Bill Condrashoff was one of the targets of an unsigned mailer taking an interest in the race for Amador Water Agency Board of Directors. Photo by: Scott Thomas Anderson

It was a name even the most die-hard Amador politicos had never heard before: Concerned Amador Property Owners.

While the mysterious group seemed to appear out of nowhere at the beginning of the week, it - along with nonprofits like the Foothill Conservancy and No Casino in Plymouth - are finding their names swirling in last-minute controversies approaching the eve of the election.

The headline of the anonymous mailer that started circulating late last week read, "Radical Special Interest Move to Control Amador Water Agency Board: What you don't know could cost you money and control of your land!" The mailer contained no names, phone numbers and no Web site. Its contents went on to accuse Amador Water Agency candidates Bill Condrashoff and Debbie Dunn of secretly planning to raise water rates in order to push the agenda of "a highly organized left wing group," the Foothill Conservancy.

Condrashoff, who's not a member of the Foothill Conservancy and has campaigned primarily on a platform of lowering the cost of water, became irate and tracked down the commercial post office box it was sent from. He soon discovered a document filed with the California Secretary of State naming two chairpersons and a treasurer for the Concerned Property Owners - Ray Brusatori of Sutter Creek, Marc Bowman of Pine Grove and Stevan Moren of Ione.

In a phone conversation with the Ledger Dispatch, Bowman said he'd filed an amendment with the Amador County Elections Office to remove himself from the group before the mailer was sent out. "I was only part of the Concerned Property Owners for about 36 hours," Bowman said. "I share some of their general concerns, but I wasn't comfortable with the direction they were heading, so I formally resigned. I had nothing to do with this letter." Bowman confirmed that CAPO was a pro-development group and that there were a number of individuals besides Brusatori and Moren who were "pulling the strings." He refused to say who these individuals were.

"This was a hit piece that was almost entirely false in everything it stated," Condrashoff said. "The truth is I've fought for fair water rates for the citizens of Jackson. Is that 'radical?' It looks like the current AWA incumbents in the race, Madonna Wiebold and Paul Scott, have friends who are desperate enough to use scare tactics. When this happens, it changes everything."

Dunn, a community activist who also freelances for the Ledger Dispatch, agreed. "You don't attack people who aren't going to win," she observed. "No one from this group ever called me and attempted to verify any of this information. I'm not some crazy 'left-wing' person. In fact, I've been formally endorsed by three out of five county supervisors. After 15 years of volunteering my time to help Amador County in every way I could, this attack really hurts. Honestly, this was truly gutless."

Bowman told the Ledger Dispatch he had since had the chance to speak with Condrashoff, a conversation that eased some of the developer's concerns. He said Dunn hadn't returned invitations to speak with him prior to the mailer being sent out. He stressed repeatedly that he shouldn't be associated as a member or spokesperson for the group, saying Brusatori and Moren should be the ones answering media inquiries.

Neither Brusatori nor Moren returned a call for comment.

Another candidate who's crying foul in the waning days of the election is Plymouth City Council hopeful, Maria Nunez. In a series of statements and letters to the Ledger Dispatch, members of No Casino in Plymouth have called Nunez "(one) hundred-percent pro-casino" and an unofficial "spokesperson for the Ione Band of Miwoks."

Nunez called this is a complete distortion. "I have never been pro-casino," she said late Tuesday morning. "I have been pro-negotiation as an insurance policy in case the casino ends up getting built. Anyone can call the leadership of the tribe and ask them - they'll swear on the Bible that I've always told them that I don't want your casino; but if it comes, I want you to pay your way and then some for the good of Plymouth."

Nunez added that, because she communicates with the tribe, she's occasionally answered questions on their behalf at city council meetings; but that she disagrees such incidents make her a spokesperson for the Ione band. "People will think what they want to think," she said. "I'm pro-Plymouth. That's the only thing I am."