Contra Costa Board Of Education Trustee Accused Of Lying, Bouncing Checks

ANTIOCH (KPIX 5) -- An embattled county board of education trustee is seeking re-election in an East Bay district where some claim he doesn't even live.

Question continue to shadow Jeff Belle in Contra Costa County. Belle had been renting a room in an Antioch house until his landlord recently evicted him.

As he seeks re-election as a trustee with the Contra Costa Board of Education, he faces two problems: there's credible information to suggest he doesn't live in the district and multiple people have come out to call him a liar.

His landlord showed KPIX 5 a series of texts offering excuses as to why he had not paid back rent and promising to make amends.

The landlord said Belle never paid his back rent. After three months, he evicted Belle in September.

According to records, this was at least Belle's fourth eviction in recent years.

"I can't trust him anymore. I don't want to see, don't want to talk or do any deal with him anymore," the landlord told KPIX 5, showing a check from Belle that bounced.

The landlord asked to remain anonymous, fearing for his safety.

Belle is seeking his second term as a Contra Costa County Board of Education trustee. A credible source tells KPIX 5 he has been living outside of Contra Costa County with his wife.

The bounced check shows an address in Carmichael just outside of Sacramento.

Once Belle found out KPIX 5 was doing a story about his latest eviction, he updated the Board of Education with a new address Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday night, KPIX 5 went to check out that address. While there were no signs of Belle, we found his supporter Alicia Coleman-Clark. She claimed Belle lives in the house.

When asked how long he had lived at the home, Coleman-Clark replied, "He's always lived in Antioch. He maintains a couple of residences."

Then for the next 30 minutes, Coleman-Clark could not and would not answer how long Belle had lived at the home or show any proof of him living there.

"There's been questions for two years about his residency, whether it's his car or with his family in Sacramento," said fellow Contra Costa County Board of Education Trustee Vikki Chavez.

Chavez says a person who can't manage his own finances shouldn't manage a district.

"He prides himself for sitting on the budget committee and going to Sacramento to take care of their budgets," said Chavez. "Now how can you do that?"

Belle has a history of lying.

In September, he called out sick to his own trustee meeting and was caught on video that same night speaking at a different meeting. An investigation also found he lied in his 2014 candidate statement claiming he has multiple degrees.

The East Bay Times also found he pleaded no contest to cashing a bad check.

Others claim he misled them. In his bio on the Contra Costa County Board of Education website, he claims he's a film producer.

Southern California residents Ingrid Newman and Sherry Mattia say Belle lied to them earlier this year about paying for a television project.

They told KPIX 5 they later found Belle has no experience in film production and wasted several thousands of dollars of their own money on a project that never panned out.

"He's no film producer," said Mattia with a laugh. "He knew exactly what to say and how to say it, and he conned us!"

Jeff Belle told KPIX 5 he had no time to respond to the allegations, but he emailed KPIX 5 reporter Da Lin and his former landlord a photo of a scary clown Wednesday night.

The East Bay Times editorial board earlier this week called Belle a liar and endorsed one of his challengers.