Traverse City Record-Eagle

Election 2007

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November 6, 2007

Last-minute controversy impacts vote

Candidate ripped for his work with HIV/AIDS group

By Vanessa McCray

TRAVERSE CITY -- City commission hopeful Jim Carruthers spent the final stretch before today's election under fire from a city resident who criticized the candidate for his work with an HIV/AIDS group.

Letters from city resident Matthew Schoech turned up in some neighborhoods over the weekend. In them, Schoech accused Carruthers of showing a "willful disrespect for the laws of our county by aiding or abetting the deliberate breaking of the law."

The letter discusses Carruthers' actions as the former executive director of the now-defunct HIV/AIDS Wellness Network, where he worked from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. The group's public health education effort included passing out condoms and safe sex information at parks where sexual activity between men was known to occur. That enabled the breaking of disorderly and obscene conduct laws and displayed Carruthers' "extremely poor judgement," said Schoech.

"I think people have a right to know in the area about past decision-making," he said.

Carruthers characterized the letter as "really nasty" and "very anti-gay."

"To me, it's a little bit laughable, but it is totally ridiculous that they are doing this," Carruthers said.

He joins incumbents Ralph Soffredine and Scott Hardy as well as challengers Scott Sieffert and Barbara Budros in today's race for three four-year terms on the city commission. Mayor Linda Smyka is challenged by Michael Estes for the mayoral seat.

The effort to distribute condoms and safe sex information was a matter of "public health," Carruthers said.

"It is not something we condone, people are going to have sex, and they are going to have it in public places," he said. "We are there to get information in people's hands, and get them safe and get them to prevent the spread of HIV."

Schoech said his efforts are not fueled by anti-gay sentiment and those who think so "have an interpretation problem."

"I am not a hater. In fact, I am a lover," said Schoech.

Incumbents Hardy and Soffredine, also vying for commission terms, said the issue is not relevant to the campaign.

"It's just mud-slinging, and Jim needs to be evaluated on the basis of what he's proposing for the city," said Hardy, whose house was among those where letters were left.

Soffredine was unaware of the letter, but said voters likely will "cast it aside." Smyka said she didn't know enough about the letter to comment.

Carruthers called the letter's topic "old news," and said his agency was not a "police force." Schoech said distributing condoms from an office is different than at a public park, where people should be informed they are breaking the law.

Schoech would not say how many letters were passed out or who else was involved in the effort. He served on the city's Human Rights Commission from 1997 to 2003 and signed the letter as a former member of that body.

Barbara Meredith, a former chair of the Human Rights Commission, found the letter at her door and said it seemed to give an impression that it was somehow affiliated with the board's view.

"I see it as being kind of a smear letter under the auspices of somebody who served on the Human Rights Commission," she said.

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