Elected education official charged with lying about her address
Authorities are charging Imperial County Education Board Member Annette Gonzalez Buttner with two felonies for allegedly filing false information on her candidate forms four years ago.
Debra Porter, I.C. Registrar of Voters, said, “We took the way they were registered under penalty of perjury. We took that information and qualified them for the office. Now we’ve received other information that maybe that’s not true. So, a formal complaint is filed and we give it to the district attorney for investigation.”
Buttner, who represents the Calexico area, said she lives there. The Registrar’s Office has questions regarding that and turned them over to the I.C. District Attorney’s Office.
“We’re not the police for where a person lives. All we’re doing is registering a person to vote. And you’re signing that affidavit of registration under penalty of perjury,” Porter said.
Buttner was given an order to appear in court with no arrest. She said she travels out of the county to further her education but retains her address in Calexico. She said that might be part of the confusion. Ben Horton, former Calexico Economic Commissioner, is not convinced with Buttner’s explanation.
“When you commit fraud that means you’re stealing, and when you’re stealing, you’re taking something from somebody else, and this is called the trust and also from the public coffer, the benefits and being compensated for the elected office that you represent,” Horton said.
ICOE officials said that board members receive stipends and insurance benefits for their service.
The District Attorney said in a press release no candidate can claim under penalty of perjury that they live at a specific address in order to become elected.
Horton added, “If you’re not living in the area and you’re living out of imperial valley, how do the people get access to the elected official?”
Buttner is charged with perjury by declaration and false declaration of candidacy. She’s scheduled to appear at Brawley court on Friday. If convicted, she faces fines, the loss of her board seat and up to four years in county jail.
