Originally Posted By cmpaley <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-lopez05oct05" target="_blank">http://www.latimes.com/news/po litics/la-me-lopez05oct05</a>,1,4324347.column?page=2&coll=la-headlines-politics POINTS WEST Did These Firefighters Truly Stand by the Gov.? Steve Lopez Points West October 5, 2005 So what was really going on last week when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger held a news conference flanked by roughly 20 firefighters fresh off the front lines of raging wildfires? Was it a love-in, as the governor's media corps suggests? Or were firefighters forced to stand next to Schwarzenegger, like props, in a staged photo-op designed to boost his sagging support? Well, I can tell you this: It's now officially campaign season, because I've heard it both ways. Katherine McLane of the governor's media corps was there with the boss, and she claims Schwarzenegger was warmly greeted — cheered, even — when he showed up to pat firefighters on the back for their brave work. "I gotta tell you, everybody was cordial and polite, and there was no rancor. People were glad to see the governor," McLane said, asking if I had seen the Associated Press story on the event. No, I hadn't. So she sent it to me. Here's how it starts. "THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — At a time when he has been at odds with firefighters and other public employee unions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was greeted warmly by dozens of uniformed emergency workers Friday when he visited crews battling wildfires near Los Angeles." It must be true, then. And yet, something rings false. The governor has created enemies in firehouses from Eureka to Escondido. He has trashed unions and waved his pompoms for Proposition 75, which would require public employee union members to sign off on political uses for their monthly dues. So how did Schwarzenegger find 20 firefighters eager to pose with him? He didn't, says Pat McOsker, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles, who went to the command center to check on the condition of colleagues who had been on the job for three days with little sleep. He says the men and women flanking the governor were acting under duress. Some of the firefighters, he says, approached him at the command center. "They say, 'Hey, we've been told we're going to be a part of this press conference with the governor. Can they do that? Can they make us stand with him? We're not happy about it.' " McOsker told them to go ask their chiefs if they were required to follow such an order. The answer was yes. "It was utter hypocrisy," says McOsker, whose differences with the governor go beyond Prop. 75. Schwarzenegger has vetoed legislation to implement the fire protections recommended by a panel he himself appointed after the deadly fires of 2003. And yet there he was, trying to pass himself off as Smokey Bear. McOsker said he began telling reporters at the news conference that the firefighters were ordered to stand up there with Schwarzenegger, and one scribe asked the governor about it. Rather than dispute the contention, Schwarzenegger said everybody is ordered to do things at one point or another. Someone was ordered to put up the podium, he said. Someone was ordered to bring in the microphone. "I don't think we should bring politics into this," said the governor. I wish he wouldn't always treat us like such boobs. Of course it was politics. He's got every right to show up at a fire and pat people on the back for a job well done, but the appearance can't be separated from the politics. Not that the firefighters aren't guilty of their own politicking. I only know about the controversy surrounding the photo-op because I got a note from Carroll Wills at the California Professional Firefighters, who wanted to make sure the governor didn't get away with passing himself off as their champion. But the whole thing also raises a question that goes beyond politics and straight to the heart of voters' concerns about Schwarzenegger. Does he ever get out of makeup, or is everything show business? If firefighters were so happy to share Schwarzenegger's company, I told McLane, have one of them call me. "Hello," said the voice on the phone. "This is Chuck Marin." Marin, a state fire battalion chief, told me he was the one who set up the news conference. "The governor's office asked, you know, for some firefighters," Marin told me. "They asked for some fire engines to be … placed behind the podium, and to see if any firefighters were available to stand back there." Marin said he made an announcement asking for volunteers. When they showed up, he didn't see anyone with a gun to his head. Little did he know. "We were all in agreement amongst ourselves: Nobody wanted to do it," said Capt. Wayne Ferber of the Ventura County Fire Department. "We were directed by one of our chief officers that this was something we were to do. If you were watching on the TV screen, I was to the right side of the governor, but I was sort of ducking so nobody would see me. I was doing my best to stay out of the picture." Hmmm, I said. I was told the governor got a warm greeting. "No, he was not greeted warmly," Ferber said. "I don't think you saw a lot of smiling faces." Why so glum? "My wife is a public school teacher, so we kind of get a double whammy here," Ferber said. "The governor is taking on teachers. When he came in, we all had high hopes for him." Steve Francis, another Ventura County fire captain, said he was told his crew's participation in the news conference was voluntary, and everyone declined. "Then at some point in the process, one of our chiefs came up and said, 'I'm ordering you guys to stand there in the backdrop,' and that was it. There was no other conversation." "I'm a big friend of the firefighters," Schwarzenegger said once his "buddies" had gathered round. "As a matter of fact, in one of my movies, I played a firefighter."
Originally Posted By cmpaley Ooooh, and it also appears elsewhere...from the AP wire: <a href="http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=3948565" target="_blank">http://www.kesq.com/Global/sto ry.asp?S=3948565</a> Firefighters say they were ordered to attend Schwarzenegger event BURBANK, Calif. Firefighters who battled a 24-thousand-acre blaze last week say they were forced to participate in a news conference with Governor Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger's appearance at a command center in Thousand Oaks came as he pushes ballot initiatives opposed by firefighter unions, including Proposition 75, which would require unions to get members' permission before dues could be used for political purposes. Los Angeles County firefighter Greg Alldredge says firefighters were "ordered and forced" to participate. Alldredge said they were very displeased with -- in his words -- "having to shake hands with somebody who really doesn't support us." Schwarzenegger's press secretary says "No one from the governor's office ordered anyone to do anything." Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Originally Posted By cmpaley <a href="http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/12836622.htm" target="_blank">http://www.sanluisobispo.com/m ld/sanluisobispo/12836622.htm</a> Posted on Thu, Oct. 06, 2005 M O R E N E W S F R O M topix.net • Arnold Schwarzenegger Firefighters say they were ordered to attend Schwarzenegger event Associated Press BURBANK, Calif. - Firefighters who battled a 24,000-acre blaze last week accused their supervisors Thursday of forcing them to participate in a news conference with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been at political odds with unions representing firefighters and other public employees. Schwarzenegger's appearance at a command center in Thousand Oaks came as he pushes ballot initiatives opposed by firefighter unions, including Proposition 75, which would require unions to get members' permission before dues could be used for political purposes. At the event Sept. 30, the governor shook hands and posed for pictures with a crowd of firefighters and other emergency workers. Firefighters were "ordered and forced" to participate, Los Angeles County firefighter Greg Alldredge said Thursday at a news conference. "We were very displeased with this - having to shake hands with somebody who really doesn't support us." Ventura County Fire Capt. Jack Nosco said he was among the firefighters ordered to flank Schwarzenegger at the event, in which the Republican governor lavishly praised several departments that extinguished the blaze along the edge of Los Angeles. "We declined to do it voluntarily," Nosco said. It wasn't clear how many of the uniformed personnel were directed by supervisors to participate. At the time, Schwarzenegger sidestepped a reporter's question on the subject. In a statement released Thursday by his campaign, the governor said, "It is regrettable that the union bosses would take one of the real firefighting success stories of this or any other year and turn it into another political sideshow." In a telephone interview, Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Margita Thompson, said, "No one from the governor's office ordered anyone to do anything." Fire chiefs in Ventura County and Burbank, who oversee crews that attended the governor's event, did not respond to requests for comment. The Ventura department referred calls to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, but CDF spokesman Michael Jarvis said he couldn't speak for the Ventura chief. Los Angeles County Chief P. Michael Freeman confirmed through a spokesman that firefighters "were directed to stand in the background of the press conference" by supervisors. The spokesman, Mark Savage, did not respond to a question asking if the governor's office pressured Freeman or other supervisors to get rank-and-file firefighters to participate.
Originally Posted By StillThePassHolder FWIW, L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez hates Schwarzenegger with a passion and wouldn't flinch at all from trumping up a story if it meant hurting Arnold. He's admitted he's proud of his bias.
Originally Posted By cmpaley >>FWIW, L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez hates Schwarzenegger with a passion and wouldn't flinch at all from trumping up a story if it meant hurting Arnold. He's admitted he's proud of his bias.<< Which is why I posted to corroborating AP stories. The fact remains, Schwarzenegger used firefighters for a political photo opportunity...meanwhile, his operatives are attacking the very concept of public service, a major part of which is firefighting. The man is a low-life hypocrite who shouldn't be trusted with a single penny, let alone anything having to do with the day to day operation of the State of California.
Originally Posted By Beaumandy come on cmpaley... Arnolds opponents do nothing but misguide the voters with every commercial they run against him. Not saying this makes Arnold innocent in this firefighter situation, but it's funny to hear anyone complain that Arnold isn't " playing fair ".
Originally Posted By cmpaley I didn't say he's not playing fair. I'm saying he's not what he sold himself to be. And his ads aren't misleading people with half-truths about what his initiatives are all about? Have you SEEN them?
Originally Posted By Beaumandy No, I need to check his ads out. I see McCain is going to help him promote the measures.
Originally Posted By cmpaley >>No, I need to check his ads out.<< They don't give the whole story as to what the propositions would do. >>I see McCain is going to help him promote the measures.<< Which makes McCain a hypocrite, IMO. Why would a man whose major issue is campaign money help the man who made Gray Davis look like a piker when it comes to collecting cash for favors?
