Editorial: Wagner rocked the boat with Listserv email

Published: September 06. 2012 4:00AM PST, Bend Bulletin

Election season tensions are showing in Crook County, where a candidate has been criticized for sending campaign emails to county employees.

Walt Wagner is the Independent Party candidate seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Mike McCabe as the county’s chief administrator and chair of its governing body. In Crook County, that position is called the county judge, and the governing body is the County Court.

Wagner used the county’s Listserv when he sent out a message promoting online campaign materials. The Listserv includes the email addresses of county employees as well as citizens who asked to receive news releases and notices of public meetings.

Andrea Cantu-Schomus, director of communications for the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, said there’s nothing illegal about Wagner’s action. Wagner said that getting his campaign material out is his constitutional right.

But Assistant County Counsel Eric Blaine complained that the emails could encourage employees to violate rules that prohibit them from engaging in political activities while at work, including visiting campaign websites. Several employees had complained after receiving the email.

The election is a sensitive one. The incumbent, McCabe, won the May GOP primary, but he had only a little more than a third of the votes, with a total tally of 1,015. Opposition candidate Bradley Bartlett took 960 votes and Craig Brookhart had 972. The challengers complained about a lack of openness in county government that they said discourages citizens from getting involved.

If Wagner can attract both Bartlett’s and Brookhart’s supporters, he might unseat McCabe and upend the established order in Crook County. No Democrats have filed to run.

That possibility adds to the anxiety surrounding this election, and might increase focus on issues like the use of the county’s Listserv for campaign purposes.

Wagner has asserted that it’s not his job to prevent county employees from violating the prohibition on visiting campaign sites while on the job. That’s certainly true. However, not all that’s legal is wise. Better to find other routes to reach those voters.

(Walt's response: I don't disagree with the editorial board; however, this route was taken with the intent to inform, and as a past public employee who is sensitive to their positions, I believe this should have been a non-issue. This has happened in other areas of the state and the burden definitely falls on governmental administrators and their legal counsel to provide the necessary information and training to employees to prevent violation of statutes. That was not done in this case. Through personal contact with Crook County legal counsel and administrators it was obvious that they were not well versed in campaign law specifics.)