As if John Sweet outspending Don Gurney by almost 4 to 1 isn’t enough, Jon Barton is now trying to imply that challenger Don Gurney is engaging in illegal campaign practices. Barton was a member of the structure advisory committee that tried to perpetrate a fraud in the form of a “study” in order to foist an administrator on the county. Having Barton challenge someone’s ethics is a little like listening to his buddy John Knutson defending his false and self-serving allegations against Captain Yates or the philandering ex governor Mark Sanford claiming he was just hiking the Appalachian Trail.
In a nod to just how desperate the pro-gas crowd are becoming, in a letter to the editor, Barton complains about the content of a local radio talk show hosted by Jim Bice and over which Gurney has no control whatsoever. Barton goes a step too far.
In the end, they turn out to be little more than a campaign commercial for Don Gurney. Presumably, these shows are not coordinated with the Gurney campaign because if they were, they would be illegal without disclaimers and declaration of in-kind contributions in Gurney’s campaign filings under state election laws.
The implication is unnecessary as well as undeserved and a low blow even for Barton and his cronies. Does the Kitzhaber campaign have a claim against Richardson and Lars Larson? To top it off Barton completes his dishonest and childish implications by encouraging a vote for “adult leadership”.
Yes, let’s vote for adult leadership and elected Don Gurney!
