Mayor Lopez faces fines over mailer

Mayor, city accused of misusing taxpayer funds.
Posted at 11:42 PM on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009
By Chris Collins / The Fresno Bee

The city of Orange Cove and its longtime mayor, Victor Lopez, each face possible fines amid accusations that they broke a state law prohibiting the use of taxpayer funds to mail campaign material to voters.

City Manager Alan Bengyel acknowledged Tuesday that the city is working on resolving the issue with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, which is responsible for enforcing election laws. The commission board will meet next month to vote on whether the city and Lopez should each pay a $1,750 fine.

In a letter to the city dated Oct. 7, the commission said that Lopez and the city violated the Political Reform Act in July 2006 when the city mailed a flier to every resident in Orange Cove titled: "Mayor's Report to the Citizens of Orange Cove -- 2001 to 2005." The city's cost to mail the flier was about $3,400, Bengyel said.

The bilingual flier credited Lopez and the City Council with "working together" to improve the city. But it mostly focussed on what it described as the mayor's efforts to win grants -- a job that is largely the responsibility of the city staff.

"Mayor Lopez has invested considerable effort [into] promoting the city of Orange Cove, which has resulted in direct funding to the city and its residents of over $63 million," the flier read.

It also claimed that Lopez and then-Council Member Roy Rodriguez "spent thousands of hours working without compensation to achieve these results." Lopez, however, has worked for the government-funded Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission since 1971 as a "rural development specialist" and is paid $43,000 a year to attract grants and promote economic development.

The flier was sent out a little more than three months before Lopez was re-elected mayor for the sixth straight time. It was one of the rare elections when Lopez faced any contenders.

One of his two challengers in that race, former City Council Member Frank Martinez, said that he complained to then-City Manager Bill Little that the flier was essentially a taxpayer-funded campaign mailer. He said Little insisted that it was an informational flier only.

Both Martinez and Council Member Glenda Hill said that the flier was approved by the City Council before it was mailed out. But, they said, the version approved by the council was different from the one that was sent out. Hill said that the council-approved version did not focus on Lopez nearly as much.

"I was kind of upset about that flier," said Martinez, who served on the City Council from 1980 to 2005. "It was totally wrong, totally wrong."

It's unclear when the state commission started its investigation or why the inquiry has taken so long. A commission spokesman said he could not comment on the case because it is not resolved.

Lopez said Tuesday that he has signed a statement admitting that he violated the law and has agreed to pay the fine. But, he said, he only did so because that was less expensive than hiring an attorney to defend him.

"I had nothing to do with it," Lopez said of the flier. "But they said that since my name was on it and since I was running for office, I would have to be part of the fine."

The reporter can be reached at ccollins@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6412.


The more I learn about this guy, the more I come to despise him and his ilk! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE VOTING CITIZENS OF ORANGE COVE? WISE UP PEOPLE!