|
Flap over flyers arises in 11th hour |
|
|
Thursday, 05 June 2008 |
|
By Dave Balcom
Publisher 6-3-2008
Two Republican candidates for the 34th Assembly District in today’s primary election have filed complaints with the Fair Political Practices Commission charging fellow challenger Connie Conway with making false 11th-hour accusations in a mailer sent out this weekend.
The mailer, sent to registered Republicans, called candidate Bob Smith a “disgraced Sheriff’s Deputy.”
The mailer also claims Smith has no experience with budgeting, and that Jon Zellhoefer, another candidate, has no public safety or budgeting experience.
Smith worked for 27 years as a police officer and has been endorsed by San Bernardino County Sheriff Gary Penrod. In addition, he has worked on budgets as a member of the Silver Valley School District board and the Summit Leadership Academy School Board.
“Conway offers no documentation for her claim that I was disgraced because there is none,” said Smith.
Contacted Monday, Conway refused to answer direct questions concerning Smith’s “disgrace.” She said, “I’ve treated my opponents kindly,” and referred further questions to Ted Costa.
Costa, when he was reached, first cited a newspaper story from the “Daily Press” that dealt with a drunk driving charge involving a child in the rear seat, but then said, “Oh, that’s not the right guy…” He then cited a story in the Riverside Press-Enterprise from May 15, regarding a grand jury investigation inyo the Riverside County Assessor’s Office. Smith was an employee of that office for seven months last year, and the newspaper reported his duties overlapped with work done by other county workers.
The investigation was instigated to see if the assessor’s office was being misused for political purposes. Smith has testified before the grand jury and has denied his position was anything like political patronage.
For his part, Zellhoefer said Conway’s mailer inaccurately states that he has no public safety experience – even though he sits on the Board of the Southern Inyo Fire Protection District, a fact listed under his name on the voting ballot.
“Conway falsely claims I have no experience with budgets yet balance them regularly as the Secretary/ Treasurer of the fire board,” Zellhoefer said.
Conway declined to answer direct questions about her knowledge of Zellhoefer’s fire district activities. Instead she questioned the size of the budgets he administered.
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 July 2008 )
|
