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The large picture is from the website; the inset picture is the original picture taken at a Mother’s Day Catholic Mass where Mr. Guerra, a church deacon, presided.
Hews Media Group-Community Newspaper has obtained documents confirming that a website established last week for the sole purpose of denigrating Mario Guerra, Downey City Councilman and state Senate candidate, is being coordinated by key advisors to rival candidate Tony Mendoza.
The website in question is listed as www.downeywatchdog.com, and made its debut on the internet around Sept. 7.
The site was registered in Arizona, but in the “About Us” section states, “we are a few concerned citizens in Downey.” No “Contact Us” page exists.
We have confirmed that the documents on the site were from officials inside the Downey City Clerk’s office after Pat Owens, a Public Works Commissioner appointed by Downey Vice-Mayor Luis Marquez, requested the documents via a telephone call.
The documents on the website include several pages of receipts, internal emails and minor expense reports that were submitted by Mr. Guerra as well as other City Council members.
“They even put up the $109 I spent on a coffeemaker for the entire second floor of City Hall,” Mr. Guerra said.
We can confirm that Mr. Owens provided all of the obtained documents to current Vice-Mayor Marquez. Within two days, all of the documents appeared on the site.
Even Mr. Owens’s wife, Pat Owens, has been touting the new site in various posts she made on her own personal Facebook page.
The website could trigger a defamation lawsuit filed by Mr. Guerra. Mr. Marquez and Mr. Owens know Mr. Guerra, and the two know the website content is false and defamatory.
Mr. Marquez has been working as a senior member of former Assemblyman Mendoza’s campaign for state senate. The two longtime political friends and allies have been seen regularly Mendoza-related campaign events the past six to nine months.
The website calls Mr. Guerra to task both as an elected official and takes a direct swipe at him and his family.
It calls into question his involvement as a deacon with the Catholic Church h in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
In one published image, Mr. Guerra is pictured in his white deaconate vestments with his arm around a boy whose face is blacked out to hide his identity. The photo used on the site is actually a family photo of Mr. Guerra, his teenage son, and wife Ann. The photo was taken during a recent celebration of Mother’s Day at a Mass in which he participated.
Mr. Guerra’s campaign provided Hus with a before and after version of the heavily edited photos.
The site tells readers: “Mario Guerra Refuses to Disclose Why He Was Forcefully Removed as Deacon of His Church. A source close to Pastor Fr. John Higgins revealed that Mario Guerra was removed as Deacon of St. Raymond Catholic Church in Downey for being too “confrontational and political and for other undisclosed reasons.”
According to Mr. Guerra, on Wednesday Fr. John Higgins sent an unsolicited email about the website saying, “this weekend I was made aware of a website called ‘The Downey Watchdog.’ Just to be clear I knew nothing about it, had nothing to do with its creation and did not make any statement to anyone regarding any topic there. I have no idea who ‘sources close to Pastor Father John Higgins’ is or are. In my opinion this website is not good and I do not support it,” Father Higgins said in his prepared statement.
One part of the website accuses Mr. Guerra of taking the $700 Council stipend and spending city money on travel and meals.
“I donate the $700 every month to organizations in Downey,” Mr. Guerra told us. “I give to the YMCA, our Little League, the Daikonia Foundation, Downey ARC, Rotary, Kiwanis and scholarships for our teens who do community service.”
The altered photos on the site include Mr. Guerra having dinner with his wife at a local restaurant with longtime family friends. Ann Guerra’s face is blocked out in the image, as are Mr. Guerra’s friends who accompanied them at the dinner. Mr. Guerra paid for that dinner.
Another altered photo shows Mr. Guerra standing by himself on a boat, but the real image we obtained shows Mr. Guerra standing next to his elderly aunt on a family vacation just prior to her death.
A third photo of Mr. Guerra is with friends at a Mexican restaurant in Redondo Beach. The altered image shows Mr. Guerra and his wife Ann’s faces blocked out. Above the image is the statement, “Councilman Mario A. Guerra’s City Credit Card purchases, Travel, and Dining Expenditures Are Out of Control!”
It was a date night, according to Mr. Guerra, and he spent his own money on all the trips.
Mr. Economy and Mr. Hews may be contacted at sales@cerritosnews.net.
