When a shoe drops in a political race does the voter hear it? That is the burning question in the congressional race in the 52nd District. It has been a relatively long scandal-driven news cycle for candidate Carl DeMaio with the “fat shaming” email referring to a political staffer of Congressman Scott Peters to the sexual harassment allegations by DeMaio staffer Todd Bosnich. A shoe dropped this weekend, but it seemed not to make a sound.
Alison Rentschler, former deputy campaign manager for the DeMaio congressional run, said that Todd Bosnich was not fired for plagiarism. How can that be? DeMaio has told everyone within earshot that Bosnich was fired for plagiarism which led to the unraveling of a work relationship that ended with Bosnich accusing DeMaio of sexual harassment. DeMaio told CNN, “This is an individual who was let go by our campaign manager for plagiarism.” Now we know differently.
“I worked at the Carl DeMaio campaign as the deputy campaign manager in May 2014 and can confirm Todd was not fired for plagiarism. Carl was very involved with the report and referred to it as his ‘baby.’ I know Todd, he is an honest and trustworthy person.”
Alison Rentschler, former DeMaio Deputy Campaign Manager
During the height of the sexual harassment allegations, DeMaio spokesperson Dave McCulloch said, “The facts are clear, Todd Bosnich was fired for plagiarism, and in light of the district attorney’s conclusion on this matter announced earlier this week we are done responding to Mr. Bosnich’s politically motivated smears.”
Mr. DeMaio and Mr. McCulloch, the facts are clear, another former high level insider in the DeMaio campaign has supported Mr. Bosnich’s claim that he was not fired as you claim.
Why accuse Bosnich of plagiarism? DeMaio also said that Bosnich was “troubled” and a key suspect in his office break-in. Bosnich was not charged with the office burglary that DeMaio implied was pending. Now we have a corroborating witness that says Bosnich was not fired for plagiarism.
The voter needs to decide who they believe, Rentschler who has no reason to lie, or DeMaio and McCulloch, who have every reason to mislead the voter. Someone is not telling the truth and the voter deserves to know who. Is Rentschler another disgruntled former DeMaio staffer out to get the candidate?
If DeMaio has generated such enmity from two former staffers, what must he be like as a boss? But I digress. The most likely scenario is Rentschler and Bosnich are telling the truth and the DeMaio campaign is misleading the public.
DeMaio also claimed that Police Chief Zimmermann called him in August to say that the sexual harassment charge investigation was over. When questioned about the claim, Zimmermann refused to comment. Another prevarication by DeMaio? We could easily find out if our police chief followed the transparency model that Mayor Faulconer loudly advocates. Don’t hold your breath.
If DeMaio has not told the truth with respect to the firing of Todd Bosnich, why would he do so in the sexual harassment charge investigation? The shoe has dropped. Will the voter hear it?
STAMPP CORBIN
PUBLISHER
San Diego LGBT Weekly
LGBTweekly.com
Stampp, that’s a really big shoe! I hope voters are listening but seriously voters are so disenfranchised with San Diego politics that it may not make a difference. The Green Party has a post about leaving ballots blank since there is no real choice. Republicans are also talking about doing the same. It will be interesting to see what the numbers are in the end. I think Scott Peters is safe and Carl has a whole lot of explaining to do… perhaps in court if it goes that far.
Maybe part of it is that this is a house race and a lot of attention is focused on the Senate since it’s in play. If this were a Senate race, the national press would be dissecting every detail of this on a daily basis. The thing I think is most peculiar about DeMaio’s stance is that his campaign has made comments claiming this is a “political smear”. Considering Bosnich and Rentschler are both Republicans, I don’t see how this can be a “political smear”. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence can see DeMaio is not being truthful here. The real question is how many people out there are so partisan that they will vote for him anyway, knowing he’s a liar and a lighting-rod for controversy?
THANK YOU for bringing that information to the forefront. The UT and many local news agencies have not reported that story. Makes you wonder what else they’re hiding about Mr. Demario……
Stampp. Did you take anytime before writing your article to research Alison Rentschler? You wrote: “Now we know differently.”, as if Alison Rentschler’s word had any credibility.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/17/republican-campaign-aide-arrested-marijuana-posses/
If your intention is to objectively report the news, you might consider an apology.