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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend July 2, 2002 Walker files complaints against Richardson By DANI DODGE Mail Tribune State Rep. Cherryl Walker, who lost a re-election bid to Central Point attorney Dennis Richardson in May, has filed complaints against her opponent with the state ethics commission, the state Elections Division and the state bar. Her complaints to the elections and ethics groups have been dismissed because they were outside their jurisdictions. The complaint to the bar is pending. "It is my opinion that my opponent in the May 21, 2002 Primary Election, Dennis Michael Richardson, has engaged in deceitful and dishonest conduct," Walker wrote in a letter to the ethics commission, formally known as the state Government Standards and Practices Commission. In the complaints, Walker said Richardson published false endorsements in newspapers and made false statements during the campaign. Richardson denies the allegations. "It’s just a vindictive response to the loss," Richardson said. "It’s what we expected because of her history of campaign tactics — she filed against Larry Frank (her opponent in the 2000 primary) and Lon Holston (her opponent in the 2000 general election), and now me. I would have felt left out if she hadn’t filed one against me." Walker, though, said she would have filed the complaints regardless of the outcome of the race. "Having been a hearings officer, I think it’s important if someone sees things go wrong to address them," she said. "To ignore them tends to allow people to continue the same behavior into the future." Richardson beat Walker in the Republican primary for state House District 4 after a rough-and-tumble campaign. Anti-abortion advocates supported Richardson, claiming Walker lied about her positions on abortion in the 2000 race, while Walker garnered support from lobbyists, business groups, medical concerns and legislators. In the end, Richardson won with 61 percent of the vote. Walker listed three complaints against Richardson in her letters to the ethics and elections departments. She added another three in the letter to the bar. In the complaints, Walker accused Richardson of putting names on an endorsement advertisement without permission of the people named. And she says Richardson sent a letter to potential contributors stating he was a "lifelong Republican" but in two speeches said "for years I was an Independent." In her complaint to the bar, Walker said Richardson’s campaign fliers made incorrect statements, including that she had attempted to hide her identity while videotaping his speeches. "It was dishonest and deceitful for Richardson to make these accusations knowing they are not true — even during a political campaign," Walker wrote. Richardson responded in writing to the bar, explaining everything he stated in his campaign advertisements was true and giving as evidence newspaper articles and signed statements. He said he moved to Oregon in 1979 and registered as a Republican, the first time he had registered with a party. Prior to that he lived in Utah, where registration does not include party affiliation, so he was "officially nonpartisan, i.e. independent." Richardson said the problem with endorsements resulted from a mistake by a campaign volunteer. Richardson said as soon as he learned of the problem, he pulled the ads. And, in his letter to the bar, Richardson notes: "This was a hotly contested campaign and my only contact with Ms. Walker was in the context of the political campaign — she has neither been a client nor an adversary of mine in a legal matter." Kateri Walsh, spokeswoman for the bar association, said the bar is in the initial investigation stage on the complaint and it will be at least a few months before it is resolved. Possible sanctions for violating the bar’s code of ethics could range from public reprimand to disbarment. Richardson has had three complaints filed against him in his 22 years as an attorney, and all were dismissed, Walsh said. Walker also filed complaints with state agencies against four lobbyists who sent out letters on Richardson’s behalf that she believed to be untruthful. The claims — against anti- abortion lobbyists Gayle Atteberry and Lois Anderson of Oregon Right to Life and Russ Walker of Oregon Citizens for a Sound Economy — were dismissed. Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. 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