Anaheim Insider here (again).
A friend forward to me this e-mail from the Tom Tait campaign to OC GOP Central Committee members, who are voting tonight (possibly right now) on whether to give Tait an early endorsement:
Subject: Union Money invades Anaheim
Dear Central Committee Member,
Tonight, our Local Elected Official of the Year, Mayor Tom Tait, will be rightfully seeking the endorsement of the Republican Party of Orange County for his reelection this November. One or two supporters of Anaheim City Council Members Lucile Kring, Kris Murray, and Gail Eastman, may try to pull his name from the consent list for separate consideration.
Two of these Council Members, Murray and Eastman, are up for reelection in November as well. Council Member Kring, is in a safe seat yet has decided to run against Mayor Tom Tait in spite of his strong Republican credentials and stellar job performance. Why?
The attachment speaks volumes for itself. Union money is pouring into the coffers of all Anaheim Elected Officials on the City Council except one – Mayor Tom Tait.
Attached is a list of union contributions to Lucille Kring, Gail Eastman and Kris Murray.
What the Tait campaign forgot to mention is the $500 the Teamsters’ DRIVE Committee gave his campaign for mayor in 2010; the Teamsters represent OCTA bus drivers and a number of city employees at the Anaheim Convention Center. That’s in addition to at least $2,000 in contributions from other unions.
Tait has also voted with these same council colleagues to approve quite a few union contracts.
Tom Tait sought and won the endorsement of Anaheim’s police and fire unions in 2010. The Anaheim Police Associations put up pro-Tait campaigns signs all over the city.
Has the Tait campaign forgotten the “Vote for the Tait Slate” campaign signs that the OCEA plastered the city with in 2012? The Anaheim Municpal Employees Association is an affiliate of the OCEA.
How about Tait’s endorsement and tireless campaigning in 2012 for John Leos, OCEA member and OCEA candidate for city council.
Why was all of that OK?
The Mayor is also the public face of the unions campaign to pass by-district elections and take over city government, which is the real “union invasion.” Tait has no standing to accuse any of his colleagues of helping the unions.
So while he is in the middle of doing his very very best to engrain a liberal majority council and courting Jose Moreno and Donna A., Tait has the nerve to put this out?
Honestly, that is incredible to me.