Deputies Union Aid to Walters Campaign Halted

A judge has suspended campaign expenditures by the Orange County deputy sheriff’s association on behalf of Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters, who is running for sheriff against Marshal Michael S. Carona.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien ruled late Tuesday that the union committed “acts that are probably prohibited” by state law. O’Brien’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed last week by a group of deputy sheriffs supporting Carona in the race to succeed retiring Sheriff Brad Gates.

O’Brien set a hearing on further arguments for June 1--the day before the election. The Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs filed an emergency appeal late Wednesday to have the temporary order overturned and a ruling was expected today.

The union has spent more than $100,000 on Walters’ campaign, most of it on about 110,000 pieces of mail, which cannot be sent out until the matter is resolved. The mailers tout the union’s endorsement of Walters and 10 other countywide candidates. Another 110,000 pieces already have been mailed.

State and county campaign laws limit individual contributions in county races to $1,000. However, unlimited expenditures are allowed if they are done without the cooperation of or at the behest of the candidate.

Carona’s supporters argued that the deputies’ union was coordinating its activities with Walters.

Attorney Darryl Wold, who specializes in campaign law, called the judge’s action unusual. The ruling essentially silences the political speech of the union in the campaign’s crucial closing weeks.

“It’s very rare for a judge to intervene like this,” Wold said.

Bob MacLeod, executive director of the deputies’ union, said the decision effectively guts the ability of independent groups to campaign on behalf of candidates.

“If this ruling is left intact, Mike Carona has silenced the political voices of thousands of independent expenditure committees throughout California,” MacLeod said Wednesday.

Carona campaign finance chairman George Jaramillo, an attorney representing the Carona deputy group, argued that the deputies’ union couldn’t be viewed as independent. Its activities included renting the room for Walters’ campaign announcement, holding fund-raisers with Walters present, and having a union member represent Walters at a candidate forum, according to declarations filed in the lawsuit.

“They crossed the line of independence, and the judge agreed with us,” Jaramillo said Wednesday. “This is about everyone following the law. They’re practicing 1950s, Chicago-style thug politics.”

Political consultant Eileen Padberg, who is running Walters’ race, said the ruling won’t affect what the campaign plans to do in the remaining three weeks. She denied that there has been any coordination with the union.

“Our program has been the same since we started in the race,” Padberg said. “What happens on top of that is gravy.”

No one argues that the union’s spending would be beneficial to Walters, who has trailed Carona in fund-raising by 5 to 1, according to contribution reports. Carona has raised $230,958 by mid-March, compared to $43,218 collected by Walters, including a $20,000 personal loan.

Local government watchdog Shirley Grindle, co-author of the county’s contribution limits, was in court Tuesday and said the judge appeared “incredibly uninformed” about the state Political Reform Act or other campaign law.

“I haven’t seen any proof of coordination or consultation on any of the union’s expenditures, and that’s where the law applies,” Grindle said.