NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. — The Nevada County Republican Party is formally calling on District V Supervisor Hardy Bullock to resign following his August 25 remarks defending Nevada County’s conduct underlying a Fair Political Practices Commission enforcement action involving Measure V.
Nevada County stipulated to seven violations of California’s Political Reform Act arising from two publicly funded Measure V mailers and related disclosure and reporting violations, and a financial penalty is required.
Critically, Nevada County did not merely pay a penalty while denying wrongdoing. In its Stipulation, Decision, and Order, the County agreed that it “violated the Act as described” and accepted the stipulated account as a “true and accurate summary of the facts in this matter.”
Despite those admissions, Supervisor Bullock told the public August 25 that he “respectfully and entirely” disagreed with the FPPC’s findings and defended the County’s actions as a “good faith effort.”
Bullock further defended the County’s Measure V effort by stating that it was “solely intended to convey the magnitude of the issue and the proposed solution.”
“Supervisor Bullock effectively described the very persuasive structure the FPPC found unlawful,” said NCRP Chairman John “Mac” Young. “He said the purpose was to ‘convey the magnitude of the issue and the proposed solution.’ In other words: establish the magnitude of the wildfire threat and present Measure V as the solution. That is exactly why the distinction between neutral information and taxpayer-funded advocacy matters. The FPPC concluded these mailers crossed that line, and Nevada County stipulated to the violations.”
Concerns about the expenditures were also being raised contemporaneously. Correspondence later obtained through public records shows then-Supervisor Dan Miller questioning County officials about the cost of a Measure V mailer, whether the amount included printing, mailing and staff time, whether another mailer would follow, and how the County costs would be paid.
“It is this level of arrogance and blatant disregard for California law that helped create the mess Nevada County finds itself in today,” Young said. “The County admitted the violations, accepted the stipulated facts as true and accurate, and agreed to the penalty. Yet Supervisor Bullock’s response was not accountability—it was to defend the conduct.”
The NCRP emphasizes that Bullock has every right to disagree with the FPPC. The issue is his judgment as an elected official entrusted with oversight of public resources after the County formally admitted violations involving those resources.
“This is fundamentally about stewardship and public trust,” Young said. “Responsible leadership demanded an accounting of what went wrong, stronger safeguards against recurrence, and candor with taxpayers. Instead, Bullock defended the underlying conduct without acknowledging the County’s formal admissions. That response raises a fundamental question about his fitness to continue overseeing the public treasury.”
The Nevada County Republican Party respectfully but unequivocally calls upon Supervisor Hardy Bullock to resign from the Nevada County Board of Supervisors.