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GARY B. WESLEY February 26, 2002 Re: STILL MORE EVIDENCE OF SALLY LIEBER'S DISHONESTY City Council: Before you allowed Councilmember Sally Lieber to become "mayor" of Mountain View for 2002, I wrote you on December 21 and again on December 29 citing examples of Lieber's rank dishonesty in her declaration of candidacy for State Assembly (22 District) and in her official candidate statement. On January 8, you nonetheless passed the post of mayor to Lieber. Since then, as some of us predicted, Lieber has used her position as mayor simply to advance her Assembly campaign. Not only should voters reject Lieber in the Assembly race, but the Mountain View City Council should, as the City Charter allows, place on the agenda of an upcoming meeting the replacement of Lieber as mayor. According to the Registrar of Voters, in the 22M Assembly District, there are about 180,000 registered voters -80,000 of whom are Democrats and another 40,000 are registered "decline to state." "Decline to state" voters may participate in the Democratic primary by requesting a Democratic ballot and would be smart to do so. Lieber is opposed in the primary by fellow Mountain View Councilmember Rosemary Stasek and Santa Clara City Councilmember Rod Diridon, Jr. With only 52,000 registered Republicans, the winner of the Democratic primary next Tuesday will very likely be the next member of the Assembly for the District. In recent weeks, I have received a series of campaign pieces from or on behalf of Lieber which are replete with false or misleading assertions. In this letter, I am going to discuss just one of the many pieces to illustrate the point. Provided herewith is a yellow and black piece I received containing the claim that:
City Council Landlords are backing Sally Lieber's opponent, Rod Diridon, Jr. because he supports their ability to raise rents as they choose, whenever they choose. Rod Diridon Jr. has turned his back on us. We're backing SALLY LIEBER. Sally will help us save our homes, and work to keep apartments, condos and townhouses affordable. Like us, Sally backs reasonable limits in rent increases. When we needed a friend, Sally Lieber stood up to the powerful mobilehome park landlord lobby. She isn't afraid to stand up to landlords who want to squeeze the elderly. We hope you won't turn you back on us. Vote for Sally Lieber for Assembly. These assertions are attributed to "Dave Hennessy" who claims he is writing for something called "the Board of Directors of the California Mobilehome Resource and Action Association." On the reverse side of the piece is the notation "(m)ajor funding by Consumer Attorneys Independent Campaign Committee" which does exist in Los Angeles and has been listed on other mailings for Lieber, but also listed is something called "Mobilehome Owner and Consumer Attorneys For Sally Lieber at 3381 Stevens Creek Blvd, #207, San Jose, California 95117," No such organization is listed at that location. Dave Hennessy is shown as the "building manager" in Suite #210. The truth is that Sally Lieber never said a word at a Council meeting about mobilehome park rents until she started running for Assembly, the residents themselves told the City Council last year their rent has only been raised 5% per year, and Lieber has never said a word at a City Council meeting about what any other renters (of apartments or condos or townhouses) have been required to pay. Lieber's continued pretense that she has only one "opponent" in the race and that her one opponent supports the ability of all landlords "to raise rents" illustrates that Lieber will say anything, however false, to advance her own political career. No wonder there is a petition drive to recall Lieber from the City Council (RecaIlSallyLieber.Org) even though she is already in her final year of her first and only term in public office. Pending her departure, Lieber should not be mayor.
c: City Councils of Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and Cupertino
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