Political motivation prompted concerns about the official statement on the Garland County treasurer's website that supports the office's display of the national motto, Treasurer Tim Stockdale said Monday.
Stockdale said state Rep. Mickey Gates, R-District 22, brought the statement to County Attorney Ralph Ohm's attention to damage his campaign for a fourth term as treasurer fewer than two weeks before early voting for the preferential primary and nonpartisan judicial elections begins Feb. 16.
Stockdale said the office's official statement that "'In God We Trust' shall be permanently and prominently displayed in the Garland County Treasurer's office" has been on the website since May 2014, but that it didn't become a point of contention until last week. Stockdale faces Jeremy Brown, the president of JWB Enterprises Inc., in the Republican primary.
"The reason (Gates) is suddenly concerned about my 'In God We Trust' declaration is strictly political in nature," Stockdale said in an email. "(Gates) is supporting my opponent in the primary election, and he is only attempting to make an issue of something/anything that he thinks will sway voters to his candidate."
Gates said Monday that he referred the issue to Ohm after Stockdale directed attendees of a meeting of the county's Republican Party committee last week to the treasurer's office website. He denied Stockdale's claim that he's politicized the issue, saying his objection centers on Stockdale putting the statement in the form of a resolution and not on the substance of the statement.
A resolution is the formal statement of policy quorum courts adopt to officially take nonbinding positions on county affairs. The state code authorizes quorum courts to adopt resolutions.
The Garland County Quorum Court adopted a resolution last year that supports displaying the national motto in county offices and on stationary. Gates, a former justice of the peace on the quorum court, said the resolution form Stockdale used could confuse the public as to which statement, Stockdale's or the quorum court's, has the sanction of the county.
Gates said he intended for the matter to be addressed after the primary.
"He was inviting people to go on his website," Gates said. "I looked at it, and my concern was that resolutions are an act of county government, and that elected officials can't pass their own resolutions. ...
"As far as I was concerned, it was supposed to be private and quiet. There's no political motivation. Whether I support (Brown) or anybody else has nothing to do with me (raising the issue)."
Stockdale said he changed the resolution to a declaration Saturday at the request of Ohm. He's also changed the form of the national motto displayed in the treasurer's office and on its Facebook page.
"As long as God is getting the glory and the credit, I'm OK saying it's a declaration," Stockdale said Monday, noting that he didn't believe Gates was acting on Brown's behalf. "I don't even know if my opponent was aware of the issue. He probably wouldn't have said anything about if he were.
"It's disappointing (Gates) picks a non issue like this to go after."
Gates said he didn't bring the matter to Ohm's attention in an effort to harm Stockdale's campaign and credited the treasurer for displaying the motto in his office.
"It wasn't an indictment on anybody or a slight to anyone," Gates said. "Actually, his statement reinforces and adds more strength to the actual document by saying it's also his position."
Local on 02/09/2016