August 16, 2007

Challenge to candidate's statement

"City Attorney James F. Penman says election law is being violated.

By whom? His opponent, for starters, and also by an anti-illegal immigration firebrand, he said.

Penman cited what he said appear to be state Election Code violations in the candidate statements from Marianne Milligan, his opponent for his office, and Joseph Turner, who is running against City Clerk Rachel Clark. With that, Penman recommended on Tuesday the county registrar of voters and county attorneys step in and take legal action.

Penman said Milligan and Turner's candidate statements violate the Election Code because they include disparaging remarks about their opponents, in this case Penman and Clark.

Penman is outraged.

"This is the first time we've seen attacks on opponents in candidates statements in our city," said Penman, who has held office since 1987.

The registrar declined to act, saying the issue was a city and not a county matter.

Therefore, a candidate or registered voter would have to lodge a complaint for the issue to be pursued, said Sandra Medina, an assistant to City Clerk Rachel Clark. Medina handled the memo because the race for Clark's seat is involved.

The fact that Penman is locked in a race with Milligan and has publicly denounced Turner are circumstances not lost on either.

Milligan, an attorney since the mid-1990s, said she believes her statement complies with the law. Penman's memo singled out a sentence which stated that "City Hall is being pulled apart by my opponent's personal agendas," as a possible Election Code violation."

The article is here.

Posted by Randy Riddle at August 16, 2007 04:27 PM