Hightower campaign admits listing bogus supporters

[TrackCEO]

The cat is out of the bag:
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read. ... ad=2787108

Dexter McCloud, who's helping hype Stephanie Hightower for USATF president, has sent this note (apparently under orders of the USATF Ethics Committee):

PRESS RELEASE
Contactexter McCloud [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2008

Dear USATF colleagues

It has come to our attention that an error was made in our initial press release, dated October 14th, 2008. In that release, two people were named as supporters that did not endorse her campaign for President.

We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

As we approach this year's Annual Meeting we are excited about the possibilities that lie before us. We will deal with very important issues such as restructuring, diversity and the opportunities new leadership will bring to our organization.

To all of our supporters - THANK YOU for your overwhelming displays of encouragement and patronage. We view this as our confirmation that Stephanie Hightower is the best candidate to lead USATF into a new era.

The Committee To Elect Stephanie Hightower

I've known about the bogus-supporter accusation for a week but didn't get official confirmation of the act until Dexter's press release came out. Now that it's out, here's the backstory.

A high-level USATF source wrote me last week:

Of course one (of the bogus endorsers) was Ruth Anderson . . . . Both Mark & Anne Timmons agreed to list their names because Evie asked them and she is the godmother of their kids! But . . . Mark will not vote for Stephanie. . . . A good number on the list are not voting delegates.

My source also wrote me:

The Ethics Committee has been dealing with her and her people. The Ethics Committee notified them in a letter dated Oct. 31, 2008, that they must immediately disseminate a retraction to all those to whom the original "Press Release" was directed, specifically indicating therein that the persons listed were not confirmed as supporters prior to publication and including therein the list of those persons who were actually and in fact confirmed as supporters. They have failed to do this. Apparently they are ignoring the directive from the Ethics Committee. I keep asking about it but little has been done.

According to the Chair of the Ethics Committee there are two people whose names was used without their permission and who are not supporters.

On Nov. 25, after writing to the USATF Ethics Committee about rumors that Hightower had listed people as supporters who had not given their consent, I was accidentally CC'd email between Ethics Committee members. This is what I was sent:

-----Original Message-----
From: Allen James <[email protected]>
To: William J. Pollinger <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Sent: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 6:09 am
Subject: Re: Stephanie Hightower endorsement list

Pete,

I like the new letter.

Also, as objective as I try to remain, if you've known Stephanie long enough, you'll find the article that was posted on the blog from the Columbus Dispatch seems like a fair representation. I get along fine with Stephanie and she has strong leadership skills, but I don't know how anyone could refute this article and her potential to be, shall I say, a
little harsh with her words.

Either way, in all of these matters we need to firmly stay in our camp, be
as objective as possible and let Pete do the talking on behalf of the
committee.

Allen

BTW, here's that Columbus Dispatch item again:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/ ... E1-02.html

Allen also might have been referring to this:
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/808

K E N

[Marlow]

Re: Hightower campaign admits listing bogus supporters

BTW, here's that Columbus Dispatch item again:

"Stephanie is not necessarily the most diplomatic person in the world," said Dobos, who left the board at the end of 2001. "She doesn?t sweat the details. But the major issues that have to get done, she will make sure that they get done. . . .
She has the ability to stay on purpose in a storm," he said. "I?ve watched her exceed what people thought she was capable of doing."

Sounds like she does her job as she ran, very competitively. I can live with that.

[Smoke]

Marlow that is not the part you were supposed to read. Ignore that please and get back to the endorsement list, the conflicts of interest with her boyfriend, and her gruff exterior that has hurt a few peoples feelings. Her job ability is not in question here, if you have not received the message I am here to spell it out for you. (TONGUE IN CHEEK)

[guru]

Leaving aside my grave concerns about the Trials double standard issue, her major deficiency is her fiscal management skills, exhibited both in her capacity leading the Columbus school board(addressed in the linked article), as well as her time as a chair at USATF.

For an organization that cried poor as the reason Junior athletes couldn't compete at the Trials beyond the "team flight" to Poland, this matters.

[Smoke]

ok guru ok. Now see that is stuff we can talk about. I am not well versed on that so I will not joust with you.
You have questions about her fiscal capabilities.

I think organizationally we are too passive and the alternatives to Stephanie are more of the same in that vein. It is a part of our culture to be thoughtful and kind. Just as we have brought in Logan to shake it up, I am saying we NEED Stephanie and what she brings to that position also.
Having the power in one mans hands is a mistake. Logan needs to focus on evolving what Masback started, the business and marketing. Let the president and the board handle the inner workings. Logan trying to manage both is a mistake.
See in that article it talked about over stepping roles. And as I stated where is Bill Roe's name in this mix? That will not happen with Hightower. It is time the captain steered the ship and the corporate bigwigs made sure the ship is top notch.

[polevaultpower]

See in that article it talked about over stepping roles. And as I stated where is Bill Roe's name in this mix? That will not happen with Hightower. It is time the captain steered the ship and the corporate bigwigs made sure the ship is top notch.

Are you criticizing Bill for not overstepping his role?

[Smoke]

the inante assumption in your question is that this would have been over stepping his role. Before we get to that, the problem is he is not mentioned anywhere in these many many reports. That is strange. He is the president. If they over stepped their role where was Bill?
What I am getting at is that there was an absence, a void and someone filled it. Maybe they were over zealous but from my seat it was going to take aggressive moves to kick this sport in the butt.
Progress is not always about playing your role. It is irresponsible to play your role when you see a short coming that you can fill without breaking the law. Stepping on some toes is one thing and in some cases acceptable.
So to your question. No I am not criticizing Bill at all. I am asking a question, where is he in the mix? Despite what I wrote above, I am truly curious as to the absence of his existence on all this.

[guru]

Let's not forget Roe was simply an interim CEO, and considering the entrenched nature of the chairs I'm not sure what authority people like Chaplin and Hightower gave the President position over themselves.