Inquiry Sought in Water District Flap Over Election Flyer : Politics: A mailer for two candidates elected to the Palmdale Water District board improperly used the district’s mailing permit.

More than a week after the Nov. 7 election, controversy continues to surround a campaign mailer for two candidates elected to the Palmdale Water District Board of Directors.

At a board meeting this week, member Hal Macy said the mailer had “cast a dark cloud over the district” and should be investigated by an independent agency. “If this maneuver was not illegal, it was certainly unethical,” said Macy, who is leaving the board after not seeking reelection.

At issue is a mailer sent to 11,163 households and paid for by the joint campaign of incumbent Walt Dahlitz and newly elected member Noland Negaard. The mailer, sent three days before the election, consisted of a letter from Board President Les Carter endorsing Dahlitz and Negaard.

The mailer improperly used the district’s mailing permit, district officials said, and was written on what appeared to be district stationery. Macy said he had received calls from residents complaining about look-alike stationery. He called upon Carter to resign from the board because of his involvement.

Dahlitz and Negaard, who won by large margins in the low-key election, have denied any wrongdoing. Carter said he would not step down from the board. He said that he did not know the district’s permit would be used and that he had no objection to use of the district letterhead.

Paper work submitted to the Palmdale post office did contain the water agency’s permit number, but there was no apparent advantage to the candidates because, according to postal officials, the campaign had purchased a similar permit that entitled it to the same discount mail rate and had paid the nearly $1,200 in postage.

Negaard and campaign officials said either the postal service or the company hired to handle the mailings, Sun Valley-based USA Direct Mail Services, had erred by giving the wrong permit number to postal authorities.

But Rafael Rodriguez, president of USA Direct Mail, told The Times that his company was instructed to use the district’s permit number by a campaign worker he could not identify. Rodriguez said his employee would not otherwise have known the number.

Postal officials said they made a mistake by accepting the water district permit. But Palmdale Postmaster Ken Holder said that when people submit bulk mail, his employees do not verify whether they have permission to use the permit.

The use of official-looking stationery apparently was legal, officials with the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the state attorney general’s office said in response to Times inquiries this week. State law allows such mailers by officeholders provided that they are not prepared at public expense and contain a small disclaimer--as the mailer did--identifying the sponsoring campaign committees, said Gene Hill, head of the attorney general’s government law section.