Northup Broke Law?

From Conservative Edge:

At 7:45 A.M. on Thursday, May 10th, 2007, I made a request for a document from the Northup campaign, that would have been a valid request under Kentucky's open records law. The request was made to Northup press secretary Barry Peel, who said he would respond that day.

Now, at the close of business on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007, there has been no response at all from a legitimate member of the Northup campaign. ( Her supporters have certainly responded with contempt and sarcasm, but there has been no official response). Under Kentucky's open records act, all requests must be responded to with 72 hours, excluding hoildays and weekends. Technically, my request would have required a response by this morning, but I gave the Northup camp some extra time.

Responses could have included: We need more time. The document requested does not exist. There is an exception to the law that allows us to refuse the reuest. Your request must be in writing. We don't have the document, you can contact the facility that does. Or, finally: Here is your document.

The document in question would not likely have fallen under any open records exception, since it would have been prepared by a governmental agency regarding an ethics situation. Roll Call magazine had requested Northup obtain a written ethics opinion, concerning her arrangements with a Lousiville charity that Northup founded. Northup also appointed the charities director according to Roll Call magazine, and sat on its board of directors. The charity began receiving federal dollars that were earmarked from the appropriations committee of which Northup was a member. The COnservative Edge made a precise request for the written ethics opinion Roll Call had requested Northup obtain.

The request became relevant when Northup began touting her ethical purity late last month, and challenged Governor Fletcher's ethics. Obviously, Republican primary voters were entitiled to know what skeletons Northup might have regarding ethical short comings. Northup ran commercials featuring "ads that Democrats will run in the fall" against Fletcher. The Conservative Edge wanted to know what "ads that the Democrats would run in the fall" against Northup.

At this point, the Northup campaign does not have to follow the open records law. But aren't campaigns designed in part to show voters how the candidate would act if elected? As well, Northup has been pestering Governor Fletcher to answer her document requests and to explain his relationship to Bob Barr. We can't even get Northup to respond to a simple request. Is her attitude "do as I say, not as I do".

Many of Governor Fletcher's detractors complained about the Governor not being responsive to their needs when he first took office. It appears as though Anne Northup is not repsonsive to the needs of those whom she does not like or believes are beneath her. As Fletcher found out, that is not a good way to govern