Posts Tagged ‘Adam Nick’
Posted by Chris Nguyen on November 7, 2018
Here’s a quick look at the top 10 stories of the 2018 general election in Orange County:
- OC Congressional Delegation Now Consists of Five Democrats and Two Republicans
In a political earthquake for Orange County, the 4-3 Republican majority in OC’s Congressional delegation is now a 5-2 Democratic majority. The three senior members of the delegation are leaving Congress: Dana Rohrabacher (elected 1988), Ed Royce (elected 1992), and Darrell Issa (elected 2000); all three are Republicans and only Royce will be succeeded by a member of his own party. While Royce and Issa both announced their retirements earlier this year, Rohrabacher has been defeated for re-election by businessman Harley Rouda (D-Laguna Beach). Royce will be succeeded by former Assemblywoman Young Kim (R-Fullerton) while Issa will be succeeded by Clean Energy Advocate Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano). While Board of Equalization Member Diane Harkey (R-Dana Point) defeated Levin in Orange County, her undoing was Levin’s strong lead in San Diego County. The three most senior members of the OC delegation are now Linda Sanchez (elected 2002), Alan Lowenthal (elected 2012), and Mimi Walters (elected 2014). In a House of Representatives ruled by seniority, the OC delegation is severely lacking in seniority.
- Democrats’ Assembly Supermajority Hinges on Whether Matthew Harper Survives
Orange County’s 5-2 Republican delegation could fall to being a 4-3 Republican delegation if Assemblyman Matthew Harper (R-Huntington Beach) is unable to hold his narrow lead over Small Business Owner Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach). Harper’s defeat would produce a Democratic supermajority in the State Assembly to go along with the Democratic supermajority in the State Senate (Democrats captured a Republican-held State Senate seat in the Central Valley last night). Harper leads Petrie-Norris by 672 votes out of 120,164 votes cast, or 0.6%. Late absentee ballots and provisional ballots have not yet been counted and most certainly could flip the lead.
- District Attorney-Elect Todd Spitzer
For what appears to be the first time in Orange County history, a sitting District Attorney has been defeated for re-election. 20-Year District Attorney Tony Rackauckas (R) has been defeated for re-election by Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer (R). Spitzer’s election also creates a special election in the Third Supervisorial District. Spitzer’s victory was so sweeping that he leads in 27 of Orange County’s 34 cities, winning everywhere except Little Saigon and the northern beach cities.
- Tim Shaw Leads, But Fourth District Supervisor is Too Close to Call
La Habra Mayor Tim Shaw (R) leads Fullerton Mayor Doug Chaffee (D) by just 1,610 votes out of 87,404 votes cast. Chaffee won the Fourth District’s three largest cities, Anaheim, Fullerton, and Buena Park, but Shaw ran up the total in his wins in the three smallest cities, La Habra, Placentia, and Brea, particularly with the landslide in his own city of La Habra. There are still an enormous number of late absentee ballots and provisional ballots that could still change the result in this seat.
- Assemblyman-Elect Tyler Diep
In the race to succeed Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach), Westminster Councilman Tyler Diep (R) defeated FreeConferenceCall.com CEO Josh Lowenthal (D-Huntington Beach) to retain this Assembly seat for Republicans. Diep’s concurrent service with Senator Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove) makes California the first state ever with two Vietnamese-Americans serving in the State Legislature at the same time.
- Mayor-Elect Harry Sidhu and the New Anaheim Council Majority
Anaheim voters delivered a new majority on their City Council. Former Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu (R) was elected Mayor of Anaheim last night. Businessman Trevor O’Neil (R) won the open Council seat in Anaheim Hills. Former Councilman Jordan Brandman (D) defeated Councilman James Vanderbilt (R) in West Anaheim’s District 2 seat. Councilman Jose Moreno (D) won re-election in Central Anaheim’s District 3 seat.
- Newport Beach Ousts Two Incumbents, Ending Council Majority
While Councilmembers Diane Dixon (R) and Kevin Muldoon (R) won landslide re-elections, Councilman Scott Peotter (R) was defeated by Businesswoman Joy Brenner (R), and Councilman Duffy Duffield (R) is narrowly losing to Businessman Tim Stoaks (R). With Peotter’s defeat and Duffield’s probable defeat, Newport Beach’s Council majority comes to an end.
- Lake Forest Sweep
In a sweeping rebuke of incivility, Lake Forest voters elected Neeki Moatazedi (R) decisively over Sonny Morper (R) and elected former Councilman Mark Tettemer (R) to oust Mayor Jim Gardner (R) from office. Moatazedi and Tettemer join Councilman Scott Voigts (R), who was unopposed for re-election when his opponent failed to qualify for the ballot, and Councilman Dwight Robinson (R) in a new 4-1 supermajority of civility. Just ten months after the recall of Councilman Drew Hamilton (R) in which former Councilman Adam Nick’s allies won a 3-2 majority on the City Council, the voters have not only reversed the Nick majority but reduced down to 1 seat (which will be up for election in 2020). A key turning point in the campaign came when Nick’s side sent a mailer so disgusting that multiple TV channels covered it, for it was so sexist that it called Moatazedi a “bikini model” and made up three fictional criminal record numbers with a photo of an inmate falsely implying that it was Moatazedi. That mailer backfired into not only the media coverage but also campaign money and independent expenditures to oust Nick’s allies from the Council.
- Irvine’s New Councilmembers
For the first time in 14 years, no incumbent Irvine Councilmember sought re-election (though Mayor Don Wagner (R) was re-elected last night). Planning Commissioner Anthony Kuo (R) is the top vote getter while Businesswoman Farrah Khan (D) and Transportation Commissioner Carrie O’Malley (R) are neck-and-neck for the second Council seat, with Khan ahead by 389 votes, or 0.5%.
- Santa Ana Councilwoman-Elect Ceci Iglesias
For the first time in a decade, Santa Ana citizens voted to elect a Republican to their City Council, with School Board Member Ceci Iglesias winning the Ward 6 seat by a decisive margin. (The last Republican on the Santa Ana Council, Carlos Bustamante, was re-elected in 2008 to a term ending in 2012.) Iglesias’s election creates a vacancy on the Santa Ana Unified School District Board, which will be filled by appointment.
Honorable Mention
- There’s a New Sheriff in Town
While it was widely expected that Undersheriff Don Barnes (R) would be elected Sheriff of Orange County, it’s always a major news story when there’s a new Sheriff. Barnes decisively defeated Los Angeles County District Attorney Investigator Duke Nguyen (D) with 57% of the vote.
Upcoming News Story Due to Last Night’s Results
- Race for Third District Supervisor
With the election of Supervisor Todd Spitzer as District Attorney of Orange County, an early 2019 special election will take place to fill the remaining two years on Spitzer’s Supervisorial term. Retiring Anaheim Councilwoman Kris Murray (R) and Businessman Andy Thorburn (D) have already announced for Spitzer’s Supervisorial seat. Thorburn spent millions in his unsuccessful bid in the primary election for the 39th Congressional District. Other early rumored candidates include Irvine Mayor Don Wagner (R), former Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang (D), and Yorba Linda Councilwoman Peggy Huang (R).
(In the interest of full disclosure, Western American, the company that owns OC Political, serves as the political consultants for Sidhu, O’Neil, Voigts, Moatazedi, and Tettemer, as well as doing secondary consultant work for Kuo. Additionally, this blogger is Spitzer’s alternate on the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Orange County.)
Posted in 39th Congressional District, 45th Congressional District, 48th Congressional District, 49th Congressional District, 4th Supervisorial District, 72nd Assembly District, 74th Assembly District, Anaheim, Irvine, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Orange County District Attorney's Office, Orange County Sheriff, Santa Ana Unified School District | Tagged: Adam Nick, Alan Lowenthal, Andrew Hamilton, Andy Thorburn, Anthony Kuo, Carrie O'Malley, Ceci Iglesias, Cecilia "Ceci" Iglesias, Cecilia Iglesias, Cottie Petrie-Norris, Dana Rohrabacher, Darrell Issa, Diane Dixon, Diane Harkey, Don Barnes, Don Wagner, Doug Chaffee, Duke Nguyen, Dwight Robinson, Ed Royce, Farrah Khan, Harley Rouda, Harry Sidhu, James Vanderbilt, Janet Nguyen, Jim Gardner, Jordan Brandman, Jose Moreno, Josh Lowenthal, Joy Brenner, Kevin Muldoon, Kris Murray, Linda Sanchez, Mark Tettemer, Marshall "Duffy" Duffield, Matthew Harper, Mike Levin, Mimi Walters, Neeki Moatazedi, Peggy Huang, Scott Peotter, Scott Voigts, Sonny Morper, Tim Shaw, Tim Stoaks, Todd Spitzer, Tony Rackauckas, Travis Allen, Trevor O'Neil, Tyler Diep, Young Kim | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 8, 2016
About six weeks ago, Bieber Communications prepared the “Nick is Nuts” mailer highlights an August article from the Voice of OC and a December article from the Orange County Register describing Lake Forest Councilman Adam Nick’s bizarre behavior and his effort to recall Mayor Andrew Hamilton and Councilmen Scott Voigts and Dwight Robinson.
This month, Bieber and the Nick is Nuts committee delivered a newspaper to the voters of Lake Forest compiling Nick’s numerous controversies:
- The $250,000 cost of the recall to taxpayers, and Nick spending $100,000 on the recall
- Nick’s numerous name changes
- Petition circulators being paid $9 per hour
- Broad coalition opposing the recall
- Nick’s vote to get rid of the Sheriff’s Department, who provides police services to Lake Forest
- Nick’s “cash, bribes, and rage” as covered by prior media articles
- Nick’s campaign sign controversy
- Nick claiming to have a CPA license when it appears the State of California has no record of him having one
Nick and his allies obtained the official recall petition on December 22 and have until April 20 to submit more than 8,000 valid signatures.
Here’s the mailer (click on any of the newspaper images for a PDF of the newspaper):
Posted in Lake Forest | Tagged: Adam Nick, Andrew Hamilton, Dwight Robinson, Scott Voigts | 2 Comments »
Posted by Chris Nguyen on January 20, 2016
One of the more amusing pieces of mail in quite some time was left at the tables at Monday night’s Central Committee meeting. Produced by Bieber Communications, the “Nick is Nuts” piece highlights an August article from the Voice of OC and a December article from the Orange County Register describing Lake Forest Councilman Adam Nick’s bizarre behavior.
The Nick is Nuts piece uses the articles to warn Lake Forest residents against signing the recall petition Nick is circulating against Mayor Andrew Hamilton and Councilmen Scott Voigts and Dwight Robinson. By pointing out Nick’s strange behavior, the piece admonishes residents that signing the recall petition would let nutty Nick gain control of the Lake Forest City Council.
Even the disclaimer is fun due to the anti-recall committee’s name. The disclaimer reads, “Paid for by Nick is Nuts, A Committee Opposing the Recall of Mayor Hamilton, Councilmembers Voigts and Robinson 2016.”
Nick and his allies obtained the official recall petition on December 22 and have until April 20 to submit more than 8,000 valid signatures.
Here’s the mailer (click on the mailer images for a larger PDF):
Posted in Lake Forest | Tagged: Adam Nick, Andrew Hamilton, Bieber Communications, Dwight Robinson, Scott Voigts | 13 Comments »
Posted by Chris Nguyen on January 13, 2016
Bizarrely, two recent Democrats have pulled papers to run as Republicans in the 46th Congressional District race to replace Loretta Sanchez, who is running for the United States Senate. No other Republicans have pulled papers, though Irvine Councilwoman Lynn Schott has opened a committee.
One is Louie A. Contreras who was the Democratic nominee for the 41st District attempting to unseat Congressman Jerry Lewis in 2006, winning only 32.7% of the vote. Contreras ran unsuccessfully for La Habra City Council in 2008, winning 3.0% to come in 8th out of 8 candidates.
The other is Rudy Gaona who was the Democrat who won just 16.5% of the vote in 2014 in a head-to-head race against Supervisor Shawn Nelson; Gaona was actually endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County in his race against Nelson. Gaona has run unsuccessfully for Anaheim City Council twice, winning 5.6% of the vote to come in 8th out of 9 candidates in 2012 and 2.2% of the vote to come in 14th out of 14 candidates in 2010.
With three major Democrats (former Senator Lou Correa, former Senator Joe Dunn, and Garden Grove Mayor Bao Nguyen) and only Schott in the race, Schott would have easily made the run-off. However, with Contreras and Gaona jumping in the race, they could siphon off enough of the Republican vote to enable the top two Democrats (likely Correa and Dunn or Correa and Nguyen) to advance to November without a Republican.
In the 2014 primary, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez captured 50.6% of the vote against three Republicans: Lake Forest Councilman Adam Nick squeaked into the run-off with 18.1% of the vote, Accountant John Cullum captured 14.2%, and Businessman Carlos Vazquez got 12.5% (an obscure Democrat, Ehab Atalla, got 4.6%).
If Schott, Contreras, and Gaona split the Republican vote like in 2014, then it is likely two Democrats would advance to November. (55.2% divided by three is 18.4% if miraculously Correa, Dunn, and Nguyen split the vote evenly; if two of them are remotely competitive and the third is not, the top two would go much higher and get to the run-off more easily.) Additionally, Democratic turnout is higher in presidential primaries (like 2016) than in gubernatorial primaries (like 2014), so Democrats should be an even higher proportion of turnout in 2016 than 2014.
The 46th Congressional District covers all of Santa Ana, the flatlands of Anaheim, western Orange, and small portions of Garden Grove.
(Pulling out my Nguyen disclaimer: I am not related to Garden Grove Mayor Bao Nguyen. The last name Nguyen is held by 36% of Vietnamese people.)
Posted in 46th Congressional District | Tagged: Adam Nick, Carlos Vazquez, Ehab Atalla, Jerry Lewis, John Cullum, Loretta Sanchez, Louie A. Contreras, Lynn Schott, Rudy Gaona, Shawn Nelson | 22 Comments »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on March 22, 2013
I was working on a database of the part affiliation of all Orange County local elected officials. Finally, I have completed the project with all of the special districts and county seats being added. I also fixed some errors in the previous versions (here, here, and here) and have combined the database into one post.
We have added a button on the menu bar for our readers to always be able to access this database and use it for whatever research/political needs that they may have. Due to the length of th epost you are going to have to click the below link to read the rest of the post.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 1st Supervisorial District, 2nd Supervisorial District, 3rd Supervisorial District, 4th Supervisorial District, 5th Supervisorial District, Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Anaheim City School District, Anaheim Union High School District, Brea, Brea Olinda Unified School District, Buena Park, Buena Park Library District, Buena Park School District, Capistrano Bay Community Services District, Capistrano Unified School District, Centralia School District, Coast Community College District, Costa Mesa, Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Cypress, Cypress School District, Dana Point, East Orange County Water District, El Toro Water District, Emerald Bay Service District, Fountain Valley, Fountain Valley School District, Fullerton, Fullerton Joint Union High School District, Fullerton School District, Garden Grove, Garden Grove Unified School District, Huntington Beach, Huntington Beach City School District, Huntington Beach Union High School District, Irvine, Irvine Ranch Water District, Irvine Unified School District, La Habra, La Habra City School District, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach Unified School District, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Los Alamitos Unified School District, Lowell Joint School District, Magnolia School District, Mesa Consolidated Water District, Midway City Sanitary District, Mission Viejo, Moulton-Niguel Water District, Municipal Water District of Orange County, Newport Beach, Newport-Mesa Unified School District, North Orange County Community College District, Ocean View School District, Orange, Orange County, Orange County Auditor-Controller, Orange County Board of Education, Orange County Board of Supervisors, Orange County Clerk-Recorder, Orange County District Attorney's Office, Orange County Water District, Orange Unified School District, Placentia, Placentia Library District, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, Rancho Santa Margarita, Rancho Santiago Community College District, Saddleback Valley Unified School District, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Santa Ana Unified School District, Santa Margarita Water District, Savanna School District, Seal Beach, Serrano Water District, Silverado-Modjeska Recreation and Park District, South Coast Water District, South Orange County Community College District, Stanton, Sunset Beach Sanitary District, Surfside Colony Community Services District, Surfside Colony Storm Water Protection District, Three Arch Bay Community Services District, Trabuco Canyon Water District, Tustin, Tustin Unified School District, Villa Park, Westminster, Westminster School District, Yorba Linda, Yorba Linda Water District | Tagged: Leslie Daigle, Joe Carchio, Jose Solorio, Janet Nguyen, Bruce Whitaker, Todd Spitzer, Deborah Pauly, Matt Harper, Lucille Kring, Michele Martinez, Margie Rice, John Collins, Jordan Brandman, Miguel Pulido, Vince Sarmiento, Troy Edgar, Brian Donahue, Carol Warren, Shawn Nelson, Gail Eastman, Kris Murray, Tom Tait, Jeff Lalloway, Greg Sebourn, Ken Williams, John Briscoe, Mark McCurdy, Mike Munzing, Christina Shea, Tim Shaw, Dean Grose, Robert Hammond, Nancy Padberg, Tony Beall, Denis Bilodeau, David John Shawver, Scott Voigts, Sal Tinajero, John Moorlach, Pat Bates, Steven Choi, Doug Chaffee, Steve Hwangbo, Steve Nagel, Jesse Petrilla, Steve Baric, Carol Gamble, Annemarie Randle-Trejo, Tom Lindsey, John Anderson, Rigoberto Ramirez, Fred Whitaker, Peter Herzog, Katherine Smith, Brian O'Neal, Tita Smith, Elizabeth Parker, Dina Nguyen, Kris Beard, Steve Jones, Bruce Broadwater, Ethan Temianka, John Alpay, Gary Pritchard, Dave Leckness, John Ortega, Kathy Moffat, Molly McClanahan, Miller Oh, Tony Rackauckas, Ron Shepston, Greg Bates, Rush Hill, Dwight Robinson, Sandra Hutchens, James Wright, Ellen Addonizio, Claudia Alvarez, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Sandra Crandall, Doug Davert, Craig Green, Chad Wanke, Joe Aguirre, Richard DeVecchio, Gayle Carline, David Benavides, Katrina Foley, Bob Baker, Arianna Barrios, Tim Jemal, Bill Jay, Mike Alvarez, Steve Mensinger, Gary Monahan, Steve Shanahan, Andrew Blount, Dore Gilbert, Dave Sullivan, Peter Kim, Mark Murphy, Mark Schwing, Cecilia Iglesias, Rob Johnson, Cathy Green, Sam Allevato, Melody Carruth, Barbara Kogerman, Carlos Olvera, Bill Brough, Jim Righeimer, Jeanne Galindo, Debbie Cotton, Chuck Puckett, John Nielsen, Allan Bernstein, Sandy Genis, Cheryl Brothers, Jerry McCloskey, Frank Ury, Anthony Petros, Brad McGirr, Craig Young, Jim Reardon, Roy Byrnes, Cathy Schlict, Susan Hinman, Adam Nick, Steve Dicterow, Laurie Davies, Denis R. Bilodeau, Roger C. Yoh, Robert Ming, Michael Vo, Larry Agran, Beth Krom, Paul Bokota, Lauren Brooks, Michael Parham, Carmen Cave, Ross Chun, William "Bill" Phillips, Roy Moore, Brett Murdock, Christine Marick, Marty Simonoff, Beth Swift, Steve Berry, Art Brown, Leroy Mills, Prakash Narain, Mariellen Yarc, J. Scott Schoeffel, Chris Phan, Connie Boardman, Joe Shaw, Jim Katapodis, Jill Hardy, Elizabeth Pearson, Tony Iseman, Bob Whalen, Randal Bressette, Linda Lindholm, Jerry Slusiewicz, Mike Blazey, Tom Beamish, Rose Espinoza, Bert Hack, Cynthia Conners, Noel Hatch, Gerard Goedhart, Fred Smith, Warren Kusumoto, Richard Murphy, Rhonda Reardon, Nancy Gardner, Constance Underhill, Jim Evert, Tim Brown, Lori Donchak, Chris Hamm, Larry Kramer, John Taylor, Angelica Amezcua, Roman Reyna, Ellery Deaton, Al Murray, Rebecca Gomez, Brad Reese, Diana Fascenelli, Richard Barnett, Greg Mills, Tri Ta, Andy Quach, Sergio Contreras, Diana Carey, Gene Hernandez, David Boyd, Jack Bedell, Barbara Dunsheath, Jeffrey P. Brown, Donna Miller, Manny Ontiveros, Leonard L. Lahtinen, Michael Matsuda, David Grant, Jim Moreno, Mary Hornbuckle, Jerry Patterson, Lorraine Prinsky, Phillip E. Yarbrough, John Hanna, Lawrence R. Labrado, Nelida Yanez, Thomas Prendergrast, Marcia Milchiker, David B. Lang, Anna L. Piercy, Marilyn Buchi, Robert N. Hathaway, Robert A. Singer, Barbara L. Kilponen, Andy Montoya, Kathy Iverson, Bonnie P. Castrey, Susan Henry, Michael H. Simons, Joe Rollino, Bill Hall, Teresa Hampson, Michael Condiff, Rodney Todd, Gail Lyons, Kevin Hobby, Anna Bryson, Lynn Hatton, Amy Hanacek, Lan Quoc Nguyen, Bob Harden, Linda Paulsen-Reed, Bao Quoc Nguyen, George West, Sharon Wallin, Gavin Huntley-Fenner, Theresa O'Hare, Ketta Brown, Betsy Jenkins, William Landsiedel, Jan Vickers, Jeffrey Barke, Diana Hill, Meg Cutuli, David A. Boyer, Karen Russell, Karen Yelsey, David Brooks, Martha Fluor, Dana Black, Diane Singer, Rick Ledesma, Tim Surridge, Alexa Deligianni, Mark D. Wayland, Karin M. Freeman, Carrie Buck, Judi Carmona, Eric Padget, Carol Downey, Dolores Winchell, Dennis Walsh, Suzie Swartz, Don Sedgwick, Ginny Aitkens, John Palacio, Audrey Yamagata Noji, Rob Richardson, Jose Hernandez, Lynn R. Davis, Jonathan W. Abelove, James H. Laird, Tammie K. Bullard, Francine Pace Scinto, Sandy Blumberg, Jeff Cole, Jose F. Moreno, James Vanderbilt, Bob Gardner, Samuel Van Hamblen, Brian Chambers, Helen Lee, L. Carole Jensen, Barbara Michel, Lisa Jordan, Irv Trinkle, Megan Harding, Dennis Salts, Steve Harris, David Giese, Valeri Peters Wagner, Steve Blount, Candi Kern, Brian Nakamura, Jimmy Templin, Judith Edwards, Ian Collins, Chris Thompson, Janny Meyer, Beverly Berryman, Hilda Sugarman, Lynn Thornley, Rosemary Saylor, Celia Jaffe, Brian Rechsteiner, Bridget Kaub, Sharon H. Brown, Linda Navarro/Edwards, Sandi Baltes, John Dobson, Liz Steves, Bill Hinz, Anastasia Shackelford, Darin Barber, Fred W. Schambeck, Brandon Jones, Cliff E. Breddon Jr., Esther H. Wallace, Barbara Quintana, Barbara J. Clendineng, Nathan Zug, Tracy L. Pellman, John Ortiz, Gina Clayton, Linda R. Weinstock, Patrick Ochoa, Edward A. Erdtsieck, Carol Sundman, Chris Brown, Andrew Nguyen, David Bridgewaters, Mary Mangold, Jamison Power, Amy Walsh, Phillip B. Tsunoda, Ron Joseph Garcia, Wendy Leece, Doug Bailey, Lisa A. Bartlett, Steven H. Weinberg, Kelly H. Boyd, James "Jim" Gomez, Robert "Bob" Ring, Milton W. Robbins, Kathryn McCullogh, G. Henry Charoen, Gerri Lee Graham-Mejia, Patricia "Trish" Kelley, Michael F. Henn, Edward D. Selich, Keith D. Curry, Jeremy B. Yamaguchi, Scott William Nelson, Derek Reeve, Gordon A. Shanks, Michael Levitt, David W. Sloan, Gary A. Miller, Alexander A. Ethans, Al Mijares, Wayne Osborne, Mark Taylor, Webster Guillory, Shari Freidenrich, Glenn Parker, Jan Flory, Jennifer McGrath, Joan Flynn, Alisa Cutchen, Lisette Chel-Walker, Laura Parisi, Mary Murphy, Helen Walker, Patrick Melia, Joanne Baade, Al Jabaar, Judith A. Franco Walt Davenport, Kirk E. Bell, David Gutierrez, John A. McDermott II, Keri Ueberroth, John J. Collins, John Marconi, William R. Hart, Alfred A. Coletta, Bill Kahlert, Michael Maynard, Ronald Casey, Jeffrey T. Rips, Victor J. Kriss, Donald Karich, Nora Straight, Michael Farrell, Rhoads Martin, Scott O Davis, Alan Anderson, Gary Rubel, Elizabeth Gapp, Jerard B. Werner, William H. Kahn, Jose Vergara, Ted F. Martin, Scott Goldman, Peer A. Swan, Douglas J Reinhart, Mary Aileen Matheis, John B. Withers, Steven E. LaMar, Scott Colton, Larry R. Lizotte, Donald Froelich, Richard S. Fiore, Brian S. Probolsky, Larry McKenney, Gary Kurtz, Roger Faubel, Sandra Jacobs, Charley Wilson, Charles Gibson, Betty H. Olson, Jeff Thomas, Larry D. Dick, Brett R. Barbre, Wayne A. Clark, Joan C. Finnegan, Richard E. Barrett, Richard B. Bell, John Dulebohn, William VanderWerff, Joel Rattner, Linda Habermehl, William C. Poe, Jim Bell, Van Jew, Shawn Dewane, James Atkinson, Fred Bockmiller, Jim Fisler, Kathryn L. Barr, Stephen R. Sheldon, Philip L. Anthony, Bob Moore, Richard Runge, Dick Dietmier, Rick Erkeneff, Wayne Rayfield, Mike Safranski, Glenn Acosta Ed Mandich, Jim Haselton, Matt Disston, Phil Hawkins, Gary Melton, Rick Kiley, Michael J. Beverage, Ric Collett Jon H. Regnier, Gayle Mueller Winnen, Arlene Schafer, Robert Ooten, Jim Ferryman, Art Perry, Tyler M. Diep, Margie L. Rice, Frank Cobo, Joy L. Neugebauer, Allan P. Krippner, William Brutton, Robert Hendler, Gregory F. Griffin, Graham Hoad, John Woods, Frank Bryant, Woody Rickerl, Richard Freschi, Jerry L Haight C.L. Larry Pharris Jr., Tom Smisek, Chalynn Peterson, Lisa Collins, Al Salehi, Mary Fuhrman, Patricia Ganer, Al Shkoler, Betty Escobosa, Elizabeth Minter, Mike Scheafer, Duane Dishno, Shari Kowalke | 5 Comments »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on March 19, 2013
I just finished watching the Lake Forest City Council meeting and watched them approve invocations at their meetings. The thing that struck me was how civil the speakers were on both sides of the argument. Usually I see the meetings where the “In God We Trust” and “Invocation” discussions can get extremely heated. Kudos to Lake Forest residents for not making viewers uncomfortable. I will cut to the Councilmember comments noting that the public was split on the issue although I would say a majority off individuals were in support of invocations at meetings. Speakers were passionate but respectful of each other.
Dwight Robinson talked about how he did his homework on this issue before hand and came to the meeting prepared to listen to speakers from the community to help him make his final decision on this issue. He did note that he was supportive of an invocation at meetings at the previous City Council meeting.
Peter Herzog in my opinion was definitely the most negative of all the speakers both in the public and Councilmembers. He appeared to attack the public speakers that were from churches, claiming that they obviously support invocations at meetings. He also decided that the “In God We Trust” slogan behind the dais should be taken down based on the fact that faith was never a part of the discussion when the Council approved the placement of that slogan. I guess he is a bit grouchy still with his pending legal issues after being arrested recently. Just as a reminder of what the DA released recently:
LAKE FOREST CITY COUNCIL MEMBER TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL
NEWPORT BEACH – A Lake Forest City Council member is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow for driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of .18 percent, more than twice the legal limit. Peter Alan Herzog, 57, Lake Forest, is charged with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol and one misdemeanor count of driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or more with a sentencing enhancement allegation for having a blood alcohol level of .15 percent. If convicted, Herzog faces a sentence ranging from probation up to six months in jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, Thursday, March 14, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. in Department H-8, Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach.
At approximately 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 17, 2012, Herzog is accused of making a left turn from Portola Parkway onto Lake Forest Drive and driving on the wrong side of the road. The defendant is accused of driving over the center median to get back on to the westbound lanes. Herzog is then accused of making a wide left turn from Lake Forest Drive on to Regency Lane and hitting the right side of the curb. The defendant is accused of crossing into the opposing lane of traffic swerving back and forth across lanes until he arrived at his home.
Motorists reported the driving to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, who investigated this case, and arrested the defendant at his home. The defendant is accused of displaying objective signs of intoxication including bloodshot and watery eyes, slurred speech, strong odor of alcohol, and unsteady balance. At approximately 10:30 p.m., the defendant is accused of having a blood alcohol content of .18 percent.
Deputy District Attorney Joe Koller is prosecuting this case.
###
Adam Nick talked about his experiences with religion and government do not mix very well citing mass executions that took place at 6:00 sharp everyday. He mentioned that people do care because the council chamber is full. He claimed that he “thought it would be a cold day in hell before he agreed with Peter Herzog on anything.” He said that he researched the word invocation on a couple of online dictionaries and was somewhat unclear as to what he learned from this. He talked about his love for the people of Lake Forest and wanted to stress that he felt it was important to find common ground.
Scott Voigts explained that he was a man of faith and was very proud of his faith. He stated that he supports all residents that have a faith of any kind along with those that have no faith. He talked about the use of invocations in Congress among other places. He notes that he does not support putting any faith in front of any other kind of faith. He noted that only 8 other Cities in Orange County currently do not have an invocation at their meetings.
Kathryn McCullough who was the obvious swing vote and talked about the diversity of opinions from members of the audience. She talked about concerns she had with the item because she has remembered 2 things that happened to her personally. 1) The pledge of allegiance at another City Council meeting where 75% of the people refused to participate. 2) At another meeting they were honoring some of the officers that had died and during the National Anthem certain Councilmembers/Mayors at the event were chatting. She did state that she did not support the actions of those individuals but discussed the rights of those individuals. The overall point she is making is that by supporting invocations at the meetings it is not forcing people to pray. She does not support staff being involved in policing the issue. She passed around a peace coin to her colleagues on the City Council. She stated that the initial motion made by Scott Voigts and Dwight Robinson would not garner her support the way it was stated.
Scott Voigts made a motion to support alternative #2 a choice that would allow invocations at council meetings that rotate and do not adhere to any particular faith. The motion was seconded by Adam Nick I believe. Watching the meeting was extremely difficult because the camera did not zoom in on the Councilmembers, I was literally watching the meeting from the top corner of the room.
The final vote as stated before was 4-1 (I think) with Herzog dissenting. I might be wrong on the vote margin because they went through the roll call vote very quickly and it was very hard to hear whether Herzog said aye or no.
Posted in Lake Forest | Tagged: Adam Nick, Dwight Robinson, Kathryn McCullough, Peter Herzog, Scott Voigts | 7 Comments »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on March 5, 2013
In another episode of politicians behaving badly we found out that Lake Forest Councilman Peter Herzog was arrested for a DUI that allegedly took place on November 17th. This is the second such story of DUI we have posted to this blog in the past few months after Chris Nguyen broke the identity of former Assemblyman Richard Robinson being arrested for DUI in Sacramento.
The only other politician that we have posted about who faced trouble from Tony Rackauckas was an article written by me on Buena Park Councilman Miller Oh allegedly dodging child support payments. It is important to note that Miller Oh has not yet resigned from the Buena Park City Council, although he will likely have trouble trying to get re-elected in 2014 if he does try it.
I remember back in my Red County days following the story of Westminster Councilman Andy Quach getting busted for a DUI. He had the honesty to plead guilty to the charges and actually retained his seat on the Westminster City Council when it was up.
The jury is still out on Herzog (no pun intended) as to whether or not he will contest the charges. H/T to the Orange County Register who appears to have broken the story yesterday. Kudos to Sarah de Crescenzo from the OC Register for authoring the piece.
LAKE FOREST – Longtime Councilman Peter Herzog was driving with a blood-alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit when he was arrested outside his Lake Forest home in November, according to a complaint filed Jan. 24 by the District Attorney’s Office.
According to the complaint, Herzog, 57, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.18 percent. The legal limit in California is 0.08 percent.
“This has been expected, and we’ll continue to move on from here,” said Herzog when informed of the complaint Monday.
Herzog has been a member of the Lake Forest City Council since he was elected in 1994, and has served as mayor six times.
Witnesses called police Nov. 17 to report a possible drunken driver near Lake Forest Drive and Regency Lane. The witnesses, who said the person was driving erratically, trailed the vehicle to a home on Coventry Lane.
Deputies arrived, identified Herzog as the driver and arrested him on suspicion of drunken driving, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
The councilman has been charged with driving under the influence. The District Attorney’s Office complaint notes Herzog’s blood-alcohol content topped 0.15 percent, a level that under state law could affect sentencing or terms of probation.
Herzog is scheduled for arraignment March 14.
Contact the writer: 949-454-7307 or sdecrescenzo@ocregister.com
Correction: The complaint in this case was filed Jan. 24 by the District Attorney’s Office. Because of a reporting error, the date was incorrect in an earlier version of this story that appeared on ocregister.com.
Herzog was back on the Councilman during the dark days of no transparency (my opinion) in Lake Forest. They still have some of the worst meeting minutes kept in Orange County. Recently Lake Forest has elected some more business/freedom friendly Republicans in Dwight Robinson, Adam Nick, and Scott Voigts.
We will keep readers posted as more information comes out on the story.
Posted in Lake Forest | Tagged: Adam Nick, Chris Nguyen, Dwight Robinson, Peter Herzog, Scott Voigts | 6 Comments »
Posted by Greg Woodard on December 10, 2012
I went to last Tuesday’s Lake Forest City Council meeting to watch the swearing-in of the two newest council members, Dwight Robinson and Adam Nick. Before the ceremony, I was treated to a clinic in how not to run a city. The most contentious agenda item was the staff’s recommendation that the council repeal its ordinance passed last year banning registered sex offenders from public parks. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has spearheaded Orange County’s effort to get local cities to adopt an ordinance that bans registered sex offenders from parks. Since last year, 15 Orange County cities have adopted such ordinances.
Unfortunately, not all of the cities have adopted ordinances verbatim to the county’s ordinance, which contains a mechanism that allows a registered sex offender to request a waiver from enforcement. Lake Forest, for some reason, passed its ordinance without a waiver and they got sued by an anonymous plaintiff claiming the ordinance violates his constitutional rights (he says he served his sentence more than 15 years ago and is now married with children). That leads us to Tuesday’s meeting. During the public comment portion of the discussion, several people affiliated with California Reform Sex Offender Laws (yes, there is an organization out there advocating for the rights of registered sex offenders) testified, using the same “constitutional rights” buzzwords. I will resist the urge to inform these folks of the numerous ways that our constitutional rights are properly regulated every day and just say that we agree to disagree. One speaker from the group also compared their effort to repeal sex offender laws to segregation and the civil rights movement. She then announced that in 30 years we may have a President who is a registered sex offender. Janice Belluci, the President of the organization, told the council that she has two more plaintiffs ready to sue the city if it does not repeal the ordinance.
The Lake Forest City Attorney also chimed in on the existing lawsuit, as well as lawsuits that are pending against other Orange County cities. He said that, while he did not like to disclose the city’s war chest for litigation, in this case he would make an exception. He proceeded to tell the Council that defending the lawsuit could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. In an OC Register article, the City Attorney also said that one of Belluci’s two plaintiffs is seeking $36 million in damages.
I will reserve my rant about City Attorneys trying to influence policy for another day, but suffice to say, all of this got the attention of outgoing Mayor Kathryn McCullough (she will remain on the Council for at least two more years, but her term as Mayor is up). In a testy exchange with Rackauckas, who had come to encourage the Council to maintain the ordinance, McCullough cried foul on the cost of the litigation and challenged Rackauckas to agree to indemnify the city for all of its legal fees. Rackauckas held his ground and shot back at McCullough that she knew that the DA does not indemnify cities. Once the grandstanding ended, McCullough essentially announced to all present that the city could not afford to fight the lawsuit because of the legal costs.
The Council then took a vote with little to no comment from any council member (other than Scott Voigts), which was shocking considering the gravity of the action the council was going to take. After outgoing council member Mark Tettemer tried, and failed, to pass off responsibility for the vote to the new council (he said he was not trying to avoid voting), the council voted 4-0, with Tettemer abstaining, to repeal the ordinance. And thus apparently began Lake Forest’s new policy of caving to anyone who threatens or files a lawsuit against the city. This is a monumentally bad policy for any council member to support, but to announce it during a public council meeting, as Council member McCullough did, strains common sense.
It looks like new Council members Robinson and Nick will have an opportunity to chime in on the planned repeal since there has to be a second reading of the repealing ordinance at the December 18 meeting before it can take effect.
Posted in Lake Forest | Tagged: Adam Nick, Dwight Robinson, Kathryn McCullough, Lake Forest City Council | 1 Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on November 14, 2012
Chris Nguyen did a great job putting together a local database of all party affiliations for candidates running for local office. I thought that I would take the time to expand on his post and show a database of all Orange County Councilmembers (Also OC Board of Supervisors) that will be serving on City Councils starting next month and what party they are affiliated with.
Please note that a couple of races could potentially change based on a close finish and not all votes being counted. This post will be added to our website in a permanent tab that we will be creating at the top of the site.
Here is the database: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 1st Supervisorial District, 2nd Supervisorial District, 3rd Supervisorial District, 4th Supervisorial District, 5th Supervisorial District, Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Dana Point, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, Orange County Board of Supervisors, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster, Yorba Linda | Tagged: Adam Nick, Al Murray, Alexander A. Ethans, Allan Bernstein, Andrew Blount, Andy Quach, Angelica Amezcua, Anthony Petros, Art Brown, Barbara Kogerman, Bert Hack, Beth Krom, Beth Swift, Bill Brough, Bob Baker, Bob Whalen, Brad McGirr, Brad Reese, Brett Murdock, Brian Donahue, Brice Whitaker, Bruce Broadwater, Carlos Olvera, Carmen Cave, Carol Gamble, Carol Warren, Cathy Schlict, Chad Wanke, Cheryl Brothers, Chris Hamm, Chris Phan, Christina Shea, Christine Marick, Chuck Puckett, Connie Boardman, Constance Underhill, Craig Young, Cynthia Conners, Dave Leckness, Dave Sullivan, David Benavides, David John Shawver, David W. Sloan, Dean Grose, Deborah Pauly, Denis Bilodeau, Derek Reeve, Diana Carey, Diana Fascenelli, Dina Nguyen, Don Webb, Dore Gilbert, Doug Bailey, Doug Chaffee, Dwoght Robinson, Edward D. Selich, Elizabeth Pearson, Ellery Deaton, Frank Ury, Fred Smith, Fred Whitaker, G. Henry Charoen, Gail Eastman, Gary A. Miller, Gary Monahan, Gene Hernandez, Gerard Goedhart, Gerri Lee Graham-Mejia, Gordon A. Shanks, Greg Mills, Greg Sebourn, J. Scott Schoeffel, James "Jim" Gomez, Janet Nguyen, Jeff Lalloway, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Jeremy B. Yamaguchi, Jerry McCloskey, Jerry Slusiewicz, Jesse Petrilla, Jill Hardy, Jim Evert, Jim Katapodis, Jim Righeimer, Joe Aguirre, Joe Carchio, Joe Shaw, John Anderson, John Collins, John Moorlach, John Nielsen, John Taylor, Jordan Brandman, Kathryn McCullogh, Keith D. Curry, Kelly H. Boyd, Kris Murray, Larry Agran, Larry Kramer, Laurie Davies, Leroy Mills, Leslie Daigle, Linda Lindholm, Lisa A. Bartlett, Lori Donchak, Lucille Kring, Mariellen Yarc, Mark Maurphy, Mark McCurdy, Mark Schwing, Marty Simonoff, Matt Harper, Melody Carruth, Michael F. Henn, Michael Levitt, Michael Vo, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Mike Alvarez, Mike Blazey, Mike Munzing, Miller Oh, Milton W. Robbins, Nancy Gardner, Noel Hatch, Pat Bates, Patricia "Trish" Kelley, Peter Herzog, Peter Kim, Phillip B. Tsunoda, Prakash Narain, Randal Bressette, Rebecca Gomez, Rhonda Reardon, Richard Barnett, Richard Murphy, Rigoberto Ramirez, Rob Johnson, Robert "Bob" Ring, Robert Ming, Roman Reyna, Ron Joseph Garcia, Rose Espinoza, Ross Chun, Roy Byrnes, Roy Moore, Sal Tinajero, Sam Allevato, Sandy Genis, Scott Voigts, Scott William Nelson, Sergio Contreras, Shawn Nelson, Steve Baric, Steve Berry, Steve Dicterow, Steve Hwangbo, Steve Jones, Steve Mensinger, Steve Nagel, Steve Shanahan, Steven Choi, Steven H. Weinberg, Tim Brown, Tim Shaw, Tita Smith, Todd Spitzer, Tom Beamish, Tom Lindsey, Tom Tait, Tony Beall, Tony Iseman, Travis Kiger, Tri Ta, Troy Edgar, Vince Sarmiento, Warren Kusumoto, Wendy Leece, William "Bill" Phillips | 14 Comments »
Posted by Greg Woodard on November 2, 2012
In my continuing series on South County candidates who sought the endorsement of the OCGOP, we reach our northernmost city, Lake Forest, which Mayor Pro Tem Scott Voigts likes to call the “Gateway to South County.” The two candidates are Dwight Robinson and Adam Nick.
Dwight Robinson
Dwight is running for city council for the residents’ children and businesses, and to make sure that Lake Forest continues to be a great city to live, work, and raise a family.
Dwight believes that traffic congestion is an important issue facing the city. Dwight plans to work closely with OCTA to make sure the city is getting its fair share of Measure M funds and is using those funds for light synchronization and future road construction projects, including the completion of Portola Parkway.
Dwight also feels that the city’s regulatory environment is too burdensome for businesses. He plans to hit the ground running and review some of the city’s ordinances (first and foremost the sign ordinance) to make sure the city is not impeding businesses from promoting themselves. Dwight says that, in the midst of an economic slump, the city needs to be working with businesses, asking them how the city can partner with them as they create jobs and serve the community. Dwight believes the city needs to start acting like it is pro-business and stop paying lip-service to it. Dwight adheres to the old mantra that actions speak louder than words.
Dwight said that employee compensation of some of the city’s employees is too high (especially the council members). Dwight will start with proposing that the city eliminates council pay and benefits. He believes that by starting with holding themselves accountable, the council will then have some moral authority to start discussing some of the other employee pay, perks, and benefits that need to be retooled or removed.
Dwight noted that the property rights of existing residents need to be balanced with the rights of property owners of undeveloped land or lands that needs redevelopment. He said that the rights of one should be balanced with the rights of another…one should not outweigh the other. A few thousand new homes will be built in Lake Forest in the coming years and Dwight knows that more development will bring more people. Dwight wants to make sure that infrastructure is provided to ensure Lake Forest remains a good place to live. He said that infrastructure improvements are in the best interest of the developers who are trying to build and sell homes and in the interest of existing residents who want to maintain their current quality of life. Roads and traffic flow are the most important infrastructure issues that Dwight feels need to be planned for. He said he will establish a Traffic Commission, similar to Irvine’s and Mission Viejo’s, so residents can bring forth traffic and transportation issues and staff can be made aware of the problems and held accountable for developing solutions to this issues. Dwight also will make sure Lake Forest has the resources to address things such as light synchronization and road improvements. Impact to local schools and other public services will also need to be address and Dwight said he will make sure that the city does not neglect the community’s infrastructure needs. Dwight highlighted his experience as a business owner who needs to always be forecasting, projecting, and planning for the future, and he believes his private sector business experience gives him the unique skill set to help Lake Forest be great again.
Dwight is endorsed by, among others, Lake Forest Mayor Pro Tem Scott Voigts, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, the Orange County Register, the Orange County Republican Party, and the Orange County Taxpayers Association.
You can find out more about Dwight at www.robinsonforcitycouncil.com.
Adam Nick
Adam believes that, in a democracy, nothing is more important for keeping a government in check than a well-informed electorate. He says that what largely sets us apart from most of the rest of the world is our Constitution. One major fact in our Constitution is that the government derives its power from the people; not the other way around. Accordingly, Adam feels that elected officials work for residents. If they do a good job, we can re-elect them. If they do not do a good job, we can elect someone else who will. Adam is running because he believes he can do a better job for Lake Forest residents as their council member.
Adam wants to improve the city’s infrastructure, protect and improve its quality of life, uphold American principles and values, and plan for even a more prosperous future. He said he will achieve this by stopping wasteful spending, reforming city management’s excessive compensation, eliminating self-serving agendas, ending cronyism, and eliminating the influences of special interests.
Adam noted that, though Lake Forest has been a city for over twenty years, on the current council’s watch, the city does not have a Senior Center, Youth Center, its own Community Hospital, or even a dog park. Adam also said that the city has rented the building that houses City Hall and probably has paid more in rent in the last two decades than it would have taken to buy its own building for City Hall.
Adam also said that the current council failed to challenge the expansion and reclassification of the Musick Jail to house a more dangerous class of felons, despite the fact that many city residents live within walking distance of the jail. He contrasted that with the Irvine City Council which initiated a legal action to stop the expansion/reclassification.
Adam also noted that the current City Manager’s compensation is $300,000.00+. He also criticized the council members spending thousands of dollars per year in personal expense reimbursements for things such as taxi rides.
Adam believes that the city must operate in a manner similar to a profit-oriented business, with the utmost efficiency and with an appreciation that resources are scarce, meaning the optimal value for each dollar must be achieved.
Adam feels that his 30 years of Lake Forest residency, his experience as a local business owner, and his 21-year professional experience as an accountant and auditor collectively qualify and enable him to be the city’s best representative and advocate on the City Council.
You can find out more about Adam at http://nickforcouncil2012.com/.
Posted in Lake Forest | Tagged: Adam Nick, Dwight Robinson, Lake Forest City Council | Leave a Comment »
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