An election mystery on the Web
While the June 5 special election for a single City Council seat isn’t yet on many voters’ radar, at least one secretive political operator is anonymously active.
The identity of the person or group involved in a Web site targeting former Councilman Hank Wedaa, who’s seeking a record eighth term, currently remains unknown, despite extensive efforts to uncover the site’s secret sponsor.
Two weeks ago, I found http://truth4yl.blogspot.com when I Googled “Yorba Linda” to check out what’s new in the community, saw a pdf file for one of my past columns and clicked on the accompanying domain name.
Google blogs aren’t always listed in general Internet searches, but this one also can be accessed through three common top-level domains: www.truth4yl.com and .org and .net.
I e-mailed the address listed on the site but received no response, so I asked my oldest son, Josh, a UC Irvine computer science grad who develops security software and procedures for the campus computer system, for help.
“It’s definitely someone who is purposely trying to remain anonymous. The profile has no name, the html code has no private addresses and the domain names are registered through a third-party anonymous proxy,” Josh noted.
Josh said he downloaded pdf files linked on the site because they sometimes “save meta-information as part of the file, like the computer or name of the person who created the document,” but “all that information was left blank.”
The site was created March 28 and registered through Schlund+Partner AG in Germany, with contact information hidden by third-party proxy Oneandone Private Registration, which operates from a “suite” in Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania.
I contacted Wedaa’s opponents, Victoria Gulickson and Keri Wilson, but they indicated my inquiry was the first time they heard of the site.
An anonymous person also registered at least six domain names using variations of Wedaa’s name on March 12 through GoDaddy.com, Inc., with contact information hidden by Domains by Proxy, which uses a private mailbox in Scottsdale, Arizona.
So the Web site Wedaa recently noted on a fundraising letter has his picture, name and age posted by someone else. Wedaa should have acquired rights to the address before publicizing it, but his slip-up doesn’t excuse election-time trickery.
Although the back-room blogger earns undeserved attention in this column, I think voters will listen to those who stand behind their statements and rightly question material posted by someone whose secret Web campaign and signs skirt election reporting requirements.
A FINAL NOTE
The two former City Council members seeking to return to a seat at the dais hold Yorba Linda’s all-time first and second place records for most funds raised for a single council contest, according to campaign finance documents.
Keri Wilson took in $49,632 in cash contributions in 2006 and finished in fourth place. She raised $34,964 in 2002 and 2003 to pay expenses associated with her 2002 win.
Hank Wedaa raised $48,323 in cash and other contributions in 1988, 1989 and 1990 for the 1990 race. He reported $13,395 in 1996 and $10,365 in 1986 in two other wins.
In 1990, Wedaa ran second to John Gullixson but edged out the city’s first mayor, Roland Bigonger, who called the contest the “sleaziest election I have seen in Yorba Linda.”
This year’s self-financed candidate, first-time contender Victoria Gulickson, says she’ll cap expenditures at $5,000.
The identity of the person or group involved in a Web site targeting former Councilman Hank Wedaa, who’s seeking a record eighth term, currently remains unknown, despite extensive efforts to uncover the site’s secret sponsor.
Two weeks ago, I found http://truth4yl.blogspot.com when I Googled “Yorba Linda” to check out what’s new in the community, saw a pdf file for one of my past columns and clicked on the accompanying domain name.
Google blogs aren’t always listed in general Internet searches, but this one also can be accessed through three common top-level domains: www.truth4yl.com and .org and .net.
I e-mailed the address listed on the site but received no response, so I asked my oldest son, Josh, a UC Irvine computer science grad who develops security software and procedures for the campus computer system, for help.
“It’s definitely someone who is purposely trying to remain anonymous. The profile has no name, the html code has no private addresses and the domain names are registered through a third-party anonymous proxy,” Josh noted.
Josh said he downloaded pdf files linked on the site because they sometimes “save meta-information as part of the file, like the computer or name of the person who created the document,” but “all that information was left blank.”
The site was created March 28 and registered through Schlund+Partner AG in Germany, with contact information hidden by third-party proxy Oneandone Private Registration, which operates from a “suite” in Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania.
I contacted Wedaa’s opponents, Victoria Gulickson and Keri Wilson, but they indicated my inquiry was the first time they heard of the site.
An anonymous person also registered at least six domain names using variations of Wedaa’s name on March 12 through GoDaddy.com, Inc., with contact information hidden by Domains by Proxy, which uses a private mailbox in Scottsdale, Arizona.
So the Web site Wedaa recently noted on a fundraising letter has his picture, name and age posted by someone else. Wedaa should have acquired rights to the address before publicizing it, but his slip-up doesn’t excuse election-time trickery.
Although the back-room blogger earns undeserved attention in this column, I think voters will listen to those who stand behind their statements and rightly question material posted by someone whose secret Web campaign and signs skirt election reporting requirements.
A FINAL NOTE
The two former City Council members seeking to return to a seat at the dais hold Yorba Linda’s all-time first and second place records for most funds raised for a single council contest, according to campaign finance documents.
Keri Wilson took in $49,632 in cash contributions in 2006 and finished in fourth place. She raised $34,964 in 2002 and 2003 to pay expenses associated with her 2002 win.
Hank Wedaa raised $48,323 in cash and other contributions in 1988, 1989 and 1990 for the 1990 race. He reported $13,395 in 1996 and $10,365 in 1986 in two other wins.
In 1990, Wedaa ran second to John Gullixson but edged out the city’s first mayor, Roland Bigonger, who called the contest the “sleaziest election I have seen in Yorba Linda.”
This year’s self-financed candidate, first-time contender Victoria Gulickson, says she’ll cap expenditures at $5,000.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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