A promise made by the Bernie Sanders campaign to pay for additional law enforcement for a rally in Cloverdale, California has yet to be paid.
$23,000 was the cost to borrow police forces from neighboring Healdsburg and Sebastopol, plus four fire departments and Sheriff’s department forces. A report from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat indicated that Cloverdale officials said that Sanders’ campaign had pledged to cover the cost of bringing in the extra public safety officers help to keep the event safe.
Sanders rallygoers numbered around 6,000 for the June 3 event, according to an estimate from the local news outlet. Sanders has since conceded the race and embraced Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton — much to the chagrin of a host of his followers.
Cloverdale City Manager Paul Cayler expressed confusion over why the Sanders campaign won’t make good on its pledge, according to the Press Democrat. Cayler was quoted as saying, “Sanders’ rhetoric during the speech was, he is from small town America and he values small town America.”
The small town boasts a mere 8,800 people, barely more than the size of the crowd that gathered to see and hear the socialist presidential contender.
The small town’s mayor, Mary Ann Brigham, also sounded deflated over the broken promise, as she claimed she would not have accepted the rally in the town if she had known the large cost would go unpaid according to the report. She said she had never doubted the debt would be paid.
Cayler is said to have submitted the bill to the Sanders campaign on June 23, over a month ago. The bill was said to have detailed what the costs incurred were for and from which law enforcement agencies.
Sanders campaign scheduler Casey Sinnwell confirmed receipt of the bill on July 13, according to the Press Democrat, but deflected, suggesting that the matter should be handled by the U.S. Secret Service.
In his speech Monday to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Sanders said: “Election days come and go, but the struggle of the people to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 percent, a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice, that struggle continues!”
Photo: File
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