Photo ‘falsely implying’ chiefs’ candidate endorsements draws fire from city of Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa officials have denounced an image posted on Facebook over the weekend that they say wrongly implied that the city’s fire and police chiefs are supporting certain City Council candidates, including Mayor Steve Mensinger.
The picture at the heart of the kerfuffle shows Mensinger posing for a photo with Police Chief Rob Sharpnack and Fire Chief Dan Stefano, though text accompanying the image misidentifies the latter as Rob Stefano.
Added to the top of the photo are the words, “Leadership for Costa Mesa United to Build Tomorrow’s Police & Fire Departments.” At the bottom is a logo for “Team Costa Mesa,” a campaign co-op of Mensinger and fellow council candidates Allan Mansoor and Lee Ramos.
The image, posted Saturday on a Facebook page for the Costa Mesa Taxpayers Assn., drew a sharp same-day rebuke from the city for “falsely implying that the city’s police and fire chiefs have endorsed any candidates.”
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“The executive management team of the city, including the police chief and fire chief, do not get involved in local elections or endorse candidates,” according to a message posted on the city’s Costa Mesa Connected website. “It would be inappropriate and a violation of our professional ethics to do so.”
The statement asked that whoever was responsible for the post “cease and desist.”
City spokesman Tony Dodero declined to elaborate on the statement Monday.
Eastside resident Jim Fitzpatrick, an administrator of the Costa Mesa Taxpayers Assn. Facebook page, said Monday that he posted the image by mistake and removed it as soon as he realized the error. It was up for an hour or so, he said.
Fitzpatrick denied creating the image, saying he found it on another Facebook page and posted it by accident. He said he couldn’t remember the page where he found it.
“My action was a mistake and I apologize,” he said.
Mensinger said Monday that the original picture of him and the chiefs is from this past Fourth of July and appears to have been taken from his Facebook page. He said he “never even saw” the altered image and has no idea who made it.
“In the world of social media, there are so many photos and accusations, it’s hard to follow,” he said.
Three council seats up for grabs in the Nov. 8 election. Also in the running are Jay Humphrey, Al Melone, John Stephens and incumbent Sandy Genis.
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
