It was only a matter of time.
Faced with a membership in
near open revolt for his administration awash in accusations of selling out,
give backs, and patronage, FOP President Dean Angelo reached into his
voluminous bag of dirty tricks and played his last plot in an effort to stay
alive in the current election.
Angelo’s handpicked
election committee, Frank
Balestri, Michael Carroll, and Michael Cosentino announced to the membership that the Blue Voice slate, the favorite to
defeat him, violated the election rules.
The horror. The outrage.
And the injustice committed
by the Blue Voice slate that compelled Angelo's office to inform each and
every member in the middle of voting?
Blue Voice slate presidential
candidate Kevin Graham submitted a slightly altered campaign letter. The slight
alteration from the original had no meaningful difference. There were no
significant changes whatsoever.
That’s it. That’s what
required an email blast to all the members.
The two letters are attached
below if anyone has any doubts.
But for Angelo, it was a life
raft in a swirling ocean of defeat. The election committee, again, picked by
Angelo himself, ruled that this was an election violation.
Not only was it an election
violation, but it required notifying all the members in the middle of an
election in a manner that confuses the members about who they can vote for.
Blue Voice Slate
Looks like Angelo is running the election exactly as he ran the Lodge.
Is this the lowest Angelo has
sunk?
Probably not.
Angelo will likely get a run
off election, despite his chicanery through the election committee. That will
give him three more weeks to distort, deceive, and plot.
But will it work? Will this
dirty trick by the Angelo election committee undermine the
election as clearly Angelo hopes it will, or will this tactic strengthen the
sentiment among many members about Angelo: that he is the worst president in
the history of the FOP?
Will the FOP members decide
that he is a guy who will do anything to stay in power, members be damned and
that another term of him as president would be a catastrophe?
The Blue Voice slate is alive
and well.
