By Albert White
Re “Forget Waldo. Where’s Vernon? Mielke Letter Leaves Him Out.”
I am not sure if I should feel sorry for School Board candidate Vernon Taylor, or if I should congratulate him.
Mr. Taylor appears to be a nice man, a devoted father and a supporter of Culver City schools. When I first received Mr. Taylor’s mailer, I added “naïve” to the list of Mr. Taylor’s character traits.
That mailer included not one, but two, photographs of Teachers Union President David Mielke. I suppose that Mr. Taylor figured that because he was endorsed by the Teachers Union, or so he thought, including two photographs of Mr. Mielke might carry Mr. Taylor some votes in November.
Little did Mr. Taylor know.
There already have been a lot of letters about the process for the Teachers Union and the classified employees union’s endorsement of candidates. The letter written by Jamie Wallace on thefrontpageonline.com deals with many of the concerns of the community. [Editor’s Note: Google Ms. Wallace’s name in upper right corner for at least four recent commentaries by her.] Until this week, the public was under the impression that the Teachers Union and the classified union together had endorsed three candidates.
It was curious when I received a letter from David Mielke that said, “Our association has carefully evaluated all of the candidates running for School Board in the November 5 election. We are proud to endorse Karlo Silbiger and Claudia Vizcarra for our School Board.” The “our” apparently refers to the Culver City Federation of Teachers, the union formed to collectively bargain for the teachers’ salaries and benefits. Vernon Taylor’s name is not mentioned.
Had Mr. Taylor done something bad and lost the endorsement?
When this type of letter is sent, the sender must include a statement that the letter was not authorized by the candidate and must also include the identification of who paid for the letter. There was not a disclaimer on the letter or the magnetic ruler enclosed as a “free gift.”
The bottom of the letter says Culver City Federation of Teachers PAC. This seems to say that the Teachers Union paid for the letter.
But when he was questioned about not including Mr. Taylor on his letter or the magnetic ruler, Mr. Mielke said that the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor helped support his letter.
I didn’t see any indication of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor listed anywhere on the letter. This looks like a violation of California law.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission has rules for campaigns. Anyone who breaks those rules may be fined. It seems obvious that Mr. Mielke has broken a number of those rules. I have learned that the FPPC may be investigating Mr. Mielke and the Culver City Federation of Teachers PAC for their actions in this mailer.
The question that keeps coming back to me has to do with Mr. Mielke’s motivation. Is getting his two hand-chosen candidates so important to the union and the union’s agenda that he is willing to risk his credibility, the union’s credibility, and a fine? If it is, then I’m voting for anyone but his two hand-chosen candidates.
None of this should be used against Mr. Taylor, whose only questionable action was including Mr. Mielke’s photograph in his mailer. Fortunately, Mr. Taylor had the good sense not to include a photograph of Debbie Hamme.
Mr. White may be contacted at bigal9dubo66@yahoo.com
