A failed candidate for Sacramento City Council is apparently still trying to influence the campaign.
Terry Schanz, who finished fourth in the June primary for the District 4 seat covering Land Park and the Central City, has registered a website at www.sacstonewall.com, according to domain registration records. The website address is a reference to the Stonewall Democrats of Sacramento, the largest gay and lesbian political organization in the region.
Problem is, Stonewall's real website is www.sacstonewall.org.
Until late this afternoon, visitors to the site created by Schanz were immediately redirected to the website of City Council candidate Joe Yee. Schanz is supporting Yee.
But Stonewall is supporting Yee's competitor, Steve Hansen. If elected, Hansen would be the first openly-gay council member in Sacramento history and Stonewall has been a vocal supporter of his campaign for months.
For his part, Schanz said he did nothing improper. Still, after being questioned by a Bee reporter - and being contacted by Yee - Schanz changed the site to redirect visitors to the website for the Democratic Party of Sacramento County.
Schanz said he purchased the web address "to make sure anti-gay hate groups wouldn't purchase it." When asked why he didn't simply leave the site blank, he responded, "It's the internet. You can do a lot of things."
"I don't think it implies anything," he said of redirecting visitors to Yee's site. "I don't understand what the issue is."
Schanz is still trying to get into local politics; he's running for a spot on the city's elected charter commission. He said he registered the website on his own without the knowledge of the Yee campaign.
Political consultant Andrew Acosta, who is running Yee's campaign, said "we have, in no uncertain terms, told supporters to keep it clean and keep it positive."
"People should be focusing on the issues and not playing games," he said. "It's unnecessary. It's distracting and silly."
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