OC Political

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

Posts Tagged ‘Jeffrey Lalloway’

OCGOP Elects Whitaker Chairman, Lalloway Treasurer, Whitacre Sergeant-at-Arms

Posted by Chris Nguyen on January 19, 2015

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In its biennial organizational meeting, the Republican Party of Orange County unanimously elected its slate of 2015-16 officers.

Most notable was the election of Orange Mayor Pro Tem Fred Whitaker as Chairman, succeeding Scott Baugh, who retired after 11 years at the helm. Irvine Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway was elected Treasurer succeeding Mark Bucher, who retired after approximately 11 years in that post. Tim Whitacre was elected Sergeant-at-Arms succeeding Retired Navy Captain Emily Sanford, who retired from that post.  All other officers were re-elected.  The officers are:
Chairman Fred Whitaker
1st Vice Chairman John Warner
2nd Vice Chairwoman Mary Young
Secretary Peggy Huang
Treasurer Jeff Lalloway
Assistant Treasurer TJ Fuentes
Sergeant-at-Arms Tim Whitacre
Parliamentarian (Appointed Position) Kermit Marsh

Also, the OCGOP unanimously endorsed Jim Brulte for reelection as Chairman of the California Republican Party, and Assemblyman Travis Allen was named OCGOP Legislator of the Year.

Posted in Republican Central Committee | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

OCTA Board Members Discuss State Lobbyist Contract

Posted by OC Insider on March 4, 2014

Yesterday, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) Executive Committee discussed the state lobbying contract that the agency has with Sloat, Higgins Jensen and Associates (SHJA) because of recent FPPC violations by the firm.

If you are unfamiliar with the FPPC violations against Kevin Sloat, who is the principal at SHJA, this article will help fill you in. Sloat was fined a record $133,500 by the FPPC for hosting numerous political fundraisers that counted as “prohibited campaign contributions, and arranging and giving gifts to California lawmakers.” Some of the lawmakers warned by the FPPC for holding events at Sloat’s house include Governor Jerry Brown, Senator Lou Correa (SD-34), Senator Bob Huff (SD-29), and former Assemblyman and current SD-34 candidate Jose Solorio.

OCTA has contracted with SHJA since 2002 for state lobbying and consulting services. Unlike the Transportation Corridor Agencies’ lobbying contracts, this particular contract was approved by the full OCTA board and extended on multiple occasions by the full Board. According to the staff report, SHJA’s services to OCTA include “representation with the Legislature, Governor’s Office, various state departments, agencies, boards, committees, commissions, and staff; advising on state legislation, proposed regulations, and state budget proposals which could have an impact on OCTA; assisting with the preparation of and advocating for OCTA’s legislative program; reporting on state transportation and related developments of importance to OCTA; and updating the Board as specified. SHJA also provides a monthly verbal update on its Sacramento advocacy to the Legislative and Communications Committee.” OCTA’s contract with SHJA lists Kevin Sloat as the contract manager, with several lobbyists that work for SHJA as the legislative advocates.

During their presentation, OCTA staff made it clear that there were many initiatives OCTA was trying to accomplish, and that an interruption in service, i.e. a new lobbyist, may disrupt those initiatives. The staff recommendation was to issue an RFP for the state lobbying services, with a new condition that any FPPC issues be disclosed in the proposals.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, referencing his time in the state legislature, stated that Sloat is well-respected in the capitol but that this was not a one-time violation.  Spitzer noted that it was likely that SHJA would lose credibility as a result of this finding, and that it could have a negative impact on OCTA.

Irvine Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Lalloway, who is also the OCTA Vice-Chairman, noted that the situation is similar to the recent one involving Matt Cunningham. Cunningham held two contracts with OCTA, which were suspended after some poorly thought out photos of a teddy bear were published on the Anaheim Blog page that received national coverage. Lalloway attempted to connect the Sloat and Cunningham incident, and thought if one deserved to be suspended (Cunningham), that the other (Sloat) should be suspended as well to preserve the integrity of the agency.

Michael Hennessey, who serves as a public member on the Board, stated that the comparing the Cunningham and Sloat situations was “weighing morality against need.” He stated that “if Cunningham is bigoted toward Latinos, he’s the strangest bigot I’ve met since he is married to a Latina, his children are half Latina, and if you go to a Christmas party at his house, it is largely Latinos.” He went on to note that if Cunningham’s services were absolutely critical (like OCTA staff was attempting to convey with Sloat), his contracts would have not have been suspended as quickly, and the matter would have been brought to the Board, similar to the current situation with Sloat.

After some other comments by the committee members, Supervisor Spitzer motioned to remove Kevin Sloat’s name from the contract entirely, and replace it with OCTA’s primary legislative advocate Moira Topp as the contract manager. Topp is still an employee of SHJA, but the committee felt that the perception of corruption lays with Sloat as opposed to the rest of the firm. Additionally, the motion included a provision that Sloat could not do any kind of advocacy on behalf of OCTA at any level. Finally, the motion called for an expedited RFP for the lobbying services, to be brought to the Board in April. The motion eventually passed with Lalloway voting no. The full OCTA Board will vote on this issue next Monday, March 10th.

Posted in Orange County Transportation Authority | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Final Thoughts Before the Irvine Council Vote on Great Park Proposal as Lalloway Speaks Out

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on November 24, 2013

Jeff LallowayThis is the third time I’ve written about the Irvine Council vote on the FivePoint proposal to develop the Great Park.  The Great Park is a major issue for this Orange County, considering its pivotal role in putting an end to the battle over the El Toro Airport that tour the County apart in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Additionally, after the gains Republicans had after the 2012 election, I feel this is still a critically important issue, which is why I’ve written three times on it before Tuesday’s meeting.  Until the 2012 election, Republicans had not had a majority on the Irvine City Council since 2000.  The reason Republicans won is Republicans ran promising to develop the Great Park.

Let me also address another issue.  I’ve heard a lot of rumors about me and Jeff Lalloway.  I will be crystal clear: Jeff has been a complete gentleman to me on this issue.  Our conversations on this topic have been absolutely cordial.  Any rumors that I have been threatened or intimidated by Jeff or anyone on this topic are patently false.  No one has been anything but professional to me on this topic.

One of the most impressive things about this proposal is that FivePoint is willing to give up 1,000,000 square feet of commercial space to build additional 4,600 homes.  Reducing the commercial space ensures that there is no increase in traffic from the additional homes.  Additionally, FivePoint proposes to develop most of the Great Park.  This proposal is an incredible deal for Irvine, and really a great deal for Orange County as a whole.  We will finally have the Great Park that the voters expected when Orange County residents voted to end the El Toro Airport in 2002.

I reached out to Jeff with a few questions but did not get a response by the time this article went up.  I did want to hear directly from him about his thoughts and concerns on the FivePoint proposal for the Great Park.  However, he published an excellent op-ed in the Register (it’s outside the paywall!) that outlined his thoughts on this deal.  Here are key excerpts:

I am excited to be able to vote in favor of this project. I look forward to casting that vote.

However, at the time that this complex proposal was brought before the council, it was clear from both the city staffs report and their presentations that they had time to conduct only a partial analysis of the impacts of this offer. In short, more work was required. In fact, the staff report highlights several areas that require “further discussion” and that their review is still a “work in progress.”

Areas requiring more analysis include such critical components as the design features, construction progress, and potential city liabilities. Separately, there are significant policy issues concerning public access to the park, as well as operating and maintaining the park amenities.

I don’t agree with Jeff renegotiating terms with FivePoint from the dais because the city staff had not had adequate time to vet the issues; he should have just let staff get their questions answered instead.  However, it’s clear from this op-ed that Jeff made the motion to delay two weeks, so that vote would allow staff to finish the last 10% of the agreement.  I think this amount of time should have been enough time to allow staff a chance to iron out the final 10%, and Jeff’s op-ed makes it clear he made the motion to allow them to do so.

Along with many other people in Orange County, I am looking forward to this issue being resolved promptly, and I hope that I will get the chance to write an article Tuesday evening that details the final result.

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

A Quarter Billion Dollars and a Decade Later: Where’s the Park?

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on November 21, 2013

Great Park BalloonAs I said in my last post on the topic, I was surprised by the 3-2 vote by the Irvine City Council on November 12 to delay consideration of the Great Park construction plan. Conservative Republican Jeff Lalloway unexpectedly joined liberal Democrats Larry Agran and Beth Krom in voting to delay for two weeks over the dissenting votes of Steven Choi and Christina Shea.

I like Lalloway, and Lalloway is a good conservative. Let me be unequivocally clear: I support Jeff Lalloway’s re-election to the Irvine City Council next year, just as I support Steven Choi’s re-election as Mayor in that same election, and I plan to support Christina Shea’s re-election to the Council in 2016. I just disagree with Lalloway on this one vote. Those who would attack Lalloway need to remember this: he only voted on a two-week delay to have more time to review this plan. I am confident that when he has fully examined the plan, he will be supportive of this effort to build the Great Park.

Lalloway made the motion to delay the item solely to have two more weeks to iron out the plan details. Choi and Shea voted against his motion to move the plan forward. Agran and Krom voted to delay in an attempt to kill this plan.

Irvine has already spent a quarter of a billion dollars and a decade since Measure W stopped the El Toro Airport in favor of the Great Park. What do they have to show for it? A giant orange balloon, a merry-go-round, a farm, an art display, and some soccer fields, ponds, and lawns.

The proposal by developer FivePoint Communities to build the Great Park would be a giant step forward. FivePoint Communities proposes to build 65% of the Great Park with a huge sports park, an 18-hole golf course, an agricultural site, and a woodland “Bosque” area.

What does FivePoint Communities want in exchange for these gifts to the City of Irvine? The right to build more homes on its own land. FivePoint Communities would only build homes on land that FivePoint already owns. This is a property rights issue. Protecting private property rights are a core principle of conservatism. FivePoint should have the right to build on its own land. It wishes to build an additional 4,600 homes on its own land and will construct a substantial proportion of the Great Park for the City of Irvine.

This seems like a very reasonable trade: FivePoint can build more homes on its own land and will build nearly 2/3 of the Great Park for the City of Irvine.

What’s often forgotten in the history of this land is that Lennar bought nearly the entirety of the old El Toro base from the Navy for $649.5 million. Then, Lennar gave 1,347 acres to the City of Irvine for the Great Park. (FivePoint Communities is a spin-off of Lennar.) Many of the significant steps forward that have occurred in the last decade in relation to the Great Park have been driven by the private sector.

My fellow OC Political co-founder, Chris Nguyen, often says, “The public sector exists only to do that which the private sector cannot do.” I believe that’s a core principle of limited government. If the Irvine City Council votes against the FivePoint Communities plan, then they will turn this on its head. That would mean the City of Irvine would try to build the park itself and reject an attempt by the private sector FivePoint Communities to do it.

The private sector generally does things more efficiently than the public sector. FivePoint Communities will not spend a quarter million dollars and a decade like the Agran majority did. Let FivePoint help build the Great Park.

Let’s not forget that the criticisms of the FivePoint plan in both the staff report and from the Council dais are being leveled by the people who spent a quarter billion dollars over a decade to build a balloon, a merry-go-round, a farm, an art display, and some soccer fields, ponds, and lawns. Agran and Krom’s nitpicking perfectionism is reminiscent of the busybody neighbor who calls the homeowners association when someone paints their house eggshell white instead of pearl white.

Agran and Krom are your classic big government liberals who believe in governmental centralized planning of all aspects of our lives. Just listen to Krom’s quote from the November 12 meeting in this Voice of OC video. It’s just frightening what she says about the FivePoint plan’s differences from the original master plan: “If you take the master plan and you blow it up, then the money we invested in the planning, you’re going to tell me we won’t even have a plan. So why would I support you destroying my plan, and then telling me ‘you wasted money on the plan?'”

It was Jeff Lalloway who put it best back in October, when the Orange County Register quoted him saying, “No master plan is sacred.”

Posted in Irvine | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

OC Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen Fundraiser, Thursday, October 3

Posted by Newsletter Reprint on September 24, 2013

This came over the wire from the Hugh Nguyen for Clerk-Recorder 2014 campaign…

Hugh Nguyen

Posted in Orange County | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Irvine Mayor Steven Choi Won 75% of Precincts, Including Every Region in the City Except UCI

Posted by Chris Nguyen on December 12, 2012

The New Irvine Council Majority: Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway, Councilwoman Christina Shea, and Mayor Steven Choi

The New Irvine Council Majority: Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway, Councilwoman Christina Shea, and Mayor Steven Choi

Last night, Steven Choi was sworn in as the first Republican Mayor of Irvine since 2000.  That last Republican Mayor was Christina Shea, who was sworn in to a new term last night as an Irvine Councilwoman after terming out in 2010.  The man who won Shea’s seat in 2010 was fellow Republican Jeff Lalloway, who became Mayor Pro Tem last night.

With all of that occurring last night, Larry Agran and Beth Krom were placed in the Irvine Council minority for the first time in a dozen years.  That 2000 election that gave the Democrats control of the Irvine Council majority saw Agran elected Mayor unopposed and Krom elected to the Council.  The 2012 election saw Krom re-elected to Council but Agran defeated for Mayor by Choi (though Agran remains on the Council as his term is 2010-2014).

The official results of Choi’s mayoral victory over Agran are as follows:

Steven S. Choi 32,505 45.7%
Larry Agran 28,741 40.4%
Katherine Daigle 9,951 14.0%

When a race is this close, you would expect there would be certain geographic areas in the city where Choi was strong and other areas where Agran was strong.  So let’s take a closer look; of the 127 precincts in the City of Irvine:

  • Choi won 95 (75% of all precincts, or 79% of precincts that cast votes for Mayor).
  • Agran won 24 (19% of all precincts, or 20% of precincts that cast votes for Mayor).
  • They tied in 2 (2% of all precincts and 2% of precincts that cast votes for Mayor).
  • Zero votes were cast for Mayor in 6 precincts (5% of all precincts).

Choi’s victory was quite evenly distributed in the city, with him winning all regions in the city except for the UCI campus precincts.  At UCI, Agran won 56% of the vote.  Choi won everywhere else.

It didn’t matter what districts were used – Choi won everywhere that wasn’t UCI.  He won the Irvine portions of both the 3rd and 5th Supervisorial Districts, both the 68th and 74th Assembly Districts, and both the Rancho Santiago and South Orange County Community College Districts (winning both the RSCCD Trustee Areas that cross Irvine and all three SOCCCD Trustee Areas that cross Irvine).  He won in the Irvine Unified School District and the Irvine portions of Santa Ana Unified and Tustin Unified.  He won in both divisions of the Orange County Water District and both divisions of the Municipal Water District of Orange County that crossed into Irvine.

Unfortunately for Agran, only 49% of registered voters in the UCI precincts turned out while 68% of registered voters in Irvine turned out.

It’s clear that other than UCI, there was no geographic divide in Steven Choi’s mayoral victory over Larry Agran to give Republicans control of the Irvine City Council for the first time in a dozen years.

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

2012 Primary Election Predictions: Republican Central Committee AD 68

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on April 24, 2012

AD 68 will be a blood bath in many different ways. Both candidates for the 3rd Supervisorial District are running for this. 8 of the candidates are elected officials in the district. Only 3 of the candidates running are incumbents which will allow for three challengers to get elected.

Credit goes to Meridian Pacific for posting these maps on their website.

The candidates include:

Mark William Bucher– The OC GOP is lucky to have this guy. He is not only one of the true conservatives who has done a lot for the Republican cause, but he is also the OC GOP Treasurer.

Ken L. Williams Jr.– He is currently an elected member of the Orange County Board of Education and a past member of the OC GOP Central Committee.

Noel Stone Parrish– I could be mixing her up with somebody else but it appears that she is a former resident of Los Angeles County who moved to Orange County.

Todd Spitzer– He is currently a candidate for Orange County Supervisor in the 3rd District and an elected member to the OC GOP Central Committee. *incumbent.

Marcia Gilchrist– She has been a solid voice in Republican politics for a long time including her service as an elected member of the OC GOP Central Committee. *Incumbent.

Deborah Pauly– She is currently a member of the Villa Park City Council and Vice Chair of the OC GOP. Also she is rumored to possibly be running for Supervisor against Todd Spitzer. *Incumbent.

Walter H. Myers III– He is someone who I consider to be a friend and he is also a very solid Republican as well. We are clearly rooting for our fellow blogger here at OC Political to win.

Lynn Schott– She is currently an elected member of the OC GOP Central Committee. It might be just me, but she comes across as angry all the time.

Nick Wilson– He is currently a Tea Party Republican who is running for a second time for this Central Committee seat after a tough loss in 2010.

Denis Bilodeau– He is currently an elected member of the Orange City Council and Orange County Water district. He was recently appointed to the OC GOP Central Committee. *Incumbent.

Ray Grangoff– Currently a member of Supervisor Pat Bates staff and also an elected member of the OC GOP Central Committee. *Incumbent.

Scott “Scotty” Voigts– A current elected member of the Lake Forest City Council and also a member of Assemblyman Don Wagner’s staff.

Joshua Robert Morales– I do not know much about Joshua Robert Morales other than the fact that he is running as a Retail Sales Associate.

Jeffrey Lalloway– He is an Irvine City Councilman and also heavily active in the Lincoln Club. He is one of the real good guys in the party.

Jon Dumitru– An Orange City Councilman and Custom Campaigns client running for Mayor against a Democrat. He is the winner of the lottery spot that will put him at the top of the ballot.

Steven S. Choi– He is a Councilmember in Irvine and also the recent runner up in the AD 68 race. He is currently running for Mayor in Irvine against Beth Krom.

James Brownfield– He is listed as a Business Owner on the ballot but outside of that it was not easy to come up with any information about him.

Fred Whitaker– He is currently a Councilmember in Orange and the most recently elected member of the Council in Orange.

The factors at play- In these races the most important factor is luck. What I examined when determining who would win was name ID, ballot designation, ballot placement, district statistics.

Looking at all the factors at play in this district I believe that the 6 winning candidates (In no particular order) will be:

1. Todd Spitzer
2. Mark William Bucher
3. Jon Dumitru
4. Marcia Gilchrist
5. Ray Grangoff
6. Deborah Pauly

Posted in Republican Central Committee | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Central Committee Races Finalized

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on March 12, 2012

The OC GOP Central Committee races have been finalized.

Here are the candidates that qualified for the ballot (top 6 win in each district):

55th Assembly District

Brett Barbre                  Appointed Incumbent
Jim Domen                   Pastor
Karla Downing             Small Business Owner
Desare Ferraro             Small Business Consultant
Peggy Huang                Deputy Attorney General
Connie Lanzisera         Small Business Owner
Robert Lauten
Brenda McCune           Businesswoman/Childrens Advocate
Tim Shaw                      Mayor, City of La Habra
Dennis R. White          Mechanical Engineer

65th Assembly District

Samuel “Sam” Han      Appointed Incumbent
Steve Hwangbo             Councilman/Businessman/Father
Jerry Jackson                Retired Aerospace Engineer
Sou Moua                       Businessman
Shawn Nelson               Orange County Supervisor
Baron Night                   Incumbent
Greg Sebourn                Businessman/Educator
David John Shawver   Mayor Pro Tem
Pat Shuff                        Incumbent
Henry Charoen             Mayor/Businessman
Alexandria Coronado  Small Business Owner

68th Assembly District

Denis Bilodeau              Mayor Pro Tem
James Brownfield         Business Owner
Mark William Bucher     Incumbent
Steven S. Choi                  Irvine City Councilman
Jon Dumitru                     City Councilman
Marcia Gilchrist               Incumbent
Ray Grangoff                    Incumbent
Jeffrey Lalloway              Irvine Councilmember/Businessman
Joshua Robert Morales  Retail Sales Associate
Walter H. Myers, III       Software Consultant
Noel Stone Parrish          Businesswoman
Deborah Pauly                 Councilwoman, City of Villa Park
Lynn Schott                      Entrepreneur/Educator
Todd Spitzer                     Businessman/Victims Advocate
Scott “Scotty” Voigts       Lake Forest City Councilman
Fred M. Whitaker            City of Orange Councilman/Businessman
Ken L. Williams Jr.         Member, Orange County Board of Education
Nick Wilson                      Small Business Owner

69th Assembly District

Cuong Sinh Cao                            Incumbent
Bryan Carter                                 Software Engineer
Gwen A. Dyrud                             Appointed Incumbent
Brett Elliott Franklin                   Incumbent
Thomas Anthony Gordon           Incumbent
Robert Morris Hammond           Business Owner/Teacher
Charles Hart                                  Appointed Incumbent
Lupe Moreno                                 Office Specialist
Glen Stroud                                    Retired Recreation Supervisor
Timothy “Tim” Ryan Whitacre  Incumbent

72nd Assembly District

John W. Briscoe            Certified Public Accountant
Dennis R. Catron           Small Businessman
Patrick Dooley
Michael E. Gates             Businessman/Attorney
Dean Grose                      Small Business Owner
Matthew Harper             Huntington Beach City Councilman
Brian Hoops                    Special Needs Educator
Diane A. Lenning           Small Business Owner
Kermit Marsh                  Incumbent
Mark McCurdy                Fountain Valley City Councilmember
Steve A. Nagel                 Incumbent
Janet Nguyen                  Orange County Supervisor
Patricia Ross                    Homemaker
Mary Tuong Van Pham  Businesswoman

73rd Assembly District

Alice Anderson                   Incumbent
Nesa Anderson                   Planning Commissioner/Businesswoman
Linda Barnes                      Community Volunteer
Tony Beall                           Incumbent
Evan P. Chafee                   Marketing Sales/Representative
Chandra Chell                     Computer Systems Analyst
Nina R. Davar                     Export Assistant Manager
Norm Dickinson                 Retired Naval Officer
Mark Dobrilovic                 Financial Advisor
John C. Drew                      Author/Speaker/Consultant
Dave Duringer                    Gun Trust Attorney
Jon Steven Fleischman     Small Business Owner
Roy Fussell                          Realtor
Paul Hebbard                      Certified Public Accountant
Michael Kogus                    Business Owner
Steve Magdziak                   Small Business Owner
Mike Munzing                     Incumbent
Nancy Padberg                    Governing Board Member, South Orange Co. Community College District
Kevin Richardson               Plumbing Contractor
Eric Stolaski                         Small Business Owner
Greg Woodard                     Appointed Incumbent
Mary Young                          Incumbent

74th Assembly District

Jon Aiken                                Office Clerk
Allan Bartlett                          Incumbent
Scott Baugh                             Incumbent
John Draper                            Businessman
Bill Dunlap                              General Contractor
Thomas A. “T.J.” Fuentes    Businessman
Don Hansen                            Mayor, City of Huntington Beach
Daniel Marshall                      Attorney
Jeff Mathews                          Business Owner
Vanessa A. Matthews            Small Business Owner
Gary Morse                             Retired Business Owner
Richard “Dick” Palmer         Community Volunteer
Scott “Scotty” Peotter           Businessman/Legislative Analyst
Rhonda Rohrabacher           Small Business Owner
Emily Sanford                        Retired Navy Captain
Christina L. Shea                   Businesswoman
John Warner                          Incumbent

This is simply a list of the candidates that qualified for the ballot along with their ballot designations. After the alphabetical lottery we will make some predictions on who we think will actually win these races.

Posted in Republican Central Committee | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

 
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