Morrison: "Cid Galindo Must Stop Harassing Voters"

by: David Mauro

Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 02:24 PM CDT

In a new e-mail, Laura Morrison accuses her opponent Cid Galindo of "harassing voters" with "deceptive phone calls."

Here's an excerpt from the e-mail, the full text of which can be found after the jump.

Today I called on my opponent – Cid Galindo – and groups supporting him to stop the telephone harassment of voters, especially seniors, during the runoff election for Austin City Council, Place 4. While we have only placed one automated call to refute false charges made by her opponent and one live call, voters have been assaulted by repeated phone calls on behalf of Cid Galindo – with some voters complaining of receiving upwards of 30 calls.

Laura Morrison has been endorsed by Burnt Orange Report, the Austin Chronicle, the Austin American-Statesman and every endorsing Democratic club.

Early voting ends tomorrow (pdf list of locations) and Election Day is Saturday, June 14.

Cid Galindo Must Stop Harassing Voters with Deceptive Phone Calls
Today I called on my opponent – Cid Galindo – and groups supporting him to stop the telephone harassment of voters, especially seniors, during the runoff election for Austin City Council, Place 4. While we have only placed one automated call to refute false charges made by her opponent and one live call, voters have been assaulted by repeated phone calls on behalf of Cid Galindo – with some voters complaining of receiving upwards of 30 calls. Some of the calls include:

A push poll, in which the caller tricks voters by telling them they are taking a "survey" sponsored by the "Small Business Group". When the caller asks whom they're supporting, if their preference is Morrison or Undecided, they are told false statements about our campaign. Push Polling is near-universally reviled because of its negative and deceptive nature. The Small Business Group also launched an automated phone message this week with a new deceptive message.

An automated phone "poll" asking voters to indicate their preference in the runoff, which has been repeated over and over, including multiple times in the same day. Some people say they have been called as many as 6 times in one day.

Numerous automated calls from city lobbyists and other Cid Galindo surrogates touting their support of Galindo and misrepresenting my positions on important issues.

Who's paying & who's phoning?

Cid Galindo Campaign - Automated and Live Calls
City of Austin Campaign Finance records show that Cid Galindo has paid Opinion Strategies over $40,000 for computer and live phone calling and consulting. Opinion Strategies is a San Marcos political consulting firm run by Sam McCabe and Eric Heggie located at 1013 Chestnut St. D2, San Marcos 78666.

Galindo Supporters, Small Business Group – Live Push Polling and Automated Calls
City of Austin Campaign Finance records show that The Small Business Group has paid E-Communication Advantage, an Austin telemarketing center, over $6,400 to conduct deceptive push polling. The Small Business Group is led by ex council candidate Carl Tepper and Roger Chan. The wording and timing of the calls suggest illegal coordination with Galindo's campaign.

This is one of the most deliberately deceptive campaigns Austin has seen in years. Cid Galindo needs to stop this harassment of voters by his campaign and surrogates. Apart from the one single automated call I made a week ago and one live call, my campaign has not made any other calls. We have not been part of this telephone assault. The voters deserve to know that only Cid Galindo can put a stop to this harassment.

The following is just one example of many emails received by our campaign:

'I have received a phone call from either a tape recorded message or a live person at least once a day for 2 weeks (not an exaggeration at all, sometimes twice a day) from a group claiming to be opinion research strategies" with a "one question survey regarding the upcoming runoff election for Austin city council between Morrison and Galindo." I have on 3 occasions asked to be taken off the list, but the calls keep coming - the same call and the same question everytime.'

We need you to tell your friends and family about Cid Galindo's harassment of voters. Please forward this e-mail, and remind people that Early Voting ends tomorrow (June 10) and Election Day is Saturday June 14.

Sincerely,

Laura Morrison
Candidate for City Council Place 4

Tags: Laura Morrison, Cid Galindo, Austin, (All Tags)

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Morrison: "Cid Galindo Must Stop Harassing Voters" | 6 comments

Morrison is a hypocrite (0.00 / 0)

We got a push-poll at our house from her campaign before the first round of the election in which my wife was asked if she was aware Galindo had voted in the Republican primary.

There's also this report:

http://snowedin2006.blogspot.c...

Yes, that's the same Ignite Consulting which made some, uh, problematic robocalls for Jennifer Kim, which were downplayed by this site but NOT the voters.

by: m1ek @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 15:56:45 PM CDT

Disgusted (0.00 / 0)

I've been disgusted by both sides in this campaign. Going to have to vote against Morrison and her Neighborhood Association backers, but the decision blows. Wish we could have had Cravey.

by: tthomas48 @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 16:14:41 PM CDT

Gone Negative (0.00 / 0)

All of this voter suppression is obviously working. People get disgusted to a point that they just no longer want to show up. I personally hate those tactics, but it's hard to find a consultant in Austin that doesn't resort to them.

Between the robocalls and competing mail-outs, this race is certainly reaching place-3-esque levels of animosity. I've seen some pretty weird mailers from Place 4. The worst is Cid Galindo's mailer that depicts a burglar stealing your keyboard - excuse me - "identity", referencing Laura's support for the open government amendment. That mailer bleeds scare tactics and really skews why most people had a problem with that proposition.

As for the attacks on Cid, I personally have no problem with anyone pointing out a republican voting record. It's pretty obvious that almost every democratic group in Austin endorsed Laura Morrison. The few that didn't went to Robin.

I don't like that fight over whether he is an 'urban planner' or not. He served on the planning commission and works for a planning firm. Does it matter that much? As a "planner" myself, I don't see anything too special in that title.

Oh well, the race ends Saturday. I am confident the one who took the higher road will come out on top.

by: Bobby Levinski @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 08:29:24 AM CDT

What about these harassing e-mails? (0.00 / 0)

I'm getting pretty tired of these harassing e-mails from Morrison. I can't remember the last time she offered a substantive proposal.

by: Jeb @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 10:30:43 AM CDT

Harrassing calls- not just by Cid (0.00 / 0)

I only got one call on behalf of the Galindo campaign. I got at least six on behalf of the Morrison campaign.

by: scooby @ Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 14:49:12 PM CDT

Why does Galindo oppose energy efficiency? (0.00 / 0)

The late Bob Bullock used to say (and I will clean this up just a little, but you will get the point), if you throw mud, you get mud on your own hands. Yes, this runoff campaign has gotten ugly, particularly in comparison to the dignified first Place 4 campaign. My friend Robin Cravey was defeated but he has no apologies to make to anyone about the honorable way he campaigned.

Then comes the runoff with Cid Galindo diving right into the mud with this specious home sales tax attack. I question just what Galindo has against improving the energy efficiency of the current Austin housing stock?

Having been through five or six of these reviews over the years, I can say without reservation Austin Energy's home energy efficiency programs are among the best things the city does, about anything. Costs of a little foam and weather stripping in the right places, generous incentives and rebates on efficient appliances all can and do offer short term payoffs and lasting energy savings to individual customers. And, speaking as one of the owners of our city-owned utility, like you, it can help Austin Energy meet demand much longer without huge new investments--our investments--in new peak capacity.

I have heard Laura Morrison say she wants all the stakeholders to participate in a consensus way to get current efficiency tools into the widest possible use. I have seen her take this approach to building consensus before and she has impressed me as just the kind of deliberate problem solver who generally makes the best kind of city council member.

I too regret that things have gotten so ugly, but if I were in Morrison's shoes, I would not let myself be Swift Boated for trying to find the right thing to do, either.

by: JuanBongo @ Thu Jun 12, 2008 at 23:50:58 PM CDT