I wanted Folsom residents to read first hand about the shady games are being played.
I’m shocked to see how far the political in-crowd will go to intimidate challengers running for City Council, a shame in such a small city. Following the 2014 elections, under the name of an associate, the Folsom Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee “BizPAC” filed two identical FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) violations against both Jennifer Lane & myself. With statements like “Mr. Gaylord’s a seasoned politician” & “Mr. Gaylord demonstrated complete disregard for the law.” It’s a clear example of how special interest groups like BizPAC, funded by outside influences are HIGH-JACKING Folsom’s political process! They are determined to keep the "old guard" in to push their agenda!
I firmly believe this proves just how successful our grass roots efforts are, considering we barely lost to Miklos by 1%! It seems BizPAC is gearing up for a slander campaign in 2016. So, in the interest of transparency, after contact with the FPPC, I’m taking this to social media to inform BizPAC, their cronies and of course, you - fellow Folsomites, that I WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED!!!
The “violations” filed by Folsom realtor Dan McNeil included several screen shots labeled “exhibits” from my campaign Facebook. I’ve never personally met Mr. McNeil; however, I did call him after receiving the complaint, to address his allegations. He immediately hung up on me. I’m told Mr. McNeil is associated with several council members & has ties to BizPAC board members & the politically active Chamber exec’s. Mr. McNeil was the person who officially filed the complaint & signed the sworn statement; however, I NOW have evidence that tells me a BizPAC board member (& Folsom Parks Commissioner) Marko Mlikotin, also dubbed “Marko the Mysterious” by Sacramento News And Review (https://www.newsreview.com/ch…/marko-the-mysterious/content…) actually took the screen shots & essentially orchestrated this complaint in an effort to tie our hands & scare us from running! I also have info from a credible source that Marko contacts a Sacramento political attorney regularly to get updates on the FPPC case! I wonder why?
I’m told that a Folsom Planning Commissioner & BizPAC associate, Tom Scott is also involved. Tom posted on my & Jennifer Lane’s campaign Facebook pages in 2014 claiming the same exact violations as in the FPPC complaint. They were full of false accusations with one small exception on my part: I unintentionally neglected to include my home address on my campaign mailer. I actually contacted the city clerk and FPPC office in 2014 & tried to file a violation on myself when I found out I made the error. Mr. McNeil (BizPAC) also accused me of not funding my campaign! I spent over $20,000 of my OWN personal savings to run for FOLSOM & you can bet I'll do it again too!
Running for Folsom City Council is no easy task. It includes learning a tremendous amount about political law, a huge expenditure of time & effort & of course - money. The politically-active Chamber leaders, its BizPAC & Folsom's political in-crowd have historically run the political show in Folsom & this is how they do it. They finance the incumbent leaders campaigns by using special interest money; they intimidate challengers & squeeze us financially to control the process, all in the false name of "protecting Folsom businesses." In fact, there are very few small businesses protected; see for yourself where BizPAC spends the monies! The numbers are public & easy to read.
In 2014, while supporting Miklos, Morin and Howell, BizPAC spent less than 4% of their expenditures at actual Folsom businesses! These expenditures paid for all of Miklos, Morin and Howell’s election consulting, sign/brochure/card printing and assembly, accounting, legal services, etc all from NON-FOLSOM companies!
Enough is enough! The "BizPAC connection" in Folsom politics needs to be severed and it all starts this November! Because of the work we’ve done, the Chamber’s BizPAC are trying to be more “transparent” & involved by hosting candidate debates, but DON’T BE FOOLED!! Until the special interest money ends & BizPAC cuts it’s strings off our leadership & election process, the status quo won’t change. I've been banned from the Chamber and BizPAC's FB pages so let them know this needs to STOP!