More Deceit in 'Fact Check' Claim Against Gardner

Andrew Hamilton, the Dictator of Deceit, has been at it again. The mayor of Lake Forest, again writing as "James Ross, has called out councilman Jim Gardner and decided to “fact check” him.

“James Ross” is trying to deceive residents into thinking that Gardner – who writes a blog on Patch using his real name – is spreading a falsehood when he states that Councilman Dwight Robinson lied when he said he worked with county supervisors to “eliminate” the Mello Roos tax paid by residents of Portola Hills.

“James Ross” cites an Orange County Register article that has a sub-head that states, “Supervisor’s Office Backs Robinson.” And it’s true, the Supervisors have a vested interest in Robinson’s reelection and Supervisor Lisa Bartlett’s office has said that Robinson was on a City Council, and that a City Council can affect the length of time a Mello Roos tax is extended, and that Robinson had reached out to the Supervisor’s office “to discuss Mello Roos.”

Bartlett’s office added: “Similarly, residents from the community who have worked with Supervisor Bartlett could credibly assert they worked to eliminate Mello-Roos districts as well.”

So, by this logic, when I called upon the White House to kill that SOB responsible for the 9/11 attacks, I can credibly assert that I had a hand in bringing Osama Bin-Laden to justice.

Which, of course, is inane. But Robinson’s assertion and Bartlett’s support has an inherent flaw: The Mello-Roos tax was paid off. It was not eliminated during the course of it being paid off – and that’s the only time a tax can be eliminated, while it’s being paid off. That residents got a check for what they overpaid since August 2013 is a testament: They did not get back more than they overpaid.

County auditor-controller Eric Woolery is on the record that he requested that supervisors no longer collect payments for the Mello Roos tax districts that had already been satisfied, and that it be "dissolved." Nothing was “eliminated.”

There’s a reason why words like “dissolved” are used instead of “eliminated” when discussing these things. Robinson overstepped his bounds, and he knows he overstepped his bounds because this is what his website now says. “Working with County Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Lisa Bartlett, I will partner with them to dissolve Mello-Roos fees in Foothill Ranch, just as was recently done in Portola Hills and Baker Ranch.”

Question not asked by the Orange County Register or “James Ross”: Why did Robinson change the wording if his ballot statement was correct?

Answer: Because Gardner was right, Robinson lied on his ballot statement when he said he eliminated the tax.

Robinson’s website says he will work with the supervisors to make sure the Mello-Roos fees get paid off. Not eliminated. And that’s what the Orange County Register article states: “Foothill Ranch’s debt is projected to be paid in full in August 2019. Once the debt is redeemed, supervisors could dissolve the Community Facilities District [the Mello Roos] or retask it to provide additional capital projects and services for the district, Woolery said.”

No mention of eliminating the Mello Roos prior to August 2019.

Neither Robinson, Hamilton, Voigts, Nick, Gardner, Bartlett nor any other supervisor can take credit for the elimination of the Mello Roos until they can tell us the savings to each homeowner under the required amount each homeowner was supposed to pay.

The Orange County Register, in reporting this story, should have asked that question: How much did the elimination of the Mello Roos save each homeowner?

The answer: Zero.

And Robinson has never told us what, specifically, he did to "eliminate" the tax. If tax districts could be eliminated, every politician would do it because it could guarantee votes from those affected.

An incomplete article in a newspaper is not a fact. Campaign rhetoric from those protecting their interests is not a fact.

If residents paid off a tax in full, a politician doesn’t get to take credit for eliminating the tax.

This is a game of politicians playing semantics. In this case, the politicians are Robinson and the supervisors who want to protect him – and the Dictator of Deceit who wants to exploit it.

About the author: Martin Henderson won several Los Angeles and Orange County press club awards while an editor at Patch in 2012-13.