Republicans upset about 'harassing' letter from lawyer

Jul. 1—A Baker City couple is vowing to consider filing a lawsuit after receiving a letter accusing them of disrupting a private meeting of local Republican Party officials in Baker City on June 7.

The letter was on behalf of an attorney representing the six-member Baker County Republican executive committee, which met that day at the GOP office at 2100 Main St.

Susan and Jason Bland wrote in a response letter that they weren't involved in the June 7 incident.

"The correspondence you sent to us is threatening and harassing — it makes us feel unsafe," Susan Bland wrote in a June 23 response letter.

The Blands received a letter on June 21 by certified mail from Kevin Mannix, a Salem attorney who was the Republican candidate for Oregon governor in 2002.

Several other Baker County residents, who like the Blands are Republicans, received similar letters.

The letter to the Blands begins with this line: "RE: Notice to Cease & Desist from Harassment and Intimidation."

In the letter, Mannix writes that he is assisting another Salem attorney, Vance Day, who "has been retained by the Baker County GOP Executive Committee."

Day is a former Marion County judge who lost in his bid for a seat on the Oregon Court of Appeals in last month's election.

In the letter to the Blands, Mannix writes that "This letter has been issued to you because of your involvement in disrupting a private meeting held at the offices of the Baker County Republican Central Committee on June 7, 2022."

But Jason Bland said the couple didn't attend, or try to attend, that meeting.

He said he and his wife knew about the meeting and parked near the Baker County Republican Party office at Main and Broadway streets. Jason Bland said they never left their vehicle.

In the response letter, Susan Bland wrote, in reference to the June 7 meeting, "we were not there."

"Your correspondence is defamatory," the Blands' letter continues. "Unfounded accusations and lies are not free speech."

Susan Bland writes that, like Mannix and Day, she is at attorney, although she is not practicing now.

"I understand that making accusations and involving the legal system are serious matters, requiring research and some due diligence," Susan Bland wrote. "I question whether either of you looked into this matter in a serious fashion."

Mannix wrote in his letter to the Blands that "Failure to discontinue the harassing and intimidating activity will result in legal action being taken against you as you have no right to be present at a private meeting or harass or intimidate those who attend or who are members of the Baker County Republican Central Committee or the organization's Executive Committee."

Mannix's letter continues: "If the above activity continues, Judge Day will be forced to petition the Baker County Circuit Court to issue a temporary restraining order against you and the accomplices involved in the above activity. He will also be obliged to sue for monetary damages that will be proven during legal proceedings. Hopefully, there will be no need for this type of recourse, but if Judge Day has to protect his client's interest, he is prepare to do so in a court of law. This is the first and final warning letter."

The letter concludes: "You may confirm receipt of this letter and your commitment to cease any disruptive behavior by sending an email to Vance Day. ..."

In her response letter, Susan Bland requests "a retraction of your defamatory statements, in writing, from both of you and your client."

Bland also uses the same phrase that Mannix included his letter: "This is the first and final warning letter we will send you."

Bland's letter continues: "If you fail to confirm this request or fail to respond to this letter we will have no choice but to consider filing a lawsuit against you and your client immediately."

The letter sets a July 8 deadline to respond by email.

Jason Bland said in an interview that he and his wife drove to the GOP office on June 7 because they had heard that a meeting had been scheduled and that some elected Republican precinct committee people planned to attend.

"I did want to see what was going to happen," Jason Bland said.

Bland, who has multiple sclerosis and has trouble walking, said they parked in a handicapped space. He said he had no intention to try to enter the GOP office.

He pointed out that the June 7 meeting was the second time this year that Baker City Police were called to a possible disturbance at a GOP event.

On March 25, two officers responded to a complaint about audience behavior during a forum featuring several Republican candidates for Oregon governor at the Baker Elks Lodge.

They escorted a few people from the Elks Lodge early in the forum, but police didn't make any arrests or file any charges.

Two other couples received similar letter

Rick and Penny Rienks were among those escorted out of the March 25 forum.

They also received a letter from Mannix regarding the June 7 meeting that's identical, except for the addressee, to the Blands' letter.

Rick Rienks wrote in an email to the Herald that he and his wife went to the GOP office on June 7 because as elected precinct committee people, "we all expected we would be welcome."

Rienks claims that Suzan Ellis Jones, chair of the Baker County Republican Party and a member of its executive committee, told the Rienkses and others that they hadn't been officially elected and that she was going to call police if they didn't leave.

Baker County Clerk Stefanie Kirby certified election results, including for GOP precinct committee people, on June 9, two days after the meeting.

Other members of the executive committee are vice chairman Julie McKinney; treasurer Joanna Dixon, who is a Baker City Council member; secretary Justin Langan; and delegates Tom Van Diepen and Keith Jones, who is Suzan Ellis Jones' husband.

Rienks said he told Suzan Jones during the June 7 incident to go ahead and call police, saying "they already don't like you for all the trouble you've created," referring to the March 25 forum at the Elks Lodge.

Rienks said a representative of the owner of the Main Street building where the GOP had its office then asked the group to leave.

Rienks said he replied "of course we will. You asked politely."

He said the group then left the building "in orderly fashion."

According to police records, two Baker City officers responded to a reported disturbance at the GOP office at 3:33 p.m. on June 7. The incident was settled with no arrests.

Debbie and Calvin Henshaw, registered Republicans from Baker City, also received a letter from Mannix on behalf of Day.

Debbie Henshaw said she considered the letter "extremely laughable," not least because her husband was at work during the June 7 incident.

Calvin Henshaw noted his absence in an email to Day, who responded, in part, "If my clients were mistaken about you being present at the June 7 meeting, please accept my apologies."

In a subsequent email to Calvin Henshaw, Day wrote: "It appears, based upon your responses, that the information I was provided was in error. For that I apologize. The letter and the notice is hereby withdrawn. Thank you for clarifying this matter. My hope is to see this whole matter resolve in an amicable manner. We shall see."

Debbie Henshaw said that unlike her husband, she did go to the GOP office on June 7, where she told Suzan Jones that, as a registered Republican, she wanted to attend the executive committee meeting.

Henshaw said Jones told her she couldn't attend.

Henshaw, like the Rienkses, said she left when the building owner asked her to.

"I was very composed," Henshaw said.

She said she considers the letter from Mannix a "bluff" and a "threat to try to get me to leave them alone,"

"I am not afraid of threats," she said.

Henshaw said she believes the GOP executive committee, by blocking people from meetings and now having an attorney send letters threatening lawsuits, is engaged in the harassment and intimidation that the letters attribute to Henshaw, the Rienkses and the Blands.

"I have not been involved in disruptive behavior," Henshaw said.

Letter recipient wants accountability for those who called police

Jason Bland said that although he and his wife didn't enter the GOP office on June 7, he thinks whoever called police for what he considers an invalid reason "should be held accountable."

"We're not violent, radical people," he said.

Bland also said he is upset that he and his wife have been falsely accused, since they were in their vehicle during the June 7 incident.

"This is another example of people who don't do their homework and start defaming me around town," he said. "I really don't understand, unless you're afraid of losing your power."

Bland was referring to an incident in October 2021 when he wrote a letter to Baker City Mayor Kerry McQuisten, who is a GOP precinct committee person, claiming McQuisten defamed him by suggesting he was drunk when he left voice mails on her cellphone.

Bland, who is a member of the Baker City Budget Committee, said he sometimes speaks with slurred speech due to multiple sclerosis.

McQuisten disputed that she had defamed Bland when she told Baker City Manager Jonathan Cannon about Bland's voice mails, a meeting that led Cannon to send an email to city councilors that referenced Bland's slurred speech.