Orange County Elections : Supervisor Hopefuls Hit Roth’s Claim on Anaheim Residency

Two Anaheim residents running for county supervisor demanded Thursday that a third candidate retract his claim in a political mailer to be “the only candidate for supervisor from Anaheim.”

Manuel Mendez, an architect, said Anaheim Mayor Donald R. Roth should be disqualified from the race for making the statement.

Jerry Patterson, a former congressman, added that Roth should send out a new piece of mail, admitting that three of the four candidates for the 4th Supervisorial District seat live in Anaheim.

“If (Roth) is going to do this, which is a direct lie, what else is he going to do in the next 19 days” leading up to the June 3 primary, Patterson asked.

Joint Press Conference

Roth, Mendez, Patterson and Orange Mayor James Beam are seeking to replace Ralph B. Clark as the supervisor in the district, which includes Anaheim, Orange, La Palma and Buena Park.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the June 3 primary, the top two vote-getters will face each other in a runoff in November.

At a joint news conference with Patterson on Thursday at Anaheim Stadium, Mendez said that as a resident of Anaheim for 21 years, a city businessman and former member of the city redevelopment commission, “I left my mark” on Anaheim and “personally was very offended” by Roth’s statement.

Roth was campaigning Thursday and relayed a message through campaign consultants that he is “too busy meeting voters and dealing with the real issues in this election to respond to Jerry Patterson’s rantings.”

‘Stand By Our Statement’

However, his campaign consultant, Harvey Englander, contended that Patterson moved to Anaheim only to run for supervisor, and that Mendez is not considered “a serious candidate in this race” because of his lack of funds and campaign appearances.

“We stand by the statement” that Roth is the only candidate from Anaheim, Englander said.

Roth’s four-paragraph letter, which apparently was sent to all registered voters in Anaheim, referred in part to his career on the council and as mayor.

It then said: “As the only candidate for supervisor from Anaheim, I will bring these same values” of reasonable growth, jobs and efficient government to the Board of Supervisors.

Asked for Investigation

Patterson--who is believed by most political analysts to be in a close battle with Beam and Roth--and Mendez both said they received the controversial letter.

The two candidates added that they have asked the county Fair Campaign Practices Commission to investigate Roth’s statement.

Each of the five county supervisors appoints one member of the commission, which investigates “deceptive practices in political campaigns” for county offices. If it finds a violation, the commission refers the matter to the district attorney for further investigation and possible filing of misdemeanor charges that carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.

Mendez and Patterson held their press conference outside Anaheim Stadium, in the parking space reserved for Roth.

Assailed for Free Passes

In addition to their criticism of the letter, both used the occasion to attack the Anaheim mayor for accepting free parking and free passes to California Angels baseball and Los Angeles Rams football games.

Pointing out that the favored site for a 1,500-inmate, maximum-security county jail is only half a mile from the stadium, Patterson also accused Roth of “being asleep at the switch” when the supervisors picked the jail location in March.

Patterson charged that Anaheim was selected as a jail site because of Roth’s “inept leadership” and failure to persuade the supervisors to pick another location.

But he also speculated that Roth might have wanted to have the location selected so that he could use the issue “as a political gimmick.”

All four candidates oppose the site, but Roth has reaped significant publicity from his opposition because of his position as mayor.

Responding to the jail-related charges by Mendez and Patterson, Englander said that for Patterson “to attempt to politicize this (jail) issue is the worst type of back-room politics I’ve seen.

“He’s a desperate office-seeker grasping at straws. We’re sorry he duped Mr. Mendez into appearing with him at the press conference.”