PPCC Election Committee Address Campaign Issues
(The following letter was sent from PPCC Election Committee Chair David Card to Area 2 candidate Steve Cron, who shared it with Circling the News. The last day to vote for an Area 2 (Highlands) or the At-large representative is August 30 by 9 p.m. visit: pacpalicc.org.)
The Election Committee Chair David Card acknowledged that
Steve Cron (second from left) had been the victim of some underhanded campaigning.
Steve,
You have apparently been the victim of two instances of improper campaign conduct in the Area 2 (Highlands) election contest for Representative to the Pacific Palisades Community Council: 1. The “Dr. Mudd” dirty campaign posting on NextDoor by someone hiding behind a false name; and 2. Your opponent Adam Handler’s campaign email on August 22, which contained a link directly to the ballot (a violation of the rules), and his 5-day delay in sending a correcting email (he has yet to show the Election Committee a copy of the correcting email).
One of your supporters posted on NextDoor a direct link to the election ballot, against the campaign rules. He said he promptly deleted that link at our request.
The Committee made a public statement denouncing the underhanded and improper election behavior arising from the “Dr. Mudd” slime. Further, we informed you of the delay of corrective action by Adam Handler regarding his violation of the rule against ballot linkage.
The Bylaws of the Pacific Palisades Community Council (PPCC) do not contain a remedy for disciplining a candidate for PPCC office. That will be a topic for the Bylaws Committee to address in the near future.
The Election Committee has taken actions to bring these violations to the attention of the candidates involved and to demand that the candidates remedy them. We have publicly condemned the Mudd posting on our website, in a published letter to the Palisadian-Post, and in our get out the vote talks to community organizations.
We have investigated the Mudd incident, as have the Palisadian-Post and CirclingTheNews.com. Their public reporting has made it clear that you have been the victim of inappropriate campaigning. Our sense is that many in the voting community have read or heard the public discussion and commentary by the media and by the Committee.
As a candidate, you have the ability to make public your views on this and other campaign issues. I understand that you have and will do so.