California Elections : Established Bodies Want Legislation on Disclosing Members : Lawmen to Seek Rolls of New Political Groups

Leaders of state and local organizations representing law-enforcement officers said Thursday that they will seek legislation forcing political groups formed just before elections to disclose how many members they have and to make available members’ names and addresses.

The purpose of the legislation, organization officials said, would be to avoid confusion among voters about last-minute political endorsements from groups that have little or no standing among the people or professions they supposedly represent.

The issue surfaced earlier this week when voters in at least four state Assembly districts, including Orange County’s 72nd District, received mail attacking Democrats endorsed by longstanding law enforcement organizations. In each case, the campaign mail bore the name of a group called the Professional Police and Sheriffs of California.

Group Formed Oct. 6

The Times reported Wednesday that Professional Police and Sheriffs of California was formed Oct. 6, according to documents the group filed with the secretary of state’s office in Sacramento. A Westminster attorney, Shawn Steel, and Santa Monica Police Officer Bruce Cline, son of former Assemblyman Robert Cline (R--Northridge), said earlier this week that they run the group, which is based in a Westminster office Steel shares with a property management firm.

Steel has acknowledged that the group has only 19 members statewide and none in Orange County. Cline has said the group was created to influence the Nov. 4 voting and future elections out of fears that other law enforcement organizations are endorsing the wrong candidates because they are labor associations concerned more about pay and strikes than law and order issues.

Appearing at a news conference Thursday in Anaheim, officials from the California Council of Police and Sheriffs, the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California, the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs and other police groups said they are bipartisan and have endorsed both Republicans and Democrats. Among the Republicans endorsed by the statewide organizations represented at the news conference are Senate Republican Leader James W. Nielsen (R--Woodland) and Assemblyman Bill Leonard (R--Redlands).

Organization officials said they had endorsed Santa Ana Mayor Dan Griset even though Griset opposes both binding arbitration and police strikes while Richard E. Longshore, Griset’s GOP opponent, told them in interviews that he favors them.

Endorsement of Longshore

For the second time in less than a week, voters Thursday began receiving campaign mail bearing Longshore’s endorsement by the 17-day-old Professional Police and Sheriffs of California.

“What you’re seeing is that candidates who cannot get our endorsements find support from law enforcement so important that they go out and invent organizations,” said Wendell Phillips, president of the Sacramento-based California Council of Police and Sheriffs. “It ought to stop.”

Griset said Longshore’s use of the endorsement from the Professional Police and Sheriffs of California raises questions about his credibility because Longshore is creating a false impression that he has substantial support from law enforcement.

But Longshore disagreed, saying he still doesn’t know for a fact that the organization endorsing him has limited membership. He said he never asked. Even if it is small, Longshore said, “I suspect that a group that focuses on other than bread-and-butter issues will have a very large membership in the future.” For that reason, Longshore said, mandatory disclosure of membership data “just might be a good idea.”