Escondido, CA - Accusations fly at contentious council meeting

BY ANGELA LAU

UNION-TRIBUNE (SAN DIEGO)

Accusations fly at contentious Escondido council meeting: "Budget disagreements among Escondido City Council members Wednesday night deteriorated into accusations of backroom deals by a council majority with the powerful police officers union to derail a proposed budget that contained employee compensation cuts.

In a dramatic confrontation, Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler accused council members Olga Diaz, who is married to an Escondido police lieutenant, Marie Waldron and Sam Abed of conspiring with the Escondido Police Officers Association.

Pfeiler alleged that the three made a deal with the union to vote against cuts in police compensation, which was part of a three-pronged approach that Pfeiler wanted to use to balance the budget for the fiscal year that begins next week."

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