Did Team Norby hire a monkey to send out their fundraising emails?
How in the world did Chris Norby’s overpaid consultant, John Lewis, screw up and allow a campaign fundraising email to go to County workers?
According to news reports, Lewis put Matt Holder in charge of the campaign – and they even had a “Director of Email.” Seriously? They had a “Director of Email” and they STILL screwed up?
Now Holder is running around saying that they didn’t break the law – but legal experts say otherwise.
Let’s put it in context. County workers are afraid to get laid off. Then out of the blue they get an email from a sitting Supervisor asking them for their support – and their money. Would you blame them for being a bit freaked out by that?
What a screw-up for Team Norby! The question is, how did Norby get his hands on County workers’ emails?
I suspect Tom Daly, the outgoing Clerk-Recorder, had something to do with this. But you cannot let Lewis and his monkeys off the hook.
Will this be enough to put Norby’s opponent, Hugh Nguyen, in the catbird seat? Probably not, but the story got picked up by KFI. This scandal went wide! And it will make for a great mailer for Nguyen down the road.
What this fiasco does tell us, in spades, is that Norby is the wrong guy for the Clerk-Recorder’s office. He has allegedly been telling his friends that if he wins he will hire people to run the office. That’s right. He won’t do a damn thing to earn his six figure paycheck.
Do the right thing Norby. Pull out now and get a real job…
Well, the spin masters may blame Lewis and his people, but Norby is the guy in charge. He should stand up and take responsiblity for this blunder. Does he have the guts to do that?
“I suspect Tom Daly, the outgoing Clerk-Recorder”
Say, Art, what makes you think Tom’s going anywhere?
David,
Good question. And why did his ally Art “Stinky Pete” Brown jump into the Clerk-Recorder’s race?
Art,
A very newsworth issue, but there are several problems with your post:
First, the “legal experts” do not “say otherwise.” In fact, the law does not prohibit solicitation of government empolyees when the solicitation is otherwise sent to a wide audience that also happens to include the employees. Stupid maybe, but illegal – no. And, as one of the so-called “legal experts” myself, I guarantee you that no one will be prosecuted or fined for this. What appears to have happened is simply in too grey an area. That isn’t to say that some hack will take advantage of this by filing a complaingt against the campaign.
Second, do you think you have a conflict of interest in advertising for Hugh Nguyen while at the same time dinging Daly and Lewis? I am no supporter of Daly, but for you to lob accusations while at the same time taking money from Nguyen for advertising is a blatant conflict.
#4,
There is what is legal and there is what is right. Scaring the hell out of county workers with what amounts to email extortion is no bueno.
Our Nguyen ad is an in-kind contribution to his campaign. It will show up on his campaign finance reports as such.
No, I don’t have a conflict of interest. This is not a newspaper. It is a blog. I don’t have to be objective. I am picking sides. I am going with the candidate who has 12 years experience in the Clerk-Recorder’s office. If you want to go with the political hack Norby, be my guest.
Lewis is one of the highest paid consultants in the OC. That his staff cannot figure out how to send out campaign emails is troubling. Perhaps Norby should get a discount?
As for Daly, he is a useless hack too. I hope he runs for Supervisor after all so Shawn Nelson can kick his tail. Yes – I am picking sides in that race too!
Again, your point/insinuation was that the mailer was not legal. You are wrong.
Glad to hear the advertising will be reported as an in kind, though giving something away for free is even more of a conflict in my mind. I guess that means Nguyen doesn’t have the funds to pay for it.
#6,
Not at all. I just want Nguyen to spend his money elsewhere for now. We are happy to help.
Again, there is no conflict. We are biased. I don’t hide that at all.
As for the Norby campaign email, it may or may not be legal but it was a crappy thing to do to those county workers.