Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Aerodynamic: Church Flyers Unethical

Aerodynamic: Not only have they (Jai Nelson & Phil Hart) been dating for some time (about two years), but if you've seen the flyer distributed on Sunday prior to the election by Citizens in Action -- a Rally Right-like organization with common elements -- you'll see that Nelson is endorsed by them. While it's hard to quarrel with this group's stated values, their tactic of distributing flyers (8000?) on car windshields in church parking lots is questionable, if not unethical, or perhaps even illegal. This tactic bears the signature of one Jeff Alltus, and others (Spencer? Hart? Pederson?) And … if any of the churches were complicit, they jeopardized their tax-exempt status!

DFO: I discovered a Citizens In Action flyer on my windshield after church on the Sunday before the primary election. I didn't know anything about the group. But I was amused that it had endorsed Rex Rammell and other Far Right individuals. I'm on the church leadership board. So I know that the group didn't seek permission to enter church property to distribute the flyers during service.

Question: Should Citizens In Action or any other group seek permission to distribute political flyers on church grounds?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

Follow Dave online: