Hume record targeted by opponents;flyer hand-outs may lack proper ID

by Tom Nadeau

As the Nov. 2 election nears inflammatory flyers are starting to appear. Two materialized out of the blue at  last night's Elk Grove candidate forum. Both targeted incumbent candidate Patrick Andrew Hume.

Hume declined to comment on both flyers.

One flyer – known in the trade as “a hit piece" – was headlined: “Take a Look at the Public Record.” It blared five allegations in bold type.

'Scofflaw' claimed --

The flyer accused Hume of being a “tax scofflaw.” It claimed he was listed with the Sacramento County Tax Collector as being delinquent in paying property taxes on land parcel #125-0293-016-000.

Phone calls and Internet searches of the tax collector’s website http://www.eproptax.county.net/ confirmed that there was a tax bill #10350704 which showed the owner of that parcel was in arrears, owing an unpaid balance of $784.30 as of Oct. 14.

To be fair, however, tax collector entry did not specifically identify Hume as the “owner” of that parcel. In fact, no ownership names were provided.

The “Take a Look” flyer went on to claim that unnamed members of the Elk Grove City Council had recommended the county grand jury investigate Hume. It cited a Sacramento Bee story published Oct. 14 as the source of that information.

Attempts to confirm that alleged Bee news story were unsuccessful.

The same flyer further alleged that a complaint – File #10/758 – had been filed with the state Fair Political Practices Commission on Sept. 9 against Hume.

The flyer also leveled two other rather nebulous allegations at Hume.

The flyer also lacked any political campaign identification information to show who paid for or prepared it, as required by law.

A second flyer entitled “Character Counts” also attacked Hume personally.

Subtitled “Those that make our laws should be held to a higher standard,’ the flyer states, “Elk Grove City Councilman Pat Hume’s driving record is inexcusable.”

The flyer includes a web address http://www.elkgrovemadd.org/. That site calls up an image showing the Sacramento County Superior Court record of Patrick Andrew Hume being charged May 19, 1999 for misdemeanor drunk driving and a related infraction.

Hume was held in custody for 48 hours, case file #99TO2535 indicated.

According to that court report, Hume's blood-alcohol level was .16 at the time of the traffic stop.

Hume was sentenced Dec. 2, 1999 in that case and placed on three years probation.

That flyer cited www.facebook.com/MADD.Official as a source of information regarding that arrest and sentencing of Hume.

That MADD site is a huge. Despite some searching, no entry could be found citing Hume, nor was there any indication of a local MADD chapter connection.

The “Higher Standard” flyer went on to accuse Hume of trying to avoid disclosure of his arrest record and the embarrassment it would likely follow.

This campaign hit piece also lacked any verifiable political campaign identification information identifying its sponsors.

Again, contacted by phone, Hume declined to comment on the two flyers.