CAMARILLO : Trustee Asks D.A. to Investigate Mailer

A Pleasant Valley Elementary School District board member has asked the district attorney’s office to investigate whether campaign flyers distributed by the teachers union the weekend before the election violated state law.

Barbara Ballard Miller said she requested the inquiry on Nov. 5, the day before the Camarillo election. Miller, who was seeking a second term on the board, came in fourth in the race for three board seats.

Miller said the literature contained sample ballots but did not have a disclaimer with wording directly from the state election code explaining that they were paid political advertisements. The disclaimer is required when sample ballots are used in campaign literature.

The flyers, paid for by the Pleasant Valley Education Assn., endorsed three candidates for the board, not including Miller.

“I took it there the Monday before the election so this was not a sore-loser kind of thing,” Miller said. “With me, this is a question of fair elections.”

Association President Ina Lea Parker said she did not know about the law until she was questioned by an investigator Tuesday.

“We just thought we had to have our name on it so everybody knew it came from us,” Parker said. “There’s specific language, and we were not aware of it.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald Coleman said investigators will conclude the inquiry within two weeks.