Sue Varga, President, League of Women Voters
To the editor:
The letter is a response in regards to the July 25 front page article titled, “Did Max Ramos violate fair campaign pledge?”
As president of the Lawrence Township Chapter of the League of Women Voters, I would like to start off by stating that all four of Lawrence Township Council candidates signed the LWVLT Fair Campaign Pledge on July 16, 2013. The LWVLT emphasized the need for all candidates to maintain an issues-oriented campaign.
The July 25 article stated that the Lawrence chapter of the LWV took issue with Mr. Ramos’ letter. The fact of the matter is that my opinion was solicited by the Lawrence Ledger as to whether or not I thought that the contents of Mr. Ramos’ letter violated the fair campaign pledge. My comments in the article were taken out of context, as my response was broader and referred to the importance of not misrepresenting or distorting facts.
Out of fairness and respect for candidate Max Ramos, I hereby request that the public be made aware that I would like my statements from the July 25 article retracted as they may be easily misconstrued in the format in which they were represented. It is ultimately up to the voters to decide for themselves whether or not the Fair Campaign Pledge was breached in any way.
The LWVLT will continue to promote informed citizen participation in government and influence public policy through education and advocacy. I would like readers to be able to review the LWVLT Fair Campaign Pledge as it was presented to Lawrence Township Council candidates last month, as follows.
”I pledge to conduct my campaign for public office openly and fairly. I will discuss the issues and participate in fair public debate with respect to my views and qualifications.”
”I will not engage in, or permit, defamatory attacks upon the character of my opponent(s); not shall I engage in invasions of personal privacy unrelated to campaign issues.”
”I also will not use or permit the use of any campaign material or advertisement, which misrepresents, distorts or otherwise falsifies the facts regarding my opponent(s).”
”Finally, I will publicly repudiate support deriving from any individual or group whose activities would violate this Fair Campaign Pledge.”
”In signing this pledge, I assume personal control and responsibility for the conduct of my campaign.”
Sue Varga
President, League of Women Voters
of Lawrence Township
Editor’s note: The Ledger stands by the accuracy of its reporting.
