Sanford Herald To Kelly: Step Down or Fess Up

A Better Alternative

"Step Down" does not call for a resignation but for a leave of absence--an empty chair. That would be a tough thing to do for any us no matter how we fit into the puzzle that led to filing a false certification which in this state we do so under penalty of "perjury." The wheels will indeed turn on this matter but likely at a slow pace. It could be a long time for a person with potential to contribute positively to be sitting on the sideline. "Fess Up" We don't know who thought it necessary for there to be a false report or if Jamie Kelly was involved in it--at least not at the time. At the time the false report had been filed, Jamie Kelly was only 9 days late in filling out a required certification. Perhaps the plan was for no one to ever complete the form, but with the e-Lee Dispatch claiming to know who was involved in the plan (and we do), someone got scared. A form got a signature and got signed very quickly--too quickly because it looks like the initial signer did not understand the seriousness of what he was doing or the attention it would attract. It is hard to believe Kelly doesn't know now, though, even if the initial filing was done without his knowledge. It would, however, have to involve someone in a close business, personal, political, and/or family relationship to obtain the accurate information on the falsely signed form--information Steve Thomas was unlikely to have. Our information was that a second Keller (see post) was in some way involved with the signs but that information pre-dated the false certification. "Fessing up" could be a very hard personally to do. If some of the names most prominently mentioned are indeed involved, it could end their professional careers in addition to spoiling future political ambitions. "Fessing up" for someone else is also accusing them and can be harder that admitting our own involvement. A leave of absence would likely extend beyond the early December election of a chair, something important to Kelly. Wouldn't it have been enough to simply ask him to remove himself from consideration as chairman for two years? Editor's Note: Kelly had two responses to the filing of the complaint. One was to justify his intended effort to harm Herb Hinck's campaign and probably help assure the election of Jerry Lemmond whose vote he needed for chair. The second was to attack the person who filed the complaint--something that fits an opinion of Billy Liggett that there is a "personal vendetta" by this editor against Kelly. It is true I was most aggressive in pursuing the information about this matter--to get to the bottom of it. That aggressive search for the facts and the analysis of what they mean is what readers expect. Given the Herarld's morning ultimatum, my thought that the matter should move along as quickly as possible to determine what really happened seems to me to be far less than a vendetta.