PETRULAKIS PRODUCES POLITICAL MAILERS

Submitted by VOMStaff3 on Sun, 2012-01-22 23:10
in

 

In 1999 Petrulakis elected Carmen Sabatino as Mayor of Modesto because he did not know when to stop. He just might have made the same mistake again. 

 

1999 Memo to:

To:    Carmen Sabatino
Bill Conrad
Wylie P. Cashman

From:         a friend

CC:   -

Date: 12/07/99

Re:    Fat ***** Boy

____________________________________________________________________________________

The enclosed was presented to me today by Fat ***** Boy, aka, George Petrulakus. He wanted $900
to fund this attack on Carmen. If you knew who I was, you would know that I am not in your camp. But
I am getting sick and tired of this Zagaris takeover. They think they are real bigshots. Fat Boy was
bragging today how he took you out. He wouldn’t say how close he was to having enough money, but
trying to figure out when he would come to me, he’s probably close. I thought if you had it soon at least
you would know where you to be attacked. Can’t you sue Fat Boy and all those ******?

 

From "The Modesto's Mayor race of 1999" by Voice of Modesto staff.

"At the same time, certain developers, who were heavily invested in the incumbent Mayor, went into panic mode, and contrived a vicious smear mailer against Sabatino in an effort to keep Mayor Lang in office, as he faced Sabatino in the one-to-one runoff.  That mailer, which set a new record for sleaze in Modesto campaigns, backfired.  Word came from the County Elections Office that people who had already cast their mail-in votes for Lang were calling and asking if they could change their vote.  A similar smear mailer came a few days later, this one directly from the Lang campaign.  The voter backlash against Lang only worsened".

"The result?  Sabatino capped his 25-year run for City office with a five point victory over Lang.  However, the Bee, developer Mike Zagaris, attorney George Petrulakis, and other Sabatino detractors were not willing to give up the fight.  They knew that they couldn’t take Sabatino down in a straightforward election, so they began to seek out other, more devious means to accomplish his defeat when he was up for re-election in 2003."

But that’s a whole new chapter in the saga of “who controls Modesto.