California State PTA Slams Mailer Used by Local Candidates, Fake PTA Site Shuts Down

By Mike Devlin

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Claiming the slate mailer is "causing confusion among the public and suggesting that PTA endorses certain candidates," the California State PTA has condemned the slate mailer and website published by Liberty Campaign Solutions, which we first reported this weekend. But we weren't alone. Later on Sunday, the Daily Breeze ran an article that covered the outcry in Torrance over the same fake "PTA" mailer being used in a race there.

At posting time, the site advertised on the mailer, ptavoterguide.com, redirects to Liberty's home page. Their Twitter account @PTAVoterGuide now calls itself "EDU Voter Guide" and has removed the imitation "PTA" logo. The guide's Facebook page, which according to Google had 4220 likes, appears to be deleted.

Five candidates for local races appeared as paid placements on this slate: Saugus incumbents Doug Bryce, Paul De La Cerda, and Judy Umeck, and Newhall incumbents Phil Ellis and Brian Walters. Newhall incumbent Christy Smith was not part of this mailer, which instructs voters to "vote for two" in a three-seat race. Classy.

Here is the statement, from California State PTA President Colleen A.R. You:

This campaign company is not affiliated with the real PTA in any way, shape or form. Yet, the company's materials are so similar to the trademarked PTA name and logo that it is causing confusion among the public and suggesting that PTA endorses certain candidates.
I want to assure everyone that PTA has not authorized these materials. The PTA never comments on, endorses or supports individual candidates for office. PTA is a non-partisan association with a long track record of speaking up for all children, and connecting families and schools. It appears that Liberty Campaign Solutions is trading on the credibility and reputation of the PTA to mislead voters.
The National PTA has advised Liberty Campaign Solutions that their use of the PTA acronym and logo is confusingly similar to our trademark and has already caused public confusion; National PTA requires that Liberty discontinue using this name and logo.
We further call on Liberty Campaign Solutions to take down the confusing materials on its website and to provide information to everyone who received their mailer explaining that they have no affiliation with PTA, and to discontinue the use of the PTA name.

As Jeff mentioned in today's brief, Saugus incumbents Judy Umeck and Paul De La Cerda took to Facebook yesterday to offer their apologies. But incumbent Doug Bryce was unrepentant and combative, claiming the post was a "hit piece" arranged by his opponent, and he continued his refusal to answer questions from voters about his involvement in the now-disgraced mailer.

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In a televised SCVTV debate yesterday, challenger Chris Trunkey rattled Bryce with a question about the article (25:15 mark) where Bryce reiterated his belief that the faux-PTA was "benign" and it "didn't look like a PTA website" and offered no apology.

Comments (2)

SeriouslyFriday, October 25th, 2013 at 8:40 pm

Seriously, where is the integrity of the Signal- let's sweep it under the rug that people look at a brochure and believe it is an esteemed organization that is putting it out. Most voters don't look at the fine print and people know exactly what they are doing. Shame on you Signal for not reporting the truth. An outcry over a campaign mailing with a logo that resembled the Parent Teacher Association’s logo has a nonpartisan political group rethinking its identity. The group, Liberty Campaign Solutions LLC, put out a slate mailer called the “Parent Teacher Action Voter Guide” that was recently sent to homes in the Santa Clarita Valley. That mailer was later criticized by some for its design because the front features a prominent logo with the letters “PTA.” Critics say the mailer misleads viewers to believe it was from the Parent Teacher Association. Mailer A man who answered the contact phone number listed for Liberty, but who declined to give his name, said Thursday its Web page detailing the mailer had been taken down to avoid that kind of confusion. “I think one of the problems that people had with the Parent Teacher Action Voter Guide was that the logo looked similar to the PTA’s logo,” he said. “And just to let you know, the site is down and most likely the name will be changed because the purpose is not to go up against the PTA.” The man also noted the mailer states that it is not a product of the National Parent Teacher Association. The mailer claims to have been sent out by “a non-partisan, public advocacy organization made up of parents, educators, policy makers and students,” but according to both the representative from Liberty and the mailer, that organization has zero members. Sue Solomon, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Council PTA and a member of the Newhall School District board, said she reported the mailer to the state PTA after becoming aware of it. “My thought was that the company needed to be held accountable and that’s why I reported it to the PTA,” she said Thursday. “That’s their logo they pretty much copied for this.” Solomon said she had not heard concerns from leadership in local PTA groups regarding the mailer. Local candidates The mailer featured pictures and statements from some of the local school board candidates running for re-election in November: Doug Bryce, Paul De La Cerda and Judy Umeck in the Saugus Union School District and Phil Ellis and Brian Walters in the Newhall district. To be added to the mailer, the representative from Liberty said, candidates typically had to pay a fee and pledge to “support quality education and safe schools.” Bryce said it cost around $800 to have his name on the mailer and that he decided to do so because it presented a low-cost way to reach out to voters. “We got a small piece of information out to the voters and that’s what we were looking to do,” he said Thursday. But after seeing the mailer, Bryce said he was bothered that people might take it the wrong way. “It wasn’t meant to look like a PTA mailer and none of us intended to try and fool people in any way,” Bryce said. “And if people did get upset, I am definitely sorry about that.” “With the relationships I have with numerous parent leaders, my record on the board and the community endorsements I received, deceiving anyone never, ever crossed my mind,” Umeck said, adding that she had passed the mailer on to Solomon after seeing it. De La Cerda echoed those sentiments and said he signed on for the mailer to try to increase voter awareness. “Everyone, including me, was focusing on ‘How can I help get out the vote, how can I encourage people to learn more about me as a candidate, and how can I reach voters?’” he said. “That’s my job as a candidate, and I take it very seriously.” Ellis said Thursday he did not think anyone would mistakenly believe the mailer came from the actual PTA. “I am a little taken aback that people would think the people campaigning would try and delude them deliberately,” he said. Lmoney@signalscv.com 661-2287-5525 On Twitter @LukeMMoney Comments EgbertSouse4U: Posted: October 25, 2013 10:28 a.m. Pure deception, they can try to spin it all they want. They knew EXACTLY what they were doing. Liars. Unreal: Posted: October 25, 2013 10:39 a.m. I agree that they had to know it would mislead.

seriouslySaturday, October 26th, 2013 at 8:17 pm

The candidates that have all of a sudden claimed ignorance on this mailer knew exactly what they were doing. I am sure they had to approve it before it went out.

SeriouslyFriday, October 25th, 2013 at 8:40 pm
Seriously, where is the integrity of the Signal- let's sweep it under the rug that people look at a brochure and believe it is an esteemed organization that is putting it out. Most voters don't look at the fine print and people know exactly what they are doing. Shame on you Signal for not reporting the truth. An outcry over a campaign mailing with a logo that resembled the Parent Teacher Association’s logo has a nonpartisan political group rethinking its identity. The group, Liberty Campaign Solutions LLC, put out a slate mailer called the “Parent Teacher Action Voter Guide” that was recently sent to homes in the Santa Clarita Valley. That mailer was later criticized by some for its design because the front features a prominent logo with the letters “PTA.” Critics say the mailer misleads viewers to believe it was from the Parent Teacher Association. Mailer A man who answered the contact phone number listed for Liberty, but who declined to give his name, said Thursday its Web page detailing the mailer had been taken down to avoid that kind of confusion. “I think one of the problems that people had with the Parent Teacher Action Voter Guide was that the logo looked similar to the PTA’s logo,” he said. “And just to let you know, the site is down and most likely the name will be changed because the purpose is not to go up against the PTA.” The man also noted the mailer states that it is not a product of the National Parent Teacher Association. The mailer claims to have been sent out by “a non-partisan, public advocacy organization made up of parents, educators, policy makers and students,” but according to both the representative from Liberty and the mailer, that organization has zero members. Sue Solomon, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Council PTA and a member of the Newhall School District board, said she reported the mailer to the state PTA after becoming aware of it. “My thought was that the company needed to be held accountable and that’s why I reported it to the PTA,” she said Thursday. “That’s their logo they pretty much copied for this.” Solomon said she had not heard concerns from leadership in local PTA groups regarding the mailer. Local candidates The mailer featured pictures and statements from some of the local school board candidates running for re-election in November: Doug Bryce, Paul De La Cerda and Judy Umeck in the Saugus Union School District and Phil Ellis and Brian Walters in the Newhall district. To be added to the mailer, the representative from Liberty said, candidates typically had to pay a fee and pledge to “support quality education and safe schools.” Bryce said it cost around $800 to have his name on the mailer and that he decided to do so because it presented a low-cost way to reach out to voters. “We got a small piece of information out to the voters and that’s what we were looking to do,” he said Thursday. But after seeing the mailer, Bryce said he was bothered that people might take it the wrong way. “It wasn’t meant to look like a PTA mailer and none of us intended to try and fool people in any way,” Bryce said. “And if people did get upset, I am definitely sorry about that.” “With the relationships I have with numerous parent leaders, my record on the board and the community endorsements I received, deceiving anyone never, ever crossed my mind,” Umeck said, adding that she had passed the mailer on to Solomon after seeing it. De La Cerda echoed those sentiments and said he signed on for the mailer to try to increase voter awareness. “Everyone, including me, was focusing on ‘How can I help get out the vote, how can I encourage people to learn more about me as a candidate, and how can I reach voters?’” he said. “That’s my job as a candidate, and I take it very seriously.” Ellis said Thursday he did not think anyone would mistakenly believe the mailer came from the actual PTA. “I am a little taken aback that people would think the people campaigning would try and delude them deliberately,” he said. Lmoney@signalscv.com 661-2287-5525 On Twitter @LukeMMoney Comments EgbertSouse4U: Posted: October 25, 2013 10:28 a.m. Pure deception, they can try to spin it all they want. They knew EXACTLY what they were doing. Liars. Unreal: Posted: October 25, 2013 10:39 a.m. I agree that they had to know it would mislead.
seriouslySaturday, October 26th, 2013 at 8:17 pm
The candidates that have all of a sudden claimed ignorance on this mailer knew exactly what they were doing. I am sure they had to approve it before it went out.