The group endorsed candidates, who some called a faction of anti-immigration and militant animal rights activists.
By Jonathan Friedman/Staff Writer
A group called Club Members for an Honest Election said the landslide victory of five candidates in the Sierra Club National Board of Directors election was obtained through unfair campaign practices, and said it plans to file a lawsuit to overturn the election.
The group consists of environmental activists and professionals, including Marcia Hanscom from the Wetlands Action Network, Tim Hermach from the Native Forest Council in Eugene, Ore. and Steve Bloom, and environmental activist living in Oakland.
The group alleged that candidates endorsed by the Sierra Club Board of Directors were given an advantage that violated the organization’s bylaws, while a slate of progressive candidates, who included former Malibu City Council candidate Robert Roy Van De Hoek, was unfairly accused of having an anti-immigration agenda. Club Members filed a suit earlier this month to get a preliminary injunction that would have halted the election. A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled that although Club Members might have a case, halting the election was not necessary because the group could still file a suit challenging the results. Bloom said the group plans to do that.
The 2004 Sierra Club election has been controversial and received a great deal of media attention because of accusations that there were outside anti-immigration and militant animal rights organizations trying to take over the club by obtaining all five seats up for grabs. Many became alarmed when it was found that white supremacist organizations and other hate groups were encouraging people through Web sites to vote in the election so they could take it over for their own purposes. This attracted attention from many progressive groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center and Moveon.org, to speak out against an alleged take-over attempt.
“The number of right-wing groups that were recruiting [and] organizing in order to support these candidates was amazing,” said Robbie Cox, a member of the board of directors who helped start Sierra Groundswell, a group that supported the candidacy of the five victors.
Club Members for an Honest Election said these accusations were untrue, but rather were lies spread by the Sierra Club old guard to prevent progressives from getting on the board.
“It was a fear thing that people were given to sell a certain side of the story,” Hanscom said. “In my view, invoking fear is a valid campaign tactic, but not when it isn’t true.”
Some of the people accused of being part of the anti-immigration faction included Van De Hoek, former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm, former Director of the Black Caucus Foundation Frank Morris and Cornell professor David Pimente.
Club Members further accused Sierra Groundswell and the Sierra Club of illegal campaign practices. The group alleged that illegal campaign mailers had been sent out in support of the five winning candidates. Club bylaws limit a candidate to spending $2,000 on a campaign, but independent expenditures can be made for unlimited funds if the candidates are not associated with them. Club Members said Groundswell Sierra sent out the mailers with the knowledge and association of the candidates. Also, Club Members said an insert was placed into the mail-in ballots, which was signed by Sierra Club President Larry Fahn that warned people about an attempt to hijack the Sierra Club. Although, the insert mentioned no specific candidates, Club Members said it was a further attempt to sabotage the campaign of the progressive candidates.
Fahn denied that anything had been done unfairly, and he said he was relieved that the club was not taken over by people with an anti-immigration agenda.
“I’m thrilled that we had such a huge turnout, and I thought that the membership showed wisdom and level-headedness with their choices,” Fahn said.
The five victors in the election were Lisa Renstrom, Jan O’Connell, Nick Aumen, Sanjay Ranchod and David Karpf. All obtained at least 110,000 votes.