Council members misused e-mails

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson apparently was not the only city leader using public resources for political purposes during the past election campaign.

According to e-mails obtained through an open records request, some City Council members also occasionally used city-funded e-mail to talk politics during the 2003 campaign, and some council staffers occasionally brought together potential supporters and incumbent City Council candidates.

According to the e-mails, hooking up voters and council members ended Sept. 8, 2003, when then Council Chairman Carlton Christensen and council executive director Cindy Gust-Jenson determined the practice was a misuse of public resources.

Earlier this month, Gust-Jenson announced that the council had finalized a new policy that would preclude staffers from doing anything more than directing interested voters to incumbent council members campaigns.

That policy had been in the works since the 2003 election and did not play a part in the e-mails involved in the Anderson campaign e-mails.

"It was totally unrelated," she said. "It was a follow-up from the previous confusion on the part of the staff."

Earlier this month, Anderson asked Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom to investigate more than e-mails Anderson wrote or received from campaign workers during the 2003 election — an apparent violation of laws forbidding office holders from using taxpayer resources for campaign purposes.

Previous Government Access Management Records Act requests for Anderson's e-mails turned up 142 communications the mayor had about his campaign. Anderson's office also said other such communications were deleted but they didn't know how many.

In those existing 142 e-mails — sent and received on the mayor's city e-mail address — Anderson discussed campaign newspaper advertising, radio spots, television ads, paying campaign bills, campaign budget issues, obtaining endorsements of various people, voter lists, political surveys and questionnaires, among other campaign issues.

Anderson has admitted he likely broke the state law, which reads "a municipal officer or employee may not use municipal equipment while engaged in political activity."

Assistant Attorney General Thom Roberts said he couldn't find criminal penalties listed in state statute. However, Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Bob Stott said his office is investigating and doesn't do investigations that don't include criminal penalties.

"If we're looking at a case there's the possibility of criminal charges," he said.

In one of the council e-mails, Christensen, who was not up for re-election in 2003, discusses his views on why Anderson shouldn't be re-elected.

"Virtually nothing is worth another four years with him," Christensen wrote to Tiani Coleman, a Republican campaign staffer organizing support for challenger Molonai Hola.

In other e-mails councilman Dave Buhler responded to supporters who asked if they could have his lawn signs on their yards.

"Thanks Gary. We'll get one to you," Buhler wrote in one message.

Buhler said such replies were only for politeness' sake and he never initiated political conversations.

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