Former Fullerton City Council Candidate Paulette Marshall Chaffee is scheduled for sentencing on March 20, in Dept. N-9, North Justice Center, Fullerton. On Dec. 20, 2018, she pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of petty theft in an incident where she was caught on video surveillance tape taking down signs targeting her as a carpetbagger.

She and her husband Doug Chaffee (recently elected OC supervisor) who live in District 2, had been criticized for purchasing a one-bed condo in District 5 in order that she could qualify for that district’s council seat. She suspended her campaign after being charged.

According to the OC District Attorney, “Paulette Chaffee will be ordered to pay restitution of $20, plus $150 in state restitution, pay $150 to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund, and complete 20 hours of community service. If 60 or more hours of community service are completed by the sentencing date, the People will consider a motion to reduce the misdemeanor charges to infractions.”

In an unrelated case – newly elected Buena Park District 1 Councilmember Sunny Youngsun Park was also caught stealing “No Sunny Carpetbagger” signs  prior to the November 6, 2018 election. She and her family bought a home in Buena Park District 1 about a year before the election. Her law practice is also located in Buena Park.

Mrs. Park was arrested for the sign-stealing incident in October 2018 and later released by Buena Park Police. The OC District Attorney  charged her with misdemeanor petty theft in December 2018. She is scheduled for arraignment on March 20, 2019 at 8:30am in Dept. N8 of the North Justice Center in Fullerton.

She said she was collecting the signs as evidence because they were illegal, pointing out accurately that they did not have the required (FPPC) indication of who paid for them.

A video tape posted online shows her opponent’s husband Kenny Vaughn yelling at Mrs. Park during the October 19th sign-stealing incident for taking down signs that he says “we paid for.”
The Buena Park Police Association also contributed over $13,000 to Virginia Vaughn, Park’s opponent in the city council race.

Park is the first Korean-American elected to the city council though demograhics for the city show Asians make up 28.4% of the population, with Hispanic’s at 42.3%, Anglo’s at 22.3%, Black’s at 3.9%, and American Indian’s at .2%.