County School Board Candidate Threatens Reuhligs, Approaches Opponents Husband in Parking Lot

According to Matthias Gafni of the Contra Costa Times, the quiet race for the Contra Costa Board of Education seat has taken a turn as information became public into the criminal, educational and medical background of candidate Jeffery Belle.

Jeffery Belle is challenging Cynthia Ruehlig for the Contra Costa County Area 5 seat. After the accusations were published in the Times last night, we reached out to the Ruehligs who denied involvement about the information being presented about Mr. Belles history.

Instead, they have been threatened by Mr. Belle both in an email and in the Antioch City Hall Parking lot.

Cynthia Ruehlig provided the following statement:

I am not responsible for Mr. Belle’s problems.  I also cannot control what people google or post on Facebook or social media.  Chatter on his personal woes is a result of people doing due diligence on the candidates.  Mr. Belle should stop making me his scapegoat and own up to his actions. 

Mr. Belle’s ex-wife emailed me on Oct.14 at 7:46 am after two reporters contacted her.  Ms. Casey Jones initiated contact with me and not the other way around.

Anyone who wants to run for public office should remember that if you can’t take the heat then stay out of the kitchen. 

I will continue to focus on the issues as California is at the crux of major innovations to education.

Cynthia Ruehlig

Walter Ruehlig’s further provided an email which threatened them with a negative and dirty campaign.

Here is a screen shot of the email, click to enlarge.

Walter Ruehlig also claims that Mr. Belle came after him in the City Hall Parking lot Tuesday night accusing him and his wife of smearing him.  Ruehlig says he and his wife are taking the high road because most of the information about Mr. Belle is available on the internet.

“He only wants to blame us so that he has a scapegoat and can go dirty and justify it,” said Ruehlig.

While a few of the items mentioned in the Times piece are on the internet, Gafni went deeper so kudos to him.

Per his article, here is a rundown of what he found:

• In June, a state agency cited and fined Belle, who has long lectured about nicotine addiction on the medical college circuit, for practicing respiratory care without a license.
• In 1992 and 1997, while living in Oklahoma, Belle was charged with felony bogus check cashing, pleading guilty in one case, according to court records. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but he wasn’t caught until Santa Fe Police arrested him on New Year’s Eve 2007, a police spokeswoman from the New Mexico department said.
• He also was charged with a similar misdemeanor cashing bogus checks in Marion County, Florida, in 2000.
• Belle has had more than 10 civil judgments against him, and federal and state tax liens from his time in Oklahoma and California totaling almost $20,000.
• Belle claims he has a degree from American University in Washington DC, a masters degree from Oklahoma City University and a doctoral degree from Harrington University in London–but the details are switched around at different times per Gafni. He also claims he has a bachelors degree on his official statement appearing on the Contra Costa County election material–however, Belle has no college degree.
• Belle was fined $8,200 on June 20 by the Respiratory Care Board of California for “misrepresenting himself as a respiratory care practitioner and was engaging in the practice of respiratory care without a current and valid license in California.
• In 2009, Belles landlord evicted him from his Pleasant Hill office for failure to pay $3,400 in rent.
• In 2010, Belle and his wife were evicted from a Walnut Creek address for failure to pay $2,500 in rent.

For the full Contra Costa Times article, click here which also included s documents associated with the claims.