Open Season on Barnum Begins
Going for the Jugular A jumbled mess of unrelated emails, rumors, and the irrelevant.
This web page is an example of Cherry-picking emails to justify her illegal actions.
Even so, they fall far short of a crime or violation.
The Dossier:
Copied from the internet verbatim; Author: Karen Mitchell State Coordinator NMGenWeb
If the State Coordinator of any USGenWeb State Project requires a CC to be subscribed to the State Project email list, then there must also be list rules to prevent personal attacks, Otherwise, the person becomes a captive punching bag. NMGenWeb refuses to establish list rules. To do so would deny them a powerful weapon of intimidation.
See statement on the opening remarks by the SC saying it would be open season on Barnum. That's exactly what happened. I was expelled from NMGenWeb with no charges ever being specified.
Sequence of recent events leading up to the delinking of Charles Barnum from NMGW.
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Karen Mitchell" km1109@ghvalley.net
To: NMGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 11:10 PM
Subject: Re: [NMGENWEB] New Post
Mr. Barnum,
Below are your responses to my email:
Answer: The logo identifies the NMGenWeb project just as the USGenWeb logos identify USGenWeb. It does not represent unity.
Answer: I have no written proof. Do you? The failure of knowing what was said one year ago or ten years ago is the very reason we need a web page of guidelines approved by the County Coordinators of NMGenWeb which will apply from one year to the next.
Answer: First: I have no desire to be the SC of NMGenWeb. Secondly: How do you know if the CCs do not want written guidelines if you do not ask them on this list? Your tone so far has not been contra-conductive for two-way communication. As a CC of NMGenWeb and a member in good standing in USGenWeb, I will continue to make REQUESTS to Advisory Board Members and voice my opinions on this and other forums.
Your message to Pat:
Leon, a true founder of NMGenWeb believed in a hands-off policy for CCs.
He did not require very much of any CC except to follow the National Bylaws.
That is all I want. I want fair and uniform elections, term to term, regardless of who is running. NMGenWeb has not had a single professional election that I can recall. Making it up as we go along is just not right. We need a uniform set of standards. Not restrictions, not marching orders.
The logo is a nice piece of art. I like it, but it was never made mandatory. If it is to be mandatory, we need to vote on it, and it needs to be stated in our guidelines.
Since I do not keep emails, I'd appreciate having a copy of Leon's message regarding this topic.
*** My replies:(Karen Mitchell's) 1. Whether the logo represents unity or not is an individual perspective. I think it does. Just my opinion.
2. I do not have any proof that the logo is mandatory or not, I didn't think I needed any beings I have never stated that it IS mandatory. I simply made the comment "Also, I noticed some pages without the official NM logo. I think we all decided when it was made that we would use it on our sites, but if I'm wrong please correct me. There's several pages out there without it. If you are not using it please let me know why so I can make a notation of it on my list."
No where in that statement does it say that anything is "mandatory". I have never used that term, although you have. In fact, I only asked for the courtesy of any of the CC's to let me know if they are not using the logo and why so I could note that, and not ask them about it again 6 months from now. There could be numerous reasons why a CC is not using the logo, to numerous to mention here.
3. Mr. Barnum, you are contradicting yourself and quite frankly I'm confused. First you say you want a "guidelines" page with everything written out, and then you say you want a "hands-off" policy. Which is it? Please help me understand this.
4. No, I don't know that the CC's do want a guidelines page, but then I don't know that they don't either. I respect the CC's as adults and feel if they want something changed they will speak up. I assume if they want one, they are going to tell me they do. Right from the beginning I expressed an open door policy, if anyone has any suggestions or comments, to please bring them to my attention. So far no one has said a word about a guidelines page, except you. If the majority of the CC's don't express that desire, I'm certainly not going to force it on them. Matter of fact, I haven't heard ANY complaints from anyone else.
5. As for my "tone", I have tried to answer your questions to the best of my ability. Whatever you are reading into that is up to you.
6. As a member of the project you are welcome to contact the Advisory Board members whenever you feel the need. I'm sure they love to hear from you. As for stating your opinions on this List, as long as it's not disruptive, you're welcome to do that too. All the CC's of NM have that same privilege. No one has said otherwise.
7. I do not know what you consider a "professional election", but I haven't seen any of the NM CC's complain about the way anything has been handled, so I would guess they appreciate not having the rules and regulations you are suggesting. Quite the contrary, it appears everyone is quite satisfied, except you. Your comments about "restrictions and marching orders" also confuse me. When did any of the New Mexico State Coordinators ever do this? I haven't seen any of them place "restrictions" upon the CC's, nor have I seen any of them give "marching orders". I do note that you have praised the preceding two SC's (Leon and Susan), giving them great accolades, even though you opposed them while they held the position, and yet now you say they didn't handle the elections correctly. Please explain this. There must be something I'm missing there and maybe something I could learn from, although I don't think so because in my opinion I think they both did a great job of being our SC. I, as well as many of the CC's, have truly appreciated the way Leon and Susan both stayed focused on the goal of the overall project, which is adding data to our websites for our researchers.
Karen Mitchell
New Mexico State Coordinator
SO WHAT?
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----- Original Message -----
From: "jcnreno" jcnreno@sbcglobal.net
To: NMGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 1:01 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: [NMGENWEB] Professional Elections
Susan said:
Every volunteer has the right to ask questions and make requests. When "requests" are not met, taking it to the national level as a demand for action and doing what the requestor deems is right does not foster cooperation, and it certainly creates stress for people involved.
Reply: When questions are ignored on the state level a CC has no alternative but to go higher unless they are afraid.
It is my opinion that more people do not enter into discussion because they do not have an interest in politics and they do not want to get involved in interchanges that have involved threats of lawsuits in the past.
Reply: I know of no lawsuit involving NMGenWeb prior to today. Is your statement a general statement or do you have specifics in mind?
Charles Barnum
SO WHAT?
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Angela Lewis" gen4nm@nmia.com
To: NMGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 9:04 AM
Subject: [NMGENWEB] Professional Elections
Good morning everyone --
Most of the CC's on this list have been around a lot longer than me, so I'm sure you know what happened before Leon got the position of State Coordinator for NMGenWeb. I came after he was already SC as I was one of his recruits, and that was in mid 1999. Charles, you seem to forget that you ran Leon out of office. True, he wasn't managing the helm at the time but that's because he was recuperating from a quadruple heart bypass in April 2000. While Leon was out, Capt Pat stepped up to the plate and took care of things, and that's when I got really involved as I was taking care of all the queries coming at state level. How strange to read your notes of praise for Leon. In fact, I'm going to send him your particular email because that'll probably give him a chuckle and lift his spirits. And yes, I'm still quite close with Leon and we still keep in touch.
Then came the professional election that was held, complete with an election committee of which I was a member. Everything was done on the up and up, open and honest with all members. Susan was the only person who ran for the State Coordinator's position and was elected. You raised all kinds of commotion before, during and after this election for all kinds of reasons, and then you wanted a vote anyway. Gee Charles, with nobody else running that just doesn't make any sense and I really don't care what kind of rule book you pull out of history. Speaking on behalf of many, I'm glad somebody ran for the position!!!
Susan did a great job during her tenure and after her term ended, the next professional election was held, and the same thing happened. This time, Karen was the only person who ran for the position. Same results from you.
Everybody else in NMGenWeb has always been pleased with the leadership, and the laid back way of doing business. So many of your emails want that, yet in other emails you're demanding rules. Charles, I suggest you read your emails thoroughly before you send them out as you continuously contradict yourself.
I had told you once that I would get into the issues, but frankly this time I felt that I needed to. Like I said, I haven't been around as long as many of you, but I've been around long enough to have a memory of your accusations and conduct towards Leon, Susan, and now Karen.
I recommend that you either run for office the next time (which you continue to insist that you don't want) or quit giving the incumbents such a hard time.
Thanks for listening,
Angela
NMGenWeb Bernalillo
NMGenWeb San Miguel
SO WHAT?
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Harold Kilmer" hkilmer@plateautel.net
To: NMGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 10:58 AM
Subject: Re: [NMGENWEB] Professional Elections
Angela your memo is 100%. Thanks for sending it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harold Kilmer, Coordinator for Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Lea, Quay and Roosevelt Counties in the great state of New Mexico. All of these counties are linked to: http://rootsweb.com/~nmcurry/index.html
SO WHAT?
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Karen Mitchell" km1109@ghvalley.net
To: NMGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 10:25 PM
Subject: [NMGENWEB] WHEW!
Hi folks, I just got in a little while ago from a wonderful birthday party for my 3 year old and find quite a few emails concerning NM. Boy, you folks have been busy today! From guidelines, to Advisory Board, to lawsuits, and everything in between. SHEESH! Slow down, LOL.
I'm tired tonight and as none of these issues are life threatening I will try to answer them tomorrow after church, or at least by tomorrow night.
You all have a wonderful evening.
Karen Mitchell
New Mexico State Coordinator
SO WHAT?
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Karen Mitchell" km1109@ghvalley.net
To: "jcnreno" jcnreno@sbcglobal.net
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2006 7:33 AM
Subject: Your post
Mr. Barnum,
You said:
" I know of no lawsuit involving NMGenWeb prior to today."
Would you please explain that statement? It leads one to believe that someone has threatened to sue you. As the NM SC, if another NM CC has threatened to sue you, I need to know about it if it is in relation to what you have said on the NM list. I have zero tolerance for that type of intimidation and it will not be tolerated. If my assumption is correct, that person will be delinked from NMGenWeb.
I may not always agree with you, but I will not condone anyone threatening to sue you based on anything you have said on the NM List.
Please excuse me if I have made the wrong assumption, but if you re-read your message you can understand why I came to that conclusion.
Karen Mitchell
New Mexico State Coordinator
SO WHAT?
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----- Original Message -----
From: jcnreno
To: Karen Mitchell
Cc: Bettie Wood ; Charles Barnum
Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2006 12:24 PM
Subject: Re: Your post
Karen Mitchell,
New Mexico (NMGenWeb) State Coordinator
Date: May 21, 2006
I received your email this morning. It took me by surprise.
To answer your question about the lawsuit, Susan Bellamo mentioned on the NMGenWeb Internet email list yesterday a “threat” of lawsuit. I had not heard anything about a lawsuit prior to her reference. I asked her what she referred to. She said she had seen an email at some point about some vague suit. I concluded her statement was hearsay and of no importance. I had no knowledge of it.
Your email comes one day after my decision to obtain legal counsel regarding the continued personal attacks on the NMGenWeb email list that is provide by rootsweb.com for the business of the NMGenWeb Project. A few members have used that list for personal attacks against me for years. For instance, Harold Kilmer, a NMGenWeb County Coordinator compared me to the Terrorists that blew up the Twin Towers on the NMGenWeb list after the twin towers attack. That was a disgusting character assignation. The list administrator took no corrective action in that instance and issued no list guidelines. Failure to control personal attacks on the list fosters continued personal attacks.
Yesterday, a member of NMGenWeb posted an unprovoked personal attack against me, stating I ran off Leon Moya, a founder of NMGenWeb. This was a blatant character assignation and it was completely false. After her post, Harold Kilmer said she was 100% correct. Her post followed my praising the previous State Coordinates for their contributions to NMGenWeb.
I will no longer accept business as usual on the NMGenWeb list. Members should not use it as a platform for character assignation and for destroying a person's reputation with inflammatory and false accusations such as the charge that I ran-off the most beloved State Coordinator NMGenWeb, Leon Moya. That email list is available for reading by the public. Leon Moya--the State Coordinator I referred to, stated on the email list at that time (years ago) that he would not run for office again because he wanted to spend time with his grandchildren since he had a serious heart attack. He did not say I ran him off; Nor, did I. I did inquire about holding an election as required under Section 10 of the USGenWeb Bylaws after Leon Moya became incapacitated.
A USGenWeb Advisory Board Member who I had contacted for guidance informed the NMGenWeb Project that elections were a requirement under the Bylaws. Some members opposed having an election for various reasons. The Assistant State Coordinator actually sent me a personal email saying, “You are f... stupid.”
Currently, the new members of NMGenWeb would assume from the personal attack yesterday on the email list that I "ran off" Leon Moya and caused his heart attack. These false and poisoning remarks were improper and did not involve NMGenWeb Business. Those types of vicious posts should not be allowed on the NMGenWeb list and it is a violation of the terms of use set forth by rootsweb.com.
I decided to obtain an appointment with an attorney regarding this matter. I will no longer endure having my reputation damaged by hateful remarks posted on the NMGenWeb email list. The person who made those remarks on the email list will be notified by my attorney in accordance with the State and Federal law as it exists in Nevada regarding character assignation, Internet stalking, harassment and intentionally inflecting mental anguish. I will discuss with him my rights of bringing action in the Fourth Circuit District Federal Court, which is located in Reno Nevada. My attorney will notify the person involved in a lawful manner of his intended actions.
Back to your statement that members will be de-linked (expelled) in they threaten a lawsuit. Am I to understand that my seeking legal counsel to protect myself against further character assignation and damage to my reputation by continued irresponsible personal attacks on the email list shall result in action against me by NMGenWeb?
I have not threatened anyone with a lawsuit, I am pursuing legal recourse and it will be up to my attorney to decide the best course of action or to seek monetary damages for the mental anguish that person has caused.
I'm taking a copy of this email to my attorney after the appointment can be arranged. I’d appreciate knowing before the appointment if you are going to expel me from NMGenWeb for my seeking legal counsel and any subsequent legal options taken, so I can also discuss options with my attorney regarding this issue.
Charles Barnum,
Member in Good Standing of USGenWeb
County Coordinator, Lincoln County NMGenWeb, 1996-2006
CC: USGenWeb County Coordinator Representative
SO WHAT?
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----- Original Message -----
From: "jcnreno" jcnreno@sbcglobal.net
To: NMGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 10:16 AM
Subject: Re: [NMGENWEB] Professional Elections
Not so Angela,
I always respected Leon. When he had his heart attack the bylaws called for an election. I wanted an election according to the bylaws. It's that simple. After he regained his strength he could have run for office again but he choose not to do so. Had he run for office I would have voted for him.
You will have to find another villain. I did not cause Leon's heart attack. Clogged arteries from cholesterol buildup cause heart attacks. His decision not to run again was his alone. He was not in the habit of asking anyone for permission.
Again, the Bylaws are very clear. When an SC can no longer serve, an election must be held. Those are not my rules, they are the rules of USGenWeb. There is an AB member on this email list, anyone might ask her to explain this.
It is not strange that I praise Leon, I have the up most respect for him. We exchanged a number of private emails that you are not aware. He helped me in many ways.
As for voting, in my opinion there is no election if there is no vote. It's an American thing. If you do not like to vote, then don't vote, but do not deny me the right to vote.
Susan did a great job too, but I objected to the lack of structure in our elections. I object that we were not allowed to vote for the SC. As a CC I have a right to express my concerns about elections. I will continue to do so. This does not mean I am biased toward any particular person.
No, I will not run for state office. That is my decision, it is not up to others to decide that. But yes, I will continue to express my concerns.
I think it would be appropriate to list Leon Moya's name on the State page with his dates of service since he played an important part in creating NMGenWeb. I hereby formally make that motion now. Feel free to vote against or for this motion.
Thanks for your input, Angela. Feel free to launch personal attacks against me anytime. I will not respond in kind, however. Thank you for expressing them on this forum intended for NMGenWeb business.
Have a wonderful day.
Charles Barnum
SO WHAT?
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----- Original Message -----
From: "jcnreno" jcnreno@sbcglobal.net
To: NMGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com
Sent: Saturday, May 20, 2006 1:01 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: [NMGENWEB] Professional Elections
Susan said:
Every volunteer has the right to ask questions and make requests. When "requests" are not met, taking it to the national level as a demand for action and doing what the requestor deems is right does not foster cooperation, and it certainly creates stress for people involved.
Reply: When questions are ignored on the state level a CC has no alternative but to go higher unless they are afraid.
It is my opinion that more people do not enter into discussion because they do not have an interest in politics and they do not want to get involved in interchanges that have involved threats of lawsuits in the past.
Reply: I know of no lawsuit involving NMGenWeb prior to today. Is your statement a general statement or do you have specifics in mind?
One of the things I love most about our volunteers is the wide variety of talents we have and the amazing contributions we have made!
Reply: I agree.
Charles Barnum
SO WHAT?
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X-From_: jcnreno@sbcglobal.net Sat May 20 11:09:23 2006
Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 10:10:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: jcnreno jcnreno@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Character Assination on Puiblic email list Q
To: Angela Lewis gen4nm@nmia.com
Off List:
Personal and Confidential:
Angela Lewis,
Your unprovoked public personal attack and character assignation of me as expressed in your post below will not be tolerated. Monday, I am seeking an attorney. I request that you either provide me the mailing address where my attorney can send you a letter of notification or provide the name of your attorney so my attorney can contact him.
I will remind you that the NMGenWeb email list by previous orders of the State Coordinators is to used for NMGenWeb business. I will not stand by any longer to suffer personal assaults on my character on this public forum and the resulting mental anguish it has caused. Please Provide the address as I requested by any method, phone, email, or mail.
Thank you,
Charles Barnum <snip>
Copy: USGenWeb County Coordinator Representative
Thirteen months later, it is now obvious that something was cooked up among the players. I was not going to tolerate the personal attacks any longer on the Official email list of NMGenWeb. I threatened no one with a law suit. I had every intention of contacting an attorney so he could send a letter of protest to Angela Lewis. At that immediate time, I did not know about the secret web page on the NMGenWeb home page where Susan Bellomo, Harold Kilmer and Pat Bennett were aware of the "Open Season" remark on Barnum after the election. I did not learn of that until a year later when it was reported to me by a member of the public who stumbled across it. Everything suddenly made sense. The pretense was planned from the start to inflame me so I'd react. Then they used my reaction as an excuse to expel me.
Notice I put my name on the email and sent a copy to the Advisory Board Representative. It does no good to contact the Advisory Board, but what the hell.
I removed my address from Karen Mitchell's web page copy to help prevent some jackass from stealing my identity.
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----- Original Message -----
From: Karen Mitchell
To: Karen Mitchell ; Susan Bellomo ; Patricia Bennett ; Harold Kilmer ; Dick Chenault ; Angela Lewis ; lhaasdav@cox.net
Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 9:22 AM
Subject: Lincoln County, NM
As of 8:59, May 23, 2006, Lincoln County NM, held by Mr. Charles Barnum was officially delinked from the NMGenWeb Project. A full explanation will be forthcoming next week, as a personal situation must take priority this week.
Thank you all for your input and help.
Karen Mitchell
New Mexico State Coordinator
It is over 14 months and Karen Mitchell still has not provide one single specific charge against me.
Karen Mitchell thanked Susan Bellomo, Patricia Bennett, Harold Kilmer and Angela Lewis for their help. These same people are the controlling clique in NMGenWeb. Three of them at least were aware of the "OPEN SEASON" on Barnum expressed by Susan Bellomo on the secret web page that they forgot to delete.
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----- Original Message -----
From: "jcnreno" jcnreno@sbcglobal.net
To: NEW-MEXICO-L@rootsweb.com
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 6:20 PM
Subject: [NEW-MEXICO] KAREN MITCHELL
KAREN MITCHELL,
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO INFORM ME OF THE SPECIFIC CHARGES AGAINST ME WHICH YOU USED TO EXPELL ME FROM NMGENWEB?
SINCE NM HAS NO GUIDELINES OR BYLAWS ARE YOU TAKING THE STANCE THAT YOU HAVE UNLIMITED POWER TO DO AS YOU PLEASE. IF NOT, WHAT SPECIFIC BYLAWS DID YOU USE IN THIS MATTER?
RESPOND HERE OR TO MY NEW EMAIL ADDRESS JCNRENO@CHARTER.NET
CHARLES BARNUM, FOUNDING COUNTY COORDINATOR OF LINCOLN CO NMGEWWEB 1996-2006
It's been over 14 months and I still have not been informed of the charges used to expel me. If you do not specify charges, then I can not defend myself. That was the plan from the beginning.
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----- Original Message -----
From: jcnreno@charter.net
To: km1109@ghvalley.net
Cc: nana321@tatumtel.net
Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 12:09 PM
Subject: Formal Grievance
Karen Mitchell,
This is the next week that you referred to (see below). When are you going to provide details of the reason for your expelling me from NMGenWeb?
Charles Barnum
note my email change: jcnreno@charter.net
Bettie Wood:
I wish to file a grievance regarding this matter. I have violated no bylaws of USGenWeb or NMGenWeb prior to my being expelled.
This is a request for a formal hearing regarding whatever charges Karen Mitchell dreams up; or if she continues to neglect telling me bylaw for which I was expelled.
I request that you represent me in this grievance procedure. NMGenWeb has no grievance procedure nor guidelines.
Charles Barnum
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BY PUBLISHING THIS PRIVATE EMAIL REGARDING THE GRIEVANCE MEDIATION, KAREN MITCHELL VIOLATED THE CONFIDENTIALLY RULE OF USGenWeb.
HUNDREDS, PERHAPS THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAVE READ MITCHELL'S FILTH AND LIES AND DISTORTION. I complied with all of the grievance rules of USGenWeb. I kept my mouth shut. Mitchell went on a rampage involving all of the members of NMGenWeb, sending messages to others members and publishing crap on email lists.