Mayor John Lazar expressed publicly at the most recent City Council meeting that the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) would not be pursuing any investigation regarding the recent inserts resemblant of campaign literature put in City utility bills when he countered Councilmember Amy Bublak’s motion for an outside investigation of recent issues that have defied public trust.
However, the FPPC has told TurlockCityNews.com that the case is currently under review.
“I don’t think there’s a need for an investigation,” said Lazar at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “Investigation speaks to whether someone’s done something deliberate and illegal and I don’t see anything deliberate and illegal with an insert.”
The fliers lay out the Yes Committee’s argument in favor of the seven-year half-cent road tax with the web address to the Committee’s website; which is funded by the Citizens for Yes on Measure B.
City Manager Roy Wasden, approved the inserts that were sent in City utility bills, which were prepared by the Citizens for Yes on Measure B committee, minus FPPC required disclosure on campaign literature of, “Paid for by Citizens for Yes on Measure B.”
Of note, the impartial analysis in the Stanislaus County Voter Guide has been provided by City Attorney Phaedra Norton — who works alongside Wasden.
“We have a communication with the FPPC saying that there was nothing there, they weren't going to recommend any type of action with respect to any type of insert, it was informational,” said Lazar.
Because of the nature of the matter and the impending election where absentee voters are already casting their decisions, TurlockCityNews.com did a public records request to City Clerk Kellie Weaver for emails between the City and the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, Weaver sent an email to Adrianne Korchmaros, of the Enforcement Division of the FPPC.
“Good morning,
Roy Wasden asked that, per your request, I forward you the inserts that were provided on Measure A and Measure B. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need to speak to the City Manager. I can be reached directly at (209) 668-5542, Ext. 1110.
Kellie Weaver
City Clerk/Exec. Asst. to City Manager”
Korchmaros responded Oct. 1, 2014.
“Thanks, Kellie, for emailing the fliers. We won’t be pursuing the matter.
-Adrianne”
Both Lazar and at least one regional media company have reported that no action is being taken, however this has been found to be untrue.
For the sake of pubic interest, TurlockCityNews.com inquired with the FPPC to confirm that, in fact, no action would be taken by the FPPC on the matter.
In an emailed response to TurlockCityNews.com dated Oct. 14, 2014, Jay Wierenga, FPPC Communications Director, said the case is under review, but the FPPC is unable to make comment specifically about the case.
“The FPPC Enforcement division is reviewing this matter. As it’s under review, we can’t comment on ongoing cases. But it is under review,” wrote Wierenga.
City Council candidates, who are both for and against the road tax, chimed in regarding the matter.
"Additionally, in regards to City Manager Wasden, I’m troubled by his quote to Fox40: ‘I would have liked to have given it greater scrutiny. There were some time tables that didn’t allow for that. That’s where we’re at,’” said Council candidate Sergio Alvarado. “Exactly how much time did he have to review this before the literature was sent out? It couldn’t possibly have been just a few days before the bills were sent out, especially considering the flier’s contents were literally taken verbatim from the pro-Measure B website, which was in fact the website listed on the flier.”
“I am just as curious as any Turlocker would be concerning the legality of utility bill insertions that can be interpreted as supporting a specific political cause,” Matthew Jacob said regarding the matter.
Both candidates, however believe there should be some sort of accountability for those responsible for the inserts.
“As for how the City Manager and City Attorney should be held accountable, this should be referred to the FPPC and/or the court system who should determine the appropriate action, and they should be personally held liable if the City has a judgment against them," said Alvarado.
“From what I’ve heard, the FPPC has begun investigating already,” said Jacob. “There is a fundamental issue of accountability that seems to be overlooked. With just weeks before November 4th such decisions should be tabled to our new Mayor and Council.”
Bublak seeked this accountability at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, asking that Council delay their vote to approve the contracts of Wasden and Norton until an investigation had been completed. Bublak’s request was denied and Council approved the contracts on a 4-1 vote.
Mayoral Candidate Gary Soiseth expressed his surprise as he opened his recent City utility bill to find the insert, adding that he hopes the leaders in City Hall have followed the FPPC regulations.
“As I currently don't lead City Hall, I don’t have all the facts as to why management placed this in our bills, but I hope our leaders followed all FPPC campaign rules regarding political information,” said Soiseth.
Donald Babadalir, candidate for Council and Mike Brem, candidate for Mayor did not respond to TurlockCityNews.com’s request for comment.
As public trust and transparency continues to be an issue for community residents, there is no guarantee that the FPPC will conclude its review of the matter prior to the election.
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Councilwoman Amy Bublak tried to do the right thing and called for an investigation to address the public’s and police officer’s distrust of the city manager. Mayor Lazar and Steven Nascimento fought to sweep it all under the rug. What’s next on holding the City accountable?
I would listen to Bublak about FPPC violations. She was fined a lot of money for what Mike Brem did. This is more serious so it will most likely be a big issue with the law.
Considering few bloggers on this site know how to read, maybe Fransen should go to the FPPC website & read the findings from the 2008 robocall and POST them. We dare you. If you read the 8-9 page findings, Fogliani/Vanderweide took responsibility for half of the cost of the robocalls where Mary Jackson was impersonated, the other half is in question. Bublak is angry with Wasden because he didn’t promote her. Ask Bublak how many times, she has failed her sargeants test. Bubalk knows she has committed (*edited by tcn) and she would lose not only her job, but her cop pension.
Mike Brem has filed late for his donations over $1,000. He did not send out any mailers secretly. He is not unethical, unlike Bublak, Howze, Spycher. How many times did the trio violate the Brown Act. Of course Fransen isn’t going to support Brem, he’s been bought off by Soiseth via Matt Swanson (who with his family & various businesses gave boy wonder nearly 25K), Mark Hall, Bublak, Denham. So stop the negative Brem, “boy wonder” is a trophy kid who has been handed everything from his parents/grandparents, he isn’t ready to sit at the adult table during the holidays. He’s just getting elected so he can run against Denham for Congress.
Howze would send out robocalls, tell the police and fire unions what we talked about in closed session during contract negotiations and call Fransen to whine. Wasn’t Howze behind the robocalls? Isn’t Spycher and Bublak supporting Soiseth, that’s the only reason I need NOT to vote for him.
alot of fluff in this article. Provocative headline for just “under review” and suspect timing with absentee ballots being out.
What’s wrong DJ? Did your poll come back and show overwhelming support for Measure B?
I would wager that Measure B is at 50 percent and that Soiseth, Jacob and DeHart are winning because of the police and fire support.
Could the poll be just for the Tcn advertising candidates so they know where they stand?
This is a very interesting election with such opposing support with Andre behind Soiseth and Lazar behind Brem and the newspapers versus online news websites. Who will win?
Agreed, the TCN poll comes back in support of Measure B & the candidates NOT advertising on this pathetic website, where did DJ and Rob Santos and Matt Swanson go wrong. Is Howze really involved. I was so glad to see him coaching, it seems he’s doing a good job! Remember, I taught at THS when DJ was (*edited by tcn) on campus, why do you think the skate shop was so pop-u-lar
Why would anyone vote to increase their own taxes? Especially when 1/3 to 1/2 of the city would effectively be taxed twice for the same thing if this measure passes. Stop misusing tax dollars, and fix the roads with the abundance of money already being pulled in.
From the Modesto Bee: Last month, an insert on Measure B in city utility bills contained information from http://www.fixturlockroads.com, which is promoting the measure. After the city was criticized for using public funds to sway voters, the city clerk sent copies of the insert to the Fair Political Practices Commission. An Oct. 1 email from the FPPC said the agency “won’t be pursuing the matter.”
Looks like the Bee will lie to cover up news stories on Brem and Measure B since they endorsed both. Thankfully we have Tcn to report factually and without bias. We also are fortunate to have news many times a day so we don’t miss anything. Keep reporting on the election and don’t censor information like the Bee.
http://www.modbee.com/2014/10/09/3583433_turlock-sales-tax-measure-would.html?rh=1
The city was cleared the day after Josh Weimer (Soieseth’s campaign manager) made the claim against Measure B & the City’s utility bill. Do you not read an authentic, journalism-driven newspaper, NOT this rag. I think the collective brain trust should go back to Sylvan Learning Center and study!
People are wondering, many of us went to THS with you…so do you have a diploma? Or a GED?
My wife and I would like to know why we received a Denham for Congress & Turlock FireFighters endorsement of a mayor candidate (I have his opponent’s sign in my yard) at my house yesterday? Isn’t it illegal for federal candidates to be spending money on local races? Now that would be a story worth telling.
Bublak has a lot of experience dealing with the FPPC. She has been investigated for several offenses (misreporting how campaign $$ is spent, filing late, not filing donations with Mark Hall, fined, and who knows what may happen in the future. It’s very interesting, why is Curt Andre still backing her? What does Andre know about the robocalls? Is he involved? My church group always though it was Howze, and the Turlock fire fighters, you make the call.
Andre has lost his way, this is very painful for my family and I to watch. I don’t know why he is making these decisions and spewing all of this negativity, except is he jealous of Mayor Lazar. I would have liked to see how he would have dealt with Howze, Spycher and Bublak during the dark days. The horrible trio attacked city departments, department heads, individuals, it was really difficult. John was the one who helped protect and save people’s jobs. Andre, we’re done with you.
You sound like Mary Jackson who is quite jealous of DJ’s TCN and hates Amy Bublak and Ted Howze. Mary just can’t let it go. Her extreme hate and jealousy has caused her to go “crazy”. Anyone else know her stupidity and craziness?
I only went to THS through 9th grade and then got my GED a few years later.
Regarding the phone poll results, we’re waiting on those from the company that made the calls. TurlockCityNews.com should be publishing the results tomorrow.
DJ
“Seeked”?? Really? How about “sought” instead
They used public funds to advertise their double tax as if it isn;t a double tax, they were informed they could be in violation of a law against these practices, so what did they do? They used public funds a second time to again campaign via inserts in our city bill, once again, breaking the law. It must be nice to be working with the good ole boy’s club of some corrupt city government like Turlock and never have to suffer consequences for doing unethical and illegal things in the name of pushing your own agendas.
The corruption continues. I saw on Facebook that the City is giving the Turlock Chamber of Commerce $250,000 to support campaigns for taxes like the road tax. Is it legal for the City government to give political groups money?
This is how the City sent out road tax mailers for the Chamber. It’s all tied together and all funded by the tax payers who want the exact opposite.
I believe clarification is needed all over this site but the here facts are needed. The City of Turlock does give the Turlock Chamber of Commerce for the promotion of tourism and local business. That money goes into a separate bank account that the Chamber can’t touch for its own uses. The political campaigns are an entirely different account than both the tourism or visitors bureau account or the Chamber account for local business support. I am a Chamber member paying hundreds of dollars a year, but only to support my business and not the political special interest or the City’s tourism. It’s all very separate.
Do you have audits for that or is this just what you are being told happens?