Hawkeye
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 3,021
As most of you know, I have been critical of the State of Utah and the DWR for their lack of transparency and accountability for the last several years. In an effort to address that problem, I have taken time to research the issues, attend meetings, and speak with leaders of the DWR, conservation groups, legislators and even the governor?s office. I have also actively posted on forums in an effort to highlight the problems and educate fellow sportsmen. As explained in prior posts, the comments I post online are my personal views.
My most recent post was a thread encouraging sportsmen to use the ongoing governor?s race as an opportunity to bring about change: http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID5/23500.html In my post, I mentioned that I recently met with Jonathan Johnson and that he was committed to eliminating cronyism in state government and increasing accountability and transparency. I explained that I was not telling anyone how to vote in the upcoming election. That is a personal decision and there are typically many issues that come into play with such a decision. However, if you are a concerned sportsman that is frustrated with the status quo, then the current governor?s election is an opportunity for change. Make your voices heard while the candidates are listening.
My comments apparently struck a chord with at least one person in our state government. Last Thursday, Mike Styler, Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources, sent an email to two of my partners at my law firm expressing his displeasure with me and my comments. Why is this important? Because as the Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources, Mr. Styler not only oversees the Division of Wildlife Resources but also several other Divisions of the Utah State Government, including the Division of Water Rights. See http://dnr.utah.gov/divisions.html My two law partners who received the email from Mr. Styler work in the Water Rights practice at our law firm and regularly appear in front of the Division of Water Rights in order to protect the interests of our clients. My Styler?s email stated as follows:
From: Mike Styler <[email protected]>
Date: June 16, 2016 at 10:52:10 AM MDT
To: <[email protected]>, [email protected]>
Subject: Your opinions?
Hi XXX and XXX,
I respect and value your judgments and opinions. I am bothered by the actions of Jason Hawkins, of your law firm. He has posted on numerous Internet Wildlife forums criticizing our Department and particularly our Division of Wildlife Resources. We are big boys and can handle that. He seems to be obsessed however by posting about 1700 times on just one of the many forums that he frequents. The question I have, however, is he representing his opinion only, or the opinion of your Law firm in this recent post where he endorses Governor Herbert's opponent? I will paste his post below so you can see it.
Thanks in advance for your opinions on this.
Thanks,
Mike Styler
While Mr. Styler is certainly entitled to his own opinion about me and my political views, I believe it is inappropriate for Mr. Styler to send an email about me and my political views from his official utah.gov email account to attorneys at my firm who regularly appear before the Division of Water Rights, which he oversees. If Mr. Styler has a problem with me or the political views that I expressed in an online hunting forum outside of work then he should call me, email me or ask to meet with me. Don?t take it out on my partners or put them in an uncomfortable position. I would be more than happy to sit down and discuss my concerns with him in person, as I have done with others in his department. However, he should not be using his official position in an effort to silence me. I work at a law firm with over 50 lawyers and over 100 employees. Outside of work, our lawyers and employees are actively involved in a wide variety of political, social and religious groups and causes. As explained in multiple posts, my comments on this forum are my own personal views and I take full responsibility for them. Mike Styler had no legitimate reason to believe that my personal comments posted online had anything to do with the official ?opinion of our law firm.? Likewise, Mr. Styler has no legitimate reason to seek out my partners? opinions about my personal views as expressed online. Do any of you believe those were his motives for sending the email? I believe that he was simply using his official position in an effort to silence me and that is not right.
I struggled with how best to respond to this situation. However, after giving it some careful thought and consideration, I decided to post it online in an effort to shine a light on this problem and avoid similar issues in the future. And Mr. Styler, when you read this post, feel free to shoot me an email if you would like to discuss or better understand the concerns that I expressed in my original post. I can be reached at [email protected]. As explained above, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues with you in person.
-Hawkeye-
My most recent post was a thread encouraging sportsmen to use the ongoing governor?s race as an opportunity to bring about change: http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID5/23500.html In my post, I mentioned that I recently met with Jonathan Johnson and that he was committed to eliminating cronyism in state government and increasing accountability and transparency. I explained that I was not telling anyone how to vote in the upcoming election. That is a personal decision and there are typically many issues that come into play with such a decision. However, if you are a concerned sportsman that is frustrated with the status quo, then the current governor?s election is an opportunity for change. Make your voices heard while the candidates are listening.
My comments apparently struck a chord with at least one person in our state government. Last Thursday, Mike Styler, Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources, sent an email to two of my partners at my law firm expressing his displeasure with me and my comments. Why is this important? Because as the Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources, Mr. Styler not only oversees the Division of Wildlife Resources but also several other Divisions of the Utah State Government, including the Division of Water Rights. See http://dnr.utah.gov/divisions.html My two law partners who received the email from Mr. Styler work in the Water Rights practice at our law firm and regularly appear in front of the Division of Water Rights in order to protect the interests of our clients. My Styler?s email stated as follows:
From: Mike Styler <[email protected]>
Date: June 16, 2016 at 10:52:10 AM MDT
To: <[email protected]>, [email protected]>
Subject: Your opinions?
Hi XXX and XXX,
I respect and value your judgments and opinions. I am bothered by the actions of Jason Hawkins, of your law firm. He has posted on numerous Internet Wildlife forums criticizing our Department and particularly our Division of Wildlife Resources. We are big boys and can handle that. He seems to be obsessed however by posting about 1700 times on just one of the many forums that he frequents. The question I have, however, is he representing his opinion only, or the opinion of your Law firm in this recent post where he endorses Governor Herbert's opponent? I will paste his post below so you can see it.
Thanks in advance for your opinions on this.
Thanks,
Mike Styler
While Mr. Styler is certainly entitled to his own opinion about me and my political views, I believe it is inappropriate for Mr. Styler to send an email about me and my political views from his official utah.gov email account to attorneys at my firm who regularly appear before the Division of Water Rights, which he oversees. If Mr. Styler has a problem with me or the political views that I expressed in an online hunting forum outside of work then he should call me, email me or ask to meet with me. Don?t take it out on my partners or put them in an uncomfortable position. I would be more than happy to sit down and discuss my concerns with him in person, as I have done with others in his department. However, he should not be using his official position in an effort to silence me. I work at a law firm with over 50 lawyers and over 100 employees. Outside of work, our lawyers and employees are actively involved in a wide variety of political, social and religious groups and causes. As explained in multiple posts, my comments on this forum are my own personal views and I take full responsibility for them. Mike Styler had no legitimate reason to believe that my personal comments posted online had anything to do with the official ?opinion of our law firm.? Likewise, Mr. Styler has no legitimate reason to seek out my partners? opinions about my personal views as expressed online. Do any of you believe those were his motives for sending the email? I believe that he was simply using his official position in an effort to silence me and that is not right.
I struggled with how best to respond to this situation. However, after giving it some careful thought and consideration, I decided to post it online in an effort to shine a light on this problem and avoid similar issues in the future. And Mr. Styler, when you read this post, feel free to shoot me an email if you would like to discuss or better understand the concerns that I expressed in my original post. I can be reached at [email protected]. As explained above, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues with you in person.
-Hawkeye-