Linda Cumberbatch In My Inbox

A few weeks ago those interested in running for DuPont city council had to file their intentions with Pierce County. The Tacoma News Tribune also published the names of the positions being contested and those who are running.

It is good to see that several people have chosen to run for office anew. While it is disappointing that a couple seats will remain uncontested, I will not gripe on about it like the fire levy supporters. It is democracy and it is what you make it.

The story doesn’t end there. A few days after filing, I received an email here announcing the candidacy of Linda Cumberbatch. You may remember Linda as our previous deputy mayor in town. She lost to Tamara Jenkins in the last mayoral election. In terms of realdupont.com, she is before our time here at this website.

Linda is running against Roger Westman for position 1.

Here is the excerpt from her announcement.

Date: Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:10:53 -0700 [06/13/2009 04:10:53 PM PDT]
From: Elect Linda C
To: electlindac@gmail.com
Subject: Campaign Kick-off

Hi!

I am running for DuPont City Council Position 1 this election year!!! See attachment for kick-off party and more information.

I’ll see you soon!

Linda

What makes this email interesting is that I got the email at all. I have never spoken to, or met, Linda Cumberbatch. I am also certain that I have never emailed her before. This piqued my interest: How did Linda Cumberbatch obtain my email address?

Compounding the mystery, she wrote me at a private account I use for this website that otherwise remains unpublished. There are a few people who have exchanged mails with me here, but I informally checked with those people and they assured me they had not given it out to anyone.

That prompted me to respond.

Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:08:56 -0700 [06/15/2009 11:08:56 PM PDT]
From: Mike Gorski
To: Elect Linda C
Subject: Re: Campaign Kick-off

Hello Linda,

Good luck in your endeavor. It is always preferable to see an election where there is a challenge regardless of what position one holds.

I do have a question. How did you obtain my email address since I do not remember corresponding with you before? I use this account sparingly and usually in conjunction with my website. Any insight would be appreciated as I do try to control my inclusion onto mass mailing lists. It also should be noted [that] others have forwarded me your announcement while citing similar concerns.

A word of caution when compiling mailing lists. Inclusion should always be voluntary and its use otherwise can be construed as SPAM by generally accepted definition. It is important to point out that I do not feel I am a victim nor do I feel that I received your message maliciously. However, I can only speak for myself.

Good luck with your campaign.

Regards,

Mike Gorski

Pretty congenial, me thinks.

Unfortunately, I did not hear a response. This added to the intrigue and set my mind racing. Perhaps Linda or her campaign representatives (I have no proof Linda Cumberbatch is even aware of the email) lifted a mass mailing list and used the addresses to advertise her campaign. Or, maybe she lifted the email from the city of DuPont, perhaps she used have some sort of access. Did I take a survey and include that email address? Hmmm. I do not know.

I wrote again, unsure of who was behind this email.

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:02:56 -0700 [06/18/2009 09:02:56 PM PDT]
From: Mike Gorski
To: Elect Linda C
Subject: Re: Campaign Kick-off

To Electlindac@gmail.com,

I wrote on Monday, June 15, 2009 inquiring how you obtained my email address. I have not yet heard a response. It is important to some people to safeguard against unsolicited emails. Your immediate response would be greatly appreciated.

–Mike Gorski

This week, I receive an email back from the folks at the Electlindac@gmail.com account. Here is what it said:

Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:03:02 -0700 [06/24/2009 03:03:02 PM PDT]
From: Elect Linda C
To: electlindac@gmail.com
Subject: Kick-off Party Reminder and Help Request

Dear Friends,

As you know, I have decided to run for DuPont City Council Position #1 against current Council Member Roger Westman. As your representative I will work effectively with citizens and Council members to solve City problems together. My previous service as Deputy Mayor was built on a congenial style and a common sense approach to solve community issues.

It takes a lot of volunteers to help run a campaign and I need your support and involvement if I am to have a successful campaign. Attached you will find a reminder about my Kick-off Party on Saturday at 2pm and also a form to fill out if you are able to volunteer or are able to make a donation to my campaign. Anything you are able to help with would be greatly appreciated!

I hope to see you on Saturday.

Respectfully,

Linda B. Cumberbatch

I may have gotten bupkis back as far as my question goes but I did get one answer that was also vexing me. “What kind of council member would Linda Cumberbatch make?”

Well, to start, she seems to struggle with communication. Her inability to respond to a simple request suggests that she could start right where she left off with council two years ago.

But where did she get my email? Was it from a mailing list? I have never signed up for the city newsletter. So it seems unlikely that her campaign lifted my email from a city data base; although, I have written several council members, the mayor, and the city administrator from this email address in question. Could they have “leaked” people’s email addresses to a campaign? I spoke to another candidate privately and they stated they had no such resource from the city.

To be clear, I am not asking to be removed from the email distribution, I just want to know how I got into her address book.

To my knowledge, I have only signed up to one email distribution with the email address in question. It belongs to her opponent, Roger Westman. Roger, to date, is the only member of council to provide his “constituents” with an update (I cannot help but read his email blasts in his voice–just for giggles). Some of the information he sends is useful, other information I just skim and disregard.

Could Roger have sold my email address for profit? That is highly unlikely since selling such a small list, and to his political opponent, makes no sense as far as return on investment. Besides, email lists obtained by professional Spammers contain tens of thousands of email addresses. I doubt Roger has more than one hundred.

I cannot get the link to Roger Westman’s email distribution out of my head since I have been approached by others in town who echoed my curiosity. They also received the same e-mail from the Cumberbatch campaign with no previous contact with the candidate but with ties to Westman.

Is it possible that an email was forwarded to Linda Cumberbatch or a representative for her campaign and they took it upon themselves to compile their own list culled from the Westman header?

But consider this, how many innocent email jokes, or photos, or email blasts have you ever received where your name was on a list with several others? Something along the subject lines of “The difference between men and women” or “How you tell a native Washingtonian” or “Pictures of kittens.”

It happens all the time, right? Your name among thirty others. Some you recognize, most you don’t. Now ask yourself, would you ever select one of those names and email that person, someone whom you never met? Would you email that person and try to ask for money or try to sell them Amway? That is akin to how I feel in this situation.

In fact, the Linda Cumberbatch campaign has asked for money, and time; beginning tomorrow. As you can read, Linda will host a fund raising party tomorrow at her old stomping grounds. I guess that will provide anyone who cares an opportunity to meet with her in person. You can ask about her views on leadership and this council. You can ask her how she felt about the fire levy. Or, you could ask her how she got your email address.