IS HARRISON TRYING TO HIDE SOMETHING

Recently I have come into possession of a letter sent out by J. Albert Harrison seeking campaign contributions and support for his campaign to become the Property Valuation Administrator (PVA) of Oldham County. This letter raises several interesting questions.

First, Mr. Harrison states that he feels privileged to serve Oldham County in a “manner” similar to his military service. He does not elaborate on that
statement. While Mr. Harrison is certainly deserving of the appreciation of all citizens for his defense of this country in a time of war, his military service is not connected or similar to what the position of the PVA would require.

Second, Mr. Harrison states that he successfully took the required exam for the office of PVA and therefore is now fully qualified as a candidate. While he may be qualified under the color of law, that by no means proves that he is a qualified candidate by way of experience. As I have stated in the past, the qualifications of any candidate for any office are very subjective. That decision is best left up to the voters.

Without question the most interesting part of Mr. Harrison’s letter is that he has chosen to limit contributions by way of personal checks to a maximum of $100. He goes on to state that cash contributions are limited by statute to $50 per person. Harrison states that there are definite reasons for the limits. His first reason is: “First is my belief in allowing many supporters, not just a chosen few, to make contributions at a level that is not a financial burden.” This statement is incredulous. If he had no limitation on the size of donations that would not prevent anyone from supporting him. Harrison’s second reason is: “Second, with these limits I am not required to list donors' names and occupations.” Is he saying that he is too lazy too list the names? Is he saying that he wants to conceal the identity of his supporters? Is he trying to hide something? Frankly, I don’t know the answer but I certainly would like to know why he is choosing to be less than forthright with the identity of his supporters. There is an old adage that says, “The appearance of impropriety is sometimes worse than the impropriety itself.” I certainly hope that is true in this situation.

Harrison states that his reporting to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance entails only the total amount given and the aggregate number of contributors. He states that this method is a provision within the election regulations to encourage grass-roots giving. I certainly take issue with his statements. You don't need to limit contributions in order to encourage grass-roots support.

It can easily be argued that a candidate for election does not want to openly accept contributions in excess of $100 in order for the candidate to conceal the true identity of the donors to his campaign. This allows a candidate to accept contributions of any amount, for example, $5000, and claim that the donation was given by 50 individual donors. Certainly this is illegal but is certainly not outside the realm of possibility. Further, when a candidate does not publicize his contributors, he obscures the identity of any special interest group that may be supporting him.

In the past I have raised questions about the development industry in Oldham County and the attempt of that industry to control the politics within the County. A review of the past history of contributions from the development industry certainly reflects that the industry has been more than generous to candidates who support its positions on many issues. It is no secret that Mr. Harrison had been closely tied to developers and has been a supporter of the developers. I certainly hope that he is not using his contribution limitations to obscure support from any special interest group. This is a situation that certainly needs to be monitored. If Mr. Harrison were to try to conceal the identity of his supporters from the voters, it would certainly negate any glitter that he is deserving of for his military service.

Finally, Mr. Harrison states, “…I will operate the PVA office within all legal elements of the law to include recognizing and avoiding any aspects of nepotism”. He is clearly taking a shot at the current PVA, Ron Winters, due to the fact that Mr. Winters employs his wife, Barbara. Mr. Winters was cleared of this charge. Further, Barbara Winters took the qualifying exam for the PVA position at the same time that Mr. Harrison took the exam and she also passed it. It goes without saying that if Mr. Harrison considers himself qualified by virtue of having passed the PVA exam, Ms. Winters is also qualified. Besides, she has much more experience than he does but he is the one asking voters to put him in the PVA position. So, what is his beef?

One last comment, Mr. Harrison states that he can be contacted by using the contact information on his letterhead. I doubt that he can be contacted using the email address on the letterhead as it has two dots between “att and net.” I know that is being picky but I believe that Mr. Harrison fired the first shot by using the term “nepotism.”