The sometimes bizarre rhetoric regarding labor relations in several Orange County cities took another odd turn on Tuesday, when a handful of city council members called a press conference to allege they have been subjected to police bullying.
Each told a slightly different story, but each with the same theme. Unions in their cities had attempted to intimidate them by either stopping them for driving violations, sending odd text messages, or even confronting them. Members of the community had also been subjected to scare tactics allegedly orchestrated by labor negotiating firm Lackie, Dammeier, and McGill.
Costa Mesa Councilman Jim Righeimer told his story about how a private investigator working for the firm tried to ambush him and have him arrested for driving under the influence. After leaving a bar owned by a fellow councilman, the investigator called police to report his suspicions that Righeimer was drunk. He was then stopped and passed a brief field sobriety test.
Council members from Costa Mesa, Buena Park, and Fullerton all relayed their experiences, and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher called for an investigation by the US Department of Justice and Department of Labor.
From the Voice of the OC:
Members of a handful of Orange County city councils Tuesday told stories of attempts by police unions to bully them into voting for generous labor contracts and said a flood of similar revelations is yet to come.
In a news conference led by Costa Mesa Councilman Jim Righeimer outside Costa Mesa City Hall, two council members from Buena Park and one from Fullerton recalled how their cities’ police associations had a councilman followed, blogged that officers should target cars belonging to council members’ children and bullied women employees at a local coffee shop that posted campaign signs supporting a councilman.
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