Monterey County Sheriff Scott Miller signs vandalized

Monterey County Sheriff Scott Miller, who is seeking re-election in the June 3 primary, had at least five signs vandalized or destroyed in the past few days.

Not surprisingly, no one has come forward to claim responsibility. At the time of this blog posting it was unclear if there was any investigation.

Monterey County Probation Association breaks silence on sheriff endorsement

One of the most contentious endorsements of the Monterey County sheriff's race was made by five people.

The 5-person board of the Monterey County Probation Association, which represents 198 Monterey County Probation Department employees, voted to endorse sheriff candidate Fred Garcia in January, according to past president Dawn Allen.

Garcia was the only candidate to speak to the board. Allen said it is not that Garcia was the only candidate allowed to speak, it was that he was the only one to reach out to the association.

Mike Richards, Steve Bernal and current sheriff Scott Miller are also running in the June 3 primary.

The endorsement became an issue last week when Garcia was forced to issue a correction press release after he mistakenly told 12,000 voters in a flier he was endorsed by the county Probation Department, which would have been illegal for the department.

After comments by Miller about the matter in The Herald, Garcia fired back with a press release accusing the sheriff of "dirty politics" and implied the probation department's chief Manuel Real was playing politics.

"Is Mr. Real using his position at the county to campaign for Scott Miller on the public dime?" Garcia wrote.

Allen distanced herself from the comments Monday morning while speaking to The Herald.

"While our Probation Association, not the Probation Department, has endorsed Fred Garcia for sheriff," she said in a prepared statement, "we do not endorse any negative commentary by any candidate about each other, the Probation Department and, especially, our chief."

Allen said the association is considering changing its bylaws to allow all members - not just the board - to vote on endorsements, similar to the Monterey County Deputy Sheriff's Association.

In that association's vote in March, no candidates received its approval because a majority is needed for the endorsement. Miller got the most votes with 49 out of 135 votes cast, or 36 percent of members. Garcia got 21 percent, Bernal got 16 percent and Richards received 9 percent.

All four candidates are expected to address members of the legal community Monday at 3 p.m. at the law offices of Miguel Hernandez at 40 Central Ave. in Salinas. It is open to the public.

Sheriff Scott Miller claim on Hwy 68 to be removed

Submitted photo

A message likely seen by hundreds of drivers between Salinas and Monterey is in the process of being removed.

Sometime around May 6 an individual, or group, hiked up a hill off of Highway 68 near the Reservation Road exit and spray painted a message about Sheriff Scott Miller.

It said, “MEDIA SHERRIFF (sic) MILLER GOT $10,000 FROM P.G. ART HEIST SCAMMERS.”

Whoever wrote the message never came forward or produced any evidence. Miller said he had no idea what the message meant and the other campaigns distanced themselves from it.

The property is owned by Santa Monica-based Domain Corporation and leased to cattle ranchers.

In a letter from Domain Vice President Mark Kelton, he tells the sheriff the matter is a mystery to him too.

“We are very sorry to learn of this incident and have no knowledge about who is responsible for these statements,” he wrote. “. . . Upon discussing this matter with the cattle ranchers, they told us that they were also disappointed that someone would trespass on the property to spray paint any type of message.”

It is impossible to say for sure, but the message seems to point to a two-year investigation by the Sheriff’s Office into stolen artwork from a Pebble Beach home.

The men who said they had been robbed, Angelo Amadio and Ralph Kennaugh, said they lost $80 million of dollars of art.

Current sheriff candidate Mike Richards said in 2009 (as then-spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office) investigators suspected Amadio and Kennaugh of possible fraud.

Richards, who remembers the case well, said Thursday he has no idea who wrote the message.

There are no records of Amadio or Kennaugh donating to Miller’s 2010 or current sheriff’s campaign.

Fred Garcia accuses Sheriff Scott Miller of 'dirty politics'

A day after Sheriff Scott Miller criticized sheriff candidate Fred Garcia for a campaign error, Garcia has accused Miller of playing "dirty politics."

Garcia mistakenly listed the Monterey County Probation Department as his top endorsement in a campaign flier. He had actually been endorsed by the county Probation Association, the union for department employees. 

It was a big deal for the probation department, and its chief Manuel Real, because a county entity is forbidden by state law for endorsing candidates. Miller called it an "egregious error." 

"(Miller) continues to slander his opponents because of his personal record of failure," Garcia wrote in the release, which is posted below. 

A central theme in the release is that Miller somehow gave The Herald a letter the Probation Department had sent to Garcia in order to create a smoke screen from his son's sentencing earlier that day. 

I actually got an anonymous email about Garcia's election trouble Friday and had some difficulty obtaining it from the county until Tuesday (mostly because I thought the letter actually came from county counsel). It was me who pursued getting the letter and not Miller who gave it to me. I called him for comment, and the other candidates in the June 3 primary, as I do for every sheriff's race story. 

Garcia also implies Real may have an ulterior motive for asking him to correct his flier. 

"Is Mr. Real using his position at the County to campaign for Scott Miller on the public dime?" he wrote. I have sent an email to Real to see if he wants to comment about this. 

Garcia's press release ends by raising questions about Miller's ballot claim to have saved the taxpayers $500,000 by refusing to "double dip." I have written about that issue here.

Candidates Steve Bernal and Mike Richards are also running for sheriff.

Fred Garcia press release: 

press release garcia may 14 _1_.docx