Should Council Candidates be Using City Email Accounts for Campaign Tricks?
Guidance on use of City Property for Political Campaigns April 30, 2014 7:52 AM
From: “Mark Schaefer” <mark@mark-schaefer.com>
To: “Bob Ford” <bford@port-orange.org> “Dennis Kennedy” <DennisK@port-orange.org> “Don Burnette” <dburnette@portorange.org> “Drew Bastian” <dbastian@port-orange.org> “Greg Kisela” <gkisela@port-orange.org> “Margaret Roberts” <mroberts@port-orange.org> “Allen Green” <AllenG@port-orange.org> “Robin Fenwick” <rfenwick@port-orange.org>
Mayor & City Council,
I do thank you for your decision a few weeks ago to protect the City seal/logo when it comes political campaigning. I do think it was the appropriate decision.
I do have a new concern though as I am seeing what could really only be described as using City paid for email accounts for opposition research and other political campaign purposes. There would be a Microsoft client assess license(CAL) that Port Orange would pay for each email account. I am referring in particular to a few emails that I saw from Sonya Laney. The topics and content of the emails do not appear to be related to City business, but rather political campaign efforts.
I would ask that City Council discuss this at your next meeting and provide appropriate guidance. In particular, I would ask that City email accounts and perhaps other City resources not be used for political campaign purposes.
Thanks,
Mark Schaefer
3606 Donna Street
Port Orange, Florida 32129
386-316-1206