RSM Mayor Admits To Election Crime, Will Do Community Service Instead Of Council

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA — A longtime presence in the City of Rancho Santa Margarita's local government was charged this week after she admitted to falsifying nomination paperwork needed to run for re-election.

Former Rancho Santa Margarita Mayor Carol Gamble was charged with one misdemeanor count of making a false affidavit concerning signatures appended to an initiative — specifically, her nomination paperwork, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

Gamble was able to avoid a felony perjury charge in exchange for her admission of guilt, Spitzer said.

RELATED: RSM Mayor Abruptly Drops Her Reelection Bid, Citing 'Inaccurate' Info

The terms of the plea deal include 160 hours of community service, submission of her DNA, one year probation, and a monetary fine.

Gamble, who has served on the Rancho Santa Margarita City Council for 16 of the last 30 years — with four terms as the city's mayor — will appear in court Friday to enter her guilty plea.

According to Spitzer, city council candidates must personally collect signatures from voters to get on the ballot and must sign a document verifying they did so, or face perjury charges.

Gamble signed nomination documents on Aug. 7 that claimed she personally circulated petitions with 20 signatures, prosecutors said. But multiple voters who signed her petition told prosecutors she was not the one who asked them to sign it, Spitzer said.

The former mayor released a statement Monday, Oct. 21, revealing that she would be dropping her re-election bid due to "inaccurate information" on her nomination paperwork.

"To the residents, businesses, Council Colleagues and City Staff of Rancho Santa Margarita, I am very sorry for my irreversible mistake, and I am at the same time very proud of all that we accomplished by working together," she said in her statement.

While Gamble is ineligible for re-election, her name will still appear on the ballot — if elected, Gamble said she would resign from her District 3 City Council seat.

In addition, the City of Rancho Santa Margarita would be forced to hold a special election to elect an eligible candidate.

"American democracy relies on the absolute integrity of the electoral process," Spitzer said. "Voters must have total confidence that every election is being carried out in a fair and unbiased manner. Interference in the electoral process in any manner and at any stage jeopardizes the will of the people being carried out while eroding the trust of voters that their vote counts."

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