by David King
In 2017, Vice Mayor of Concord, Edi Birsan, held a workshop at Diablo Valley College called the “Dirty Secrets of Politics.” It was mostly about how politicians will follow where the votes are. “Silence never swayed a politician, and money equals votes,” he lectured.
Are these tactics considered dirty… or a secret? No, but here are a few real examples of dirt in our local politics this election.
Fake Websites
In the race for the Concord council seat in District 4, two website domains using candidate Myles Burks name in the domain name (ex. myles4concord.com) is not from Myles Burks campaign team.
For weeks, when visited, you would be greeted with the home page that said, “This is How Edi Wins,” implying to vote for Benavente to oust Edi Birsan. Now it has since replaced its content with the depiction of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin with the text “Am I taking Crazy Pills?”
Poking the Bear
In this brazen act, Pablo Benavente’s supporters left a flyer on opponent Mayor Birsan’s door with a handwritten message addressed to Birsan’s wife Carol, “Carol, Your vote is private, (heart) Pablo.”
Restraining Orders
In the Concord City Council meeting on October 22, Ady Olvera, District Director for the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County, who endorses Pablo Benavente, announced during the comment portion of the meeting that Birsan had made violent statements to third parties which she learned about a year later regarding his frustration with Olvera’s policies and that he would like to “wring her neck.” She goes on to state that this prompted her to file a report with the Concord Police on September 27, and request a restraining order against Birsan.
Her case was heard in court on Monday, October 21, the day before the Council meeting. According to Birsan, Olvera submitted two articles published in the Diablo Gazette as evidence of Birsan’s ongoing harassment against her. Both articles were written by Birsan.
One article, “Land Acknowledgement,” March 2024, discussed the history of Native American migration and the origination of land ownership in this country. The other article, “Scarier than Halloween,” October 2024, Birsan declares himself an “eater of chickens (mostly fried)” in his op-ed disclaimer.
According to Birsan, Olvera presented these as evidence of his hostilities towards her since she is of Indigenous heritage and raises chickens, even though neither article mentions Olvera or her chickens.
The judge dismissed her charges. Olvera is a Pablo Benavente supporter.
By bringing this to the council meeting after the court’s denial reeks more of dirty political posturing and a public lynching before an election than of anything else. Others who spoke to denounce Birsan in this manner were supporters of Benavente.
In his statement to Diablo Gazette, Birsan confirmed he is frustrated with Olvera and the party’s identity policies. He did not deny that he made those, or similar sounding statements, but said it was never directly to Olvera or with intent to intimidate.
Regarding the articles, the judge cited freedom of the press and that as a public figure, she is subject to scrutiny and criticism.
Padding Resumes
Both Birsan and Benavente have overstated their resume. Burks claims Birsan’s boast of “28% reduction in Homeless” in Concord from the previous year is a dubious use of stats. Burks team challenges the accuracy of the Point in Time methodology to make such statements — and even if there has been a decline, Birsan wasn’t the mayor in 2023.
Incidentally, if the City of Clayton were to make similar interpretations from the same report, it reduced its homeless population 100%! Clayton Mayor Jim Diaz could be considered a local hero. So, Burks may have a point here.
Benavente’s online claim “as Co-chair of Measure V” is misleading. He is not and has never been on the oversight committee for Measure V. He was however involved in helping the campaign committee for the Measure V tax to be passed in 2020 election.
FPPC Violations
In the race for Assembly, Sonia Ledo claims that opponent Anamarie Farias has not been truthful in her disclosures. In an action taken by the FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) “FPPC Case No. 2024-00760; Farias was notified in August that the FPPC “…has commenced a commission-initiated investigation regarding your potential violations of the economic interests disclosure provisions of the Political Reform Act.”
Farias reported on her 2018 tax return of two rental properties, neither of which were reported on her FPPC form 700 (transparency of economic interests).
Smile Your On Camera, Doxing
In Clayton, the Political Action Committee which runs the website Clayton Watch has been highly active in holding its government officials accountable and demanding transparency.
It also has expressed its disdain for Council member Holly Tillman who is vying for re-election. Clayton Watch takes exception to Tillman’s depiction of Clayton in her earlier campaigns insisting that her campaign materials calling out the city as racist tainted its image and were unfounded.
Tillman’s messaging this election has been far more unifying. Nevertheless, the Clayton Watch website has posted seven videos of some of her hostile interactions at Council meetings and including one video touting her role in organizing the Black Lives Matter protests in Clayton.
This article has been updated from its printed version for incorrectly quoting the content of Myles4concord.com website, although its inference remains the same.