Friday, May 11, 2007

It's All Part of the Adventure

Just when I thought my life was weird enough, it got weirder. Someone wiser than I said, “No good deed goes unpunished.” I don’t know who said it first -- probably an Ancient Greek or Roman. The first time I heard it, it was said by B.J. Hunnicutt (or was that Trapper John?) on M*A*S*H which is probably the greatest comedy ever to grace the boob tube. That statement came to mind this week and this time I’m not laughing.

Those of you who visit here regularly are familiar with my “Random Thoughts” blogs where I ramble about whatever is rattling around my alleged mind. The last one contained an item about the committee I serve on as secretary. We hosted a well-received “Meet the Candidates” night before the primary. Unfortunately, not everyone was pleased. One mayoral candidate is filing a lawsuit against our entire committee. He claims we denied him his rights and damaged his campaign because we didn’t allow him to speak that night. He says is suing us for discrimination and assorted other grievances.

The reason he was not permitted to speak is that we sent each and every candidate an information sheet and a questionnaire and there was a deadline to return both to us if they wished to participate. The Post Office returned this man’s letter with -- notification that they didn’t deliver mail to that address. We checked with the Board of Elections to see if they had another address but they didn’t. However, they did duly note in the record that we made the inquiry. We also tried to telephone him but were told he didn’t live at the number he gave. We later learned that the Post Office refuses to deliver mail to him for some reason. I’d say we did what we could within reasonable limits and changing our rules for him would have been unfair to the candidates who complied with our requests.

We did not hurt his campaign – his opponent received 85% of the vote and furthermore, the attendance at our event wasn’t enough to make a difference in this race plus that Ohio has a closed primary and our forum included candidates from both parties so I'm guessing half the audience were Republicans. His opponent was our current State Representative who is very well known.

The day after the primary each committee member received a telephone call from this man – at times when no one should receive calls. Mine came at 10 p.m. I was told that he was putting me on notice so I could prepare to go to federal court and that I had better get a lawyer. I wished him good luck and told him I wasn’t going anywhere and hung up. One of the other members sent us a message he left her answering machine and he made some rather nasty allegations about the treasurer of our committee that I think could be actionable. He actually told one of our members that she could kiss her house good-bye. I didn’t stay on the phone with him long enough for him to threaten me and I almost feel sorry for him if he tries it as about the most expensive thing I own is my computer and it isn’t the latest and greatest.


The good news is that our city law director and several others have told us that this man is known for scurrilous and frivolous lawsuits. Even better news is that if he does manage to get a judge to hear his case, the head of one of the most prominent law firms in our city has offered his assistance to the entire committee. With the things this idiot has said to and about some of us, I think he should be more concerned about a countersuit.

I really don’t think this bozo has a snowball’s chance in hell of getting his alleged case heard much less winning it but it’s still aggravating. Our committee is just a group of concerned citizens who think that people should vote and we try to provide them with an the opportunity to hear and meet the candidates so they might make informed decisions. We think we’re doing something good for our city which takes me back to my opening statements: no good deed goes unpunished. And it's all part of the adventure I call Life. Sigh.

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!!!

Kay

P.S.: In case y’all hadn’t noticed, I’ve been posting more lately. That’s partly because my brain is running over with ideas and partly guilt. I decided that I needed to write more so here I am. I think it’s good for me so pop by often!

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:10 AM

    Well, I for one am glad to see you posting more frequently... which is no way a criticism since I post infrequently myself; I just enjoy your posts.
    I like that little grassroots committee idea. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:17 AM

    This man is crude, rude and uncivil. He is a pain in the arse as the English say. Keep your chin up Kay. Read my latest post "On Civility" when you have a free moment. And have a good day !!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awwwwwwwwww thanks, AQ!!!! I enjoy your posts, too, my very good friend. And the committee is a result of taking neighborhood leadership training for our neighborhood associations. Our committee was formed to remind the politicians that we vote!!! We jam City Council meetings twice a year & fill the "Public Speaks" portion to let them know our concerns.

    He doesn't scare me, Paul, or any of us -- he is a wart on the butt of humanity. We've a lot of support from the community from people of both parties who think as you do. I will be over to see your civility post because the lack of it today is a bee in my bonnet!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,
    Tag! If you need more motivation to blog, check out my blog tag.
    http://goinglikesixty.wordpress.com/2007/05/12/the-bloggers-irrestible-invitation/
    If not, no problem.
    Mark
    http://goinglikesixty.com

    ReplyDelete

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