OP/ED-Dirty Campaign Season in Cerritos: Anonymous ‘Hit Piece’ Flyer Slams Pulido, Yokoyama, and Congressmen Alan Lowenthal

With less than four days left until the Cerritos City Council election, anonymous and illegal political flyers were mailed to Cerritos residents slamming Cerritos Mayor Mark Pulido, the consensus front-runner in the race, candidate Frank Yokoyama, and candidate and former mayor Grace Hu.

Friends of the candidates told HMG-CN that all three were devastated by the content.

The hit-piece also inexplicably tied Congressman Alan Lowenthal of the 47^th district to Pulido and Yokoyama attributing Lowenthal’s  vote to end redevelopment to the loss of the Cerritos Questa Villa project.

Sources tell HMG-CN that the flyer is the work of long-time Cerritos resident and campaign advisor Matt Kauble. One candidate told HMG-CN, “Kauble has always disliked Pulido and Yokoyama, and dislikes Lowenthal even more, the flyer has Kauble written all over it.”

The “hit pieces,” as they are called in political circles, had an address of 11432 South St Cerritos, CA, which is the Cerritos Mail Boxes and More near the corner of South St. and Gridley.

The flyer only had the address of the store with no P.O. Box or campaign ID number, both violations of the Political Reform Act, which is enforced by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

On the mailing indicia were the letters FMP; absent was a USPS permit number.

The address portion of the flyer sent to Cerritos residents last week.

Cerritos resident Ernie Nishi, who came by HMG-CN offices to voice his opinion said angrily, “if they go this far they are unfit for office and those they support should not be elected, and the others should be recalled.”

Sources tell HMG-CN, and simple logic dictates, that it can only be a handful of people who would spend the money to send an expensive hit piece out against Pulido, Yokoyama, and Hu.

The leading candidates are Cerritos mayor pro tem Carol Chen with help from termed-out Councilman Bruce Barrows.

Chuong Vo certainly had the money, as he recently received $5,000 from the Police Officer’s Association in Monterrey Park. And as proven in-print and online by HMG-CN a few weeks ago, Vo will lie in public to win his coveted Cerritos City Council seat.

Solanki has the money too, and was asked by HMG-CN if he had anything to do with the flyer via text message. Solanki quickly answered, “I am focusing on my campaign and getting my message out to [the] community, so I don’t have time for [a] negative campaign.”

Chen and Vo stand to gain the most by tying Yokoyama to Pulido.

Most people say that Pulido will attract the most votes in tomorrow’s election. That leaves two seats for candidates Hu, Yokoyama, Sultan Sam Ahmad, Sophie Tse, former Mayor Jim Edwards and the Chen/Barrows supported Naresh Solanki and Chuong Vo.

A combined two-seat win by Yokoyama, Ahmad, or Hu would tilt the City Council away from Carol Chen and her base, the very year she is to be sworn in as Mayor.

And, given the Pulido/Yokoyama hit piece, it looks like the power hungry Chen will have nothing to do with that.

While discussing the BIZFED flyer that was mailed last week with the FPPC, and the finding that BIZFED PAC is also in violation of FPPC regulations, HMG-CN discussed the Pulido/Yokoyama flyer with the enforcement officer.

The officer gave strong indications they would investigate the flyer given the absence of a campaign name or ID number.

HMG-CN will file a complaint today against those who sent out the mailer and BIZFED PAC.

“It will be too late,” said Nishii, “by the time they find out who it was, the election will be over.”

HMG-CN will also call on tighter regulation of these types of flyers sent out in the mail. You cannot place an advertisement in a newspaper or magazine without proper listing of the campaign name or ID number, HMG-CN advocates that the same standard should be applied to campaign flyers sent via USPS.

BREAKING: MORE DIRT 

HMG-CN was informed today that Mark Pulido’s mother received a letter that “shook her up” in the mail this weekend signed by an “anonymous Cerritos voter.”

A statement sent out by Pulido via email said, “We are very sad about what is going on in our community in this election.
A hurtful, anonymous letter was sent to our home. The target this time was our mother Ester Pulido, who is a retired grandmother of three and a widow. Our late father Rudy Pulido passed away on December 2, 2009.

Negative campaigning like this MUST stop.

We have been told that in politics you need to develop a thick skin about these things, but we strongly believe that our families, especially our mothers and children should be off limits.

Please join our family in praying for those who resort to these types of evil tactics.

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