OC Political

A right-of-center blog covering local, statewide, and national politics

Archive for August, 2012

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RSCCD: Alvarez-Chapel-McLoughlin Slugfest for Area 5, Gordon-Yanez-Tapia Contest for Area 3

Posted by Chris Nguyen on August 10, 2012

While the races in Trustee Areas 1 and 7 are cancelled for being single-candidate affairs, a pair of tri-candidate campaigns have emerged in Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee Areas 3 and 5.

Mark McLaughlin, David Chapel, Claudia Alvarez

Mark McLoughlin, David Chapel, Claudia Alvarez

The slugfest between Rancho Santiago Community College District Vice President Mark McLoughlin (D-Santa Ana), Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee David Chapel (NPP-Santa Ana), and Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez (D-Santa Ana) should be the most fun college board race to watch this November.  Read my full pre-campaign analysis of this Trustee Area 5 race here.  Sadly, rumors of a Republican Vietnamese candidate proved untrue in Area 5.

Thomas Gordon

Thomas Anthony Gordon

Nelida Yanez

Nelida M. Yanez

Public School Inspector Thomas Anthony Gordon (R-Santa Ana), Paralegal Nelida M. Yanez (D-Santa Ana), and Construction Laborer Antonio “Tony” Jesus Tapia (D-Santa Ana) will contest Trustee Area 3.  Gordon is of course a blogger here at OC Political.  Ken Nguyen (NPP-Santa Ana) and Myriam Tinajero (D-Santa Ana) failed to return their papers before filing closed.

While Gordon and Yanez (like the trio in Area 5 of Alvarez, Chapel, and McLoughlin) wisely chose to place a candidate’s statement in the sample ballot, Tapia did not even bother getting a statement, which will make it difficult for voters to take him seriously when he doesn’t even take the voters seriously enough to tell him anything about himself.  The candidate’s statement in the sample ballot is the single thing that actually reaches every single voter.

(In the interest of full disclosure, Custom Campaigns, which owns OC Political, is the consultant on Gordon’s race.)

Posted in Rancho Santiago Community College District | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Candidate Filing Closes: Jose Solorio & Arianna Barrios Unopposed in Rancho Santiago Community College District

Posted by Chris Nguyen on August 10, 2012

Jose Solorio

Jose Solorio

Arianna Barrios

Arianna Barrios

The candidate filing period has closed, and there are two unopposed candidates for Rancho Santiago Community College District.  Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana) is unopposed in his bid for Trustee Area 1 (candidate filing will not be extended there as the area has no eligible incumbent) while Appointed Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee Arianna Barrios (NPP-Orange) will be unopposed for her bid for a full term in Area 7.

Greta Rice (D-Orange) had pulled papers to run against Barrios but did not return them by the close of filing.  No one pulled papers against Solorio at any time.

Neither race will appear on the ballot since there’s only one candidate (unless 50 voters of the respective trustee areas file a petition demanding an election with only one candidate on the ballot).

Posted in Rancho Santiago Community College District | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Filing Period Closes

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on August 10, 2012

As of 7:30 PM this evening all candidates are done filing for office (with the exception of races that go into extended filing).

Forgive us for being a bit busy this last couple of days, but we have a lot of clients running for office this November. We will be doing some updates on the final list of candidates in many races that did not go into extended filing later on this evening and/or over the weekend.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Assemblyman Wagner: Budget Fact Check – Parks Buyouts, Special Funds “Hoarding” Raises Questions about State Spending Practices

Posted by Newsletter Reprint on August 10, 2012

This came over the wire from Assemblyman Don Wagner’s office yesterday…

Don Wagner | District 70
Image

Parks Buyouts, Special Funds “Hoarding” Raises Questions about State Spending Practices

California taxpayers have been deeply troubled by the recent scandals that have rocked the Department of Parks and Recreation.  The allegations of inappropriate vacation buyouts awarded to 56 staff members and hoarding $54 million in special funds at a time when 70 parks were slated for closure have Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in 68th Assembly District | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Anaheim Chamber PAC Announces City Council Candidate Endorsements

Posted by Newsletter Reprint on August 8, 2012

This came over the wire from the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce PAC yesterday (Brandman is a Democrat on the Anaheim Union High School District Board while Lodge is a Republican who has never run for elected office)…
 

Anaheim Chamber Political Action Committee Endorses  
Jordan Brandman and Steve Chavez Lodge For City Council

(Anaheim, Calif. – August 7, 2012) – Today, the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee (ACCPAC) announced their endorsement for Jordan Brandman and Steve Chavez Lodge for Anaheim City Council. Brandman and Chavez Lodge are running for two open City Council seats on the Nov. 6 ballot.

After interviews with many very worthy candidates, ACCPAC endorsed Brandman and Chavez Lodge based on their proven experience in helping create jobs and promoting a safe and quality environment for neighborhoods. ACCPAC believes that Brandman and Chavez Lodge will be key factors in the future economic growth of Anaheim with a major focus on job creation.

# # #

Posted in Anaheim, Anaheim Union High School District | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

Taxin’ Troy Edgar Caught Supporting another Tax

Posted by OC Insider on August 7, 2012

Troy Edgar got dubbed “Taxin’ Troy” because of his record of raising taxes and fees on his City Council. But the more we dig, the more we find that his record of tax and fee increases stretches well beyond just the City Council. Like so many people in local office, Troy Edgar loves serving in regional government. He’s served on most every Board, receiving most every stipend along the way, in Orange County. And he’s raised taxes and fees on most of them.

For those new to the party, here is a quick refresher on Troy Edgar’s taxin’ past.

1.      Troy Edgar rejected the No New Tax Pledge.

2.      Troy Edgar has voted for over a dozen new taxes and fees.

3.      He is pushing for a massive utility tax increase in Los Alamitos. See Here and Here  (The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association called it a “massive tax increase”, when Vallejo tried to do the same thing.)

Now new evidence shows Troy Edgar supporting even more tax expansions.  In this case, Troy Edgar’s membership on the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) is the culprit.

From looking at the meeting minutes, Edgar mostly shows up, votes yes on everything, collects his per diem, and calls it a day.

And by voting yes on everything, I mean everything. In May of 2010 for example, Edgar decided it was a great idea to support a resolution advocating for passage of AB 2554 (Brownley 2010).  What is AB 2554 about?

AB 2554 conferred additional fee raising authority upon the LA Flood Control District.  Basically, it made it much easier for the district to raise fees on tax paying homeowners within its boundaries.

Who opposed this massive tax increase?

As you would expect, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) was opposed to the bill. In its opposition letter HJTA states,“Considering that Los Angeles County has a $2.4 billion General Fund budget and record $1 trillion on IRS property tax roll, there is plenty of money to go around.  We simply do not see the need to authorize a new method to exact more money from the California taxpayer.”

In addition to HJTA, every Republican member of the legislature voted against it

Voting NO from the Orange County delegation:

Senate: Harman, Wyland, Correa (Yes, even OC Democratic Senator Lou Correa opposed the bill (Huff and Walters, ABS)

Assembly: DeVore, Hagman, Harkey, Miller, Norby, Silva, Tran

Again, Troy Edgar stands alone in supporting yet another massive tax expansion. With the Republicans’ Legislative Caucuses teetering on falling beneath the 2/3 threshold, sending Troy Edgar to Sacramento is a risk we just can’t afford. He’s just lived up to his name of “Taxin’ Troy” too many times.

Posted in 72nd Assembly District, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Midway City Sanitary District, Rossmoor, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach Sanitary District, Surfside Colony Community Services District, Uncategorized, Westminster | Tagged: , , , | 5 Comments »

San Clemente Councilman Robert “Bob” Baker Challenged by Another Robert “Bob” Baker

Posted by Chris Nguyen on August 7, 2012

Councilman Robert “Bob” Baker

In what will be one of the most entertaining races this November, Republican San Clemente City Councilman Robert “Bob” Baker may face his most formidable/helpful/confusing opponent ever: businessman Robert “Bob” Baker.

On July 16, the first day of filing, incumbent Baker pulled papers for re-election.  Then on July 26, challenger Baker pulled papers to run.  On July 31, incumbent Baker filed his papers.  Yesterday, August 6, challenger Baker filed his papers.

Good news for the Bakers, the Legislature thought of this already.  In a 1931 Los Angeles Times article, Senator George Rochester (R-Los Angeles) announced that he was introducing SB 300 to remedy the problem of candidates with similar names.  Governor James Rolph (R-San Francisco) signed SB 300 into law.  SB 300 has survived in substantially the same form as it did 81 years ago and is now known as Elections Code Section 13107.

What is Section 13107?  Well, we all know it as the section providing for ballot designations, the little words appearing under a candidate’s name that describes his/her profession, occupation, or vocation.  Yes, ballot designations – the source of many lawsuits and in many cases, the key to a candidate’s victory – started out as a way to deal with similar names.

Incumbent Baker wants to use “Councilmember/Retired Aviator” as his ballot designation while challenger Baker wants to use “Businessman” as his.

Unfortunately, Senator Rochester solved a problem that had already been solved four years earlier.  In 1927, Assemblyman James Finn (R-San Francisco) wrote AB 1170, which was signed into law by Governor C.C. Young (R-San Francisco).  AB 1170 survives to this day in substantially the same form as it did 85 years ago and is now known as Elections Code Section 13118:

The following rules apply whenever any person who is a candidate for any office believes that some other person with a name that is so similar that it may be confused with his or her name has filed or will file a nomination paper for the same office:

(a) The candidate may, at the time of filing his or her nomination paper, or within five days after the time for filing nomination papers has expired, file with the county elections official a statement that shall be in substance as follows:

“I ____, believe that some other person, whose name is so similar to mine that it may be confused with mine, has filed or will file a nomination paper for the same office for which I have filed a nomination paper, and I therefore request and direct that number ____ be printed with my name on the ballot as a distinguishing mark.

_____  _____ Name 
Candidate for the officeof  ”

(b) The distinguishing mark shall be a number and shall be printed in large boldface type at the left of the name on the ballot.

(c) If two or more candidates for the same office designate the same distinguishing number, the first candidate who filed his or her nomination papers shall have the number, and other candidates who designate the same number may file papers designating other distinguishing numbers.

(d) In addition to the designated number or numbers that the county elections official shall place on the ballot when the above conditions are met, he or she shall place on the ballot, immediately following the designation of the office and immediately preceding the names of the candidates to be voted upon, the following warning in boldface type:

“Warning! There are two (or applicable number) candidates for this office with identical names.”

This warning shall also be included, in boldface type and in a prominent manner, on any sample ballot, ballot pamphlet, or other mailing sent by the county elections official, prior to the election, to persons eligible to vote for this office.

Incumbent Baker has already requested the number 1.

It’s unclear what the effect of having two Robert “Bob” Bakers on the ballot will be.  Voters may select up to two candidates since two council seats are up.  Might San Clemente voters cast their for both Bakers?  Or will they be confused and split the Baker vote?  Only time will tell.

There are four Robert Bakers registered to vote in San Clemente – two Republicans and two Democrats, and three of whom are between the ages of 60-64 while the fourth is 51.  No word yet on if the other two Robert Bakers are going to run.

Posted in San Clemente | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

Mismanagement, Wasteful Spending By Regulators Plague Effort to Restore Central Valley Salmon Populations

Posted by Cicero on August 6, 2012

At a time when the Governor is struggling to build support for his Bay Delta Conservation Plan and just weeks after the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act was pulled from the ballot for the second time, Californians are naturally skeptical about the competence of those responsible for ensuring both a clean and reliable water supply, and a healthy Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  One of the key elements of a healthy Delta is a stable population of the state’s iconic Central Valley salmon – something the state has not had for many years.

One group of stakeholders decided to find out why, despite over a billion dollars spent on protecting fish, we still do not have a healthy salmon population. The results of the investigation were not surprising – too much government, and no effective coordination. The San Joaquin Tributaries Authority (SJTA), State and Federal Water Contractors Agency and Northern California Water Association combined their resources to conduct the study, which can be found online here. The group, collectively known as the Salmon Recovery Group, found conflicting goals and inconsistent strategies of the regulators of the Delta had effectively cancelled out each other’s efforts.

The three entities primarily responsible for management of the fishery include the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and California Department of Fish Game (CDFG). The target population goal ranges from doubling the salmon population to removing the endangered list. The timelines are also inconsistent with each other as are the strategies being used to achieve the goals.

In a press release issued last week by the SJTA, the executive director of the SJTA expressed a sentiment that probably speaks for most Californians who see the results of this study, “[We] have made significant investments in the recovery of native salmon populations and we are committed to working toward a sustainable long-term plan,” said Allen Short, executive director of the SJTA and general manager of the Modesto Irrigation District. “But this report is disturbing, because it shows a level of mismanagement – and waste of taxpayer dollars – that raise serious doubts about regulators’ ability to chart a productive course in the future.”

The study went on to state several potential solutions, most obviously the common sense solution of more coordination between agencies. The study was sent to each of the agencies, but no public response has been issued.

As the report notes, “None of the three restoration plans reviewed adequately provide a clear and succinct strategy for recovering Central Valley anadromous salmonid stocks to viable and sustainable levels. The principal reason is that these plans were prepared by different agencies for different purposes largely independent of one another. This has led to numerous inconsistencies and disconnects among the three plans.”

While many people may not find the fact that the government is wasteful and spent billions of dollars with little return surprising, that should not make this report any less significant. Water is critical to the future of California and until those responsible for the management of California’s water supply get on the same page, we will unfortunately continue to see even more waste and fewer results.

You can read the study in its entirety here.

Posted in California | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Roseanne Barr/Cindy Sheehan Win Peace and Freedom Party Nomination for White House

Posted by Chris Nguyen on August 6, 2012

Peace and Freedom Party Presidential Nominee Roseanne Barr

Peace and Freedom Party Presidential Nominee Roseanne Barr

In an odd turn of events over the weekend, actress Roseanne Barr and liberal activist Cindy Sheehan won the Peace and Freedom Party’s nomination for President and Vice President.

Just two months ago, Barr had been defeated for the Green Party presidential nomination by Massachusetts physician Jill Stein when the latter won the crucial California primary, clinching enough delegates to win the nomination.  Last month, Green Party watchers speculated that Stein would pick Barr to be her running mate, but that came to naught when Stein picked Pennsylvanian Cheri Honkala.

This past week proved most eventful for left-wing third parties.  On Wednesday, the Green Party’s Stein and Honkala were both jailed for a sit-in at a Philadelphia bank.  The next day, Barr jumped the Green Party ship and announced that she was the seeking the Peace and Freedom Party’s nomination for President and had selected Cindy Sheehan as her running mate.  Shortly after Barr’s announcement, Rocky Anderson, who had won the Peace and Freedom Party’s California primary, withdrew from the race.  Then, Barr and Sheehan won the Peace and Freedom nomination at their convention over the weekend.

The Peace and Freedom Party’s incredibly generous rules do not require their nominee “to run in the primary or be a registered party member,” State Party Chair C.T. Weber told the Sacramento Bee.

The Peace and Freedom Party, which calls itself “California’s Feminist Socialist Political Party,” has ballot access in California and Florida.  The party is also seeking ballot access in several other states.  Might I suggest Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Wisconsin, or Iowa?

This entire episode leaves two important questions:

  1. Is there still time for Barr to seek the presidential nomination of The Rent Is Too Damn High Party in New York?
  2. Since President Barack Obama’s campaign has already run hit ads on Mitt Romney featuring Romney singing America the Beautiful, will Jill Stein’s campaign run hit ads on Roseanne Barr featuring Barr singing The Star-Spangled Banner?


Posted in California, National | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Congressman Gary Miller’s Weekly Newsletter

Posted by Newsletter Reprint on August 4, 2012

This came over the wire from Congressman Gary Miller’s office yesterday…

August 3, 2012

Congressman Miller Votes to Prevent Tax Hikes on Taxpayers and Job Creators

Looming large over our economy is the pending expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax relief. Beginning January 1, 2013, the lowest-income taxpayers will see their tax rate rise from 10 percent to Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in 39th Congressional District | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

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