here was acceptable to me.
But folks, I won't sacrifice my integrity for votes - no political office is
worth that to me.
As to the concerns that some have expressed that by denying to participate, we
are precluding folks from finding out how I stand on the issues. Well to date,
I have not failed to respond to any question directed to me. If you have a
question about how I stand on an issue, write me, email me or call me!
My greatest regret is that my fellow Lions have to bear this incident. They
are the finest folks - caring and unselfish - and they don't deserve to be
tarred with this brush. And I am very embarrassed that this matter has brought
them into this fray.
I trust this clarifies my decision.
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