Political Practices Commissioner rejects 3 complaints in sheriff’s race
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Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth won’t be investigating three complaints against Jay Doyle for Sheriff filed just before Election Day. Unsworth rejected the complaints — which were identical, he said — because “the complaint wasn’t specific enough.”
On Oct. 27 and 28, Bob Williams, John Swenson Jr. and Troy Ricciardi, all of Polson, filed complaints with Unsworth alleging that Jay Doyle and his supporters “are knowingly violating federal mail fraud statutes (and) Montana state civil and criminal statutes in an attempt to illegally influence Lake County voters in the election scheduled for Nov. 2, 2010.”
The complaints alleged that the Doyle campaign illegally distributed anonymous political fliers in mailboxes, at candidate forums and by e-mail throughout Lake County in the weeks leading up to the election, but Unsworth said he wasn’t presented with enough evidence to merit an investigation into the allegations.
His office’s first step in checking out complaints is to determine if the complaint is grounded in a violation of campaign law.
“If it’s not campaign law, we can’t touch it,” Unsworth said.
In their complaints, Williams, Swenson and Ricciardi alleged that Doyle violated several Montana statutes, among them illegal influence of voters; election materials not to be anonymous; and privacy in communications; as well as federal statutes on mail fraud, by distributing fliers with the headline, “Warning: Don’t be fooled!” The fliers stated that sheriff’s candidate Steve Kendley and Concerned Citizens of Lake County “are one and the same;” that claims of corruption in the sheriff’s office made by former LCSO deputy Terry Leonard are false; that a complaint filed with the Commissioner of Political Practices against the Jay Doyle campaign is “baseless;” and that Concerned Citizens of Lake County is a Political Action Committee.
The fliers also included a copy of an Aug. 7 e-mail from Leonard to about 20 people — their seemingly personal e-mail addresses are included on the fliers — with the subject heading “RE: Steve Kendley Election Volunteer Meeting.” In the e-mail, Leonard asks Mike Gehl, an LCSO detective and Kendley’s campaign manager, to reschedule an election volunteer meeting set for Aug. 19, since Leonard and several other people — apparently Kendley supporters — were planning to attend a meeting of the Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council on the same day.
“The POST Council meeting in Helena ends at 5:30 p.m., which would not give us enough time to get back for this election meeting,” Leonard states in the e-mail.
The fliers claimed that the e-mail links Kendley with Concerned Citizens of Lake County, a claim Kendley has repeatedly denied, although he said he agrees with several of the allegations of corruption in the sheriff’s office that are listed on asksheriffluckylarson.com. The asksheriffluckylarson website states that it’s sponsored by Concerned Citizens of Lake County, and Leonard says he is the site’s owner and founder.
The fliers in question go on to say, “Perhaps it is time to reconsider who you support and whose sign is in your front yard” — a statement that Williams, Swenson and Ricciardi’s complaints said was a threat to voters.
“I have no jurisdiction over allegations of violations of federal mail fraud statutes, laws prohibiting invasions of privacy, the criminal laws cited in your complaint, or allegations involving Doyle’s oath of office or code of ethics,” Unsworth said in his official response to Williams, Swenson and Ricciardi. “Regarding the alleged violations of statutes within my jurisdiction, I note that your complaint does not include evidence that would tend to prove that either Doyle or one of his supporters is responsible for the flyer.
“Your complaint appears to be largely based on speculation.”
On Nov. 2, Doyle, a Republican, won a three-way race for Lake County Sheriff against Independent Steve Kendley and Democrat Dan Yonkin. Doyle takes office Jan. 2.
