Orange County Board of Education Trustee Tim Shaw is being sued by Paulette Chaffee—his opponent in the June election—for alleged defamation.
Last week, Chaffee—an educator and the wife of OC Supervisor Doug Chaffee—filed a lawsuit claiming she was defamed by two Shaw campaign mailers that called Chaffee a “convicted thief,” in reference to her being charged by the Orange County District Attorney on two misdemeanor counts.
Chaffee pled guilty in 2018 to two misdemeanor counts of petty theft for stealing campaign signs during her run for Fullerton City Council. Those signs, paid for by political activist Tony Bushala, called Chaffee a “carpetbagger”—referring to her move from her home to a condo in Fullerton’s District 5 in order to run for office….