Political strategist Crystal Martin files for bankruptcy

Local investor and political strategist Crystal Martin has filed for federal bankruptcy protection, listing among her claims a potential fine from the Fair Political Practices Commission for a political campaign direct-mail violation.

Martin lists assets of $1.3 million and liabilities of $3.4 million, including claims from River Valley Community Bank and the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation.

The Oct. 12 Chapter 7 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Sacramento by her and her husband, Chad Miller, should free them from incurring any debt from an FPPC fine or other unsecured claims, remove liability to pay for properties they intend to surrender to lenders, and prevent tax debt from any existing properties that are foreclosed on in the future, including their numerous rentals, said their attorney, Anthony Hughes of Sacramento.

Martin was linked last year to a political attack ad mailer directed against then-Yuba City mayor and City Council candidate Kash Gill, an opponent of her client, Yuba City Councilman Tej Maan.

The Sutter County District Attorney's Office has been investigating the mailer in conjunction with the FPPC. Chief Investigator Bill Kellogg said Martin's involvement in the mailer is part of the investigation but has not been determined.

When reached by phone last week to discuss the bankruptcy filing, Martin said "no comment" and immediately hung up.

Hughes said he did not know much about the violation, but his understanding is that a mailer "did not comply with some minor thing," and the printing was later changed.

"It's highly unlikely that there will be a fine," he said. "It was listed as an abundance of caution."

Martin's bankruptcy filing also includes an intention to surrender her and her husband's shares of a Yuba City industrial complex valued at $1.5 million. The couple purchased 350 Bridge St. in 2007 with another investor with the intention of turning around a blighted property, but it has experienced frequent turnover in tenants in recent years.

Maan expressed sympathy on hearing of Martin's bankruptcy filing.

"It's sad to see a young couple that's working so hard have to declare bankruptcy," he said. "I guess it's a sign of our economic times that even the hardest-working people with the best intentions get hurt."

Maan's third run for the City Council in 2006 was among the first campaigns that Martin managed, and as a self-described "longshot" in the race, he said he thinks his victory that year put her in the spotlight as someone who could "get it done."

As a campaign manager, Martin did everything correctly, Maan said.

He said he has no idea what the violation might be and the District Attorney's Office has not questioned him about the Gill attack ad. Maan has asserted he did not pay Martin's business, Smart Marketing, for any attack ads against Gill.

In recent years, Martin has managed numerous campaigns in local county supervisor and city council races, including those of Sutter County Supervisor Jim Whiteaker, Yuba County Supervisors Hal Stocker and Roger Abe, and Yuba City Councilman John Miller.

She also managed the 2010 congressional run of Democratic lawyer Jim Reed of Fall River Mills. He did not win and has since been redistricted out of the Yuba-Sutter area but said that if possible, he would definitely reconsider her as a campaign manager.

"She was fantastic, very innovative," he said.

It was Martin who created a talking card that made his campaign go viral and created the publicity to help him in his upcoming congressional election, Reed said. He has not talked to her since last year but said he does not think the violation is linked to his campaign.

A bulk-mail company in Sacramento has said Bhupinder Gill, a Sacramento resident who is not related to Kash Gill, paid for the mailers and falsely identified himself as being with Martin's business, Smart Marketing.

"I don't understand whether (Bhupinder Gill) was trying to throw me under the bus with this or he thought he was helping Tej Maan's campaign," Martin said at the time.

She had also said she suspected the attacks and subsequent fallout are linked to factions within the East Indian community.

Kellogg said the District Attorney's Office has been working with the FPPC to determine if the person who sent the mailers properly identified himself or herself, and that several individuals have been contacted and interviewed. The length of the investigation is partly due to staffing limits and case prioritization because of budget cuts at the state and local level, and because some people have been reluctant to be interviewed.

There is no time frame for a potential resolution, and the District Attorney's Office is still encouraging people with knowledge of the mailer to call with information.

Ultimately, the FPPC could levy civil penalties and fines and the DA's office could consider criminal charges, such as forgery.

Kash Gill said it is important to him that a resolution be reached in the investigation and he hopes one will come in the next few months.

"I've been patiently waiting since the last election. Almost a year has gone by," he said. "Knowing what I knew the day the election happened, I just have to be patient to let the investigation take its course and where it leads us. In the bottom of my heart and the facts that I have, I know exactly where this should lead us, but you never know."

The mailer attacked Gill for his business management when the bank where he was a manager, Butte Community Bank, was declared insolvent and taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It and similar robocalls that went out days after the mailer urged voters not to elect him to another term.

Maan was declared the winner by a 49-vote margin 18 days after the election. Gill said he thought the mailer undoubtedly influenced the outcome of the race.

Other issues related to the City Council race are slowly reaching resolutions. Yuba City residents Sukhdev Singh Mundi and Navjot Singh Thiara, who were arrested in a campaign-related fight on election night, pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor disturbing the peace.

CONTACT reporter Ashley Gebb at 749-4783.