Written by My words from yesterday seem prophetic today: “… it’s been said that the people most-likely to accuse others of stealing signs are the ones doing it themselves. People should consider this before baselessly accusing others.”
Randy Corman
Now take a look at this…..
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From Kevin Poole’s blog at rentonfacts.blogspot.com:
Cheryl Haskins’ Supporter May Be the Real Sign-Stealer
Just when I thought things had calmed down, I received this email:
Date: November 1, 2007 5:52:47 PM PDT
To: info@rentonfacts.com
Subject: Haskin’s signs
Hello Kevin,
I spoke with Cara Soloman [of the Seattle Times] this afternoon after reading her article to get your web address. I wanted to share something with you.
On Monday as I was driving home from work, I observed a woman removing what I thought to be Haskins campaign signs from the south entrance to Gene Coulon Park. It angered me that someone would stoop that low.
I looked up her website, knowing nothing about the candidate and called them and let them know. My feelings were whatever side of the political spectrum they were on, this was just wrong. My mistake. I gave them the physical description of the woman and her license plate number and description of her SUV.
I grew up in Renton and work there, but live in Seattle about 1000 feet outside the city of Renton’s line – I say this to cover myself because I wasn’t paying attention to the campaign as it’s out of my area.
When I got home tonight I had a voicemail from Det. Barfeild (sp? – I have his tel. #) ) from the Renton Police Department. I returned his call and he asked me if I had seen this woman actually pull the signs out of the ground. I told him no, but I had seen her walking from the area where pol’s signs were clustered and she threw the sign in the back of her SUV. The officer told me that he had checked out the address of the licenses plate holder and that they had Haskins signs in their yard, so he assumed they were supporters simply maintaining her signs. I now realize that this supporter wasn’t pulling Haskins signs, but yours – they are very close in color and design.
I had not researched Haskins and had no idea of her positions or funding till after I had done this. In hindsight it was a bad move.
I’m a 45 year old gay man and will have been with my partner for 21 years come March. We registered as domestic partners last month. Needless to say I regret my action – but it wasn’t in my area and I wasn’t paying attention [to Renton politics].
My question to you now is, how can I help you? I need to make amends –
Thanks for reading
Brad Crane
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Talk about irony! Imagine, Cheryl Haskins filed a report with the police, and now probably knows that one of her own supporters was actually stealing one of my signs!
Obviously, Brad has nothing to be ashamed of, as he was just trying to do the right thing by reporting the incident. Brad has agreed to go public with the story, and I commend him for his bravery, especially since he has seen how the Haskins campaign has tried to intimidate me over the past couple of days.
I also have the email Brad originally sent to the Haskins campaign with the SUV’s license plate number and the description of the woman, but I’m choosing not to publicize it. It will be interesting to see how the media and the Haskins campaign respond to this bombshell.
More irony: on Cheryl Haskins’s campaign website, she makes a big deal about the police report that was filed, along with the “perpetrator’s” license plate. Hee hee. She also goes on to describe the complain to the PDC against me, which will apparently not be investigated further.
Cheryl Haskins’ October Surprise has now become a November Surprise.
Randy, this is beneath a member of the Renton City Council to involve themselves with “he said/she said” political drama. Your focus should be on issues, that most of your blog is about; Highlands, Landing, crime, growth, instead of this ugly mudslinging dialog. As a tax paying citizen in Renton, I hope you focus your attention on more important items.
Good point. I guess I just couldn’t resist the “I told you so” moment after Cheryl Haskins accused a private citizen of a crime, in the newspaper, without evidence. (Did she borrow a play from Kathy Keolker?)
I’ll let others take over from here, and I’ll stay on the real issues.
I think Randy was just trying to point out the hypocrisy of Cheryl’s accusation against me in yesterday’s Seattle Times article. And it’s actually a pretty funny turn of events, if you ask me. There hasn’t been any “he said, she said” about the sign thing. I’m not accusing anyone of stealing signs.
Vindication
From today’s Seattle Times:
Critic of Renton City Council candidate now complies with campaign rules, agency says
By Cara Solomon
Seattle Times South King County reporter
Candidate Cheryl Haskins complained about Kevin Poole, a vocal opponent.
The state Public Disclosure Commission confirmed Friday that a Renton resident who is an outspoken critic of City Council candidate Cheryl Haskins is now in compliance with campaign laws.
Haskins filed a complaint with the commission Wednesday, arguing Kevin Poole should have filed with the PDC as a political committee. A spokeswoman for the commission said Friday that while the political-committee designation didn’t fit Poole, he still misunderstood other PDC rules. Once informed, he made the necessary changes.
“I feel like the complaint against me was really intended to intimidate me,” Poole said.
Haskins said she wanted only to see Poole comply with the law. She is running against former Councilmember King Parker.
Also Friday, the Renton Police Department said it had dropped an inquiry into a stolen sign backing Haskins. Police determined the large sign had actually been taken by a Haskins supporter.
Haskins also had complained earlier to the police that hundreds of her signs were stolen or defaced by stickers opposing her candidacy. That complaint remains open, police said.
Haskins said she doesn’t think Poole took her signs but that she is concerned about the stickers, which she says feature language from his Web site.
Poole said he knew nothing about the stickers.
Cara Solomon: 206-464-2024 or csolomon@seattletimes.com
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As of 7:45 this morning, Cheryl’s website had not been updated to reflect the new information. I encourage readers to respectfully contact her campaign and request that they remove any mention of the bogus PAC complaint to the PDC against me, as well as any mention of the sign stealing, since we know that her own supporter’s action is what prompted the campaign to file a police report.
Also, as this latest article indicates, I really do not know what this allegation of “stickers” is all about. Are they talking about my leaflet, which was once available for download in electronic format? Or are they talking about actual stickers, as in, Hello Kitty and scratch & sniff? I have not seen any such stickers, nor do I know anything about them. If someone chose to make them on their own, then that’s hilarious! But it’s not good if they were used to deface Cheryl’s signs. Please people, let’s not devalue my message.
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