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Thank you for your perspectives Bill London.<br><br>
Righteous indignation and tizzy of false integrity? That is always
the problem with personal value systems - they are often difficult to
reconcile and at times we just have to agree to respect each other's
values while we maintain our own beliefs. I am comfortable with the
position I have taken and I respect your position.<br><br>
And I agree with you, that this is the important question:
<dl>
<dd><font face="arial" size=2><b><i>Why are you so willing to go to
candidate forums all over the county and then refuse to go to this
one-on-one candidate debate in Moscow?</i></b></font>
</dl>Concerted efforts were made to breach the concerns about the format,
but unfortunately, they were not successful.<br><br>
At 10:01 AM 10/22/2004, you wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font face="arial" size=2>Jeff
Harkins:<br>
Please control that righteous indignation. You
are aiming it in the wrong direction.<br>
Let's go back to the original point in Lois
Blackburn's editorial.<br>
The local Republican Party has no problem with a
candidate forum organized by a Republican candidate (that's you) or a
forum organized by a Republican office-holder (that's Paul Kimmell,
Republican Commissioner and director of Chamber of Commerce) but believe
participating in a forum organized by a local progressive community group
(MCA) is signing a pact with the devil.<br>
To try and find a legitimate difference, you explain
your role in the Moscow Lion's Club forum. You say that your role
was:</font>
<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>
</dl><font face="arial" size=2> Well that makes
sense. Yes, that would be the responsibility of someone organizing
a candidate forum. And that is exactly what Bruce Livingston, the
MCA representative, did. Both you and Bruce set up the forum.
You both invited the same candidates. You both publicized the
event. Neither you nor Bruce expected to serve as moderator (I do
not know who will moderate the Lions Club forum, but the MCA moderator
was selected from a list offered by Nathan Alford of neutral non-partisan
community members.) <br>
So why would you wrap yourself in such at tizzy of
false integrity and refuse to participate in the MCA debate?<br>
What are you Republicans so afraid of? Why are
you so willing to go to candidate forums all over the county and then
refuse to go to this one-on-one candidate debate in Moscow?<br>
BL</font>
<dl>
<dd>----- Original Message -----
<dd>From: <a href="mailto:jeffh@moscow.com">Jeff Harkins</a>
<dd>To: <a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a>
<dd>Cc: <a href="mailto:mboehneabm@yahoo.com">Mark Boehne President
Moscow Lions Club</a>
<dd>Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 11:37 PM
<dd>Subject: [Vision2020] MCA Debates<br>
<dd>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>
<dd>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>
<dd>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>
<dd>Ms. Blackburn noted:
<dl>
<dd><font face="arial" size=2>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.
</dl>
<dd>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>
<dl>
<dd>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.
</dl>
<dd>And the services I provided were:
<dl>
<dd>(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.
</dl>
<dd>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>
<dd>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>
<dd>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>
<dd>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>
<dd>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>
<dd>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>
<dd>I trust this clarifies my decision.<br><br>
<hr>
<dd>_____________________________________________________
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<dd> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
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<dd>
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