Email: Elected Official Uses Office Staff to Campaign
2015/05/13 – An anonymous email to Hinds County officials accuses elected official of using his office and staff in his reelection campaign.
An anonymous email to Hinds County officials accusing an elected official of using his office and employees to campaign for reelection has prompted a resolution from the Board of Supervisors to all county officials that Hinds County falls under the federal Hatch Act, which prohibit certain campaign activity.
A major component of the Hatch Act is that it protects federal employees from political coercion in the workplace. The Hatch Act prohibits a person from engaging in political activity while on duty, in a government office, wearing an official uniform, using a government vehicle and wearing a partisan political button on duty.
The anonymous email sent to members of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors and others accuses Tax Collector Eddie Fair of using his office to campaign for reelection and is forcing employees to wear his t-shirts.
Fair denied Wednesday that he is using his office to campaign. He aid he doesn’t force any of his staff to campaign for him, but he said some do campaign when they are off the clock or after work or on the weekends.
“My former councilman, Frank Bluntson, was ridiculed for having a campaign car in front of city hall while he campaigned for mayor, while Eddie Fair is allowed to park his personal vehicle with “Re-Elect Eddie Fair” campaign magnets, in a short blue truck with an Omega Psi Phi tag plate out front of two courthouses and hand out campaign literature from the trunk of his county vehicle,” the email said.
The person in the email said calls have been made from supporters of Fair with his office’s phone number asking for support on his campaign. Fair denies the claim.
“Our tax dollars are not available for his campaigning efforts. On top of him making them tell each customer to remember to support them, make them have customers fill out forms to get their email and phone number info, and hand them cards with “Re-elect Eddie Fair” is unprofessional and illegal. They are wearing his shirts and have been threatened that if they don’t wear them, they will be sent home without pay or possibly terminated.”
Fair said employees wear his office t-shirts on Fridays and have done so for the last 12 years. He said employees of other county elected officials also wear their office’s shirts.
Board of Supervisors Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen said the Board of Supervisors has no authority over other elected officials, but recommended the board adopt the resolution he drafted that has language from the Hatch Act.
“We are covered under the Hatch Act because we used federal funds to run this county,” Teeuwissen said. “If you use federal funds, you have to abide by the law. As a policy-making body, we can say you are required to abide by applicable law.”
Teeuwissen said the Board of Supervisors will be sending with the resolution the message that if an official violates the Hatch Act, it will be upon that individual to face the consequences.
Source: The Clarion-Ledger
