Money and politics in Fallbrook: What is the firefighters union really after?

Is anyone else fed up with the influence of money in local politics? I’m not talking about national corruption; I’m talking right here in Fallbrook. Lately, there’s been a lot of chatter on Facebook about our fire department and the firefighter’s union’s recent endorsements.

Sure, the union has the right to back whichever candidates they want – but why did they endorse these particular candidates, and what are they expecting in return?

Let’s get real: the union flipped its support from two incumbents to two challengers. They claim they did this after years of frustration with the current board. But if that’s true, why did they endorse those same incumbents just two months ago, only to reverse their stance a few weeks later? If they were so dissatisfied, why did they sing their praises in the first place? It reeks of insincerity.

And the timing? It’s more than suspicious. The union demanded a massive 10.7% annual raise, and when the board rightly refused, the union yanked their support and threw it behind the challengers. A 10.7% raise? Really? That’s a slap in the face to taxpayers.

If the board had caved, we’d be right to be furious. People are already commenting that there have been substantial raises over the past two years, and this request was an outrageous attempt to grab even more. We respect our firefighters, but let’s not kid ourselves – this is a taxpayer issue, plain and simple.

As a long time Union member myself, I understand Unions can endorse whoever they want, but let’s not pretend this isn’t about what they think they can squeeze out of their newly endorsed candidates that they didn’t get from the incumbents. That’s the real issue here, and it deserves scrutiny.

Victoria Stover