Matt Dessert owes an apology

Local political intrigue has reared its ugly head in the Valley and many residents are airing their views. We at the Imperial Valley Press have received numerous calls, emails, text, Facebook messages, etc., from passionate citizens falling on either side of the controversy. Matt Dessert, the county air pollution control officer, had a lapse in judgment while volunteering for the Ed Snively campaign in the race for the vacant Imperial Irrigation District Division 1 seat.

Dessert, who coincidentally left that seat vacant when he accepted his current position, walked up to a residence in Brawley and saw a campaign door hanger which advertised for an opponent, Juanita Salas.

He removed it from the door, folded it, then replaced it with a campaign door hanger promoting Ed Snively — all of it caught on a security video tape.

After the video was made public, Dessert stepped down from Snively’s campaign. This was the right thing to do.

The reaction from the public has been fierce. Several social media posts groundlessly accuse Snively of dirty politics.

Let us remind everyone, there is no evidence that suggests that Snively condoned or directed Dessert to remove the door hanger. There is also no evidence that Dessert committed other similar acts.

This lapse in judgment has created a great deal of controversy and doubt in the minds of voters and that’s why we believe he needs to publicly apologize to everyone.

It cannot be argued — it was a bad thing he did.

If he hasn’t already, he needs to publicly apologize to Salas. He also needs to publicly apologize to Snively. Dessert’s act has brought a fierce backlash from some residents toward Snively, a backlash he doesn’t deserve.

Lastly, he needs to publicly apologize to the voters. This incident has brought a cloud over the issues all the candidates were trying to communicate. As far as we are aware, no such public apologies have taken place.

The Imperial Valley Press currently has a no endorsement policy regarding political candidates, however we ask that the public look at more than the recent hype. Look to the substantive issues at stake here.

Voting for our leaders is an awesome responsibility. We must carefully consider many factors when choosing people to represent our interests. In today’s world anyone willing to put themselves out there to serve has become vulnerable to being harshly judged with a microscopic eye.

Much of the media has promoted this growing trend of short sightedness. The Imperial Valley Press is not in agreement with this dangerous mindset.

The Dessert incident will certainly be in the back of everyone’s mind on Election Day, but it is up to each of us to determine the criteria most important to us as individuals when the time arrives to make important decisions at the polls.