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Candidate takes flak for signs and endorsements
by Dan Bialek
Manhattan Beach City Council candidate Chuck Buresh said allegations that he misused campaign signs and endorsements were "blown out of proportion" and were aimed to discredit his character.
Several residents complained to Buresh earlier this week that signs supporting his candidacy for city council were placed on their property without their permission. Allegations also arose that Buresh claimed endorsements from private and public entities that he had not secured.
Lisa Couey contacted Buresh last weekend and had him remove one of his campaign signs from the front yard of her home.
"I think long and hard before I put anyone’s sign in my yard. I take endorsing a candidate very seriously and resent the implication that I have endorsed a candidate that I haven’t," Couey said.
Buresh responded to a call from Couey and arrived at her home shortly after and personally removed the sign. He said the sign belonged at a home a couple of doors down the street and that it must have been a mistake.
City workers also removed Buresh signs from city fences on the west side of Aviation Boulevard between Marine Avenue and Manhattan Beach Boulevard. City Manager Geoff Dolan said that the city only removes signs from areas that are clearly public property and that his office had received several complaints regarding the Buresh signs.
"I don’t know how a lot of [the signs] got where they are. I wouldn’t be surprised if an opponent or someone else moved them to make me look bad," Buresh said.
Buresh also came under fire for information he posted on the League of Women Voters website, smartvoter.org. Last week, Buresh listed endorsements from the Manhattan Beach Police Department, American Martyrs Church and the Jewish Community Center Chabad.
Police Chief Ernest Klevesahl Jr. said that the Manhattan Beach Police Department has never endorsed Buresh, and the department does not endorse candidates in political elections.
Buresh responded that he went on a police ride-along two weeks ago and that five to six police officers that spoke with him said that they would vote for him. He said this lead him to believe that he had the endorsement of the police department.
Andrea Utley, president of the American Martyrs Church Parish Council said that her organization also did not give its support to any political candidates. Buresh removed the direct endorsement from the church from the website, however the website still lists "Many staff and many members of the American Martyrs Church" as key endorsers of Buresh’s campaign.
Utley said that no staff members of the church were allowed to endorse a candidate without first seeking permission from the Parish Council. She said that none had sought the permission. She also said that the church had only six or seven staff members and she did not know of any that were supporting Buresh.
Buresh said he has attended American Martyrs for over 10 years and is a member of the church. He said he considered friends that volunteered at the church to be "staff members" and that these were the people he was referring to on the website.
Buresh said he could not give the names of these people because he did not wish to involve them in controversy regarding this issue.
Rabbi Yossi Mintz also said that Buresh had not received the blessing of his organization and that he contacted Buresh to get to the bottom of the matter.
"He said that two members of our center were supporting him. When I asked him which two, he said that they wished to remain anonymous," Mintz said.
Buresh said he had many Jewish friends and he did not give Mintz their names because he did not want to "drag them into this."
Buresh said the next step in his campaign will be to clean up the "big mess" that all this has started.
"I want to keep my name clean and fix all the damage that other people are doing to me," he said. ER