Some controversy over South Lake Tahoe city council candidate's occupation description

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Now that the voter's guide and ballots have been mailed out in El Dorado County, voters may notice a difference in occupation for South Lake Tahoe City Council Candidate Nick Speal. His occupation description has been concerning to some residents.

In August Speal had filled out his Ballot Designation Worksheet with the required employment information and noted "affordable housing advocate" as occupation. El Dorado County had inadvertently published that occupation before South Lake Tahoe City Clerk Susan Blankenship finalized the documents from all candidates, and several members of the public took notice and wrote letters of complaint.

On the ballot, Speal's occupation will be listed as "engineer." He could have stated he was an affordable housing advocate only if he had earned his income from that job over the last 12 months. The nonprofit he cofounded, Locals for Affordable Housing, is a 501(c)4, and that type of nonprofit cannot be used for ballot designations.

Now the subject of two different occupations has come up again.

There are several forms candidates complete when running for office, one is for the ballot designation, and the other is a candidate statement of qualifications. Speal used the term "advocate" on the latter, and that is allowed per Blankenship.

"Candidate statements and ballot designations are different, with the ballot designation defined by the election code," said El Dorado County Registrar of Voters Bill O'Neill.

Blankenship said the deadline for filing a Writ of Mandate to have the matter brought before a judge passed and that the published Candidate Statement in the voter guide will remain as "affordable housing advocate."

Attorney Kelly O'Haire filed a complaint with El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson, stating the use of the term "Affordable Housing Advocate" should have been denied on the Candidate's Statement, even if the "Occupation" does not have to match the "Occupation" on the ballot.

Pierson's office has not responded to our request for comment.

O'Haire said she believes that candidates cannot just write anything they want to for their occupation as it is false or misleading. Election officials say that is true the description on the ballot must be accurate, but the statement in the guide is in the candidate's own words.