To Jim Perez, Communications Director for the Rachael Parker for County Board campaign:
You sent me an email under your real name with an attachment, which you asked be printed on my site. The attachment accuses various people of racist motives for various slights against your candidate and others. I printed the document, and added my comments at the end. I made a second post that commented on the allegations of racism.
Later, a comment from someone using the handle “chgo_PR_guy” posts a punch of comments on the two previous posts I have on the matter. One of those comments accuses me of making changes to the post:
“It wasn’t originally written, nor was it sent as a “one long incoherent rant.” It was rewritten to sound like that, changed to fit Mr. Dennis’ views.”
I responded:
“Excuse me, are you implying I changed the content of the email I received? If so, I assure you that is not the case, I reprinted this verbatim.”
And you replied:
I am not implying it.
I am saying it.
You changed it to fit your views.
I responded:
This is, of course, bullshit. I just posted the entire email, including header information to the post. If you are talking about the personal comments at the end, you have a comprehension problem.
You replied by saying:
As people can see, it was changed enough to change the meaning and tone.
Thank you, Mr. Dennis, for admitting that you do editorialize.
And thank you for printing my phone number and email addy.
I know, that as a blogger, you have that right.
But you call yourself a journalist, so please act like one.
Not printing personal contact info without that person’s consent would be a good start.
I know a few good journalists who’ve come out of EIU’s J-school program, and they wouldn’t print personal contact info without that person’s OK.
That’s something you should have learned in Journalism 101.
And this post is my reply, because I think you need to have your behavior in this matter brought out and exposed on the front page of this blog.
Sir: I did not out you. You outed yourself. I had no idea that “chgo_PR_guy” was “Jim Perez,” the communications director for the Rachel Parker campaign.
As a matter of policy, I do not out those who send me email. But your authorship of this letter is no secret. It appeared on the Community Word Website, and at least one other Peoria-area blogger that I know of received the same email, which did NOT include any request the authorship be kept confidential. As a journalist, you should know that “off the record” is not something that can be applied retroactively, nor is it something that is implied. “Off the record” status must be mutually agreed on by all parties.
And I also do not normally out commenters, but as I said earlier, you did that yourself.
Now, let us discuss the ethics of someone in the employ of a campaign posting anonymous blog comments in support of the people who are paying for them. I often suspect that candidates, elected officials and those in their employee make comments on this site about matters in which they are personally involved. I would prefer they didn’t. Most of my readers are smart enough to figure out who the shills are.
Once, I did deliberately out one such commenter [on the Peoria Journal Star website, not my own], because he was using an email address that obviously came from a family member and the comment itself contained a slur against the religion of other politicians.
And finally, there is the bulk of your complaint about me. You continued to try to tell my readers that I altered the comment of your letter. In response, I offer the following side by side comparison (printed on the bottom of my post). The one on the left is a cut and paste from the original email. The one on the right it a cut and paste from my post. I’ll let me readers judge for themselves. Since you saw fit to question MY ethics and I feel the need to set the record straight, I state right here that I will forward your original on-the-record email to anyone who wants to judge for themselves whether I altered the comment. Just send an email to peoriapundit AT gmail DOT com.
And finally, a lesson. Back in the old days, someone could dump on a news organization’s honesty and ethics with no response other than a “we stand by our story.” Well, this isn’t the good old days. We have the Internet now. And blogs. You take a dump on a blogger’s ethics and honesty on his own blog and he or she will respond. And as this post and the other two that mention this story (along with your name, your line of work and your email address) make their way through the Blogosphere and the search engines you will probably come to a greater understanding of the relative wisdom of your actions today.
Welcome to 2010.
| Peoria County Democrats Playing Plantation Politics in 2010 County Board Races, Candidates Say
PEORIA, Ill. – With the Feb. 2 primary a few days away, voters are being left in the dark about the political backdoor dealings that are manipulating the Peoria County Board races to help the status quo remain in power. In the 1st District, Bonnie Hester didn’t want to run for re-election, but was strongly urged to run by leaders of the Peoria County Democratic Central Committee. Why? Because former County Board Chairman David Williams is running for her 1st District seat, and it’s common knowledge that Williams and Billy Halstead, Peoria County Democratic Committee Chairman, do not get along. Their differences stem from Halstead trying to manipulate Board committee appointments and Williams refusing to play along during Williams’ tenure as Board chair. Halstead has even gone so far as to question Williams’ loyalty to the Democratic party, suggesting Williams may be a Republican because he forged relationships on both sides of the aisle during his 14-year tenure on the board. Susan Yvette Cagle, who was on the ballot for that same 1st District seat, was pushed to withdraw from the race. Through backdoor dealings by Halstead, Cagle was allowed to withdraw after the deadline. Cagle said she was asked to run, and was then intimidated and harassed to withdraw by Halstead and Jackie Petty, another Peoria County Democratic leader. She has phone records and saved messages showingnumerous intimidating calls to her. Halstead told Cagle she could use the Democratic Committee office to compile a list of voters and for whatever else she needed for her run. But Halstead never told Cagle he was supporting Hester, never said Hester was going to retire even though that was the message the 1st District incumbent was putting out. Hester said she felt overwhelmed with the demands of the position, a heavy workload at her full-time job, and health issues, which is why she did not want to seek re-election. Hester hasn’t really campaigned. The Democratic Committee is basically running her campaign for her. When Cagle found out Hester was going to run again, and that Halstead would support Hester, not her, “I really felt like I was used,” Cagle said. Another candidate, who possibly has the strongest credentials of all three women, is treated like a Republican outsider. Rachael Parker was never asked to speak with the Democratic Committee about her candidacy or her qualifications, despite the committee’s and other groups assurances that they would support all Democratic candidates. Other than Williams, all three candidates are black women. At a candidate’s forum, Halstead was hostile to Williams and Parker, peppering them with questions, as if he were questioning Republicans, not members of his own party. Even though he told Cagle he would meet with all candidates before the races took off, he never met with Williams or Parker. To add even more layers of craziness, the Peoria Journal-Star interviewed all the County Board candidates except for Williams and Parker. “This is the strangest race I’ve ever seen,” Williams said, wondering why the media will report on every other race except the County Board races. The question voters should be asking on Feb. 2 is: How racist does the Democratic Committee need to be? How sexist does the Peoria Democratic Committee need to be, said General Parker, Rachael Parker’s campaign manager. |
Peoria County Democrats Playing Plantation Politics in 2010 County Board Races, Candidates Say PEORIA, Ill. – With the Feb. 2 primary a few days away, voters are being left in the dark about the political backdoor dealings that are manipulating the Peoria County Board races to help the status quo remain in power. In the 1st District, Bonnie Hester didn’t want to run for re-election, but was strongly urged to run by leaders of the Peoria County Democratic Central Committee. Why? Because former County Board Chairman David Williams is running for her 1st District seat, and it’s common knowledge that Williams and Billy Halstead, Peoria County Democratic Committee Chairman, do not get along. Their differences stem from Halstead trying to manipulate Board committee appointments and Williams refusing to play along during Williams’ tenure as Board chair. Halstead has even gone so far as to question Williams’ loyalty to the Democratic party, suggesting Williams may be a Republican because he forged relationships on both sides of the aisle during his 14-year tenure on the board. Susan Yvette Cagle, who was on the ballot for that same 1st District seat, was pushed to withdraw from the race. Through backdoor dealings by Halstead, Cagle was allowed to withdraw after the deadline. Cagle said she was asked to run, and was then intimidated and harassed to withdraw by Halstead and Jackie Petty, another Peoria County Democratic leader. She has phone records and saved messages showing numerous intimidating calls to her. Halstead told Cagle she could use the Democratic Committee office to compile a list of voters and for whatever else she needed for her run. But Halstead never told Cagle he was supporting Hester, never said Hester was going to retire even though that was the message the 1st District incumbent was putting out. Hester said she felt overwhelmed with the demands of the position, a heavy workload at her full-time job, and health issues, which is why she did not want to seek re-election. Hester hasn’t really campaigned. The Democratic Committee is basically running her campaign for her. When Cagle found out Hester was going to run again, and that Halstead would support Hester, not her, “I really felt like I was used,” Cagle said. Another candidate, who possibly has the strongest credentials of all three women, is treated like a Republican outsider. Rachael Parker was never asked to speak with the Democratic Committee about her candidacy or her qualifications, despite the committee’s and other groups assurances that they would support all Democratic candidates. Other than Williams, all three candidates are black women. At a candidate’s forum, Halstead was hostile to Williams and Parker, peppering them with questions, as if he were questioning Republicans, not members of his own party. Even though he told Cagle he would meet with all candidates before the races took off, he never met with Williams or Parker. To add even more layers of craziness, the Peoria Journal-Star interviewed all the County Board candidates except for Williams and Parker. “This is the strangest race I’ve ever seen,” Williams said, wondering why the media will report on every other race except the County Board races. The question voters should be asking on Feb. 2 is: How racist does the Democratic Committee need to be? How sexist does the Peoria Democratic Committee need to be, said General Parker, Rachael Parker’s campaign manager. |
 |
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
The PR guy comes across as though he were toxed. If this guy is a representative of Parker then I think it shows just what Parker is about. He slammed most everyone who made a comment and whose view didn't line up in favor for Parker. How pathetic. What a bunch of player haters. Morons.
This whole situation is really a joke. As I said in a previous post, this is what happens when any nit-wit with a word processor thinks they can throw up a shingle and become a PR professional. No one who seriously worked in the field would be so dumb as to openly, and on numerous occasions, attack the credibility of someone they sent a release to and their audience.
I also stand by my previous post that this guy can't write to save his life, as the release is horribly written and seems more like someone throwing a tantrum as opposed to someone trying to educate the public regarding what they believe to be a serious case of discrimination in a political race. I think that is also why it wasn't picked up by other media outlets. Press releases shouldn't be full of assumptions as this one is.
I will also reiterate that I pray that this Perez guy is just a volunteer who wanted the the thrill of calling himself a "communications director" as opposed to a paid consultant or staffer. The quality of his work and the professionalism with which he conducted himself is below what i would expect from a PR intern on his/her first day on the job.
However, if he is a consultant let's hope the Parker campaign hasn't cut any checks yet!!
The PR guy comes across as though he were toxed. If this guy is a representative of Parker then I think it shows just what Parker is about. He slammed most everyone who made a comment and whose view didn't line up in favor for Parker. How pathetic. What a bunch of player haters. Morons.
I would like to hear from Rachael. I hope she was unaware of the shenanigans taking place behind her back.
The odd thing is this, his profile would indicate he's an experienced journalist and a PR professional. Yet, his behavior is similar to that of a guy who's handling the PR for a drinking buddy's campaign for president of the bowling league.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesperez
The odd thing is this, his profile would indicate he's an experienced journalist and a PR professional. Yet, his behavior is similar to that of a guy who's handling the PR for a drinking buddy's campaign for president of the bowling league.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesperez
It obviously was changed by Bill. The words are spelled correctly.
^ not
It obviously was NOT changed by Bill.
Bill — I also got the email and ignored it. It was obviously false. Why run a falsehood?
Motto — you step in the mud, you get dirty!
Well I won't be voting for her.
I'm NOT blaming Rachel Parker for this blowup with Mr. Perez. If you were inclined to vote for her, do so. It's not her fault this guy turned out to be a troll with a propensity for spreading easily disproved information.
regarding your admission that you "outed" a commenter, I think you should clarify for your readers that the commenter was not someone who commented on your site that gave you access to priveleged information – but rather, a comment that you pulled from the Peoria Journal Star and were able to deduce the identity through their loose privacy policies.
Correct. I misremembered the incident. Thank you.
It wouldn't be the first time Mr. Dennis gave away information about a commenter.
Computers leave footprints and anyone who ever thinks they are commenting anonymously are delusional.
I do blame her because she hired/appointed/etc. this guy. It shows lack of good judgement.
Anonymous comments should not be taken seriously, unless they contain information which otherwise would get the person fired or worse.
I am so sick and tired of the blacks screaming racism it makes me puke . it this what things have come too. No wonder I would rather not vote with all the corruption in Illinois