{"id":50080,"date":"2014-03-27T14:52:53","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T21:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=50080"},"modified":"2014-04-01T14:57:02","modified_gmt":"2014-04-01T21:57:02","slug":"candidates-denounce-fraud-mailer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2014\/03\/27\/candidates-denounce-fraud-mailer\/","title":{"rendered":"Candidates denounce \u2018fraud\u2019 mailer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"This<\/a>
This Democratic-themed political mailer is a fraud, and it was denounced by Oscar Mejia, Jordan Campbell and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. (Click image to view the front and back of the mailer.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 As we reported last week, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris<\/strong> financed a hit mailer that claimed City Council candidate Johnathon Ervin<\/strong> was a \u201cgang candidate\u201d who had led an \u201canti-law enforcement protest.\u201d Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A new political mailer making the rounds this week also takes aim at Ervin, while urging Democratic voters to choose Oscar Mejia<\/strong> and Jordan Campbell <\/strong>for Lancaster City Council.<\/p>\n

The Democratic-themed mailer warns recipients: “Don’t Vote for for ‘Dishonest John’ Ervin,” and it claims Ervin pled the 5th when questioned about soliciting a bribe; Ervin was kicked off the Lancaster Planning Commission for corruption; and Ervin is a Trojan Horse Democrat supported by Palmdale Republicans. View the mailer here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both Campbell and Mejia have denounced the mailer and say they had no part in its production.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m truly upset to know that someone would do such a thing and then use me as a scapegoat for it,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cI do not agree with it because I do not believe in slandering an opponent in order to further a political gain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to know, first of all, I didn\u2019t send it and it never met my preapproval,\u201d Mejia said. \u201cEvery candidate I\u2019ve met, I always greet with a warm smile and a handshake. I don\u2019t go out bashing people because that\u2019s just not what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mailer is designed to appear as if it comes from the Democratic Party, however, the mailer was actually produced by an organization called Democratic Voters Choice. The fine print states that \u201cDemocratic Voters Choice is not an official political party organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic Voters Choice is owned by marketing and advertising consultant Tom Kaptain, who could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

In an LA Weekly<\/em> article titled \u201cSlate Mailer Sleaze in L.A.,\u201d Kaptain claimed to \u201cknow every councilman in every small town in California,” and said the profit-making mailers were “a way to help my friends\u2026\u201d Read the article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another news article in the Bakersfield Californian<\/em> claimed Democratic Voters Choice faced frequent criticism for sending out mailers that appear to represent Democratic views, but which endorse Republicans. Read that article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what you call a fraud that\u2019s perpetrated on the voters,\u201d said Eric C. Bauman,<\/strong> Chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

In a phone interview Thursday, Bauman said the Lancaster mailer in question had absolutely nothing to do with the County Democratic Party, which had actually endorsed Johnathon Ervin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe things that are said about Johnathon Ervin on this mailer are both misleading and frankly downright despicable,\u201d Bauman said. \u201cIt\u2019s all part of a campaign that clearly seems to be orchestrated by the Mayor [R. Rex Parris]\u2026 to make sure that Johnathon Ervin is not elected to city council.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parris did not return repeated calls for comment on whether or not he had financed the Democratic-themed mailer.<\/p>\n

Lancaster City Council candidate David Paul<\/strong> said Mejia and Campbell should be held accountable, to some degree, for the content of the mailer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know both candidates have denounced the mailer and claim they did not give their permission to have their pictures in the mailer, but they still need to account for what role they actually had in it,\u201d Paul said. \u201cWho paid for the mailer and what part they played in it at all need to be answered. If they were taken advantage of we need to know who did it and why, and these questions need to be answered before the election.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lancaster election takes place April 8.<\/p>\n

Previous related stories:<\/p>\n

Lancaster mayor apologizes after \u2018hit mailer\u2019 backlash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

March organizer: Parris political mailer is a \u201cflat out lie!\u201d<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Why you should vote on April 8<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Candidate calls for investigation of Lancaster election policy<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Hoodie March\u2019 in Lancaster draws hundreds<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 As we reported last week, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris financed a hit mailer that claimed City Council candidate Johnathon Ervin was a \u201cgang candidate\u201d who had led an \u201canti-law enforcement protest.\u201d Read more here. A new political mailer making the rounds this week also takes aim at Ervin, while urging Democratic voters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50080"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}