Court Says Deputies’ Union Can Fund Campaign

A state appeals court ruled Thursday that the union representing Orange County sheriff’s deputies can resume spending money, for now, to promote the campaign of Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters for sheriff.

A three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeal in Santa Ana temporarily lifted a restraining order issued late Tuesday by a Los Angeles County judge, who had ruled that the union may have violated state campaign spending laws.

The brief appellate ruling allows the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs to continue publicizing its endorsement of Walters over Marshal Mike Carona to replace Sheriff Brad Gates, who is retiring.

The appellate panel gave Carona’s supporters until Tuesday to reply to the ruling. The court then will review its decision.

Attorneys for a deputy group backing Carona had argued that the union was illegally coordinating its spending with Walters rather than conducting an independent campaign.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” said George Jaramillo, Carona’s finance chairman and attorney for Deputy Sheriffs for Mike Carona. “We’re confident when we submit our paperwork and when the court reviews [both sides], they’ll find in our favor.”

Thursday’s decision means 125,000 pieces of mail sitting at the Santa Ana post office can immediately be distributed. The mail includes a slate card of the union’s endorsements of Walters and 10 other county candidates.

Cable television advertisements touting Walters also were scheduled to go back on the air. The union plans a second, 80,000-piece mailing next week just for Walters, said consultant Jerry Pierson, a former union president.

“Marshal Michael Carona’s effort to silence the voices of the very people he wants to lead has failed,” union leader Bob MacLeod said Thursday.

The deputy union expects to spend at least $150,000 to back Walters, which is more than four times the $43,000 raised by Walters’ campaign, according to campaign reports filed in mid-March. Carona has raised nearly $231,000.

Many deputy sheriffs also have been walking precincts on behalf of Walters, whom they tout as the “cops’ choice” for sheriff. Carona has countered with his own law enforcement endorsements, including the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs, the state’s largest police union.

Jaramillo said Carona’s campaign will concentrate its efforts on mailing literature and communicating with voters between now and the election.

“We’re aware of what needs to be done,” Jaramillo said. “The sheriff reports to 2.7 million people in this county. The people own that office. The union shouldn’t.”

The final two weeks in a local campaign is crucial because that is when most voters settle on their candidates. A Times Orange County Poll this week found Carona and Walters in a statistical dead-heat, with two-thirds of voters still undecided.

Walters’ campaign plans to send county voters a mailer next week, campaign manager Eileen Padberg said. One mailer was sent last week and a third was mailed this week.