SON USED ARMY MAIL FOR COLLEY SOLDIER HELPED CAMPAIGN FROM IRAQ USING FREE SERVICE.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- The son of water agency board candidate Ed Colley used a free Army mail service to send voters campaign mailers from Iraq, where the reserve officer was stationed.

It was unclear how many mailers Lt. Alan Colley sent on behalf of his father.

But the soldier, who has volunteered for other campaigns in the past, got a list of voters from Santa Clarita Valley Republican Headquarters, Ed Colley said. He hand-wrote those names and addresses on the mailings he sent out to voters in his father's Canyon Country area district.

Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies, said the mailers were an improper use of the the taxpayer-funded mail system for service men and women.

``Basically the taxpayers are paying for it and you're not allowed to use taxpayer money like this for campaigns,'' Stern said. ``There's a rule on that.''

Alan Colley was, until recently, serving in Iraq with the Army Reserve in the 394th Adjunct General Company, which handles the job of getting mail to and from soldiers in far-flung areas.

Ed Colley, an incumbent, ran Tuesday for re-election to the board of the Castaic Lake Water Agency. He was challenged by Jan Heidt, a former mayor of Santa Clarita.

``Personally, my opinion is what he did is not inappropriate,'' said Ed Colley, who works at Valencia High School running its ROTC program.

``I do recognize the fact that it was free postage. He did hand-address envelopes, I'm sure he didn't send out that many.''

Alan Colley is returning home from Iraq and could not be reached for comment.

Ed Colley said the campaign mailing his son sent from Iraq was only a tiny part of his campaign. The candidate said he raised about $25,000 and sent out three rounds of mass mailings.

In Alan Colley's letter to voters, the lieutenant praised his father for his work on the water board tackling cleanup of groundwater pollution from the Whittaker-Bermite site, and for fighting the proposed Cemex sand and gravel mine in Soledad Canyon.

The letter has the words ``Paid for by Alan Colley'' at the bottom.

Alan Colley, 26, has a degree in government from Cornell University, and his father said he has a passion for politics. Alan Colley volunteered for Santa Clarita Councilman Frank Ferry's campaign as a teen, and he's been involved in other campaigns since.

``I think he would probably tell you that he would have preferred to be home and working for my campaign, helping me in person as he did four years ago,'' Ed Colley said.

``But this is something he could do from Iraq. He's off serving his country and he was able to do something, some small part for my campaign, which I appreciate.''

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