District 2 Supervisor Jim Chapman holds up the flag given to him by District 4 Supervisor and state assembly candidate Brian Dahle. Chapman said he proudly displays the flag on Memorial Day and Veterans Day because it represents the “patriotism of our country … To have that singled out in this sleazy hit piece dishonors this flag and what it stands for.” Photo by Sam Williams

Oct. 30, 2012 — Lassen County District 2 Supervisor Jim Chapman took exception to a mailer produced by a political action committee supporting the state assembly campaign of Redding City Councilman Rick Bosetti.

Chapman opened his comments by apologizing to District 4 Supervisor Brian Dahle, Bosetti’s opponent in the Nov. 6 election, for bringing the matter up.

Chapman said he received the mailer produced by the Northstate Farm and Business PAC, Supporting Rick Bosetti for Assembly 2012, and was “greatly offended” by its content. Chapman said he understood “opposition research” had a place in political campaigns, but this mailer was beyond the pale.

“What I was really offended by was it talked about the trip to Honolulu cost taxpayers $18,230.40,” Chapman said. “We don’t even have a travel budget for (all the) board members together that comes anywhere close to that.”

According to Chapman, the board’s travel budget basically covers mileage for the supervisors to and from meetings.

Dahle said he traveled to Hawaii in 2005 to attend a National Association of Counties convention as a representative of the nonprofit Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC). RCRC paid his expenses — not the taxpayers.

Chapman also criticized the assertion the county had “purged” Dahle’s expense records to hide the costs of the Hawaii trip.

“Obviously they were upset because they couldn’t find anything that justified their attack, and the reality is, the reason why there’s nothing in the records is because there was no expense in the first place,” Chapman said. “To make the kind of representation — this is a slam against our county staff, it’s a slam against you (Dahle) and it’s a slam against those who try to serve the public.

“We work hard to try and maintain a debt-free county, to manage our public resources in as responsible position as possible, so to me, this is like a sleazy attack, and I think it should be called for that.”

A secretary in the Lassen County Administrative Services offices said she responded to an email from the SuperPAC and inadvertently used the word “purged” when she should have said the records were not available in the format requested.

Lassen County Auditor Karen Fouch said no expense records have been purged. Despite all that, Chapman said he was even more offended those who produced the mailer brought in the minutes from a board of supervisor’s meeting in which Dahle gave Chapman a flag that was flown over the U.S.S. Arizona.

Chapman said the small souvenir flag “represented the patriotism of our country. I fly it proudly on Memorial Day every year since you brought it back, and on Veterans Day to honor those who have served and died for our country and why we have free elections.

“To have that singled out in this sleazy hit piece dishonors this flag and what it stands for.”

Regardless of the outcome of the election, Chapman said he was proud of Dahle standing up for his family and our community, “and I’m proud you’re running against these sleaze bags, these weasels who claim they’re going to represent our interests in Sacramento.

“I could tell you, if this guy gets elected, not you, he’s not my assemblyman. Dan Logue will be my assemblyman. That’s who I’ll go to. I hope you prevail, and I hope you go down there and you take (on) the special interests.

“That billionaire that put $150,000 into that campaign to put out this kind of sleaze needs to be shown the door.”

Comments 

 

+1#1Sam Williams2012-10-30 13:56

Some comments regarding this story have been deleted because they did not follow our rules of conduct. We welcome your comments on our website, but there are rules that must be followed. Thank you. Sam Williams, managing editor, Lassen County Times

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0#2Sam Williams2012-10-30 14:01

If you feel I have deleted your comment in error, please call me at 530 257-5321. Sam Williams, managing editor, Lassen County Times.

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+3#3First Ammendment2012-10-30 21:09

Chapman is the one who drove away the meatpacking plant and its 700 jobs.
He also must be a Freemason because he seems to have some serious issues about free speech and the 1st amendment.
Glad to see somebody got under his knickers.
And we wonder why our local economy is in ruins?

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+3#4Tony c2012-10-31 05:41

Kurt, you are back. Guess Sam isn't up yet. That was different. Chapman made a fool out of himself again. If he can't control himself maybe he should retire

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-2#5Kurt2012-10-31 08:25

Hey Tony, all we had to do was trash Chapman. Who woulda thunk?

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+1#6Mr. Tea Party2012-10-31 17:29

So much for free speech and then1st Amendment @ LCT,

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