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[Andy Ansell]

KFAI Stiffs Tifft

On Monday February 29th, KFAI's morning radio program "Conversations with 
MacFarlane" featured what was supposed to be a forum with all the candidates 
running for Eight Ward City Council.  They however failed to invite or 
mention a very visible and viable candidate, Dennis Tifft.

The Tifft campaign wasn't contacted or invited to participate in the event.  
We at the Tifft campaign believe in fair and equitable representation for 
all candidates.  We are disappointed at KFAI's overlooking and omitting our 
candidate.  We are also disheartened that individuals who knew about the 
Tifft campaign didn't have the decency to ask or mention the omission of Mr. 
Tifft at these proceedings.  It begs the question if someone at the radio 
station had an agenda to exclude Mr. Tifft.  The following is a letter sent 
to KFAI on behalf of the Tifft campaign.

To Whom It May Concern,

I have just finished reviewing the program, Conversations with Al McFarlane,
broadcast Monday, 28 February 2005 on KFAI.

Mr. McFarlane and KFAI have done residents of the Eighth Ward a grave
disservice by omitting Council Member candidate Dennis Tifft from the roster 
of
guests invited to participate in the candidates forum which McFarlane hosted 
on his
show.

Dennis Tifft has a distinguished record of community service, has already
established himself as a highly visible and viable candidate (including an
endorsement from the Stonewall DFL Caucus), and is eminently qualified to 
serve as
the Eighth Wards next Council Member. That Mr. McFarlane has either
deliberately or inadvertently excluded this important voice from his 
roundtable
discussion of politics in the Eighth Ward can only be characterized as 
outrageous.
Whether an error of omission or commission, the outcome is the same-biased 
and
damaging to Mr. Tifft.

Inasmuch as the airwaves are licensed to serve the public interest, this
particular KFAI program has clearly failed to meet its obligation to the 
community
by creating an impression regarding the Eighth Ward City Council race which
is simple untrue. The Tifft Campaign asserts that the only appropriate 
remedy
for this egregious omission is to offer an apology to Mr. Tifft and make 
equal
time available to him.

We await your immediate response.

John Hustad
Marketing/Communications Advisor
Dennis Tifft Campaign for Eighth Ward/DFL City Council

john at liftwithtifft.com
612-822-8226