Atwater council candidate’s fliers violate election law

An Atwater City Council candidate mailed 10,000 campaign fliers to residents over the weekend containing the logos of the city’s police and fire departments – a violation of the state’s election laws – and without the authorization of those agencies’ leaders.

James Vineyard, 57, told the Merced Sun-Star on Monday that he takes “full responsibility” for the misstep and said he plans to buy a newspaper advertisement to publicly apologize to the agencies, their chiefs and Atwater residents.

Vineyard, who was endorsed by the local police and fire unions, said he thought the mailers contained the logos of the unions – not the entire department. He said it was an “honest mistake.”

“I made a mistake, it was my decision and I’m going to take full accountability for it,” Vineyard said in a telephone interview. “Neither of the agencies knew we were doing this; it was all my decision. I’ll pay any and all fines that come down with this.”

According to Atwater City Attorney Tom Terpstra, displaying the police and fire badges on campaign mailers is a violation of state Elections Code section 18304, which prohibits using government agency logos in political campaigns.

“The Elections Code says that a candidate is not allowed to use the seal of a local government agency in a piece of campaign literature or mass mailer,” Terpstra said. “The reason is you don’t want to give the impression that the Police Department itself supports the candidate – because they don’t.”

The state law says those that use a local government agency logo with the “intent to deceive voters” are guilty of a misdemeanor. Vineyard maintains his intention was not to mislead anyone.

Atwater City Manager and Police Chief Frank Pietro said he was “totally shocked” when he saw the mailers Monday. He said the incident is another black eye for the Police Department, which has been dragged into the city’s contentious politics more than once this election season.

Earlier this year, a political committee supporting Vineyard and two other candidates – Bill Barkman and Mayor Joan Faul – asked that donations be dropped off at the police station inside City Hall, a public building. The committee used the money to purchase signs and fliers supporting the three candidates.

Although the committee reported raising more than $1,000, the group had not filed mandatory financial disclosure forms required by the Fair Political Practices Commission, according to the City Clerk’s Office. FPPC spokesman Jay Wierenga declined comment on this specific case, but said all committees are subject to disclosure regulations.

Then in September, Vineyard wrote an email outlining his plans to use volunteer police cadets to walk precincts and pass out his campaign fliers. Last month, a Police Activities League van and the cadets were used to distribute political literature supporting Vineyard, Barkman and Faul without the authorization of the police chief.

Pietro stressed that he also had no knowledge of Vineyard using the Police Department seal on campaign literature. “Mr. Vineyard took on those actions on his own and it wasn’t condoned by this agency or the city in any way, shape or form,” he said.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Chief Nancy Koerperich said Vineyard using her agency’s emblem to promote himself was “inappropriate.”

“He isn’t authorized to do that,” the chief said. “We’re a statewide organization, and we remain neutral in local politics. (Vineyard) has told me that he will correct the situation, and I trust that he will.”

Opposing City Council candidate Brian Raymond expressed disappointment with the mailer. He said a number of police officers have expressed their support of him.

“It’s slightly misleading because it looks like the entire department is behind him,” said Raymond. “Lots of police officers are supporting me and told me they will vote for me.”

City Council candidate Barkman declined comment, saying he was busy. Another City Council candidate, Fernando Echevarria, could not be reached Monday.

This story was originally published November 4, 2014 at 5:35 AM with the headline "Atwater council candidate’s fliers violate election law."