Re: questions

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KCUF Media [ Mike Blessing ]

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Oct 13, 2008, 10:49:06 PM10/13/08
to planet...@yahoo.com, Jay Vandersloot, Ron Bjornstad
Jim Davidson wrote:
> Dear Mike,
>
> I've been asked to check into the information Joseph Knight sent
> me several months ago about Gary Fincher.
>
> What are your opinions on the issues? What are your views on
> Knight?

I have mixed emotions about Joe Knight at present. When he's on
the right track, he's fantastic. When he drops the ball, he does
so big-time, as well.

See here for some details --
http://weblog.xanga.com/kcufmedia/665679533/the-temper-tantrums-of-joseph-knight.html

> Do you know Ron Bjornstad? Can you put me in touch with him.

I've known Ron for 13-14 years now, and he's a straight shooter.

Try mailto:rbjor...@earthlink.net or 505-288-4228

> Among other claims, it is part of Knight's allegations that Fincher
> falsified social security numbers on some of the paperwork. Do you
> have any information on that claim?

There were some irregularities in the Finchers' conduct during the
1999 voter registration drive. In December, 1999, I picked up some of
the completed registration cards from Gary and Karen while they were
working their table at the Albuquerque Wal-Mart adjacent to Cottonwood
Mall.

When I got home with the completed cards, I noticed that a few of them
(about 20) had 218 Iron St SW listed as the address of residence. That
address matched up with the Good Shepherd Mission, a homeless shelter
in the Downtown area of Albuquerque. The allegation was that Gary and/or
Karen paid the residents there to register as Libertarian.

As for the Social Security Number issue, Gary said that were in the
clear. The private investigator hired by Joe Knight said that they
violated the law. Denise Lamb, then head of the Elections Bureau, said
that it didn't matter when the issue was pressed to her.

The bigger issue was that the Finchers were alleged to have conned
people into registering as Libertarians by telling them that they
would still be able to vote in the Democrat and Republican primaries.
I'm not sure I buy that one, as while I was there at the Wal-Mart
picking up those registration cards, they told a guy filling out one of
the cards that he wouldn't be able to vote in the Republican primary, at
which point the guy ripped up the partially-completed card in a snit.

The LPNM was also paying Scott Kohlhaas of the LPAK to register voters
as Libertarian as part of the same drive, but Scott worked the Las
Cruces area instead of Albuquerque. When Scott heard about what the
Finchers were accused of, he went to the Dona Ana County DA's Office,
ran through his pitch, and was told he was in the clear by the people
there. When the LPNM had a special Central Committee meeting in January,
2000 to discuss the issue, the PI presented his report slamming the
Finchers, after which Scott said that he was doing the same sort of
pitch as the Finchers, and was told by County officials that he was in
the clear.

My understanding of the issue was that the Secretary of State (then
Rebecca Vigil-Giron), Attorney General (then Patsy Madrid) and their
cohorts in the County Clerk's Offices in Bernalillo and Dona Ana
Counties made a stink over the LPNM so they could use us as a precedent
to slam the Green Party down, as the GPNM had cost the Democrats a few
elections between 1994 and 1998. The LPNM, Joe Knight and the Finchers
simply got caught in the crossfire.

-- Mike Blessing

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