New documents released by the Jefferson County Clerk’s office reveal for the first time how close the deputy clerks worked with zoning referendum petition organizers Ed Burns and Ronda Lehman. The documents were released following a Freedom of Information Act request by The Observer, and are part of a wider drive to shed light on the petition drive.
Included in the released documents are over 40 emails between Wendy Evangalisti and Nikki Painter (deputy clerk) and Ed Burns and Ronda Lehman, heads of the petition drive. The earliest released emails date back to October 2008, just a few days after the zoning ordinance was passed by the county commission. The last one is from January 12, 2009, a few days after the petition drive was complete.
The tone of the emails is familiar and friendly, demonstrating an affinity, perhaps even an alliance, between Lehman and Nikki Painter. In one email dated October 6, Lehman tells Painter, “Thank you, Nicki. It’s nice having someone I can trust in the building.”
It appears from many of these emails that the county clerk’s office was working closely with petition-drive organizers, above and beyond what you might expect from a helpful public servant. For example ,one email dated December 10, 2008 went as follows:

From: Nikki Painter
To: Ronda Lehman
Is there any way we can get more than 1 batch? There are tons of signatures left to verify I’m sure and if you can bring them in I can work on them and Wendy can check at the same time. I just don’t want to get down to the last minute with the signatures. By the way still haven’t  received any new signatures yet.

Even more striking is an email from Painter to Lehman toward the end of the petition-drive process that seems to show a political collegiality between the government worker and the activist. In this email, Painter refers to John Maxey, president of the Jefferson County Democrat Association and campaign manager for Commissioner Frances Morgan, who has gone on record as being against the zoning referendum:

December 17 2008
From: Nikki Painter
To: Rhonda Lehman
Hey I’m sure I will be done with the petitions tomorrow so if you are coming to the commission you can drop off 2 more sets or more if you like . Oh by the way John Maxey was here asking how many signatures you had. He actually came in right after you dropped the last set off.

Many of the disclosed emails contain updated tallies of valid and invalid petition names. They also include lists of invalid names which have been redacted with thick black pen. These lists provide the first clear evidence that county clerks were doing more than merely counting and verifying the petition lists—which is what the county clerk had claimed up to this point—by creating their own detailed lists of names that did not qualify for the petition drive.
The emails also disclose that various reasons are given for disqualifying petitioners, including: duplication, unregistered voters, registered voters who did not vote in prior election, invalid signatures (for example, one person wrote four names and signed all their signatures), people living in municipalities, and ineligible signatures.
“The appearance of these emails is that the county clerk’s office was working with the petitions organizers to gather signatures, which is wrong,” said County Commissioner Jim Surkamp.
The fact that the deputy county clerk was emailing lists of invalid signatures during the petition drive raises questions about her impartiality. By providing lists of invalid names along with reasons for the disqualifications, the petition organizers were able to resubmit the petitions—giving them another chance to properly fill out the forms. This kind of assistance is not usually available in elections or petition drives.
The head of the petition drive, Ronda Lehman, clearly thought the deputy clerk’.s lists were useful. In an email dated December 4, 2008, she said as much: “Thanks for all your doing. This reject list is a big help!”
These lists of invalid signatures also fly in the face of arguments made in circuit court by County Attorney Stephanie Grove on behalf of County Clerk Jennifer Maghan, that the county clerks did not prepare any lists of the petition names, and therefore because the lists were not “public documents” they could not be subject to FOIA request under West Virginia law.
Also revealing is an email written by Ronda Lehman to Nikki Painter on October 6, 2008, asking for copies of petition lists handed in by other people (the expectation being that different activists would submit list of petition names). This clearly contradicts Lehmans’ repeated claims that these lists should not be disclosed to anyone who did not submit the lists. In fact, Lehman wanted the list of names that she and Clerk Maghan claimed no one—including Lehman—had the right to see.
“The emails show that the clerk’s office was more open and transparent with the petition organizers than with the county commission or the public,” said Surkamp.
The issue of whether the petition names should be made available to the public is currently before Judge David Sanders in Jefferson County Circuit Court. According to Stephen Skinner, who is representing The Observer in case: “It boggles the mind to think that the argument for not providing petition names is that they are not public documents. It flies in the face of basic logic. It appears that there was a collaborative effort between the clerk’s office and other parties to make sure that there were enough signatures to trigger a zoning referendum.”
Jennifer Maghan, Jefferson County Clerk, declined to comment for this story.