Salt Lake Tribune Political Blogger Dan Harrie Picks Up on Utah County Republican Delegate e-Mail Address Issue

This topic has received no small bit of interest on both this blog, and my personal opinion one (http://www.thewidemiddle.com/).

Like they say: “Inquiring minds want to know…“

Dan Harrie, political journalist for the Salt Lake Tribune put a post on the Tribune’s “Out of Context: The Tribunes’ Political Writers Blog” earlier this afternoon about the e-mail addresses for the delegates issue. The post is entitled “More Trouble.”

If you are concerned about the appearance or reality of impropriety here, I hope you will register your opinions with the County Party Leadership. You can contact them using the following information as found on the Utah County Republican Party Website (copied here for your convenience):

Steering Committee

Office	Name	Email
Chair	Marian Monnahan	jrmonna@mstarmetro.net
Vice-Chair	Mark Cluff	markcluff@comcast.net
Secretary	Susan Bramble	mailto:cbramble@cesinc.cc
Treasurer	Phill Paey	mailto:maashby@sisna.com
Education	SueZann Kohler
Finance	Val Peterson	petersva@uvsc.edu
Organization	Adrielle Herring	mailto:eldstejt@hotmail.com
Volunteers	Chad Bunn	mailto:ron@stamm.com
PR/Media	Stephen Hales	stephen@halescreative.com

Executive Committee

Office	Name	Email
Constitution and ByLaws Committee
Chair	LauraLyn Eberting	mailto:brunyon@emailbyu.edu
Audit Committee
Chair	Garr Judd	selltons@aol.com
Legislative Chairs
District 27	Bryant Larsen	mountainlarsens@digis.net
District 56	Ken Smith	kensmith41@msn.com
District 57	Joel Wright	mailto:mikmcgee@myrealbox.com
District 58	Kherna Shipp	khernakshipp@yahoo.com
District 59	Beau Soresen	sorro@byu.edu
District 60	W. Ivan Keller	mailto:brad@alphasmart.com
District 61	Lisa Shepherd	lisamshepherd@aol.com
District 62	Doug Cannon	mailto:romanandrus@yahoo.com
District 63	Dean Sanpei	mailto:ffrose@mstar2.net
District 64	Jan Cortese	jancortese@comcast.net
District 65	Don Larsen	ledgedistd@msn.com
District 66	Gordon Lowe	gelowe@yahoo.com
District 67	John Booth	mailto:shane_schulthies@byu.edu

If Nobody’s Getting e-Mail Addresses, How Come Chris Cannon e-Mailed Me State Delegate Congrats?

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, I received the following e-mail text from the Chris Cannon (chris@chriscannon.com) Campaign:

Dear Kip:

Congratulations on your election as a State Delegate!

Representing your friends and neighbors at the Nominating Convention is a serious responsibility, and I want to personally thank you for accepting that responsibility.

In the days and weeks to come, you will be flooded with information from all the candidates, including me. Before the flood becomes too intense, though, I just want you to know that I hope this campaign can be a healthy dialogue about the issues of concern to you, and yes, about my record of conservative, active leadership in Congress.

While the other candidates for Congress have the luxury of campaigning virtually full time for the next six weeks or so, I have a job to do representing the Third District during a very busy time in the House of Representatives. Yes, I will be campaigning hard, but with my duties in Washington, it will be a challenge to spend as much time with each delegate as I would like. Nevertheless, I want you to know that I am directly available to answer your questions, hear your concerns and discuss the important issues Utah and the nation face today. Call me on my cell phone at 801.362.8300 or send me an email at chris@chriscannon.com - I welcome the opportunity to be in touch with you personally.

In the meantime, please visit www.chriscannon.com to learn more about me, my record, and my positions on the issues you and I care about.

This is an important election at a critical time for our District and for America. Again, I thank you for the important role you have accepted, and look forward to visiting with you in the weeks to come.

Sincerely,

Chris Cannon

This email was sent to kip dot meacham at comcast dot net

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(emphasis added)

Now I’m not faulting Chris Cannon or his Campaign here. What I am doing is wondering how they know I’m a delegate, and how they have my e-mail address and the data to send me an e-mail merge if the e-mail addresses aren’t being provided to any of the candidates?

It appears something is not right here.

Utah County GOP Chair Monnahan Says No Delegate e-Mail Lists for Candidates

This morning, Utah County’s Daily Herald is running a story entitled Candidate wants access to e-mail list. The story reports that Jacqueline De Gaston (jdegaston@yahoo.com), challenger of incumbent Senator Curt Bramble in Senate District 16, has no access to the e-mail addresses of the delegates “‘as they have been in years past.”

[NOTE: There are actually two other Republicans seeking the nomination. The second is James O'Neal (isconychia@yahoo.com).]

Anyway, the story goes on to quote County Republican Chairwoman Marian Monnahan (jrmonna@mstarmetro.net) as saying: “We just hesitate to do it since we promised everybody, ‘No, we won’t hand those out.’ We’re not giving them to anyone at this point.“

Okay, now I’m confused on three fronts:

1. When I was trained by the Party on running the Caucus Meetings in early March (I am the Precinct Chair for Orem, Utah’s Precinct 27), I was specifically asked to get the e-mail addresses for all of the elected precinct officers and delegates.

2. When I conducted the Republican Party’s Caucus Meeting for Orem Precinct 27, one of the main items on the meeting agenda was the circulation of the Caucus Roll. The last column of information on the caucus roll was for the e-mail addresses of everyone on the precinct rolls–not just the precinct officers and delegates.

3. Again, upon conclusion of the afore-mentioned Caucus Meeting, I completed the Elected Precinct Officers and Delegates form, the last column of which is also provided for the e-mail addresses of the precinct officers, county and state delegates.

Now, why would we as a Party ask for the e-mail addresses of everyone in the Party if we’re not going to make use of them?

This does not add up, and gives me cause for concerns about fairness and transparency in the Republican Party in Utah County.

It’s also of deep concern to me that Susan Bramble (susan@cbramble.com), Senator Bramble’s wife, is the Utah County Republican Party Secretary. In this instance, would it not be a reasonable expectation of ethical conduct to place upon Ms. Bramble to recuse herself–being the keeper of the Party’s lists for Utah County–from the maintaining of the lists? There is at a minimum the appearance of impropriety here.

If she is not willing to recuse, then she (or any County Party Officer) who has provided any candidate so much as one e-mail address, must provide every candidate that same e-mail address per the State Party Bylaws’ Party Officer Neutrality Clause (7.2). This clause clearly states:

State Party officers, National Committee members, and paid staff shall assist and provide, without discrimination or restriction, equal access to Party information and services within their responsibility to all Republican candidates . ( emphasis added)

What’s good enough for the state should be good enough for Utah County, I believe.

Ms. Monnahan has an obligation to operate the affairs of the Republican Party by the rules. You can contact Ms. Monnahan either by e-mail (jrmonna@mstarmetro.net) or by phone at 801-374-9968 to let her know of your concerns.