OGDEN -- City Council candidate David Phipps says he will send postcards to about 1,000 voters apologizing for mistakenly listing a local education official on a campaign mailer as a supporter.
Phipps, who is running for the council's At-Large Seat B, estimated it will cost him about $1,000 to print and mail post cards in the next two weeks acknowledging he hasn't received an endorsement from Karen Thurber, development director of the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology Center.
"I have made the centerpiece of my campaign an open and accountable Ogden city government, one that works for the good of Ogden residents," he said in an e-mail to the Standard-Examiner. "I truly believe in being accountable to...the residents of Ogden, so to correct this misinformation and to show that it was an honest mistake -- I had no intention of misleading anyone -- I would like to apologize publicly."
Phipps said he met Thurber at an Ogden/Weber Chamber of Commerce event and had a pleasant conversation with her.
In addition, Phipps said he later submitted Thurber's name to a University of Utah student, who was serving as his campaign manager, as a potential supporter who could be listed on a post card mailed Tuesday to voters.
Phipps said due to miscommunication neither he nor his campaign manager confirmed Thurber's endorsement before the post card was sent.
Thurber later contacted him to complain that her name had been used without her permission. "She was very adamant she was endorsing someone else," Phipps said.
Thurber, an Ogden Sierra Club member, said her dispute with Phipps centers on his failing to get permission to use her name and does not involve a difference in political ideologies.
"It's not because I'm tremendously influential (with voters), it's just because I wasn't asked," Thurber said, adding she believes Phipps is sincere in wanting to correct the mistake.
Related link: This article is a topic of discussion at Weber County Forum.
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