Anyone know who won the MAPA endorsement?

I don't know who MAPA decided to endorse, but I do know that Perea, Swearengin, Duncan and Dages didn't even show.
This is another good example of how these candidates only cater to special interest groups who will pay for favors.

I got their invitation just a a week before the event and I had already made a commitment to be at another event at the same time.

Similar to Jerry Duncan, as far as I know the Swearengin campaign did not receive word of this event until Thursday....and then she received a follow-up call Friday asking about her participation. Several events had already been planned for Saturday. She is absolutely willing to talk with any major groups in town, including MAPA, and if more time would have been given for this she would have been a very willing participant. So Sue, to be more fair, please reconsider the 'special interest groups' line until you know the entire story....at the IPA event last week, for example, Ashley was one of three candidates to show up and talk with folks....(Monreal and Garibay being the other two), but no accusaations were made about the motives of candidates unable to attend. It's a busy election season...which is a good thing in my mind!

Regards,

David Schecter

David,

Ashley is against the Independent Police Auditor. You are either in favor of it or against it. I find it interesting how Ashley keeps avoiding admitting her position- being against the IPA. I am sorry but stating that you want to explore other policies about holding the Fresno police accountable is a nice subtle way of stating your against the IPA.

I will give her credit for showing up to the IPA event, but that does not mean she supports it.

Boyajian is the only candidate who supports the IPA.

Ronald:

I'm sorry, but you have this completely wrong. Please view the KVPT forum that took place Monday night....a question from Jim Tucker to the mayoral candidates also asked about IPA and she said she agreed with Mayor Autry and Chief Dyer..saying she 'absolutely' supported it. It's on the tape/website. To Tom's credit, he supports it, as well...so I do not refute that part....but you are incorrect on Ashley's position. Sorry.

David,

This is an interesting development that now Ashley supports an IPA. Earlier in the race she was against the IPA, then she wanted to explore other alternatives and now she supports the IPA. I have publicly heard her make these points in several previous public events, so I speak from firsthand knowledge. She sounds like what we Republicans would call a "waffler" or someone who just says what people want to hear and changes their views as needed. I found it interesting that it is barely now at this late point in the race that she supports an IPA......it sounds very opportunistic on her part.

Also, the version of the IPA that Autry, Dyer and now Ashley allegedly supports is not the one that is recognized as being truly "independent." It’s not the same version that was recognized at the IPA forum as being the best model. By this I mean that this version of the IPA is still under the control of the Fresno Police Department and the Mayor thus undermining the "independent" element and weakening the integrity of such a body.

So when you say I have it completely wrong you need to clarify that she has not always been on board with the IPA until recently. You stand corrected on that one. Furthermore, Ashley supports a watered down version of the IPA not the other model that is truly independent.

Wow, what earth shattering news...Ani Barbi now "supports" the IPA...Schector must have done some more of his funny math to explain to her the number of voters south of Shields. I feel so secure knowing that she supports the cops version rather than the PEOPLE'S, which was INITIATED by Mr. Boyajian...NOT merely supported by him...I think I heard Mr. Boyajian explain that an IPA serving under the Mayor/Police Chief is the equivalent of the 'fox guarding the hen house'. While Barbi is trying to comprehend the complexities of this issue, her puppet masters are running around in fear of June 3rd, hence her newfound perspective.

David,

Here is clear evidence Ashley is a flip flopper on the Independent Police Auditor (IPA). Her new position seems very inconsistent with her previous views.

In an article written in the Fresno Bee by Denny Boyles on March 27, 2008, entitled, Fresno mayor's race: differing views on police auditor, Ashley Swearengin was quoted as saying:

"I support the implementation of a plan to safeguard the community’s trust in law enforcement.... The proposed independent police auditor is one model that we will examine, but I would like to explore other models to accomplish the same objective. Ultimately, we must come up with a solution that succeeds in safeguarding the community’s trust in law enforcement and that will be supported by the City Council."

Notice in this quote that she never states she is in favor of the IPA, but side steps the whole issue. As I stated earlier, you are either in favor or against it. This clearly demonstrates she was not in favor of the IPA.

Ashley's new position seems very disingenuous. I suspect that her high paid political consultants figured they could scrape up votes by creating a perception that she favors an IPA when she in fact she has not until recently. Voters should be aware of her intent. And even here she is in favor of a watered down IPA that allows Chief Dyer to operate unchecked.

Here is a link to the article so that people can see that Ashley is really a flip flopper: http://www.fresnobeehive.com/news/2008/03/fresno_mayors_race_differing_v.html

Ronald:

It seems from your comments no amount of convincing is going to work here, so maybe we should just let it rest. Her support of an IPA is now not good enough for you and you want to call her a flip-flopper...c'mon. She attended the forum two weeks ago (and again was only joined by garibay and Monreal) to learn about the various models out there and hear from the San Jose IPA, with whom she spoke with afterwards at length. She also stated clearly in the KVPT debate that she supports an auditor. If you want to play semantics over 'the' model that would be chosen that is your perogative I suppose. She's not going to earn your vote anyway it seems (even though you say you're a Republican you are voting for Boyajian?), I respect your decision; but no need for the name-calling of a candidate or to act like you know exactly what model would be supported by which candidates based on the reality of what might actually be passed.

Katrina:
I've never seen any blogger on any site show as much venom as you do...do you ever quit with the name-calling, sarcasm and bashing? Your sarcasm has gotten old really quickly and I now discount even the interesting things you say sometimes because it's hard for me to listen to the message when it somes from such a messenger.