repubgazette7-20-07govworkeradmitsemailrudyvisiting

June 21 - Renee Lohman of The Lohman Group sends an email to an undisclosed list announcing Hillary Clinton is coming to Hardy County July 27 for a public event and a fundraiser. The email includes a donor form but no disclaimer.

June 24 - Mary "M.E." Yancosek Gamble, director of the West Virginia Small Business Development Center, forwards the email to a large list of recipients at 9:35 a.m., using her state email account.

July 6 - Another state employee, also using her state email account, forwards the Lohman email to an unknown number of recipients.

July 17 - The Republican Gazette reports on Gamble sending the Hillary invitation on state email. Meanwhile, Hoppy Kercheval receives an official invitation via email regarding the Clinton Hardy County visit, and makes mention of it on his program.

July 18 - The Republican Gazette reports that Hillary has switched the location of her fundraiser from a "gay friendly" bed and breakfast to a more traditional hotel and conference center. The Drudge Report links to the Republican Gazette story. Hoppy Kercheval reports that a Democrat official is denying Hillary's Hardy County appearance. That afternoon, the Clinton campaign confirms the appearance, but calls it tentative, and later tells the Charleston Gazette's Phil Kabler the Hardy visit is canceled. Kercheval, meanwhile, contacts one of the organizers who says the Clinton campaign told her the visit was nixed because a fundraising goal was not being met. The campaign later denies that was the reason.

July 19 - Business editor George Hohmann of the Charleston Daily Mail reports that M.E. Gamble admits sending the email and that she knows it was wrong and will not do it again. A Manchin spokesperson says it's a "personnel" matter.

Now, there are those claiming the Hardy visit was canceled because of "logistics," which the campaign said only after trying to first say the visit was tentative, but having to come up with something else when faced with the official, campaign-approved invitation.

But this visit was confirmed, as far as Renee Lohman was concerned -- and she was the principle organizer -- more than a month ahead of time. Her original email did not say Hillary "might" come to Hardy County -- it said she was coming. It said to write checks and make them payable to "Hillary Clinton for President."

But her email did not include a required legal disclaimer, something that made it even more problematic when it began to be forwarded by state employees on government email accounts. In other words, it was a double whammy -- solicitations via state email accounts on government time, and no disclaimer to boot.

Was the visit scrapped because of sudden logistical problems, a month after it was approved and after more than $50,000 was already raised?

Or was it scrapped because attention was brought to the fact that the solicitation for the event had gotten out of control and was violating several federal election statutes?

Your answer depends on the particular level of your naevite.

Why is it important? Just so this website can claim credit -- or blame -- for the turn of events?

No, it is important because there are a multitude of public officials and others in West Virginia who just don't get how important it is to separate government employment from campaign activity with a thick black dividing line. The mixing of official duties with political activities has been so widespread, so winked at, that it hardly raises an eyebrow when it happens. After all, everybody does it.

But everybody does not do it, and on the level of presidential campaigns they understand that they better not get caught doing it, because on the federal level there are real penalties.

And in West Virginia, if the typical state practice of engaging in political activity inside government offices can be demonstrated to be egregious enough to reverse a visit from a high profile presidential candidate, maybe it will cease being so typical.

That would be a monumental development, and the greatest contribution Hillary Clinton could ever make to the state of West Virginia, accidental though it may be.

Having Fun

With Mojo

It feels good to

do the right thing!

Hey kids! Mojo here! What a week! That was a close one! That whole Hillary fiasco almost made me look bad! In fact, I got a call from the DNC warning me that if I didn't get things together here, I could be off the short list for vice president! Now, granted, last time I looked at the short list, there were 427 names on it, but mine was one of them! Even though I have no interest in actually being vice president, it sure doesn't do me any harm being on the short list! Gets me talked about on TV, chatted about on the internet, whispered about in political circles! It's kinda like when your friends are talking about you behind your back at school -- you don't always know if it's good or bad, but at least you know they're paying attention! So to avoid any future screw-ups like this in the future, I sent all state workers a directive, just like Dr. McKinney suggested! I sent an email to all state employees, and I said, "Hey, quit being so obvious about using your government emails for campaign stuff! And be more careful about who you send them to! Why are Republicans seeing these things, anyway? Remember, this is our club! So don't be so careless in the future!" There! It feels good doing the right thing! And even better, I sent it from my personal email, mojo@mojo.com! That should take care of it!

Commentary

State employee right to admit, apologize for email, but why the lack of understanding?

Mary "M.E." Yancosek Gamble is to be commended for admitting that she used a state email account to promote a fundraising visit by Hillary Clinton, and for apologizing and promising not to engage in such activity again.

As long as she holds to that promise, that should be the end of it in her case. The question is, why did she not understand to begin with that you don't mix public service with campaign activity? What is missing in the hiring of state employees in West Virginia that ignores training on do's and don't's of government work?

While the Manchin administration is hot to test all new employees for drugs, it might consider testing them for ethics knowledge.

Is there ethics training for government employees? Is it mandatory? Are you required to stay awake?

Ethics in government is not just about being a good person versus being a bad person. It's about knowing the rules and laws of being a public employee. Does the admonition, "You cannot use government computers for campaign related activity" ever get passed on to new hires?

I was lamenting this week's turn of events in a phone conversation with a political friend of mine in another state, and we were both mystified by the fact that while getting caught using government emails for campaign purposes would be front-page news in most states, it's a yawner in West Virginia.

My friend, who has West Virginia experience from years ago, said, "It's the culture."

What culture? I don't buy that. I don't buy that West Virginia is any less capable or willing to understand, take seriously and obey ethics regulations and campaign laws than anywhere else.

Of course, Republicans everywhere are confronted with the double standard evident in this case. A certain former Kanawha County prosecutor -- a Republican -- was basically driven from his job for allegedly using his computer and email account for campaign activity when he was with a quasi-public institution. The legislative auditor was unleashed on him in the biggest witchhunt since the days of Salem.

The current case, though, is being called an internal "personnel" matter. How nice it would have been if the Bill Charnock case had been handled so discreetly.

In regard to Ms. Gamble, I admire that she has owned up to sending the email, admitted it was wrong and promised not to do it again. She could have denied it, or taken a defiant stance. Her admission and contrition should be sufficient in a first-time case.

But her explanation that she was new in her job is a weak excuse. Prior to joining the WVSBDC, she has been in and out of government work for several years, according to her bio. Apparently at no point did anyone ever mention, "Hey, you can't use government computers or email accounts for campaign purposes."

GOP Chairman Doug McKinney has called for Gov. Joe Manchin to send a directive to all state employees reminding them of the rules on issues like this, and also asked for a wider probe. Such a request is not unreasonable.

Only when state employees see that the man in charge of setting an example for them all is serious about the issue will they begin to take it seriously, too. Until then, it's just a yawner.

Portland, OR: West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland was inducted as the Secretary of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) during its annual summer meeting yesterday in Portland, Oregon. Secretary Ireland previously served as an At-Large member of the NASS Board.

“This is a great opportunity for West Virginia to have increased influence on a national level at a time when election policy is changing so drastically,” Secretary Ireland said. “Our increased influence will only benefit West Virginia.”

Secretary Ireland has been very active in NASS since she took office in January 2005. Because of her association with many top federal regulators she has been able to meet and to interact with at the NASS conferences, Secretary Ireland has been able to get expedited answers to questions regarding such matters as the Help America Vote Act, numerous federal election proposals, Real ID, the Federal Voting Assistance Program, and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.

“I’ve been able to use the resources NASS has to offer to bring many initiatives back to West Virginia,” Secretary Ireland said, “which include the Address Confidentiality Program, ideas for voter outreach, and e-government applications.”

Secretary Ireland’s tenure as NASS secretary will be from July 2007 to July 2008. NASS is the oldest professional, non-partisan organization of public officials in the United States.

For NASS’s official announcement of its executive board please visit www.nass.org <http://www.nass.org> or contact Kay Stimson, Director of Communications for NASS, at 202-624-3528.