At the March 2009 City Council meeting, an item regarding anonymous informational election mailers was placed on the Agenda by Councilmembers Baroldi and Vipperman, seeking City action, or request for action by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), to uncover and punish the person(s) who mailed the flyers.

During the discussion, Councilmember Vipperman repeatedly stated that the law was broken by stupid, stupid people, among other comments.

Unknown to the Council until after the item was settled, Vipperman said he had already filed a complaint with the FPPC on his own.

Some wondered why he used Staff and meeting time to try to get the City to do something he had already done.

Acting upon Councilmember Vipperman's complaint, which included copies of the informational flyers, the FPPC did a preliminary investigation, and decided to close the matter as they found no wrong doing.