SDUHSD trustee under state investigation alleges faked evidence

ENCINITAS — The state Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating a San Dieguito Union High School District trustee seeking re-election this November regarding two complaints, one of which triggered counterclaims of fabricated evidence. 

Area 4 Trustee Michael Allman, who is running against political consultant Kevin Sabellico for his seat, is facing a pair of complaints stating that he failed to meet disclaimer requirements in his Facebook advertisements and that he failed to meet campaign filing deadlines.

“Mr. Allman knows the law and chooses not to follow it. He touts himself as an experienced businessman with strong ‘fiscal responsibility.’ I hope the Commission takes into account his status as a repeat offender when determining the appropriate action to take,” complainant Bob Ayers said in his July complaint to the FPPC.  

Allman admitted that he did fail to file an amended Form 410 within 10 days of raising more than $2,000 for his campaign, as outlined in the July complaint submitted by Ayers.

However, Allman denounced claims in Ayers’ separate complaint from June regarding failing to add disclaimers to Facebook advertisements, arguing that the evidence submitted in the complaint was fabricated. 

The complaint included screenshots of advertisements allegedly run on Facebook by the Michael Allman for School Board page between June 10 and 14. Two of the screenshots appear to be from the Meta Ad Library, Facebook’s online transparency database that shows all active and inactive ads that have been paid for to run on the social media platform.

Another screenshot, which the FPPC said was submitted via their AdWATCH reporting system, shows one of the ads appearing to play before a video about capybaras on a Facebook news feed.  

These graphics have been posted on Allman’s Facebook page as regular posts. However, manual searches of the ad library do not turn up any record of these images being used as ads. According to the database, the only ads Allman paid for in June were two posts at the end of the month, different from the ones shown in the screenshots.

The Coast News has also been unable to independently verify the legitimacy of these ad screenshots. 

The FPPC said in a Sept. 27 letter that they still have not made any determination about possible violations. 

Allman noted that Ayers is one of his opponent’s biggest campaign donors (he has contributed $1,500 to Sabellico’s school board campaign, according to campaign finance records) and accused both Ayers and Sabellico of faking the ads submitted to the FPPC. 

“It is truly dispiriting that they would stoop so low as to doctor evidence presented to a government regulatory body to gain a political advantage. Kevin Sabellico has a long history of lying, including falsely claiming to be an educator before a Superior Court judge. Bob Ayers is a licensed attorney. My staff will be talking with the District Attorney and the California Bar Association,” Allman said. 

Ayers declined to comment on questions from The Coast News regarding the legitimacy of the ad evidence submitted to the FPPC but said he looks forward to the investigation’s results. 

Sabellico alleged that Allman has “engaged in a record of lying and omission on his financial records,” but did not address claims that he was involved in the advertisement complaint.  

“MAGA Mike is desperate because his extreme record of banning books, harassing teachers and corrupt politics is being exposed. Now state investigators are closing in, and he’s blaming everyone but himself, just like Donald Trump. This is between him and the FPPC — nobody else,” Sabellico said. 

This is not the first time allegations of dishonesty have come up in this race. In August, a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled that Sabellico’s ballot designation as an “educator” was false and misleading, and the San Dieguito Union High School District denied his claims that he had been hired to work there.