Resident's tactics with local petitions draws mayor's wrath

A new chapter in the Tale of Two Petitions was written Wednesday night, with tensions between a single Menifee resident and Mayor Neil Winter reaching a boiling point.

Menifee City Council members unanimously voted to make an official written request to the U.S. Postal Service to reassign the city name Menifee as the default mailing name for all four zip codes associated with the city -- 92584, 92585, 92586 and 92587. In addition, the Post Office will be instructed to list the community names Sun City, Romoland and Quail Valley as acceptable names for use as well.

What difference does it make, you ask? Postal officials acknowledge they use the zip code, not city name, in delivering mail, so postal items addressed to any of those names have always been delivered to the proper address. But John Smelser, a resident at a Heritage Lake address that previously had a zip code default name of Sun City, believes it makes a whole lot of difference.

Smelser contends that companies that purchase mailing lists from the Post Office use the default name, as well as the Department of Motor Vehicles. He insists he is a resident of Menifee, not Sun City, and he wants that city name listed on his drivers license and other documents. Others have supported his additional statements that online ordering of items has been complicated by the process in the past.

Winter does not have a problem with the change. It's the way Smelser has gone about it that has drawn his ire.

After addressing the City Council on this matter several times last year, Smelser (right) said he got tired of waiting for a response. He launched a petition drive intended to force the council to take action, even while Winter was promising to research the issue and put the item on Wednesday's council agenda. Not only that, Smelser reacted to the perceived lack of response by teaming with former mayor Scott Mann to file a second petition to place on the ballot a recall of Measure DD, the 1 percent sales tax approved by voters a year ago. Both petitions have been circulating around town by individuals seeking signatures from residents.

Winter and other city officials believe Smelser brought forward the Measure DD recall petition as a form of blackmail in attempting to force the zip code change. During the Nov. 1 council meeting, after addressing the zip code issue at three meetings in September and October, Smelser told council members he was prepared to file two petitions and "you are not going to like the second petition."

Moreover, during an Oct 18 appearance before the council, Smelser made a comment Winter considered racist in accusing previous council members of bowing to the demands of Sun City residents in neglecting to make the zip code name change.

"You seem to prefer the all-white community in the housing tract of Sun City over the mixed communities of Quail Valley and Romoland," Smelser said during public comments. "There is no reason for less than 20 people in the housing tract of Sun City to control your inaction on the vote to make Menifee our preferred name in the U.S. Postal System."

The rift between Smelser and Winter grew when Winter talked to at least two people collecting signatures for the Measure DD petition and claimed they were spreading misinformation about the issue. Menifee 24/7 confirmed these claims by talking to a woman collecting signatures in front of the Target store in Countryside Marketplace. She incorrectly stated that voters never approved Measure DD, then said she was confused and was collecting signatures only because she was being paid to do so.

Other residents have come forward with similar stories. And finally, in a Nov. 4 email to Winter, Smelser threatened to file a third petition -- to recall Winter as mayor.

By Wednesday night's council meeting, Winter had apparently had enough.

"When this person [Smelser] got no response from these threats, the threat came to City Hall to attack people's vote to pass the tax Measure DD," Winter (left) read as part of a lengthy prepared statement. "A statement was made that if I would make the zip code name changes, he would drop his next petition drive to recall me for not taking action...

"So because of this one person who has joined forces with an ousted past elected official [Mann], we are having this discussion tonight. I have no problem with this action, only that it has been brought to us as a dictate and demand that is documented to be malicious, vindictive, accusatory that the council and an entire portion of our town is racist ... the most disturbing fact is we, the Council, have been demanded to do this or else..."

Smelser, seated in the back of the Council Chambers, did not submit a request to speak during council consideration of the zip code name change. After the vote approving the change, he approached the dais with the intention to speak, but the public comment period had already ended and his request was denied.

In a Jan. 18 email to Winter and others obtained by Menifee 24/7, Smelser announced that because of the council's action, he was ending the petition drive on the now-moot zip code issue, but that he and Mann would continue with the Measure DD recall petition.

Smelser has told Menifee 24/7 he will no longer speak to this news outlet. He did not respond to an email from Menifee 24/7 regarding the misinformation being distributed about Measure DD. He also chose not to respond to four residents who spoke in favor of Measure DD Wednesday, all four referring to the inaccurate information being spread.

"They are already lying to people, saying elected officials are pocketing the money, that the City does not need the money, that we are double dipping, and on and on and on," Winter wrote in an email to Menifee 24/7 and others this week. "We have some citizens getting the names of these people and are going to report them to the State Board for improper practice.

"I am highly passionate about protecting our city and making sure we can provide the level of service in all areas that our residents and visitors deserve, and I will be on constant watch to ensure lies and personal agendas don’t harm our city."

Winter has committed to being more diligent in ensuring that residents will be informed of specific information about how Measure DD funds have been used in the last year and how they are still needed to continue funding public safety and road improvements. Kassen Klein, speaking during public comments Wednesday night, suggested that the Measure DD Citizens Oversight Committee be given more resources and authority in monitoring those funds.