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SANDY — The mayor of Sandy on Monday called for an end to the shenanigans after two illegal mailers were sent out targeting a City Council candidate.
The mailers state "SANDY VOTERS BEWARE!" and that "Wacko Democrat Candidate Aaron Dekeyzer is COMPLETELY WRONG FOR SANDY CITY!" It also includes a link to a website that also claims to be "proudly paid for by a group of very concerned Sandy residents."
"It's baseless, it's not factual," Dekeyzer said during an interview with KSL-TV Monday evening. "They're appealing to a certain segment of the population that's really radical."
Officials said the mailers are illegal because the group behind them has not registered and followed proper election rules. Those rules can be found here.
"It's really disheartening that they have made national issues local issues and they're going to attack me for those things," said Dekeyzer.
Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski waded in Monday, noting that local elections are nonpartisan and anonymous campaigns like these shouldn't happen.
"Somebody's going to a lot of trouble and a lot of expense to fill our mailboxes in Sandy with a lot of garbage, and I'm really upset about it," Zoltanski said.
Zoltanski said a candidates forum is scheduled at Sandy City Hall Thursday starting at 5:30 p.m. and she hopes residents will attend to hear from the candidates themselves.
"I'm calling on Sandy voters to get informed about the candidates, get informed about the issues," Zoltanski said. "That's really the best way to learn about what's happening in your community."
Attempts to reach state elections officials late Monday evening were not immediately met with a response.
Dekeyzer said he had his own suspicions about who might be responsible for the mailers and he hoped whoever it was would be held accountable.
"Clearly it's someone with a financial stake, we think," Dekeyzer said. "Whether it's Sandy or anywhere else, this is unacceptable and needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
