DEAR PROBE: Did DA candidate display violate any laws?

QThis is a photo of District Attorney candidate Mario Vela’s display next to the D.A.’s Victim-Witness booth at the Earth Day event on April 30 at Adrian Cordova Park in Calexico. Does this violate any campaign laws?

A

In short, not that we could find. However, as is often the case in politics, getting clear answers can be a paper chase.

First, the back story is Vela is a deputy district attorney who has been endorsed by his boss,

D.A. Gilbert Otero, who is leaving office after seven terms. Both denied any connection between the campaign display and the booth, though Otero conceded the optics weren’t the best.

The conclusion among several interviewed, including those involved, is that while the campaign display was close to the booth, it was neither part of it, nor had any connection to it. If Vela was guilty of anything, it was slick marketing. At major trade shows display positioning near a busy area is seen as an advantage.

One thing we learned is when it comes to laws governing campaigns and elections, multiple agencies have jurisdiction, depending on what the issue is.

The state Fair Political Practices Commission, has specific oversight, explained Jay Wierenga, communications director, after being sent the photo.

“The placement of campaign signs is generally an issue that is covered by local ordinances or other election or government codes, and not the Political Reform Act, which is the jurisdiction of the FPPC,” he said. “Disclosure of campaign finance activity, as well as political advertising disclosure, are things that are covered by the act.”

Another regulatory agency, the county Elections Department, was also sent the photo and asked for comment.

“As stated by Mr. Otero and Mr. Vela, the booth and signage were in no way connected,” said Gilbert Rebollar, county public information officer. “With that being said, an applicable code pertaining to the situation can be found in the city of Calexico’s municipal code 17.01.1113 ‘Advertising on Public Property.’ Within the code, exceptions are made for noncommercial signs i.e. political signs, to be pasted, posted, painted, or erected upon public property for special public events and authorized by the director or designee.”

An inquiry Thursday to the Calexico City Clerk’s office did not immediately receive a response.

Further evidence of no violation stems from Rebollar’s further comment that “It is important to note that the county, as an organization, does not support or endorse any particular candidate in any election and, from the photo submitted, none of the county employees staffing the Victim-Witness booth space have on any campaign materials of any candidate.”

Vela noted as much in his response, which was also forwarded to this newspaper by Otero when he was asked for comment.

“That was not an inappropriate use of a public agency’s resources. My campaign was invited to attend this free event by IID (Imperial Irrigation District) Director (Javier) Gonzalez and by Ms. Carmen Estrada,” Vela said.

“We were there for approximately two hours. We set up next to the District Attorney’s Victim-Witness Program because there was space for us to stand and they are our colleagues and wanted to see if they needed assistance with their booth,” he added.

“We did not utilize the office’s resources in any way, shape or form during the time we were present.

We simply stood next to our colleagues outside of their tent. My campaign published photographs from the event and you can see that we were never with them using their resources,” Vela said.

Otero said any “assistance” from Vela might have regarded legal questions, which he said he instructed his Victim-Witness staff not to answer. However, he said neither Vela nor any of his supporters entered the booth.

“I spoke to the individuals (who were in the booth) and they said there was no campaigning inside. If he had done something wrong, it would have been addressed,” he said.

“Could it (the campaign display) been set aside differently? It could have. But there was nothing wrong. It might have looked bad, but it wasn’t,” Otero added.

He also said he used the incident to impart some advice to his protégé.

“Whenever you’re gaining momentum, they’ll knock you down. I told him, ‘Wear it as a badge of honor,’” Otero said.