49th Ward Failure to Communicate

A "bill of particulars"... Confusion in the 49th Ward, how typical of the 49th Ward. First, let me (sadly) confirm that the Gordon legal challenge has - to abandon legalese - been thrown out by Judge Marsha Hayes. Yes, apparently the "rumor" last Friday was true. But it was not until today that this was, more or less, admitted. Last Friday, July 20, in the early afternoon, I got a call from another blogger in the 49th Ward. He alerted me to talk of the Gordon challenge being tossed out by the judge. I immediately called Michael Harrington, former Gordon campaign chair and now heavily involved with the challenge, for confirmation - or denial. He flat out denied that the case had been "thrown out," and went on to say that it was a technicality, that Judge Hayes was demanding that the Gordon team present evidence immediately. Michael said that presentation of a mountain of evidence (of alleged Moore election team shenanigans) would be no problem. I - and others - were left to believe that the case had not been dismissed. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I admit that I was sidetracked by other activities and missed the following press release. I did not even look at email all weekend; I went to bed Friday night with Michael Harrington's words echoing in my ears: The case has not been dismissed. Another source, close to Don Gordon, had said the same words. Note to Don Gordon, Michael Harrington, and all at V.O.T.E.R. 49: Be more careful with what you say. If you do not know the answer to a question, there is no shame in saying so. It is better than giving misleading information, even if your intent is not to mislead. When a case is dismissed, it is dismissed, or "thrown out" in street parlance. Just because you plan to appeal, or petition, to rekindle the flame does not mean the fire has been extinguished. Just because you plan to make evidence public - even though the presentation of that evidence will not be in a court of law - does not mean the case is still alive. Nuance can be a powerful tool or weapon. We don't want nuance. We want straight talk. (By the way, we'd also like an explanation from Judge Hayes.) My sympathies are with the Gordon team, and I hope their petitioning of the court is successful. But if that petition effort is lost, we expect a better response from Team Gordon than we got on Friday afternoon. Below are two press releases, the first from Friday evening, the second from this afternoon. July 20, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO ALL NEWS MEDIA: Don Gordon and Attorney Michael LaVelle released the following statement this evening: Our ongoing challenge to the 49th Ward Aldermanic election results took an interesting turn today when Judge Marsha Hayes issued a ruling during a routine status hearing on the lawsuit. At the status hearing, Judge Hayes announced that she had reviewed the motion for what is termed a "bill of particulars" filed by Joe Moore. She then decided to review the briefs filed in connection with his earlier motion to dismiss which she had denied. Judge Hayes said she determined that she had made a mistake in granting a denial of the motion and that she was reversing that ruling. She entered an order granting the motion to dismiss. As a consequence, we are preparing a motion for reconsideration of today's ruling and also filing what is called a "motion for leave to amend the complaint." We are going forward with our field investigation and data analysis since we believe that this will provide the basis for a more detailed amended complaint. Now that we have been given the opportunity to examine records at the Board of Elections and also to do data analysis on the votes cast during the run-off election, we are further convinced that there were many irregularities. The bottom line is that this case is far from over. We will report on the date of the next hearing in the case as soon as possible." And then a followup release on Monday, July 23: Here is an updated statement about the next step in our court challenge to the 49th Ward Aldermanic Election, the ongoing investigation, and why supporting our Saturday, July 28 V.O.T.E.R. debut party is important. The letter and party invitation below are being emailed this afternoon to supporters in our community today with the subject line: You Can Help Continue Our Work for Accountability and Honest Elections! Thank you for your consideration in posting this. - Michael Dear 49th Ward Voters, On Friday July 20th, at a routine status hearing, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Marsha Hayes reversed her earlier decision denying the defendants' motions to dismiss our election challenge lawsuit. While we are dismayed by this unusual and somewhat unprecedented action, Judge Hayes's earlier ruling gave us an opportunity to proceed with our discovery process at the Chicago Board of Elections. The Board had to open their files and allow us to perform a thorough records examination of nearly 4,000 ballot applications and documents. What we found, coupled with other investigations we are currently pursuing, support earlier reports of irregularities and fraud that were our initial motivation for filing this case. Because of the legal precedent set years ago by another challenge to an aldermanic election result, we had the legal right to submit an amended complaint including evidence uncovered during the discovery process. We were preparing to present that amended complaint when Judge Hayes denied us that opportunity on July 20th. Now we must petition the court to allow us to execute that right and to present our amended complaint. We are going forward with our investigation and data analysis, which will provide the basis for a more detailed amended complaint. Regardless of the outcome of our petition to the court, in due course we will make the evidence we uncovered during our investigations available for public review. Citizens of the 49th ward and throughout the City of Chicago will have the opportunity to evaluate for themselves whether this election was conducted fairly. Our V.O.T.E.R. Debut Party this Saturday, July 28 is the next step in our effort to establish a non-partisan watchdog group to promote accountability and honest elections in the 49th ward. We welcome all residents of the 49th ward and everyone who values integrity in the electoral process to join us in pursuit of this important work. The free, honest, and transparent functioning of our government depends on it. Thank you, Don Gordon, Eileen Foxman, Eva McCann, Blane Roberts Founding V.O.T.E.R. members