Did Councilman Adam Nick claim to be a CPA?

Background

As mentioned previously, I enjoy researching things before making a decision. I must admit I don't follow politics much and am approaching this November election with an open mind as it relates to the Lake Forest City Council election.

I was reading some of the comments on one of James Gardner's recent posts and I came across one posted by Councilman Adam Nick (I removed two names for the top of his comment as I have no idea if he was sending a message or referencing someone - I digress). Here is the dialogue:

Patch Comments

Justin: "Wait, didn't you claim you were a CPA, but then we found out that wasn't true. Is this like CPA envy?"

Adam: "First of all, you both know such a 'claim' was never made by me. I don't need to brag. In fact, find one written piece produce by me (not photoshopped) that asserts what you've been spreading and I resign today."

My Initial Research

This dialogue was intriging to me, whether someone is falsely accusing Adam Nick or whether Adam Nick actually alleged he was a CPA (Certified Public Accountant).

I then Googled "adam nick lake forest cpa" and found a link (1st page - ninth link down) :

https://www.facebook.com/ABetterCouncilForLakeForest/photos/a.1964085820...

I didn't need a Facebook account to view the post which says "Councilman Adam Nick lied and said he was a "CPA" ("Certified Public Accountant") to help him get elected in the November 2012 election."

It also contains an official looking document that says "The California Board of Accountancy (CBA) has received information that you are holding yourself out as an Accountant/CPA on the Internet website, http://nickdforcouncil2012.com/"

It continues: "The CBA does not have a record of a CPA license issued to you to practice public accountancy or advertise yourself as a CPA in the state of California."

I noticed a prominent stamp on the top left of this page that says

RECEIVED
CITY OF LAKE FOREST
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE
'15 JUL 20 P3:04

This stamp makes sense as it appears that the letter is addressed to the City of Lake Forest.

On the second page of the document is a link to www.smartvoter.org which says under "Biographical Highlights" (second bullet) that Adam Nick is an "Accountant/CPA".

I then found the actual website through another Google search "Adam Nick Smart Voter 2012" - http://www.smartvoter.org/2012/11/06/ca/or/vote/nick_a/ and this page is different - it just says "Accountant."

What if Adam Nick was right?

I decided to take Adam Nick's side and said to myself, maybe it was photoshopped. Howewver, I needed to dive deeper and see if Adam was right.

Archive.org is a website that contains history of the Internet, so I went there and entered the Smart Voter website ("http://www.smartvoter.org/2012/11/06/ca/or/vote/nick_a/") to see if they had any history. And they did - http://web.archive.org/web/20141107084715/http://www.smartvoter.org/2012...

It has the same "Accountant/CPA" listed in "Biographical Highlights" that the CBA letter states.

The question then, is why did the website change? It doesn't make sense why it would change between the 2012 election and now, unless Adam Nick changed it.

What if someone else did it?

At the top of the Smart Voter website, it states "The information on this page is provided by the candidate." The bottom of the page says "Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 8, 2012 19:23"

Once again, here are the before and current websites:

Before website: http://web.archive.org/web/20141107084715/http://www.smartvoter.org/2012...

Current website: http://www.smartvoter.org/2012/11/06/ca/or/vote/nick_a/

Conclusion

Based on what I found in my research, the only conclusion is that Adam Nick originally claimed he was a CPA in the 2012 election, received a letter from the California Board of Accountancy stating he should stop claiming to be a CPA in 2015, and then changed his website to remove CPA from his Biographical Information.