Mailer Attacks Supervisor on Crime Issue

In a campaign known more for being consumed by the El Toro airport issue, supervisor candidate Dave Sullivan has outraged his opponent, incumbent Jim Silva, with a mailer this week that accuses Silva of being soft on child molesters.

The mailer states in large, bold letters: “Jim Silva opposed aggressive monitoring and warning about sex offenders. Is this the kind of person you want as county supervisor?”

The piece takes excerpts from an Oct. 11 newspaper story quoting Silva as saying the Orange County Sheriff’s Department is doing an excellent job of tracking sex offenders and that the Board of Supervisors did not need to get involved in monitoring the offenders.

The mailer caused a swift reaction in the Silva camp, which called it a “total distortion that has come to typify the Sullivan campaign.”

“It’s malicious and mendacious,” said campaign manager Matthew Cunningham. “As a parent and public official, Jim has always been a staunch advocate of public safety, especially of protecting our children from predators.”

Silva could not be reached for comment.

Supervisor William G. Steiner, a Silva supporter and the board’s most vocal and active children’s advocate, said the mailer was “ludicrous” and that Silva’s commitment to children was unquestionable.

“Jim’s record speaks for itself,” he said. “He is a family man who voted over and over to protect children. He’s an advocate.”

Sullivan stood by the mailer Tuesday, saying Silva should be held accountable for his public positions on such critical matters of public safety.

“Notification to the community of convicted child molesters should be as vigorous as possible, to the point of putting up notices in neighborhoods,” Sullivan said. “They asked Jim Silva, and he said everything is fine.”

Harvey Englander, the campaign consultant who creates Sullivan’s ads, also defended the mailer as merely reflecting Silva’s public statements. He said Silva is “malfunctioning as a county supervisor.”

“He’s an underachiever, and the county deserves more,” Englander said. “An overachiever looks at what he can do and tries to do more. Jim Silva looks at what he can do and settles on doing less. He’s a study in governmental mediocrity.”

The ruckus being raised by the mailer is a marked departure from a campaign that has seemed to focus mostly on the pro-airport supervisor and the anti-airport challenger. A Sullivan victory would turn around the 3-2 board votes that have moved along plans toward replacing the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro with an international airport.

Financially, Sullivan can afford to heat up the campaign with mailers and, debuting this week, cable television commercials. He reported having about $197,000 left to spend at the end of September; Silva reported having about $65,000 left in his campaign treasury at that time.

Sullivan said Tuesday his campaign has exceeded its $250,000 fund-raising goal.

“Frankly, we’re adapting as the money comes in,” Sullivan said. “You’ll be seeing more and more [campaign advertising] now.”