CM PRESS # 614

Disgusting sign used by the union association to try
to elect puppets to the Costa Mesa city council.

COP UNION BOSS SAYS IT'S NOT A UNION AND HE'S NOT A BOSS

Which is a little like saying that  just because it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, please don't call it a duck. Call it, er, a water fowl. Yes, that sounds nicer.

Folks, the issue isn't whether it's a union or an association--these are just words.

The real issue is that this group of city employees--most of whom can't vote in Costa Mesa--act in an organized fashion to try to elect people to the Costa Mesa city council who may vote in ways that benefit the members of the group, instead of voting in ways that may benefit the citizens of the city.

Our elected officials owe a fiduciary duty to the citizens, but when some are elected by out of town city employees who put thousands of dollars into their campaigns and drag signs around the city in support of their anointed candidates, or against other candidates, this can cause those who are elected as a result to tilt in their direction and against the best interest of citizens. Isn't this just human nature?  Don't you favor those who favor you?

Dimel focuses on the words union and association in his letter rather than on substance, so our contra comments in red after his assertions will follow that line.

But first, here's my de rigueur statement: Yes, I support good law enforcement officers. As a natural righty, and a former Marine, that's part of my DNA.  It is lefties who call cops, pigs, not righties. As I've written before, I admire true professionals who focus on their mission and not on their own personal interests and who know that the mission is everything.

To start, and to give you a hitching post,  here's the Merriam-Webster Online definition of a labor union:

labor union

 noun

: an organization of workers formed to protect the rights and interests of its members

And here's the relevant portions of Dimel's letter in the Daily Pilot in which he inadvertently agrees with the dictionary definition of a union as he tries to deny it's a union.

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Mailbag: Politicians mischaracterize the police association's role

Over the past four years, we have heard the terms "public employee unions" and "union bosses" ad nauseam. [ Nope.  In fact I don't think we've heard it enough.]

Our local politicians and their most fervent supporters have deftly used these terms to suggest that Costa Mesa Police Department employees are cogs in some larger labor organization. Politically, the (mis)characterization has largely worked. [There is no mischaracterization. Being part of some larger labor organization isn't an element of the defintion of union. Just as a conspiracy only requires two people, a union only requires a few people to be a union.]

Frankly, the terms have left me scratching my head. I'm the president of the Costa Mesa Police Assn., so I guess that makes me the union boss. Except that it is not a union and I am not the boss. [Ah, yes it is, and, yes, you are. You're just playing with words.   Other unions also do not use "union" in their names but they are still unions.  SAG/AFTRA is just one example.]

I answer to the association's board of directors, which is made up of line-level officers within the Police Department. In turn, the board is elected by and answerable to the men and women of the department, our peers. [ So what? That's what happens in most, if not all, unions.]

The Costa Mesa Police Assn. exists to be the collective bargaining body for the men and women of the Police Department. [That's part of the definition of a union. That's what unions do. See the dictionary definition above.]

We are not aligned with or subordinate to any larger labor organization. [That's the second time you said this, and the fact is that this is not necessarily a defining characteristic of whether it is a union or not, and as I answered above..]

We stand on our own to serve the needs of the officers who serve the residents. [No different than many other such associations.]

We know the local issues intimately. We deal with them daily. We would see no benefit in being beholden to a state, national or international labor organization. Such organizations wouldn't know the details as we do. [This is the third time you said this.  It is not relevant.]  

Why do these facts matter? Politically it's easier to dismiss the ideas put forward by the Costa Mesa Police Assn. if it is thought of as a faceless labor machine rather than the officers known around the city, many of them neighbors of the people they serve. [Actually, not many CMPD officers are our neighbors. According to figures received from City Hall, at the end of last month (May 2014), only 8 sworn officers of the CMPD actually live in Costa Mesa (that's 7.3%]. Eight out of 109 does not meet the definition of "many."

Association members are vested in this community and dedicate themselves professionally — and often personally — to making Costa Mesa a great city to live and work in. [Again, only 8 sworn officers are actually "vested" in Costa Mesa.  The rest commute in and then go home to their sometimes very distant cities and families and family lives when they're not working.]

Rob Dimel

Costa Mesa

The writer is president of the Costa Mesa Police Assn.

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MESTIZOS HAVE A GENE VARIANT THAT MAKES THEM FAT AND SUSCEPTIBLE TO CERTAIN MEDICAL PROBLEMS

No, it's not diet--it's genes.

Genes are us.

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BLACK RACIST BULLY PICKS ON THE WRONG WHITE GUY                        
Video (47 sec.)

There seem to be more Wrong White Guys around these days.
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GOLDEN DAWN LEADER OUT OF JAIL AFTER TRUMPED UP CHARGES IN LEFTY ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE PARTY GIVES ROUSING SPEECH

Video with English subtitles (3:37 min.).
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