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Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 2, 2012
For whatever reason all the speculation was the Donald Trump was planning on endorsing Newt Gingrich today, but as many of you already know that did not happen. This morning Trump came out and endorsed Mitt Romney on the heels of the Nevada and Maine election this Saturday. This forther builds on the recent momentum that Mitt Romney has experienced after a big win in the Florida Primary on Tuesday.
If Mitt wins both Nevada and Maine which I expect that he will on Saturday then you can pretty much stick a fork in Newt because he is done. Some of you might argue that Trump is not that big a deal because a lot of people hate him, but I counter with the fact that he has a strong following as well.
Posted in National | Tagged: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 2, 2012
As many people may have heard, Auditor-Controller David Sundstrom (Republican) is leaving Orange County to take a job up in Northern California. My attitude is good riddance, as Sundstrom is an elected Republican who endorsed numerous Democrats and did not in my opinion do enough to help the Republican cause. This however does leave the question, who will be the next person in this spot?
According to the County website, at least one of the following requirements must be met:
- has a valid certificate issued by the California Board of Accountancy showing the person to be a certified public accountant or a public accountant; or
- has a baccalaureate degree from an accredited four-year institution, with a major in accounting or its equivalent, and has served within the last five years in a senior fiscal management position in a county, city, or other public agency, a private firm, or a nonprofit organization, dealing with similar fiscal responsibilities, for a continuous period of not less than three years, or
- has a certificate issued by the Institute of Internal Auditors showing the person to be a designated professional internal auditor, with a minimum of 16 college semester units, or their equivalent, in accounting, auditing, or finance, or
- has served as county auditor, chief deputy county auditor, or chief assistant county auditor for a continuous period of not less than three years.
and one of the following requirements:
- has served in a senior financial management position in a county, city, or other public agency dealing with similar financial responsibilities for a continuous period of at least three years, in the role of treasurer, tax collector, auditor, auditor-controller, or the chief deputy or assistant of these offices;
- has a B.A., M.A, or PhD in business administration, public administration, economics, finance, accounting or a related field;
- has a valid California certification as a certified public accountant (CPA)
- has a valid certification as a Chartered Financial Analyst; or
- possess valid certification as a Certified Cash Manager.
Hmmmm, I wonder what Keith Carlson is up to.
Posted in Orange County | Tagged: David Sundstrom, Keith Carlson | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 2, 2012
I have always felt lucky to live in Orange County for a number of reasons, one of which is the innovative and forward thinking of our Registrar of Voters, Neal Kelley, and his staff. They have always had one of the better websites, but a friend of mine last night pointed out a brand new feature on their website: candidates are allowed to pull papers online, although they will still need to go file them in person.
It may not seem like a big deal, and understandably this will have very little impact on somebody who lives near the O.C. ROV. Picture somebody who lives in San Clemente or La Habra, though and how much easier this will make life on them.
Posted in Orange County | Tagged: Neal Kelley | 2 Comments »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 2, 2012
Over the past few months, a series of mailers have been sent out to Anaheim residents attacking Councilwoman Kris Murray and promoting some type of transparency in government ordinance. It surprises me that this is the angle they are taking since Anaheim is one of the more transparent cities with a “Transparency in Government” button on the front page of their website. However, it should come as no surprise that former and future candidate for Anaheim City Council John Leos is featured on these mailers.
It has become clear that the groundwork is being set for a John Leos run for Council in 2012, not that this is any surprise. With Harry Sidhu and Lori Galloway both termed out leaving a couple of open seats, it makes it a very big election.
Current candidates (along with what they reported raising) include:
Jordan Brandman- $110,560
Brian Chuchua- $20,100
Rudy Gaona- Not Filed Yet
Lucille Kring- $0
John Leos- $0
Linda Linder $0
Steve Lodge $16,700
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: Brian Chuchua, Harry Sidhu, John Leos, Jordan Brandman, Linda Linder, Lori Galloway, Lucille Kring, OCEA, Rudy Gaona, Steve Lodge | 1 Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 1, 2012
For anybody who was looking to research campaign finance data on the Secretary of State website in the month of December, you likely found yourself out of luck. The site was constantly crashing and facing numerous functionality issues. In response to these issues, Senator Alex Padilla, who ironically happens to be running for Secretary of State, is urging Governor Jerry Brown to take control of the database H/T LA Times blog on the story.
It would be really nice if they would simply update the technology that they are using to run the website. Realistically, upgrading that website (assuming it is being used by less than hundreds of thousands of people) shouldn’t cost that much money to upgrade it or to host it. They could even go through and make the website more user-friendly during the process.
Posted in California | Tagged: Alex Padilla, Debra Bowen, Jerry Brown | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 1, 2012
Effective this morning, RDAs went away in California as a result of a recent vote in the Legislature. Orange County Assemblyman Chris Norby really spearheaded this issue, and it ended up passing. With that being said, I find it surprising that so many Republicans in local offices and even up in Sacramento were opposed to abolishing RDAs.
The argument could easily be made that RDAs are local, and by abolishing them, it is promoting less local control and more money going to Sacramento. Based on eminent domain abuses and the amount of money that is wasted, I think that Republicans should have been more strongly in favor of abolishing them due to the fact that it involved shrinking government.
Posted in California | Tagged: Chris Norby | 1 Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 1, 2012
This post may not sit well with some people but I feel that it needs to be said. Orly Taitz is hurting the Republican brand with her crazy birther rants. Messaging is a key component to any race and that message needs to resonate with the voters. As a conservative Republican I oppose Barack Obama based on his liberal fiscal and social policies. By focusing on the issue of where he was born it focuses on the minutia and distracts voters from the real problems.
What bugs me even more is the fact that I think she is doing it simply to gain attention as she ran for Secretary of State in 2010 and luckily got crushed in the primary by Damon Dunn. Now she is back on the campaign trail running for U.S. Senate against a slew of other unknown Republicans to replace Dianne Feinstein. I am hoping that my fellow Republicans do not encourage this behavior and will reject her at the polls again.
Posted in National | Tagged: Orly Taitz | 1 Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on January 31, 2012
The results were not even close in this one. I am not surprised by Romney winning but I am amazed by the margin of victory, as he is almost at 50% of the overall vote. With this result I don’t know that it will be much longer for this primary to be contested. This was a big win with the number of delegates at stake and a huge momentum boost for the Romney campaign.
On to Nevada where I think that Romney will win again on Saturday.
Posted in National | Tagged: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on January 31, 2012
Some big news recently has been with the potential recall of three Republican council members in Fullerton. This story has been covered very well by the bloggers at www.fullertonsfuture.org. People have asked me what my take is on the recall since the recall is targeting Republicans.
Usually my thought is that Republican money could be better spent targeting Democrats in the upcoming election. In this particular case though I am advocating that we do need to recall all three of these council members because they are hurting the Republican brand. The lone Democrat on the council Sharon Quirk-Silva is more conservative than the three targeted by the recall. Nobody on that council compares to Bruce Whitaker though who is a solid Republican on all issues.
I may not agree with Tony Bushala on every issue, but no matter what his motives are behind the recall these council members have simply got to go.
Posted in Fullerton | Tagged: Bruce Whitaker, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Pat McKinley, Sharon Quirk-Silva, Tony Bushala | 1 Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on January 31, 2012
This is a big day for Republican politics with the Florida Primary taking place today. Mitt Romney looks like he has surged at the right time in the polls, but anything can happen. My thoughts are that whoever win this one will be the nominee as momentum will be a big deal along with the vast number of Florida delegates.
Both candidate s have their flaws but I personally have serious issues with Newt Gingrich and his infidelity. As a Republican I felt that Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal was shameful in his actions and was a disgrace to the Presidency, I will not take it any easier on Gingrich because he is a Republican.
In fairness Romney has his issues on certain policies but I see him as the best option in a very lousy group of candidates.
Check back in with us for a recap and analysis of the results tonight.
Posted in National | Tagged: Bill Clinton, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich | 3 Comments »
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