‘Honest John’ Asked to Desist : Cities Seal Off Use of Emblems in 40th Race

Tustin City Councilman John Kelly, one of a dozen candidates for the Republican nomination in the 40th Congressional District but the only one who refers to himself as “Honest John,” has come under official attack in three cities for what are being characterized as questionable campaign tactics.

It seems that Kelly has been circulating campaign flyers with his name next to the city seals of Irvine and Newport Beach. Both cities prohibit the use or reproduction of the city seals for political purposes, and officials in the two towns have sent letters to Kelly asking him to stop distributing the material.

Kelly said he was not trying to mislead voters. “I did it out of respect for the city seals,” said Kelly, a first-term Tustin councilman who is the youngest of 12 Republicans seeking to replace retiring Rep. Robert E. Badham of Newport Beach in the June 7 primary.

“Those seals are not trademarks,” the 26-year-old candidate said, “so I thought it would be no problem. . . . I don’t know why people are so upset. I’ve stopped it; it’s over.”

On the home front, Kelly is in hot water in a matter involving his Tustin campaign headquarters, in the 100 block of El Camino Real. He set up operations in a condemned building and then covered the outside with strings of flags, red-and-white bunting and signs. He has a temporary use permit to occupy the building, but he failed to obtain approval to hang the flags and bunting. When asked by the city to remove the decorations, he took the flags down, but left up the bunting.

On Monday night, Kelly is scheduled to appear before the Tustin Planning Commission on the matter.

Kelly contends that he has done nothing wrong and that the attack on his headquarters is “politically motivated.”

Tustin Mayor Ronald B. Hoesterey denied it, saying “nothing could be further from the truth. . . . This is a matter of a councilman trying to hold himself above the law.”

Told of Hoesterey’s comments, Kelly said: “They’re trying to paint me as a lawbreaker. That’s ridiculous, I’m Honest John Kelly.”