Accused of Using Stolen Signs for Campaign : Water Official Election Tactics Attacked

A controversy-plagued Las Virgenes Water District director was in hot water again Monday night when residents of Calabasas and Agoura Hills accused him at a board meeting of endangering their safety and using stolen signs for his reelection campaign.

Incumbent Tad Mattock was accused of leaving front-yard water meter lids dangerously ajar at hundreds of homes in the two communities after stuffing campaign flyers inside the ground-level vaults during the weekend.

He was also accused of painting his own name and campaign slogan over signs owned by a real estate company and then posting them in front of houses.

Mattock acknowledged leaving campaign literature poking out from the meter vaults but disagreed that the raised lids were a hazard. He also acknowledged painting over a Merrill Lynch Realty sign but said he had found it discarded along a road.

“This has been an organized attempt to get votes for my opponent,” Mattock grumbled after the homeowners spoke.

Sanctions Urged

Homeowners who complained of the campaigning urged other Las Virgenes board members to take sanctions against Mattock.

“It’s embarrassing to be becoming the laughing stock of the community,” Agoura Hills homeowner Fran Foster said of the weekend water meter incident. ‘It was a blight to the neighborhood, not to mention the total irresponsibility of leaving some of the lids raised.”

Calabasas resident Chris Brown showed board members a re-painted Merrill Lynch Realty “open house” sign that carried Mattock’s name and reelection message. He said it was plucked off a neighbor’s lawn by a Merrill Lynch realty agent who spotted it while driving down the street.

Gaynell Wilbur, the Merrill Lynch realty agent who discovered the sign, said in an interview that her firm “absolutely” did not give Mattock permission to use it.

No Policy Enacted

Brown demanded that the water board enact a policy against illegal campaign signs.

Board members balked at that, but they indicated they may ask Mattock to reimburse the agency for the $250 overtime pay earned Sunday morning by district workers who walked through the neighborhoods shutting the meter lids.

Two weeks ago, board members criticized Mattock for creating a liability problem for the district by carrying water to homeowners in Calabasas during a recent water outage.

Glen Peterson, Mattock’s foe in the Nov. 4 election, sat quietly during the exchange.