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Dunbar sues foe in election, others over voter mailer

Republican Councilwoman Kathleen Dunbar made good on her threat to sue her Democratic opponent and three retired teachers over a campaign mailer. In a complaint filed Thursday in Pima County Superior Court, Dunbar claims the mailer contains defamatory statements that have caused her "severe mental and physical anguish." The suit comes just five days before Tucson voters decide whether Dunbar deserves a second term representing Ward 3 on the City Council. In addition to council candidate Karin Uhlich and the teachers, the suit also names the Pima County Democratic Party, the teachers' husbands, and a lawyer for the Amphitheater Public Schools district and his wife as defendants. The lawyer made comments at a May 2004 council meeting that are quoted in the mailer. Uhlich dismissed the suit as a "frivolous" attempt by Dunbar to "divert attention from her record." Attorney Bill Risner, who represents Uhlich, the Democratic Party and retired teacher Alison Newman said his clients would "not be bullied. . . .They have nothing to retract." County Democratic Chairman Paul Eckerstrom accused Dunbar of "a pattern of threats and intimidation, and the Democratic Party is not going to be intimidated." Dunbar said she took action only after she saw a second Uhlich mailer that repeated the disputed allegations. "How can Tucsonans believe that I will stand up for them if I don't stand up for myself?" she asked. The mailer, sent to about 5,000 Tucson teachers by the Uhlich campaign, asserts that Dunbar threatened to kill a housing project because of her "longstanding opposition" to development impact fees. It states the project developer and the school district had a voluntary impact-fee agreement that would have provided the district with $250,000. It quotes Amphi lawyer Todd Jaeger as saying the agreement was withdrawn "because of" Dunbar. Dunbar and a lawyer for the developer say no agreement existed and Dunbar says she played no role in the withdrawal of the agreement. In her suit, Dunbar claims the defendants' accusations "placed her in a light that a reasonable person would consider highly offensive." Prior to filing the suit, Dunbar made an early morning call to Newman, one of the former teachers, and asked for a written retraction. Newman refused. Jaeger declined to comment on the suit, but called the naming of his wife "an intimidation tactic."