Fallon versus Culver, Round 3?

“I do not now nor have I ever needed a job with the Governor’s office. My offer was intended to address a shortcoming in the Governor’s staffing, i.e., someone to serve as a liaison with the general public." — Ed Fallon on 4/17/09.

Former State Representative/2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate/2008 Democratic congressional candidate Ed Fallon of Des Moines is continuing his verbal assault on Governor Chet Culver.  Culver's deputy chief of staff said yesterday that Fallon had been asking Culver for a job. Read today's latest below.

Culver’s response inaccurate, inadequate

Yesterday, Governor Culver’s office issued a response to a press release from Ed and Lynn Fallon criticizing the Governor and his staff for being inaccessible, unresponsive and reneging on promises. Today, Ed and Lynn provided a rebuttal of the Governor’s response, characterizing that response as inaccurate and inadequate.

“It’s interesting that the media can get an immediate response from the Governor’s office whereas those of us in the general public are repeatedly ignored,” said Ed Fallon. “That said, the Governor’s response is woefully inadequate, and entirely inaccurate on several counts.”

Governor’s office: “{T}he Governor has met several times with Mr. Fallon over the last two-and-a-half years, most recently in a very productive meeting with him on January 6 of this year.

“This statement is patently false,” said Lynn Fallon. “The Governor and Ed met for five to ten minutes in February of 2007. Then, on January 6 of this year, Ed and I were scheduled to meet with the Governor. We spent 45 minutes waiting for him to arrive. During that time, we explained to Jamie Cashman (the Governor’s staffer), our concerns about the lack of consideration for the issues Culver had promised to address. We then repeated everything when the Governor finally arrived, only to be interrupted by a fire alarm. Our time with the Governor amounted to only about 15 – 20 minutes, and in no way could it be characterized as ‘very productive.’”

Governor’s office: “Mr. Fallon has contacted our office on several occasions asking the Governor to create a new, full-time paid position within the office and to provide him a full-time assistant and support staff.”

“I have a job and co-own a business,” said Ed Fallon. “I do not now nor have I ever needed a job with the Governor’s office. My offer was intended to address a shortcoming in the Governor’s staffing, i.e., someone to serve as a liaison with the general public. After two-and-a-half years of this administration, seeing the number of Iowans who feel ignored by the Governor and his staff, I still believe such a position would have been of great benefit.”

Governor’s office: "As to the issue of campaign finance, the legislature passed and the Governor signed into law a significant reform this session. Unfortunately, it was without Mr. Fallon’s support.”

“If the Governor’s office is alluding to the bill dealing with candidates paying themselves from their campaign funds, it’s absurd to consider that ‘significant reform,’” said Ed Fallon. “In fact, it’s a step in the wrong direction, and really amounts to an incumbent protection program. The Governor’s office is trying to divert attention away from the fact that in three years, neither he nor the Legislature have done anything to curb the flow of special-interest money into the political system.”

“We aren’t the only ones expressing concern about unresponsiveness and inattention to the needs and inquires of Iowans,” said Lynn Fallon. “In less than 24 hours, we’ve received 65 citizen responses to yesterday’s press release.