In a mailer disseminated to thousands of homes last week, three Huntington Beach City Council candidates are shown rising from the ashes of a dystopian backdrop – dark skies, lightning bolts, clouds of smoke, smashed street signs.
“Warning,” the flier reads. “The Huntington Beach Police Officers say: Natalie Moser, Dan Kalmick and Oscar Rodriguez are EXTREME PUBLIC SAFETY RISKS.”
All three candidates highlighted in the ad are Democrats deemed top competitors in a field of 15 contestants.
A small political action committee named Cal Pacific funded the ad. Campaign records show that Kelly Gates, the wife of City Attorney Michael Gates, donated $1,000 to Cal Pacific, which spent $22,000 on the mailers. And the ad includes a badge of support that reads “Huntington Beach Police Management Association.”
The dramatic mailer illustrated some stark differences in the police department.
A few days after the flyers went out, a second police union – the Huntington Beach Police Officers Association (POA) – officially endorsed Kalmick, the guy in the ad who is pictured wearing a business suit as Surf City burns behind him.
The Police Management Association (PMA), which backed the ad, represents nine lieutenants and three captains. POA membership counts 264 rank-and-file officers, sergeants, jail staff and dispatchers.
Yasha Nikitin, president of the POA, called the negative mailer an “embarrassing and failed attempt, without reason or justification, to hit three well-regarded and innocent candidates.”
To make matters even more head-scratching, both police associations endorsed the colorful but controversial MMA fighter Tito Ortiz. Ortiz has been arrested twice and embraces conspiracy theories – such as that coronavirus was manufactured by the Chinese government.
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A dramatic ad was mailed to thousands of Huntington Beach voters the second week of October depicting three City Council candidates as dangerous radicals. The photo illustration included a picture of candidate Natalie Moser taken at a 2017 Women’s March.
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A dramatic ad was mailed to thousands of Huntington Beach voters the second week of October depicting three City Council candidates as dangerous radicals.
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Huntington Beach City Council candidate Dan Kalmick was the target in an attack ad.
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Huntington Beach City Council candidate Oscar Rodriguez was targeted in an attack ad.
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Huntington Beach City Council candidate Natalie Moser was a target in an attack ad.
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Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates’ wife Kelly Gates donated to a PAC that created an attack ad against three city council candidates. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
The PMA also endorsed Gracey Van Der Mark and Casey McKeon, who are running as part of a slate with Ortiz.
In the mailer’s photo illustration, Moser, surrounded by other smiling protesters, holds a sign reading, “Organize, resist, agitate, protect” – words that suggest participation in recent protests against police brutality. But the picture, lifted from her Facebook page, was taken at a 2017 Women’s March.
“I’d been fighting breast cancer, and I felt so hopeful and happy at that moment,” Moser said. “To see that picture weaponized against me and other candidates was very disappointing.”
Dave Dereszynski, president of the Police Management Association, said the photo “was not meant to mislead anyone.”
“But I’m not sure that language – ‘resist,’ ‘agitate’ – is appropriate in any context,” Dereszynski said. “It’s the kind of language we were hearing at City Council meetings from people demanding to defund the police.
“We want candidates who will go in a positive direction rather than an inflammatory one.”
Kalmick pushed back on Dereszynski’s suggestion, saying: “None of us have ever advocating for defunding the police.”
Pat Garcia, who serves with Kalmic on the Planning Commission, heads up Cal Pacific.
“Sure, it’s awkward,” Kalmick said. “Pat and I have never butted heads before. And he’s a neighbor. I was surprised by his portrayal of me.
“But I think we can keep things professional and friendly.”
To that end, after the ad hit mailboxes, Kalmick texted Garcia, “I’m grateful you spelled the name right.”
“Dan’s a nice guy,” Garcia said. “This isn’t personal. I can’t even remember the other two candidates’ names. We just think their policies are too far left for Huntington Beach.”
Asked if he thought the trio would really lead Huntington Beach down a path of destruction and lawlessness, Garcia said, “It’s an extreme example. But we are trying to keep the City Council at least moderate.”
Several local businesses contributed to Cal Pacific earlier this month. Nikitin, leader of the Police Officers Association, said backers were “deceived on what their money was going to be used for,” intending it for positive messages about favored candidates.
The businesses’ owners did not return requests for comment.
Garcia pointed out that donors to political action committees typically don’t vet advertisements in advance. “That’s not the way it works,” he said. “You get what you get.”
City Attorney Gates said his wife Kelly made her donation strictly “to support the Huntington Beach Police Management Association.”
“She did not donate specifically to any particular mailer,” he said in an email. “How would she know what, if anything, the PAC was going to put out?”
On his website, Ortiz names Michael Gates on his list of endorsements, though Gates said he has not officially endorsed any candidate. Still, on Oct. 17, Gates was a featured guest at a meet-and-greet held at Huntington Harbour Yacht Club for McKeon, Ortiz and Van Der Mark.
The League of California Cities advises city attorneys to steer clear of pushing for or against city council candidates.
However, as the only elected city attorney in Orange County, Gates has clearly expressed his political leanings during his six years in office.
“Other city attorneys don’t get involved in politics by business choice, because they work for private law firms,” Gates said, adding, “I have not expressed any lack of support for any council candidates, period.”
In its handbook “Ethical Principles for City Attorneys,” the League of California Cities cautions, “The city attorney or persons seeking to become city attorney should not make campaign contributions to or participate in the campaigns of that city’s officials, including candidates running for that city’s offices.”
Attorneys who have worked under contract for several Orange County cities said that their firms bar involvement in city council elections. Such policies, they said, are in place to avoid the appearance of bias and to assure the city that legal advice is not based on political preferences.
Also, in the county’s other 33 cities, the council decides whether or not to retain a city attorney – making his or her job security dependent on mutual respect.
Veteran city attorney Dick Jones – whose clients have included Fullerton, Westminster and La Habra – said his firm “has never donated to a city council election or taken sides.”
“It’s technically legal, but it looks bad,” said Jones, who spoke in general terms and not specifically about Gates. “When you go to the council for a 5% pay raise, there’s going to be a conflict of interest if you’ve donated money to some of the members.”
The political makeup of city councils tend to fluctuate every few years. “If you align yourself with one side, you’re vulnerable to the shifts,” Jones said.
Ultimately, targeted candidate Rodriguez said the ad just made him “sad.”
“I’m a first-time candidate who just likes being involved in my community,” Rodriguez said. “I always try to see the good in people. I never imagined I would be vilified just for running for City Council.
“That attack ad is not who I am as a person. And it’s not what Huntington Beach is as a city.”
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