Former IDD director Dessert focus of campaign controversy
Former Imperial Irrigation District Board member Matt Dessert became the focal point of controversy in the special election for IID Division 1 as he was captured on video removing a flyer from a candidate running against the candidate he was aiding from a Brawley residence last weekend.
The incident took place on the morning of May 13. A Brawley resident posted two different videos in a social media group, in one of the videos volunteers from the Juanita Salas campaign can be seen leaving a door hanger at the residence and walking away.
The second video shows Dessert, who was wearing a white shirt promoting candidate Ed Snively, approaching the same home later that day, removing and taking away the flyer left earlier and putting one from Snively instead.
Salas said she was out campaigning that day and when her own volunteers started messaging her about the video thought it was a prank until the evening when she saw the videos herself.
“Our volunteers are really disappointed. It’s really unfair to undo all of their work they’ve done,” Salas said.
On the other hand, Snively confirmed to various media outlets that the man in the video is Dessert.
He told a different media that he didn’t condone such actions and noted his team has been given proper instructions when distributing materials for his campaign.
“A very good man made an error in judgment and removed one door hanger. He resigned from my campaign committee because he understands my standard of conduct for our entire team does not allow for this,” Snively told Adelante Valle earlier this week. “What is important is that the issues in this campaign are discussed and voters can then decide on the most qualified candidate to have the honor of representing them in Division 1.”
Snively told the Imperial Valley Press on Friday morning he would not provide any further comments.
A request for comment sent to Dessert was not immediately returned on Friday.
Salas said that she hasn’t been contacted by the Snively team regarding the incident and said her team will not change how it operates in the final weeks of the race.
“We are focusing on the race not going to change our message or the way we do things,” Salas said.
“Our volunteers have been trained thoroughly since day one and we’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing with accountability and integrity.”
The IID special election will take place Jun 6 — the race will not have a runoff — the top vote-getter will replace Dessert as the board representative for IID Division 1. The race includes Salas, Snively, Tony Gallegos and Blake Miles.