In 2018, Phil Baccera launched a campaign for Santa Ana City Council and his political foes sought to smear him with charges he physically abused a former girlfriend. We wrote about it in this post. Ultimately, it was former council member Roman Renya’s downfall for failing to get an address in the district he was running in. The DPOC investigated the matter and the investigation was inconclusive to the charges levied. But the party pulled their endorsement of Baccera’s candidacy. Baccera is a Democrat, but he doesn’t need the local party for his campaigns for office because of that 2018 decision.
Baccera filed an action with the FPPC over the direct tricks campaign, which dug much deeper into that election than the DPOC did. Patience is often a virture, and in this case, it resulted in a massive fine for those targeting Baccera.
Baccera posted this comment on his social media feed:
“When I first ran for City Council in 2018, I was maliciously attacked with false claims funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars in dark money because I stood with the residents of Santa Ana and I would NOT support development projects proposed by out-of-town developers that would destroy the quality of life in our neighborhoods. After 7 years of investigations, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) found that Ryan Ogulnick and his co-conspirators broke the law, including money laundering and filing false reports and disclosures, and were fined $87,000 for these violations. Simply put, Ryan, his wife Rachel, and his consultant Pam Sapetto conspired to hide the true sources of campaign contributions used to attack me with outright lies.
I join the members of the FPPC who asked for our District Attorney to criminally investigate Ryan Ogulnick, Rachel Ogulnick, Pam Sapetto, and any other morally corrupt individuals who enabled these disgusting actions. I want to thank the FPPC and the countless people who stood with me throughout this long journey.
As I promised in 2018 and have continued to do since being elected to the Santa Ana City Council, I will always stand with the residents of our city and fight against those who seek to harm the Golden City.”
The case is a reminder that compliants to the FPPC sometimes drag on, but that’s because they take the time to fully investigate. We congratulate Baccera for his victory.
Great that Olgunick’s dark money got exposed—but if Bacerra *really* didn’t physically abuse his girlfriend or abuse alcohol as the campaign ads stated, why didn’t Bacerra sue Ogulnick for defamation? The answer is because the ads were true & voters obviously cared .
It’s difficult for a public official to sue for defamation
If the claims by the ads were true, why did the Ogulnick’s and their allies offer up the ex to recant in exchange for Phil making the complaint and the lawsuit against Roman that led to his conviction go away? Good for him for standing his ground, I am sure that was a tempting deal to clear his name in the short term, but making sure justice was served mattered more than just clearing his name. We need more integrity like that.
Exactly
So you’re saying his girlfriend flat-out lied—over and over—when she publicly accused him of physically abusing her & provided text message as evidence? And that she and many others completely made up the claims about his drinking problem & disorderly conduct? The gaslighting won’t end.
I am; those opposing him offered to have her recant. Ask about that