“They’re very much kissing the baby in a bad way,” said Patrick Barnsley, 18, an Eagle Scout from Scripps Ranch who has earned all 135 merit badges from the organization. One of San Diego’s most decorated scouts said the Faulconer camp should have known better than to use the boys in political imagery.
“I know that they were in the campaign office, I know they had the opportunity to talk to some of our campaign folks about what it’s like to be involved in a mayor’s campaign, and I was glad that their families and the kids came by.” The San Diego – Imperial Council will be reaching out to their over 8,000 adult volunteers to remind them that the process of teaching good citizenship should always remain nonpartisan and to avoid situations which might be construed as an endorsement of any political candidate or position.”įaulconer himself was not present during the scout visit. “As a longstanding policy, the Boy Scouts of America does not endorse any candidate for political office. “Scouting encourages the teaching of patriotism and good citizenship,” the group said. The photo was posted on social media after the campaign asked for, and received, permission from the Pacific Beach troop, the campaign said. They introduced themselves as being “with Troop 246, calling on behalf of Kevin Faulconer for Mayor.” If the recipient of the call had already voted, the callers asked who for. The photo was posted Wednesday by the Faulconer campaign, and U-T Watchdog broke the story that night regarding a possible breach of scout policies.Īccording to the campaign, the nine scouts in the photo visited Faulconer’s campaign headquarters and placed phone calls to a targeted list of voters, reminding them to send in their mail ballots. The Boy Scouts of America will remind its San Diego-area volunteers of the organization’s policy against politicking, after mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer publicized a photo of uniformed, sign-holding Boy Scouts working for his campaign.
IS TORNADO A GAY BAR SAN DIEGO UPDATE
We have an update on the situation with Boy Scouts who went to bat for a mayoral candidate.