By Matthai Kuruvila
San Francisco Chronicle
OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland police union officials lobbying to prevent layoffs have began a robocall campaign against one mayoral candidate and are urging officers to flood newspapers’ Web sites with pro-police comments in advance of a crucial City Council meeting tonight.
The Oakland Police Officers Association is also urging members to show up in droves at the 5:30 p.m. City Hall meeting, at which the council will consider plans to lay off 80 to 150 of the city’s 776 police officers.
“We need members to attend City Council meeting,” a message on the union’s Web site said Wednesday, adding that the goal was 200 officers. “Members should sit together. Attire is OPD shirts or memorial shirts.”
A posting of a news story about Oakland’s budget on the union’s Facebook page urges, “Please click on this link and make comments on this article. Let’s flood out the cop haters.”
The Police Department has become the focal point of the city’s need to eliminate a $30.5 million deficit. City Council members have said layoffs could be minimized or at least delayed if officers contribute 9 percent of their salaries toward pensions, but the union wants a guarantee of no layoffs in future years.
Tuesday evening, some residents received a recorded phone message from union President Dom Arotzarena focused on Councilwoman Jean Quan, a mayoral candidate and chair of the council’s finance committee.
Quan “has refused to consider other viable options or even to consider making cuts to nonessential city services,” Arotzarena’s message said.
In fact, Quan and council members Jane Brunner, Pat Kernighan and Ignacio De La Fuente have outlined an array of such cuts totaling $18.7 million.
Arotzarena, a police sergeant, did not return calls Wednesday. Union Vice President Barry Donelan, also a sergeant, declined to comment.
Quan suggested the call was more about politics than substance. She noted that the union hadn’t criticized De La Fuente, a long-time labor leader, even though he advocates laying off 150 officers while she is calling for 80 layoffs absent any concessions.
Quan also noted that the union has endorsed mayoral hopeful Don Perata.
“Obviously, I’m being targeted for something else,” she said.
Copyright 2010 San Francisco Chronicle