With each passing day it sure looks like Paul Lucas was correct when he said that Janet Nguyen is the “new Van Tran”. Lucas was roundly criticized and ostracized by those within his own party for his opposition to Janet but it looks like he could not have been more right on with that assessment. Will we ever see apologies from the Chris Prevatt’s or Phil Bacerra’s of the world for this? I doubt it.
Supervisor John Moorlach’s brutally honest assessment of Janet paints an ugly picture of a petty, vindictive, self-centered and unqualified politician. For the first time someone other than the Orange Juice or the OC Weekly has taken Janet to task, shockingly it was one of her colleagues. One has to believe that Moorlach’s criticism just scratches the surface and just may open the flood gates of criticism that Janet has worked so hard to earn.
I have followed local politics for well over 25 years and I have never seen an elected official unload on a colleague like Moorlach did on Janet. Not even during the tumultuous terms of Ted Moreno or Nativo Lopez did they or their colleagues unload on each other as Moorlach did on Janet. This leads me to believe that the situation is far worse than we know.
While I have never been a big supporter of Supervisor Moorlach’s politics I have always believed that he has carried himself with dignity and integrity. The fact that someone of his character and stature would expose Janet like this speaks volumes. No longer can the “Jannies” say that it is just folks like Lucas, Art Pedroza and Sean Mill criticizing their beloved Janet. How many other people have wanted to say what Moorlach did but were afraid of the repercussions from a vindictive Janet?
Moorlach summed Janet up best when he said this, “Janet…is the antithesis of servant leadership”. Janet is, and always has been, about serving Janet. She pushed for public funds to be wasted on a pedestrian bridge that was only being built to benefit her big dollar donor Frank Jao. She voted against restaurant ratings to help out hubby Tom Bonikowski-Nguyen and Chief of Staff Andrew Do and other campaign donors that owned restaurants. She supported Sandra Hutchens in exchange for financial backing from a group of wealthy south county Republican women. The list goes on and on.
When Moorlach said that she “demand(s) the hiring of her friends” it sounds as if he was describing Van Tran to a tee. Lets not forget that Janet once looked to Van as a mentor and clearly took some of his behavior with her when they split up. Sadly for Janet she did not take away Van’s more positive attributes like being articulate and coming off as being educated.
As the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors she will become the face of Orange County government. Her poor grammar and butchery of the English language will paint our county in a negative light. I understand that English is not her native language but she has been here more than 28 years and besides my friends in the Vietnamese community tell me that she is equally inept at speaking Vietnamese.
I think the fact that the Board moved up her election as Chair in order to prepare speaks to this as well. Moorlach was correct when he stated, “If you need three extra weeks, you probably need three extra months.” With this action alone the Board is admitting that she is unqualified for the position. Can we really afford to have someone who is unqualified to lead at the helm of the ship?
John Moorlach’s statement about Janet gave us all a peek behind the curtain and reaffirmed what many of us have long know about Janet. Sadly now the people of Orange County will have to be exposed to her pettiness and ineptness and as Moorlach so astutely pointed out, “We need someone who wants to serve, not someone who demands to be served.”
May God help us all.
The people that we elect! Perhaps we deserve the mess they produce and leave behind them.
Well put. Judging from the comments on this story here and on Red County in the past day, a lot of folks have been harboring more than a few negatives and resentments on Nguyen. I’ve certainly turned away from her after being occasionally impressed with her work on the Garden Grove City Council, but I lost that affection when she supported her carpetbagging Chief of Staff for a council seat. Once she squeaked into the Supervisorial position, it was also clear that she had no clue as far as a strategy to actually supervise her district, and not much interest in doing it as the office was just a stepping stone to grander political prizes. If she’d have been smart about it, she would have hired some pros, but instead she chose sycophants, a real collection of lapdogs and losers. I too have hear that her Vietnamese language skills stink, but her name identification might have been enough to propel her upwards — that is unless she ran as Janet Bonikowski which might get her elected as an Alderwoman in Chicago — it certainly would be contrary to her motives here. Janet’s clearly underqualified for the office she holds, but that’s never been a problem in California, has it?
I’ve also found her incurious as to problems and opportunities in her District. The word “proactive” is in neither her English or Vietnamese dictionaries.
For what it’s worth, Moorlach’s a civil man and dedicated Christian, holds to those values and has never been nasty or overtly critical of others (he’s got that skill that Janet doesn’t), so your point’s well taken that this isn’t the sort of criticism that one would ordinarily expect from him. It is devastating and a real turd in Janet’s punchbowl. And it will continue to echo around her District as more folks come out with anecdotes and comments about her style and general ineffectiveness. As far as her tenure as Board Chair, just as in Los Angeles, it doesn’t matter much. The position is mostly ceremonial and never gets any real media time, so her mumbling through an Agenda might not hurt her much, but the title is also then fairly useless on a resume. She won’t be any more or less effective than Bill Campbell was — and hopefully she joins him at term’s end in retirement. And then she could sling sandwiches in Stanton.
#2,
You don’t want to eat those sandwiches in Stanton. Go to http://leessandwichesstanton.com/ for more info…
“For the first time someone other than the Orange Juice or the OC Weekly has taken Janet to task”
Oh please. Really! OJ was the “Janet Nguyen Can Do No Wrong” blog until little more than a year ago, attacking Total Buzz and especially Red County for being so critical of Janet.
#4,
I have never been a cheerleader for Janet whether it be here or the Liberal OC. If you can show where I took the opinion that “Janet Nguyen Can Do No Wrong” I will stand corrected. Good luck finding that by the way.
#4,
It is true that I gave her the benefit of the doubt. She eventually turned on me, just as she eventually turns on everyone.
Don’t forget. She used to be very close to Van Tran. They even shared a honeymoon – in Mexico of all places. It was Tran who taught her how to accrue power by getting your friends jobs.
And don’t forget that I personally outed Janet when she voted against the proposed letter grades for restaurants. I broke the story that her husband and her chief of staff owned a restaurant, Lee’s Sandwiches, that has received over forty Orange County health department violations. And then we also broke the story that Janet had taken thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from other restaurants with awful records of health violations.
No other blog in town has taken Janet to the woodshed the way we have – and now Moorlach has finished her off once and for all. She got what she had coming to her!
Art,
It would be wise not to believe that “Moorlach has finished her off once and for all”. Janet is sneaky and willing to do anything to stay in power. She is like a cockroach, very hard to kill.
The only thing that will finish her off is due dilligence, hard work and a viable opponent. Hopefully the “Jannies” that have infiltrated the DPOC will be rooted out with the exit of Melahat and the party will stand behind a solid candidate rather than trying to undermine them as Becerra, Prevatt and company did last time.
Sean, I never said you were a cheerleader for Janet.
What YOU said was only OJ and OC Weekly have taken Janet to task, and that’s absolutely not true, and I corrected you.
“It is true that I gave her the benefit of the doubt.”
Oh please, Art! You didn’t just “give her the benefit of the doubt.” You were a huge cheerleader for Janet who ripped anyone who criticized her! It’s all here on your blog, so stop pretending like you weren’t. That only changed when she didn’t endorse you for Santa Ana Council.
I’m glad you and Sean have posted about this, but for the sake of your own credibility, please stop exaggerating how “no other blog has taken Janet to the woodshed the way we have.” That’s just not true.
#9,
Believe what you want. The truth is that we have been after Nguyen for some time. And in that effort we have hit the AP wire at times, particularly with our coverage of her lame restaurant ratings vote.
Why is it you are not going after the Liberal OC? They still have not told their readers that Janet is the co-chair of the Republican carpetbagger Sue Perez’ campaign against Correa…
Oh please,
I have routinely taken her to task here and elsewhere.
Sean, yes you have. I never said you haven’t. Why you are trying to argue a point I’m not making?
Art, I just wish you’d own up to how you used to be such a Janet suck-up. I don’t have to “believe what I want” cuz it’s here on your blog!
#12,
I have written about this before. Why revisit it now? And why are you giving the Liberal OC a free pass?
You can believe whatever you want. We really don’t care. Just look at the Janet ads on our sidebar and follow the links.
I once did consider her a friend. She disabused me of that notion when she endorsed Carlos Bustamante for the Santa Ana City Council. No person in their right mind should do that. I asked her to stay out of that race as I was running against him. A week later she endorsed him anyway. That should tell you a lot about her character.
She also endorsed Dave Shawver against Moorlach. She has a habit of making idiotic endorsements.
Janet has now dug herself a deep hole. We won’t let her escape it.
Whatever, Art. It’d be nice for a change to see you own up to your past as an apologist for Janet, instead of saying “believe what you want” as if we’re all imagining it.
I’m not giving LiberalOC a free pass. But they aren’t saying their are Janet’s biggest critics. You are.
#14,
For the past year we have indeed been Janet’s biggest critics. That simply is not debatable. Both Red County and the Liberal OC hack for her.
Prior to last November I was friendly with Janet and did indeed give her the benefit of the doubt.
Can I be any more clear with you?
We plan to keep the pressure on her going forward. We will do all we can to assure that she serves only one term as a Supervisor.
Dear Mr Oh Please, AKA Claudio Gallegos
can you cite a single entry or blog on Lib OC or red county that takes janet to task, or criticizes her in the slightest? If anything the lack of criticism of janet by Lib OC or red county makes them shills for janet.
I would like very much to hear about her hiring friends and getting friends hired at other departments. Art I suggest you put a word into Moorlachs and Norbys offices to dig deeper into this one. I would also suggest a countdown on the OJ till we find out who was hired and at what departments?
I know Ryan gene got a job via her. As well as her sister. How about other people and other departments? Can we interview department heads? I know this is a clear cut violation of county human resources policy to engage in nepotism to a certain extent. I think we can get her to step down or be recalled over this one item.
Come on you guys – let’s focus on the reported character flaws of anet Nugyen and Moorlach’s depictire of her vs. the trivia of who was first to figure this thing out, who was duped the most, etc. Stick to the topic that is most important!
Paul, ryan gene no longer works for janet.
“ryan gene no longer works for janet.”
#19,
Are you certain of this? When was he let go? Do you know why he no longer works there?
Sean, I heard that they were embarassed and had logged several dozen phone calls about Ryan doing political work on county time — thanks to your reporting — they decided to let him go.
I believe he now works at a taco bell in Tustin.