“There
are exceptions to (the law),” he said. “But this doesn't appear to
be one of them.”
The
violation would be a civil infraction, not a criminal act, he said.
The
recorded message circulated widely in the Ojai Valley accuses Bennett,
a controlled-growth Democrat, of harassing unidentified county employees
and prompting costly lawsuits against the county.
The
message asked Ojai residents to call the county's top law enforcement
official, the district attorney, to let him know about the alleged
practice. Totten said that was especially irritating since the anonymous
called had linked the message to his office.
Totten
said that he'd assigned the head of his Consumer Protection Division,
Greg Brose, to conduct the investigation.
Meanwhile,
Bennett called the message a cowardly hit piece. He denied that he'd
prompted lawsuits against the county or had ever harassed a county
employee.
“None
of it is true,” he said. “It's a cowardly, baseless attack. I'm more
than happy to stand up and square up and have a public debate on any
issue, but this kind of cowardly anonymous stuff detracts from the
public discourse.”
Bennett,
a former Nordhoff High School government teacher and co-author of
the county's agricultural land protection SOAR measures, would not
speculate on who sponsored the phone messages.
But
Bennett, a two-term supervisor some Republicans consider a potential
candidate for higher office, said he might be a target of an opponent
for his supervisor's seat in 2008.
He
said the chairman of the Ventura County Republican Party, Mike Osborn,
called him to say that neither he nor his party were behind the phone
messages.
Bennett
has also battled repeatedly with veteran Supervisor John Flynn about
a variety of issues. But Flynn told the Ojai Valley News Friday that
he had nothing to do with the recording either.
The
anonymous message stated: “Politicians like Ventura County Supervisor
Steve Bennett are making decisions that impact all of us. And you
have a right to know what they're up to. Preventable lawsuits have
cost taxpayers like us millions of dollars with no end in sight. Supervisor
Bennett is now being accused of berating, bullying, harassing county
employees, an obvious abuse of power. It's time for Ventura County
to let its politicians know we're watching and listening to what they
do. Call the dstrict attorney's office at 654-2500 and let him know
you want this to stop now.”
A
spokeswoman for the largest county employee union said her group had
never had an harassment problem with Bennett. But the executive director
of an agency connected with the county, the Ventura County Transportation
Commission, informed board members in December that Bennett, a member
of the transportation board, had treated some of her staff harshly.
“He has done some things
to some employees that were not particularly nice,” said commission
executive director Ginger Gherardi on Friday. “He did call several
employees liars at a board meeting, and that's not an acceptable thing
to do.”
For
the complete report, see Wednesday's OVN.
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