 |
|
|
|
|
Police say signature on mailings wasn't the real sender
Baptist pastor sent anti-Yeager letter to other local clergy
By Kate Carter
The election season has dragged on longer than expected this year, even in District 6.
The fallout from a few last-minute mailings related to the city council election continued to affect residents of Willow Glen and the district.
San Jose police are still investigating the source of an offensive mailing to members of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association before Nov. 7. However, police said they have been able to prove that the signature on the letter addressed to the business association members was a copy.
The signature, "Phillip Rossignol," was copied from a letter addressed to members of the city council that accompanied information regarding a campaign advertisement which was published in the business association's business directory in September, investigation lead Detective John Muller said.
"We can clear Mr. Rossignol," Muller said. "Perhaps that is the best outcome of this situation."
Rossignol filed the complaint with the city clerk's office on Oct. 25, claiming that the association made a de facto endorsement of candidate and eventual election-winner Ken Yeager by charging him half-price for a full-page ad, and not offering Yeager's opponent, Kris Cunningham, a similar deal. Rossignol said the advertisement violated the association's charter and may make [the association] ineligible for city funds.
Rossignol is a supporter of Cunningham, and his wife, Peggy, worked on Cunningham's campaign. Rossignol denied writing the letter addressed to the business association that called for the impeachment of the association's board of directors. He also denied having anything to do with a vulgar anti-gay cartoon included in the mailing that targeted Yeager, who is gay.
Muller said the investigation has identified Rossignol as the victim in the incident. He said the mailing is not a hate crime, but that it may have violated a section of the penal code concerning the mailing of election literature. If so, the offense could be either a misdemeanor or a felony, he said.
Muller said the investigation also includes examinations of the letters for fingerprints and other physical evidence, but there isn't much to go on.
He said that he and two other police sergeants are handling the investigation and he expects it to take a couple of weeks. Muller said that it is an important investigation because of the nature of the possible crime.
"We take this kind of stuff seriously," Muller said. "It involves an election and is followed by the public. There are high emotions over this issue."
Rossignol said that he and his wife have received several harassing phone calls and a threatening note that he turned over to police.
The issue of Yeager being gay was raised in another mailing, this one sent by Dennis Henderson, senior pastor of Willow Glen's First Baptist Church, also known as the Church on the Hill, to other pastors in District 6 the week before the election.
Henderson's letter said that he is concerned, "not because I have animosity toward homosexuals, whom God loves, but because I am uncomfortable with homosexual agendas."
The mailing included copies of an endorsement of Yeager by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and the San Jose Mercury News, both of which referenced Yeager's leadership in the gay and lesbian political advocacy group BAYMEC. It also included quotes excerpted from Yeager's 1995 book, Trailblazers: Profiles of America's Gay and Lesbian Elected Officials.
Henderson said he didn't remember where he received the information. He sent the letter to other pastors because "it was a moral issue to me. I thought it was something they ought to know," he said.
He said the letter was "a personal thing from pastor to pastor," and admitted that it may have been inappropriately written on church letterhead.
Henderson said the letter was not intended to influence people against voting for Yeager. He also said he has never been involved politically or encouraged his congregation to vote in any particular way. He said he did not include his concerns about Yeager or gay issues in his sermon the Sunday before the election.
"We're not homophobic, we welcome everybody," Henderson said of his church. "We think the Bible teaches God loves everybody. But, I think the Bible is clear in saying that homosexuality is unnatural and wrong."
Art Mills, senior pastor of Willow Glen's Stone Church, a progressive Presbyterian congregation, received Henderson's letter.
"I am surprised and shocked by it," he said. "I thought that we were way beyond that sort of thing. It's just a veil for a bigoted attack. It's tragic that a religious person would do that. It prompted me to put up a lawn sign for Ken Yeager."
Yeager, who is a Unitarian, reiterated Mills' opinion. "I've been around this type of bigotry all my life and fought very hard against it here in San Jose," he said. "I'm very saddened to see it rear its head, especially in the name of God."
Cunningham, who is a Roman Catholic, said she disagreed with the sentiments in Henderson's letter and tried to contact him about it.
"I'm very proud of the way we conducted our campaign," Cunningham said. "We didn't try to take advantage of some people's anti-gay beliefs."
District 6 residents did receive some mailings from Yeager supporters before the election. A week before the election, the county Democratic Party sent about 15,000 brochures, urging Democrat voters in District 6 to support Yeager. County Democratic Party chair Steve Preminger said the mailing cost about $7,000 or $8,000.
He said that, although there is no way to know if the mailing contributed to Yeager's win, "we think people value the recommendation of their local Democratic Party."
The other local candidates supported by the county party were Kansen Chu for city council District 4, who lost on Nov. 7, and Dolly Sandoval for county supervisor, who lost by a thin margin.
At least one mailing supporting Yeager went out from the South Bay Labor Council, as well. Labor Council political director Christina Uribe was unavailable for comment, however.
Cunningham said the money Yeager was able to raise, nearly double the amount she raised, as well as the independent expenditure mailings on his behalf were the biggest factors in her loss.
Detective Muller asked that anyone who has a letter or envelope from the mailing to the business association contact him at 408.277.4521.
|
|
|
|
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
