Shocking allegations made by Kern County Supervisor Mike Maggard during a radio show earlier this week.
"There's a bit of a scam, a fraud being forced upon Kern County," Maggard told The Ralph Bailey Radio Show.
Maggard told Ralph Bailey that three people are at the core of it all.
"Ben Eilenberg, treasurer for the Committee For Safer Neighborhoods and Schools, David Abbasi, local pot owner and also Fernando Jara," Maggard said.
Fernando Jara, the husband of Maggard's fellow colleague, supervisor Leticia Perez.
"I know that with her full knowledge, with her cooperation, with her acquiescence that he's neck deep in this," Maggard said.
During the radio interview, Maggard said he believes Perez and Jara are attempting to get him out of office.
Maggard, one of Kern County's most out-spoken marijuana opponents, voted to ban commercial growing and sales and received backlash from the industry because of it.
After accusing Perez and her husband of attempting to sabotage his seat with the Kern County Board of Supervisors, he then told bailey this explosive allegation.
"She (Perez) is not free to use illegal pot shop money to fund that effort and not reveal that to the public and that's what I think is the fraud that is being forced upon Kern County," Maggard said.
Maggard believes that money is being spent on campaign advertisement for district three's new-runner up Jeff Heinle.
Heinle, a Bakersfield City Firefighter told the Bakersfield Californian those allegations were not true.
Radio host Ralph Bailey says it's hard to tell where the truth lies in Maggard's accusations because he says he mis-spoke on Heinle's past.
23ABC spoke with Jara and who refused to go on camera but offered this statement after allegations made by Maggard
"This matter is between two candidates for political office. it does not involve me. i wish them both the best of luck in their respective campaigns."
23ABC also reached out to Maggard who denied our interview request and told us "no comment."
accused the Committee MaggardDuring the interview For Safer Neighborhoods and Schools of assisting in Heinle's campaign in which they sent us this statement back:
"The committee for safer neighborhoods and schools learned about the allegations from supervisor mike Maggard yesterday when we were contacted for comment. there is no factual basis for the claims.
Supervisor Maggard has placed himself as the leader of the opposition to regulate and tax the cannabis industry in Kern. He has put forward the idea of only allowing delivery services from outside of Kern to provide medication to the patients located in Kern. This is unacceptable for many reasons, including the fact that Kern would lose any ability to oversee these deliveries, the deliveries would potentially involve untested products that are unsafe for consumers, and Kern would lose out on the tax revenue from these deliveries. The Committee believes Supervisor Maggard's ideas are outdated at best and are dangerous at worst. Those ideas need to be challenged in the public forum, and the Committee as well as many others are doing so. There is no conspiracy; Supervisor Maggard's ideas are simply so incorrect that he has motivated many citizens, organizations, and companies against himself."
