Edzo the Ambusher
Apparently, when you start to tell the truth about Edzo's lack of character, his penchant for lying, his thuggish, and overall jackassy behavior, a lot of people have stories to send you that prove all of those things.
One of the first stories we received through our confidential link is a story that was, by many accounts, front and center when Edzo addressed the California Professional Firefighters during its recent candidate forum (which ended with a whole lot of endorsements for Mahlon apparently), and it goes like this:
Frank Lima and Edzo became fast friends when they came onto the IAFF Executive Board together in 2016. Such pals they were, they considered each other the ideal running mate in a future election for both principal officer positions.
Then, Edzo showed who he really is, how he “leads” by stabbing people in the back, how he ignores the Executive Board, IAFF policy and due process for his own political gain.
To the point, they had a falling out.
Edzo, who has apparently wanted to be GP since he was in diapers, announced his GP campaign by tearing our union apart.
Somewhere in the middle of Edzo’s leaking, Frank was chosen by the senior District Vice President Danny Todd to sit on the Claims Committee of the IAFF’s Staff Pension Plan to determine the facts in the attack on Schaitberger’s pension that was made public to the Free Beacon and Wall Street Journal by Edzo.
Fast forward to Frank and his other DVP brothers on the Claims Committee deciding that Edzo was wrong for making the case that he made with few (and bad) facts, based on the wrong pension plan, and based on the advice of a hand-picked lawyer that the overwhelming majority of the Executive Board thinks little of.
After the Claims Committee finished its work, Frank then decides to run for GST. Edzo gets so pissed that Frankie made him look bad, he makes a move to convince FDNY Local 854 President Jake Lamonda to run against Frank. [Quick aside: That’s not going well for Edzo or Jake, and now the clown is, from multiple sources, calling Frank regularly begging for a second chance at being pals.]
After Frank made his decision to run for GST, he called Edzo to discuss the future of the IAFF. Edzo recommended that Lima fly all the way from Los Angeles to Boston to meet. So Lima flew all the way there believing that he was to meet Edzo alone in a restaurant.
Instead, Lima walked into an ambush. Edzo, DVP Andrew Pantelis [he’s the Ethics Committee Chairman right?], Jake, DVP James Slevin, DVP Jay Colbert and maybe a few other monosyllabic utterers were there to do Edzo’s dirty work for him.
That crew spent dinner bashing Lima, calling him names, telling him they were going to run Jake against him [we wonder if Edzo will post the receipt for this dinner.]
Our confidential informant on this says, “These are the actions of snakes not brothers.”
We agree.
Whatever you think of how Schaitberger’s tenure is ending, as IAFF leaders we all have to want a fresh start. Do you really think starting with a snake as GP is the way to do it?
We don’t.
If you’ve already endorsed that clown, you probably did it with high pressure, thuggish calls from Edzo’s boyz hitting you upside your head daily. Threatening you that you’re either on the train or under it.
You also did it without all the facts, and there’s a lot more to come.