For someone who claims he wasn’t even aware of an important endorsement of his Assembly campaign, Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar’s campaign still chose to publish an 1100+ word press release last week suggesting he forgot that the former Chairman of the State Republican Party had backed his now faltering race. The OC Register and the Long Beach Press-Telegram parsed the Release here and here.
On October 25th, Edgar campaign staffer Nicole Stygar responded to an opposition press release that had described Mike Schroeder’s reasons for switching endorsements from Edgar to Travis Allen. Stygar made three points which were surprisingly on point and accurate:
Edgar refused to sign the No New Taxes Pledge.
True. Troy Edgar simply promises he won’t raise taxes. But that’s a lie because he has — over one dozen times in six years on the City Council of Orange County’s second smallest city. His opponent has hammered him about this, coming up with the catchy moniker of “Taxin’ Troy” in a series of mailers:
Edgar supports a tax increase in Los Alamitos.
Absolutely. The OC Register sniffed this stinker out weeks ago here as the recommended a NO on Edgar’s Measure DD. This proposed change to Los Al’s existing Telephone Utility Tax very deceptively dropped the tax by one percent, but ADDED cell phones and potentially a variety of other communications services like VoIP (e.g. Skype), cable and satellite television for a huge potential increase in revenue.
Days later, the Register endorsed Travis Allen for the 72nd District, citing his promise and pledge to not raise taxes:
Edgar violated campaign finance laws in his Congressional Campaign.
Correct, as documented here by OC Weekly investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley.
Moxley is widely regarded as the best investigative reporter in Orange County and has the documentation which proves his allegations. Troy Edgar might even be impressed to be in the same company of Moxley scoundrels that have graced his work in the past — folks like Larry Agran and Miguel Pulido (and one of Edgar’s other endorsers). Edgar’s failure to properly and legally report campaign contributions during his failed Congressional campaign is a FEDERAL issue, and has been reported to the FEC.
With a week to go, as his opponent is energetically doing, Mayor Troy and his folks might be better off by spending some time knocking on doors and laying off the keyboards. And for God’s sake, stop lying.
Posts on other blogs:
“I have lived with six years of Troy Edgar. I would do anything to get him the hell out of my town.
Good points about Mr. Edgar:
1) I will say that Troy is a man of his word. When someone buys him he stays bought through thick and thin.
2) He doesn’t require any actual facts before making a decision.
3) He is great at shaking his head up and down when what he is really doing is shaking it from side to side.
4) Unlike the regular slugs found in gardens, Troy Edgar doesn’t leave a visible trail when he passes by.
…That leaves me with a guy who I have spoken to a few times. Unlike Edgar he actually listened, and we had a very healthy discussion of alternative ways that we can address the current jobs crisis in California without “giving away” tax dollars or even spending them on things that don’t create jobs (like tax breaks for the wealthy). Allen doesn’t appear to be in anyone’s pocket and he seems to be something Edgar isn’t; honest.
Being a (D) with no horse in this race, I find that when I remove the desire to just vote for Edgar to get him the heck off my City Council there really seems to be only one choice. I have watched Edgar manipulate the system locally for personal political gain for six years now. I have watched him hurt fine people doing nothing more than being involved in making their community better, just because they don’t support what his corporate backers want. I have watched him belittle the people he is supposed to represent. And while sending him to Sacramento would get rid of him from here, the down side is that he will swim like a shark in that cesspool of corruption.
I guess I’m voting for Allen”
and by Scott Moxley (OC Weekly):
“so what was his motivation in misleading the public? [Brandon] Powers—who says he became disillusioned with the candidate, left the campaign and hopes Allen is victorious—thinks he knows the answer: petty political calculation.
“Troy wanted to mislead the public about his spending because he didn’t want anyone to know he’s a self-funder who has a hard time raising money,” said Powers. “Paying campaign expenses off the books hid the fact that his only real donor was himself. He struggles with the truth.” ”
and from Roxana Kopetman (OC Register):
“[Mike]Schroeder called Edgar’s claims “a bit bizarre,” saying he had met with Edgar twice, given him his endorsement “verbally and in writing” and had not endorsed Allen until this past week – not three months ago.
“The other thing that struck me kind of odd,” Schroeder said in an interview Saturday, “is why would you turn this into a second and third day media event by going into a hysterical screed about ‘No, he didn’t endorse me in the first place and who would want it.’ It made me think this guy is not ready for prime time.” “