News for Atascadero, CA|Thursday, March 28, 2024
You are here: Home » Politics » Letter: Atascadero deserves better than out-of-town, negative campaigning
  • Follow Us!

Letter: Atascadero deserves better than out-of-town, negative campaigning 

Letter to the editor atascadero

To the editor,

–This weekend I was reminded how politics should work in our community. On Saturday, I was at the Lake participating as usual in the annual lake cleanup sponsored by Friends of the Atascadero Lake. Mayor Moreno was there as was Mayoral candidate Jerry Tanimoto. After that, we three were all at a hands-on demonstration held by the Atascadero pickleball club who are promoting the building of pickleball courts on the grounds of the community center. Also, there were City Council candidates Mark Dariz and Nic Mattson. At the same time candidate Tori Keen was participating in a BBQ for the Printery Foundation. All these candidates, including myself, were out meeting people, learning about their issues, and supporting the community.

All in all, these candidates have been very civil to each other. Enter, the PAC, humorously labeled Atascadero Citizens for Accountability, but funded initially by one donor, $10,000 from Brad Goodrow of Creston and more recently with $5,000 from Nigel Stout, a realtor from Austin TX. Brad owns MidState Recycling in Templeton and has an obvious and substantial interest in the actions of the Atascadero City Council as indicated in his own letter to the Atascadero News and the Atown Daily News. Why a realtor from Austin TX is interested in Atascadero politics remains to be seen, but I doubt it is about accountability.

This PAC has run negative ads in the form of mailers, radio, and social media, attacking Mayor Moreno and Jerry Tanimoto while supporting Josh Donovan over the issue of the sales tax measure D20. Debating the merits of the sales tax measure is fine, and welcome, although I think the opponents would have more credibility if they were actually from Atascadero. What isn’t OK is for Josh Donovan to deny any association with their actions. In his recent letter to Atown Daily News, he complained that people were questioning his association with the PAC, stating amongst other assertions, “while there are several PACs operating within Atascadero’s election…..I am not affiliated with any of them”.

Well let’s look at the facts. Josh’s campaign has the same treasurer as the PAC with the same Fresno address where the negative mailers come from. Their common treasurer has filed campaign finance reports and supporting emails with the City Clerk on behalf of the PAC and the Donovan campaign stating that the negative mailers were partially an acknowledged contribution to the Donovan campaign. How about Brad Goodrow hosting a BBQ fundraiser for Josh’s campaign at his Creston ranch on Oct 17? Now ask yourself, how plausible is Josh’s “who me, I know nothing about this” stance on this negative campaigning funded by out of town money. Atascadero deserves better.

Sincerely,
Charles Bourbeau
Atascadero

 


Editor’s note: Letters to the editor are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the A-Town Daily or its staff. We welcome letters from local residents regarding relevant local topics. To submit one, click here.

About the author: News Staff

News staff of the A-Town Daily News wrote and edited this article from local contributors and press releases. Scott Brennan is the publisher of this newspaper and founder of Access Publishing. Connect with him on , Twitter, LinkedIn, or follow his blog. He can be reached at scott@accesspublishing.com.

A-Town Daily News on Google
A-Town Daily News | 7343 El Camino Real #235 | Atascadero, CA 93422 | (805) 226-5720