Mock Los Gatos Campaign Flyers Carry Hateful Message: Candidate

LOS GATOS, CA — Mock campaign flyers distributed in downtown Los Gatos earlier this week targeting a candidate, the LGBTQ community, and the Black Lives Matter movement, carry a hateful message.

That’s according to the candidate the flyers purport to represent.

The flyers distributed Tuesday claim to represent “The citizens of Los Gatos” who “want NO MOORE rainbow sidewalks”

“If you were in Downtown Los Gatos yesterday, you likely saw these hateful posters plastered along the street,” Los Gatos Town Council candidate Rob Moore wrote on his campaign’s Facebook page.

“Obviously, these were not posted by my campaign.”

Moore alleges those behind the flyer incident are part of the same group of right-wing activists accused of harassing then-Mayor and current Councilmember Marico Sayoc.

“She was slandered racially, she was slandered for being a woman, she was slandered for who her children were, and so this group has really come after groups that are, not white,” Moore said in an NBC Bay Area interview.

Last year right-wing activists disrupted Town Council meetings and held protests outside the homes of Sayoc and Vice Mayor Rob Rennie during virtual meetings, The Mercury News reports.

Subsequent policies developed by the town to deter such incidents became the blueprint for Senate Bill 100, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law earlier this week.

The right-wing activists represent a small but vocal group in a South Bay community known for being bright blue politically.

“This is not welcome in Los Gatos,” Moore wrote in his Facebook post.

“The poster is actually right in some ways, though. I am unequivocally supportive of our LGBTQ neighbors, our black and brown friends, and making Los Gatos a place where anyone can thrive.”

Moore is among six Town Council six candidates who will compete for three seats in the Nov. 8 election.

Incumbent Mary Badame, Mayor Rob Rennie, Planning Commissioner Reza Tavana, business executive Rob Stump and attorney Margaret Smith are the others.

But the flyers reflect the views of some in the community who view who aren’t on board with what they view as a progressive agenda that’s inconsistent with their values, Mitch Timko told the television station.

“People just want to live their life and do what they want to do without big government telling them what they can and can’t do,” Timko said.

“I think that it’s gotten a little out of hand.”