OC Political

I am keenly aware this post may ruffle some feathers, but it was a post I felt compelled to write. I am not supporting anyone in particular in the 48th Congressional District, but I am opposing Scott Baugh. A number of years ago during Baugh’s reign as Chairman of the OCGOP in the 2007 timeframe, I was an alternate on the OCGOP Central Committee for former Central Committee member John Wiliams. At the time, I believe the only Black (or African-American for some) persons involved in Central Committee were myself and Emily Sanford. My hope was that the party would recognize the need to get serious about outreach to the growing minority communities in Orange County, or at least be more welcoming.

At a barbecue hosted by John Moorlach one Saturday morning sometime in 2008, I asked Baugh about his thoughts on minority outreach as Orange County was making early moves towards being a purple county instead of continuing to be solidly red as in the past, particularly due to so many Republicans leaving the party to register as “Decline to State” (or DTS). Scott told me clearly that minority outreach was not much of a concern for him because politics had its cycles and even though Orange County may be trending away from the Republican Party, the pendulum would eventually swing the other way.

A couple of years later, in 2011, John Williams resigned from Central Committee due to apparent impropriety in his role as public guardian, for which he was fired by the Board of Supervisors. As John’s long-serving alternate who was active in the party working on minority outreach with then-coordinator Jack Wu, I saw this as an opportunity to be appointed to Central Committee so I could further this work.  This was a vibrant community that was lauded when former and now deceased Tom Fuentes was Chairman, but was only tolerated with Baugh at the helm.

I was given the cold shoulder by Baugh as well as the committee members of my district, with the exception of Todd Spitzer who felt I had value to offer the party. Instead, a person was appointed who had not been involved in or served in the party in the slightest. It was, to say, a low point in my life and a clear repudiation of the party wanting to be inclusive of minorities, at least in my district. I will never forget the disdain exhibited towards me particularly by Marcia Gilchrist and Jon Fleischman. Todd Spitzer later asked me to be his alternate, which I accepted. I am forever grateful for his support at a time when I felt rejected by the party of Lincoln.

After becoming Todd’s alternate, I later took leadership of the OCGOP minority outreach effort as coordinator. With much wrangling with the Executive Committee, I was able to establish an ad hoc committee that was highly active in the minority community, attending many cultural events and establishing a presence the party didn’t have before. I recall working with some truly outstanding people such as Craig Alexander, Deborah Pauly, Cuong Cao, Desare Ferraro, Zonya Townsend, and others. This continued for about a year or so, and then we had the redistricting in 2012 that changed the district maps for California. So I decided at that time to run for Central Committee as a full member.

I learned of a mailer going out for the June primaries that Baugh was directing from someone Baugh had already solicited to join the mailer, asking if I was on it. I replied I knew nothing of the mailer. I informed Baugh that I was interested in running for Central Committee based on my work as an alternate with an active committee reaching out to minority communities, and asked if he would support me by allowing me to participate in the mailer. Scott said he had no involvement in the mailer, which I knew to be false. Again, Scott demonstrated he had no desire to include minorities in the party and had no intentions of growing the party through outreach efforts. For a party that had and continues to have such a bad reputation with minorities, I don’t know why my work would not be a priority for him if his intention was to grow the party. It was becoming increasingly clear to me that I simply wasn’t welcome in the party. Thus, I ceased operations of my committee and divorced myself of all involvement in the party ever since. I am, however, encouraged by the work of the current party Chairman, Fred Whitaker, so perhaps I will reconsider in the future.

What I’m not attempting to do is to call Baugh a racist, but to note what I viewed as an unwelcome attitude, at least towards me. While I am by no means poor and am in the top 5% of earners nationwide in the high tech industry, he didn’t know that and I believe viewed me in a completely different light from someone who is white and known to have considerable financial resources. Many whites, to this day, make false assumptions about blacks and believe we have little to offer. So what I am attempting to show is Baugh’s insensitivity and indifference (which is by no means limited to Baugh) during his days as Chairman of the party, and thus I feel he is the wrong person to represent the 48th Congressional District of California which, while almost 57% white, also has a constituency that is 17% Asian, 21% Hispanic, and 1% Black. In my view, the minority population of the 48th Congressional District will not have an advocate in Scott Baugh.