CA: Shelley's office is again linked to partisan work

Sac Bee ^ | 10/07/04 | Gary Delsohn

[NormsRevenge]

Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's top aide told election workers part of their job was to find people to raise money for the Democrat's future campaigns, according to two people who were in the meeting.

Undersecretary Mark Kyle's directions to senior staff members last year, at a meeting Shelley attended, were so overtly political and partisan that Dawn Mehlhaff, who supervised all outreach activities in the office, said she immediately demanded to be switched to another job.

"Kyle told them, 'Your job is to identify people at events and in your regions who can do campaign events and raise money for Kevin,' " Mehlhaff recalled.

"I said, 'That's it. I'm not doing outreach anymore. I can't operate in this environment.' It was completely inappropriate. That's not what outreach is about."

Mehlhaff's account was confirmed by a former deputy secretary who was also at the meeting but has since left the office. He asked not to be named.

Kyle, in a statement released by Shelley's press office, denied the incident ever took place.

"I never directed or asked any secretary of state staff to conduct campaign work using state resources or on state time," his statement said. "Nor did I ever ask regional staff or any other staff to find fund-raising opportunities for the secretary."

Meanwhile, the embattled secretary of state's office confirmed Wednesday that Shelley billed taxpayers $1,284 last year for a flight to Hawaii - perhaps in violation of state law - so he could speak at a conference put on by one of the state's most powerful public employee labor unions and attend a wedding. Shelley filed the required paperwork seeking approval for the nine-day trip only on Wednesday - more than 10 months after returning on Dec. 1.

[NormsRevenge]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/9857014.htm

Shelley hires investigator to question former aides

ELECTION OFFICIAL FACING PROBES OF FUND OVERSIGHT

By Dion Nissenbaum

Mercury News Sacramento Bureau


SACRAMENTO - Embattled Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has hired a private investigator to question former aides, using what one Republican strategist described as a Nixonian strategy to restore his credibility and save his job.

A Shelley press officer confirmed Wednesday that attorneys for the state's top election official had enlisted an outside investigator to help him deal with investigations ranging from his oversight of federal election funds to possible money laundering by a loyal political fundraiser.

In recent days, according to sources, the investigator has called former Shelley aides, some of whom have been reluctant to talk because of the secretary of state's well-known volatile personality.

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[NormsRevenge]

http://www.bakersfield.com/state_wire/story/4981733p-5044930c.html

Secretary of state hires investigator as more questions arise

The Associated Press


SACRAMENTO (AP) - Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has hired a private detective to question former aides about a suspected shift of funds from a community center grant into his campaign fund, a shift that also has prompted probes from federal and state investigators.

Meanwhile, records tardily released by Shelley's office show he billed taxpayers $1,284 last year for airfare to Hawaii to speak at a California Correctional Peace Officers Association legislative conference and to attend a wedding.
Shelley sought the required approval for the trip Wednesday, more than 10 months after returning from the trip, The Sacramento Bee reported. Shelley spokeswoman Carol Dahmen blamed "an honest mistake" for not releasing the travel documents last week along with other materials requested by reporters under the state's Public Records Act.

None of the approximately 20 legislators who attended the event on Maui billed the state for their costs, records show. But Dahmen said Shelley's trip "was legitimate state business because he was giving a presentation on the historic (governor's) recall to legislators and other groups of folks."

Shelley's campaign fund paid the $2,200 cost of his hotel and rental car.

Dahmen said the failure to seek approval from the state Department of Finance for the out-of-state travel for 10 months was an "administrative oversight." A July memo from the Finance Department said failing to get prior approval for such trips may be a misdemeanor.

Also Thursday, the Bee reported that Shelley's top aide told election workers last year they were to help recruit others to raise campaign contributions, an allegation the aide denies.

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[talleyman]

Why use a gun to steal when you can use a Democrat?

[Give Piece A Chance]

Gee, I wonder if the Democrat-controlled CA legislature will investigate Kevin Shelley as aggressively as they did Chuck Quackenbush. Herr Quackenbush, the former state insurance commissioner, was one of only two Republican office holders out of nine state offices and had also been accused of misusing his position for political purposes.

I am certain the Shelley brouhaha will be handled in the finest traditions of non-partisanship and objectivity that characterize California state politics.