As the Vanguard reported on Sunday and again on Tuesday, Mayor Ruth Asmundson and Retired UC Davis Law Professor Marty West filed a form 410 and created an Independent Expenditure Committee entitled, “Committee to Support Sydney Vergis for City Council 2010.” We have argued that the group is in violation of the “behest of” clause in FPPC regulations that prohibits independent expenditure committees that are “made under the control or at the direction of, in cooperation, consultation, coordination, or concert with, at the request or suggestion of, or with the express, prior consent of.”
On Tuesday, the Vanguard learned that contrary to the information provided by City Clerk Zoe Mirabile, that the city is the appropriate venue to file a complaint against a violation of City Municipal Code section 12.01.055(c) which stipulates in the event that an independent expenditure committee spends more than $250 that they are required to notify “the city clerk and all candidates running for the same seat within twenty-four hours by facsimile transmission, overnight delivery, or personal delivery each time this two hundred fifty dollar threshold is met. This notice shall include a copy of any mailing or advertisement produced, if applicable.” As such, the complaint will be filed this morning.
Marty West Sends Notification Three Days Late
Wrote Ms. West, “You may have heard that Ruth Asmundson and I sent out a letter at the end of last week as an independent expenditure, supporting Sydney Vergis for City Council. I met with the City Clerk last Thursday to find out what the requirements were for making an independent expenditure. She gave me the form to fill out, which I did, and told me to mail a copy to the state FPPC, which I have done. She did not mention anything about sending a copy of our letter to other candidates. But someone raised that issue with me today. I have a call in to the City Clerk about this requirement, but she has not called or answered my e-mail.”
As a law professor, Marty West ought to know that ignorance of the law does is not justification for failure to follow proper process. She also should not have simply relied on the advice of the City Clerk as it was her responsibility to insure that all relevant city and state laws were in compliance, not that of the City Clerk.
As Daniel Watts, law student and a fellow candidate for council pointed out last night, the city’s municipal code imposes criminal fines and possible jail time for violations of this provision. Section 12.01.090 of the City’s Municipal code reads, “Any person who knowingly or willfully violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or six months imprisonment; or both. Prosecution for violation of this chapter must be commenced within four years after the date on which the violation occurred.”
According to City Attorney Harriet Steiner, this is accurate. The District Attorney would have the responsibility to investigate and prosecute. Daniel Watts argued last night at the city council meeting that this was excessive, and I agree, there ought to be a civil remedy in the Municipal Code. Moreover, it is clear that the city code was neither “willingly” nor “knowingly” violated even though as I said before, ignorance of the law is generally not an excuse.
Nevertheless sending out a notice three days after the mailer was sent out violates the spirit of the law and the reasons that it is in place. Daniel Watts is correct, it appears that there have been sections of the Municipal Code, as he pointed out, that were unconstitutional. Now it appears that the Mayor and City Clerk are also not aware about certain provisions contained in it as well. It would seem that the Council and City ought to take more seriously the notion of examining the entire municipal code and then insuring that staff and council know its provisions.
Sydney Vergis Responds Calling this a “Contrived Controversy.”
She writes, “You may be aware of a contrived controversy regarding an independent expenditure committee formed by Marty West and Ruth Asmundson to send out a letter supporting my candidacy for Davis City Council.”
“I first learned about it when I received a copy of the sent letter; which was positive and delightful,” she continued. “I am honored that Marty and Ruth, who are known for their long-time commitment to the community, are supporting me so proactively.”
“Free speech when applied to a political campaign is not totally free and unlimited,” she writes. “Because first class stamps cost 44¢, any mailing more than 250 envelopes from Marty and Ruth, would require an independent expenditure committee to be formed (after all they do have a LOT of friends).”
She concludes by stating, “There is no truth to the rumor that this IE is being utilized to engage in negative campaigning.”
There are several points that need to be addressed here. I am not sure what is contrived here, we have a clear cut violation of a city municipal code that she does not even address.
Secondly, she suggests that she first learned about the letter when she was sent a copy of the letter. That may or may not be true, but that has little bearing on the complaint that alleges that perhaps Mayor Asmundson and her daughter had collaborated or discussed the independent expenditure in advance and therefore gave the campaign consent or otherwise involved herself in the IE. Sydney Vergis’ statement fails to recognize that she is not the only actor in her own campaign.
Third, Ms. Vergis says, “any mailing more than 250 envelopes from Marty and Ruth, would require an independent expenditure committee to be formed.” Actually there is no reason that the official campaign could not have sent out the letter. There was no reason that an independent expenditure campaign had to be formed at all.
Finally and probably most seriously she states, “There is no truth to the rumor that this IE is being utilized to engage in negative campaigning.” Really, how would she know – after all the IE is supposed to be done completely independently of her campaign and her knowledge, therefore she cannot know of any future plans that they might have to utilize the IE or could she?
Furthermore, she never addressed the fact that Marty West has been going around town bad mouthing one of the other candidates on a continual basis. She never called for this to stop.
She does state, “As we enter into the final stretch of the campaign, I request that all we all continue our commitment to running a clean campaign, by continuing to treat the other candidates with the utmost respect, and focusing on the policies that we are pursuing to keep Davis great.” This is ironic, since from all indication it is her campaign, or at least some people representing her campaign that have engaged in negative campaigning.
Meanwhile Bob Dunning Agrees with the Vanguard on Lack of Independence of the IE
Writes Bob Dunning yesterday, “Independent expenditure committees can raise and spend untold sums of money with the provision that they remain completely independent in word and in deed from the candidate they are supporting – the courts call it free speech – now, it just so happens that Ruth Asmundson’s daughter, Alinia, is Sydney Vergis’ campaign treasurer, but it could be that mom and daughter don’t talk.”
Mr. Dunning continues, “For her part, Ruth Asmundson says that’s exactly the case – she and Alinia did not discuss this, nor did Ruth or Marty West discuss it with anyone from the Vergis campaign – says Ruth: ‘I have not contributed to Sydney’s campaign even though my daughter Alinia is her treasurer. I have not discussed with Alinia Sydney’s campaign finances, especially this independent expenditure committee.'”
But Mr. Dunning does not appear to buy this explanation. He writes, “Still, it seems people are likely to start connecting the dots and what inevitably will emerge for some of them is a very un-Davislike picture – when Sydney Vergis files campaign expense reports, she won’t have to mention the Committee to Support Sydney Vergis for City Council 2010 because she has nothing to do with it.”
He concludes, “What’s becoming clear from the Vergis camp is that this election is slipping away, with several key recent endorsements heading Rochelle Swanson’s way and Vergis’ political engine stuck in neutral – to be sure, the Committee to Support Sydney Vergis may do nothing more than send out a letter of support from Ruth and Marty, but ultimately, it will hurt Sydney’s candidacy far more than it will help – trust me on this.”
City Council candidate and law student Daniel Watts also agrees, writing last night on his blog, “Mayor Asmundson’s daughter Alinia Asmundson is the treasurer of Sydney Vergis’s campaign. Since the Mayor’s “independent” committee isn’t supposed to consult or coordinate in any way with Vergis’s campaign, this seems very shady. Does the Mayor honestly claim that she formed a campaign committee and started publishing advertisements for Vergis without mentioning it to her daughter — Vergis’s treasurer? Yeah, right.”
The Vanguard has amended its complaint and will file it with the city attorney and city clerk later today. They will then decide whether to forward the complaint to the District Attorney’s office. While I do tend to believe it was an honest mistake, I also believe that the Mayor of the City and a law professor should not be making this kind of mistake. I also would have felt better with a more sincere statement from the Vergis campaign, acknowledging mistakes and appearances of a conflict before moving on rather than calling this all a contrived controversy. There is nothing contrived about this. There was a clear violation of the city municipal code and as Bob Dunning’s column attests to yesterday, there is at least an appearance of a conflict given Ruth Asmundson’s relationship with her daughter.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
vergis’ campaign treasurer was not in much of a position to be involved with the mailer the past week or two, given that she gave birth on the 21st. unless this was all planned a while in advance, it’s most likely that vergis has indeed been more or less running her campaign in the past couple of weeks.
Involved? Probably not. The question is whether Ruth consulted with her before they did the IE? I don’t buy that she didn’t.
Janice Bridge is also one of her key people, I doubt Vergis is running her campaign alone.
With the family lines of communication between Ruth Asmundson and Marty West and the Vergis campaign,it is strains belief that Marty West(with accomplice Jan Bridges and facilitated by Ruth Asmundson) did not consult with the Vergis campaign before launching this very politically dangerous smear campaign against Swanson. Even if true, what does this say about these three’s respect for and the value they place in their candidate Vergis’ judgement? This only reinforces the growing public belief that Vergis is not ready for “prime time” and only adds fuel to the question of who really will be doing the thinking and decision-making if she sits on our Council.
The most consistent quality of this Vergis campaign has been its cynical disdain for the intelligence and level of political engagement of the Davis voters, an invariably fatal ingredient in Davis local political campaigns.
Sidney Vergis says: “…after all they do have a LOT of friends.”
Let’s hope that the recipients of the letter make their decision on who they want to to lead their city into the future based upon their considered judgement of who is best qualified rather than “friendship”.
Let’s hope we get new council members who aren’t beholden to developers and firefighters.
I am thoroughly amazed that Marty West, a practicing attorney / retired law school professor and a seasoned politician, would admit to not understanding and/or not bothering to read the rules regarding the formation of her Independent Expenditure Committee.
Our mayor, Ruth Asmundson, should have had a chance to read the City’s Municipal Code sometime in the last 7 years. Did she think it didn’t apply to her?
Sydney is in very poor hands.
Wow, so a mea culpa from Mary West and Ruth Asmundson is supposed to get a special dispensation because they consider themselves above the law. The “whisper campaign” by Marty West and Jan Bridges against Rochelle Swanson is even more heinous than this “indiscretion” especially since they have been public figures.
Since Mary West is an attorney and a former faculty member of the UCD law school there was no excuse for this to have happened. Ruth should known the rules by now after running for office a number of times.
This whole situation is disturbing and all because their candidate, Sydney Vergis is not doing well in this Council race and they are desperate to get her elected.
I say throw the book at them legally and for their disgraceful behavior. Imagine how this will play out if Vergis were to be elected as this bunch of politico’s obviously plan to be calling these shots through Vergis.
I encourage everyone to vote for Rochelle Swanson who will do her decision making for herself.
“The Vanguard learned on Friday that former School Board Member Marty West and Mayor Ruth Asmundson have filed the FPPC Form 410 to create an independent expenditure committee to Support Sydney Vergis for City Council.”
This Municipal code that demands that the other candidates be IMMEDIATELY notified if an independent expenditure committee is formed should not be dismissed as frivolous. Without the Vanguard and without enforcing the requirement to notify the other candidates, the formation of an independent campaign committee just days before the election would never come to light except for statements of origin , usually barely readable without a magnifying glass.
[i]”As a law professor, Marty West ought to know that ignorance of the law does is not justification for failure to follow proper process. She also should not have simply relied on the advice of the City Clerk as it was her responsibility to insure that all relevant city and state laws were in compliance, not that of the City Clerk.”[/i]
That is true. However, it is also troubling that the city clerk, who gets paid $106,365 per year (plus the usual $40,000 or more in other benefits) to perform what amounts to secretarial duties, failed to give the correct information to Ms. West and then failed to give the correct information to the Vanguard. I like Zoe and have had nothing but excellent interactions with her. But mistakes of this nature are unacceptable for a city clerk.
[i]”Nevertheless sending out a notice three days after the mailer was sent out violates [s]the spirit[/s] [b]the letter[/b] of the law and the reasons that it is in place.”[/i]
Fixed.
Unbelievable. Marty West, some apology. Blame the City Clerk. Does Zoe bill by the hour to be your legal advisor?
[i]”Davis Enterprise Columnist Bob Dunning does not see eye to eye with me on city issues. But in the case of Ruth Asmundson and the Independent Expenditure, we agree completely.”[/i]
Bob told me yesterday he will have more on this, today.
“This Municipal code that demands that the other candidates be IMMEDIATELY notified if an independent expenditure committee is formed(and active) should not be dismissed as frivolous.”
A “slap on the wrist” fine would be happily absorbed by a campaign to be able to avoid campaign contribution limits through an independent expenditure committee that they could reasonably expect would remain hidden to the voters.
[i]”It is unclear whether the mode of transmission, via email, was appropriate as the code specifies fax, overnight delivery, or personal delivery.”[/i]
The actual language does not say “fax,” but says “facsimile transmission,” and I am quite certain that email qualifies as “facsimile transmission,” even though most people think of a “fax” and an “email” as being different, based on the physical hardware on which they are received.
Code 12.01.055(a) further requires that the letter sent out by Asmundson and West include the following language: “This communication is not authorized by any candidate for _[u]City Council[/u]_ or any candidate’s committee.” The Code requires that statement shall be printed in at least 10 point font in a color contrasting with the background color.
If the Asmundson-West letter included that language and it was printed in a 10 pt font or larger in a contrasting color, it makes Ms. West’s claim that she did not know about the notification requirement [i]less credible,[/i] because the place in the City Code where it spells out the notification requirements also spells out that exact non-authorization statement. ([url]http://cityofdavis.org/cmo/citycode/detail.cfm?p=12&q=430[/url])
On the other hand, if the Asmundson-West letter failed to include that statement, that would be yet another violation of the city ordinance by our mayor and her law professor colleague. My suggestion of a fair remedy to this latter possible violation is that Asmundson and West should be required to send out a second copy with that non-authorization statement on it and they should be required to notify the recipients that they violated [i]the letter[/i] of the law the first time they published their advertisment for Mayor Asmundson’s daughter’s boss.
Rich Rifkin wrote:
“I like Zoe and have had nothing but excellent interactions with her. But mistakes of this nature are unacceptable for a city clerk.”
This assertion by Marty and Ruth, which you are taking up, is totally unfounded. You have no idea what the circumstance was, or how the conversation went. Veteran campaigners should know there is ALWAYS a “play it safe” reporting requirement, and out of courtesy alone they should have alerted the other campaigns.
Basically they got lazy and now they are placing blame for their laziness on a government employee. Unbelievably typical approach for people who think they are beyond reproach. Rich, you should know better yourself.
Rich Rifkin says: “Bob told me yesterday he will have more on this, today.”
My guess is that Dunning will be responding to the Davis political Establishment(and Enterprise editor) feedback of his piece yesterday and will be slipping his “kid gloves” back on as he continues to opine about the Vergis campaign and Ruth Asmundson’s involvement.
[quote]
My guess is that Dunning will be responding to the Davis political Establishment(and Enterprise editor) feedback of his piece yesterday and will be slipping his “kid gloves” back on as he continues to opine about the Vergis campaign and Ruth Asmundson’s involvement. [/quote]
Nope
[i]”This assertion by Marty and Ruth, which you are taking up, is totally unfounded. …. Rich, you should know better yourself.”[/i]
If it is as unfounded as you assert, it still remains the case that the city clerk gave incorrect information to the Vanguard on this topic. I realize that everyone is capable of making a mistake. I’m certainly not calling for her job over this. But in hindsight, rather than giving out [i]false[/i] information as she did to David Greenwald, Zoe really should have said, “I don’t know. Let me inquire and I will get right back to you.” There is no shame in not knowing something. But there is a real problem when you are paid that much money and you give out false information.
Moreover, even if the information she gave to West was incomplete, as Marty alleges, I agree with David when he says, “As a law professor, Marty West ought to know that ignorance of the law does is not justification for failure to follow proper process.” As my 9:15 post states, there is very good reason to think West actually knew the code if she included in her letter that statement I quoted. Both requirements come from the same paragraph of the city code.
Rich: One thing I will say, I would give Zoe the benefit of the doubt. She does her job very well and she’s right on 99 out of 100 times.
Rich Rifkin: “….failed to give the correct information to Ms. West”
Please correct me if I am wrong but I am unaware that the City Clerk has confirmed that she failed to give Marty West the information in question.
DPD says: “Nope. Just read it. He keeps the feet on the fire.”
My apologies to Bob Dunning. I had forgotten that one issue in which we can count on him removing “tongue from cheek” in The Wary Eye is Davis community values as expressed in ethical/moral behavior.
If they were not compliant with the letter of the law thay are now compliant with the spirit of the law. The DA will not file charges on this. Just not going to happen.
“The DA will not file charges on this. Just not going to happen.”
The Yolo DA also decided not to file charges when the election laws were openly violated by pizza being given to voters on the UCD campus during the Measure X balloting. Funny… how it is always the same Davis people(Whitcombe’s proxies)that display such distain for the election laws… Perhaps they know that the Yolo County DA’s political culture will give them immunity.
I just don’t understand these smear campaign allegations. Once again, this republican thing was brought up in this forum when Rochelle announced her candidacy months ago; and the IE letter that was sent didn’t mention the other candidates at all
Justwonderin: I assume that you didn’t do too well with connect- the- dots puzzles:
1.Marty West and Jan Bridge-both active players in the Vergis campaign while publicly smearing Rochelle Swanson
2.Ruth Asmundson a partner with Marty West in the “independent” campaign committee that failed to meet the election laws and whose purpose, if soley to send out one letter,does not appear to make sense.
3.Ruth Asmundson’s daughter as Treasurer of the Vergis campaign while Vergis claims that her campaign has been totally out of the loop with regard to her campaign Treasurer’s mother’s “independent” committee
4.Both Marty West and Jan Bridges have a history of local
campaign activities that are reminiscent of what they are now reportedly involved in.
….connect the dotes and you draw a rather seamy picture.
Justwonderin:
“…this republican thing (that) was brought up (months ago)….” and “the IE letter” aren’t what people are identifying as the “smear campaign.” It’s the untruths that are being purposely spread, that have been confirmed by those who heard them and that have not be refuted by Marty. Wonder not longer.
David:
Is covering the dirty tricks keeping you from following up your Joe K. interview? Looking forward to your write-ups about the rest of the candidates.
So, ok, now Marty West has the audacity of trying to blame this on the City Clerk. Nice try Marty, but for one thing it is hard to believe that you actually taught law at UCD for so many years as a faculty member. Heaven help the attorney’s who graduated from UCD who took any classes from her.
From what I understand the way it works is that all of the documents are on line on the web from FPPC and the city so it is the Political Action Group’s campaign officers (that is Marty West and Ruth Asmundson) to READ those documents and understand the responsibilities that they have. It is not the City Clerks job to do your paperwork for you. That’s Marty West’s and Ruth Asmundson’s responsibility when they file for an independent expenditure.
This independent expenditure issue has been discussed MANY times on this blog and in the Enterprise because of all of the firefigher’s “bundling” of major monies to get their candidates elected over the years to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. Might Marty not think it is a good idea to read the rules for herself, especially as a former law school professor?
How much worse can this get? Marty as an attorney, refuses to take responsibility for violating the Davis Municipal Code (i.e. to try to get her candidate elected). Then she starts a slander campaign against another candidate who is reputable and running a clean campaign. Then Marty tries to blame her violation on the City Clerk, who also is reputable and does a good job from all I have seen and read about her.
This is hard to stomach.
JustSayin: That and the James Hammond news, the council meeting last night, tonight there is actually another candidates forum… I keep joking I’m never going to finish at this rate. But joking aside, I will continue the interviews.
David, thanks for your endurance.
“Free speech when applied to a political campaign is not totally free and unlimited,”
Is nobody else worried about the seeming acceptance of this point of view by people like Sydney Vergis?
The central point of free speech is political speech.
The onerous requirements for making a political statement during a campaign are a disgrace.
Shame on the people who pushed them through.
I look forward to the day when the supreme court throws them out.
And on the other topic – those who interacted with Marty West at the Law School would not be surprised to hear about her rather limited legal scholarship. For enlightenment about what kind of faculty King Hall hires, google her name and check out some of her review articles.
davisite2… Ruth must be COMPLETELY Machiavellian, to be part of a ‘smear’ campaign against Swanson, when in tonight’s Enterprise, Ruth is listed as an endorser of Swanson’s campaign… seems like a stretch to having ruth riding both sides of the fence…
“….seems like a stretch to having ruth riding both sides of the fence…”
No.. on the contrary, hpierce, the probable scenerio below being played out makes perfect sense. Ruth Asmundson was Vergis’ political sponsor(along with Don Saylor) since the last Council campaign. She has been a major sponsor(along with Don Saylor) of the Young Yolo Democrats, an organization created specifically to “pad” Vergis’ paper-thin resume and that apparently was founded with about 6 members(Davis “tree” volunteers?) who selected Vergis(alternate member of the Tree Commission) as their leader. Ruth’s daughter took the job of Vergis’ campaign treasurer who,to my knowledge, had not been previously seriously involved in local Davis politics, under the suggestion of her mother who is known in this small community to be a strong “presence” in her close-knit family. No one has accused Ruth Asmundson of being “part of a smear campaign against Swanson”. Much more likely, Marty West and Jan Bridge,both with documented history of questionable unethical practices in past campaigns, enlisted Ruth Asmundson to create this IEC to sanitize this questionable “independent” campaign committee with Ruth’s reputation in our community. Ruth probably had not taken into consideration at the time the lengths to which West and Bridge would go(with Vergis’ tacit approval)when Vergis’ chances for victory dramatically evaporated.
davisite2: We get it. We really do. You think Sydney is a light-weight manipulator that is little more than a tool of a corrupt local cabal.
And I’m sure Rochelle is SO very, very proud of your support. How unfortunate it is that you have to post anonymously, so that she can’t tell you personally what she thinks of your efforts.
Davisite2: Anonymous to Anonymous – line up a little more speculation and then I’ll have a stake in a Gulf Coast oil rig to sell you.
I am just tuning on this discussion rather late but speaking of connecting dots, aren’t Jan Bridge and Marty West heavily involved in the CHA (“Choices for Healthy Aging”) group which is a front for the Covell Village developers? My understanding is that Ruth Asmundson and Jan Bridge are very close friends also. Now let’s think about this. Marty West, Jan Bridge and Ruth Asmundson are doing everything in their power to get their candidate Sydney Vergis elected. I wonder why that might be? I do recall that Vergis supported Covell Village when she ran for Council last time. Makes you wonder just a bit.
Ryan; You are right on target, here. Marty West was exposed, during the Measure X/Covell Village campaign, pitching “misinformation” about Whitcombe’s Covell Village bringing $50 million to the Davis JUSD over the 30 yr build-out period of his 400+acre Covell Village development. It turned out that this $50 million was State monies that come to the District for the additional students projected by the development and no money from Whitcombe to the District to augment the entire JUSD system as was clearly implied in their campaign literature. Mary West and Jan Bridge( and let us not forget Don Saylor who, IMO, is most likely the behind-the-scenes “orchestra leader” of this Davis political campaign performance) have all been vigorous proxies for Whitcombe’s interests. Sadly, over the years, it has been difficult to discern any significant “daylight” between Don Saylor and Ruth Asmundson.
correction: my recollection is that the Covell Village was to be built out in 10 years.
SWANSON IS NO ALTERNATIVE. I’D RATHER JOE…
All I can say is when you have Sac Bee, the Davis Enterprise, and the Aggie all endorsing Rochelle Swanson and Joe Krovosa, and if you read their literature, and especially if you see any of the forums, the choice is easy. Rochelle and Joe are the way to go…hey, that’s not a bad slogan.
ROCHELLE AND JOE ARE THE WAY TO GO!
davisite2… you still haven’t addressed why Ruth is also listed as a [u]supporter[/u] of Swanson…
hpierce… There is no mystery there. Ruth appears to be supporting Swanson as well as Vergis. There have been no reports that Ruth has been “smearing” Rochelle Swanson. It is a fair guess that she also left the IEC application and violations of the Davis municipal code as well as violations of Federal election laws concerning IEC’s in Mary West’s(the attorney) hands as well.
@indigorocks (AKA Marty West) You can continue to bash Swanson in hopes that those who believe your theory of “The only way to beat the highest qualified candidate is to continuously smear them and promote lies about them”, however, unfortunately for you the majority of Davis believes in an honest and ethical race. Those of us that are true blue Democrats” and believe in the fundamentals of the Democratic Party, believe that your actions are despicable. Keep it up Marty; Vergis needs more of your help! The rest of us are voting for the best candidate.
Indigorocks isn’t Marty West.