Many of you have by now received a mailer that attacks me and my integrity. I obviously have the out-of-town developers and other interests extremely upset for them and my opponent to stoop to such tactics.  Having these kind of irrelevant, distorted half-truths, lies and misleading information being sent out is the lowest kind of electioneering, has no place in our town, and should call into question what the people behind it have to gain.  They are skirting our local campaign laws and funneling huge sums of money to help my opponent in a blatant attempt to obfuscate and distort facts so their own financial interests are served.

I have spent the last few years working with troubled companies to fix problems and make things right.  Those companies usually have lawsuits and debts incurred prior to my arrival. Check the dates and you will see many of the allegations are from prior to my stepping into a company.   Sometimes, that means I must stand up to those in power and incur their wrath when they stand in the way of doing the right thing.  Lawsuits are a favorite tactic for bullies, but are a tactic that does not deter me from doing what is right.

In fact, the developer of Whispering Hills had his attorney call me after 10:00 pm one night at my home to threaten me with lawsuits if I supported the referendum against his project.   Obviously, I will not simply give up because someone threatens a lawsuit or files an unfounded suit intended to shake me up.

I stand by my record and would be happy to defend my history IN PERSON against the people who hide behind these anonymous mailers.  Let's be clear.   This is all about outside developers and those with special interests using any tactic, no matter how low, to protect their own financial interests.   The questions that should be asked are:

1) Who is funding this drivel and why?

2) Why are they willing to spend tens of thousands, if not over a hundred thousand dollars to distort facts so my opponent can get on the Council? and,

3) Why are these out-of-town and special interests so afraid of someone getting on the Council who has no hidden agenda like they do?

If you can find those answers, let me and the rest of our town know.

The bottom line question is "Are we, the residents of San Juan Capistrano, going to let our town be sold out to the highest bidder and will these unethical tactics be allowed to win?"   I call on my opponent and his supporters to belatedly do the honorable thing and put a stop to this smear campaign. A formal complaint has also been filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission.   Condoning additional "hit pieces" like this reflect poorly on our community and the character of our political process.

Mark Nielsen