St. Louis Dispatch commentary about Eckersley firing - Missouri Governor

Slime and punishment St. Louis Dispatch Wednesday, Oct. 31 2007 Here is the key fact to remember about the controversy over e-mails in Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt's office: This is about your right to know what your government is doing in your name on your dime. Forget for a moment the charges and counter-charges. Forget the slime-ball tactics used by Mr. Blunt's aides and allies. Ignore the rumors floated by the governor's staff about "bad life choices." Ignore the allegations of Mormon-bashing and bawdy talk in the governor's office. Keep your eye, instead, on the amazing fact that copies of e-mails in the governor's office mysteriously disappear when they don't serve his purpose but are delivered in bulk, unsolicited, by FedEx courier when they do. And focus on this: You're paying these people. You have a right to know what they're doing on state time, with state resources, in conducting state business. And they're hiding it from you, even as they poke their noses into the private life of a former colleague. To recap: In early September, Tony Messenger, editorial page editor of the Springfield News-Leader, filed a Sunshine Law request for copies of e-mails written by Ed Martin, the governor's chief of staff, during the week of Aug. 20. Mr. Messenger had obtained a copy of an e-mail sent on Mr. Martin's state government account soliciting help from a pro-life group in trying to get Attorney General Jay Nixon removed as the state's lawyer in defending a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood. Mr. Martin claimed that he had deleted the messages from his computer and that no back-up copies existed. In today's business world, such a claim simply is not credible. Reporters then began asking questions about the state's policies regarding the retention of state documents. On Sept. 18, Mr. Blunt told Jo Mannies of the Post-Dispatch that e-mails were public records but that he was unaware of any policy about retaining them in his office. Ms. Mannies' story was published Sept. 19. Enter Scott Eckersley, an idealistic 30-year-old Republican and, at the time, deputy counsel to the governor. He says that on Sept. 20 and 21, he repeatedly told fellow staff members in the governor's office, orally and through e-mail, that there was, indeed, a written retention policy. Three days later, he learned via a Democratic-aligned website that he'd been fired. Two days after that, he met with Mr. Martin, who made accusations about Mr. Eckersley's personal and professional behavior. Distraught, Mr. Eckersley went into seclusion, although he hired a lawyer and communicated privately with Ms. Mannies and Mr. Messenger. On Friday, Oct. 26, a website run by a Republican political operative named Jeff Roe published an ominous message to "news editors," warning them to avoid the Eckersley-as-victim angle of any story. "Nothing could be further from the truth," Mr. Roe's website said. That same day, last Friday, the state Office of Administration in Jefferson City took it upon itself to send Ms. Mannies, Mr. Messenger and two other reporters, via FedEx weekend delivery, a box containing copies of e-mails gleaned from Mr. Eckersley's former state e-mail account. The reporters had not asked for them. Included were privileged communications with his lawyers that detailed his contacts with reporters. Mr. Eckersley finally spoke on the record to Ms. Mannies and Mr. Messenger for stories that were published Sunday. Mr. Eckersley explained that he had received permission from his boss to use his state e-mail account to review legal matters for a family business and that he had instructed the business' computer server to stop forwarding his family e-mail to the state. He also said he never felt quite comfortable in Mr. Blunt's offices, where bawdy talk and derogatory comments about his Mormon faith were the norm. This past Monday, the website of the aforementioned Mr. Roe went into some detail about Mr. Eckersley's "bad life choices," accusing him of being a "pervert" and a "liar." Whatever his life choices, there is no evidence that Mr. Eckersley spent state time or resources on them. For trying to serve the people of Missouri and do his job for Matt Blunt and Ed Martin, Scott Eckersley got slimed and now must defend his private life. You know what a "bad life choice" is? Working for people like that. -- http://www.bransonedge.com http://www.bransonmissouri.blogspot.com