Ex-Chief Of Staff Files Complaint Against Fox Haws Says Fox Didn’t Disclose He Was Her Campaign Manager

Terry Haws, fired just a few weeks into his job as chief of staff for State School Superintendent Anne Fox, on Wednesday filed a complaint alleging that Fox violated the Idaho Sunshine Law by failing to list him as an employee late in the 1994 campaign.

Haws filed the complaint with the secretary of state’s office Wednesday afternoon. Fox has 10 days to file a response.

Haws said he filed the action to force Fox to deal with his claim that she owes him $60,000 for his year’s work as campaign manager. Fox later released a statement that Haws volunteered his services.

“If there was a mistake in recording the campaign funds, we are more than willing to correct that,” said Fox representative Rhonda Emdison.

Later, through Emdison, Fox released a statement:

“Terry Haws never was hired as campaign manager.

“He came to me and volunteered his services, asking me to run and agreed he would donate his time as a campaign manager. There was no formal contract. There were no bills for service from Terry Haws during the campaign.

“The campaign was over Nov. 8. From Nov. 9 through Dec. 31, 1994, Terry Haws volunteered his time along with other transition team members who had full understanding that there was no transition money for salaries.

“All expenses such as phone, gas, meals, mileage, etc. were reimbursed through campaign money to Terry Haws.”

Haws said he was hired by Fox as campaign manager in January of last year. After she was elected in November over Democrat Willie Sullivan, Haws said in the complaint he worked for Fox from the day after the election through the end of the year as transition manager and chief of staff-designee.

When Fox was sworn into office in January, Haws was at her side and took the oath of office with her. He was chief of staff for Fox until late January, when she fired him after it was disclosed that Haws pleaded no contest in Alaska to contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The charge originally was a sex-for-drug charge involving minor boys.

“Sunshine reports from Oct. 1, 1994 through Dec. 31, 1994 do not reflect that I had served her in any capacity,” Haws said in the complaint. “It appears that her omission has violated Initiative Measure 1974 (the Sunshine Law) … “