Candidates Respond to Last-Minute Campaign Flier

A flier sent to Glendora voters the day before the election makes serious allegations of misconduct and political abuse against two city council candidates. And with hours before polls open, the candidates are firing back with statements of their own.

The flier was sent to an undisclosed amount of Glendora voters through USPS mail Monday by someone identified on the flier as Gene Osko, a retired Citrus Court and Supreme Court judge and lawyer.

Calls to Osko’s office in Glendora were not immediately returned.

The four-page letter made critical statements against candidates and , as well as City Manager Chris Jeffers, former Police Chief Charles Montoya and current Police Chief Robert Castro.

Among the most serious allegations are mishandling of taxpayer money through awarding of excessive salaries and benefits, as well as the approval of a no-bid contract for Athens Services, the city’s sole waste management service.

According to the flier, Tessitor and Jeffers were key figures in negotiating contracts that approved “the borrowing of $6 million by the City of Glendora to help pay for salaries and pensions.” According to city reports, Jeffers left his former post as city manager at Monterey Park with accrued paid leave time of $484,000.

But the allegations made in the flier were called “ridiculous,” “laughable,” and “without merit” by the candidates mentioned.

“This is so typical of this guy and the people around him,” said Tessitor. “They wait until the last minute to come up with this kind of smear campaign that can’t be refuted in time before the election.”

The flier also claims Tessitor was a key figure in the securing of a no-bid contract for Athens Services as the city’s main trash collection service several years ago, a statement Tessitor refuted.

According to Tessitor, the contract for Athens Services was negotiated by then City Manager Eric Ziegler, who voluntarily retired from his position two years later.

“Athens has been around Glendora as long I can remember,” said Tessitor. “You will never hear anyone complain about the service they provide in Glendora.

“I am one person of a five-person body,” Tessitor added. “I can’t do anything by myself. I can’t accomplish anything without two other people. I never met Jeffers until he walked into the room for his interview for the city manager position … all these allegations this guy makes about me is complete nonsense.”

The flier also takes issue with campaign contributions by Athens Services to two candidates –  listed on the flier as Tessitor and . City documents show Nagy and candidate received $2,000 each from Athens Services.

“I have not taken a dime from Athens trash, ever,” said Tessitor.

Nagy said he accepted contributions from Athens Services following a meeting with business owners and research into Athens’ services.

“I believe the service they offer as a company is very advanced and of high quality. I was proud to accept money from them as a business,” said Nagy. “But would it sway how I would vote on a contract? Absolutely not. If we do not check the pricing value of what we’re getting, we’re not doing our job.”

The flier also questioned Santoro’s leadership while dean of the department of public safety at Rio Hondo College in the midst of an investigation into a breach in the school’s testing security.

“He makes it sound like I did something wrong at Rio Hondo College. I did nothing wrong,” said Santoro. “We found a study guide, a cadet brought it to one of my instructors…We immediately investigated it and we immediately told POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) about the study guide. There was never accusation of cheating by the cadets. This was simply an unauthorized study guide. POST took over the investigation and they are still handling it, and there is still no resolution to it.”

Santoro also took issue with flier’s claims regarding the terms of his retirement benefits, terms he said are fully documented and validated by PERS.

“My whole intention was not to respond to this man, but he put out this flier the day before the election as a hit piece,” said Santoro. “I decided enough is enough. This man is intentionally trying to mislead the people of this community to vote for his person. It’s just that simple.”