If you can’t compete with your political rivals, expose them as criminals.

Maybe it’s just a bizarre coincidence, but those who support the idea of revising the structure of Lawrence County government are being tarred with ugly brushes these days. Every time you turn around, another allegation surfaces.

Last week, District Attorney John Bongivengo sent out a letter declaring that den of nefarious iniquity — aka the League of Women Voters of Lawrence County — had broken the law by “promoting the write-in of six candidates for the home-rule (sic) study.”

But the evidence was otherwise. The league didn’t endorse six people for an 11-member board. It told voters they had to write in enough names to fill the panel, or else the government study referendum would fail. The league ran an ad that included the names of seven individuals who had agreed to run as write-ins. No one was endorsed.

Now, Bongivengo wants the league to register as a political action committee. He indicates a criminal complaint will follow if it does not.

The letter, all two paragraphs of it, does not spell out Bongivengo’s legal reasoning or how, precisely, the league broke the law. It reads like something pounded out on a lunch break, rather than the sort of well-researched analysis needed for such a serious matter.

After all, the league is a federal non-profit organization. It cannot be a non-profit and a PAC at the same time. And the league’s non-profit status is tied to its state and national structure.

Does Bongivengo understand what he’s gotten himself into?

The league has two choices: Ignore Bongivengo and give him the chance to go away, or challenge him. Personally, I’m hoping for a fight, because it would be fun to watch.

And as I have said in the past, entertainment is Lawrence County government’s greatest asset.

For example, a few weeks ago, after a government study commission meeting adjourned, its members and citizens in attendance began to discuss issues related to the study.

This prompted county Commissioner Dan Vogler to tell a News reporter that I should look into the possibility commission members violated the Sunshine Law by engaging in this discussion.

No action was taken, and no one was excluded from the conversation. Yet Vogler — who no doubt chats regularly behind closed doors with his fellow elected commissioners — suggests the discussion was illegal?

If that’s what the good commissioner believes, he should file a complaint. I’m not interested in conducting his political smears.

And then there are the anonymous rumors oozing out of the courthouse regarding study commission member David Kennaday. A few years back, Kennaday was contracted by the commissioners to do financial work for the county amid the Gary Felasco mess.