Moulton woman who lost job to tell story, promote Kerry
(btw, she's from Alabama, not IL)
By Clyde L. Stancil
DAILY Staff Writer
MOULTON — A Moulton woman who was hired by John Kerry said she hopes to meet the Democratic presidential nominee on a Florida campaign stop next week, where she also could get chance to address the party faithful.
"I'm going to thank him right off the bat," said Lynne Gobbell.
Until then, she will busy herself doing radio interviews from her home and from the office that the Democratic National Committee is providing her in Decatur. Gobbell said that she already has given an interview to a Norfolk, Va., radio station, and plans to give another to a station today in Huntsville.
Gobbell, 41, said that she is looking forward to the Florida trip. She is not sure how she will get there, and is a bit anxious about flying in an airplane, which is something that she has never done before.
Kerry hired her to work for the DNC on Tuesday after reading a DAILY story about how her employer allegedly fired her for displaying a Kerry-Edwards political sticker. The sticker was on the rear windshield of her car.
In her Decatur office, Gobbell said that she will report to attorney Brian Oakes, the Morgan County Democratic Party's chairman.
She will work 60 hours a week, about the same number of hours she worked as a machine operator for Enviromate. Gobbell said that she also will earn the same salary that she earned before Enviromate owner Philip A. Geddes allegedly fired her for refusing to remove the political sticker.
Gobbell also will receive a benefits package to which DNC employees are entitled.
"I get the full benefits," Gobbell said. "Medical, dental and vision for me and my husband, Kenneth."
Leslie Dach, a senior adviser with the DNC, said Gobbell's job will last throughout Kerry's campaign. The election is Nov. 2. "She'll be talking to various folks, letting them know why she has agreed to spread the message about why America can do better with John Kerry," he said.
Dach said the DNC is still trying to work out the details about where Gobbell will spread her message and when she will meet Kerry.
decaturdaily.com
decaturdaily.com
John Kerry phones fired Moulton woman, offers her job
By Clyde L. Stancil
DAILY Staff Writer
MOULTON — A Moulton woman, who says she lost her job for sporting a Kerry-Edwards political sticker on her car, will get a new job from John Kerry.
Lynne Rene Gobbell, 41, said that the Democratic presidential nominee phoned her Tuesday to say that he read an article about her firing and "couldn't believe it." Kerry offered her a job with his campaign.
"He told me that he was really sorry that I had lost my job and that he was real proud of me for standing up for what I believed in and for him," Gobbell said. "I was really shocked and shook up."
Sunday's DAILY quoted Gobbell as saying that her employer, Philip A. Geddes, who owns Enviromate in Moulton, told her Thursday that she had to remove the sticker from her car. Another manager told her she could " 'either work for him or John Kerry,' " she said.
"He (Kerry) read that Phil said that, and he said that 'you can let him know that as of today you're working for John Kerry; you're hired.' I told him it was hard to believe, but that it was wonderful."
Gobbell said that she supports Kerry because "I'm a Democrat."
She immediately called Enviromate, which manufactures cellulose insulation in Moulton, and told managers about the call from Kerry.
"I told them I didn't need the job, that I have another job," she said. "They said with who. I said with John Kerry. They really didn't have a response."
Leslie Dach, a senior adviser with the Democratic National Committee, said he spoke to Gobbell on the phone after she talked to Kerry.
He said that he and Gobbell would work out details of her employment today. It will be a paid position.
Before the sticker incident, Gobbell said, Geddes placed a flier in employees' paycheck envelopes describing how he and they benefited from the tax cut initiated by President Bush, Kerry's opponent in the Nov. 2 election.
Geddes could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Gobbell said that her cell phone and home phone have been ringing steadily since THE DAILY published her story. It has been circulating on the Internet. An Alabama campaign official sent the story to Kerry. (so did I)
She has received calls from radio talk show hosts across the country and well-wishers, some of whom offered her money.
"It never dawned on me that he (Kerry) would call — not personally, anyway," she said. "I even have him on my answering machine where he called earlier. He was on an airplane, and he said that he would call me back."
She will keep the message on her machine and is happy to have a job again.
"I was getting really, really worried about bills coming up and me not having a way of paying them," she said.
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