Lucien Gunter, the executive director of the Jefferson Economic Development Commission, said Friday he was the author of the politically themed emails that auditors flagged as inappropriate for sending from the public agency's electronic mail service. The messages centered on candidates in the 2010 Jefferson School Board races, when business activists were deeply involved in recruiting and backing challengers...
Lucien Gunter, the executive director of the Jefferson Economic Development Commission, said Friday he was the author of the politically themed emails that auditors flagged as inappropriate for sending from the public agency's electronic mail service. The messages centered on candidates in the 2010 Jefferson School Board races, when business activists were deeply involved in recruiting and backing challengers to oust incumbents.
Gunter said it "didn't cross my mind" at the time that he should not be using JEDCO's computer and email to express his opinions.
He said he knows better now. "Monday morning quarterbacking: It wasn't very smart," Gunter said.
One of the School Board incumbents who lost her re-election bid, Libby Moran, still smarting from the defeat, said she was not surprised by the email disclosure.
"I want to tell Mr. Gunter, 'You had a long run, but now it's over,'" she said. '"Have a good life, because what was done was criminal."
News of the inappropriate emails comes as JEDCO is trying to hire Gunter's successor. He announced his retirement plans in May, seven weeks after auditors privately reported their findings to JEDCO.
JEDCO Chairman Jim Garvey said "30 to 40" outgoing political emails were discovered this year during the agency's annual audit by Postlethwaite & Netterville. He said they were sent by a JEDCO employee -- he did not identify Gunter as the writer -- in response to outsiders' inquiries for the employee's "opinions and advice" on the School Board races.
While unsuitable for a public agency's email account, the number of messages was small, Garvey said. "JEDCO must receive tens of thousands of emails a year and send out tens of thousands a year," he said.
Indeed, the audit firm's discussion of the emails merits barely one page in the 63-page audit report, which was released June 6 on the state legislative auditor's website. Says the report: "During the course of our audit procedures for the year ended December 31, 2011, we were made aware of certain JEDCO employees that were engaged in political campaign activities during the year ended December 31, 2010. We observed de minimis use of JEDCO's email system to engage in these activities." (Read the full report.)
JEDCO Executive Director Lucien Gunter
As a result, the auditors said, JEDCO was not complying with a state law that says "no public funds shall be used to urge any elector to vote for or against any candidate or proposition."
The report does not reproduce the emails or identify their author. Garvey would not immediately release them.
Gunter said JEDCO's board reprimanded him. He said he has no regrets about sharing his opinions on School Board candidates, considering the importance of public education, but recognizes he should not have done it on JEDCO's computers and email account.
The 2010 School Board elections ended with four of the nine incumbents losing to business-backed challengers, making for one of the biggest turnovers in School Board history.