Sybert’s Unexcellent Adventure

Most people who talk with Rich Sybert come away impressed by the intelligence of this Berkeley- and Harvard-educated lawyer, business executive and candidate for the 37th Assembly District.

So how could such a smart guy do such a dumb thing as nighttime prowling to rip down an opponent’s campaign signs, then lying about it to the press?

There’s no excusing the predawn vandalism, which clearly contradicts the code of fair campaign practices that most candidates sign when running for office; it’s a misdemeanor in Thousand Oaks, where some of the acts occurred. And there’s even greater cause for concern in the ease with which Sybert laughingly denied his actions to reporters--before he was confronted with videotape evidence nailing him red-handed. The tape was made--and gleefully distributed far and wide--by the campaign of one of his opponents, Tony Strickland.

To be sure, Sybert is not the first to commit such campaign indiscretions. In 1996, the husband of Democrat Loretta Sanchez was caught tearing down campaign signs of her opponent, Orange County Republican Robert K. Dornan. Sanchez’s spouse, Stephen Brixey III, pleaded no contest to vandalism in the case and paid $640 in fines, penalties and restitution.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office has not decided whether to file charges against Sybert, who has apologized. He said he is “embarrassed and ashamed” of the “stupid prank” and that “it was equally silly to lie.” While he admits to having made a mistake, he said: “I don’t think it says anything more about me.”

That judgment is up to the voters in Oxnard, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks.