FRESNO (KMJ) — Fresno City Councilman Clint Olivier has called on his Assembly District 31 competitor Doctor Joaquin Arambula, to disavow campaign spots which he says were aired by his Sacramento allies.
The commercials, which have been broadcast on KMJ, feature excerpts from an interview Councilman Olivier did with the Dirty Dowdy Podcast on Longbox.FM in November 2015. He says his words on that podcast were deceptively edited for political gain.
“Not only has Joaquin Arambula not condemned these ads, but he’s actually taken the information that has come out of these dishonest television and radio ads and mail pieces and he’s adopted them as his own talking points that he’s using here in our district”.
Although the campaign spots were against Clint Olivier’s run for the 31st Assembly District, they were not from the Joaquin Arambula campaign but paid for by a third party Political Action Committee – the ‘Californians for Fiscal Accountability and Responsibility, Sponsored by Dentists Physicians, Healthcare Workers, Realtors, and School Employees’.
“I’m dismayed because my opponent Joaquin Arambula has known about these ads for the past number of weeks yet he has had the opportunity to condemn these ads for being complete falsehoods and complete lies”.
Councilman Olivier wants Doctor Arambula to abide by the ‘Code of Fair Campaign Practices’, which both candidates signed, and repudiate the advertisements.
“Because it’s the right thing to do”, concludes Clint Olivier.
KMJ News reached out to the Doctor Arambula campaign for a response, and received a written statement in reply. In it, Doctor Arambular says he “cannot condone the ads by this independent group, they do raise a serious issue.
“Time and time again Councilman Olivier has stated he does not believe that the people of the Central Valley have a right to clean air and clean water. I do.”
The presenter of the Longbox.FM ‘Dirty Dowdy Podcast’, Chris Dowdy, has posted a video on YouTube examining the issue. That video can be viewed below:
These spots that have been called into question are being broadcast on KMJ.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew:
