To put it mildly, the last year has been very kind to San Bernardino County Supervisor (and former FR blogger) Brad Mitzelfelt.
He went from appointed from a cast of dozens to gaining the endorsement of almost every single official in his district including many former opponents. In addition, he put together a formidable team of consultants and local politicos, only partially drawn from his former boss, current Assessor Bill Postmus. On the policy front, he’s garnered for his infrastructure-deprived district a laundry list of roads and key projects, including expansion of the Inland Port at the former George Air Force Base, bringing jobs to the region, all while not using the feel good pork barrel so-often used by those in government positions.
Oh, and did I mention he raised over $800,000 for his June election?
Alas, Brad’s cruise to a full term was thwarted by local developer and Hesperia Councilwoman Rita Vogler, who as many of the self funders before her, decried the influence of money in politics and announced her late bid against Brad on the nearly lone basis that he’s had to raise money to campaign for his seat.
But then an interesting thing happened. Rita’s campaign for campaign reform hit a snag – she refused to file a committee or any campaign finance-related paperwork for over a month, while using an existing City Council campaign committee and unknown sources to pay for mail, signs, and now radio ads. Then, in an even more amusing turn of events, she blamed the Registrar of Voters for her troubles, admitted her mistake, then blamed the Registrar again!
So, in Rita’s world, you can’t trust Mitzelfelt because he has to raise money, but don’t ask where mine came from…