AG reviewing undersheriff's conduct
SANDPOINT — A Bonner County sheriff official’s creation of an unflattering website for Sheriff Daryl Wheeler’s political rival is being reviewed by the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, according to Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall.
Marshall said Bonner County Clerk Mike Rosedale, who is also the county’s elections chief, has the duty to investigation allegations of election misconduct. Marshall said Rosedale forwarded the matter to the Idaho Secretary of State, which passed it along to the AG’s office.
Marshall anticipates the AG’s office will conduct a review to determine if civil or criminal violations occurred.
Rosedale did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
A website that purported to support the candidacy of Terry Ford, who’s challenging Wheeler for the Republican nomination in the May 17 primary, was discovered by Ford’s campaign earlier this month. It featured a blurry photo of Ford and some bland, misleading remarks about his candidacy and experience.
Ford’s campaign contends the website, terryfordsheriff.com, was made to make Ford seem amateurish and unpolished.
Tim Fry, a software developer assisting with Ford’s campaign, discovered the website. It appeared to have been registered under an assumed name, although it was traced by to servers hosted by a website operated by David Hale, Wheeler’s undersheriff.
Hale admitted creating the website, but denied that it was made to reflect poorly on Ford. He said it was an attempt to get information out about Ford in a short election cycle. Hale also insisted that Wheeler was unaware of the site’s existence until this week, although a link to the unofficial Ford site was posted to one of Wheeler’s personal websites at one point.
Fry suspects the spoof site’s backlink to Wheeler’s page helped legitimize the site in Google page rankings.
The link and the website were removed as word of the site spread. The site at one point said, “Paid for By Friends of Terry Ford for Sheriff,” but that statement was whitewashed from the site when it was still up.
Wheeler released a statement Friday indicating that it is conducting a review of Hale’s conduct with the website.
“While his actions were on his personal time, the importance of propriety and fairness cannot be over-stressed,” Wheeler said in the statement.
Wheeler added, “The asset that David Hale has represented in this office is, and has historically been, undeniably positive, and I will ensure there will be a fair assessment and proper response to his conduct.”