The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission requested on February 15 that I register NeighborhoodNet as a Political Action Committee (PAC) because it had come to their attention that I endorsed candidates. I explained why that was a bad idea.

What I did not expect was that our cat Boots would send me a witty email from a bogus email address, explaining why I should be required to register as a PAC. Boots demonstrated a passing familiarity with the law, as if he had gotten bad advice from a poor attorney (I note that Neil Sader is the only attorney running in the campaigns I editorialized against).

Boots also demonstrated some knowledge of Internet email, as if he had gotten advice from Neil Sader's webmaster, who also happens to be with a computer consulting company, has 25 years of experience, lives in Oak Park, publishes its website, and has a penchant for his own witty web postings.

I later caught Boots in my computer room, probably getting ready to write more scurilous material, and he shamefacedly admitted he supported Neil as former City Council member because he, Boots, really did think Neil was the kind of guy who would be willing to re-zone land right next to a neighborhood so Boots could be near a strip mall with a Petsmart. [See Boots' original email, which follows]. I had no good rejoinder: Neil had already done that for Target and Wal-Mart, why not for Petsmart?

Boots refused to apoligize for calling so many voters "anti-development-pitchfork-waving toadies", nor would he say whether he picked up that term from one of the City Council members.

So, without further ado, here is Boots' email in its entirety and unedited except to make it web readable as I received it from Boots' email address at bobphillipscat@gmail.com:

"NOTICE: This email is a product of Kansas Lampoon Productions, and was composed for purposes of humor only. Those without a sense of humor should stop reading now and consult their doctor or psychiatrist.
-------------------------------------------------------

Dear Ms. Atchison

I am Bob Phillips's house cat. I know that you may think this is a joke, but my Master is so busy with his political crusades that I'm constantly alone and have nothing better to do, so I taught myself how to type, and how to surf the Internet!

Anyway, enough about me. I wanted you to know that I read your email to Bob suggesting that he register as a PAC, and I also read his long rambling, hate-filled response to you. < copy attached below >

First of all, let me apologize on behalf of my Master, please forgive him. When humans gets their meds mixed up, things get nutty and these passive-aggressive outbursts tend to happen.

I also apologize for his misinterpretation of the Kansas statutes. Although he can twist the truth with the best of him, Bob is not a licensed attorney, so please forgive his shortcomings when it comes to the use of logic and critical thinking.

That said, I thought I would take this opportunity to correct some of my Master's errors and omissions. Ndbrhd.net [sick] is in fact an unregistered PAC that has been operating unnoticed for YEARS! Thanks for noticing, Bob needs the attention, his therapist says it's good for his self-esteem.

Let's look at the facts. Nbhd.net [sick] does meet KSA 25-4143's definition of a PAC for the following reasons:

1. The first requirement is "two or more individuals"; this is met by the fact that, even if you rule out Bob's numerous anti-development-pitchfork-waving toadies, and if you don't count any of his imaginary friends, the fact remains that Nbrd.net [sick] is at the very least a product of BOTH Bob AND Shirley Phillips. That counts as two, does it not?

Prior emails on behalf of Nebrhd.net [sick] have been composed and signed by Shirley, not just Bob. So if my Master has claimed that he is some kind of lone crusader, he's either having another "senior moment" or has mixed up the Paxil with the Ambien again.

2. The second requirement that "a major purpose of which is to expressly advocate the nomination, election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for state or local office or" is clearly met by the contents of not only the Nrbhds.net [sick] web site, but also by Bob's numerous rambling & conspiracy filled emails that; A: openly endorse specific candidates, B: openly advocates for specific candidates, C: openly opposes and advocates against specific candidates, and D: openly solicits contributions through the use of his organizations extensive mailing list and web site.

I'm only a cat, but can even a cat knows, "if it walks like a duck .." How much more crystal clear can it be?

I can provide evidence in the form of past emails as well as a back-up copy of his entire web site, in case you need access to an unaltered copy. I can also put you in touch with his ISP who also maintains back-up copies of the same evidence, although they told me they'd require a subpoena, they'd be happy to cooperate.

I really hate to "rat out" my Master like this, but an intervention is well overdue. Unless or until he's served with a subpoena, I fear that he will never come to grips with his anger management issues. You see, Bob really belongs in Miami County, but he really thought he could make a go of it, next door to the "big city". The problem is that he's just never been able to adjust to the way "city folk do things". The whole experience has been tough on the old man.

Even though some people may call him things like, "Crazy Bob", "the NIMBY from hell", and "that slanderous, libelous, seething old malcontent", Bob really means well down deep. So keep that in mind.

You see, most citizens who are blessed with full use of their faculties, have the ability to do their civic duty by either running for office or volunteering to serve on advisory boards,, etc. However since Bob is apparently deficient and either lacks the physical or mental faculties to fully participate in civic affairs, this reduced capacity only allows him to dream up conspiracy theories, organize lynch mobs, and hurl the verbal equivalent of Molotov cocktails at anyone who doesn't share his warped vision of reality. So please pity him, and consider his condition prior to taking any action against him or his wife.

I also apologize for Bob's silly attack on you personally. Bob knows, as well as you do, that you can't submit a valid Kansas Open Records Acts (KORA) request just by mentioning it in an email. Silly Bob. His true intent was not so much to attack you personally, but instead to threaten and intimidate you by demonstrating how mentally unstable he is.

Please don't let it dissuade you from carrying out your job in investigating him thoroughly and reporting him to the proper authorities.

Bob's hatred and vicious attacks are his only way of crying out for help. And he's crying out for your help. If you or your attorneys need any evidence I will be happy to provide it. And likewise if anyone in the media needs material for a juicy story of activism gone awry, they are welcome to contact me too.

Thanks for your time and attention,

Boots Phillips,
Bob Phillips's Cat

P.S. If you run into any of those evil developers that Bob keeps ranting about, tell them we could really use a strip-mall with a Petco or PetsMart on the land to our immediate north. The dry food that Bob buys me at the local CO-OP sucks.

Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 10:56 PM To: Jana Atchison; media@nbrhd.net; master03@nbrhd.net; commissionjc@nbrhd.net; citycouncilop@nbrhd.net Subject: [Master03] NeighborhoodNet is not a PAC

Jana Atchison wrote:

> It has come to the attention of the Governmental Ethics Commission > that Neighborhood Net is expressly advocating the election of specific > candidates for city office. It appears that your group needs to > register as a PAC with the Johnson County Election Commissioner and > this office. Please advise me of a mailing address so I can mail you > the forms to complete. Thank you.

> Jana Atchison > Governmental Ethics Commission > localcfa@cjnetworks.com > 785-296-4219 > 785-296-2548 (fax)

Dear Ms. Atchison,

This is in response to your request that I register my personal website NeighborhoodNet as a PAC.

First, thanks for the time and effort I know you put into making our election process fair and open by working for the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission. However, I will not be registering NeighborhoodNet (www.nbrhd.net) as a PAC, because it does not meet the criteria for a PAC pursuant to K.S.A. 25-4145 and K.S.A. 25-4143. I have provided the relevant passages at the end of this email.

I am the sole, individual publisher of NeighborhoodNet (www.nbrhd.net). It is a non-partisan, advocacy website, which I use to express my views about local government in the Kansas City metropolitan area (primarily Johnson County) and about neighborhood affairs. I do endorse candidates for elective office, as is my right as a private citizen and as do other media outlets such as the Kansas City Star. I urge my readers to support these candidates and I provide my readers - both on my website and through my email lists - information on how they can do so.

My work is all voluntary as a public service.

I neither collect nor distribute contributions to any of these local candidates I endorse. Nor do I collect payments from political campaigns for any of the work I do to help elect candidates of my choice. To be crystal clear: my website, NeighborhoodNet, and I myself collect no funds what-so-ever from any entity of any type - no advertising revenue, no subscription revenue, no political campaign fees, no contributions for my website or for candidates I endorse, no grants from any agencies public or private.

My website is my personal contribution to our great community here in the Kansas City metropolitan area. I also point out, I use my website to express my views on a wide variety of issues, not just political campaigns. NeighborhoodNet is a one person website - there is no group, no committee. You have been provided misleading information.

You say, "It has come to the attention of the Governmental Ethics Commission that Neighborhood Net [sic] is expressly advocating the election of specific candidates for city office. It appears that your group needs to register as a PAC with the Johnson County Election Commissioner and this office." There is no group. Please provide me any evidence you have that anything I do would warrant my registering my personal, self-funded website or my voluntary efforts as a PAC.

Also, I hereby request, pursuant to the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) that you provide me with copies of any records you have related to NeighborhoodNet, myself and PACs, including a copy of any complaint that was filed with your office.

In addition, a major purpose of my website is not to elect candidates. The overriding purpose is to report on and provide advice and information about local neighborhood issues. I volunteer my time and talents as I can with no recompense to help neighborhoods and citizens across the Kansas City metropolitan area and especially in south Johnson County. If one were to survey all of the material I have published over the last decade on NeighborhoodNet or all the work I do voluntarily for neighborhoods, far less than 10% would be directly related to endorsing or defeating candidates for public office. It is simply not a major purpose of my website.

Although I do not now know who provided you with this erroneous information, I suspect it is candidates I editorialize against and work diligently as a private citizen to keep from holding public office. I am working hard as a private citizen to defeat these candidates using my own talents on a volunteer basis for no compensation. I note that I met Mayor Eilert personally a week or so ago as I was campaigning door to door for Frankie Peschl in Ward 2. He stated: "We will do everything we can do defeat him." Is this the best response opponents of the candidates I support can come up with - to try to label Bob Phillips' personal website NeighborhoodNet as a PAC? They must be desperate. It amuses me greatly that someone is even trying to attempt this route. They have had two years since the last time they lost to candidates I and many of my friends and neighbors fought to elect and this is the best they can do? I sure hope their campaigning is equally ineffective.

Since I began being involved in campaigning on a volunteer basis and advocating through my personal website the election of local candidates, it pleases me no end that I have helped defeat candidates who have collected enormous amounts of cash from those who appear in front of the City Council.

This campaign season I intend to do everything I can as a private citizen and publisher of my own advocacy website to elect Vickie Thornton as Overland Park City Councilmember in Ward 5 (and to defeat Jim Hix, whom I consider to have been a disaster as an elected official).

I also intend to do everything I can to elect Frankie Peschl as City Councilmember in Ward 2.

I will also be pleased if I have some small part in defeating Neil Sader in his run for Mayor. Although the award for worst City Councilmember in the last decade would be a hard call, Neil would certainly be at the front of the pack. Sader is running against Carl Gerlach. I am no fan of Carl Gerlach for Mayor - it's just that electing Gerlach at least gets rid of one those two guys on the Governing Body.

I look forward to publishing on my website the campaign contributors of the candidates for this campaign, as I have in the past. I thank you and your local office for making that information available to the public, although I must say, it is too bad that I and other citizens have to go down to the local County election office to get the information. How about putting it on-line so I don't have to do that for you? Here, for example, are my published lists for Jim Hix and Neil Sader campaign contributors from their last elections:

Hix Campaign Contributors: http://www.nbrhd.net/ElectFunding/HixCampaignContributions.htm

Sader Campaign Contributors: http://www.nbrhd.net/ElectFunding/SaderCampaignContributions.htm

You can see the problem we have here in Overland Park - both of them have as their top contributors the very law firm, Polsinelli, et al, which constantly appears in front of these same City Councilmembers advocating multi-million dollar re-zoning windfalls for their clients. Sader, by the way, unequivocally denied that Polsinelli Law firm was a contributor of his. It was not until I published the images of his contribution sheets - as made available by the local election office - on-line that he admitted his error:

http://www.nbrhd.net/news04/nw040401SaderEmail.htm

Actually, Polsinelli, et al, is a major contributor to elected official after elected official in City after City in Johnson County. It would be nice if you could collate the total across each County for such contributors. I think that would be valuable information and would show that literally millions are being spent locally every two years to pack our Governing Bodies with pro-development/anti-neighborhood officials. Neighbors have no chance to match this funding juggernaut, and here you are being asked to come after me for giving voice to neighbors.

I have no problem with these contributions - in fact, it is a wonderful, factual statement by development special interests about whom they believe will best represent their interests.

In conclusion, neither I nor NeighborhoodNet qualifies as a PAC and I will not be registering as such.

Sincerely,

Bob Phillips

16315 Dearborn Drive

Stilwell, KS 66085

913-685-1445

Publisher of NeighborhoodNet (www.nbrhd.net)

cc:

NeighborhoodNet email lists

Local Media

Johnson County Commissioners

Overland Park City Council

RELEVANT KANSAS STATUTE REFERENCES

Clearly I am not a political action committee:

"K.S.A. 25-4143. Campaign finance; definitions."

"(k) (1) 'Political committee' means any combination of two or more individuals or any person other than an individual, a major purpose of which is to expressly advocate the nomination, election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for state or local office or make contributions to or expenditures for the nomination, election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for state or local office."

I am one individual with a website which I publish myself. I am not two or more individuals. I do not make contributions to or expenditures for the nomination, election, or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for state or local office. I am the sole publisher of NeighborhoodNet which I use to advocate a wide variety of neighborhood related issues, including the cleaning up and opening up of our local government. One aspect of this, and certainly not a major purpose considering all that I publish, is to recommend candidates to my readers to support and candidates to defeat. I note that I recommend the defeat of both Republicans and Democrats - I am non-partisan.

"K.S.A. 25-4143. (2) 'Contribution' does not include:

(A) The value of volunteer services provided without compensation."

I receive no compensation of any kind for publishing my website, nor for working to elect individual candidates, nor for working with neighborhoods facing development issues nor for providing advice to homeowners faced with shoddy home repairs, nor for any of the other wide variety of issues I cover.

"K.S.A. 25-4143. (g) (2) 'Expenditure' does not include:

(A) The value of volunteer services provided without compensation."

I receive no compensation of any kind for publishing my website, nor for working to elect individual candidates, nor for working with neighborhoods facing development issues.

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