More email to Ron Waite:
Dear Sir,
It has come to my attention that, rather than contact me directly via email, you decided it best to contact my mother-in-law, Sharon Holmes, to intervene on your behalf. I thought it best to address you directly, so that my mother-in-law, who had no knowledge of the events at Blaine UMC and is not involved in these matters in any way, would have no further involvement.
First, you expressed the repeated opinion that you did not even know my wife was present. As you have met both my wife and me on several occasions, I find it astonishing you did not recognize her. Furthermore, as I stated quite clearly that she was the main source for the information included in my first email, one could only conclude she was, indeed, present. She, however, was not the sole source of my information, but several people present expressed discomfort (to say the least) at your gleeful partisan attacks on former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, among other comments. That you do not recognize the potential danger to the tax-exempt status of a non-partisan house of worship by making partisan remarks is neither here nor there. The fact remains that it does indeed exist. As a member of Poplar Grove UMC, which is yoked to Blaine UMC through the cooperative parish set up at North Boone CoActive Ministry, I am an affiliate member at Blaine UMC. Any threat to the integrity of Blaine is of concern to me; any threat to the integrity of my wife's ministry is of concern to me.
You also seemed a bit put off because I was not present. I say, again, that is neither here nor there. I was writing as a constituent, whose concerns should have been addressed immediately and forthrightly. The facts are neither in question nor in dispute. It is your response, including attempting to engage a third party intermediary rather than address this matter directly I find troubling.
As to the matter of my daughter, a woman whose status was dubious - was she a member of your staff, or someone who you used to work the crowd? - approached my family and said out loud, pointing to my younger daughter, "Here's someone who would like a picture." My wife said, quite loudly, "I don't think so." Afterward, when you approached and asked about a photograph, this woman said, "Oh, they forgot their camera."
No. Someone who seemed to be looking for a good photo opportunity sought, without seeking the permission of the child's parent or in loco parentis to have a photo-op with that child. When the parent forthrightly declined, an excuse was concocted that had no basis in reality. As the father of the child in question, and as a constituent, may I say again that I would appreciate an apology for this dubious act on the part of someone who seemed to be acting on your behalf.
The Rockford Register-Star has declined to publish my initial open letter to you, so you may think the matter may go away. I found their reasoning - they called this "a personal matter" - very wrong. This is not a personal matter. You were acting in an official capacity, and in so doing, acted in ways inappropriate to say the least, and certainly unbecoming an elected official.
Your further refusal to deal directly with me, to not even give a constituent the benefit of an email written for you by a member of your staff, extremely odd. At the very least, you could have asked for more information, detail on the substance of the complaints (which I have herein provided), and made some kind of bland assurance that no offense was intended by any of your remarks. Rather than do that, you sought the assistance of a relative of mine whom you happen to know, who has no involvement in the matter in question. I was terribly embarassed to learn you had called her, and apologized to her.
While I am quite sure you will not pursue this matter as it will not receive a large public airing, I am disappointed, to say the very least, that you have not addressed this matter forthrightly and directly. I will continue to pursue some kind of response from you, even if it is only a denial that any of the events in question ever took place.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey Kruse-Safford
PS: As a courtesy, again, this will be published on my weblog, and a link will be provided from my Facebook page.
