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Live from OCGOP Central Committee

Posted by Chris Nguyen on January 21, 2013

The rest of the nation commemorated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today, and Barack Obama was sworn in to a second term as the 44th President of the United States.

Here in Orange County, however, the Republican Central Committee is gathering to swear in its 2013-2014 membership, elect its 2013-2014 officers, and hear from Jim Brulte.

Captain Emily Sanford delivered the invocation and new Central Committee member Peggy Huang led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Central Committee Chairman Scott Baugh called the roll.

State Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff swore in the Central Committee members. Huff joked that it was nice to be in a place where there’s actually multitudes of elected Republicans.

Lucille Kring, Henry Charoen, Robert Hammond, Tony Beall, Mike Munzing, Scott Voigts, Cecilia Iglesias, Anna Bryson, Tom Tait, Jesse Petrilla, Travis Allen, Don Wagner, Greg Sebourn, Bill Brough, Tim Shaw, Fred Whitaker, Todd Spitzer, Jeff Lalloway, Deborah Pauly, Steve Nagel, Mark McCurdy, Matt Harper, Steven Choi, Allan Mansoor, Dean Grose, Mark Schwing, and Craig Young were the elected officials introduced.

Long Pham announced he is running for the 34th Senate District in 2014. Anna Bryson confirmed she has filed paperwork to run for the 73rd Assembly District in 2014. Baron Night announced he was running for Buena Park City Council in 2014.

At 7:32 PM, John Warner nominated Scott Baugh for re-election as Chairman.

At 7:33 PM, Mary Young nominated and Tim Whitacre seconded John Warner for re-election as First Vice Chair.

At 7:34 PM, Bill Brough nominated Mary Young for re-election as Second Vice Chair.

At 7:35 PM, Mary Young nominated and John Warner seconded Peggy Huang for Secretary.

At 7:35 PM, Kermit Marsh nominated and Robert Hammond seconded Mark Bucher for re-election as Treasurer.

At 7:36 PM, Mike Munzing withdrew his candidacy for Assistant Treasurer and nominated TJ Fuentes, with a second from Jon Fleischman.

At 7:36 PM, Pat Shuff nominated and Lucille Kring seconded Norm Dickinson as Sergeant-at-Arms.

At 7:37 PM, the entire slate of executive committee officers was elected unanimously.

Chairman Scott Baugh reappointed Kermit Marsh as Parliamentarian.

At 7:38 PM, Orange County Central Committee Chairman Scott Baugh introduced former Senator Jim Brulte, who is running unopposed for California Republican Party Chairman.

Brulte said he was elected to the San Bernardino County Republican Central Committee at the age of 18. After working in DC, Brulte returned to San Bernardino County as Executive Director of the Central Committee. Brulte had painted the Republican Party headquarters in San Bernardino at the age of 10.

Brulte outlined his top priorities:
1. The CRP is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. He wants to rebuild a statewide donor base of small donors, medium donors, and large donors. The CRP only has three employees currently.
2. The CRP must rebuild and expand the grassroots to protect David Valadao and Gary Miller; capture the seats formerly held by Brian Bilbray, Mary Bono Mack, and Dan Lungren; capture the seat held by Lou Correa; and protect the seats held by Eric Linder, Jeff Gorell, and Mike Morrell.

Deborah Pauly asked Brulte about the Tea Party. Brulte said anyone who supports Republican principles of limited government would be welcome and are the core of the grassroots.

Marcia Gilchrist asked about CRP headquarters. Brulte said the CRP headquarters are in a state of disrepair and need rehabilitation.

Teresa Hernandez asked about Hispanic and Latino outreach and about immigration policy. Brulte said the CRP must reach out to people of every community, Latinos, African-Americans, and every community out there. Brulte said it is not the CRP Chair’s job to pontificate on policy issues, it is the CRP Chair’s job to raise money. He said it is Congress’s responsibility to legislate on immigration. Brulte says he wants to focus on the nuts and bolts; he will be appearing on television, on radio, and in newspapers, far less often than previous CRP chairs, so he can focus on nuts and bolts.

Dean Grose asked about reinvigorating the CRP. Brulte said he gained seats during his tenures as Republican Leader in each house of the Legislature. He said the CRP is severely behind technologically.

Mike Withrow urged people to donate more money. Despite his blue collar profession, Withrow has been able to donate $1000 each year for years.

Outgoing CRP Vice Chair Steve Baric spoke of Brulte’s accomplishments in the Legislature and urged support for Brulte for CRP Chair.

At 7:57 PM, Jon Fleischman moved and Mary Young seconded for the OC GOP to endorse Jim Brulte for CRP Chair. The motion passed by acclimation.

Baugh then outlined the top lessons of 2012.
1. GOTV and grassroots matter. He cited numerous instances of close races and noted that a shift in just 500,000 votes in four states out of well over 100,000,000 votes in fifty states could have made Mitt Romney president.
2. Messengers matter. Baugh noted Orange County’s population is like few other metropolitan areas, with 34% Latino and 18.5% Asian. Republicans has lost 7% registration in the last decade, so Baugh says the GOP must work to fight this trend by better engaging Latinos and Asians.
3. Message and tone matter. Baugh said thoughts and ideas are more important than feelings, but properly framing thoughts and ideas are key. Baugh called the Republican Party the party of hope, opportunity, and prosperity for all. Baugh expressed disapproval of Romney’s 47% remark. Baugh pointed to Ted Cruz’s language of opportunity conservatism. He said the term of “limited government” is meaningless to the unemployed or the parents with children in poor schools but “removing barriers and regulations impeding job creation” and “giving parents choices” are the language of opportunity conservatism. He said conservative ideas must be described in how they can help advance opportunity. Baugh said immigration policies are out of date, unenforced, or unenforceable. He said there is a labor supply in Mexico and a labor demand in the US, and people in Mexico are seeking a better life. He said America allows people to seek a better life and asked “who among us” would not come to America from Mexico to seek a better life. Baugh said neither amnesty nor deportation is the answer; it lies somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, a solution that respects dignity and the human spirit. He said Republican policies must offer opportunity to all.

After a brief recess, the 65th District named Alexandria Coronado as its Executive Committee representative, and the 69th named Charles Hart as its Executive Committee representative.

For the Financial Review Committee, each district named the following members:
55th – Brenda McCune
65th – Baron Night
68th – Fred Whitaker
69th – Charles Hart
72nd – Steve Nagel
73rd – Greg Woodard
74th – John Draper
These seven people comprise the entire Financial Review Committee.

Chairman Scott Baugh presented the Local Elected Official of the Year Award to Irvine Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway for his successful efforts at building a team that toppled the Larry Agran machine in Irvine. Baugh spoke of sending the party’s financial and grassroots resources to Irvine.

Lalloway thanked Mayor Steven Choi, Councilwoman Christina Shea, and Council candidate Lynn Schott. Lalloway spoke of losses at the federal and state levels but the hope that Irvine Council provided, with the police union endorsing Agran’s entire slate and with $1,200,000 spent by Agran’s side including $300,000 spent by Agran personally.

Chairman Scott Baugh presented the Legislator of the Year Award to both Congressman John Campbell and Assemblyman Don Wagner for their efforts in bankrolling much of the OCGOP’s efforts in Irvine.

Wagner thanked Lalloway, Choi, Shea, Baugh, the Central Committee, and all the volunteers who helped in Irvine.

On Campbell’s behalf, Lou Penrose spoke of Campbell’s great delight at the Irvine results and the importance of team efforts. Noting his own Italian heritage, Penrose spoke of doing this as a family effort.

Chairman Scott Baugh announced that Assemblyman Don Wagner was renting a currently-vacant portion of the OC GOP Headquarters in Tustin for his campaign office.

Rhonda Rohrabacher and Assemblyman Don Wagner presented the Anna Woods Memorial HQ Volunteer of the Year Award to Naz Namazi for her efforts at the OCGOP HQ and in Huntington Beach. Namazi also received awards from the offices of Senator Mimi Walters and Supervisor Pat Bates.

Captain Emily Sanford, Zonya Townsend, and Assemblyman Don Wagner presented the Captain Emily F. Sanford, USN (Ret.) Volunteer of the Year Award to Chalone and Harold Warman of San Clemente. The Warmans called themselves “rare Republican teachers,” as Chalone Warman was a teacher at San Clemente High School and Harold Warman taught at San Diego State University.

Irvine Mayor Steven Choi spoke to the Central Committee. He quipped, “It took a village to elect a Republican Mayor of Irvine.” Choi thanked Irvine Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Lalloway, Irvine Councilwoman Christina Shea, Congressman John Campbell, Assemblyman Don Wagner, former Supervisor Bill Campbell, and the volunteers who made his victory possible. Choi also reported Republicans now have a registration advantage over Democrats among Orange County’s Korean-Americans.

At 9:08 PM, the Central Committee adjourned.

Posted in Republican Central Committee | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

OCEA Donates To Travis Allen

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on November 2, 2012

A reader sent me a note that Travis Allen had received $2,000 from the Orange County Employees Association. I told them to provide me with proof and they sent me the document that you see right below this:

I am not surprised to see Sharon Quirk-Silva on the form but Travis Allen actually caught me a bit off guard. This is a pretty bold move by OCEA to try to curry favor with a Republican and it will be interesting to hear what the Edgar camp has to say about this in the days leading up to the election.

Polling in this race that I pointed to in a previous post showed that Allen had a slight lead a week after absentee ballots arrived. The problem with that poll is the following result:

Travis Allen- 28.0%
Troy Edgar- 22.1%

This means that almost 50% of people are undecided which will make the mail that has arrived in recent weeks very important. I would also expect to see some hard-hitting roll-calls going out around town about the OCEA money from the Edgar campaign.

Fasten your seat belts for what should be some great political theatre over the next 4 days leading up to the election.

Posted in 72nd Assembly District | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Atlas PAC Endorsed Candidates Make Their Final Push

Posted by Greg Woodard on October 30, 2012

The Atlas PAC, a conservative group that believes in the ideals of limited government, free market enterprise, low taxation, and individual liberty, held a forum on October 24 for its endorsed candidates.  A veritable who’s who of Orange County state legislators arrived, with 5 current or prospective members of the Assembly and State Senator Mimi Walters making a brief appearance.  Director Ben Pugh hosted the event, and he urged those in attendance to support the endorsed candidates, both financially and by walking or otherwise getting involved.  Each candidate was given a chance to speak and, with less than two weeks before the election, the following made their pitch:

State Assembly

  • Allan Mansoor – Allan said that the June primary was tough and that because of the support of Atlas PAC and others, he is likely to win in November.  He highlighted the need to fight for pension reform, particularly with the passage of Proposition 32, the fight for the 3Ms in Costa Mesa (Steve Mensinger, Gary Monahan, and Colin McCarthy), the need to pass the charter in Costa Mesa (Yes on V), the pension fight in Huntington Beach, and the need for conservatives to take control of the City Council in Irvine.
  • Chris Norby – Chris said that there was one seat in Orange County that could flip from Republican to Democrat – his.  He noted that Republicans only hold a 1% registered voter edge in his district, and that he has been outspent 3-1 in the last few weeks, with most of the money for his challenger coming from unions.  He said there were 5,000 bills proposed in the last legislative session, and 1,000 of those became laws, which he believes is far too many.  He wants at least 1,000 bad laws to be repealed and he promised to fight for common sense and personal responsibility if re-elected.
  • Eric Linder – Eric is running in the Inland Empire, but has many long-lasting relationships in Orange County and he said he would not be in position to win his seat if not for Atlas PAC.  Eric thanked many in the room for supporting him in the tough June primary.  Eric touted his experience as a business owner and said he hopes to serve with those elected officials who were present that night.
  • Don Wagner – Don noted that Republicans currently have only a one seat cushion in the Assembly that is preventing the Democrats from imposing unlimited taxes on California residents.  Also, one Republican member recently recanted her no taxes pledge.  Despite this, he said it will get better – he expects the party to take back one seat recently lost, and that Eric Linder needs to take Jeff Miller’s old seat.  He also said that there are 3-4 real possible pickups in the Assembly and that conservatives need to focus their time and resources on these seats in the next couple of weeks.
  • Travis Allen- Travis is running in the 72nd District against another Republican, Troy Edgar (this is as a result of Prop. 14, passed in 2010).  Travis said that he is a life-long Republican who has been an investment advisor for 16 years.  He believes that his race is about no new taxes – and he signed the no new taxes pledge, but his opponent has not.  He said that Edgar has raised taxes as a City Council member 12 times and he was a registered Democrat until 2006.  Travis thinks we have too many bench warmers in the Sacramento with no core principles who do nothing.  He believes he has the ability, desire, and educational background to make a difference.  He will not raise taxes and he will make the voters proud.

Irvine City Council

  • Steven Choi – Steven said this is the year that Democrat Larry Agran is going to be beat, and the Republicans will win 3 seats between his race, and the two other Republican council candidates – Christina Shea and Lynn Schott.  Steven said the Atlas PAC endorsement helps him a lot, and that the voters he is meeting say that they have or will vote for him.
  • Lynn Schott – Lynn previously ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2010 and she has spent the last two years building up name recognition in the city.  She emphasized kitchen table issues for the city – Irvine was ground-zero for the subprime collapse and many residents lost their jobs and homes (she noted that there are 100 homeless students in the city).  She said the current council majority is tone-deaf to the residents’ struggle to pay for gas, school supplies, and groceries.  She gave the example of the majority giving an across-the-board 6% raise to city employees, at a cost of $2.5 million.  She is a 27-year resident of the city and Larry Agran has been in power during that entire time.  Lynn wants to give Agran a retirement party on November 6.

Aliso Viejo City Council

  • Mike Munzing – Mike said running has been an educational experience.  His city is 7.5 square miles and he said that no one has run and won against the original council members, but he plans on being the first.  Mike said he is loud, visible, and everywhere (those of us who know Mike will attest to that).  Mike said he has hit the city once, but he wants to hit it again.  So, on the Saturday before the election, Mike is trying to get 30 volunteers to walk every district.  He also has 44,000 mail pieces going out to the residents.

Anaheim City Council

  • Brian Chuchua – Brian said the city’s educational system needs help.  He believes that Curt Pringle runs the city with two other council members (who he called the “Giveaway 3”).  He noted that the council gave away $158 million in bed taxes, which he said is 43% of the General Fund.  He also said that the city recently approved a $368 million streetcar system for 10 streetcars when buses would have cost only $58 million.  He believes the system is for Disney employees.  He also mentioned a $170 million train station that is to be built that is not adequate for high-speed rail (it will cost another $120 million for that).  He is running because he sees what is wrong with the city and he wants to correct it.  He said that he is self-funded and he needs help.

Costa Mesa City Council

  • Colin McCarthy – Colin painted a picture of the rancorous campaign, and expressed outrage over the tactics of his opponents’ supporters.  He described a recent video that was taken of a man picking up campaign signs supporting him, Steve Mensinger, Gary Monahan, and Measure V (charter) and ripping them up.  Colin identified the man as a highly paid city employee (nearly $87,000 in annual compensation and benefits).  He said he recently attended a public forum where he was booed and hissed by members of the public.  A member of the Planning Commission, Colin said he sees how the “sausage is made” and how dysfunctional government is.  Colin has kids and he is interested in making the city a better place for them.

Costa Mesa Sanitation District

  • Jeff Mathews – Jeff believes Republicans will have big wins this year.  He wants to see the power of the unions cut.  He has looked at where the problems in his city are, and he found them in small districts like the sanitation district.  He wants to get real changes made.  Jeff mentioned that his opponents have served on the district for over 20 years, they are complacent, and he does not believe that politicians should use the same position in government as a career choice.  He said the district has a $5 million surplus, due in part to higher rates, and he wants to look into all of the small-scale issues that, cumulatively, have a large impact on the city’s residents.
  • Don Harper – Don said he was inspired by the 3Ms in Costa Mesa and their efforts to change the current environment.  He is a businessman who founded a very successful business and he thinks he can use that experience to help change the government from the bottom up.

Lake Forest City Council

  • Dwight Robinson – Dwight said the Orange County Register (which has endorsed him), published a quote from him – “If you can find it in the phone book, government shouldn’t do it.”  He believes the private sector can do things much better than government can.  Dwight noted that the current council members do not work in business, but he does.  He runs several private businesses, his largest being an agricultural commodities exporting business, and he employs over 100 people.  Dwight said that government does not create jobs, the private sector does.  He noted his endorsement by the Orange County Republican Party and said that he wants to be the business owner on the City Council.
  • Adam Nick – Adam said he has been an accountant and auditor for over 20 years.  He owns a successful Lake Forest business and he has lived in the city for 30+ years.  Adam believes his time and experience qualifies him for council service.  Adam believes in small government, less regulation, and lower taxes.  He said the United States Constitution sets America apart from the rest of the world in that it states that the government derives its power from the people, not the other way around; the government works for us.  Adam believes he can make a difference and do good things for the city.

Mission Viejo City Council

  • Ed Sachs – Ed said that he has been in business since he was 8 years old, concluding his career with 30-plus years at Pioneer Electronics where he was President of the United States Mobile Electronics division for 5 years.  During his time at Pioneer, he presided over a division with a $500 million budget with $20+ million in profits.  Ed said he recently challenged the city’s mayor over the city’s reserves (which have been reduced significantly over the past 5+ years) and did not receive a good answer in return.  Ed also mentioned that the council has debating a dog park for the past 10 years and he wants to get in and make the tough decisions without arguing for over a decade.
  • Cathy Schlicht – Larry Gilbert spoke on behalf of Cathy.  He said that Cathy has opposed the city’s plans for a dog park because the first phase alone is estimated to cost $850,000.  He also mentioned that Cathy opposes the Kaleidoscope property owner’s plan to put up large electronic billboards to advertise out-of-town businesses.  Larry said if Ed and Cathy are not elected. the billboards will be approved.

Orange City Council

  • Jon Dumitru – Jon said his race is unique because he is running against a nice person, but she is a liberal Democrat.  He said that the union has spent $40,000 against him and the police union has spent $67,000.  Jon helped end firefighter overtime issues that cost the city over $2 million last year.  He also noted that the city just implemented a huge pension roll back, and he led the effort to eliminate compensation for City Council members.  Jon also said that, even though the city recently had a $23 million deficit that it had to close with reserves, his opponent wanted to give $1 million from the city’s catastrophic reserves to give city employees a bonus to deal with a city employee’s death – in Costa Mesa.

Santa Ana City Council

  • George Collins – George is running for Mayor of Santa Ana.  He said that the City Manager, who also serves as the Chief of Police, makes $330,000 per year.  He said that the city has no parks.  George got into politics because of city corruption.  He believes that the city defers things too often, which leads to debt.  He also thinks that the council is a conduit for liberals to move on to higher positions like the Board of Supervisors and state Assembly.  George wants to change the culture and make a difference.  George said he needs feet to walk and help him get elected.

Santa Ana Unified School District

  • Cecilia Iglesias – Cecilia said that 70% of Santa Ana are Latinos, and most of them have conservative values.  She urged Latinos to vote their values and to contribute to society.  Cecilia wants to make changes by starting locally and moving to the state and national level.  She ran against Loretta Sanchez two years ago as an independent and now wants to make a difference through her conservative values.  Cecilia is the founder of a non-profit for deaf kids and she wants educational opportunities for all.

Posted in Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Orange, Orange County, Santa Ana, Santa Ana Unified School District | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

New Poll Shows Allen Leading Edgar

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on October 17, 2012

Got an e-mail from Probolsky research yesterday that showed Travis Allen leading Troy Edgar by a slim margin in the hotly contested 72nd Assembly District race. It is important to note that a vast majority ov voters are undecided but this is clearly promising news for Travis Allen.

Here are the poll results:

On Saturday, October 13, 2012 Probolsky Research conducted a telephone survey of likely voters in California Assembly District 72.

TRAVIS ALLEN LEADS TROY EDGAR

Allen enjoys a lead over Edgar (28.0% to 22.1%) in the race for the 72

nd Assembly District. However, nearly half of voters remain undecided:

Question:

“An election for California State Assembly District 72 will be held in November. If you were voting today for State Assembly, for whom would you vote? Pick one. If you have already voted, please let me know who you chose. Travis Allen, Prefers Republican Party, Small Business Owner OR Troy Edgar, Prefers Republican Party, Businessman/Mayor.”

A total of 307 surveys were collected. A survey of this size yields a margin of error of +/- 5.7% with a 95% degree of confidence. Interviews were conducted with voters on both landline and cell phones and were conducted in English, Spanish and Vietnamese languages.

The turnout model consisted of those voters who voted at least 1 of 11/10 or 6/12, OR voted in at least 2 of 2/08, 6/08, 11/08, 5/09 or 6/10, with at least 1 being 11-08 PLUS those who registered to vote after 6/12.

This represents 62.2% of voters and 72.3% of households.

Probolsky Research LLC specializes in opinion research on behalf of business, government, political, special interest and media clients.

Posted in 72nd Assembly District | Tagged: , , | 5 Comments »

2012 General Election Predictions: 72nd Assembly District

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on September 19, 2012

THis race is the one I am predicting will be the closest and most heated in Orange County. Surprisingly 2 Republicans advanced from the June election to make this race as interesting as it is. The district is somewhat comparable to a more coastal version of Allan Mansoor’s old assembly district when it was AD 68:

Thank you to Meridian Pacific for the use of the map.

Party affiliation is meaningless in this race because they are both Republicans but it will be interesting to see which candidate targets the 31.6% of registered Democrats first. It is also interesting to note that Huntington Beach is the largest part of the district which is where Allen is from. Los Alamitos is the smallest city on the district which is where Edgar is from.

The results in June are inconclusive because it was close enough to where anybody could end up a winner in November. Here are the June results:

Member of the State Assembly; District 72

  • Troy Edgar, Republican ………. 18,060 votes 28.0%
  • Travis Allen, Republican ………. 12,851 votes 19.9%
  • Joe Dovinh, Democratic ………. 12,432 votes 19.3%
  • Long Pham, Republican ………. 12,409 votes 19.2%
  • Albert Ayala, Democratic ………. 8,816 votes 13.7%

It is pretty amazing to see who close Allen, Dovinh, and Pham were to that 2nd place slot. Looking it the results it appears that Edgar has an advantage going into november which would mean that Travis Allen needs to raise his favorability amongst voters before voting in November.

Fundraising is the kicker for me, as Edgar has just under $100,000 in his account after the primary and Allen has just over $10,000 in his account. This can change with campaigning which will mean that this race will be extremely close. My prediction is based on the campaign as of right now and I reserve the right to change my opinion on this one:

Looking at all the factors at play in this district I believe that the winner will be:

Troy Edgar

Posted in 72nd Assembly District | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Menage a Trois Alert: “Taxin” Troy Edgar, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein

Posted by OC Insider on September 5, 2012

Troy Edgar’s horrendous history of supporting taxes and regulations has been covered pretty well by this and other blogs.  Yet, I was still surprised to learn that in April of 2008, as a member of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Regional Council, Edgar voted to support S.1499, authored by Senator Boxer and co-authored by Senator Feinstein.

I have to wonder how a bill authored by Boxer and Feinstein did not raise any flags for Edgar. Either he knew the content of the bill and supported it.  Or, he is incompetent and just showed up to receive his per diem and voted yes on every item. Either or, here is what S.1499 does and why Troy Edgar should have stood up and opposed it.

The bill would have given the EPA additional regulatory powers and instructed it to promulgate regulations requiring vessels which use U.S ports to reduce fuel sulfur content from 27,000 to 1,000 parts per million, by 2012.  Why should have Troy Edgar opposed this legislation?

First, this legislation would have been extremely costly and had a devastating impact on the national economy.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of complying with the low-sulfur regulations would cost $500 million in the first year and the cost would increase in subsequent years.  Additionally, the regulations would have raised the cost of transporting goods and impacted U.S. international competitiveness.  The emission standards would have required new and existing vessels to pay for expensive engine upgrades and technology upgrades.  Furthermore, the Engine Manufacturers Association opposed the legislation because it is doubtful that the appropriate technology could have been adopted in time.

Second, the legislation was not necessary in most of the country. According to the Senate Committee Report for S.1499, “most American ports do not have air quality issues”.  Some California ports do have a continued nitrogen oxide and particulate matter problem, but that is a regional issue.  This legislation would have regulated all American ports and unfairly burden them regardless of air quality.

It is not surprising that S.1499 did not make it very far in Congress.  The bill did not even make it out of the liberal controlled Senate.  However, the bill reveled more about Troy Edgar’s values.  If Troy Edgar is willing to support S.1499, I doubt there is a tax or regulation he will not support.

Posted in 72nd Assembly District, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Orange County, Seal Beach, State Assembly, Surfside Colony Community Services District, Westminster | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Van Tran Joins Travis Allen Campaign as Senior Advisor

Posted by OC Insider on August 14, 2012

Former Assemblyman Brings Unequaled Expertise as Legislator, Councilman, and Vietnamese-American Political Leader

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA – Today, the Travis Allen for Assembly campaign announced that former Assemblyman Van Tran will join the campaign’s leadership team as a Senior Advisor. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in 72nd Assembly District | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Taxin’ Troy Edgar Caught Supporting another Tax

Posted by OC Insider on August 7, 2012

Troy Edgar got dubbed “Taxin’ Troy” because of his record of raising taxes and fees on his City Council. But the more we dig, the more we find that his record of tax and fee increases stretches well beyond just the City Council. Like so many people in local office, Troy Edgar loves serving in regional government. He’s served on most every Board, receiving most every stipend along the way, in Orange County. And he’s raised taxes and fees on most of them.

For those new to the party, here is a quick refresher on Troy Edgar’s taxin’ past.

1.      Troy Edgar rejected the No New Tax Pledge.

2.      Troy Edgar has voted for over a dozen new taxes and fees.

3.      He is pushing for a massive utility tax increase in Los Alamitos. See Here and Here  (The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association called it a “massive tax increase”, when Vallejo tried to do the same thing.)

Now new evidence shows Troy Edgar supporting even more tax expansions.  In this case, Troy Edgar’s membership on the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) is the culprit.

From looking at the meeting minutes, Edgar mostly shows up, votes yes on everything, collects his per diem, and calls it a day.

And by voting yes on everything, I mean everything. In May of 2010 for example, Edgar decided it was a great idea to support a resolution advocating for passage of AB 2554 (Brownley 2010).  What is AB 2554 about?

AB 2554 conferred additional fee raising authority upon the LA Flood Control District.  Basically, it made it much easier for the district to raise fees on tax paying homeowners within its boundaries.

Who opposed this massive tax increase?

As you would expect, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA) was opposed to the bill. In its opposition letter HJTA states,“Considering that Los Angeles County has a $2.4 billion General Fund budget and record $1 trillion on IRS property tax roll, there is plenty of money to go around.  We simply do not see the need to authorize a new method to exact more money from the California taxpayer.”

In addition to HJTA, every Republican member of the legislature voted against it

Voting NO from the Orange County delegation:

Senate: Harman, Wyland, Correa (Yes, even OC Democratic Senator Lou Correa opposed the bill (Huff and Walters, ABS)

Assembly: DeVore, Hagman, Harkey, Miller, Norby, Silva, Tran

Again, Troy Edgar stands alone in supporting yet another massive tax expansion. With the Republicans’ Legislative Caucuses teetering on falling beneath the 2/3 threshold, sending Troy Edgar to Sacramento is a risk we just can’t afford. He’s just lived up to his name of “Taxin’ Troy” too many times.

Posted in 72nd Assembly District, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Midway City Sanitary District, Rossmoor, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach Sanitary District, Surfside Colony Community Services District, Uncategorized, Westminster | Tagged: , , , | 5 Comments »

Travis Allen: Too Squishy for the Assembly

Posted by OC Insider on July 23, 2012

Travis Allen’s contributions to Democrats are well-documented, as reported by Jon Fleischman at the Flash Report, Roxana Kopetman at the OC Register, and even Art Pedroza at OC Politics Blog.

Allen’s explanation to Kopetman is that he has “some friends on the other side of the aisle and a family member on the other side of the aisle” who twisted his arm into going to fundraisers for Democrats.  The family member he references is his uncle, Frank Barbaro, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County.  Barbaro told the OC Register’s Frank Mickadeit that he convinced Allen to make donations to Barbara Boxer and Jerry Brown.

The question Republicans voters should be asking is, “If Travis Allen’s arm can be twisted to donate money to liberal Democrats, can his arm be twisted to vote for tax increases, higher spending, more business regulations, anti-gun laws, pro-illegal immigration policies, and high-speed rail?”

If his friends and uncle tell him to vote for liberal policies, will he fold like he has before?

In case anyone forgot, here’s the list of Allen’s donations to Democrats:

If Travis Allen can be persuaded to give thousands of his own dollars to Democrats, will it be that hard for him to give away taxpayer dollars to liberal spending programs?

Posted in 72nd Assembly District | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

AD-69: Anaheim Saved Republican Moreno, Pushed Democrat Perez into Third, Averting Dem vs. Dem Slugfest in November

Posted by Chris Nguyen on June 28, 2012

Last week, I blogged two city-by-city breakdowns of the results in two Assembly races.

First up was AD-72, which showed Mayor Troy Edgar (R-Los Alamitos) and Businessman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) the top two in four cities, OC Board of Education Member Long Pham (R-Fountain Valley) and Planning Commissioner Joe Dovinh (D-Garden Grove) the top two in two cities, and Pham and Edgar the top two in Garden Grove.

Next up was AD-74, which showed Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) and Businessman Robert Rush (D-Newport Beach) alternating as first and second place in each city in the district, with the sole exception being Newport Beach, where Councilwoman Leslie Daigle (R-Newport Beach) slipped in ahead of Rush but behind Mansoor.

Up today is the final OC Assembly race that featured more than two candidates: AD-69.  First, let’s recall the districtwide numbers:

Orange County Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly (D) 10,939 39.2%
Eligibility Technician Jose “Joe” Moreno (R) 5,980 21.4%
Union Leader Julio Perez (D) 5,738 20.6%
Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez (D) 4,651 16.7%
Businessman Francisco “Paco” Barragan (D) 605 2.2%

So let’s take a look at how the voting broke down in the four cities of AD-69: Santa Ana, Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Orange.

(Thanks to Matt Rexroad and Chandra Sharma at Meridian Pacific for the map, which I’ve cropped here and to which I have added graphics.  Note that the population numbers on the map apply to each whole city, not just the portion of the city in AD-69.  The bulk of Santa Ana and a sliver of Garden Grove are in AD-69 while a sliver of Santa Ana and the bulk of Garden Grove are in AD-72.  A sliver of Orange is in AD-69 but the bulk of it is in AD-68.  Anaheim is divided into nearly even thirds, with the western 1/3 in AD-65, the central 1/3 in AD-69, and the eastern 1/3 in AD-68.)

Daly was consistently first in each city while Barragan was consistently fifth.  Moreno, Perez, and Martinez swapped around for the second, third, and fourth place positions.  The humongous Daly head is indicative of his first place finish in all four cities; taking his head out of the individual cities allows us to more closely examine second and third place, which actually differed in the four cities.  In each individual city, the candidate with the larger head came in second while the candidate with the smaller head came in third:

  • Moreno came in second with Perez third in Anaheim and Garden Grove.
  • Perez came in second with Martinez third in Santa Ana.
  • Moreno came in second with Martinez third in Orange.

Here’s their vote totals broken down visually by city:

Since Daly came in first by such a large margin (indeed, Daly’s Santa Ana total nearly bested everyone else’s districtwide total) and Barragan fell to fifth by such a large margin (Daly’s Garden Grove total outpaced Barragan’s districtwide total), let’s take a closer look with just Moreno, Perez, and Martinez, who were closer together in the results:

It’s clear that without Anaheim, Perez would have made it into the top two and on to November, rather than Moreno.  Moreno’s final vote total was 5,980 while Perez’s was 5,738.  Without Anaheim, Moreno would have had 4,105 while Perez would have had 4,308. (Anaheim gave Moreno 1,875 votes and Perez 1,430 votes, a 445-vote margin).  Perez lost districtwide to Moreno by 242 votes; without Anaheim, Moreno would have lost to Perez by 203 votes.

Anaheim was a crucial stronghold for Moreno, as he came in fourth in Santa Ana but second in Anaheim.

However, with so few cities in AD-69, and Santa Ana such a strong majority of that district (59% of registered voters in AD-69 live in Santa Ana, and 60% of ballots cast in AD-69 were from Santa Ana), it would be more useful to break this result down into regions smaller than cities.  Luckily for this purpose, the City of Santa Ana has Council wards.

Here, the larger head came in first while the smaller head came in second:

  • Daly came in first with Moreno second in Wards 3 and 6.
  • Perez came in first with Daly second in Wards 1 and 4.
  • Perez came in first with Martinez second in Wards 2 and 5 (Martinez represents Ward 2 on the Santa Ana City Council, by the way).

Despite the fact that Perez won four wards and Daly only won two, Daly actually won Santa Ana by a 10% margin.  How?  Well, 48% of registered voters in Santa Ana live in the two wards that Daly won: Wards 3 and 6.  49% of Santa Anans who voted in the AD-69 race live in Wards 3 and 6, so those two wards did not have disproportionate voter turnout – they just have a disproportionate share of the voters to begin with.  A picture is worth a thousand words, so…

The overwhelming majority of Daly and Moreno’s votes in Santa Ana came from Wards 3 and 6, with 59% of Daly’s Santa Ana votes and 66% of Moreno’s Santa Ana votes coming from those two wards.  By contrast, 29% of Perez’s Santa Ana votes and 38% of Martinez’s Santa Ana votes came from those two wards.  Here’s each candidate’s vote totals broken down visually by ward:

Once again, due to Daly’s landslide first-place finish and Barragan’s distant fifth-place finish, let’s take a closer look with just Moreno, Perez, and Martinez, who were closer together in the results:

Perez’s vote totals were fairly evenly spread out across the wards, Martinez got a bump from Ward 3, but Moreno’s performance was very strong in Wards 3 and 6 and disastrous in Wards 2, 4, and 5.

Had Perez done a stronger push in Anaheim or a three-prong strategy in Anaheim, Santa Ana’s Ward 3, and Santa Ana’s Ward 6, there’d be a Democrat vs. Democrat intraparty battle in AD-69 in November between business-backed Tom Daly and union-backed Julio Perez.

Posted in 69th Assembly District | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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