[Vision2020] And the Hits Just keep On Coming . . .
g. crabtree
jampot at roadrunner.com
Sun Sep 14 09:20:19 PDT 2008
I assume you mean Dr. Harkins and no, he is not a medical doctor. He is
someone for whom I have respect. A better question would have to be why are
you addressing comments to me directly when we all know what the eventual
outcome of that all too familiar path? I really don't want to repeat the
cycle for what will have to be what, the fifth or sixth time? Hows about I
make you a deal. I won't respond to your comments to the V and you ignore
mine. You know that ultimately you'll be a much happier camper if you do.
g
----- Original Message -----
From: <joekc at roadrunner.com>
To: "g. crabtree" <jampot at roadrunner.com>
Cc: "Andreas Schou" <ophite at gmail.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>; "Jeff
Harkins" <jeffh at moscow.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 8:13 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] And the Hits Just keep On Coming . . .
> "Dr. Hawkins"? Is he a medical doctor?
> --
> Joe Campbell
>
> ---- "g. crabtree" <jampot at roadrunner.com> wrote:
>>
>> Is it your contention that Dr. Harkins CPA, Professor Emeritus of the
>> University of Idaho Collage of Business, Department of Accounting is
>> unable
>> to read a small town budget report and has the facts all wrong? If so,
>> the
>> appropriate cites from the City of Wasilla records that you so carefully
>> checked out would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>> Or, as is somewhat more likely given previous discussions I have had with
>> you on this forum, did you lift the whole thing in its entirety from the
>> huffington post and throw that bit about primary sources in an attempt to
>> lend a semblance of authenticity and credence to your argument?
>>
>> If you are willing to fudge the facts "when what's at stake is fifty
>> people's opinion of the Republican vice presidential candidate" are you
>> willing to prevaricate in front of twelve jurors when what's at stake is
>> your version of justice? Are you willing to tweak the evidence to have
>> the
>> court see things your way? Massage the truth to get one lonely judge to
>> buy
>> in to your way of thinking? If so, I see a bright future ahead for you in
>> the legal community, God help us all.
>>
>> g
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Andreas Schou" <ophite at gmail.com>
>> To: "Jeff Harkins" <jeffh at moscow.com>
>> Cc: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>> Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 1:17 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] And the Hits Just keep On Coming . . .
>>
>>
>> > Jeff --
>> >
>> > What you're saying is that "yes, what you're saying is true true" but
>> > also that "yes, I also plan to smear you."
>> >
>> > So, let's start with the smears and implicit threats. Really, Doc
>> > Harkins? You plan on reporting me to the Dean of Students? Over the
>> > fact that I had been pointed in the right direction to find primary
>> > resources? Look, I'm not apparently not so so good at this -- could
>> > you get me the ABA citation rules for writing a bibliography for an
>> > email argument?
>> >
>> > So, why don't you just do that, Doc. The appropriate person to contact
>> > would be Richard Seamon. Richard at uidaho.edu. Why don't you see how it
>> > turns out. I'd certainly be interested. It's certainly more than
>> > slightly ridiculous for a tenured academic to tilt at this particular
>> > windmill, when what's at stake is fifty people's opinion of the
>> > Republican vice presidential candidate.
>> >
>> > Having disposed of that, let's go back to the beginning. I started out
>> > by reading Tom's post, though I'd been aware of the issue for a while
>> > before. I think I first read about it on the American Prospect's blog.
>> > Later the same day, though only incidentally, I read about the same
>> > issue on the Washington Monthly's blog -- there's a Hilzoy post there
>> > and on Obsidian Wings. In the comments section in (I'm relatively
>> > sure) one of the two places, someone had dropped in a link to the
>> > Document Center and cut+paste and page numbers from the .pdfs, as well
>> > as Mayor Palin's signature line. I double-checked the '98 and '95
>> > reports in order to confirm that I wasn't being fed a line of BS. You
>> > too can double-check the '98 line item on page 65; that's the one I
>> > still have on my desktop.
>> >
>> > In other words, yes, I knew page numbers from the very beginning, and
>> > from secondary sources. I neither scooped nor claimed to scoop anyone.
>> > If the confession you're looking for is that I did not troll through
>> > 300 pages of financial disclosures in order to write a three-paragraph
>> > response, I can only respond that there is a difference between due
>> > diligence in checking your facts and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
>> >
>> > -- ACS
>> >
>> > On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 10:00 PM, Jeff Harkins <jeffh at moscow.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >> Yes, the internet is a wonderful research tool. And I certainly agree
>> >> with
>> >> using the primary sources - avoids the problem of bias in summarized
>> >> digests
>> >> of info. It also alleviates all those messy citations.
>> >>
>> >> So, I had no problem getting to the Document Central and in particular
>> >> the
>> >> historical operating and capital budgets as well as the audited
>> >> financial
>> >> statements. But I was somewhat skeptical when I began to review the
>> >> budgets
>> >> and, as would be normal, the budgets were all summarized by function -
>> >> so
>> >> I
>> >> could pick out the Police budget, but not the detailed expenditures.
>> >>
>> >> Same story for the Audited Financial Statements. They were all there,
>> >> but
>> >> it would have been surprising for the financials to be reporting
>> >> expenditures at the sub-object level. The details of expenditures
>> >> were
>> >> not
>> >> there.
>> >>
>> >> Then it hit me - how did you obtain all those names and details from
>> >> financial reports?
>> >>
>> >> so - a few nanoseconds on Google and up pops an article on the
>> >> Huffington
>> >> Post.
>> >>
>> >> Below is an excerpt from the story by
>> >>
>> >> Jacob Alperin-Sheriff
>> >>
>> >> and here is the full citation:
>> >> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html
>> >> However, I was able to eventually track down Irl Stambaugh, police
>> >> chief
>> >> of
>> >> Wasilla from the founding of the department until Sarah Palin fired
>> >> him
>> >> for
>> >> "not fully supporting her efforts to govern." Stambaugh sued for
>> >> breach
>> >> of
>> >> contract, but lost when a federal judge ruled that "police chiefs
>> >> serve
>> >> at
>> >> the behest of the mayor unless otherwise specified." He later served
>> >> as
>> >> the
>> >> executive director of the Alaska Police Standards Council.
>> >> It turns out that Wasilla did not bill sexual assault victims for the
>> >> cost
>> >> of rape exams while Irl Stambaugh was chief of police. As chief, he
>> >> had
>> >> included a line item in the budget to pay for the cost of such exams.
>> >> He
>> >> had
>> >> only just heard about the Mayor Palin/Chief Fannon policy today, and
>> >> was
>> >> just as shocked to hear about it as I was.
>> >> Checking the budget confirmed former Chief Stambaugh's claim. He had
>> >> included a contingency of $15,000 in his budget for the department's
>> >> 1st
>> >> year of existence (1993-1994), $5,000 for 1994-1995 and 1995-1996, and
>> >> $13,000 for his final year as police chief in 1996-1997, spending
>> >> $11,625.
>> >>
>> >> Duwayne Charles Fannon, his replacement, halved the budget request in
>> >> 1997-1998, with a request of $7,298, spending $3,454. However, it
>> >> seems
>> >> he
>> >> began the "victim pays" policy in the 1998-1999 fiscal year. That
>> >> year,
>> >> he
>> >> requested $3,000 but spent only $205. This data can be found in the
>> >> Document
>> >> Central section of Wasilla's website. I am to understand that you are
>> >> studying law (first year?). You have some explaining to do.
>> >>
>> >> You stated that you obtained information from a primary source. That
>> >> does
>> >> not appear to be substantiated by the facts.
>> >>
>> >> It does appear that you plagiarized the material and you
>> >> misrepresented
>> >> the
>> >> basis for your report (that is, at best, disingenuous and, at worst, a
>> >> gross
>> >> misrepresentation or lie). Perhaps you have an explanation that I
>> >> have
>> >> overlooked something.
>> >>
>> >> I have no interest in any further dialogue with you. But, I would
>> >> hope
>> >> that, should my rationale be correct, you have enough honor to
>> >> apologize
>> >> to
>> >> all the posters on the viz and, if you are indeed a law student, that
>> >> you
>> >> report your actions to the Dean of the Law School. Remember, this is a
>> >> public forum so your comments will remain in perpetuity.
>> >>
>> >> This has been a great disappointment!
>> >>
>> >> At 06:38 PM 9/12/2008, you wrote:
>> >>
>> >> On Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 11:44 PM, Jeff Harkins <jeffh at moscow.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >>> Because you don't know the context of Wasilla and it residents, hence
>> >>> a
>> >>> potential for bias on your part. And no, Palin, as Mayor, could not
>> >>> dictate
>> >>> a budget policy - that can only be done by the Council.
>> >>>
>> >>> Read the statute for municipal government in AK. By the way, for the
>> >>> most
>> >>> part, Idaho municipalities are subject to the same laws.
>> >>>
>> >>> Both states require public oversight of budget creation and budget
>> >>> implementation.
>> >>
>> >> Jeff --
>> >>
>> >> We live in the era of the Internet.
>> >>
>> >> So let's just move past all the secondary sources and take a look at
>> >> primary sources, shall we? The City of Wasilla has kindly published
>> >> all of its budgets for the years when Sarah Palin was governor, so we
>> >> can all see what happened. In the '93-'94 fiscal year, Irl Stambaugh
>> >> requested (and received) a $15,000 contingency line item for sexual
>> >> assault exams, a $5,000 contingency line item for the '94-'95 fiscal
>> >> year, and a $13,000 contingency line item for the '95-'96 fiscal year.
>> >> He spent around $10,000 of that money over the three years (if you're
>> >> interested, again, you can total it up).
>> >>
>> >> Then Sarah Palin fired him.
>> >>
>> >> The new police chief halved the line item request, to $7,298, and
>> >> spent around half of that. The 'victim pays' policy was instituted the
>> >> next year, under Sarah Palin's watch, and only $205 of the $3,000
>> >> allocated was spent on sexual assault exams--though I'm not quite sure
>> >> what that $205 was spent on, as it's not enough to cover the cost of a
>> >> whole sexual assault exam. That same year, the law was enacted to
>> >> prevent Wasilla--the only municipality in Alaska to have that
>> >> policy--from continuing as it had. (Incidentally, that policy
>> >> endangered statewide VAWA funding.)
>> >>
>> >> The facts essentially go like this: Sarah Palin fires the old police
>> >> chief and hires a hand-selected new police chief. That new police
>> >> chief requests a rape-exam line item, and continues to request rape
>> >> exam line items throughout his career. However, despite the money
>> >> being allocated, the new police chief refuses to spend it. The issue
>> >> in Wasilla is sufficiently bad that it alerts the legislature, which
>> >> starts to pass a law to prevent Wasilla to continue with its policy;
>> >> furthermore, the issue is raised in statewide media. If Palin was not
>> >> aware of her handpicked police chief's policy--a policy which was on
>> >> her desk as a specific budget line item, the subject of statewide
>> >> legislation, and the subject of statewide media coverage--then she is
>> >> merely an incompetent executive, rather than a heartless supporter of
>> >> 'a la carte' law enforcement.
>> >>
>> >> -- ACS
>> >>
>> >> * Anyone who's interested in trolling through budgets to confirm what
>> >> I said can find those budgets here:
>> >> http://www.cityofwasilla.com/index.aspx?page=136. If only Moscow had
>> >> something similar.
>> >
>> > =======================================================
>> > List services made available by First Step Internet,
>> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>> > http://www.fsr.net
>> > mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>> > =======================================================
>> >
>>
>>
>> =======================================================
>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>> http://www.fsr.net
>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>> =======================================================
>
>
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