Plumbers union sends out mailer slamming Kevin Johnson

A no-holds-barred political mailer slamming Sacramento mayoral candidate Kevin Johnson is the product of a political action committee of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447.

The mailer, timed to hit mailboxes at the same time absentee ballots arrive, is headlined: "There is a cloud hanging over Kevin Johnson."

It is a glossy four-page campaign piece with grainy photos of Johnson and news headlines. It cites news reports about two sexual misconduct allegations against Johnson, one in Phoenix in 1995 and one in Sacramento last year. Both involved underage girls.

No criminal charges were filed in either case, and Sacramento police found "no merit" to the local allegation - facts not mentioned in the mailer.

The mailer was sent by the union's independent expenditures committee, which under state law can't coordinate with a candidate's campaign. But the Johnson campaign was quick to blame Mayor Heather Fargo for the "No Way KJ" mailer and a companion Web site.

"Heather Fargo's campaign has stooped to a new low with an outrageous, over-the-top mailer and Web site spreading false allegations about Kevin Johnson - and doing it 'no fingerprints,' through her top supporters," said Christy Setzer, a Johnson spokesperson.

"The Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447 contributed the maximum amount to Fargo's campaign in 2004 and again this year. Why hasn't Heather Fargo repudiated their disgusting attack?"

Fargo said Wednesday she had not seen the flier and that her campaign had nothing to do with the mailing.

"I heard there was such a piece," Fargo said. "This is not related to my campaign - I didn't see it, I didn't authorize it. Obviously they have some strong feelings."

The union also set up a Web site, www.NoWayKJ.com, that lays out the misconduct allegations. It includes "a re-enactment" by two actors reading the transcript of a conversation between Johnson and his accuser that was taped by Phoenix police in 1996.

Harry Rotz, head of the plumbers and pipefitters union, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The mailer states that the union's PAC acted as an independent expenditure committee. Such committees must operate separately from candidates but can spend unlimited amounts to push the office seekers and agendas they support.

Rotz's union long has been a major player in Sacramento politics. In 2000, before the city's campaign contribution limits kicked in, Local 447 poured $120,000 into the war chest of mayoral candidate Rob Kerth.

Kerth lost that election to Fargo, who since has received significant contributions from the union herself.

Veteran local political consultant Doug Elmets characterized the anti-Johnson mailer as "the toughest hit piece in the history of local politics."

"This is something new for Sacramento, which has been a sleepy political environment for generations," said Elmets, who is not representing any of the mayoral candidates in the June 3 election.

Elmets said such negative material can backfire,

"This could potentially be a turning point in the election," Elmets said. "I think people will be influenced, no question. Some people will look at it and say I can't vote for a candidate where allegations like this exist.

"But others will look at it and say this is what's wrong with the political process."

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