Politics & Government

Tea Partier Accuses Local Politician Of Grabbing 'Dream Act' Spotlight

A local Tea Party supporter accuses State Assembly candidate Phil Paule of taking credit for signature drives aimed at repealing the California Dream Act.

Only in conservative Southwest Riverside County would a tussle ensue over who should get credit for trying to repeal the controversial

Republican State Assembly candidate Phil Paule is accused by local Tea Party supporter Diana Serafin of sending a mass email that implied he was associated with a Dec. 15 signature drive to repeal the Act.

On the day of the three-city drive, Paule sent an email announcing the locations with a message reading, "Candidate for the Assembly Phil Paule continues his effort to gather signatures to repeal the Dream Act today."

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Serafin said the email implied Paule played some role in organizing the event, which is untrue, she wrote in an email blast.

"I do not support Phil Paule and am very upset with him using the work me and the volunteers are doing," Serafin said.

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which includes Lake Elsinore and Wildomar. He is running against Lake Elsinore candidates and

Paule wasn't trying to hog the glory, he said in an interview Monday. He was trying to help the cause.

"I'm not trying to take the credit," he said. "We were just trying to direct people to where they can go to give their signatures."

brought forward by Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), was introduced as two bills this year: AB 130 was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on July 25; it allows undocumented students to apply for non-state-funded scholarships. AB 131, which was signed by the governor on October 9, allows undocumented students to apply for public financial aid to attend California public colleges and universities.

In November he announced his support for the Stop AB 131/Dream Act campaign backed by Inland Empire Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R-Twin Peaks). Paule has vowed to collect 10,000 signatures from the Riverside County area in an attempt to repeal the Act.

He said that by sending the Dec. 15 announcement to the more than 6,000 people on his email list, he was simply taking an active part in the effort.

"I want to be as helpful as possible," he said.

Paule and his volunteers have gathered more than 1,000 signatures so far, he said.

But Serafin wants people to recognize that she and fellow organizers put in a lot of work to make the Dec. 15 drive happen.

"A few of us worked over two days coordinating the locations, volunteers, driving up to Corona to pick up petitions and banners, getting signs printed as well as making homemade signs for these events. We sent out over 2,100 emails, put events in the local newspapers and updated all Facebook pages in the community," she said. "Phil Paule only sent out an email implying he was behind the petition drive."

Paule, a French Valley resident, is the vice president of the Eastern Municipal Water District board of directors and the district director for Congressman Darrell Issa.

He and his wife, Julie, run a public affairs and political fundraising firm. --Toni McAllister contributed to this report.


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