For years the general public has constantly read about the alleged misconduct of Santa Maria-Bonita School District school board member/mayoral candidate Will Smith. The false allegations range from making threatening statements and gestures, dishonesty, insubordination, attempted extortion, interference with a police investigation, misuse of a district-issued laptop computer, and requesting the district provide false information regarding his pay to a home lender. These allegations are hyperbolized by the local media whenever I run for public office.
When these falsehoods are read about, those who don’t know me assume I am a terrible person, but one should not judge so fast. First of all, who writes this fiction? The accusations have all originated from the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, which has been at odds with me for years. The district filed allegations with the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing, which ran with the allegations. The district entered into a “settlement agreement,” then reneged on it without any court backing them and did not honor the contract. They also tried to block me from taking office when I was on the school board. Judge Arthur Garcia of Santa Barbara Superior Court told them that what they were doing was wrong and outright denied their allegations.
Funny how these court findings are never spoken about. The board welcomed me to the board of education while taking me to Superior Court in attempts to try and block me from taking office as a school board member. It was disheartening to see these unethical tactics.
What is not known by many is that all the claims that the Santa Maria-Bonita school board made to local law enforcement about violating a student with physical and mental abuse have ended up being unfounded after a thorough investigation. There are no medical or police reports to confirm the claims. Looking at one distorted view of the situation without internalizing the whole story creates false news.
I am clergy, and when the court swears one in and takes the oath, “To tell the truth and the whole truth so help you God,” I cringe because I have heard so many untruths and variations of the truth such that I feel insulted as a man of God. It is true that I am appalled at listening to “false media” practices. Unfortunately, it seems the cunning lawyer with proclivities to manipulate information is prevalent. For the poor, indigent litigant, it is an uphill battle. I question whether fair and unbiased court proceedings can take place for those without a lot of resources.
It’s true the common citizen is held to the standards of a lawyer if they are representing themselves in court. And if one loses, they can be held liable to pay the other side’s legal bills? Conversely, if one does win, they cannot claim legal fees because they are not a lawyer. Is this fair? Is justice truly blind? You can use a law library, but all types of cases are not provided assistance by the local law library attorney. The towering question makes itself most evident: Is one being treated fairly?
When America starts enforcing laws based on what unqualified individuals say, society is in trouble. Imagine one’s neighbor claiming you sped, only to find the accusers were not qualified to make the claim. This is what my supporters and I have been dealing with for years. Because the courts say they believe something occurred does not make it right. That is why we have appellate and supreme courts which have overturned decisions by lower courts. Cases that substantiate this are the historic cases Brown v. Board (1954) and Lau v. Nichols (1974). Courts, for as well intentioned, are fallible.
The allegations of the peddling of fiction that have been made against me have been categorized as criminal offenses in my view. They have been investigated by police agencies, and no criminal activity has been found. I have never been convicted of a crime or have any criminal history concerning the above allegations. A check with the Santa Maria Police Department confirms these facts in totality. Our local District Attorney’s Office will reveal this as well.
I challenge the community to investigate the allegations by going down to the local courthouse and investigating the public records. Relying solely on the evidence, and not fiction from unqualified agencies, is the true and democratic way to unveil the truth. When one walks with the staff of truth, one has nothing to fear.
William C. Smith is a former Santa Maria-Bonita School Board member and Santa Maria mayoral candidate. You can follow him on Facebook at the page Voice for Change. Send your thoughts to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 1-8, 2017.