A Kansas University employee said Tuesday she received a robocall on her work phone that urged her to tell her legislator to vote to overturn Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ veto of two 700-megawatt coal-burning power plants.
“This really irritates me,” Jeannette Johnson said. She said KU and the Kansas Board of Regents have strict rules against using state equipment for political purposes.
“I think that it is wrong for those robocalls to come in to tie up the phone lines of state institutions,” Johnson said.
The call was a recorded message paid for by the Kansas Chamber, which supports construction of the coal-fired plants near Holcomb.
Sebelius has vetoed legislation that would allow the project to go forward. When the Legislature reconvenes April 29 for the wrap-up session, lawmakers may attempt to override the veto, which would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate. Previous attempts to override Sebelius’ veto on the issue have failed in the House.
Jeff Glendening, a spokesman for the Kansas Chamber, said the telephone numbers for the robocalls were gathered from lists that matched phone numbers given with voter registration information.
But Johnson said that explanation made no sense. She said she would never give out her work number as part of voter registration.
Carol Williams, executive director of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, said there is nothing illegal about a robocall coming into a place of work even if it’s a taxpayer-funded institution.
The caller that left the recorded message for Johnson identified himself as U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. Glendening said the chamber also used U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., in the messages. Both are running for the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat and both support the coal-fired project.
The caller urges the listener to contact his or her legislator and gives the legislative hot line number in the Statehouse, which can be used to leave messages for legislators.
Comments
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Did_I_say_that (DIST) says…
It is called "hang-up" the phone or "delete" the message. You would think that by the time someone became an Assistant to the Provost they would be smart enough to do that.
A dollar to the doughnut (although that is not much of a wager anymore) that Ms. Johnson did her whining to LJW on the phone line and time of a state institution.
maxcrabb (anonymous) says…
Between this and all those "your car warranty is about to expire!" calls, I'm about to ditch the phone altogether.
Maybe an ipod touch with VOIP, solder on a broadband express card... it can't be nearly as hard as getting off all the call-lists...
Bob_Keeshan (anonymous) says…
And so it was Did I say that was outed as an employee of the Kansas Chamber.
Jersey_Girl (anonymous) says…
No kidding! I get the car warranty one and another one regarding "our" previous conversation about consolidating debt...on the main line of our office. I drive a '94 Jeep so I know my warranty has expired and I haven't talked to anyone about consolidating debt. Those things are freaking annoying.
Did_I_say_that (DIST) says…
Bob_Keeshan (Anonymous) says…
"And so it was Did I say that was outed as an employee of the Kansas Chamber."
Captain Kangaroo,
Your comment makes no sense. Please explain.
been_there (anonymous) says…
So if you are on a "no call" list, are the car warranty calls illegal? We need a "no political calls" list as well.
Newell_Post (anonymous) says…
I do consulting work in California some of the time and I have a phone number there. It is actually mildly amusing to get robocalls from Arnold Schwarzenegger a.k.a. "The Governator." Robocalls should be completely illegal, but I would make an exception for Arnold...
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
Go online, sign up,calls stop in 30 days or less....
https://www.donotcall.gov/
we signed up three weeks ago, calls have stopped, quiet around here,.......lonely,...........so lonely............
Starlight (anonymous) says…
Tonight it was a robocall from Lynn Jenkins. Puts her in the same boat with the convict Conrad J Braun robocalling to spew his crap on Obama and Sebelius. Jenkins probably uses his spam/robocalling outfit Homeytel out of San Diego. I complained to the FCC about Braun and got a "sorry, we're impotent" response. I'm really sick of the abuse. If a call in the evening or Saturday morning isn't family or a friend then I am more than a little annoyed.
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
Caller ID also works wonders. If I don't recognize the area code, connect/disconnect
Did_I_say_that (DIST) says…
Starlight (Anonymous) says…
"If a call in the evening or Saturday morning isn't family or a friend then I am more than a little annoyed."
Your ending sentence reminded me of a phone call I had to make to my District Manager about 15 years ago on a Saturday morning. He gruffly answered the phone, "This had best be family." Without missing a beat, I replied, "Hello, Dad."
Godot (anonymous) says…
"some question propriety of robocalls......."
And some do not.
1st amendment.
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
I used to waste my time telling them my phone was for my convenience, not theirs.
Then I tried to get a number I could call back to when THEY were trying to sleep.
But the old connect/disconnect always makes me smile.......