People have called the Trump era the “post-truth” era in American politics, where a candidate can be a serial liar, make outrageous claims as easily as they walk down the street, and still be elected President. In days like these I think it’s even more important that we as voters demand rigorous honesty from our elected officials.

While many politicians exaggerate, it is truly unprecedented for one to make a claim of being a licensed architect, one of the most difficult professional accreditations to attain and one of the most respected professions in the world. That is exactly what Brayden McLaughlin has been doing in his run for Lincoln City Council this spring.

Below at a candidate forum Brayden McLaughlin (at 5:25) lists architecture as one of his areas of expertise.

At 5:25, Brayden McLaughlin introduces himself as the owner of an architecture firm.

On his firm’s website he again lists Architecture as something that he offers

While McLaughlin thought he could pull the wool over most voters’ eyes, the REAL Lincoln architect community isn’t huge and it didn’t take long for his web of lies to catch up with him. The American Institute of Architects Nebraska, the professional organization of architects whom is responsible for maintaining standards and professional licenses, has called on McLaughlin to stop misrepresenting himself and violating the law.

A letter from the American Institute of Architects Nebraska — Page 1

AIA Letter — Page 2

It appears from this 2001 Daily Nebraskan article and this 2004 Journal Star article that Brayden McLaughlin was an architect student at UNL so he surely had some classes, but according to his LinkedIn page he completed his bachelor’s in Geography and Political Science. While getting his MBA at the University of Cincinnati in Community Planning and Urban Design it looks like he may have participated in an architecture contest. Still, Brayden McLaughlin is not an architect and cannot legally offer those services.

The letter from the AIA states that McLaughlin has likely violated two statutes from the Nebraska Administrative Code

7.3 Criteria for Issuing a Certificate of Authorization

The first violation of the Nebraska Administrative Code that the AIA believes McLaughlin violated.

81–3441 Use of Title; unlawful practice

The question most on my mind is what LIBA will do when this information reaches the masses. LIBA as a professional business organization would surely lose much of it’s credibility if they continue to support a candidate who masqueraded as an architect and lied to voters on such a scale.

I am calling on LIBA to withdraw it’s endorsement of Brayden Mclaughlin and for Mr. McLaughlin to withdraw from the race, and to make a public statement that he misrepresented himself and his services, as he was called on to do by the American Institute of Architects Nebraska.