Activist Alleges Zemel Broke Election Law

The author of Orange County’s first campaign financing reform law contended Tuesday that Anaheim Councilman Bob Zemel violated state and city laws by using money from the wrong campaign committees to further his bid for mayor this fall.

Shirley Grindle of Orange sent her formal complaint to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which oversees election law matters, and sought prompt action because of Zemel’s current challenge to Mayor Tom Daly.

Zemel angrily denied the accusations, saying his expenses for campaign mailers were proper. “It’s a very minor issue, and we checked first with our attorneys and the FPPC before [sending] anything,” Zemel said.

He asserted that Grindle has targeted him for scrutiny because she favors Daly’s reelection.

Grindle said she sent the complaint because it appears Zemel violated the law. “I don’t support anyone and I certainly don’t support him,” she said.

At issue are two mailers sent by Zemel last month asking for support in his race against Daly, a contest shaping up as one of the more contentious local battles in the county. Though the race is nonpartisan, the county Republican Party has endorsed Zemel over Daly, a longtime Democrat.

State law and an Anaheim ordinance require a candidate to spend money raised for a specific office from only one campaign committee established for that office.

Grindle contends that Zemel failed to use his mayoral campaign committee to send out mailers last month.

The first, dated Aug. 3, was paid for by Citizens for Bob Zemel, his City Council campaign committee. In it, GOP leaders sought donations for Zemel’s race to defeat the “notorious liberal Democrat” Daly. Ten days after the mailer was sent, Grindle contends, Zemel redesignated the committee for the mayor’s race.

The second mailer was paid for by a campaign committee set up to defeat a recall attempt against him. It is called the Anaheim Citizens Against Political Corruption--Support Bob Zemel--No on the Recall.

It was distributed Aug. 27 at a mayoral candidate forum and mailed to residents the next day, Grindle’s complaint said.

The mailer doesn’t mention the recall nor the mayor’s race, but it blasts Daly and compares Zemel’s votes on the council with Daly’s. Grindle called it a veiled plug for Zemel’s mayoral aspirations.

Additionally, the threat of a recall had fizzled by the time the mailer was distributed. The committee seeking Zemel’s recall was terminated Aug. 10, she said, and an Anaheim ordinance states that recall activity must end when a recall attempt is terminated or fails for lack of voter signatures.

Zemel said Tuesday that his attorneys interpreted the law to mean that they still could spend money opposing his recall until the final day for signatures to be collected.

Grindle wrote the county’s first campaign contribution ordinance, which was adopted in 1978, and co-wrote a 1992 amendment.