Fax Attacks; Chamber Members Unhappily Drawn Into Man's Vendetta
Omaha World - Herald; Omaha, Neb, Mar 3, 2000

[Mort] Sullivan, who has a World Wide Web site called fightbakers.com and who publishes a newspaper devoted partly to criticizing Baker, now is faxing and e-mailing letters about Baker to hundreds of Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce members.

In one recent letter, Sullivan referred to "a sleazy woman" from the chamber trying to get his Web site shut down. He said he has purchased stock in Fleming Cos. Inc., the company that owns Baker's Supermarkets, and he plans to use his automated calling systems to make the lives of Fleming and Securities and Exchange Commission officials - as well as those of "all their neighbors" - "a living hell."

Just how other businesses came to be part of Sullivan's campaign is not clear. The 56-year-old entrepreneur, who lives with his mother in a boarded-up house near 52nd and Fort Streets, could not be reached for comment. An unidentified man who answered his office telephone said Sullivan would be out of town for 30 days and that he wasn't allowed to give out the phone number where Sullivan could be reached.

Mort Sullivan doesn't like Jack Baker, and he seems to want the whole world to know it.

And in recent weeks, the Omaha businessman's campaign against Baker, chairman and chief executive of Baker's Supermarkets, has spilled over into the Omaha business community.

Sullivan, who has a World Wide Web site called fightbakers.com and who publishes a newspaper devoted partly to criticizing Baker, now is faxing and e-mailing letters about Baker to hundreds of Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce members.

In one recent letter, Sullivan referred to "a sleazy woman" from the chamber trying to get his Web site shut down. He said he has purchased stock in Fleming Cos. Inc., the company that owns Baker's Supermarkets, and he plans to use his automated calling systems to make the lives of Fleming and Securities and Exchange Commission officials - as well as those of "all their neighbors" - "a living hell."

"For some people who want to take on themselves to get into this fight, we have friends that have systems in other states with 800 line capability that will be calling into this area ... all hours of the night, especially the neighbors of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce staff and every Baker's store manager or executive of Baker's stores or anyone in the building that he has his offices," Sullivan wrote.

The vitriol, which heated up in 1993, when Baker was chairman of the Omaha Chamber, apparently stems from a piece of land near 13th Street and Interstate 80. Sullivan, who has run unsuccessfully for governor and mayor, began trying to develop the site about 25 years ago.

TCLA Inc., a company owned by brothers Jack and Robert Baker, bought 13.4 of the 25 acres that Sullivan wanted and built a McDonald's restaurant and a Comfort Inn hotel there. Sullivan had planned a tourist-oriented project, called Steamboat Plaza, on the site, which he had rezoned for commercial use before the Bakers bought part of the land.

Through lawsuits and other measures, he has tried unsuccessfully to block development on TCLA's land, on which a convenience store and gas station soon will be built.

Just how other businesses came to be part of Sullivan's campaign is not clear. The 56-year-old entrepreneur, who lives with his mother in a boarded-up house near 52nd and Fort Streets, could not be reached for comment. An unidentified man who answered his office telephone said Sullivan would be out of town for 30 days and that he wasn't allowed to give out the phone number where Sullivan could be reached.

For his part, Jack Baker has tried to ignore the matter. He declined to talk about Sullivan's activities.

Sullivan's e-mails have included threats that he will clog the fax machines of chamber members with cumbersome pages that will tie up telephone lines and deplete their equipment's paper and printing supplies.

Last month, Sullivan apparently began delivering on those threats. For the past two weeks, the Omaha Chamber has been fielding as many as 10 calls a day from angry members who have received faxes believed to be from Sullivan.

Ak-Sar-Ben Roofing Co. Inc. received a four-page fax that tied up its machine for more than five minutes, said Roger Simonsen, co- owner of the business with his wife, Barbara.

"The message used a dark background so the fax took a long time to come through," Simonsen said. "It said because we are a chamber member that this will go on forever."

While the fax had no signature or telephone number, Barbara Simonsen traced the call. The cover page indicated that the fax had been sent by Omaha Times L.L.C., a company owned by Sullivan.

"The fax was a nuisance, but it is also irritating because we got it because we are a chamber member," Roger Simonsen said. "Sullivan is assuming that we don't agree with him."

Businesses have complained to chamber staff about their fax numbers and e-mail addresses being made available. The information was accessible to Sullivan as a chamber member himself at one time.

Sullivan's latest action has presented the chamber with the same dilemma that has faced Baker for years: How do you squelch someone who stops just short of breaking the law and avoid drawing more attention to him?

Sullivan has left those targeted by him or familiar with his tactics hesitant to discuss his actions. Those who provided information for this story did so on the condition that they not be identified.

"He's very bright and everything he does goes right up to the edge of being illegal, but it isn't," said one longtime acquaintance of Sullivan. "He has a sharp legal mind and some smart people around him."

The Omaha Chamber, which declined to provide the names of businesses complaining about the faxes and e-mails, plans to take no action against him at this time, said Chamber  spokeswoman Vicki Krecek.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission, which approved Sullivan's application for an automated dialing machine, said Sullivan has violated none of its regulations. A PSC staffer said Sullivan may have run afoul of federal law if he sent faxes that concealed the telephone number from which they originated.

Few, however, expect Sullivan's campaign to end soon.

"If someone really wants to make another person's life hell and they have the mind to do it, they can generally do it," said a PSC official who spoke on condition that he not be identified. "Even if we unplugged this guy from the network, he could establish another telephone line somewhere else and return with a double vehemence."

Board of Directors

Sam K Duncan Naperville, Illinois; Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, OfficeMax Incorporated Sam Duncan Naperville, Illinois; Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, OfficeMax Incorporated

Dorrit Bern Bensalem, Pennsylvania; President and Chief Executive Officer, Charming Shoppes, Inc. Dorrit Bern Bensalem, Pennsylvania; President and Chief Executive Officer, Charming Shoppes, Inc.

Warren Bryant Walnut Creek, California; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Longs Drug Stores Corporation Warren Bryant Walnut Creek, California; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Longs Drug Stores Corporation

Joseph DePinto Southlake, Texas; President and Chief Executive Officer, 7-Eleven, Inc. Joseph DePinto Southlake, Texas; President and Chief Executive Officer, 7-Eleven, Inc.

Rakesh Gangwal Atlanta, Georgia; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Worldspan Technologies, Inc. Rakesh Gangwal Atlanta, Georgia; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Worldspan Technologies, Inc.

William Montgoris Franklin Lakes, New Jersey; former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. William Montgoris Franklin Lakes, New Jersey; former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc.

Francesca Ruiz de Luzuriaga Rancho Mirage, California; Independent Business Development Consultant; former Chief Operating Officer, Mattel Interactive Francesca Ruiz de Luzuriaga Rancho Mirage, California; Independent Business Development Consultant; former Chief Operating Officer, Mattel Interactive

David M. Szymanski College Station, Texas; JC Penney Chair of Retailing Studies, Texas A&M University, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Retailing Hall of Fame David M. Szymanski College Station, Texas; JC Penney Chair of Retailing Studies, Texas A&M University, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Retailing Hall of Fame