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Parkinson tied to phony mailer

June 4, 2010

Members of the Democratic Central Committee contend Ian Parkinson’s campaign is trying to influence the vote by sending out phony mailers in an attempt to give the false impression Parkinson has the Democratic Party endorsement. [NewTimes]

A campaign consulting firm hired by Parkinson sent out the slate mailers to registered Democrats in the 2nd and 3rd supervisorial districts that recommend “the best choices for San Luis Obispo Democrats.” Along with a group of democratic candidates the mailer urges Democrats to vote for Republican Ian Parkinson for sheriff.

There are six Republicans vying for the non-partisan sheriff’s office and members of the Democratic Central Committee (DCC) said they have not endorsed any of them.

“The mailer was sent out under the name “Democratic Voters of the Central Coast” in an apparent attempt to make Democratic voters believe that it was an official party mailer endorsing Ian Parkinson for sheriff,” said DDC member John Barta. “Members of the Democratic Central Committee are upset that a campaign consultant for a Republican candidate would attempt to influence the future makeup of the Democratic Central Committee by endorsing some Democratic committee candidates and not others on the phony mailer.”

The mailer was paid for by Public Policy Solutions, a firm run by Parkinson’s campaign consultant Cory Black. The mailer was sent out by Democratic Voters of the Central Coast, a group that lists the same phone number as Cory Black’s consulting firm.

In response to the mailer, DCC member Pepper Hughes sent a formal complaint to the enforcement division of the Fair Political Practice Commission in Sacramento.


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I guess it is really weither you win or loose and not how you play the game.


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Your reply made my point better than I could have…how about highlighting the attibutes of the candidate you are supporting instead of trashing the frontrunner.


The issues you bring up have been beaten to death, but my thoughts on one that I have personal knowledge of:


His pre-promotional written exercise for that process was proof read by his brother, who gave him feedback. That seems like a wise thing to do, in my opinion. In fact, over the years, I have been asked to proof read written documents relating to promotional processes by many candidates. In each case, I made corrections and suggestions to the candidate. There is no expectation that a pre-promotional written assignment be the sole work of the candidate with no input from others. If human resources wants the candidates to do a written assignment with no input from others as part of a promotional process, they are sequestered in a room to complete the assignment.


By the way, I sat in on the oral board that recommended Ian for one of the sergeant’s openings during that process. He did an outstanding job, and no, his brother was not in the room.


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Go Ian go. We need a qualified person for Sheriff and Ian Parkinson is that person. A class act.

We don’t need another little guy with a big badge and attitude.


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I am amazed at the negative blogging…typical mud slinging instead of talking about the candidates’ attributes. Lets talk about qualifications for a change. I have worked with several of the candidates, and in my opinion, Ian Parkinson’s overall experience makes him the most qualified candidate for Sheriff. He has an expertise in SWAT, traffic, investigations, was an outstanding training officer and was a department defensive tactics instructor, in addition to serving as a sergeant, lieutenant and captain. I always found him to be a straight shooter, not someone who tells people what they want to hear. I have seen him make some tough decisions, when the easy way out would have been to just keep quiet. He has a great track record of cultivating great relationships with members of the community and other agencies. Now, if you happen to prefer another candidate, how about about why that person is most qualified, in your opinion, instead of just trashing the opponents. That would be a refreshing change in politics. Cheers everyone!


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Well, I don’t know about him being a straight shooter. How about lying on the air about his tax liens? How about the deceptive ballot? How about his inability to take a simple promotion test by himself? How about his reluctance to come clean on his educational background? The worst is the deceitful slate ballot wherein he tries to fool voters into choosing him. That is downright treasonous. And I hear yet another cheat ballot was sent out days ago and he was informed of all this 3 weeks ago when the first one was mailed-he claimed ignorance and lack of interest. I figure he’s a bum-bad ethics, bad memory, bad economics. Not someone we want for top cop.


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Interesting that KSBY beat Cal Coast to the story of Steve Bolts being arrested for DUI. And Rob Bryn sticking foot in mouth. One thing that is obvious is this sheriffs department needs a though cleaning from top to bottom. Whomever gets elected, please do us all a favor and fire these gravy trainers.


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Mad Hatter: Actually, Karen did have the Bolts story first, but we were the last to post because we waited to ascertain the most critical piece of information. The news here isn’t that Bolts was busted for DUI, though that is disturbing. The news is that Bolts was the ONLY DUI that wasn’t sent to county jail. That is the most important angle of the story and Karen Velie is the only one to have it.


Everyone Else: Of course, Cortez paid for his ads. The assumptions often posted here by some are simply amazing.


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Hey Dave, thanks for your sightly insight. I’m sure you will be on top of this one. When tomorrow rolls around, it’s going to be very interesting who comes out. Overall, this has been a very interesting mudslinging party. Whoever wins, will have earned it. If you want some comparisons in elections, I would suggest you follow the Sac Bee. They are having a three sheriff race and it has been extremly dirty. This race has it’s own storylines. We will all have to wait and see the end results. Have a good day.


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What is interesting is the rapid growth and increased credibility of CCN. Their investigative information has withstood the scrutiny of many readers. Congratulations on creating an important community forum. Regarding this story, I doubt that Cortez received his adverting free and really not too excited if he obtained a discount. I am disturbed by the continuing bad decisions by Parkinson and his committee. Ethics count and until Parkinson really grasps that concept, he should not seek public office.


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So what about the one “Democratic” mailer I received claiming Democrats endorse YES on PGE’ prop 16 and another one saying vote NO-How did PGE money get to alter one of these endorsement mailings?

Before you blame Parkinson you might investigate who is behind THAT?

NO ON PROP 16 …the scam by PGE-don’t be fooled by scam mailings!


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Perhaps, but the topic today happens to be about Parkinson and not PG&E/Prop 16. Parkinson should be accountable for his own actions and misleading the public through the advertising mailer is foul play, plain and simple.


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You have no proof it was Parkinson-it is relevant because some PAC is altering the prop 16 endorcement as well-you don’t see a relevance? It may not be just Parkinson’s is all I’m saying –

Some PAC’s are meddling with them on other issues too!


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The last poster brought up an interesting point. Is CNN charging Joe Cortez the mandatory legal amounts required by the FPPC for his ads on this webpage?


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The following was posted earlier today by MarkJames.


“I have confirmed information through a reliable party that I trust with certainty that Joe Cortez purchased his add on this website at FMV which is the going rate. He was not treated any different than other advertisers.


We have also noted that unlike the Tribune, CCN does not endorse candidates.”


Funny how no one say’s anything when the Tribune advertises for candidates that they have endorsed and then fail to report scandals. Lets not confuse the blogs here with the CCN reporters and editors.


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I’m not sure if Fair Market Value meets the FPPC requirements. I know that political advertisements are not based on competitive pricing or whatever Fair Market Value is for any particular local “rag.” It would be interesting for CNN to report on this and post the rate that was charged in regards to what they are considering Fair Market Value to be and then compare it to FPPC regulations.


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Per Holly , “I know that political advertisements are not based on competitive pricing or whatever Fair Market Value”


Holly, what planet did you drop in from? The FPPC doesn’t set advertising rates you freggin idiot.

If CCN charged a political candidate less than they charge other advertisers, the candidate would be required to claim the difference on his 460. That isn’t the case here. Cortez paid the same rates as all other advertisers.


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Paul Jones,

Let me just say I know. I havn’t accused anyone of anything but only making an inquiry. It just appears that a good portion of this web pages advertising is dedicated to Mr. Cortez while at the same time the “news articles” are negative against the other candidates. Where would one find the advertising rates for CCN? It would just be interesting to see that since favoritism does seem to be the agenda of this webpage if Mr. Cortez paid the advertised going rate for his advertisements. There are no discounts allowed for any bulk rates or whatever.

When someone gets so defensive it makes me wonder. As Sgt. Friday would say “just show me the facts.”


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Delicious red herring you have served up Mr.Holly.


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No Mr. Holly. This site has not run articles negative to other candidates. Only one candidate has put his foot in his mouth repeatedly and that is news. The other five candidates have not lied, ‘forgotten’ important issues or ignored public concern about their ethics, honesty and competency. Only one, Ian Parkinson, has made a mess of things. If that filthy rag the Trib would print the truth (in news and editorials) then the public could make more informed choices. Parkinson has consistently ignored complaints about his false advertising through the bogus ‘slate ballot’.

And have the voters noticed that the so called two leading contenders, Parkinson and Lenthal, do not do their own ads? They have others do them. Cortez and the others do their own, with their own voices. I like that.

And why do so many here comment favorably about Cortez? I don’t know any of the other posters, nor they me. Yet many of us support Joe, why is that? Duh, he is the most qualified candidate. Well spoken, more experience than any of the others (though almost all of them have oodles of experience), he has a large list of law enforcement support and he strikes me as a real human-not just a cop. I want a human running our Sheriff dept, someone sensitive to the public, one who responds to issues instead of ignoring them (which is what this pile of blogs is about in regards to Ian NOT responding to issues).

Cortez was hired to clean up the two bit ramshackle Pismo PD, as far as I know he did a good job and returned a bunch of money to the city coffers instead of bleeding them dry. That is the sort of man we need as sheriff.


All this bull about advertising is just that. CCN is starting out and would love more advertising-tell the others they can hire space here too.


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Talk about bull. The Pismo Beach Police Department has been a smooth running organization since Brooke McMann left in 1994. Cortez walked into a good organization with good people. Dan Boone turned the place around with the help of John DeRohan (who did most of the work.) Share all of the accomplishments of Cortez if you want to actually support your candidate rather than stomping on the successes of others to make him look good. Perhaps there is a very valid reason why the current chief is not supporting Cortez.


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Now hear this, the FPPC does not set or require ‘mandatory legal amounts’ for candidates purchasing advertising. The rates are set by the companies that sell the adds. In this case CCN sold an add like any other add and their standard rates. The FPPC only requires that if a candidate doesn’t pay full price for an add that they claim it as a contribution.


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So much is being placed on formal education. I like someone who really has experience in the field that they work in. This web site obviouly is a vehicle for Joe Cortez. I wonder if CCN is following the ffpc rules for the charging of political ads?

I don’t know Joe Cortez and have nothing against him except for his lack of experience in running a large department where serious crime has occurred. His resume indicates that he has bounced from department to department and most of them are in “boutique” cities. Mr. Cortez’s largest budget was probably equal to that of the vehicle and fuel budgets for large departments.There is no book that will teach you real life experiences which I feel is mandatory for running a MAJOR police department. You can’t get police experience from sitting behind a desk, you need to spend a little time in the gutter where the crime is. As noted before, and not to be demeaning to Mr. Cortez, I would think that the Chief of Police for Disneyland may be more qualified, his department is larger, the venue is larger, the budget is probably larger and I would venture to say that there is actually more crime at Disneyland than in Arroyo Grande.


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Mr. Holly,


Back to school for you. FIFTEEN YEARS as Chief of Police, balanced budgets, and returns of money to tax payers, and you call this bouncing from “department to department”? Amazing.


Clearly, you are on this list to cast doubts on Chief Cortez, and will go – repeatedly – to any length possible. Kinda low.


What can you say about Bay Ink & Toner and Linda-Mood Bell? I am sure you can think something up.


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Paul James,

I don’t think I have been low. I’ve made no personal accusations I have only rendered my opinion that Mr. Cortez has never come close to being connected to any department of any size. Just because you may have gone to school doesn’t mean you are qualified to do something nor does it mean that you aren’t qualified.

This is like ma and pa with there little neighborhood convenience store trying to upgrade to a Macy’s, it may work and it may not work.

Your connection to CCN seems interesting as it appears that YOU know the facts of everything.

I guess we will wait until Tuesday and let the people speak.


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Your connection to CCN seems interesting do you make stuff like this up for a living?


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The internet, is the only connection Paul James has to CCN.


“Note: Help maintain a healthy, respectful discussion by focusing comments on the

issues, topics, and facts at hand—not at other members of the site.”


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