Michele Crist
Executive Director
West Virginia Broadcasters Association
140
Seventh Avenue
South Charleston, WV 25309-1452
October 9, 2008
Dear Ms. Crist,
During the past few weeks your organization has received numerous phone calls, emails, and letters from West Virginia citizens who are concerned about your exclusion of Mountain Party Candidate Jesse Johnson in the upcoming WV Broadcasters-sponsored gubernatorial debate. Your continued refusal to include Mr. Johnson in this debate is a disservice to the public and to the thousands of registered voters that are members of our organizations. It is without doubt a disservice to the many West Virginia television and radio station members that you represent.
The Mountain Party is an established and growing political party that has been on the ballot for a number of years now. Three candidates are on the gubernatorial ballot this year. All three should take part in the debate. Excluding Mr. Johnson because of the lower number of Mountain Party members is comparable to excluding Mr. Weeks because of the lower number of Republican Party members. The Mountain Party represents an alternative for West Virginians who feel that the Republican and Democratic parties have no difference on some important issues such as mountaintop removal coal mining. Mountaintop removal has been the subject of hundreds of news stories here in West Virginia and across the nation. In numerous polls, the majority of West Virginians have expressed their desire to see this mining practice end, yet both the Democratic and Republican parties continue to support this form of coal mining. The Mountain Party has taken the position of the majority. Your refusal to include the only party in this state that agrees with the majority on this most important issue is illogical, and some might even say oppressive. At the very least your refusal to include Candidate Johnson discredits your organization and questions your motives. While we do not endorse any candidate or party, we feel an obligation to our members to make sure their concerns are addressed and discussed in the debate.
The WV Broadcasters Association may be a privately held organization, but that does not negate your ethical obligation to hold a fair and balanced public gubernatorial debate. We are respectfully asking that you reconsider your position and include Mountain Party Candidate Jesse Johnson in this debate.
Yours Truly,
Wait---one could check the last date to put political letters in the papers in the Eastern panhandle---not sure if they have the same policy on political letters.It might be worth a try to get a letter or 2 in.JudyCc: Paul Wilson ; bo webb ; Tonya Adkins ; Rory McIlmoil ; Jesse Johnson ; All of FOM list ; ec@osenergy.orgSent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 11:29 AMSubject: Re: [EC] [fom] Jesse4wvgovI'm revising the letter, should be done in just a few minutes.
On Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 10:51 AM, Judy Bonds <judy@crmw.net> wrote:
the debate is Monday---too late for letters to the editor adn papers always have a set date that they won't print political letters after during an election cycle.Judy----- Original Message -----From: Paul WilsonTo: bo webbSent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 10:08 AMSubject: Re: [EC] [fom] Jesse4wvgovLTEs would be the most useful form of informing the public. Especially with PATH coming thru the Eastern Panhandle and Jesse's opposition to MTR and coal industry. So does Jesse have any LTE's we can modify and send to local papers?? thanks paul w.
On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 8:14 AM, bo webb <webb.bo@gmail.com> wrote:
I suggest we as organizations, (because organizations speak for their members, representing thousands of us) to send individual organization press releases out to all media across the state about our concerns, coupled with personal calls from our respective executive directors to WV Broadcasters Ass. and local TV and radio stations news departments. Not an endorsement of Jesse, but demanding an inclusion of Jesse that guarantees a fair process that will bring our issue of mountain top removal to the discussion. The majority of WV citizens oppose mtr, etc.
Bo
On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 3:02 PM, Tonya Adkins <4themountains@gmail.com> wrote:
I called the WV broadcaster's association last week to complain, too. I was given basically the same answer, except the girl I spoke with also said that they were only including the candidates that would generate the most viewers...which doesn't even make sense. ...how do they know? I said they have a responsibility to provide the public with information representing differing viewpoints...and that Manchin is a republican masquerading as a democrat, so we now have two republicans debating each other...I also said it was reprehensible that they are engaging in a form of censorship.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 1:27 PM, Regina Hendrix <regina1936@verizon.net> wrote:
Thank you Rory. I hope a lot more people will call. Jesse is being locked out of the process and the voters are given no choice, since Manchin and Weeks are almost equally bad.
I have seen nothing in the Gazette on this endorsement, despite it being released statewide. I sent it personally to Ken Ward and Jim Haught. I also sent it to WV New Service. They usually do radio pieces and I feel sure they will do something but I was hoping for news coverage statewide. Any ideas, anyone???
Regina
Rory McIlmoil wrote:
Just to let everyone know, I called the WV Broadcasters Assn on Wednesday, expressing my concern about them leaving Jesse out of the debate, and about how that undermines the democratic principles that the state and the country are supposed to be based upon, and their response was to tell me that they were a private corporation, and their board had made the decision and that there had been little public outcry about it (so people need to be making more calls!!). I then mentioned to the woman who answered the phone that the Assn was then essentially privatizing our democratic institution, and she had no reply to that. Sounds more like an oligarchy to me.
On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 1:47 PM, Regina Hendrix <regina1936@verizon.net <mailto:regina1936@verizon.net>> wrote:
Pasted in below is the text of a press release just issued by
Sierra Club concerning our endorsement of Jesse Johnson for WV
Governor. This information was released this morning by Sierra
Club National Press Office in Wash. D.C. Oliver Bernstein
suggested anyone with press contacts send it around around also.
If you have contacts and would like a copy with the logo and
header on it, please contact me or Jim Sconyers at the phone
numbers listed on the release. I pasted it in because the FOM
listing will not accept attachments. (I have already forwarded it
to Ken Ward.)
Another action that Jesse has asked that we take is to contact Jim
Haught at Chas. Gazette (Haught@wvgazette.com
<mailto:Haught@wvgazette.com>) and ask him to run the op-eds by
Mike Gravel and Charlotte Pritt in the hard copy Gazette. (or
contact Haught by phone on 304-348-5199) They have been running
the op-eds only in the online version. Also, check out the online
versions and make comments, since Gazette keeps track of the hits.
Bill Price asks that Sierra Club members contact him on
304-389-8822, if they are able to donate some time to a Sister
Chapter Adoption Program sponsored by SC. Bill is serving in Ohio
right now to help Barack out in that battleground state and they
need more volunteers. Bill has info on the details, such as where
do you stay, etc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 3, 2008
CONTACTS: Regina Hendrix 304-343-5211 or
Jim Sconyers 603-969-6712
SIERRA CLUB ENDORSES JESSE JOHNSON
FOR WV GOVERNOR
Conservation Group Highlights Opposition to Mountaintop Removal,
Praises Work to Protect West Virginia's Environment
"We are very pleased to announce today that the Sierra Club WV
Chapter endorses Jesse Johnson for West Virginia Governor," said
Political Chair Regina Hendrix. "As the only gubernatorial
candidate working for a statewide ban on mountaintop removal, we
believe his candidacy will give West Virginians a chance to vote
for a governor who is dedicated to helping West Virginia's workers
by promoting renewable energy and keeping our state clean."
"Johnson showed how seriously he takes this issue by speaking to
tens of thousands of people nationwide during the last year about
the harsh realities of mountaintop removal. His plan for the
economy proposes tax breaks and incentives for businesses using
renewable energy technology and he has urged that citizens be
given a dividend from taxes generated from non-renewables such as
coal and natural gas. Unfortunately, Governor Manchin's support of
mountaintop removal has kept West Virginia from moving towards a
clean energy future that would benefit the economy and the
environment."
Mountaintop removal mining is a destructive form of coal mining
that has already buried more than 1,200 miles of streams and
threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of land by 2020. The mining
poisons drinking water, lays waste to wildlife habitat, increases
the risk of flooding and wipes out entire communities.
"Johnson shares many of the conservation principles that the WV
Sierra Club stands for," said WV Conservation Chair Jim Sconyers.
"He understands the energy crisis, the need to transition from
coal to renewable energy, and the looming threat of global - and
local - climate change. And he is dead set against taking away
West Virginia citizens' land for the sake of building huge power
lines that do not benefit West Virginia in any way."
"The Sierra Club also praises Johnson's opposition to proposed new
electric transmission lines," said Jim Kotcon, Chair of the WV
Sierra Club's Energy Committee. "These lines would allow private,
out-of-state electric companies to take private property from West
Virginia citizens primarily so those companies can make exorbitant
profits by gouging local electric ratepayers. Unfortunately
Governor Manchin supports this bad deal for West Virginia. Is that
what Manchin means by "Open For Business"? Instead of supporting
environmental destruction and higher taxes, Johnson says he will
work to derail these lines. That is what West Virginia needs."
Along with the endorsement, the Sierra Club will lend its
volunteer strength to Johnson's campaign. We look forward to a
victory party for the environment on election night and to many
years of Jesse Johnson fighting for the environment as Governor of
West Virginia."
# # #
Regina Hendrix
--
Kind Regards,
Rory McIlmoil
Coal River Mountain Wind Project
(w): (304) 854-2182
(h): (304) 854-1937
www.coalriverwind.org <http://www.coalriverwind.org>
www.crmw.net <http://www.crmw.net>
--
"No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it."
Albert Einstein
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--
Paul Wilson
Sierra Club
504 Jefferson Ave
Charles Town, WV 25414-1130
Phone: 304-725-4360
Cell: 304-279-6975
--
Vernon Haltom
Co-director
Coal River Mountain Watch
304-854-2182
www.crmw.net
www.coalriverwind.org
www.mountainjustice.org
For a Clean, Just, Sustainable Appalachia