>List members...and lawsuits?...in the news: >http://www.citypages.com/databank/22/1093/article9941.asp
>From the article: Citing unidentified sources, Strand--who backed Cherryhomes's Green Party-endorsed opponent Natalie Johnson Lee--claimed that F. Clayton Tyler, Cherryhomes's husband, was both part owner of a downtown sauna and attorney for the notorious Evans Brothers prostitution ring. ======================== EY: I asked some of the Johnson Lee supporters at the RT victory party about these stories. The supporters insisted that Tyler's ownership of this sauna was a matter of public record. It would be easy enough for a reporter to dig up the public records to settle this one way or another. David Strand did quickly retract this statement -- and appologised several times on the list. I know from being active in campaigns -- that word of mouth rumors are a big part of campaigning. This raises a question for me though -- how much responsibility do list members have with fact checking? Is there going to be a suit against List member, David Strand -- or is this just intimidation tactics from Cherryhomes trying to shut down criticism. The article continues: In an e-mail the next day, Cherryhomes tersely denounced Strand's post as "a bold-faced lie." ====================================== EY: Yup, that was the email Linda Higgins forwarded to the list. The article continues: Tyler, meanwhile, called Strand and demanded an immediate retraction and apology. "I am truly sorry for sharing misinformation and furthering hearsay," Strand posted to the newsgroup, blaming his misstep on "bad rumors being bandied about in this part of ward 5." That satisfied neither Cherryhomes nor Tyler, who responded, "We don't consider [Strand's] reply to be either a retraction or an apology." Whereupon Strand returned to his keyboard and offered his "utmost apologies" three more times. =================================================== EY: I was confused by that email -- whether Cherryhomes or Tyler wrote it was unclear. I thought it rather wierd that the City of Minneapolis email was used for this also. The article continues: Under normal circumstances, such abject groveling might have spelled the end of the matter. But Cherryhomes subsequently found herself on the receiving end of one of the election's most shocking upsets: a defeat, by a mere 72 votes, at the hands of Johnson Lee. In a brief e-mail in response to questions posed for this story, Cherryhomes wrote: "I believe the rumors could have had an effect on the election. I would prefer that you speak with my husband about potential legal action." Says Tyler: "I'm currently talking with an attorney and will probably be instituting a suit in connection with this. It's one thing to go after somebody on their record, on what they've done and what they've said. It's another to willingly disseminate lies. I'm not gonna take that lightly." He adds that he has also asked city election officials to look into possible voting irregularities in his wife's ward. ==================================================== EY: The question is whether Strand knew these were lies when he sent the email to the list. Strand did immediately appologise -- and appoligize and appologize. Louis King posted a while back that "fear rules" in the 5th ward. Certainly Cherryhomes and Tyler were using pretty heavy handed fear inducing tactics to get Strand to retract his statements -- which he did. This whole thing reminds me of the way Bush dealt with the GWBush.com parody site -- he tried to shut the site down -- and in the process managed to give the site all sorts of publicity -- for many months, the GWBush.com site got more web hits than the official George W Bush site. Eva Eva Young Central _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
