Karen Diebel's campaign has responded to my post from Monday citing her numerous police emergency calls and a troubling police report. Unfortunately, the response does nothing to substantively address any concerns, relying primarily on the loss of her husband eight years ago to generate sympathy, while accusing opposing camps of pushing the story.
She most certainly deserves our sincere sympathies for her tragic loss. For the record, I had no knowledge of that 2002 accident before posting, nor did I have any contact with any individual from any campaign in FL - 24 prior to making the post. How it got into the activist networks I and other bloggers interact with, I have no idea. But as the issue, and more, has been raised in various blog comments spanning back years to her previous races against Democrats, it's hardly surprising it would be coming out as she vies for a House seat.
I picked up on it only because it involved the NRCC. And I continue to believe that the spouses of high-level NRCC execs should not be involved in competitive House primaries, as it creates the perception of a conflict of interest.
As for Karen Diebel, given that any GOP nominee will be facing a Democrat incumbent and there is now a police report on the record, the issues deserve to be addressed beyond simply invoking a past tragedy, for which we should all sympathize. Now, back to the very relevant substance.
“After my husband was killed I was a widow and the only parent left to raise and protect my three boys. It was a very traumatizing time for all of us. As a matter of precaution I always set the home security system. Like many systems ours was set to automatically call the police when activated. And, like all security systems, there are certain bugs and false alarms.
In time, my sons and I were able to regain our composure and return to a normal, but forever altered life It’s hard for me to imagine the lack of character it must take to engage in such a mean spirited and senseless attack. It is made even harder considering this attack has come on the anniversary of our tragic loss.
As I know something of the home alarm industry, false alarms are a significant issue for alarm companies, states and local police departments. So much so, that Florida actually led the nation in passing relevant law. Here is the full text of the law pdf, which was updating a previous version. On top of that, Diebel's 911 call issues span years, including prior to the tragic accident, and also involves two different residences. In that sense, the campaign's response is absurd, suggesting they don't have an adequate response.
I doubt a professional alarm company, or police department would allow such a high number of false alarms to go on without the system being disabled, or removed. In many states, homeowners are subject to fine after as few as three false alarms. In some ways, the better question now might be, did Diebel receive preferential treatment because of her political status?
It gives me no satisfaction to appear to be piling on someone who has experienced a profound tragedy in their life. But politician's are elected to serve, not evoke sympathy. Frankly, the Diebel campaign's attempted use of that in this regard to deflect honest questions given the facts on the record should heighten any concerns of her suitability as a candidate in the fall. If she went through a rough patch and got through it, fine. But her response does not say that and her campaign's mischaracterization of the issue should only cause even more concern.
I've no desire to keep kicking someone around over this. But there appear to be serious issues here, potentially disqualifying Diebel as a sound candidate for the GOP in the fall. I'm trying to be as gentle as I can with this. I doubt that will be the case with any Democrat opposition in November. Diebel should seriously consider whether or not she wants to expose both herself and her family to that.
In July 2006, the legislators of the State of Florida made Enhanced Call Verification (generally referred to as “ECV”) became state law; F.S. Statute 489.529 and it as later signed endorsed and signed into law by then Gov. Jeb Bush. The new state legislation is under the heading of Alarm Verification Calls Required within the Florida State statute. The new legislation requires all central monitoring stations that handle residential or commercial intrusion/burglary alarm activations to make “two” (2) phone calls in an attempt to verify the validity of any monitored alarm activation. This is done prior to calling local police/sheriff’s departments to request a dispatch. All alarm monitoring stations, no matter where they are located in the United States and conduct alarm monitoring in the State of Florida, are now mandated to call both the premises generating the alarm activation signal, and if no answer is received, or false verification cannot be determined, the monitoring station then must make a second attempt via a telephone in order to try and contact the alarm system owner or key holder. If the monitored location utilizes visual or auditory sensors that enable the monitoring personnel to properly verify the alarm signal, then “ECV” is not required.
This newly enhanced manner of attempted verification has wide support from Florida’s many Chiefs of Police, Duly elected Sheriffs and the Alarm Administrators/Coordinators from each agency that tracks false alarm activity. The Alarm Association of Florida has played a significant role in seeing this legislation brought to fruition in their attempt to lower false alarm responses by both Police and Fire Personnel first responders. The national alarm industry related association known as S.I.A.C., officially called the Security Industry Alarm Coalition has also come out in full support of this type of legislation on a national basis.
Off topic, Dan, but I just read that Hugh Slatery of WizBangBlog has passed away unexpectedly.
http://wizbangblog.com/content/2010/06/09/in-memoriam-hugh-slatery-1.php
If I'm not mistaken, he was a frequent commenter here - he was a very smart, politically astute guy from Kentucky who had a lot to say particularly recently on some of your posts in re Rand Paul's primary win.
Thought you and other regular readers here might like to know.
If the HughS who posts often here is NOT Mr. Slatery, please let us know & accept my apologies.
Posted by: leilani | Wednesday, June 09, 2010 at 01:42 PM