The First Amendment to the Constitution gives its broadest protection to political speech, and while the lack of guardrails is deeply American, it also gives politicians license to fabricate.
This is why, every so often, weekend op-ed warriors like me find at least a few overly ambitious candidates who deserve to be called out.
A local newspaper recently quoted high school teacher Ricardo Valencia, who is vying to become Santa Barbara County’s Fifth District supervisor against Santa Maria City Councilwoman Maribel Aguilera.
In the article, Valencia claims that “My opponent is taking money from Big Oil.”
He further embellishes, “pointing to the ocean, ‘Look at this beautiful coastline right here. Do we want to keep it nice and blue, or do we want to dirty the water? I ain’t about that life.’”
Dramatic, right?
I know and support Aguilera and was, frankly, surprised by the allegation. So I reviewed her campaign finance filings to learn the truth.
And here it is: I could not find a single dollar that was contributed to her by “Big Oil.” Not one.
Actually, it was the opposite. On Feb. 20, as an individual, Sable Offshore executive Lee Danielson contributed $1,047, but Aguilera returned his contribution.
In Valencia’s attempt to mimic the swill of national politics it seems the truth was far less important to him than a cheap campaign slur.
The reality is that had he bothered to look, this was an obvious part of Aguilera’s April 23 filing.
Indeed, the very same fact was reported by Noozhawk months before on May 6 so either Valencia doesn’t read, doesn’t research or simply doesn’t care about the truth.
The fiscally challenged county has 4,700 employees with an annual budget of $1.7 billion. We don’t need false hyperbole, we need experienced thought leaders who can add intellectual heft to the myriad of complicated issues the county faces.
In other words, we need talent. This is the main reason why I have advocated for C suite-level supervisor pay!
Aguilera’s remarkable life journey is Hollywood-worthy. She is a respected and accomplished attorney, an articulate role model and someone with years of experience serving on the Santa Maria Planning Commission and City Council.
Teaching high school students is laudable but so, too, is telling the truth — especially when you know the truth.
To me Aguilera is character, while Valencia is ambition.
I love the rough and tumble political season but, Mr. Valencia, can you please keep it “no cap” because truth speaks to character that — at least for some — means more than winning.
