Saturday, September 12, 2009

Modesto police union names council picks

Saturday, Sep. 12, 2009

Based on questionnaire, police group supports 3 for Modesto leadership

Yard signs, protests at City Council meetings, letters to the editor. The Modesto Police Officers Association flexed political muscle this spring when the nearly 200-member union battled with the city over budget cuts that threatened officers' jobs.

Now it's campaign season, and the police union is throwing its weight behind three City Council candidates: incumbent Kristin Olsen in north-central Modesto's District 5; Jeff Perine in District 4, which includes the La Loma and airport neighborhoods; and Dave Geer in District 2, which covers downtown and southwest Modesto.

Making public endorsements is relatively new to the rank-and-file union, President Tony Arguelles said. The union didn't endorse candidates in the 2005 council race. But in 2007, when a new executive board took over, the union decided to raise its social and political profile, Arguelles said. (full article)

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