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<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>All,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>You can compare his two explanations.
If you read this email from the bottom 1/3 first , then you can follow it
easier.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>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.</FONT></DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>
<DIV><BR>Wayne</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Wayne A. Fox<BR><A href="mailto:waf@moscow.com">waf@moscow.com</A><BR>PO
Box 9421<BR>Moscow, ID 83843<BR>208 882-7975</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>_______________________________</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4><FONT size=3>Jeff, thank you for your
thoughtful email.<BR><BR>When I lived in Boundary County many years ago and was
very active in the <BR>politics of both parties there were much fewer
pre-election candidate forums.<BR><BR>However, the main forum was sponsored by
the Farm Bureau. The local hierarchy <BR>of the Farm Bureau was almost the
same as the hierarchy of the local republican <BR>party. At that time, no
Farm Bureau member would even consider admitting <BR>publicly that they would
vote for any democratic candidate. All local Farm <BR>Bureau board
members' yards were crammed with republican signs and their fair <BR>booth only
handed out republican literature.<BR><BR>The forum itself at that time was very
similar to what the MCA now proposes <BR>except the questions were not screened
but came orally directly from the <BR>audience. Further, audience members
were allowed to engage in multi-question <BR>exchanges with the
candidates. The moderator for this forum was the chairperson <BR>of the
local republican party. Needless to say, this forum was a very
<BR>free-wheeling affair that often became almost a
free-for-all.<BR><BR>Never-the-less all local candidates participated regardless
of party <BR>affiliation.<BR><BR>As a matter of fact, this lopsided, biased
forum actually helped the more able <BR>democrats. When the public saw how
well and reasonably an able democrat <BR>performed under the obvious prejudice
of the moderator and republican <BR>questioners (to whom the moderator gave
obvious favor), minds and voting choices <BR>were changed. Many of the
more open-minded, neutral community members remarked <BR>that they received a
real education at this forum.<BR><BR>Hence, a well-qualified candidate of either
party has nothing to lose by <BR>participating in a hostile forum and perhaps
much to gain.<BR><BR>Elected public officials must have the skill to learn
graciously from all, <BR>including hostile, sometimes abusive inputers and to
consider their ideas. If <BR>they do not have this skill, then in my
opinion, they will not make effective, <BR>fair public officials.<BR><BR>If you
have read many of my V 2020 posts, you know that I am a fanatical <BR>proponent
of free expression and the critical examination of ideas and opinions. <BR>None
of us own the entire truth. It is only by the many forms of discussion
<BR>(some of it very rancorous) that experimentation and progress toward the
truth <BR>occurs.<BR><BR>For example, when Douglas Wilson refused to continue
presenting and defending <BR>his ideas on V 2020 and in the Daily News, I
considered that an admission that <BR>he believed his views could not withstand
the critical examination that occurred <BR>in those forums. I consider
such behavior anti-democratic, dishonest, and <BR>cowardly.<BR><BR><BR>My wife
is a LWV member. She will be a timer at their forum this year. She
is <BR>a past president of that group. However, I consider the LVW forum
to be a milk <BR>toast affair at best with little in-depth informational value
and little chance <BR>to test the mettle of the candidates.<BR><BR>I, and I
suspect almost all voters, want to see how candidates perform under
<BR>pressure, in a hostile situation, and extemporaneously. Why?
Because most <BR>public officials must perform under these conditions at
times. The public has a <BR>right to see them under conditions that will
occur a few to many times <BR>(depending on the office they seek) during their
tenure.<BR><BR>This year, I am particularly concerned about one candidate who
appears to have <BR>some disturbing mental health problems. I had hoped
the MCA forum would give <BR>the public an opportunity to see this person for
what they are.<BR><BR>I have voted for republican candidates many times in our
local elections. <BR>However, I will not vote for any local candidate this year
who refuses to face <BR>his opponent in the MCA forum. I suspect there are
many voters of like mind.<BR><BR>Jeff, thank you again for your thoughtful
note. I would like to suggest that <BR>you reconsider your personal
decision, and regardless of the <BR>anti-free-expression, voter-insulting
position of the local republican party, <BR>participate in the MCA forum.
Such a move would show your political and <BR>intellectual independence, present
an opportunity to showcase yourself, and most <BR>important, show that you
respect all voters enough to address their questions and
<BR>concerns.<BR><BR><BR>Wayne<BR><BR>Wayne A. Fox<BR></FONT><A
href="mailto:waf@moscow.com"><FONT size=3>waf@moscow.com</FONT></A><BR><FONT
size=3>PO Box 9421<BR>Moscow, ID 83843<BR>208 882-7975<BR><BR><BR><BR>-----
Original Message ----- <BR>From: "Jeff Harkins" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:jeffh@moscow.com"><FONT size=3>jeffh@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT
size=3>><BR>To: "Art Deco aka W. Fox" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com"><FONT size=3>deco@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT
size=3>><BR>Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 8:10 PM<BR>Subject: Fwd: RE:
[Vision2020] TALK SHOW 6/27/04: Jeff Harkins, Latah Co. <BR>Commission
Candidate<BR><BR><BR>| Hi Wayne,<BR>|<BR>| I have always enjoyed reading your
postings on V2020. You seem to frame<BR>| issues reasonably well.
I am writing to you personally so you will have<BR>| a deeper
understanding of my position and perhaps recognize that there are<BR>| indeed
two sides to this matter.<BR>|<BR>| Personally, I am sympathetic with your
argument, which is why I agreed to<BR>| participate in the forum to begin
with. But when the ground rules were<BR>| changed, and we were told to
bring our own shills to the forum, my<BR>| willingness to participate
chilled. I am trying to bring accountability<BR>| and integrity to the
county and this sort of "cooked" agenda is not the way<BR>| to do it. When
I asked about the moderator and the individual who was<BR>| going to select the
questions and manage the event, I was told that those<BR>| individuals would be
named later. For me, that was the last straw. I am<BR>| investing
too much of my time in trying to bring a better government and<BR>| quality of
life for this county, which has been my home for 17 years and I<BR>| am not
going to get myself entangled in the agendas which I am pretty sure<BR>| are
originating from one source.<BR>|<BR>| Once I learned that at least seven (7)
members of MCA board (including<BR>| Solomon's wife) had already publicly
supported Dem candidates , it became<BR>| obvious to me that it was not
going to be a fair event.<BR>|<BR>| If MCA is serious about a "debate", then I
suggest that, in the future, the<BR>| group approach the UI to organize and
manage the event. That would remove<BR>| most hints of favoritism and bias
would be removed.<BR>|<BR>| I did peruse the board minutes of MCA and confirmed
what I read with a<BR>| member with whom I am friendly. During the primary, MCA
actively supported<BR>| Pat Vaughn - and once that candidate was defeated in
primary, they have<BR>| decided to be apolitical with respect to county races -
as least<BR>| officially. Something seems very wrong about that.<BR>|<BR>|
You might be interested in the email that I received before the primary<BR>|
from one of the individuals associated with MCA. This was posted to
the<BR>| entire V2020 list. When I confronted Mr. Arnold about this email,
he<BR>| admitted that he made a mistake. He also said he was going to post
an<BR>| apology - which has not arrived on V2020 to this date. You can
peruse my<BR>| campaign disclosures to find that I don't have any support from
outside the<BR>| county, including mining interests. And I have no land
for sale. This<BR>| man, by the way, was reported to have approached the
daughter of an<BR>| individual running for an elected position ( a young woman
who I might add<BR>| was brutally assaulted a few years ago) and asked her if
her father ever<BR>| touched her.<BR>|<BR>| No, I am not going to get into this
kind of activity and I will not be<BR>| presenting to MCA. I hope you at
least understand the issue from my<BR>| perspective. Thanks for reading my
thoughts.</FONT><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>_______________________________</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jeffh@moscow.com href="mailto:jeffh@moscow.com">Jeff Harkins</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=mboehneabm@yahoo.com
href="mailto:mboehneabm@yahoo.com">Mark Boehne President Moscow Lions Club</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 21, 2004 11:37
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] MCA Debates</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>Ms. Blackburn noted:
<DL>
<DD><FONT face=arial size=2><I>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. </I></DD></DL>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:</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT>
<DL>
<DD><I>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.
</I></DD></DL>And the services I provided were:
<DL>
<DD><I>(1) to select two dates for the forum,
<DD>(2) compose an email inviting local candidates to the forum,
<DD>(3) notified club members of the dates,
<DD>(4) send a reminder to candidates of the forum.</I> </DD></DL>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.<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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. <BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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!<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>I trust this clarifies my decision.<BR><BR>
<P>
<HR>
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