Latest filings by anti-sheriff PAC leave questions unanswered about who funded the negative campaign.

Two of the three major donors to a smear campaign against Sheriff Scott Miller are friends of challenger Steve Bernal's former campaign manager. 

GOP political consultant Brandon Gesicki says he asked nine people to donate $99 to a political action committee that funded a series of last-minute hit pieces against Miller in the days leading up to the June primary. 

At least two of them gave, and they gave far more: Susanna and David Hargett of Dayton, Oregon, each contributed $999 to the political action committee (PAC). 

"David’s a very good friend of mine. I told him to give $99; he obviously gave a little more," Gesicki says.

David Hargett and Gesicki both attended Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio; both studied political science in the '90s.

The PAC, Californians for Law and Order—later renamed Californians for Law and Order Oppose Sheriff Miller 2014—raised a total of $9,706 this year and spent $9,501, according to forms filed with the San Benito County Registrar of Voters. 

We might never know where most other donations came from, because the bulk of the money raised to pay for print and radio hit pieces against Miller came in increments of less than $100, according to the latest round of campaign finance documents. Donations of less than $100 are not required to be reported. (Gesicki says he asked his friends to give $99.) 

"I asked my friend, and a few other friends, to give money to the PAC," Gesicki says. 

"My friends from Oregon who gave money, I sent them some articles and so forth, and they were more than happy to give, and appalled that Scott Miller was our sheriff.

"They could not believe someone who had multiple complaints of sexual harassment against him was our sheriff and that guys like you in the media weren’t going after him."

A California Public Records Act request confirmed that under Miller's tenure as sheriff, there have been two formal complaints of harassment, and 11 of discrimination. At least one of those discrimination complaints, though, was lodged by former Sheriff's Cmdr. Mike Richards, who Miller fired and who came in third in the primary. Several other of the complaints were also filed by former deputies whom Miller fired when he took office.

More than $4,100 was raised from un-itemized contributions of less than $100, meaning at least 41 people gave to the PAC, based on its filing forms.

Only five donors gave more than $100. They were the Monterey County Public Defenders Association and Assistant Public Defender Don Landis, as first reported by the Weekly. 

They provided the seed money for what they believed to be a committee that was formed to participate in the judicial election between Andrew Liu and Steve Somers, but there has been no evidence the PAC engaged in that race, and its late name change indicates its sole purpose was to influence the sheriff's race. (The contributions were only made known with a revised form, filed after the Weekly reported on earlier filing errors.)

Three more donors were reported for the period from May 18 to June 30. PAC treasurer Maria Cid, an elected member of the San Benito County Democratic Central Committee, gave $800.

The other two contributions were for $999 each, from the Hargetts.

Susanna is identified on the forms as a manager at Nike's headquarters, and David as a Realtor with Bella Casa Real Estate Group in Oregon.

Gesicki maintains he had no involvement in the formation of the PAC, and learned about it from the press. 

Despite the negative campaign, Miller led the four-way primary race. However, he didn't get enough votes to win outright; he'll face off with Sheriff's Deputy Steve Bernal in November. 

The campaigns for Bernal and the other two primary contenders, Fred Garcia and Richards, have denied involvement in the PAC's activities. Gesicki is no longer working for the Bernal campaign, and claims Bernal had no knowledge of the PAC's operations.  

However, Richards' campaign manager Chris Marohn, formerly a member of the Monterey County Democratic Central Committee, started the PAC. He claims it was for the purpose of working on the judicial race, and was later co-opted by Republican operatives. 

Amber Johnson, former executive director of the Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County, was paid $300 by the PAC for website services. Omar Perez, also a former member of the Monterey County Democratic Central Committee, was paid $2,000 for "consulting services," the PAC's filings show. And Daniel McCormick, also a Democratic operative, gave Marohn a campaign phone that he used to register the PAC.

Amber Johnson’s Pacific Coast Strategies in San Luis Obispo took in $4,270 for advertising, website and web ad production, while Google advertising took in $439.

In addition, the PAC paid Buckley Radio (owner of KWAV 96.9) $500 between May 18 and June 30 for radio advertising, according to a form 465, which also shows Victory Web & Graphics Inc. in Chatsworth was paid $2,495 for the glossy mailer sent out just weeks before the primary.
Comcast Cable also received $2,397 for advertising.

The mailer, essentially a hit piece, described the travails of Miller’s adult son, Jacob, who served jail time for a series of drug-related offenses and probation violations.