Such a soothing green. It’s almost as if they had seen that color somewhere before…
Confused supporters of Mayor and City Council candidate Doug Chaffee have noticed the giant green and blue signs bearing his name and the name of fellow candidate Larry Bennett, and wondered who could possibly be supporting both of them. Doug Chaffee is a supporter of saving Coyote Hills, Larry Bennett supported Measure W, Chevron’s plan to build there. Doug Chaffee is the darling of Fullerton’s Democrats, while Larry Bennett is the great white hope of the city’s establishment Republicans. Larry Bennett has been endorsed by Congressman-for-life Ed Royce, Supervisor Shawn Nelson, former State Senator Dick Ackerman and current State Senator Bob Huff. Doug Chaffee’s endorsements include Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, the Sierra Club, the Fullerton Observer…and former State Senator Dick Ackerman, evidently…
What (else) could possibly bring these two together on one oversized sign? The Fullerton Police Officers Association, of course. The FPOA, the union representing Fullreton’s police officers, will back whichever candidates they think will increase their number and/or safeguard their salaries. Note, for example, Larry Bennett’s answer to the OC Register’s question “Should city government contract or expand in Fullerton?” Mr. Bennett dutifully answers that “…our police force is currently 145 members. We used to be a force of 155. The city is growing and therefore more services will be required,” offering a not so subtle promise to authorize the hiring of more police officers, at the cost of millions to Fullerton’s taxpayers. For his part, Doug Chaffee has earned the support of Fullerton’s police by steadfastly resisting any meaningful civilian oversight of the Fullerton Police Department in the wake of the killing of Kelly Thomas, and lawsuits against the FPD for the actions of former officer Rincon, etc.
No mystery here, just look down…
There is nothing unusual about the FPOA picking the friendliest City Council candidates from nominally left and right of the political spectrum every two years. During the last election they spent tens of thousands of dollars promoting Jan Flory and Rick Alvarez, although they seem to have kicked Mr. Alvarez to the curb in favor of Mr. Bennett this year. What is unusual this cycle is that their signs don’t bear the words “Fullerton Police Support” proudly above the names of their chosen candidates. In past years the word “Police” carried some weight with the voting public, but now, it seems, it’s more of a millstone around the candidates’ necks. However, close inspection reveals the source of the bounty at the bottom of the signs. It must feel bad to have to hide their identity when it was once treated as a badge of honor.
fullertonrag.com 
My policy is to never vote for a candidate endorsed by the police and fire unions since Jan Flory, in her last campaign, said, “We had to vote for that… (spike in pensions) or we would not have been reelected.” Obviously bribery or blackmail on the part of FPOA.
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