Candidate Wrote Some of Debate Questions

Despite strict rules that the questions asked the candidates for Mayor of Central at the March 6 televised debate be kept confidential, mayoral candidate Dave Freneaux not only knew in advance some of the questions that would be asked but actually wrote those questions himself.

The fact that Freneaux wrote some of the questions has been confirmed by four of the six debate organizers and panelists.

The questions written by Freneaux were questions designed to attack the character and fitness of his opponent, Jr. Shelton.

The event, which was held at the Central HighAuditorium, was sponsored by the City of Central Chamber of Commerce and the Central Community Alliance. Much of the debate was spent with Shelton defending himself against accusations by Freneaux.

Even though they were aware just before

the debate that Freneaux had written some of the questions, Ron Erickson of the Chamber and Harry Rauls of the CCA allowed the debate to go forward. Neither insisted that the questions written by Freneaux be removed from the debate or that the debate be canceled. Nor did they inform candidate Jr. Shelton that Freneaux knew some of the questions in advance.

When he learned the Friday after the debate of what had happened, Shelton said he felt something was not right in the debate because of the “attack” questions and the fact that Freneaux seemed to be reading his answers to certain questions. “Apparently, he wrote the questions himself and then wrote out the answers. I didn’t have that advantage. Before the debate, I saw him in the hall practicing reading something he had written,” Shelton said. Shelton said he felt an apology was in order from the Central Chamber and the CCA for allowing the debate to go forward.

The confidentiality of the questions was made clear in numerous emails among the debate organizers, including emails sent to Freneaux and Shelton. Under the rules, the questions had to be placed in sealed envelopes and not shown to anyone.

However, in a meeting just before the debate, the breach of protocol was made known to the organizers. Those responsible for questions were Rodney Bonvillain, Angela Summerville, Ted McCulley, and Lucky Ross. Just before the debate, they met with organizers Ron Erickson of the Chamber and Harry Rauls of CCA. At that time, Rauls asked each of those responsible for the questions if they had shown them to anyone.

The Central City News sent emails to each of the six individuals in the meeting. We asked if Dave Freneaux knew any of the questions in advance or if he wrote any of the questions.

• CCA president Harry Rauls said, “Rodney Bonvillain told me that, yes, Dave had sent Rodney the questions this afternoon.”

• Ms. Summerville and Ted McCulley responded that they heard Bonvillain say that Freneaux was aware of the questions and had in fact written them himself.

• Rodney Bonvillain confirmed that his questions came from Freneaux.

• Ron Erickson of the Chamber responded he would have a statement on the matter the following Monday morning.  Chamber chairman Wayne Leader later responded.

• Ross did not respond.

In an interview Friday night, Harry Rauls said he feared Freneaux’s breach of the rules and the failure of the Central Chamber and CCA to take action before the debate were terrible mistakes that might do irrevocable damage to the reputations of the Chamber and CCA.

Rauls made available to the Central City News all of the emails among the organizers (Harry Rauls and Ron Erickson), the candidates (Jr. Shelton and Dave Freneaux), the panelists (Angela Summerville, Rodney Bonvillain, Ted McCulley, and Lucky Ross), and the moderator (Phil Rainier).

The emails were almost all directed  to the candidates.  Some of the other participants were left “out of the loop.” The emails to the candidates stressed confidentiality of the questions.

Security about the questions was supposedly very tight. Even Phil Rainier, the moderator, was denied the opportunity to attend the question meeting Sunday night before the debate out of fear the questions might be leaked. Only two persons could benefit from leaked questions — Jr. Shelton and Dave Freneaux.

Here is the exchange of emails between CCA president Harry Rauls and moderator Phil Rainier:

• HARRY RAULS to PHIL RAINIER: “Sorry I cannot invite you to meet with question selection meeting Sunday. Call me if any questions.”

• PHIL RAINIER: “Harry, I just saw the note about not being able to invite me to be at the planning meeting. So, you do not need me out there today? What is the reason?”

• HARRY RAULS: “Phil, mostly, Chamber is afraid of leaked questions beforehand. I have also recused myself, Messina, and Fralick also, so we canceled meeting on Sunday. Angela Summerville and David Barrow will come up with CCA’s 2 questions and present them to you with the other 6 at 30 minutes before Debate. If you have any questions or suggestions, please call me or Ron Erickson. See you on Thursday. Thanks”

In an atmosphere of such security over the questions, it seems disingenuous to suggest that a candidate could write the questions that would be asked his opponent.

In an interview the Monday after the debate, one of the panelists, Rodney Bonvillain, who had been named a panelist by Freneaux, said he was unaware that Freneaux was not supposed to know the questions.  He said, “I wasn’t trying to hide anything.  I freely admitted that I got questions from Freneaux.  It was an innocent misunderstanding.  I had no intent to violate any rule.”

The review of emails showed Bonvillain was not included in the same email chain as candidates Dave Freneaux and Jr. Shelton.  As a result, while Freneaux was repeatedly told the questions were confidential, Bonvillain was not.

In the days after the debate, Harry Rauls issued an apology to Shelton on behalf of himself and CCA.

However, Central Chamber chairman Wayne Leader issued a statement saying the debate was conducted properly and that he would have no further comment.

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Harry Rauls, president of Central Community Alliance, said…the Central Community Alliance and the Central Chamber of Commerce worked diligently together to present a balanced and unbiased Mayoral Debate… Both Candidates, the CCA, and the Chamber understood the importance of protecting the integrity of the questions from being known in advance of the debate by candidate or public. In the meeting to present the sealed questions to the Moderator, it was disclosed that the questions from one candidate, Dave Freneaux, had in fact not only seen his questions, but he had just emailed his questions that afternoon to his panelist... Hindsight is great. The panelists had no way of knowing that Mr. Freneaux would use prepared, well-rehearsed, and negative comments about Mr. Shelton. He did. In hindsight, we could have switched questions, or even called the debate compromised and canceled it.  We did not… As President of the CCA, I am totally responsible for our actions in this debate, and I apologize for any action I took to compromise the reputation of CCA. I have personally called and apologized to Mr. Shelton.

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