COD trustee files complaint with DA alleging use of school resources to influence election
An attorney for College of the Desert Trustee Joel Kinnamon has filed a complaint asking the Riverside County District Attorney to prosecute the college’s former president and the trustee who Kinnamon unseated in last year’s election over what the attorney says were illegal efforts to support the trustee’s campaign and harm Kinnamon’s.
The complaint, filed on July. 6 by Coachella Valley attorney Megan Beaman Jacinto, alleges that Martha Garcia and Aurora Wilson involved COD’s attorney, Carlos Campos, in activities that were harmful to Kinnamon's campaign. It states that Kinnamon uncovered emails following the election that it argues show those efforts.
Garcia is the college’s former president who resigned at the end of June to take the same role at Mt. San Antonio College in Los Angeles County. Wilson represented Trustee Area 4 on the COD board from 2013 until losing the election to Kinnamon last year. Kinnamon, who had served as COD's president prior to Garcia, won about 54% of the vote while Wilson captured 46%.
Wilson, Garcia and Campos did not immediately respond to requests from The Desert Sun for comment about the complaint.
Complaint involves efforts to get lookalike site removed
Among the alleged instances of illegal use of college resources detailed in the complaint include emails in which Wilson and Garcia discussed a website Kinnamon and his husband set up that mimicked several elements of COD’s official website but contained links to videos and information criticizing Garcia, Wilson and the two other board members who had voted to appoint her to as the college's president.
In December, an arbitrator ordered Kinnamon’s husband to transfer control of the website to the school’s leaders, saying that the website infringed on the school’s copyright. The website is no longer online.
The complaint states that in one such email, Garcia told Wilson that the college’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to Kinnamon and his husband and that “additional steps may follow.” Wilson then responded thanking Garcia and “referencing her own campaign event,” the complaint alleges.
Beaman Jacinto also references an email sent by Garcia to all five of COD’s then-trustees containing a legal memo prepared by the college’s lawyer describing the efforts he had taken over the website. Wilson responded by asking if she could publicly share the memo, but the complaint states it is unclear if Garcia or Campos responded.
The complaint also points to an email sent by Wilson to Garcia and Campos on Nov. 10, two days after the election, asking if the cease-and-desist would “create a conflict for Kinnamon in the event he won the election.” It states that it is not clear if Wilson or Campos responded to Wilson's inquiry.
Beaman Jacinto also writes that Kinnamon acquired billing records that “reflect some but not all of the time Campos and his legal partners spent addressing Wilson’s, Garcia’s and other Trustee’s concerns about Dr. Kinnamon’s campaign activities.”
Complaint says Wilson asked Garcia to review campaign video
The complaint also discusses an email sent by Wilson to Campos and Garcia asking if COD could challenge the language Kinnamon submitted to describe his occupation on the ballot. Campos ultimately responded that he would instruct his firm’s election expert to look into the matter. The complaint states that billing records show that 1.4 hours of legal time was billed to COD related to the request.
It also points to an email sent by Wilson in August in which she asked Garcia to review one of her campaign videos and Garcia responded that she had and would call her later.
“It is our position that Wilson, Garcia, and any other involved COD Trustees used public resources (COD) email, administrative staff, and legal counsel) for campaign activities and unauthorized personal purposes, in violation of applicable law,” wrote Beaman Jacinto. The attorney continued that the violations do not appear to be anomalies or inadvertent.
The complaint accuses Garcia, Wilson and Campos of breaking multiple laws that prohibit elected officials from using either their position or public funds to help political campaigns.
The complaint was initially sent to the California Attorney General in February. The Attorney General's office responded in March to say that it should instead be sent to Riverside County District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit.
John Hall, a spokesperson for the DA's office, confirmed that the office had received a complaint, but said he could neither confirm nor deny if the agency was investigating the matter.
Paul Albani-Burgio covers breaking news and the city of Palm Springs. Follow him on Twitter at @albaniburgiop and via email at paul.albani-burgio@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: COD Trustee Kinnamon asks DA to investigate former president, trustee
