Peter Foy Election night didn’t hold much suspense for candidates in the 4th District supervisor’s race as absentee ballot counts showed a 3-to-1 lead favoring incumbent Peter Foy within 20 minutes of the polls’ closing.

Bruce Thomas, a school trustee for the Moorpark Unified School District, challenged Foy to represent residents in Simi Valley, Moorpark and surrounding unincorporated areas.

Fewer than 30 percent of the district’s 94,000 registered voters participated in the election. As of Wednesday morning, Foy had received almost 14,000 votes (64 percent) while Thomas got about 8,000 votes (36 percent.)

“I think it shows that people believe in what we’re doing and we’ll continue to do that,” said Foy, who was first elected supervisor in 2006.

During his second term, Foy said his goal will be to provide sound leadership to make sure the county is well managed so it can sustain essential services in spite of growing financial shortages.

IN QUESTION—The above quote was featured in a pro-Bruce Thomas mailer sent out to voters last week. The statement was actually made by Peter Foy. Thomas’ campaign manager Marc O’Hara has taken full responsibility, calling it an unintentional error. “We have to maintain core government, like public safety and fire protection, and balance the need for social services, but it’s going to be harder,” Foy said.

Foy, 53, owns an insurance brokerage firm in the San Fernando Valley. He spent about $55,000 on his campaign.

“The greatest thing I get out of this is serving the people of this county and helping them to get the road blocks out of their way,” he said.

Thomas, 61, said he entered the race to bring unaddressed issues to light and give constituents another choice. But constant negative ads in other political races and lack of knowledge among citizens concerning what a supervisor does discouraged voters from coming to the polls.

“We had good issues, but there’s way too much negativity in the elections so it’s tough to convince people that it was important to come out and vote,” said Thomas, who spent about $20,000 on the campaign.

The retired U.S. Marine and certified financial adviser ran for a seat on the Moorpark City Council in 2004 and vied for an Assembly seat in 2002 as a Democratic candidate against Republican Tony Strickland. Both campaigns ended unsuccessfully.

In the supervisorial race, Thomas advocated for the unincorporated communities, and he worked to inform people about the downside of the proposed Simi Valley landfill expansion project. Education was also part of his platform.

“The biggest issue was that East County is getting the short end of the stick,” Thomas said. “We needed somebody that was going to be an advocate for this area, but Peter is basically an antigovernment guy and many areas are neglected.”

Foy refuted Thomas’ remarks. With his guidance, he said, county services became more accessible to East County residents and relationships between the supervisor’s office and elected officials in Moorpark and Simi are much improved. He pointed to the creation of a new community prosecutor position in 2008 in the Simi Valley Courthouse.

The supervisor said he, too, was disappointed with the low turnout and negative tone of the recent election

But Foy pointed out that Thomas made a significant blunder, using a quote printed in the Simi Valley Acorn on March 19 and falsely attributing it to himself in a campaign mailer. The quote, “My ideas and track record prove I can create and manage a fiscally strong county,” were Foy’s words.

“This goes beyond politics. The idea that someone like Thomas would blatantly plagiarize another candidate is disgraceful,” Foy said, adding that the mistake is relevant because Thomas is a school trustee and is supposed to be a role model for children.

Thomas said he was unaware of the gaffe until it was brought it to his attention on Election Day.

“I didn’t know it was his quote. That was just stuck in the mailer,” he said, indicating that his campaign consultant, Marc O’Hara, made the error and it wasn’t intentional.

On Wednesday, O’Hara called the Acorn and took full responsibility for the mistake.

He said Thomas is a man of “rock solid” character who would never intentionally plagiarize anyone.

“This was my mistake. I’m the fellow who produced the flier,” O’Hara said.