I have gotten different versions of what happened at the CCDCC meeting last Thursday.

·         Andres Soto told me, “Last Thursday evening, MT Viramontes came to the Contra Costa Democratic Central Committee, along with hubbie Bob Campbell (Sandhu's patrón), to try and counter my presentation of our demands. I circulated the hit piece to all in attendance. Despite her efforts to try and explain the RPOA's position, the CCDCC voted unanimously to denounce the mailer. “

·         Not so, says Bob Campbell: “I didn't speak against anything. The Central Committee did the right thing. No one was there trying to get the Central Committee to not condemn the mailer,”

I used my perception of Soto’s version in my E-FORUM (Tension Grows Over Police Mailer, October 20, 2008). Here is what I wrote: “Councilmember Viramontes and her husband Bob Campbell were at the Contra Costa Democratic Central Committee meeting trying to fend off attacks on their Chevron 5 associates, Bates, Marquez and Sandhu, and defeat a motion before the Central Committee to denounce the mailer. In the end, Campbell and Viramontes lost, and the Central Committee unanimously adopted the denouncement.”

Campbell objected and accused me of disseminating erroneous information. I like to get my stories straight, so I queried a number of people who were present for their recollections and perceptions but heard back from only one who told me that Viramontes and Campbell appeared to have been there to support the condemnation of the mailer and to oppose the demands proposed by Soto.

In the spirit of accuracy, I will concede that my conclusions about Campbell's and Viramontes' actions appear to have been at least partially inaccurate. By all accounts, they supported denunciation of the mailer. I think there is still confusion around their motives in opposing the demands, which included, among other things, requesting disendorsement of Bates, Sandhu and Marquez by the CCDCC and demanding that these candidates refuse the RPOA endorsement and not accept any contributions from the RPOA in the future.