Judicial Candidate’s Flyer Misleading, Bar Assn. Says

A campaign brochure that bears the photograph of a judicial candidate wearing a black robe has been found by the Los Angeles County Bar Assn. to be misleading.

The candidate, Salvador Alva, said the photograph of him in a judicial robe was taken while he served as a temporary judge last year in Huntington Park. He said the written information accompanying the photograph makes it clear that he is the challenger and an attorney in private practice.

However, the Bar’s 15-member Fair Judicial Practices Committee determined that the photo “tends to be misleading to the public because it gives the impression that he occupies judicial office.”

No action will be taken against Alva, and in fact, he can legally continue to use the brochure until the June 2 election, said Bar Assn. spokesman Jerry Greenberg. But he added that to do so would likely be bad for Alva’s campaign and image.

“This is a decision that traditionally carries a lot of weight,” Greenberg said. “Voters tend to use this kind of information in determining who to vote for.”

Alva said he would stop using the mailer, but only “out of respect for the committee,” not because he believes it is misleading.

“I disagree with their assessment completely,” he said. “There is a double standard at work here.”

Alva’s campaign manager Jason Dominguez agreed, saying, “The reason the committee is ruling against (Alva) is that they are all good buddies of the judge.”

His opponent, Judge Frank Gafkowski Jr., filed a complaint with the Bar last Tuesday, calling the mailer a “blatant attempt to deceive the voters.”