OC Political

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

Posts Tagged ‘Orange County Register’

California Voters Will Confront Hundreds Of Costly Bonds This Year – My Guest Commentary in the OC Register

Posted by Craig P Alexander on February 8, 2020

On February 1, 2020 the Orange County Register published this guest commentary by me in its Opinion section.  I thank the OC Register for publishing my commentary:

California voters will confront a Vesuvius of public school bond measures on the March 3, 2020 — nine of them in Orange County. In South Orange County, the Capistrano Unified School District is pushing two bonds (Measures H and I). If passed, both would obligate CUSD voters to pay $724 million in principal and interest — on top of all of the other taxes and bonds locals already pay.

Bonds are a tax. Just as homebuyers use mortgages to borrow money, governments borrow money, and repay lenders the loan amount (the principal) plus interest, often over the course of 30 years. Few ever talk about interest payments when they talk about bonds — and those interest payments can double the announced cost of the bond, sucking up money for other essential government services.

Voters throughout the state need to ask themselves whether these bonds are truly necessary and urgent, or yet another bailout for bad financial management of the state’s schools.

I’d argue it’s clearly the latter. Our problem isn’t revenue; California residents are already among the highest taxed in the nation. California has the dubious distinction of the imposing the nation’s highest state income tax rates, the second-highest gasoline taxes (we’ll be the highest on July 1, 2020), high sales and utility taxes, and even higher DMV fees. These gold medals in taxation come at the same time that the federal government has killed the deductibility of state and local taxes.

So, our problem isn’t revenue. It’s spending — or rather misspending. Consider that in 2012, California voters passed new “temporary taxes” to support schools (Proposition 30). The teachers unions that backed Prop. 30 promised these new taxes would provide billions of dollars for the school system. Prop. 30 passed, but four years later, the same unions and their allies in government were back with Proposition 55, a measure to extend for 12 years the temporary taxes first passed in Prop. 30.

Residents in CUSD can point to a similar experience. In 1999, voters there passed Measure A, a multi-million-dollar bond advertised as urgent. District schools, Measure A supporters said, were plagued by asbestos, in need of roof repairs and earthquake retrofitting and new science laboratories. Today, 20 years later, Measures H & I CUSD use these same problems as the evidence that proves the district is starved of cash.

Voters have every right to ask where all those tax dollars went. District records show that some 86 percent of its income are spent on the salaries and benefits of its employees. Some of those employees are paid remarkably well for a district that can’t manage its money. CUSD Superintendent Kirsten Vital earned $333,267 in 2018. Her deputy, Clark Hampton clocked in at $241,556. By contrast, Gov. Gavin Newsom was given a raise in December, bringing him to $210,000 annually, making him the nation’s highest paid governor. The bottom line: Each of CUSD’s top officials earns more than California’s top elected official.

Finally, it’s important to note that student enrollment in CUSD is declining. CUSD’s internal documents confirm that district officials know this. And yet they want to use new bond taxes to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into school building projects. So why is the district asking taxpayers to pay for improvements to school sites it will likely close over the next few years? Or is the district planning to spend the bond revenue on other projects?

Voters deserve straightforward answers on what CUSD intends to do with their bond taxes before they vote to place additional 30-year tax lien on their properties.
Residents and taxpayers deserve better stewardship of their tax dollars. They deserve transparency from their local government school trustees and education bureaucrats.

Craig Alexander is a Dana Point resident, property owner and an attorney. For more information go to http://www.NoCUSDBonds.com and http://www.CapoKidsFirst.com.

Posted in Capistrano Unified School District, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Speaking Truth To Power – Teacher Union Power

Posted by Craig P. Alexander on March 12, 2017

In Sunday’s OC Register  (Unions to Blame) is a powerful opinion piece by Cecilia Iglesias, one of the five Trustees for the Santa Ana Unified School District.  Recently the Board of Trustees voted 4 to 1 (with Trustee Iglesias as the sole dissenting vote) to send layoff notices to 287 teachers.  Why?  As Trustee Iglesias points out, the District has had declining enrollment since 2002 and is continued to have this for years to come.  What did the teachers’ union and their paid for board majority do in response to this situation: raise teacher pay and ignore basic mathematics.  Over the last four years teacher pay in SAUSD has risen over 16% while the projected enrollment figures continued to slide.

Remember – schools receive their money from the state (and the federal) government based on enrollment.  So even using Common Core math could not save the teachers’ union and their paid for Trustees from fiscal reality – they don’t have enough money to pay all of their teachers (and other staff too) at the current levels.  So they voted to lay off 287 teachers (the actual figure may be less come this fall – but still a significant number).  What will happen from this lay off?

First there will be fewer teachers to staff the classrooms.  Result: pack the children into more crowded classrooms putting more pressure and responsibility on those teachers that remain.  So for example a class with 25 students will grow in size to 30 or 35 students with one teacher.  And which teachers will be laid off?  The union contract with the school has a “last in, first out” clause – meaning the younger teachers will lose their jobs while older ones keep theirs.  And there is absolutely no ability for the District, under this contract, to take into account a teacher’s performance (or lack thereof) in choosing which teachers to lay off.

So who wins in this situation?  Obviously union bosses who keep their positions. Older teachers who may be great teachers but there is still no way to judge if all of them are the best performers or not.  The four union elected (paid for) Trustees who owe their seats to unions who underwrote their election efforts.

Do parents and students win – Not by any reasonable measure.  In fact it can be correctly argued that the District and the union are balancing the books on the backs of the children.  The teachers who are laid off?  The only way they “win” in this situation is if they find a job in another District that has Trustees that look out after students and parents more than teacher union bosses.  Only if that District cares more about teacher performance than seniority.  I wish all those teachers who are laid off well and that they find better replacement employment quickly.

How will the parents win in this situation?  Very simple – put better Trustees on the board to join Ms. Iglesias to form a pro-student, parent and teacher majority that returns the focus of the District to the best education possible rather than catering to the desires of union bosses.

Posted in Santa Ana Unified School District, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

Anti-Choice Teachers Unions Want to Take Control of the OC Board of Education

Posted by Craig P. Alexander on April 27, 2016

Everyone agrees that education for our children is a critical pathway for those children to grow into adults who are ready to earn a living and become responsible members of our society. Unfortunately labor unions including teachers unions have a different focus – to benefit their union bank accounts with your tax dollars more than the quality and success of students in those schools.  Often to balance a school district’s books the union elected Board of Trustees will give raises to District employees and increase class sizes (with layoffs of younger teachers with less seniority).  How does this help children in these schools?  Not at all.  In fact classroom overcrowding and teachers kept due to seniority instead of quality and student progress is detrimental to their education.

Let me pause and say there are many great teachers in the public school system.  It is not their actions that are the problem.  It is their unions who want to hold onto power who are the problem.

Many parents choose to send their children to private schools or choose to homeschool their children to assure that they are doing everything they can to provide a quality education for their child. But there is another route parents can take: public charter schools.  The success of public charter schools is beyond refutation. The fact is that public charter schools, with the freedom to not unionize their staffs and focus on children’s academic progress rather than just seniority in teacher evaluations, have resulted in long waiting lists for children to gain entrance into good public charter schools.  What is the response to this by government employee unions?  To block public charter school applications at every turn.  First via the Board of Trustees at the local level.  Then with a rubber stamp Orange County Board of Education that denied charter school application appeals routinely. That changed two years ago when Linda Lindholm joined Trustees Robert Hammond and Ken Williams to form a pro public charter school majority.  Since then charter schools that formerly were routinely denied appeals have had their appeals granted and more charter schools opened to the benefit of children, parents, teachers who work there and ultimately all of us as these children graduate with a quality education.

This June 7th voters in Orange County will have an opportunity to re-elect Trustees Hammond and Williams to keep that pro-charter school majority in place.  The teacher unions are running Tustin Councilmember Rebecca Gomez and Irvine School Board member Michael Parham against Hammond and Williams to replace the current majority with a board majority that will bring the OC Board back to the days when charter school application appeals are routinely denied no matter the quality and demand by parents for a viable alternative to sometimes failing public schools their children are enrolled in.

Former State Senator Gloria Romero has an excellent opinion article in the Orange County Register (Teachers unions trying to take back O.C. board). Follow the link to her article where she has set forth how this is a deceptive campaign by the unions to smear Trustee Hammond and Williams to place their handpicked Trustees on the board.

Here is a part of her article:

“The name “Teachers for Local Control” undoubtedly was poll tested and determined to be a resonant mantra with Orange County voters.     What backers probably won’t reveal is that Teachers for Local Control is a chameleon group for the Santa Ana Educators Association, a local affiliate of the powerful Sacramento-based California Teachers Association, which has fought virtually every public education reform and law granting parental school choice in California.

In fact, the legal phone number for Teachers for Local Control provided to the California Secretary of State’s Office is the same number as for the Santa Ana teachers union office.

Whoops.”

Teacher unions what to give parents less choice in the education of their children by opposing public charter schools. Trustees Hammond and Williams want to preserve choice and excellence in education.   Voters will have an important choice regarding education in Orange County on June 7th.

Re-elect Robert Hammond and Dr. Ken Williams to the Orange County Board of Education.

For more about former Marine Robert Hammond go to: http://www.robertforocbe.com/

For more about Dr. Ken Williams go to: http://www.williamsforocbe.com/

For more about public charter schools in general go to: http://www.ccsaadvocates.org/ and Parents Advocate League.

 

 

Posted in Orange County Board of Education, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Partisan Hypocrisy Sacramento Style In Full Display

Posted by Craig P. Alexander on August 26, 2015

Yesterday was a banner day for Hypocrisy by the majority party in Sacramento.

As has been written in this blog by myself and others, Democrat Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez has been pushing for the State Auditor’s office to “audit the audit” by the City of Irvine into the mismanaged $200 million plus taxpayer dollars that were squandered by the prior City Council majority lead by then councilman Larry Agran.  The City’s audit (spearheaded by City Council persons Christina Shea and Jeffery Lalloway) has already shown that millions of dollars have been wasted on no bid contracts with firms like Gafcon, Inc. – with whom Assemblywoman Gonzalez has close ties.   Apparently Ms. Gonzalez, afraid that the audit will continue and find reveal more bad actions by Gafcon, Inc. (one of her political supporters), got the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to vote along partisan lines to order the State Auditors office to audit not the Great Park financial mismanagement by Larry Agran, but the audit itself.  Here is the link to the article in the Orange County Register:  State to Investigate Great Park Audit. This audit will occur despite the opposition of many Orange County elected officials lead by Assemblyman Don Wagner.  The State Auditor’s office is to determine if the Irvine audit was “too political.”  Lets see if the State Audit itself is “political” or not.

At the same meeting of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, the Democrat majority killed a request by Republican Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez (with support by Republican State Senator Jean Fuller) to audit how state funds are being spent by Planned Parenthood in California.  Please keep in mind Assemblywoman Melendez was not asking the committee to “defund” Planned Parenthood, just to audit them to make sure the taxpayer funds being given to PP were being spent as intended.  Given the overwhelming evidence of Planned Parenthood selling baby parts / organs and now whole baby cadavers themselves (often apparently in violation of federal laws) via the videos being released by the Center for Medical Progress, there is more than good reason to audit Planned Parenthood to make sure taxpayer dollars are not being misspent.  The vote was, again, completely along party lines to deny the request.  Here is a link to the full article in the Flashreport (written by eye witness Katy Grimes): Partisan Lawmakers Kill State Audit of Planned Parenthood’s Public Funding.

Once again our State Legislature has proven to be partisan overall.  An audit of the auditors trying to find out what happened to millions and millions of taxpayer dollars regarding the Great Park and no audit of Planned Parenthood in spite of overwhelming evidence of misconduct and perhaps even criminal conduct.  O I forgot, both Gafcon and Planned Parenthood are Democratic party supporters!

Posted in Irvine | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

End Of Forced Unionization For Government Employees?

Posted by Craig P. Alexander on November 25, 2014

In today’s Orange County Register former State Senator Gloria Romero discusses a pending case where several public school teachers have sued the state and the California Teachers Association (CTA) challenging the Plaintiffs being forced to be in a public employee union in order to have their jobs as teachers.  The case (entitled Friedrichs, et al v. California Teachers Association, et al) was pending at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  However, the Court granted Plaintiff’s attorneys’ motion to affirm the trial court’s findings against the Plaintiffs without the need for an oral argument.  Part of the reasoning, according to Senator Romero’s op ed piece, is the 9th Circuit recognized that only the United States Supreme Court can overturn its own prior decision of Abood v. Detroit Bd. Of Ed. 431 U.S. 209 (1977).  This has significantly sped up the appeals process hopefully getting the case before the Supreme Court (and a decision from it) by over a year – as early as 2015 or 2016.

A few months ago the Supreme Court issued an important decision in Harris v. Quinn which I posted a blog about on July 1st (Harris v. Quinn, an Important Limitation on Forced Unionization). I noted that while the Harris case did not overturn the Abood case or declare that all government employee unionization is not lawful, the Harris court majority noted serious misgivings about the Abood cases’ underlying rational and the public policy of allowing government employee unions to require people to join them (and pay dues) against their will in order to keep their government jobs.  Senator Romero also noted this about the Harris case in her op ed piece.  Here is a link to her opinion piece (which is not behind the Register’s pay wall): Union-dues case moves closer to Supreme Court.  I highly recommend you read her article.

The Supreme Court is not required to take and hear Rebecca Friedrichs and her friends’ case.  But I certainly hope it does and I hope the Supreme Court overturns Abood allowing government employees to make a voluntary choice to join a government employee union or not as they desire.   I hope the Court recognizes that when someone is forced to join a union by operation of law and forced to give the union money to spend in ways that employee may not agree with, this is a violation of the 1st Amendment of the Constitution.  Liberals always complain about wanting people to be able to make their own choices.  A decision by the Supreme Court to end forced unionization of government employees, would be a victory for individual liberty and freedom.

Finally, I have met Rebecca Friedrichs and her husband.  They are wonderful long serving teachers who love their profession.  If you ever have the opportunity to hear her speak on this subject, you will find a person of passion on this issue and a fighter who is not afraid to stand up to the unions and their bullying tactics.  I wish her, her co-plaintiff teacher friends and their legal team well.

 

Craig P. Alexander, Esq. is an attorney who practices law in the area of insurance coverage, construction defect, HOAs, business dispute and general civil litigation.  His office is in Dana Point, California. 

 

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

The Stakes are High At Capistrano Unified School District This Election

Posted by Craig P. Alexander on October 9, 2014

When I decided to become a Candidate for Capistrano Unified School District, Trustee Area 4, I knew I would want to let people who read OC Political know why I am running with a post to this blog.  However on Monday (10-6-14) Mr. Robert Loewen of the Lincoln Club of Orange County published in the Orange County Register an opinion piece that does an excellent job of summing up the reasons I am running and why my friends current CUSD Trustee Ellen Addonizio (running for re-election to Trustee Area 6) and Julie Collier (running for Trustee Area 7) are running and what is at stake in this race.  Mr. Loewen’s title for his opinion is Support Accountability at Capistrano Unified.

I will not re-print all of Mr. Loewen’s excellent article here but here is the beginning and a link to the article (it is not behind the Register’s pay wall) for those of you who would like to read the entire article.  You will find it quite eye opening:

“By ROBERT LOEWEN / Contributing Writer

Jack was confused. When his neighborhood carpool dropped him off at Barcelona Hills Elementary that spring day in 2011, it seemed like just another school day. It was not a big deal to the seasoned fifth-grader when he trudged from the busy carpool drop-off area and was herded with his classmates onto school property. He and other kids were handed signs bearing big red letters, “SOS,” the call sign at sea for disaster. Jack assumed the signs held by students were about Earth Day or “Saving Our Planet.” But when Jack took time to read one of the signs, he saw it was a slogan, “Save Our Schools.”

Suddenly, Jack was no longer confused. The signs were a mean-spirited rebuke to a project proposed by his mother, Julie Collier and some other parents, who wanted to see if they could use innovations allowed by state charter-school law to improve the learning environment for their own children.

So Jack found himself in the middle of a protest by someone who used kids to make their point. Jack threw his sign on the ground. Smiling, his teacher came over and handed it back to him. “Jack, could you hold up this sign again? I want to take your picture.” Click.

Jack’s mother, Julie Collier, is running for a seat as trustee on the Capistrano Unified School Board, Area 7. For Julie, it’s personal. She doesn’t mind discussing the issues of accountability and allocation of limited funding in education with anyone.

As a teacher herself, she can more than hold her own. But who gave public school teachers permission to turn her kids, or anyone’s kids, into political pawns?…….” Support Accountability at Capistrano Unified School District

– – – – – – – – –

Thank you Mr. Loewen for an excellent article.

Julie, Ellen and I have opponents who are all endorsed by the unions who are pouring tens of thousands of dollars into our opponents’ campaigns.  That is no surprise to us and neither are the tactics being employed by the unions one of which was discussed by my friend Greg Woodard in his piece on this blog: Unions Care Nothing About Facts and on my own campaign web site: LAWSUITS?”

For more information about my friend Julie Collier and her race go to Julie Collier for CUSD.  For Ellen Addonizio go to Re-Elect Ellen Addonizio.

For my campaign web site go to: Craig For CUSD or my Facebook page Craig Alexander for CUSD

Julie, Ellen and I respectfully ask each voter in Trustee Areas 4, 6 and 7 for their vote.  Thank you all for your support.

Posted in Capistrano Unified School District | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

June 2014 Organizational Endorsements Scorecard

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on June 5, 2014

Chris Nguyen posted a humongous grid of endorsements that broke down all the major organizations and what candidates they endorsed for non-partisan offices in Orange County. You can take a look at his humongous grid of endorsements here. As a follow-up I have done the math on how the endorsed candidates fared in the Tuesday election and have given credit to an organization for endorsing a candidate that either won outright or advanced to the November election.

report_card

Here is a guide to the abbreviations: OC GOP = Republican Party of Orange County, DPOC = Democratic Party of Orange County, CRA = California Republican Assembly, HJTA = Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, CWLA = California Women’s Leadership Association, OC Tax = Orange County Taxpayers Association, OCBC = Orange County Business Council, and CTA = California Teachers Association.

OC GOP DPOC OC Register Lincoln Club Atlas PAC CRA Family Action PAC HJTA CWLA OC Tax OCBC CTA OC Labor Federation Evolve Women in Leadership Planned Parenthood
%  83% 14% 76%  75% 80% 83% 83% 100% 100% 92% 50% 50% 43% 0%  50% 33%
# of Winners  10  1  13  9  8  10 5  5  7  11  2  1  3  0  1  1
# of Losers  2 6  4  3  2  2  1  0  0  1  2  1 4 2  1 2

 

Anybody that got 75% and higher can be considered an organization with a valuable endorsement but the big winners from this election cycle were the California Women’s Leadership Association (Orange County Chapter) and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association both of which managed to endorse no losers.

 

Posted in 2nd Supervisorial District, 4th Supervisorial District, 5th Supervisorial District, Anaheim, Buena Park School District, Democrat Central Committee, Irvine Unified School District, Orange County, Orange County Assessor, Orange County Auditor-Controller, Orange County Board of Education, Orange County Clerk-Recorder, Orange County Public Administrator, Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Republican Central Committee | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Giant Grid of Endorsements for the June 3 Primary Election

Posted by Chris Nguyen on May 30, 2014

One of our most popular posts from the November 2012 General Election was “Humongous Grid of Endorsements,” so we’re back this election with the Giant Grid of Endorsements for the June 2014 Primary Election.

I did abbreviate for some groups, so OC GOP = Republican Party of Orange County, DPOC = Democratic Party of Orange County, CRA = California Republican Assembly, HJTA = Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, CWLA = California Women’s Leadership Association, OC Tax = Orange County Taxpayers Association, OCBC = Orange County Business Council, and CTA = California Teachers Association.

If you’re particularly interested in a group, click their name to view their endorsements on their web site.  You can learn more about the group there, such as HJTA being the state’s leading taxpayer advocate group or Women in Leadership being a single-issue group with the sole goal of electing “pro-choice women candidates to local, regional and state-wide office who support keeping abortion legal.” (In light of their mission, does anyone else find it odd that Women in Leadership’s two endorsements on this grid are both for school board?)

Candidates in each race are listed in alphabetical order by last name, except incumbents got listed first in their respective races.  Party affiliations are listed except for judicial candidates Thomas Martin and Wayne Philips, as I could not tell their affiliation from the voter database (common names combined with obscure judicial races make figuring out their affiliations challenging).

Whether you love a group and want to vote with their endorsements or hate a group and want to vote against their endorsements, here are the endorsements for county offices and school board, along with local ballot measures:

OC GOP DPOC OC Register Lincoln Club Atlas PAC CRA Family Action PAC HJTA CWLA OC Tax OCBC CTA OC Labor Federation Evolve Women in Leadership Planned Parenthood
Supervisor, 2nd District
Joe Carchio (R)
Allan Mansoor (R) X
Jim Moreno (D) X X X X
Michelle Steel (R) X X X X X X
Supervisor, 4th District
Shawn Nelson (R – incumbent) X X X X X
Rudy Gaona (D) X X
Supervisor, 5th District
Lisa Bartlett (R)
Robert Ming (R) X X X X X X
Frank Ury (R) X X X
Joe Williams (NPP)
Assessor
Webster Guillory (NPP – incumbent) X
Jorge Lopez (D) X X
Claude Parrish (R) X X X X X
Auditor-Controller
James Benuzzi (D)
Mike Dalati (D) X
Frank Davies (R)
John Willard (NPP) X
Eric Woolery (R) X X X X
Clerk-Recorder
Hugh Nguyen (R – incumbent) X X X X X X
Monica Maddox (R)
Gary Pritchard (D) X X
Steve Rocco (NPP)
District Attorney-Public Administrator
Tony Rackauckas (R – incumbent) X X X X X
Greg Diamond (D) X
Sheriff-Coroner
Sandra Hutchens (R – incumbent) X X X X
Superintendent of Schools
Al Mijares (R – incumbent) X X
Treasurer-Tax Collector
Shari Freidenrich (R – incumbent) X X X X X X X
Judge, Office #14
Fred Fascenelli (R)
Kevin Haskins (R) X X X X X
KC Jones (R) X
Thomas Martin
Judge, Office #20
Derek Johnson (D – incumbent)
Helen Hayden (R) X X X X
Judge, Office #27
Joanne Motoike (D – incumbent) X X X
Wayne Philips
Judge, Office #35
Jeff Ferguson (R) X X X
Carmen Luege (R) X X
County Board of Education, Trustee Area 2
David Boyd (R – incumbent) * X X X
Tom Pollitt (R) X X X X X X
County Board of Education, Trustee Area 5
Elizabeth Parker (R – incumbent) * X X X X
Linda Lindholm (R) X X X X X X X
Irvine Unified School District (Special Election for Six-Month Term)
Ira Glasky (R – incumbent) X X  X
Carolyn Inmon (D) X X
Bob Vu (R)
Measure A (Orange County)
Yes X X X X
No
Measure B (Buena Park School District)
Yes
No X
Measure C (Anaheim)
Yes X X
No
Measure D (Anaheim)
Yes
No X
Measure E (Anaheim)
Yes X X
No

*The Democratic Party of Orange County did not endorse David Boyd or Elizabeth Parker, instead the DPOC issued anti-endorsements against Tom Pollitt and Linda Lindholm.

Posted in 2nd Supervisorial District, 4th Supervisorial District, 5th Supervisorial District, Anaheim, Buena Park School District, Democrat Central Committee, Irvine Unified School District, Orange County, Orange County Assessor, Orange County Auditor-Controller, Orange County Board of Education, Orange County Clerk-Recorder, Orange County Public Administrator, Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Republican Central Committee | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

AD-55 Watch: Biographies Scrutinized

Posted by Allen Wilson on March 28, 2014

image

The Orange County Register published an article scrutinizing the Assembly candidates biographies, but candidate Ling-Ling Chang education claims gets top grilling.

The view of the article is behind a firewall, which requires payment to have reading privileges.

It has been reported in previous campaign materials, publications and city of Diamond Bar website that Chang earned a degree in Biology from UC, Riverside and attending Harvard.

However, the article explains on the contrary that Chang has no degree in biology, which means she dropped out of UC Riverside and Chang explained that she is doing her studies “online” for a degree from Harvard.

Sadly, Chang offers no apologies for attending Harvard, but she should be reminded that attending an Ivy League university physically on campus is totally different than one taking courses behind a keyboard.

Unfortunately, Chang faults the inaccuracies to the City of Diamond Bar Public Information Officer, which is an insult to the professionalism of a municipal employee that is of high regard in and out of Diamond Bar City Hall.

If an Assembly candidate spends all of the time going to meetings as a councilmember on the taxpayers dime should have gone to night school and gotten a degree instead of polishing a political résumé for far too long.

It is ironic that an Assembly candidate is using SCA 5 on a campaign platform who only holds a high school diploma.

We are in a midst of a campaign season and candidates should be grilled until Election Day.

As for one candidate to embellish education claims brings bad taste who is being endorsed by high profile Republican elected officials such as Rep. Ed Royce and Senate Minority Leader Senator Bob Huff.

The voters in the 55th Assembly District deserves the truth as to who will be their next Assemblymember.

It is good to know now than with regrets for the constituents who could be stuck with a legislator for the next 2 or 12 years.

Posted in 55th Assembly District, Brea, California, La Habra, Orange County, Placentia, State Assembly, Yorba Linda | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Humongous Grid of Endorsements: State Assembly, City Council, School Board, Special Districts, and Ballot Measures

Posted by Chris Nguyen on November 4, 2012

You may have seen my prior post entitled, “Republican? Democrat? Independent?  The Partisan Affiliations of Everyone Running for Everything in Orange County.” In an effort to bring more information to voters, here is my humongous grid of endorsements, showing endorsements from the Democratic Party of Orange County, the Democratic Foundation of Orange County, the Orange County Register, the Republican Party of Orange County, the California Republican Assembly, the Lincoln Club of Orange County, Atlas PAC, and Family Action PAC.

Regrettably, I’ve been unable to find a comprehensive, countywide listing of chamber and union endorsements.

Also, some of these organizations endorsed in uncontested races.  I excluded those from the grid.

State Assembly

DPOC DFOC OC Register OCGOP CRA Lincoln Club Atlas PAC Family Action PAC
65th District Sharon Quirk-Silva Sharon Quirk-Silva Chris Norby Chris Norby Chris Norby Chris Norby Chris Norby Chris Norby
72nd District Travis Allen Troy Edgar Travis Allen Troy Edgar

City Council

DPOC DFOC OC Register OCGOP CRA Lincoln Club Atlas PAC Family Action PAC
Aliso
Viejo
Ross Chun Greg Ficke
Bill Phillips
Don Garcia
Greg Ficke
Mike Munzing
Mike Munzing Mike Munzing
Anaheim Jordan Brandman Jordan Brandman John Leos
Lucille Kring
Brian Chuchua
Lucille Kring
Brian Chuchua
Lucille Kring
Lucille Kring Brian Chuchua
Lucille Kring
Brea Marty Simonoff
Steven Vargas
Steven Vargas
Buena
Park
Art Brown Fred Smith Baron Night Baron Night Baron Night
Costa
Mesa
Colin McCarthy
Steve Mensinger
Gary Monahan
Colin McCarthy
Steve Mensinger
Gary Monahan
Colin McCarthy
Steve Mensinger
Gary Monahan
Colin McCarthy
Steve Mensinger
Gary Monahan
Colin McCarthy
Steve Mensinger
Gary Monahan
Colin McCarthy
Steve Mensinger
Gary Monahan
Cypress Rob Johnson Rob Johnson
Bijan Mohseni
Rob Johnson
Bijan Mohseni
Dana
Point
Carlos N. Olvera
Ed Stevenson
Carlos N. Olvera Carlos N. Olvera
Ed Stevenson
Carlos N. Olvera
Fountain
Valley
Steve A. Nagel Steve A. Nagel Steve A. Nagel Cheryl Brothers
Patrick Tucker
Fullerton Jan Flory
Kitty Jaramillo
Jan Flory
Kitty Jaramillo
Bruce Whitaker
Travis Kiger
Jennifer Fitzgerald
Bruce Whitaker
Travis Kiger
Bruce Whitaker
Travis Kiger
Barry Levinson
Bruce Whitaker
Travis Kiger
Jennifer Fitzgerald
Bruce Whitaker
Barry Levinson
Jennifer Fitzgerald
Garden
Grove
Kris Beard Kris Beard Steve Jones Mayor:
Myke Cossota
Council:
Steve Jones
Zack Barrett
Huntington
Beach
Jill Hardy Jill Hardy
Alexander Polsky
Barbara Delgleize
Erik Peterson
Dave Sullivan
Devin Dwyer
Erik Peterson
Dave Sullivan
Devin Dwyer
Erik Peterson
Dave Sullivan
Devin Dwyer
Erik Peterson
Barbara Delgleize
Devin Dwyer
Erik Peterson
Dave Sullivan
Irvine Mayor:
Larry Agran
Council:
Beth Krom
Mayor:
Larry Agran
Council:
Beth Krom
Mayor:
Steven S. Choi
Council:
Lynn Schott
Christina L. Shea
Mayor:
Steven S. Choi
Council:
Lynn Schott
Christina L. Shea
Mayor:
Steven S. Choi
Council:
Lynn Schott
Christina L. Shea
Mayor:
Steven S. Choi
Council:
Lynn Schott
Christina L. Shea
Mayor:
Steven S. Choi
La Palma Steven Shanahan Peter Kim
Robert Carruth
Sylvia Smith
Peter Kim Christine Barnes
Laguna
Beach
Verna Rollinger Steve Dicterow Steve Dicterow
Laguna
Hills
Andrew Blount
Raghu P. Mathur
Bill Hunt
Raghu P. Mathur
Andrew Blount
Dore Gilbert
Andrew Blount
Bill Hunt
Laguna
Niguel
Cynthia Conners Laura A. Davies
Jerry McCloskey
Brad Barber
Laura A. Davies
Jerry McCloskey
Laura A. Davies
Jerry McCloskey
Jerry Slusiewicz
Laura A. Davies
Jerry McCloskey
Lake
Forest
Jim Gardner
Dwight Robinson
Adam Nick
Dwight Robinson
Dwight Robinson Dwight Robinson Dwight Robinson Dwight Robinson
Los
Alamitos
Richard Murphy Richard Murphy Dean Grose Dean Grose
Ken Stephens
Dean Grose
Mission
Viejo
Frank Ury
Wendy Bucknum
Ed Sachs
Cathy Schlict
Frank Ury Ed Sachs
Cathy Schlict
Cathy Schlict
Orange Larry Labrado
Robert Douglas
Mayor:
Tita Smith
Council:
Larry Labrado
Robert Douglas
Mayor:
Tita Smith
Council:
Ray Grangoff
Richard Callahan
Mayor:
Jon Dumitru
Council:
Ray Grangoff
Mark A. Murphy
Mayor:
Jon Dumitru
Council:
Ray Grangoff
Mike Alvarez
Ray Grangoff
Mark A. Murphy
Mayor:
Jon Dumitru
Council:
Ray Grangoff
Mayor:
Jon Dumitru
Council:
Ray Grangoff
Placentia Scott Nelson
Connie Underhill
Jeremy Yamaguchi
Council:
Scott Nelson
Treasurer:
Greg Sowards
Rancho
Santa
Margarita
Full Term:
Tony Beall
Carol Gamble
Full Term:
Tony Beall
Carol Gamble
Short Term:
Brad McGirr
Full Term:
Tony Beall
Carol Gamble
Short Term:
Brad McGirr
Full Term:
Tony Beall
Carol Gamble
Short Term:
Brad McGirr
Tony Beall Tony Beall
San
Clemente
Mike Mortenson
Jim Dahl
Mike Mortenson Mike Mortenson Mike Mortenson
Jim Dahl
San Juan
Capistrano
Roy Byrnes
Kim McCarthy
Santa Ana Mayor:
David Benavides
Ward 1:
Vincent Sarmiento
Ward 3:
Eric Alderete
Ward 5:
Roman Reyna
Mayor:
Miguel Pulido
Ward 1:
Vincent Sarmiento
Ward 3:
Eric Alderete
Ward 5:
Roman Reyna
Ward 3:
Charles Hart
Mayor:
George M. Collins
Ward 3:
Charles Hart
Brett Franklin
Ward 5:
Karina Onofre
Ward 3: Charles Hart Ward 3: Charles Hart Ward 5: Karina Onofre
Stanton Carol Warren Carol Warren
Al Ethans
Al Ethans Al Ethans
Tustin Tracy Worley Hagen
John Nielsen
Chuck Puckett
Allan Bernstein
John Nielsen
Chuck Puckett
Allan Bernstein
John Nielsen
Chuck Puckett
Allan Bernstein
John Nielsen
Chuck Puckett
Allan Bernstein
Westminster Mayor:
Penny Loomer
Council:
Sergio Contreras
Mayor:
Penny Loomer
Council:
Sergio Contreras
Diana Carey
Mayor:
Ha Mach
Council:
Helena Rutkowski
Charlie Nguyen Manh Chi
Mayor:
Tri Ta
Council:
Tyler Diep
Charlie Nguyen Manh Chi
Yorba
Linda
Nancy Rikel
Mark Schwing
Gene Hernandez
Nancy Rikel
Mark Schwing
Gene Hernandez
Craig Young

School Districts
Note: The Orange County Register did not endorse in any school board races.

DPOC DFOC OCGOP CRA Lincoln Club Atlas PAC Family Action PAC
Rancho Santiago
Community College
District, Area 3
Nelida Yanez Nelida Yanez
Rancho Santiago
Community College
District, Area 5
Mark McLoughlin Mark McLoughlin
Claudia Alvarez
South Orange
County Community
College District,
Trustee Area 3
Jennifer Long
Anaheim City
School District
Al Jabbar Al Jabbar
John Santoianni John Santoianni
Anaheim Union
High School District
Annemarie Randle-Trejo Hoagy Holguin
Buena Park
School District
Barbara Michel
Capistrano Unified
School District,
Trustee Area 2
Jim Readon Jim Readon Jim Readon Jim Readon Jim Readon
Capistrano Unified
School District,
Trustee Area 3
Steve R. Lang Steve R. Lang Steve R. Lang Steve R. Lang Steve R. Lang
Capistrano Unified
School District,
Trustee Area 5
Bill Perkins Bill Perkins Bill Perkins Bill Perkins
Cypress
School District
Brian Nakamura Alexandria Coronado Alexandria Coronado
Candice Kern
Fountain Valley
School District
Jeanne Galindo Jeanne Galindo
Jim Cunneen
Garden Grove
Unified School District
Bao Nguyen Bao Nguyen
George West
Huntington Beach
Union High
School District
John Briscoe Edward Pinchiff John Briscoe
Irvine Unified
School District
Paul Bokota Paul Bokota Michelle Ollada Alipio
Cyril Yu Cyril Yu
Los Alamitos
Unified School District
Karen Russell
Ocean View
School District
Debbie Cotton Debbie Cotton
Orange Unified
School District,
Trustee Area 3
Alexia L. Deligianni Alexia L. Deligianni
Orange Unified
School District,
Trustee Area 6
Mark Wayland
Santa Ana
Unified School District
Valerie Amezcua Valerie Amezcua Ceci Iglesias Ceci Iglesias Ceci Iglesias
Myriam Tinajero Myriam Tinajero
Tustin Unified
School District
Monique Ketteringham
Elias Teferi
Westminster
School District
Jamison Power Jamison Power
Jo-Ann Purcell Jo-Ann Purcell

Water and Other Special Districts
Note: The Orange County Register did not endorse in any special district races.

DPOC DFOC OCGOP CRA Lincoln Club Atlas PAC Family Action PAC
East Orange County Water District Douglass S. Davert Douglass S. Davert
Bill Vanderwerff
Mesa Consolidated Water District, Division 1 Eric Bever Eric Bever Eric Bever
Mesa Consolidated Water District, Division 2 James R. Fisler James R. Fisler James R. Fisler
Mesa Consolidated Water District, Division 3 Ethan Temianka Ethan Temianka Ethan Temianka Ethan Temianka Ethan Temianka
Municipal Water District of Orange County, Division 3 Larry R. Crandall
Municipal Water District of Orange County, Division 7 Jeffery Thomas
Municipal Water District of Orange County, Division 7 Susan Hinman
Orange County Water District, Division 2 Denis R. Bilodeau
Orange County Water District, Division 3 Roger C. Yoh
South Coast Water District Wayne Rayfield
Costa Mesa Sanitary District Don Harper Don Harper Don Harper Don Harper
Jeff R. Mathews Jeff R. Mathews Jeff R. Mathews Jeff R. Mathews
Midway City Sanitary District Joy L. Neugebauer
Rossmoor Community Services Jeffrey Rips

Ballot Measures

Note: Family Action PAC did not endorse any ballot measures.

DPOC DFOC OC Register OCGOP CRA Lincoln Club Atlas PAC
Proposition 30 Yes No No No No No
Proposition 31 No No Yes No Yes No
Proposition 32 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Proposition 33 No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Proposition 34 Yes No No No No No
Proposition 35 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Proposition 36 Yes Yes No No No
Proposition 37 Yes No No No No No
Proposition 38 No No No No No No
Proposition 39 Yes No No No No No
Proposition 40 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Measure M (Coast Community College District) No No
Measure N (Fountain Valley School District) No No No
Measure O (La Habra City School District) No No
Measure P (Ocean View School District) No No
Measure Q (Rancho Santiago Community College District) No No
Measure S (Tustin Unified School District) No No
Measure T (Brea) No
Measure U (Brea) No
Measure V (Costa Mesa) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Measure W (Fullerton) Yes Yes
Measure X (Fullerton) Yes
Measure Y (Garden Grove) No
Measure Z (Huntington Beach) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Measure AA (Huntington Beach) Yes Yes
Measure BB (Irvine) No
Measure CC (Laguna Beach) No
Measure DD (Los Alamitos) No No No
Measure EE (Newport Beach) No Yes
Measure FF (Orange) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Measure GG (Santa Ana) No
Measure HH (Tustin) Yes Yes

Posted in 65th Assembly District, 72nd Assembly District, Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Anaheim City School District, Anaheim Union High School District, Brea, Buena Park, Buena Park School District, Capistrano Unified School District, Centralia 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, Fullerton Joint Union High School District, Garden Grove, Garden Grove Unified School District, Huntington Beach, Huntington Beach City School District, Huntington Beach Union High School District, Independent Expenditures, Irvine, Irvine Unified School District, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Los Alamitos Unified School District, Mesa Consolidated Water District, Midway City Sanitary District, Mission Viejo, Moulton-Niguel Water District, Municipal Water District of Orange County, North Orange County Community College District, Ocean View School District, Orange, Orange County Water District, Orange Unified School District, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, Rancho Santiago Community College District, Republican Central Committee, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Santa Ana Unified School District, Seal Beach, South Orange County Community College District, Stanton, Tustin, Westminster, Westminster School District, Yorba Linda | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

 
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