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.
Candidates Steve Bernal and Mike Richards are also running for sheriff.
Fred Garcia press release:
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