A hit piece was sent last weekend attacking Bryan
Parker for lacking experience.

ALCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS | DISTRICT 4 |
Too little, too late? The independent expenditure committee supporting Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley’s campaign released a hit piece arriving last Saturday afternoon in the mailboxes of Pleasanton voters.

Pleasanton Families for Supervisor Nate Miley, the IE behind the mailer is not legally allowed to coordinate with the Miley campaign, but an email reported last week promoting a May 27 fundraiser strongly suggested a link between the organizations.

The mailer, seen to the right, is designed to evoke a report card. On one side, Miley receives nine top marks for his work in Pleasanton and the district as a whole. “Supervisor Nate Miley passes with all A’s!” says the mailer.

The flip side of the mailer gave Supervisor Nate
Miley high grades for his service.

On the flip side, it declares Parker has failed as a candidate. Parker receives failing grades, according to the mailer, for finishing sixth in the 2014 Oakland mayoral race, never serving as an elected official and an allegation that he only recently moved to the district.

The IE also attempts to link Parker to the salacious scandal involving a former Port of Oakland commissioner found to have spent taxpayer money at a strip club. The mention attempts to tie Parker, a former port commissioner, to the incident. Parker, however, was not involved.

Perhaps most controversially, the mailer boldly exclaims that Parker is a carpetbagging politician. “Bryan Parker failed at becoming mayor of Oakland now he wants to be OUR supervisor,” it says. The passage may also contain a dose of dog whistle politics for moderate, suburban Pleasanton voters who might associate Oakland differently than other more progressive voters might.

The mailer, sent at such a late stage of the campaign, suggests Miley is feeling desperation about his chances for re-election over the last week of the campaign. It is also the first and apparent only attack mailer that will come by way of the IE. In addition, some Castro Valley residents also reported receiving the hit piece last weekend

Such committees are often created for the express purpose of producing negative attack lines against opponents. The Pleasanton Families IE, only created one month ago, instead chose to initially focus on touting Miley’s endorsement from the entire Pleasanotn City Council.

It remains to be seen whether a hit piece in the hands of voters just 72 hours before Election Day is able to penetrate and germinate in the electorate’s collective mind for it to make much difference on Tuesday.

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