Oceanside’s Mayor Turns In a Culprit, and He Is It

Oceanside Mayor Larry Bagley said Tuesday that he found someone in City Hall guilty of political wrongdoing so he turned the culprit in to the Fair Political Practices Commission.

The rascal, Bagley said, was himself.

Bagley said he unintentionally violated a state political reform law by sending out, by bulk mail at the city’s expense, letters to more than 500 city residents who had complained about the penalties assessed to excessive water users.

He was responding to a petition signed by about 1,100 persons that was addressed to him and the City Council, Bagley said, and about 550 had already left City Hall when someone reminded him about the law that bans bulk mailings by politicians to more than 200 persons at a time.

He asked Acting City Atty. Dan Hentschke to review the issue, and Hentschke agreed that the mayor’s letters--which talked of how the city was addressing the problem of water use penalties--violated the state law.

“He said the letters could be viewed as political in nature, even though I’m not running for office,” Bagley said. “So I had my secretary figure out how many I already had sent out and how much it cost in postage, paper and labor. It came to $310.”

Bagley said he reimbursed the city Tuesday and asked Hentschke to refer the matter to the Fair Political Practices Commission for review.

“There’s no question about it, public monies were expended on the letter, and I was in violation of the state law,” Bagley said.