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Editorial: Mayor Fargo should repudiate union's attack ads
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, May 9, 2008
Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B6
Sleazy hit pieces seem to be the unfortunate norm in California politics. But never before have Sacramento voters seen such a despicable independent expenditure campaign as the one Mayor Heather Fargo's supporters launched against Kevin Johnson.
Hoping to derail Fargo's main rival, the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447 has sent out mailers and created a Web site that rehashes allegations that Johnson engaged in personal misconduct. The former NBA star has not been charged with a crime, yet police reports and ensuing media coverage have given the pipefitters an opportunity to crawl into the sewer.
There are legitimate questions to be asked about Sacramento High's handling of a 2007 allegation against Johnson, which The Bee detailed in an April 25 report. The candidate hasn't adequately addressed those questions, and if Fargo's supporters were merely to focus on that, they'd be operating on a higher plane.
But the Web site the pipefitters created to attack Johnson's character moves into much more nasty territory.
The background of this Web site shows graffiti scrawled on a wall, coupled with a photo of Johnson and links to "child abuse reports." If the intent of this site was to reinforce racist stereotypes about African American men, the pipefitters did a great job.
At Wednesday's debate, Fargo had a chance to publicly denounce the attack ads. Instead, she said she hadn't seen the flier or the Web site. In a meeting with The Bee's editorial board Thursday, she again said she hadn't seen them and had nothing to do with them.
Fargo says she wants to run a clean race. We will take her at her word. But if she is serious, she should take time to look at the Web site, publicly denounce it and ask the pipefitters to take it down.
If you are fed up with this form of politicking, send your own message to the local pipefitters union. The business manager of the Local 447 is Harry Rotz. Call him at (916) 457-6595 or ualocal447@jps.net.
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