there are three comments, two questioning Mr. Richard's spin and the third from Rob digging himself in further. Here is what the kefuffle is about

Karen Veldheer wrote in reply to Mr. Richards:

I believe in the separation of Church and State, and that city ordinances must be supported by elected leaders.   I support the City of Olympia’s equal benefits policy.  Regarding civil rights for minorities, including GLBT, the State of Washington has over 200  specific rights including many of the rights most important to GLBT which I support as well.

Seems pretty clear to me. Apparently not so for Rob. He goes on in his blog and comments on Emmett's Olympia Time to cast aspersions about her personal values with a series of speculations about her church, its teaching, and her position on gay rights like he's a liberal Matt Drudge. Why Rob wants to paint Karen Veldeer as a Fundamentalist Christian just waiting to take away Domestic Partner benefits escapes me.

I have gotten to know Karen over the past year through our work together on the Steering Committee of the Olympia Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (OCNA). She has been instrumental is organizing a series of information sharing meeting between community activists and the leadership of Olympia's Neighborhood Associations leadership. She led the struggle against Tri Vo over his botched Cooper's Crest development and recently worked with State Rep Brendan Williams to pass home owner's warranty legislation. Karen may not be the most polished candidate Olympia has ever seen but she does have the kind of coalition and consensus building skill set our city council needs in light of its recent history.

This weak and hopefully un-intentional character assassination from Joe Hyer's campaign manager is the same kind of divisive, personality driven politics that has torn this city apart. It must stop here and now. In the best of all possible worlds Rob would offer Karen an apology.

More info on OCNA here)

More info on Karen Veldeer's campaign here

Rob's blog post on Karen is here

I believe in equality. It is something that I choose to stand up for. Upon hearing about the values of Veldheer's church, I sent her an email asking for an explanation. I was not satisfied by the response. It lacked depth and so I asked some clarifying questions which I've yet to get a response to. I don't have any desire to drag anybody through the mud, but like I've said, I simply cannot support a candidate if they don't believe in the humanity of LGBT individuals, or if they willingly belong to organizations that feel the same without speaking out against those values.

I understand that she has done some positive things for her neighborhood, and that's great, but that doesn't change the values of the church she attends, and doesn't mean that she should she shouldn't be fully vetted before the election.

When the Citizens for a Responsive Local Government were considering Karen's candidacy (by the way, she did eventually receive the CRLG's endorsement), we were aware of Karen's religious affiliation, and speculated about whether it would impact policy decisions at the city. So I called her up and asked her about it. She told me that it wouldn't be an issue, that she had no objection to same sex partner benefits. She and I had quite an interesting discussion about faith, and tolerance. Karen strikes me as an honest and genuine person. I trust her. I'm surprised that this is even an issue. Are we afraid that every Catholic politician is going to do his or her best to ban birth control? Are we afraid that Jewish politicians will insist that everyone have a bris? I just don't see any red flags here.