Let's publicize! Threats to good people!

[margystewart785]

My question is:  Can we as AOK craft an op-ed protesting this intimidation tactic?   Michelle & Brandon Butts (unwavering advocates for natural areas in Marion County and opponents of Expedition Wind) have received a threatening letter from attorneys representing Expedition Wind and lease-holders.     Some background:  Before we were all quarantined, I visited Michelle in Marion County and explored her beautiful stream-side property; subsequently Tom Ewert agreed to help the folks there with a bird count.     Michelle is (with her husband Brandon) a niche farmer, a devout Christian, a mom to little ones, a home-school teacher, a day-care provider, and the treasurer of the state coalition.   Michelle and Brandon and their neighbors are parties to a lawsuit against Expedition Wind and the County, challenging corner-cutting in the rush to approve additonal turbines.   Here are relevant portions of the letter they just received :

"Your pursuit of the above-referenced claims (“Claims”) is tortiously interfering with my clients’ ability to realize the business expectancy and economic benefits expected from their respective contracts. Stated differently, but for your conduct of pursuing the baseless claims, my clients would be reasonably certain to realize the business expectancy and economic benefits flowing from their respective contracts.

 

Your conduct has already caused substantial injury to my clients. Expedition Energy, LLC already lost over $35,000,000 in Production Tax Credits and your continued pursuit of the Claims will likely cause damages to my clients exceeding several hundred million dollars. Given the significant damages at issue, it is important that you immediately stop your improper pursuit of the baseless claims referenced above. Please be advised that if you have not dismissed the Claims by close of business on April 1, 2020, we have been directed to take all necessary steps to protect our clients’ respective interests, including by commencing an action against you personally for tortious interference with our clients’ respective contractual rights and business expectancy as well as potentially claims for abuse of process."

When Michelle sent me the letter, she said the following:

"5 years ago our family had no choice but to move from our family farm in Mulvane and start  over.  It took about 2 months and we were sold on Marion County and its character. I could never move back to Sedgwick Co its just so flat!  Everyday my kids and I had the pleasure to stand at Indian Guide and gawk at what the natives and immigrants did in the early years and found so desirable.  Hills, native grass, Lek calls in the morning ,and HISTORY was a daily routine.   it only took us a few months to appreciate why we were placed in Marion County.  Through trial and tribulations, God had a plan for us.  So now 5 years later, that’s why I fight for this County.  God has only created this world once and it is our duty to truly appreciate what was given to us.  All I want is to be a steward, isn’t that it what is called of all of us?  Its painful to observe what greed does to people. Money comes and goes.  Sunrises and sunsets will never be the same.  NEVER." 

What do you think?  I propose doing an op-ed on this tactic.   During our wind wars in the Flint Hills, we saw the carrot more than the stick.  Here in Geary County Dis-Gen and then Iberdrola offered to build nature trails on Ron Y's and my property if we would drop our opposition.  They also paid for leases on neighboring properties where they never intended to build.  They tried to bribe more than scare us.    But now threats and intimidation are a standard part of their play book.  But if publicized, the tactic could be dis-armed--the letter certainly clarifies the company's prime motivation!     People like Michelle & Brandon should be allowed to pursue their democratic rights and not be bullied into silence.  It seems time for righteous anger!   If the board agrees, I will prepare a draft and submit it for the board's approval.   Thoughts?

Thanks, everyone, and best wishes!

Margy

 

 

[Robert McElroy]

Margy

I think it is appropriate to pursue this style of resistance to big wind

R McElroy

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 1, 2020, at 1:38 PM, margystewart785 <margyst...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Gary Haden]

I suggest we ask Randy, Dick and any other attorneys AOK might confer with on a regular basis what would be the best way to address this and then proceed accordingly.  I don’t think the vulgar response that I might send to Expedition Wind  would be as constructive as anything that our attorney friends might suggest. – Gary

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[The Yorke Powells]

These big wind companies use strong words and I wonder if they inflate their potential and real losses. 

Agree with Gary to run it by our friends who use the word tortious daily. 

Where would the OP Ed be printed? 

MAP

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[margy stewart]

Following Mary's and Gary's suggestions, let's ask the attorneys:  Any comments on "tortious?"

Thanks,

Margy

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Margy Stewart

Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge

11003 Lower McDowell Rd.

Junction City, Kansas  66441

785.539.5592  cell: 785.776.8852

prairiecommunity.blogspot.com

prairieheritage.org

[The Yorke Powells]

Assume it's part of your daily work as an attorney to work on torts.  But how much time "does running it by" really involve?

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[Michael Donnelly]

From an on-line definition of "tortious":  "constituting a tort; wrongful"

From an on-line definition of "tort":  "a wrongful act or an infringement of a right (other than under contract) leading to civil legal liability."

I'm not a lawyer, but it is hard for me to see how Michele and Brandon's actions infringe any actual right Expedition Wind might possess (a right to degrade the value of landowners' land?), and surely "wrongful" must be determined by some more general standard than the perception of the supposedly wronged party (I should think, contrary to some current tendencies in our standard-less society).

And the dollar claims of damages by the wind company seem egregiously inflated to me. 

By all means, consult sympathetic lawyers--and check with them, too, about how to couch a putative op-ed in such a way as to secure AOK (or Margy) against libel or tort claims from this litigious outfit.  (An old friend of mine who was a Profesor of Law told me once that he loved the teach Torts, because the issues are so complicated and there are so many views to consider--and he dearly loved to argue.)

Michael

M. L. Donnelly
Associate Professor of English (retired, Emeritus)
Department of English
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506

1819 Fairchild Avenue
Manhattan, KS 66502
Phone:   785 539 2530

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From: audubon...@googlegroups.com <audubon...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of The Yorke Powells <yorke....@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2020 9:39 PM
To: audubon...@googlegroups.com <audubon...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: Let's publicize! Threats to good people!

 

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[Cynthia Jeffrey]

I agree with Michael.

Cindy Jeffrey

Producer/Director, Video Services
Div. of Communications and Marketing
Kansas State University

1525 Mid-Campus Dr. North

Manhattan, KS 66506-6902
785-565-3326

“The presence of a single bird can change everything for one who appreciates them.”
― Julie Zickefoose, Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay

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From: audubon...@googlegroups.com <audubon...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Michael Donnelly <donn...@ksu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2020 2:10 PM

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[Elizabeth Dodd]

This sounds like a textbook example of a SLAPP suit. As such, it wouldn't be intended to actually win--just be so expensive to fight that the Buttses give up. I agree, we need legal advice regarding any op-ed. And I agree this is worthy of public attention. 

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