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By Kent Larsen
Mormon Police Union Official in Political Fight with Oceanside Mayor
OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA -- The head of the Oceanside Police Officers
Association, the union representing police officers in the town, took on
Mayor Terry Johnson Friday, disputing his claims that the union is racist,
and saying that his own, Mormon, ancestors were discriminated against like
Mayor Johnson's African-American ancestors. Chris McDonough spoke to the
Catfish Club, the same group that heard Johnson's claim that the police were
racists.
McDonough told the group that he isn't racist, explaining to them that his
ancestors, like the African-Americans of the same time, suffered from
persecution and an attempt to exterminated them in the mid 1800s. He said
his union is also "colorblind and gender-blind" and offered several answers
to Johnson's claims of racism.
McDonough explained that the Police Officer's Association hadn't supported
or endorsed Johnson for Mayor for several reasons, including Johnson showing
up for an endorsement interview in jeans and a T-shirt, his imposition, as a
city council member, of a contract on the police unilaterally instead of
negotiating, and his history of appearing at crime scenes and disrupting
police investigations by talking with officers.
Johnson dismissed McDonough's explanation, saying that he has the support of
the voters. But Johnson's opponents from the last election are mounting a
re-call attempt, claiming that he doesn't have the support of the voters.
McDonough's union, however, refuses to either support or oppose the effort.
Source:
Head of Oceanside POA denies charge of racism
San Diego CA Union-Tribune 5May01 T2
By Lola Sherman: Union-Tribune Staff Writer
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