Anti-Bustamante PAC Used To Be Anti-Agran PAC
Posted by: Jubal | 02/06/2007 9:34 AM
Mark Leyes posted yesterday about an IE hitting Carlos Bustamante. And a couple of commenters made some good points about it that bear further scrutiny. It accuses Bustamante of voting to give $6 million to a "wealthy care dealer" instead of using it to "hire more police to keep us safe."
Commenter "You Saps" claimed the money couldn't have been used for police. I called Carlos Bustamante and learned the following:
- "You Saps" is correct. That $6 million came from redevelopment bonds that could only be spent on the Santa Ana Auto Mall. The money couldn't be used to hire more police.
- Moreover, the $6 million in question was part of the Crevier BMW eminent domain action -- which took place before Bustamante was even on the Santa Ana City Council.
Commenter "Informant" correctly points out that the IE committee -- Orange Healthcare, Education and Neighborhood Leaders' PAC -- is using the ID number of another committee: Irvine City, School & Neighborhood Leaders Committee.
That committee was an anti-Larry Agran vehicle for Lincoln Clubbers -- who are largely backing Carlos -- and still had a few thousand dollars in it. I doubt they'll be too happy about the use to which their committee is being put.
Not only that, the treasurer of the Irvine City, School & Neighborhood Leaders Committee is Betty Presley, who is also Carlos Bustamante's treasurer. Whatever voodoo the backers of this anti-Bustamante mailer used to transmogrify the anti-Agran committee into an anti-Bustamante committee, I doubt Betty Presley (a woman of class and professionalism) will be too thrilled to have her name misleadingly associated with this hit.
"Informant is also correct that authors of the anti-Bustamante IE failed to provide the mandatory 24-hour advance notice for late IEs.
Negative campaign mailers aren't under any obligation to tell the target's side of the story: but they ought to be factual, even if they aren't entirely truthful. All in all, this is a sleazy, inaccurate mailer -- and no doubt was dropped at the very end of the campaign to deny Bustamante the opportunity to respond to untrue charges.
Whoever put this together -- and I'm trying to verify that -- ought to be embarrassed by their sloppiness and plain disregard for the facts and campaign law.
UPDATE (10:00 a.m.): I've been doing some digging. Apparently, some time ago (I'm unable to determine how many weeks ago), someone called Betty Presley -- treasurer of the Irvine City, School & Neighborhood Leaders Committee -- and asked her to turn over treasurer duties to Kelly Lawler, who lives in Northern California. This person also bound Betty Presley to secrecy regarding his/her identity -- a promise Betty is keeping.
I'll update again as I get further down the rabbit hole.
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
Jubal,
Didn't Trung Nguyen's campaign also fail to notify 24 hours in advance of their negative phone message.
Any time an I.E. shines the light on the questionalbe deeds of a Politico I say, here, here, well done! Mark thinks it's not a very good mailer so why is the Bustamonte camp crying???
I don't know. It's possible. I only know what I see and hear about.
If Betty knows more about the dirty deeds she should make it public or else she becomes part of the cover-up!
Any time an I.E. shines the light on the questionalbe deeds of a Politico I say, here, here, well done!
Boo Hoo!:
I would agree with you if the mailer was actually correct. This one isn't. It accuses Bustamante of something he didn't do. It's a lie -- and if you'd like to cheer for lying, go right ahead.
There's underhanded politics all over this election. Bustamante's phony Democratic logo flyers, the so called "swiftboat veterans" hits on Umberg, the bizarre back and forth antics between the Nguyens and now this most recent attack on Bustamante.
This seems to be a trend of deception that isn't going away any time soon. Whatever happened to just sending out your message and telling the voters what you stand for?
The "everyone's doing it" excuse lacks integrity and both parties should re-evaluate their support for candidates that use these tactics.
Its the urban legend syndrome about BMW because you're right, he was not on the council. So thats misleading. Of course Carlos has given this his implied endorsement by not objecting to it the numerous times the issue has come up and then voting for another redevelopment giveaway with the Honda deal. Kind of like calling a guy a murderer but tagging him for the wrong murder instead of the murder he did commit.
The old canard that $$ could be used to hire police keeps getting dragged out by campaigns. Thats misleading. The deal was a sweetheart deal for BMW that fails the smell test on its own. You can do a number of things with redevelopment dollars....hiring cops is not one of them.Using that lie only detracts from the credibility of the piece as you correctly point out.
It would be nice to have had the same indignation at some of the scuds that landed in Camp Umberg but, whatever. Late, unfactual pieces deserve strict scrutiny due to the lateness of the hour and as Jubal points out, the lack of opportunity to effectively rebut.
Green Machine is right. All this stuff is politics as usual, especially in Santa Ana. The consultants know it and so do most of the candidates. No, that doesn't make it right, but it is reality.
When everyone started screaming about the Vietnamese candidates using the same tactics that have been used for years by everyone else, it was more about how fast they learned and adapted, than what they were doing.
Screwing around with absentee requests/ballots, lying on mailers,coordinating with i.e.'s, phantom PAC's, questionable voter registration activities, flyer's at Church, doing neighborhood absentee ballot "assistance" programs, giving out rewards to people who voted, etc. have all been part of Santa Ana elections for years. And the parties only care about one thing. Winning!!! Again, this doesn't make it right, only reality.
I'm glad Matt has been digging around for answers, but even if he finds them, it isn't going to change anything. Campaigns use what works, and until some folks are smacked hard by the FPPC, or a lawsuit, nothing changes.
Jubal:
Kelly Lawler was Treasurer of the Yes on 90 campaign.
Jubal,
Who cares? Bustamante will be blown out of the water today. He has already become an afterthought.
Re: Trung Nguyen is also in Violation - no the Late IE Ordinance only speaks to independent expenditures....not candidate hit mail or calls.
Re: Art - you are a hypocrite....but then again you and everyone else already knows that.
Bustamante voted on the Honda deal not the BMW deal. The problem wasn't necessarily that it was a lot of $ (4.2 mil if memory serves) but the Council added 1 mil at the request of the City Mgr. to close the deal simply to get the deal done. That mil could have been put to much better use in SA rather than lining the pockets of a VERY successful dealership. Also, the Council didn't have the req'd number of votes (5) so just before voting they voted to change the req'd number to a simple majority of four in order to pass this gift. VERY unethical, and Bustamante was right there with Pulido and Solorio on it. (Garcia was the 4th vote).
Art:
Maybe one day you will run for elective office and -- God forbid -- be hit with a mail piece that is a complete fabrication about you. At that point, I look forward to you saying, "Who cares?"
Jubal, If that happens you can bet I won't be whining about it. I'll hit back in equal measure. I am shocked by Bustamante's wimpiness. Wasn't he some kind of space commando?
Art, you miss the point.
Put aside your hatred of Carlos for a momnent and answer me this: are mailers that are lies -- and are know to be lies by their authors to be lies -- OK with you?
And in case you haven't noticed, the mailer his yesterday -- so Carlos doesn't have the opportunity to hit back.
Jubal,
Stop wasting your time with Art Pedroza and his other anon postings. You'd have more success arguing with a cat!(your words) Pedroza is a little "g" god in his own mind and no one will ever convince him otherwise. Too bad for him only a couple of liberal Dems still worship at his alter - Pedroza is a Dee Dee Dee!
I am looking forward to more follow-up on this because Lewis and Holder were behind the Lincoln Club anti-Agran stuff and I thought they were working for Carlos.
No they weren't.
Please let us know if you find out anything.
Kelly Lawler, The KAL Group, is treasurer for a number of committees. In fact she's tied to the Jack Abramoff deal through J.D. Hayworth, former AZ Congressman. Like Richard Pombo, he went down in November. Lawler/KAL Group was treasurer for a PAC that Hayworth had set up to funnel money to his wife.
Kelly was also treasurer for John Campbell before he headed to Washington.
Lawler and her husband Casey Lawler were Victory '06 County Chairs for Glenn County.
She is probalby tied into Doolittle, Pombo, John Feliz, nor cal cowboys.
She's also tied into some crooked casino syndicators from Detroit who I've been tracking.
Kelly Lawler, Casey Lawler, The KAL Group. Anything?
Casey Lawler (530) 934-3476 679
N Lassen St,Willows, CA 95988
Try calling her at home!