As it turns out, Gerard Boulanger was never elected to a local or regional government. Nor was it true that he had earned not only one college degree, but continued on to earn an MBA. The issue, he said, was a matter of translation.
In his native France, he had been selected to serve as a “grand elector,” or a position akin to the American Electoral College. The difference, however, is that there are 150,000 grand electors, and they cast votes for the 383-member senate.
What’s more, the work that he did for local governments in the Paris suburb he called home was not an elected position, it was a position with a political party.
Now the heat is off his opponent, the incumbent council member who tore up his recall notice during a televised council meeting.
From the Bay Area News Group:
An election Tuesday that began as a referendum on the performance of two Hercules City Council members has shifted focus to a replacement candidate, after recent mailers questioning his truthfulness culminated in his admission that he embellished his resume.
In a statement emailed to Bay Area News Group over the weekend, Gerard Boulanger admitted he never received a university degree. In an interview Sunday, Boulanger said he was not popularly elected to any local or regional government council or panel in his native France.
Read the full article here.