Mailer Cites Drunk-Driving Sentence of Palmdale Council Candidate

A campaign adviser to a Palmdale City Council candidate has circulated a mailer revealing that another candidate was sentenced to jail for drunk driving after a 1983 accident.

The mailer, which began circulating Friday, disclosed that Planning Commissioner James Ledford was sentenced to jail after an accident in which he and two passengers were injured. The mailer was sent by a campaign adviser to Councilman Dan Becker, who is running against Ledford. Becker denied all connection with the mailer.

The accusation, which could harm Ledford in the April 10 election, was confirmed by court records that showed Ledford was sentenced to 10 days in County Jail. Ledford said in an interview that he served seven days.

“I’m not proud of it, but I’m not ashamed of it either,” said Ledford, 36, who owns Generations, a Palmdale bar and restaurant. “I paid my dues on that one. That was seven years ago. When’s it over? Anybody can make a mistake, move on, recover and live a productive life.”

Ledford, a City Council appointee to the Planning Commission since the mid-1980s, vowed to continue his campaign and charged that developers dredged up the conviction because they fear that he would oppose them if elected.

The flyer was mailed Friday to about 7,000 households by a Los Angeles-based pro-development group called the Southern California Caucus. Its executive director, political consultant Tim Carey, also serves as a campaign adviser to Becker.

Becker acknowledged his relationship with Carey but insisted that he did not know of the mailer in advance, pay for or approve it. Becker said he condemned its use, as did the two other incumbents on the ballot, Palmdale Mayor Pete Knight and Councilman Tom Smith.

“In my opinion, I think it’s hitting a little below the belt. I’d prefer to look at where a man is now rather than where he’s been in the past,” Becker said. He is one of 10 candidates, including Smith and Ledford, for two council seats.

Carey defended the mailer, arguing that voters should know about candidates’ criminal convictions. Court records show that Ledford was convicted Nov. 4, 1983, of driving under the influence of alcohol in a plea bargain under which two other misdemeanor charges of drunk driving were dropped.

“The Southern California Caucus was formed to elect people with a full set of brains. Obviously Jim Ledford has shown something lacking upstairs,” Carey said. He also said Ledford’s conviction is still relevant because “people don’t change over time.”

According to court records, Ledford was driving a 1967 Porsche in Palmdale about midnight on July 7, 1983, when the car skidded off a curve on Sierra Highway and overturned twice, leaving him unconscious and injuring two passengers. His speed was estimated at 76 m.p.h.

A test showed that Ledford’s blood-alcohol level was 0.13%. The legal definition of drunk at the time was a blood-alcohol level of 0.10%. It is now 0.08%. Ledford, who admitted drinking before the accident, said he pleaded no contest. The court fined him $800, restricted his license for a year and required him to complete an alcohol offender program, the records showed.