This evening, I sent the following email to Georgia Senator David Shafer‘s office. Why? Read on.
Senator Shafer –
On February 15, I sent you an email regarding your sponsorship of SB 123. My email was sent in good faith. While I am aware that your stance on the issue at hand is in opposition to my own, I felt it was my civic duty to share my concerns with you and others in elected office.
Almost immediately, I received a response. This reply was automatic and instructed me to send an email to a secondary address, one that was less prone to spam and more likely to be read. And so, I sent the same email to this secondary address.
A few days later, I received a response from one of your fellow senators. While he and I did not and still do not agree on the matter at hand, I appreciated sincerely the time he took to write a reply.
This evening, February 26, I received finally an email from your office. But instead of a reply to my own email, what I received was a newsletter telling me all about a new bill you are sponsoring. Evidentally, this newsletter is subscription-based. And though I didn’t request such a subscription, it would appear that I am subscribed.
I believe it will be a simple enough matter for me to remove my email address from this subscription service, but I have to express how incredibly disappointed I am with the way my original email has been misused. Instead of reading my letter, you (or perhaps just a member of your staff) chose to strip out my email address for promotional use and cast aside the actual meat of the letter, presumably unread.
I am still very interested in discussing my concerns about SB 123 with you and your fellow senators, so I hope this misuse of my information was just an oversight.
Sincerely,
Thomas L. Strickland
Alpharetta, GA
Am I surprised? No. Annoyed? Yes.
