Connell, Easton denounce PAC ad

By Lara Cooper
Voice Staff Writer
Attacking the “smear tactics” of a recently televised ad, candidates Margaret Connell and Ed Easton called for more transparency with campaign contributions as they stood outside of City Hall on Tuesday.

The pair decried a 30-second television spot released this week and funded by Coalition for a Healthier Goleta, a political action committee that until Wednesday was largely anonymous.

The ad calls the city’s revenue neutrality agreement “Margaret Connell’s bad deal,” even though City Councilmember Jean Blois made the motion to adopt the agreement, Connell said.

Although both candidates denounced the ad’s message, Connell said the group has a First Amendment right to broadcast such a message.

“But they do have to follow the law,” she said. “And in a campaign that aims to turn voters against us to help Blois and (Don) Gilman, that means they must report who is financing their campaign and how they are spending their money.”

The Fair Political Practices Commission requires PACs to file with the county Elections Office when they spend in excess of $1,000, and the group has missed two consecutive filing periods. The Coalition for a Healthier Goleta has spent $15,000 on television advertising and has mailed out several flyers.

In paperwork filed with the city Wednesday, Roy Zbinden is identified as the principal officer of the PAC. Davild L. Gould of Los Angeles, a polictical reporting and consultant, is listed as the PAC’s treasurer.

“It’s clear that this secret group is more interested in misleading Goleta voters than obeying the law,” Easton said Tuesday.

Connell and Easton filed a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission to begin an investigation of the PAC.

Easton called on Gilman and Blois to publicly admonish the ad and the group behind it.
“Both of them stand to benefit from these spots and should make clear, with action, not just words, their intolerance for this kind of campaigning,” he said.