Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on October 22, 2012
Another mailer that I received over the weekend was this piece paid for by the Republican Party of Orange County. It is another 8.5 x 11 piece with a huge OC GOP logo on the front. On the back it compares Lucille Kring and Jordan Brandman.
Here is the piece:
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: Jordan Brandman, Lucille Kring | 3 Comments »
Posted by OC Insider on October 12, 2012
With respect, my blog colleague Lassie’s post, while informative, misses the point. It doesn’t matter that unions give money to all major Anaheim City Council candidates, because only candidates endorsed by the Republican Party of Orange County are required to refuse contributions from public employee unions.
In Anaheim, the two endorsed candidates are Lucille Kring and Brian Chuchua. Both of them have taken money from government unions.
So it is beside the point that Jordan Brandman, a Democrat, has taken a lot of union money. It’s beside the point that most of the campaign contributions to John Leos, the other member of Mayor Tom Tait’s “reform team,” are from government unions. Leos has long been active in his union, the Orange County Employees Association, so it isn’t surprising that government unions are his fundraising base.
Steve Lodge did accept contributions from the police union. But unlike Kring, he is not endorsed by the OC GOP (he dropped out of the endorsement process mid-way through).
However, unlike Kring, Lodge has returned his union contributions.
The fact remains that Lucille Kring was took money from the Anaheim police union and was lobbying for the union’s endorsement, at the same time that she was working to get the endorsement of the OC Republican Party. During the OC GOP endorsement process, Kring failed to tell the Central Committee about her wooing of the Anaheim police union or taking its money. As others have pointed out, the whole point of the party’s “Union Free” pledge is to force candidates to choose between the OC GOP and the public employee unions. Kring tried to have it both ways. There’s no denying that.
Kring, speaking through left-wing blogger Vern Nelson, explained that she’s been meaning to get around to returning the police union donation for the last four months, but didn’t because her husband was travelling a lot. That excuse is hard to believe. During that same time period, Lucille Kring found time to pay herself back the $50,000 loan she made to her campaign, and then to loan herself another $50,000, but we’re supposed to believe there wasn’t time to return a $500 check?
Lassie’s argument comes down to saying everyone take’s union money, but Lucille didn’t take as much public employee union money as the others, and so that makes her independent. That’s not much of a case, and it’s beside the point.
Posted in Anaheim | 3 Comments »
Posted by Lassie on October 11, 2012
My blog colleague, OC Insider, wrote this series of posts about Lucille Kring”s $500 contribution from the Anaheim police union (https://ocpolitical.com/2012/10/05/lucille-kring-violated-baugh-manifesto/, https://ocpolitical.com/2012/10/07/oc-gop-should-rescind-kring-endorsement/, and https://ocpolitical.com/2012/10/07/did-kring-fool-the-police-union-too/). It’s an interesting coincidence that the last two posts were written after the Orange County Register endorsed Kring for Anaheim City Council:
Ms. Kring stands out among the crowd of nine candidates. Having served on the city council previously, she acutely understands the issues facing Anaheim and has a much-needed independent streak on a council in which, we believe, former Mayor Curt Pringle, and other special interests, have far too much influence.
Ms. Kring has a firm grasp on the budgetary challenges of the city and has the right ideas as to how to fix them, including serious pension reform. She also has in-depth knowledge of public safety, and she opposes crony capitalism, sweetheart deals handed out to those with political connections or representation.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-191002-ocprint-council-anaheim.html
OC Insider blasted Kring for inaccurately signing this pledge in the OC GOP questionnaire:
“I WILL NOT ACCEPT CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM GOVERNMENT UNIONS.”
Lodge inaccurately signed the same pledge! Unlike Kring, Lodge inaccurately told the OC GOP Endorsements Committee that he had not taken any union money:
Lodge says he is endorsed by the Anaheim Police and Fire unions and the Santa Ana Police union but has not taken any money from them.
https://ocpolitical.com/2012/09/05/ocgop-endorsements-committee-meets/
He took $1000 from the Anaheim Police union on 12/28/2011 – almost six months before Kring took $500.
OC Insider neglected to note that every other major candidate for Anaheim City Council took more police union money than Kring did. The Anaheim police union gave $1800 to Jordan Brandman, $1000 to Steven Albert Chavez Lodge, $1000 to John Leos, and a paltry $500 to Lucille Kring.
Actually, every other major candidate for Anaheim City Council took more union money than Kring did:
Lucille Kring
$500 on 6/20/2012 from the Anaheim Police union
Steven Albert Chavez Lodge
$1000 on 12/28/2011 from the Anaheim Police union
John Leos
$1800 on 2/21/2012 from the Orange County Employees Association (maxed out)
$1800 on 4/6/2012 from the Anaheim Municipal Employees Association (maxed out)
$1800 on 9/30/2012 from the Orange County Labor Federation (maxed out)
$1000 on 9/18/2012 from the Anaheim Police union
TOTAL: $6,400
(I should note OCEA dumped $50,000 into a pro-Leos IE PAC.)
Jordan Brandman
$1800 on 8/30/2012 from the Anaheim Firefighters union (maxed out)
$1800 on 9/14/2012 from OC COPS (maxed out)
$1800 on 8/30/2012 from PORAC (maxed out)
$1300 on 6/8/2012 from the International Union of Operating Engineers (maxed out to $1800)
$1050 on 9/12/7/2012 from Local Union 105 (maxed out to $1800)
$1000 on 11/4/2011 from the UA Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 582 (maxed out to $1800)
$1000 on 11/18/2011 from the Southern California Pipe Trades District Council (maxed out to $1800)
$1000 on 12/7/2011 from the Anaheim Police union (maxed out to $1800)
$1000 on 12/31/2011 from the Laborers International Union of North America (maxed out to $1800)
$1000 on 3/8/2012 from the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters
$1000 on 5/29/2012 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (grand total: $1500)
$800 on 4/30/2012 from the UA Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 582 (maxed out to $1800)
$800 on 5/7/2012 from the Southern California Pipe Trades District Council (maxed out to $1800)
$800 on 9/14/2012 from the Anaheim Police union (maxed out to $1800)
$800 on 9/30/2012 from the Laborers International Union of North America (maxed out to $1800)
$500 on 12/31/2011 from the District Council of Iron Workers
$500 on 12/31/2011 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (grand total: $1500)
$500 on 4/16/2012 from the International Union of Operating Engineers (maxed out to $1800)
$500 on 5/7/2012 from Local Union 105 (maxed out to $1800)
$500 on 6/24/2012 from OPCNIA Plasters Local Union 200
$500 on 6/30/2012 from the Sprinkler Fitters Local 109
$250 on 11/4/2011 from the LA/OC Building & Construction Trades Council
$250 on 11/4/2011 from the Sprinkler Fitters Local Number 709
$250 on 12/7/2011 from Local Union 105 (maxed out to $1800)
TOTAL: $20,700
(You can find all campaign finance filings in Anaheim at http://nf4.netfile.com/pub2/Default.aspx?aid=ANA)
Lucille Kring is still the most independent voice for Anaheim City Council, and that’s why the Orange County Register endorsed her.
Posted in Anaheim, Republican Central Committee | Tagged: John Leos, Jordan Brandman, Lucille Kring, OC Register, Orange County Register, Steve Chavez Lodge, Steve Lodge, Steven Albert Chavez Lodge | 2 Comments »
Posted by OC Insider on October 7, 2012
The OC GOP Endorsement Committee recommended endorsement of Anaheim council candidate Lucille Kring on August 20. That means Kring had filled out the OC GOP candidate questionnaire earlier, probably in July. As noted, that first thing the questionnaire asks candidates to do is signed a pledge stating:
“I WILL NOT ACCEPT CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM GOVERNMENT UNIONS.”
In July, as Kring was working on garnering the OC GOP endorsement, she was also trying to get the endorsement of the Anaheim Police Officers PAC (She had already taken a $500 contribution from them).
Kring interviewed with the police union PAC. She answered their questionnaire. She nearly won the police union PAC endorsement, narrowly missing being endorsed for the second spot in the union endorsement voting (she was edged out by Steve Lodge). Kring wanted and pursued the police union endorsement (after having already taken their money), while she was simultaneously pursuing the OC GOP endorsement. And Kring never informed the OC GOP.
Since Kring was not forthcoming with the OC GOOP during their endorsement process, you have to wonder if she also what she told the police union while they interviewed her, or when she filled out their questionnaire. Among the questions the union PAC asked candidate was whether they supported or opposed Prop. 32, to which the unions are totally opposed. If Kring had said she supported Prop. 32, is it likely she would have come so close to winning the police union PAC endorsement? Did she tell the police union PAC she was going to take a pledge against taking government union contributions; after she had already taken their money? Again, it’s hard to believe she would have come so close to winning the union PAC endorsement had she done so.
Who was getting played? The police union? The OC GOP? Both?
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: Anaheim police union, kring | 4 Comments »
Posted by OC Insider on October 7, 2012
Word on the street, as they say, is that a request has been made for the Republican Party of Orange County to rescind its endorsement of Anaheim council candidate Lucille Kring, in light of the fact that she solicited and received a contribution from the Anaheim Police Officers PAC in June of this year (first reported on this blog).
News of the OC Political post reached the former councilmember, whose first instinct was to call left-wing blogger Vern Nelson and ask reaction was to call left-wing blogger Vern Nelson, and ask him to convey her response. Here’s what Vern commented on the earlier post:
Lucille called me from out canvassing – I guess I’m the bloggiest guy I know! – someone told her about this story, and she asked me to write:
She had been planning to give back that money since she took that pledge; her husband is her treasurer and was supposed to do that, but he’s been traveling a lot lately partly because his mother recently died; but she will return it POSTHASTE!
Kring took the police union contribution on June 20, as she reported on page four of her January 1-June 30 campaign disclosure. She calls a left-wing blogger to explain she had meant to return it, but still had not done so three-and-a-half months later.
This is the first instance of Kring acknowledging getting the police union donation, and only because this blog has made it public. As you can see, on page 1, the very first thing candidates are asked to sign their name to — before even answering whether or not they are Republicans — is a the “Union-Free” pledge. It is spelled out in capital letters:
“I WILL NOT ACCEPT CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM GOVERNMENT UNIONS.”
She admits to blogger Vern Nelson that she was and is aware that this contribution violates the Baugh Manifesto, from which this pledge comes.
It is common knowledge in Anaheim political circles that Lucille Kring actively approached Anaheim police union officers and consultants seeking the union’s support. She did this even as she was cultivating OC GOP Central Committee members for their endorsement.
Kring is not a first-time candidate. She is aware of the Baugh Manifesto and the pledge candidates seeking the party endorsement have to take. She knows taking government union money is incompatible with seeking the OC GOP endorsement, but she still did both.
She withheld from the OC GOP Central Committee the fact that she had sought and received financial support from the Anaheim police union. That $500 contribution was still in her campaign account, three and a half months after accepting it a and almost a month after getting the OC GOP endorsement. Kring is saying she’ll return now that it has been made public, but what if it hadn’t been exposed? After all, Kring didn’t tell the Central Committee about it when she had the chance.
It’s unlikely the OC GOP would have endorsed Kring if it had known about the police union contribution. That contribution sends a message of its own: that Kring was cultivating the police union, and would have gone on cultivating it if the OC GOP endorsement had gone the other way.
The OC GOP can let this go and send the message that the party can be had, that the Central Committee members can be snookered, that you can get both the OC GOP endorsement and government union campaign contributions if you can keep the former in the dark long enough about the latter.
Or it can fix this mistake. Letting this slide would be unfair to candidates who have been refused the endorsement for the same offense. The party should apply the “Union-Free” pledge the same way to every candidate. It should start by rescinding its endorsement of Lucille Kring.
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: Anaheim, kring, union | 4 Comments »
Posted by OC Insider on October 5, 2012
On September 17, the Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee voted to endorse Lucille Kring for Anaheim City Council.
Three months earlier, on June 20, Kring accepted a $500 contribution to her council campaign from the Anaheim Police Officers PAC. It can be seen on page 4 of her January 1-June 30 campaign disclosure.
This is a violation of the “Baugh Manifesto” that has governed OC GOP endorsements in non-partisan elections since 2010. This policy stated that, on a going forward basis, the OC GOP shall not endorse any candidate who has taken campaign contributions from a public employee union.
This has been a controversial policy and the subject of much media attention. There is no way Lucille Kring could have been unaware of it. She was planning to seek the OC GOP endorsement, and still took the police union’s money.
So how did the OC GOP miss that? Or did they know and endorse her anyway? The OC GOP has refused to endorse other candidates for the same offense. Two years ago, the party stripped Costa Mesa Councilmember Wendy Leece of her endorsement over a similar union issue.
If the Baugh Manifesto is to have meaning, then the OC GOP needs to rescind its endorsement of Kring, otherwise the lesson for other candidates will be you can play games with the unions and still get the OC GOP nod as long as you can hide it long enough.
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: Anaheim police union, Lucille Kring, oc gop | 30 Comments »
Posted by OC Insider on September 25, 2012
Catch this exchange between Anaheim blogger Cynthia Ward and former RedCounty blogger Matt Cunningham, who has an issue with ballot-box policymaking like an initiative in Anaheim Ward supports. True to form, Ward turns it into a personality conflict and accuses everyone of having ulterior motives.
Speaking of ulterior, Cynthia is still staying mum on who is paying her legal fees on her failed attempt to have “Chavez” struck from Anaheim Council candidate Steve Chavez Lodge’s ballot name. Strange silence from someone who describes her self this way:
“I am a truth-teller. It gets me in trouble. But if you ask me if a dress makes you look fat, I will tell so, and help select another, before you go on television and realize it for yourself. My real friends are expected to be truthful with me as well. A secret shared will be taken to my grave, but lie to me, and it will end up here…on these pages… especially if you are tasked with the stewardship of public resources.”
Ward, as a director of the OC Cemetery District, is a “steward of public resources.” She votes to approve or disapprove budgets, contracts, etc. Gifts are reportable. She still needs to clear up this question mark hovering over her about whether she has violated TIN CUP.
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: Anaheim, cynthia ward, Matt Cunningham, Steve Lodge | 14 Comments »
Posted by Chris Nguyen on September 18, 2012
Below, find the list of all the endorsements made by the OC GOP for the November 2012 elections. (This list covers the endorsements made in the August and September meetings. This does not include October endorsements, though those endorsements won’t come until October 15, a measly three weeks before the election.)
The Liberal OC reported the DPOC August endorsements here. The DPOC’s next endorsements will be on September 24.
Here’s the OC GOP list…
City Council
City Ballot Measures
School District
Water District
Sanitary District
Posted in Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Capistrano Unified School District, Costa Mesa, Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Cypress, Cypress School District, Dana Point, Democrat Central Committee, East Orange County Water District, Fountain Valley, Fountain Valley School District, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Irvine Unified School District, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Mesa Consolidated Water District, Municipal Water District of Orange County, Newport Beach, Ocean View School District, Orange, Orange County Water District, Orange Unified School District, Rancho Santa Margarita, Republican Central Committee, San Clemente, Santa Ana, Santa Ana Unified School District, Tustin, Yorba Linda | Tagged: Adam Nick, Alexandria Coronado, Alexia L. Deligianni, Allan Bernstein, Baron Night, Brad McGirr, Brett Elliott Franklin, Brian Neil Chuchua, Bruce Whitaker, Carlos N. Olvera, Carol Gamble, Cecilia "Ceci" Iglesias, Charles E. "Chuck" Puckett, Charles Hart, Christina L. Shea, Colin McCarthy, Dave Sullivan, Dean Grose, Debbie Cotton, Denis R. Bilodeau, Devin Dwyer, Don Harper, Douglass S. Davert, Dwight Robinson, Erik Peterson, Ethan Temianka, Gary Monahan, George M. Collins, Greg Ficke, James R. Fisler, Jeanne Galindo, Jeff R. Mathews, Jim Reardon, John Nielsen, Jon Dumitru, Karina Onofre, Larry R. Crandall, Laurie Davies, Lucille Kring, Lynn Schott, Mark A. Murphy, Mark Schwing, Measure FF, Measure HH, Measure V, Measure Z, Michelle Ollada Alipio, Mike Mortenson, Mike Munzing, Nancy Rikel, Peter Kim, Ray Grangoff, Rob Johnson, Roger C. Yoh, Steve A. Nagel, Steve Dicterow, Steve Jones, Steve Mensinger, Steve R. Lang, Steven S. Choi, Steven Vargas, Susan Hinman, Tony Beall, Travis Kiger, William "Bill" Perkins | 5 Comments »
Posted by HBK on September 13, 2012
As others here have noted, Anaheim politics nowadays makes for strange bedfellows and alliances.
Anaheim Councilwoman Lorri Galloway has been the toughest critic of the city’s deal with the GardenWalk project, under which Anaheim rebates 80% of the hotel project’s transient occupancy tax revenue back to the two hotels for 15 years. This is larger than the 50-50 TOT splits the city has done in the past with resort district hotels.
Galloway has denounced the GardenWalk deal as a “tax giveaway” and declares this is not “a good time to give $158 million of taxpayer money away to one developer.”
A few years ago, she thought it was a good idea to give tax money to a developer, far in excess of normal standards. This excerpt from a October 2008 post on a now-dormant blog called “No On Galloway” explains how when it came to an Anaheim affordable housing project called the Elm Street Commons, a different view of developer subsidies prevailed:
“It seems the funding on this project got a little creative. On November 28, 2006, SADI, the developer for Elm Street Commons, came to City Council to have their standard DDA approved through the Housing Authority. Standard practice in Anaheim is to give the developer money, to be paid back over time, 85% to the City, and the developer keep 15% as profit. The 85% is then recycled into more housing projects, which keeps Anaheim building apartments for the working poor. Whether you agree with building subsidized housing or not, it is an efficient system. In the development of the Elm Street Commons, the City offered many millions of dollars in direct funding, plus incentives added later such as a sewer project the developer decided the City should do. Rather than approve the otherwise ordinary deal, now-convicted-felon Richard Chavez pulled the development from the Consent Calendar, allowing discussion. In the end, the City Council, led by Chavez and backed by Lorri Galloway, changed the condition of the agreement, bumping the developer’s profit from the standard 15% to a whopping and unprecedented 50% profit for a private corporation!!”
Increasing the traditional 50-50 TOT split to 80-20 for one developer is a “tax giveaway.” But increasing the city-funded profit margin from 15% to 50% for another developer is legitimate?
The post continues:
“Why would Lorri Galloway take money from the very people she claims to champion? Perhaps the answer is in her Council statement, as she looked at the developer and admonished him, “I hope you acknowledge how much Council has been supportive of you.”
“Well the developers at Elm Street Commons sure did remember to acknowledge that 35% jump in their profits, funded by robbing Anaheim’s working poor. Again funneling money through PAC filings with Treasurer Kinde Durkee, who is frequently under investigation by the FPPC, a donation of $15,000 was made by Elm Street, which funded the Clear Channel billboards Lorri has all over the City. They also underwrote a large mailing, and the graphic arts for the mail piece.”
Food for thought.
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: Anaheim, Lorri Galloway | 3 Comments »
Posted by OC Insider on September 10, 2012
Anaheim city council candidate John Leos was on the OCEA Board of Directors from 2008 until early this year. OCEA is the union representing County of Orange employees. OCEA also represents its affiliate, the Anaheim Municipal Employees Association. He was also a director of the OCEA Political Action Committee. OCEA spent north of $200,000 trying to elect Leos to the Anaheim Council in 2010.
You get the picture: Leos is the public employee union candidate for Anaheim city council.
Leos has tried to distance himself from OCEA. He left the union board of directors this year. He and his supporters started putting out the word that he was unhappy with OCEA and its tactics. Sure. That’s believable.
But only last year, in an interview with OCEA Magazine, Leos had this advice for fellow union members looking to get more involved:
Q: What do you suggest other OCEA members do if they want to get involved?
A: Become a steward and attend rallies. Also, read all the emails (from OCEA General Manager Nick Berardino) and ask your co-workers to do so.
Oh my. “Read all e-mail from [Nick Berardino] and ask your co-workers to do so.” That’s a bit too much of a “We hear and obey, Dear Leader” mindset for our comfort.
You can read all of the interview here.
Oh wait – sorry. The OCEA has scrubbed that incriminating content from their website. Fortunately, you can see read it in the PDF version of the Winter 2011 OCEA Magazine here. Go to page 24.
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: amea, Anaheim, John Leos, nick berardino, OCEA | 5 Comments »
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