Pat Turturici in a recent flier has accused Darren Thompson and
his primary supporters of starting a
”
negative smear campaign
”
while referencing the posting of the large billboard on San Juan
Road for which no one has publicly taken credit.
Pat Turturici in a recent flier has accused Darren Thompson and his primary supporters of starting a “negative smear campaign” while referencing the posting of the large billboard on San Juan Road for which no one has publicly taken credit.
As the sheriff’s race continues on a tumultuous path before the Nov. 2 election, Turturici’s campaign this week sent a flier to local voters with a bold headline: “We should never play politics with the safety of our community.”
It goes on to reference the large anti-Turturici billboard entering the city, while nobody has put their names behind it and Thompson has contended he had nothing to do with it. And in alleging Thompson’s campaign was responsible for the billboard – the flier refers to multiple “billboards” – Turturici called the non-disclosure of the party’s identity “illegal.”
Whoever did post the sign would be required by law to file with the state if the cost exceeded $1,000.
Turturici’s campaign manager, Rick Rivas, returned a phone call to the undersheriff regarding the matter. Rivas expanded about the smear campaign allegation.
“He (Thompson) has gone to people’s doors and said negative things. He’s said negative things about the department in public meetings.”
Rivas went on to say Thompson has not requested that any billboards be taken down.
“Because they work in collaboration with them,” Rivas alleged of the Thompson campaign. “As far as we know, Thompson paid for those signs.”
Asked to elaborate about evidence pointing to Thompson’s involvement, and Rivas responded, “I really appreciate your time.”
He went on, when asked again: “I really appreciate your phone call. If you want to talk about fair reporting, I’ll talk to you.”
Rivas concluded: “Of course there’s evidence. We’re not going to work with a paper that’s unfair or biased.”
Thompson did not immediately return a phone call, and a campaign representative noted how the Watsonville police lieutenant was busy following up on that city’s first homicide of the year, which occurred Tuesday afternoon.
In the past, he has had this to say about the billboard on San Juan Road: “One or two people asked if it had anything to do with my campaign. I just wanted to be clear that my campaign has nothing to do with that sign. I would hope that the responsible party would want to come out and explain that to the public.”
Turturici’s campaign this week is contending otherwise.
Specifically, the flier reads: “Recently, my opponent and his supporters have begun a negative smear campaign against me and my family. They posted negative campaign billboards that cost thousands of dollars each. The people who funded these attacks have refused to disclose who they are – which is illegal and shows a blatant disregard for the law.”
Turturici’s latest advertisement reached voters as his campaign deals with several recent setbacks. In early October, the San Benito County Deputy Sheriff’s Association announced it was withdrawing its endorsement of Turturici and staying neutral in the race while citing “integrity” and “ethical” issues. Two other deputy unions previously supporting Turturici, in Santa Clara and Monterey counties, followed suit and pulled their support as well, with one shifting its endorsement to Thompson.
Sheriff Curtis Hill, meanwhile, recently hired an outside investigator to examine allegations from deputies that Turturici threatened their job status in relation to the race. The Hollister Police Department also is investigating a member of the Turturici campaign on allegations of removing a Thompson sign and replacing it with a Turturici sign.
