Of all the things you never thought

Randy Keck/The Community News

Up until now this newspaper has never received a letter or letters from a lawyer threatening legal action. And I’ve never been outfoxed by a sign.

It all started with a story in the April 17 issue of this newspaper analyzing the campaign contributions received by the three Willow Park city council representatives and their three challengers.

There is a large political sign throughout the city that has three candidates on it. Looking at the signs, there was no apparent disclosure at the bottom indicating who paid for it.

Thinking a third party might have placed the signs, it would have amounted to an in-kind contribution to the three campaigns, and the article stated there was no in-kind contribution listed in the campaign finance reports.

The characterization of the sign as not having a disclosure statement was wrong. There was such a disclosure, but one had to get down on hands and knees to determine its presence.

We received three letters from the lawyer for the three political candidates accusing us of malice and saying I accused them of illegal activity. The attorney sent three emails with copies of the letters, three copies by certified mail, and three copies by regular mail.

This led to an exchange of emails between the attorney and myself.

Those email exchanges can be read elsewhere in this issue of The Community News. They were also posted online and linked to on social media.

The online postings have led to a number of issues being discussed. As you know, there are people who tend to post things online about which they have no first-hand knowledge.

To those who think I don’t know how to read a campaign finance report — I was being sarcastic in the emails.

For people who rightfully think the sign’s disclosure is virtually invisible and therefore we should not have issued a correction: the original article said there was no disclosure and technically there was.

The issue of whether it should have been more visible is one to be explored.

For those who said I was lied to, no one lied to me about the sign. From the first time I saw it my perception was that it did not have a disclosure statement. No one had to plant that thought in my head.

For that matter, no one deliberately lied. Others, like me, sincerely thought, based on observation, that the sign had no disclosure.

Shame on the sign printer and designer who had to know the disclosure would be invisible.

For those who think I should have examined the sign more closely from the start, I will take my lumps.

However, let me say this as someone who was the president of the College Republicans at Midwestern State University in the late 1970s, and was quite politically active, and graduated with a degree in political science in 1979. In all the years since, I have never seen a political sign that required getting down on hands and knees just to determine if it had a disclosure statement, not to mention reading it.

In a video of the sign from a foot away and you would be hard pressed to see the disclosure.

So when the attorney said I “stepped in it,” I’m not sure if he means I stepped into a pile of poo, or into a well-laid trap.

Either way, Mr. Kurban and Mr. Wingard have graciously accepted our published correction. I doubt there will be any comment from the third candidate.

Whatever your inclination, this is an extremely important election for the City of Willow Park, and we encourage you to educate yourself on the candidates and cast your vote accordingly.