Police, Firefighter Unions attack Richmond CA Mayor

[n2doc]

(10-05) 18:32 PDT RICHMOND -- Leaders of the Richmond police and firefighter unions launched a pre-election attack on the city's mayor Tuesday, releasing documents that showed she had defaulted on college loans and had suffered from "serious psychiatric disabilities" that left her unable to hold steady work before she was an elected official.

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, whose 2006 election made Richmond the largest city in the United States to elect a Green Party member as its mayor, is running for re-election Nov. 2 against two candidates. McLaughlin, 59, said the revelations about her past were a mean-spirited attempt to undermine her chances.

"I overcame those challenges," she said. "I believe my past challenges have strengthened me and made me a wise and more compassionate woman, leader and public servant."

Jim Russey, president of Richmond Firefighters Local 188, said at a news conference that the unions were launching a media campaign against McLaughlin because she had failed to address concerns from public safety officers during her first term, including the proposed hiring of three new firefighters that would "bring the city back up to safe levels."



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/06/BA1U1FOQA2.DTL

[Ken Burch]

1. So, who do these guys want instead?

Given the endemic municipal funding holes in this country, wouldn't ANY mayor have left those positions open?