1. Why I’m Speaking Out Again
Thank you for taking the time to read my words. You may remember that I wrote a letter to the editor of CalCoastNews back on September 1st, and I meant every word. I said then, and I still believe now, that when someone runs for public office on the Pismo Beach City Council, their honesty and credibility are not optional extras—they are the absolute foundation. I don’t say this lightly. I don’t say this because I’m angry or bitter or looking for political advantage. I say it because I have lived through a long, costly, and deeply unpleasant legal experience that could have been avoided entirely if the person at the center of it had simply told the truth from the beginning. And that person is Clare Malone Prichard. I do not believe she is qualified to hold public office, and I am not alone in that feeling. The comments and messages I’ve received from people who know the situation or who have followed the court proceedings have confirmed that I am not the only one who sees what is happening here. This has never been about me trying to tear someone down for sport. It’s about holding a candidate to the same standard we would hold any applicant for a job—especially a job that involves making decisions that affect the lives of everyone in this community. And in this case, the record is clear, documented, and public.
2. The Day the Truth Finally Came Out
Let me walk you through what happened just a few days ago, because it changed everything. On September 15th, in the afternoon, I learned something that should have been acknowledged years ago. Clare Malone Prichard’s own attorney, Tyler Saldo, admitted over the phone to my attorney that the judgment against her has not been paid. He didn’t try to argue the facts. He didn’t claim his client was in the right. He said his paralegal had “dropped the ball.” That was the explanation. I want you to think about that for a moment. After three years of denials, legal back-and-forth, public commentary, and campaign statements insisting that this matter was resolved, it took an admission from her own lawyer to confirm what I’ve been saying all along. The judgment is still unpaid. As of now, the amount has grown to over eleven thousand dollars with interest. That is not a small oversight. That is not a technicality. That is a court-ordered debt that remains on the books, with a lien still sitting on her home. And until that judgment is satisfied in full, the lien will not be removed. This is not me being spiteful or stubborn. These are legal documents. These are public records. And now, after all this time, the Prichards suddenly want to make it right? Forgive me if I have trouble believing in their sudden motivation.
3. Where Was the Proof for Three Years?
Let me ask you a simple question. If you paid off a court judgment—if you really wrote a check or transferred funds and received a receipt—would you wait three years to prove it? Would you let a lien sit on your property, damaging your credit and your reputation, all while a public dispute raged on? Of course not. You would produce the documents. You would show the bank statements, the deposit slips, the cleared checks with the bank’s stamp on them. You would clear your name the moment it was challenged. That’s what an innocent person does. That’s the very first thing anyone with nothing to hide would do. But that’s not what happened here. In June, my attorney sent a letter to Clare Prichard’s attorney asking a very straightforward question: does she plan to voluntarily pay the judgment? There was no response. Not even a courtesy reply. Then came the claim that she allegedly paid it back in August 2023. But the recorded lien was sent to her attorney in October 2023. If she was telling the truth, where are the receipts? Where is the bank’s confirmation? Where is the cancelled check? Why wouldn’t anyone contest the lien for all that time? These are not gotcha questions. They are basic questions that any reasonable person would ask. And the fact that no one has been able to answer them tells me everything I need to know.
4. When Someone Shows You Who They Are
What bothers me most is not the unpaid money, though that is serious enough. It is the way this has been handled. Throughout this entire ordeal, there have been people calling me a liar, accusing me of running a smear campaign, and projecting all kinds of character flaws onto me. But I want to ask: who is really projecting here? When someone refuses to take responsibility for a court-ordered debt, when their own attorney has to admit the truth after years of denial, and when their first instinct is to blame a paralegal for “dropping the ball,” that tells you something about their character. Integrity and ethics are not things you claim in a campaign brochure. They are things you demonstrate when no one is watching. And fairness means respecting a court’s ruling, even when it makes you look bad. I have my attorney’s letters. I have documented proof of every step we took. I have the dates and the records to back up every single thing I have said. So if anyone wants to call my character into question, they should be prepared to show their own work. Because from where I stand, the evidence speaks for itself. This is not about slander. This is not about politics. This is about a pattern of behavior that should concern every voter in Pismo Beach.
5. What This Is Really About
I need to make something very clear: this was never about the money. For me, eleven thousand dollars is not nothing. But compared to the attorney fees I had to pay over two years of litigation, it is almost insignificant. I lost time, energy, sleep, and more money than I care to count. And for what? To prove that I was right? Maybe. But what matters more to me is that this kind of behavior should disqualify someone from public office. If someone is willing to ignore a court order, misrepresent the truth to the public, and then try to smear the people who call them out, why would we ever trust them to represent the community? Public service is supposed to be about putting others first, about being transparent, and about earning the trust of the people you serve. I don’t see that in Clare Malone Prichard. And the saddest part is, there is so much more I could say. There are so many details I have kept private out of decency and a desire not to be vindictive. But at some point, I have to speak up. I have to tell the truth, even if it is uncomfortable. Because the voters deserve to know who they are supporting. They deserve to know that a candidate’s own legal record is a matter of public record. And they deserve to make their decision with their eyes wide open.
6. Letting Go and Moving Forward
I’ll be honest with you—I am an old man now. I have lived long enough to see people rise and fall, tell lies and be exposed, hurt others and pretend to be victims. I have thicker skin than I used to. And I have learned that anger, if you hold onto it, will poison you from the inside. So I am choosing to forgive what was done to me. Not because I think it was acceptable. Not because I think everyone should just move on and pretend this never happened. But because holding onto bitterness would only hurt me, not the people who wronged me. I forgive the mistakes, even if I cannot pretend they don’t matter. I forgive the attacks, even though they insulted my integrity. And I forgive the years of denial, even though the truth was always out there. I want to thank everyone who supported me—those who know me, those who took the time to understand the legal nuances, and those who chose to believe the evidence over the noise. You gave me strength when I needed it most. I don’t need a position of power to validate who I am. I don’t need a title to feel valuable. I have my principles, and I have my peace. And in the end, that is more than enough. My heart is lighter now, and I am ready to move on. What the people of Pismo Beach do with this information is up to them. But I have done my part. I spoke my truth, and I am at peace with whatever comes next.