No campaign violations found in school race.Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard CORRECTION (ran 5/12/2005): Eugene School Board candidate Nadia Sindi said she attempted to e-mail a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. regarding interviews by KMTR-TV, but that the message bounced back to her and was never sent. A story Wednesday on Page D1 said she had sent the complaint, and that the FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. had no record of it. The Oregon Secretary of State's Office has dismissed allegations by Eugene School Board candidate Nadia Sindi of elections-law violations by a local television station and supporters of Aria aria (är`ēə), elaborate and often lengthy solo song with instrumental accompaniment. In the 16th cent. it was a melody improvised over a strophic bass line, and a distinction was made between instrumental, vocal, and dance arias. Seligmann, one of Sindi's opponents in the three-way race for Position 6. In a letter sent last week to the office's Elections Division, Sindi complained that two women she described as close supporters and fund-raisers of Seligmann - Susan Cundiff and Brooke Robertshaw - have been aggressively urging people in Eugene's progressive community to endorse Seligmann over her. The letter did not specify how this violated elections law. In addition, Sindi complained that KMTR, a Eugene NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. affiliate, had interviewed both Seligmann and incumbent Eric Forrest Eric Forrest was the bassist/vocalist who joined Voivod after the departure of original vocalist Denis Bélanger (Snake) in 1994. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Eric was a member of previous bands Liquid Indian and Thunder Circus. He departed Voivod in 2000 when Snake returned. without ever mentioning she was a candidate in the May 17 election. She included a copy of an e-mail she sent to the Federal Communications Commission saying she was denied equal time, calling it a "deliberate act of racism." Sindi is Arab-American. KMTR General Manager Cambra Ward said Forrest and Seligmann were interviewed specifically about Forrest's role as a soft drink executive, which Seligmann had publicly characterized as a conflict of interest on the school board. However, Ward noted, a week later the station also interviewed Sindi. Mark Berlin, an attorney with the FCC's political programming division, said he had no record of Sindi's e-mail complaint to the agency. He did not believe that KMTR violated FCC equal-time rules equal-time rule, a Federal Communications Commission rule that requires equal air time for all major candidates competing for political office. It was preceded by the fairness doctrine, abolished in 1987, which required radio and television broadcasters to air , which exempt interviews with candidates on regular news programs. Lastly, Sindi's letter to the Elections Division accused Seligmann's campaign manager, William Maxwell A number of people are called William Maxwell:
felon n. a person who has been convicted of a felony, which is a crime punishable by death or a term in state or federal prison. . Sindi was convicted in 1998 of criminal mischief, a Class C felony, and ordered to pay restitution of more than $5,358.60. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a Lane County Circuit Court judgment, Sindi in 1996 or 1997 damaged three cars belonging to neighbors Richard and Stacie Mount. Sindi denies any guilt, and said she is working to clear her record. She said the conviction is a small piece in a larger matter related to her condominium condominium In modern property law, individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building. Unit owners have undivided ownership interest in the land and those portions of the building shared in common. , and that some elements are still working their way through the court system, preventing her from discussing details. The Register-Guard received an anonymous call last month about the conviction. Seligmann said no one from her campaign made that call. In a four-page letter to Sindi, Elections Division compliance specialist Norma Buckno said her office found no violation of election laws. The office has no authority to require the media to provide equal time to candidates, she said, and none of the alleged actions by Seligmann's supporters constitute "undue influence" as defined in elections law. "The right to engage in political expression is constitutionally guaranteed," Buckno wrote. Sindi said she has no plans to pursue the complaints further, but accused some of her opponents of ongoing "intimidation and abuse." Seligmann said neither she nor anyone involved in her campaign was aware of Sindi's legal troubles, and that her campaign is focused on the issues. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion