For the past year or so, a handful of anonymous bloggers have lobbed insinuations and accusations against Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, who's up for re-election. These critics have trounced on everything from her character and age to her sartorial choices. Smith has ignored the chatter, but earlier this week someone filed a complaint against her opponent, retired sheriff’s Captain Kevin Jensen.
In a notice to the Fair Political Practices Commission, Smith supporter and business attorney Douglas Allen points to inconsistencies in Jensen’s campaign finance statements. Contributions weren’t reported on the right line, he says, and totals contradict amounts stated in other parts of the form.
The irregularities, “whether intentional or negligent, obscure his campaign financing and expenditures,” Allen wrote in the March 11 complaint.
Allen says he’s supported Smith since she won her first term in 1998 and decided to take a closer look at Jensen’s forms in a roundabout show of solidarity for the four-term incumbent. Both unions—the Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA) and the Correctional Peace Officers Association (CPOA)—endorsed Jensen early last summer, citing shaky morale, a dearth of resources and a lack of confidence in current leadership.
“I think there were some inappropriate things going on that led up to the endorsements,” Allen says, noting that the CPOA didn't even list Smith's name on the ballot. “So it tends to make me take a longer look at what’s going on with [Jensen’s] campaign.”
He points to a line where a donor, ex-deputy Mark Garcia, lists himself as a self-employed bounty hunter. Allen says he should mention his affiliation with Bad Boy Bail Bonds.
“It’s important that these forms report the whole story,” Allen says. “I know who he works for, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I think it’s important for the public to know who’s supporting the candidate. I’m not saying any of these are bad people, I’m just saying you have to report things properly."
A CPOA spokesman called the FPPC complaint a desperate move to disparage Jensen, who didn’t immediately return a call or email for comment.
The FPPC complaint comes on the heels of another filed by ex-San Jose cop Martin Monica, the fired police chief of a small Central Valley town who’s now a local loan broker. Monica filed a quo warranto—a petition to remove Smith from public office—through the Attorney General’s Office. He spent weeks rifling through Smith’s trash, peering in windows and digging up old news articles in an attempt to prove the sheriff doesn’t live where she says she does. The request got shut down two weeks after Monica filed it.
“I am writing to inform you that the documents you submitted are insufficient,” attorney Susan Duncan Lee wrote in her response. “We will not require proposed defendant Smith to respond to the pleadings, not will we approve the filing of a quo warranto petition on the basis of these documents.”
She goes on to advise him to get some help from an attorney next time.
Monica, who said a few weeks ago that he planned to run against Jensen and Smith, never officially filed for candidacy. His website’s down now and he didn’t return calls for comment.
UPDATE: Doug Allen filed another FPPC complaint Wednesday, this one taking aim at the Jensen-backing Deputy Sheriff's Association. He says the union failed to file campaign contribution reports for at least two years, during which it donated tens of thousands of dollars to several candidates. Interestingly, some of the donations the union failed to document were made to Smith back when the organization still supported her.
Kind of a moot point about the website Jen. Looking at the wayback machine…
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.martinmonica.com/
It looks like he’s owned the domain for a number of years. Some of us that do our own web work sometimes use our webhosting as a canvas and try new things out.
Still though, given the things that have recently come to light on Smith with CCW, 49ers, and Josh Klaven, I don’t really see Jensen guilty of doing anything nearly as heinous. This article is just a grasp for straws.
Robert, very good point. This article is grasping for straws. Glad the “attorney friend” found these huge irregularities, we can all sleep better at night. In the meantime many bigger issues have as you point out have gone on and are going on the the Sheriff office, why is their dissension in the rank and file? What about the 49ers and Josh Klaven, Metcalf, DeAnza Rape case, jail understaffing w/AB109, LeMar case, but let’s jump on the minor irregularities…. really just crickets on the real stories from sanjoseinside.
Allen is an attorney first and foremost. This hired political gun’s job is to create doubt and try to discredit Kevin Jensen on Laurie Smith’s behalf and he’s grasping at thin air with finance reporting. Sheriff Smith’s dirty laundry with preferential issuance of CCW permits, special treatment for football players, and delaying rape investigations is the real reasons why she should not be in office or even be a law enforcement officer.
http://caseythomas.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/public-campaign-finance-filings/
like the inconsistancies on her filings? Donations exceeding the legal amounts all over her sheets.
If that was the worst thing she ever did, we’d all be in great shape.
It should be noted that Doug Allen was an attorney for the Cpoa, way back when. Richard Abbate was his protege.
My name is Kathy Atkins and I am not connected with the Kevin Jensen Campaign. . My son Joshua Klaver is why I have stepped out and I am doing it loudly. . . At Sheriff Laurie Smith’s kick off party I did not stand alone but it was not with the Kevin Jensen Campaign. . .I am doing this for my son Joshua Klaver and the people who stood with me
are also Victims of Police Violence. .Christina Arechiga and Mollie Costello, Laura HisQueen Dominguez and many others who have stood by my side .. . Christina Arechiga Shared ~
Joshua Klaver is only 1 1/2 yrs younger than me, I grew up and so did my cousin Ernest in Santa Clara County.
I find it very difficult to live with the fact that while I was playing on the ranch with my cousins, going to camp and exploring the world…he was being hurt by his father, a Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy. I find it further revolting that nothing was ever done to his father, the only reason being that he WAS a deputy.
I think about how the law protects the man who murdered my cousin in public and the man that murdered joshua..in one way or another, in private…both those men sworn to uphold the law, we trusted both to protect us. Neither of them have been men enough to be truthful, neither of them have conscious’ to repent for what they know was evil.
Last night in San Jose the National Campaign to END POLICE TERROR called for action in the streets and the people responded! Sheriff Laurie Smith who stalled the investigation into Joshua’s death was holding her campaign kick off party at La Pinata Mexican Restaurant (that’s another issue I will discuss at a later date) and thanks to the floor length windows the party had a full view of our protest and could not ignore our chants and demands for justice!
We had people join us who had never protested before but had followed Kathy Atkins story on the web, people riding their bikes by, walking by, we had the amazing and powerhouse family of AJ DeVillena show up BIG TIME!! Thank you to the entire family In Memory of Allan “AJ” DeVillena II DeVillena Estella Allan Vickie Estella Valerie de Villena for being a new and amazing force in the movement, We love you guys!!
Thank you to the family of Oscar Grant Cephus Johnson and Aunt B for joining us, the family was truly honored that you came out. Cephus & Beatrice were also attending to the family of Antonio Lopez Guzman murdered by San Jose State University Police yesterday and we love them and are forever in debt to their loyalty to the families!
(see story here http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_25250621/san-jose-coroner-finding-deepens-questions-about-sjsu)
Members of the Trayvon Martin Coalition in San Jose joined us, I was so happy to see my cousin Ariel J. Duenes ( Justice For Ernest Duenez Jr. in the house) , Zac from the Justice for Andy Lopez Coalition made the long drive from Santa Rosa, met Steve Brewer & Cary-Andrew Crittenden…just awesome solidarity from Northern California!!
This event was brought to the people by The Alan Blueford Center For Justice !!
As always so happy when I can do it with my sisters Mollie Costello Darling Arechiga , you all know how amazing they are!!
When an injustice is done to one of US it is done to all of US and I thank you for making those words true!! Justice for Joshua Klaver and all victims of police domestic abuse!! #endpoliceterror . . ..
SHERIFF LAURIE SMITH I LISTENED TO WHAT YOU HAD TO SAY AND NOW I AM SHARING IT. .CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW. . .DID YOU REALLY THINK I WAS GOING TO GO AWAY . . YOU FOOLISH WOMEN. . MY DEAR FRIEND LAURIE SMITH REMEMBER THE EMAIL I SENT YOU AFTER FINDING THE KLAVER TRILOGY. . .THAT YOU HAD AWAKED A SLEEPING GIANT. . .HERE I AM. . YOU STEPPED INTO MY NIGHTMARE IN NOVEMBER 1990 AND I REFUSE TO LET YOU OUT THE DAMN DOOR. . .I would say welcome to my world but you know very damn well that you have been here long before I knew you were here
Now lets change the subject back to SAN JOSE INSIDE. .. I have been sending the information on my son Joshua Klaver’s death to your media for over a YEAR .. YOU BLOCKED ME FROM YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE and your media page. . .WHAT KIND OF IN SHERIFF LAURIE SMITH’S MEDIA POCKET ARE YOU IN ???. . .
Someone might also want to explore the connections (or disconnections) with Mr. Allen and the various Unions (ie SCCCCPOA). It may reveal his a darker reason to discredit Jensen.
Hey Douglas, we use to be friends when the Sheriff was using my talents for her personal gain. Hell, I even backed you at her request when you ran for a judgeship years ago…(I think you lost that race) You could have called me and I would have told you the truth in regards to my employment, I am not hard to find…and neither are you. I am not sure what kind of law you are currently practicing but if you ever need a good PI, call me bro, because I can find out peoples place of employment a little better than you have here…www.goldenstateinvestigations.com
Best regards,
“The Bounty Hunter”
These are probably better links… and everyone can see the filings for themselves here….
The sheriff has a math problem here – https://caseythomas.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/fundraising-in-an-election/
The sheriff has a criminal friends problem here – https://caseythomas.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/more-money-more-crime-more-ties-to-the-sheriff/
Real class act we have as sheriff in this county… and you call yourselves a member of the 4th Branch, being fed information by friends of the boss.
In memory of Kristy Gough and Matt Peterson, I will be voting for Kevin Jensen for Santa Clara County Sheriff.
What little I know about current Sheriff Laurie Smith I read on a large campaign mailing in ‘support’ of Kevin Jensen. I put the word within quote marks because everything printed on the flier SLAMS Ms. Smith, yet says NOTHING about what Jensen has done in his law enforcement career–if such exists–nor ANYTHING about what he will do if elected.
For that reason, I won’t vote for EITHER candidate.