Voter mailer done by sex offender flourishes

Most Valley candidates disavow knowledge

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press October 30, 2000

By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Presidential candidate George W. Bush and a raft of Antelope Valley candidates are among the nearly 1,200 people and groups who have paid to be on a statewide slate mailer published by a convicted child molester.

Most candidates named on the mailer targeted at Republican voters disavowed knowledge of the past of the political operative who makes a robust business of producing the voter guide, but one prominent Valley political media buyer - local attorney R. Rex Parris - said it didn't make a difference.

Names on the California Voter Guide, published by Timothy M. Carey, are those of 17th Senate District incumbent William J. "Pete" Knight, 36th District Assembly incumbent George Runner and 34th District Assembly hopeful Phil Wyman.

Also named on the mailer are Palmdale City Council candidates Richard Loa and Rick Norris; Antelope Valley Hospital board candidates Abdallah Farrukh, Steve Fox and Deborah Rice; and AVEast Kern Water board candidate Maurice Kunkel.

All but Knight and Runner paid for the privilege of appearing on the local version of Carey's mailer. As one of the other participants observed: "That means we paid for their advertising."

Certainly appearance on such a purchased slate does not diminish the standing of someone who had no knowledge of who printed it. And Carey, who is many years past his conviction - as attorney Parris notes - certainly has the right to pursue a livelihood.

What is curious is that so many of the conservative candidates - who are ardent in espousing "family values" - remain so persistent through many elections in engaging in commerce for publicity materials that are generated by a registered sex offender.

By contrast, at the end of last year's Palmdale council campaign, when former sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Carney was arrested for suspected child molestation, Parris, Runner and businessman Frank Visco immediately withdrew their endorsements and support for his successful council bid, even though the charges had not been proven in court.

Runner noted that if there were an iota of truth to the Carney allegations, Carney had betrayed both Runner and the public's trust.

As for Carey, the conviction is part of the permanent record. An attempt to secure an interview with Carey for this article was ignored after a telephone call was made to his company during business hours.

Carey, 42, pleaded no contest in 1992 to three felony counts of committing lewd acts upon a 12-yearold San Pedro girl. He was sentenced to 180 days in county jail, community service and five years' probation.

As a convicted sex offender, Carey must keep authorities informed of his current address. He is one of the offenders registered in the Megan's Law computers available to the public at local police and sheriff's stations.

Before moving to the state level of politics, Carey developed a history of involvement in Antelope Valley campaigns. In 1990, he printed a hit mailer revealing a 1983 drunk-driving conviction of then-Palmdale Planning Commissioner Jim Ledford, who was elected to the council despite the information and went on to win five consecutive terms as mayor of Palmdale.

Also in 1990, Carey produced a hit mailer attacking Lancaster City Council candidate Arnie Rodio for alleged tax liens against his plumbing company.

In all, the Valley Press ran 11 news stories and one editorial naming Carey between April and August 1990.

Newspapers in Los Angeles ran at least 10 stories on Carey between March 1990 and March 1999, focusing on Carey's efforts to build a Ventura casino; allegations that Carey signed the name of the mayor of Redondo Beach to a letter to a judge requesting leniency for Carey's molestation conviction; and a vote by the Lawndale City Council to censure a councilman for writing a similar letter on municipal stationery.

In the April 5, 1990, edition of the Valley Press, Carey - commenting on his work as a campaign consultant - said: "It's something to say so-and-so's a child molester based on allegations ... but as long as you're putting fact on the street, that's not hitting below the belt."

Moving on up

Carey's past seems to have done little to hurt his present business, which is used by an array of candidates - primarily Republican - as well as ballot-measure organizations.

State records showed that as of Sept. 30, Carey had taken in more than $1.5 million from 1,182 sources paying for spots on his mailer.

On Aug. 1, Carey merged his political consulting firm, Tim Carey and Associates, into a larger consulting firm operated by his slate-mail treasurer, LeeAnn Fitzgerald.

Now, California Voter Guide pays Fitzgerald and her company, Jenlax Partners Inc. of Santa Monica, for their work on his behalf. As of Sept. 30, Carey's mailer organization had paid Fitzgerald more than $60,000 in administrative fees, and Jenlax had received $50,000 in management fees as of June 30.

Loa and Norris also purchased space on a second mailer run by LeeAnn Fitzgerald called Parents Ballot Guide.

The money taken in this year by Carey included $3,460 from Lancaster attorney Parris, who paid to have the names of Antelope Valley judicial candidates Pamela Rogers and Chris Estes on the California Voter Guide in time for the March 7 state primary.

Also in the March primary elections, Knight and Runner purchased space on Carey's mailer.

At the time, all four local candidates disavowed knowledge of Carey's conviction, saying they had no way of knowing about his past and no means to investigate the criminal histories of everyone with whom they did business for the election.

Parris said he and his wife purchased the slates on Rogers' and Estes' behalf because they wanted the candidates to win.

"We know now (about Carey's criminal background); you just told us," Parris said about his slatemailer purchases in February. "Certainly you don't want to buy slates if a child molester is working there, but why would you know?"

Of course, from that point forward the prominent Antelope Valley political broker did know. That knowledge made no difference this fall.

On Friday, Parris acknowledged arranging, through intermediaries, this season's slate-mail purchases for Loa, Norris, Farrukh, Fox and Rice, including those on Carey's company materials.

Farrukh and Fox said their slate-mailers had been purchased through Pat Sileo, a Lancaster businessman known for his behind-the-scenes work on behalf of Antelope Valley candidates seeking political offices on many levels.

Sileo, second vice president of the Antelope Valley Republican Assembly, explained that Parris, after giving Sileo a list of available mailers, said, "Go to the candidates and get the money."

No concerns

Parris confirmed it was he, not Sileo, who arranged the purchases after a number of candidates requested his help with getting on slate cards.

"I didn't think about Tim Carey" when setting up those arrangements, Parris said. "And it wouldn't have made any difference if I had."

"I think once a person who has been convicted of a crime has completed his sentence, he has a right to be gainfully employed. In fact, we want him to be gainfully employed, as long as it doesn't pose a threat to others," he said.

"I understand there are those who think anyone convicted of a crime should be stoned in the village square," he said. "In this case, I'm saddened to see John Mayfield throw the first stone."

Parris was referring to Palmdale council candidate John Mayfield, who is running for a threeyear term against Norris.

Mayfield is running radio ads that point out the use of Carey's mailers by Norris, while Norris is running spots that focus on Mayfield's 1995 arrest and conviction for driving under the influence.

Two weeks ago, Loa and Norris each disavowed knowledge of Carey's conviction despite front page news coverage reporting about it during the spring election cycle.

"I don't know the guy, and I wasn't involved in any of his activities," Norris told the Valley Press editorial board. "It's too late now. I've already done it."

"All I got were DBAs," Loa said, referring to a list of slate-mailer names. "I was asked to pay certain groups for these services, and I paid them."

"Is there an insinuation that if some kind of a convicted felon is running a slate that it is tainted?" he asked. "Does it mean it is an organization that should be discredited publicly?

"If we were to run campaigns by checking everybody's criminal history or checking the newspapers to see if accounts had been written on an individual regarding criminal convictions, we wouldn't be able to do business," Loa said.

Despite lacking the time to investigate their own business associates, the active supporters of Norris and Loa found ample time to unearth numerous records revealing information about past mortgage defaults, eviction notices, tax liens and driving convictions of rival candidate John Mayfield.

"That was a very time-consuming job - one that began a long time before the Carey mailer information came to light," Mayfield said.

This past week, both Norris and Loa said they had sent letters to the California Voter Guide asking for their names to be withdrawn.

Whether those letters were received in time to have the candidates' ads deleted from the mailers remains to be seen.

Loa said he relied on others for campaign advice, "and maybe that was a lapse in judgment."

Nevertheless, his use of Carey's mailer "does not diminish my character," he said.

Unwelcome help?

Runner, commenting about his inclusion on Carey's mailer for the second time this year, noted that in this instance, his name was appearing without his consent.

"In terms of a decision, I would not choose to be on a slate operated by an individual with a child-molestation conviction," the assemblyman said.

After learning about Carey's background, Runner said he will ask Carey to keep him off future cards, he said.

Knight said keeping tabs on Carey was difficult because "You don't know whether he's going to come out with (a mailer) or not."

He and other candidates often are not asked whether they want to be named on his mailer, the senator said.

Although a request for exclusion could be sent, "I don't know what legal authority you would have to compel him not to use your name," Knight said.

"Besides, if we did that, we would never get a phone call from you," Knight said to the Valley Press, in the wry form of jest he is known for.

Wyman was stunned to learn of Carey's criminal past, particularly because his material is generally sent to rally Republican voters.

"I'm shocked to find that out. It's the only slate I did this fall," he said. "It's outrageous. All I can say is, I can't know the backgrounds of everyone with whom I or my committee has a business relationship."

Wyman said he bought space because the mailer "is principally for Republican candidates. It goes to voters who I want to know about my message and who I seek to represent."

That message has always been one that favors tough treatment of criminals, he said.

"It's a shame that in the process of conducting a campaign, bad apples are found. Some people just don't live up to the message they promote before the public."

Similar reactions

Wyman's response was mirrored by other candidates.

"How can a first-time candidate like me know?" Farrukh said. "I was told by Pat (Sileo) to buy the slates because it was a good idea."

Fox pointed out that Carey's was only one of 20 mailers on which he purchased space through Sileo.

"How was I to know one of them was owned by a child molester?" he asked. "Am I supposed to know if any of the others are as well?

"I don't even know which ones I'm on and which ones I'm not," Fox said. "This smacks of a setup by the newspaper. Why are you asking about this only 10 days before the election, when the mailers are already printed, if not in the mail?"

Rice, too, pointed out that Carey's mailer was only one of 13 she is using.

"You don't do interviews with everyone you do business with," she said.

Ten of those purchases, including the one for the Carey mailer, were handled by a friend, Ingrid Merrill, Rice said.

"Geez, you do your best to run a good campaign and then you get hit for something you don't even know about," she said.

Water board candidate Maurice Kunkel said he, too, was shocked to learn about Carey, particularly since this was the first time he'd purchased a slate mailer.

"I bought it because it was the first one I was offered," he said. "The bad part is, whoever writes a check first is put on there. They don't care who you are."

Other candidates seeking votes via the mailer Carey is planning to distribute in the 93550 zip code area are: Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti; L.A. County Assessor Rick Auerbach; 59th Assembly District candidate Dennis Mountjoy; 44th Assembly District candidate Susan Carpenter-McMillan; 29th state Senate District candidate Bob Margett; 21st state Sen. District candidate Paul Zee; 28th Congressional District candidate David Dreier; and 27th Congressional District candidate James Rogan.

The causes named on the 93550 mailer are yes on propositions 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 39, and no on Proposition 38.