Rose asks Chris Kerrigan…
Claims in your fundraising letter
In your recent fundraising letter you claim that Rex Bohn raised “upwards of $150,000” in your 2004 contest for Eureka City Council, suggesting that you were vastly outspent.
The 10-17-04 through 12-31-04 460s (campaign fundraising disclosure forms) show Rex with $84,863.94 and you with $83,198.90, you were about $1,000 apart is all.
It was a big scandal back in 2004 when Richard Salzman sent out a similarly toned letter on your behalf. He was forced to apologize after the Times-Standard and the Eureka Reporter called upon you to denounce these tactics. The Times-Standard editorial was titled “A vote against the politics of personal attack,” which noted that “It’s about how we choose our elected leaders, and if we’re willing to support the politics of personal attack as the nasty new standard in local elections.” The Eureka Reporter said, “We, as a community, cannot tolerate a campaign based upon smear, vitriol and name-calling.”
Do you agree? Will you send a follow up email to your list, and apologize now for the latest ‘misstatements’? Should we expect more of this in the days leading up to the June 3rd election?
— Rose
Response
Chris Kerrigan
When referring to my 2004 city council race, I mistakenly mentioned that Rex Bohn spent upwards of $150,000 to defeat me. I apologize for the error. In fact, only $85,000 was reported through his actual campaign committee. The remaining $65,000 that I referred to was from the Eureka Coalition for Jobs, an unknown special interest attack group. Unfortunately, we will never know the exact amount of money spent because, in violation of the law, they did not disclose who paid for the attack ads or how much was spent.
The language in my fundraising letter should have stated “Remember when Rex Bohn and his allies spent upwards of $150,000 to defeat me on the City Council and failed?” Thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight.
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