The following is a press release from an organization unaffiliated with Voice of OC. The views expressed here are not those of Voice of OC.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2016
Contact: Mark Wayland
mwaylandousd@gmail.com
JUDGE ORDERS OUSD CANDIDATE GREG SALAS TO REMOVE FALSE AND MISLEADING CLAIMS FROM HIS OFFICIAL CANDIDATE STATEMENT
ORANGE — A Superior Court Judge has ordered the Orange County Registrar of Voters to make changes and deletions to an Orange Unified School District (OUSD) Board of Trustee candidate’s official candidate statement.
After a lawsuit was filed by OUSD Area Four Trustee Mark Wayland,
OUSD District One Candidate Greg Salas agreed to remove false and misleading language from his candidate statement to be published in the official Voter Pamphlet set to be mailed to voters eligible for the March 1, 2016 All Mail Special Election here.
Judge Richard Luesebrink ordered the Registrar to correct the record and make the following changes to Mr. Salas’ statement:
- Delete: “I’m a former OUSD Governing Board Member.”
- Change the sentence, “If you return me to the OUSD Board” to “If you elect me to the OUSD Board;”
- Delete: “OUSD Boardmember Mark Wayland.” Salas had falsely listed Wayland as an endorser.
“I believe that Mr. Salas’ original statement was misleading – and not just because he wrongly listed me as an endorser,” Wayland explained. “But, perhaps more importantly, because Mr. Salas falsely implied that he was an experienced incumbent elected to the Orange Unified School District by the people.”
Wayland added that voters needed to know that Mr. Salas was provisionally appointed, never elected, to fill the OUSD District One seat vacated by former Trustee Diane Singer late last year.
“In fact, Mr. Salas served just 38 days and attended only two meetings before voters terminated his provisional appointment,” he explained.
Wayland said he believed that it was his duty as an elected OUSD Trustee to ensure that the March 1, 2016 election would be free of party politicking and political gamesmanship.
“Nothing is more sacred than the people’s right to vote,” he said. “The Orange County Registrar has a sworn duty to provide complete and accurate information in an official voter pamphlet. My constituents have a right to know the facts in this election so that they can cast an informed vote — especially since they gathered over 3,600 registered signatures to terminate Mr. Salas’ provisional appointment and force the March 1 special election.”
In addition to the Voter Pamphlet, every OUSD registered voter will receive an official Mail In Ballot. There are no polling place locations for an All Mail Election. Mail In Ballots must be postmarked by midnight March 1, 2016 to be counted. For additional information contact the Registrar of Voters at 714-567-7600.
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