“You won’t shout as I fiddle about … fiddle about.”
I can’t say that there haven’t been murmurings.
Anonymous comments in these pages and those of other local political blogs have warned that something was coming down the pike, that Orange County Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly had something of a harem in his office — although until now I think I’d never heard the horrifying term “Tommy’s Angels” — and that people (it was never clear to me who, the women themselves or their co-employees) were upset about it.
And, like so much else in gossipy OC politics, it was never clear whether it was true. How could it be true without being addressed by the County for so long? Then the arrest of Carlos Bustamante made many things thinkable that had previously been hard to imagine — and the letter of former Deputy County CEO made it even more so.
We still don’t know if it’s true, nor do we know who’s saying it, but now at least we know what’s being said and what’s to be done about it.
As Norberto Santana Jr. reports in the Voice of OC, an anonymous letter has appeared accusing Daly of substantial improprieties in office. The County is farming the investigation out to an outside law firm.
An anonymous group, calling itself “concerned county employees,” sent the letter to Voice of OC and a variety of county offices, including that of Interim County Executive Officer Bob Franz.
The letter alleges that Daly has handed out promotions and engaged in inappropriate behavior with at least four female workers at the clerk-recorders’ office. The letter refers to the women as “Tommy’s Girls or Tommy’s Angels.”
“The inaction of the managers at the agency has led to a culture of mistrust, favoritism, cronyism and organizational manipulation. This inaction has also led to low morale district and fear throughout the department,” the letter reads.
A PDF of the anonymous letter, which ran a little more than four single-spaced pages and is addressed to the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board of Supervisors (better known as John Moorlach and Shawn Nelson), may be found at this link. Aside from the Voice of OC, the letter was apparently sent to the Interim County CEO, the O.C. Human Resources Director, the Office of the Performance Audit Director, the OCEA General Manager, and the National Organization for Women Orange County Board President.
The Voice of OC article does a better job of summarizing the situation with the County that we’d do even if we tried — so we’re not even going to try. (The link to Norberto’s story is right up there. Use it.) What we will address is the political implications — which are potentially huge.
First, of course, Daly has been the presumptive successor to Jose Solorio in Assembly District 69. He dominated the top two primary, as the de facto candidate of both establishment Democrats and establishment Republicans, the latter of whom would have spared him any Republican competition at all, after chasing one candidate out of the race, had not Jose (“Joe”) Moreno — of whom it is often said that he is not Dr. Jose Moreno of the Anaheim School Board — entered at just about the last possible moment. Moreno, whose campaign was effectively without funding, managed to eke out second place in the top-two primary over organized labor official Julio Perez (whom, let it be noted, both Vern and I favored), who was trailed fairly closely by Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez and not so closely by Orange Juice Blog writer Francisco Barragan.
Under the old electoral rules, if Daly was tarred with scandal, he could drop out a certain amount of time before the election and the County Party (or someone, anyway) could replace him on the ballot. But now we have a top-two primary system: he’s not the Democratic Party’s candidate, he’s the primary electorate’s candidate, and the party has no right to replace him. Let’s put it this way — even if it were Carlos Bustamante on the ballot in AD-69, he could not be replaced.
Moreno still doesn’t seem to have any money, although depending how (and how quickly) the investigation of Daly develops, victory for him now becomes a possibility. (Republicans would probably prefer to see Daly in office than Moreno, who is more of a libertarian and whom Art Pedroza claims to have advised. After all, the conservative Democratic obstructionism of incumbent Assemblyman Jose Solorio has served them fairly well for the past six years.) It’s far from certain that things will progress quickly enough; it’s far from certain, further, that the public in this district of notoriously sparse turnout will pay attention to the charges in the bustle of a Presidential race and major local races in the district’s two largest cities.
And, oh yes, let’s remember — Daly could be innocent of any wrongdoing. There could be no scandal. Stranger things have happened.
Daly may or may not participate in the investigation, as Moorlach says he would prefer to see happen, but he’s unlikely to speak before the public. He was unlike to speak before the public before any scandal; there’s little reason that that should change now. He’ll probably say that he has to refrain from comment due to the investigation (whether or not that’s true) and, one might guess, will deny any wrongdoing. Judging from the letter, his sexual/romantic behavior appears to have been more creepy than criminal (unlike Bustamante’s alleged acts); sexual morality aside, it’s the charges of his funneling public money and status to favored female employees that is his biggest problem. But that could be enough to pose him serious problems.
Daly may try to hang on and hope that voters don’t notice the scandal too much; unlike what would happen in a true bipartisan race, no one with resources has seemed that interested in pushing Moreno for the position. But that’s building a protective wall out of sticks; one strong wind comes along and his campaign could collapse. After all, if donors don’t think that Daly will serve much (if any) of his term due to scandal, why exactly would they be giving him money? Daly hadn’t raised that much himself; most of his money came from outside groups (who seemed primarily interested in keeping liberal Julio Perez out of the Assembly.) Daly could end up being not much better funded than Moreno.
(Here’s a wild possibility: if Daly looks doomed and doesn’t have much campaign money, Moreno could even conceivably announce his intent to caucus with the Democratic Party — after all, Republicans didn’t lift a finger for him — and then he might pick up some outside support from unions and other groups if he agreed to play ball with them.)
A more likely possibility, if it really does look like the jig is up for Daly, is that he’d announce ahead of time his contingent plan to resign from the seat if X, Y, and Z happened — such as if he was indicted or convicted of a serious enough crime. No one can force him to resign even if he promises to do so ahead of time, but it could allow him to win the election. Why? Because everyone and their mother, with the exception of Jose Solorio, Lou Correa, and maybe a few others, would be able to take a free run at the AD-69 seat if Daly resigned (either before or after taking office. Actually, I’m not sure how the former would work, if at all.)
This would lead to a special election like the one that put Chris Norby into Mike Duvall’s seat after the latter’s own sex scandal. One problem with moving up in the pirate ship of politics is that often the race for the next highest rung comes at the same time as one has to run for re-election. That’s not a problem in a special election — and in a top two primary, party discipline (which favors Republicans) comes into play. Imagine a situation in which ten Democrats ran for office but only two Republicans. You could well see two Republicans in the runoff unless Democrats worked out a deal to limit themselves to two candidates.
The notion of an early 2013 special would electrify people. Just think of who might run. Miguel Pulido and Claudia Alvarez could both be out of a job. In fact, the whole Santa Ana City Council (Bustamante excepted) might be interested in running. Still in Santa Ana, Julio Perez could run again. Maybe Joe Dunn? With the exception of Gail Eastman, the current Anaheim City Council is in a different district — AD-68, which includes Anaheim Hills — but one could imagine either Lori Galloway or Harry Sidhu or both moving down to the flatlands for a run.
And then there’s the incoming Anaheim crowd: John Leos, maybe? Lucille Kring? The Jose Moreno with a Ph.D.? Or what about presumptive Democratic favorite and current Anaheim School Board member Jordan Brandman?
Oh, yeah — that’s the part of the story I haven’t gotten to yet.
Among elected officials, Jordan Brandman is about as close to Tom Daly as they come. Daly gave him a well-paying job in his office doing mostly public relations. They’re both from the same establishment-oriented “corporate friendly” segment of the Democratic Party of Orange County. (Full disclosure: I’m not.) He has made a big deal over the past two years or more over his association with Daly. They seem to spend a lot of time together; it would be hard, though perhaps essential, for Jordan to explain how he could not know what allegedly seemed to be open secrets about Daly’s behavior within the office where Jordan also works.
If anyone is standing in the path of possible blowback over this potential scandal, it would seem to be Brandman — because while a lot of people want to see him win a seat on the Anaheim City Council, a lot of people also want him to lose.
This seems like a good place to elaborate on my disclosure, but I’m not sure how to do so. I get along well with Jordan socially and have expected him to get the Democratic endorsement for Anaheim City Council at this Monday’s Democratic Party of Orange County Central Committee meeting. (I’ll be among those voting on it.) If he gets it, that would mean that while I and other Democrats on the state or local party committees wouldn’t have to support him, we couldn’t support anyone else that hadn’t been endorsed for the position, which would include all non-Democrats, from John Leos to Duane Roberts. (One of the rules of being in the party establishment is that you can’t endorse or aid, such as with donations, someone else over your party’s endorsed candidate. This is the same rule that, for example, would prevent me from endorsing Jane Rands for Fullerton City Council if either Jan Flory or Kitty Jaramillo got the DPOC endorsement. It’s one way that the party is supposed to move its factions together.)
So, while Jordan and I are in different factions of the party, I’ve expected to, at a minimum and as a matter of party comity, not oppose his candidacy for City Council. (That ad that you see for “NoJordanBrandman.com,” like the one for Jane Rands, is Vern’s doing, not mine.) But this charge against Daly is unsettling — and may unsettle Brandman’s donors in particular.
I know that some unions like Republican John Leos; not endorsing a Democrat on Monday in that race would allow anyone to support Leos. I didn’t see that as a realistic possibility before this letter; now I do. (By the way, in case anyone is wondering, I’m not writing this with glee, as others around here might; this is just how I handicap the situation.)
One wonders about the timing of the release of this letter. Julio Perez and Michele Martinez, I expect, may be wondering about that quite a bit. (Hey, anonymous folks, you couldn’t find a mailbox back in early May?) That said, I think that the reason it comes out now rather than before is pretty clear: Carlos Bustamante was taken down in an action that began with an anonymous letter and climaxed with his arrest. Until that happened, there may not have been much reason to think that an anonymous letter would do much good. Now, there is.
Its release on a Friday afternoon shows that either people were either not trying to maximize publicity or else were incompetent at it — or maybe that someone who wanted to protect Daly got the word out at the best possible time of the week. That may work out well for Daly, but if I’m right that in my analysis above then it does not work out well for Brandman. The party endorsement is probably not a big enough deal to affect the timing of this release of information — so I suspect that this is just a matter of bad luck for Jordan.
Of course, I have neither heard what Jordan has to say nor what Daly himself has to say; this is all speculative, but I’m sure that I’m not the only person who has been gaming out the political aftermath since the news broke. Maybe Daly will handle it well — or have Jose Solorio do it for him? — and it will be a flash in the pan. Maybe Brandman will be able to distance himself adroitly from any stains that spatter on Daly. I don’t know.
What I do know is this — a lot of things look possible now that seemed quite improbable just a day ago. When people ask me in my own State Senate race whether I think I can win against a powerful incumbent, I usually say “sure” — because, you never know, things happen. And in Tom Daly’s race, they just did.
Whether the Clerk-Recorder was Lee Branch, Gary Granville or now Daly, this Orange County department has been a cesspool of disgruntled, accusatory and sometimes victimized employees for decades. It is one sick environment, and no matter who the public elects to that office that person seems unable or unwilling to turn it around.
Regardless of the accusations of a sexually charged atmosphere, Daly’s administration has included cronyism and budget busting expansions, including a north county office that is a nice place to display photos of our elected “leaders” (especially Daly) but not really much good for anything else.
So you are not with the “Corporate Democrats”. Which Democrats are you with?
I usually refer to my faction as “Reform Democrats.” (Edited to add: I believe that the “Corporate Democrats” have a different set of names for us.) You can look at the Anaheim protests to get a sense of who’s who.
(Before you ask: Santa Ana politics is hard to classify.)
What happened to progressive Democrats? That was always fine with me.
I think I’m gonna become an independent for a while once I get my exorcism. Some of the most exciting candidates in the OC this year (NOT nationwide) are not Democrats. Mayor Tait’s reform contingent as it’s shaping up – Leos and Kring – (well, Kring is still being examined) are Republicans, as is the great Costa Mesa candidate Sandy Genis. And then there’s at least two great Greens running, Duane in Anaheim and Jane in Fullerton! If I was as involved with the Dems as Greg is, it would be awkward for me to support them.
Hillary Clinton called herself a “progressive Democrat” in 2008; the term was pretty meaningless, mostly an excuse not to use the word “liberal.” I use it when I want to be more inclusive. The category I’m talking about is along the lines of “generally liberal and willing to take on the party power structure when the need arises.”
There’s no obstruction to rank-and-file Democrats supporting non-Democrats; it’s just those in the party hierarchy who, under some conditions, have restrictions. I think that the same is true for Republicans.
Brandman no longer works for Daly. Unions and others that wish to support Leos really don’t pay any attention to the DPOC endorsement and for good reason. What the democratic party does in Orange County has little if any impact on campaigns and those that run or fund them.
Interesting — when did he leave that office? (And are you sure?) I don’t think it extricates him from the “you must have known about this but you didn’t do anything” problem, but it might help him. The timing, compared to that of the genesis of this letter, also might be interesting.
As it stands, the DPOC endorsement affects (1) inclusion in literature and (2) the ability of members of the state and local Central Committees to support non-endorsed (including non-Dem) candidates. This doesn’t stop unions; it does stop some individuals.
I grant you that the DPOC endorsement is less significant than that of the much better-heeled local Republicans, but in some races (e.g. the Santa Ana Mayoral Race) it has turned into quite a big deal and been hard-fought.
I wasn’t speaking as to whether or not candidates seek the DPOC endorsement. I was simply stating that the endorsement doesn’t have a material impact on any races in Orange County.
In the 2010 Santa Ana Mayor’s race, both Pulido and Amezcua sure acted like it did!
Jordan started his own company months ago, doing Environmental docs like his Dad. But even when he was with the County his job was to be out in the field promoting the Clerk-Recorder’s office, so I get the feeling he was not in the office a lot to see or hear anything.
Besides, this is a non-issue, most voters will not know about it unless charges are filed so it hits the traditional media,. So far it is an anonymous letter being covered by some political blogs, and while I am sure Orange Juice and Voice of OC have plenty of traffic, Anaheim demographics still point to High Propensity voters being those older, home-owning mom and pop folks who come home, watch the evening news, go to bed, maybe take a morning paper with their coffee, but even that is dwindling. Readers of political blogs, and actual voters, do not appear to correspond, at least not in Anaheim (or Galloway would not be in office!) Social media is growing as an influence, especially with younger voters, but the area Daly wants to cover is still pretty locked in with the traditional voter.
Outreach and voter education is a HUGE problem in the area, we can’t get folks to pay attention to what is really going on beyond reading through a voter pamphlet, (which is why it is critical that they be accurate) and setting aside a few slates that correspond to some core value they think the candidate might hold. Unless someone has enough money to go negative on Daly with mail, the seat is his, and the Council spot is likely to be Brandman’s.
That said, I am horrified that Voice of OC ran that piece unredacted, revealing the names of the alleged victims. I think it was irresponsible and set them back in terms of people seeing the site for journalistic integrity.
I am also more than a little disturbed that this has become public, when the basis is an anonymous letter with little in the way of physical proof to determine veracity. Yes, I want the County to investigate all charges, but I would prefer we wait until those charges are investigated before trashing someone’s reputation, based on a unsigned letter during campaign season. If women were victimized, I am sorry, and something needs to be done, but to run around pointing fingers this early with this thin accusation is premature.
I appreciate your concern for people’s privacy, but the letter to Moorlach and Nelson was sent directly to the Voice of OC. I not only don’t think that there was an expectation of privacy, I think that there was an expectation of publicity. If any of these women might be involved in civil litigation, they had no expectation of privacy either.
I tend to think (for reasons expressed around here) that Daly will win because Moreno is not widely viewed as a credible alternative. (I’m not saying that that’s right or wrong; I’m just saying that it is.) Brandman, though, will have Leos’s backers (though maybe not OCEA itself) trying to beat him, along with Kring, Chuchua, Roberts, etc. He’s in much more electoral danger than Daly — especially if Disney/SOAR decides that he’s damaged goods.
Maybe I’m too much of a political junkie to be objective, but I think that this will be heavily publicized. (Even the Steve “Chavez” Lodge story made the Register, though they didn’t use any of my jokes!) Maybe the OCEA will steer clear of it based on its grand bargain for a Leos-Brandman non-aggression pact — but on its face this would not seem to fall under such a pact! It’s not about Brandman, it’s about Daly. The fallout may land more on Brandman, if my analysis is right, but it’s not an attack directly on him.
I think that it will be very hard to keep this out of the traditional media even before charges are filed — and one doesn’t need that many quotes in the Register, Times, etc. to create an effective mailer. (I want to emphasize here: unlike apparently Pedroza, I had no idea that this was coming. I’ve had no involvement with it either — except for hearing the same rumors as many others have heard.) I have my doubts that Brandman could not be presumed to have had knowledge of this situation if it is true — he did work out of the office, after all, even though he traveled — but it is legitimately open for debate. Honestly, though, with what I recall his compensation being, I think that a PR guy would have been expected to be in regular contact with people in the office. It’s almost worse if he wasn’t.
If there’s nothing to these charges — and I acknowledge that there may be nothing to these charges — then this is indeed a disgusting travesty. You’re wrong, though, to think that only criminal charges would make the papers. A civil complaint would make the papers — and if they want to be political about it, I’d expect one maybe a week before absentee ballots arrive. (Again, this is pure surmise on my part.) Given the imminence of the election, I’d like to see all involved call for and cooperate in a very prompt investigation.
Um, you’re talking like the five women named in the letter (counting Renee) were the victims, and/or wrote the letter. They are being accused actually of using their sexual wiles to get favors from Daly, despite being “creeped out” by him. This may or may not be true or fair, and I agree that the Voice of OC should have blacked out their names.
Dammit, you’re right — I was conflating this with Bustamante’s letter. I was blogging while distracted. Mea culpa.
OK, I don’t know what the Voice of OC’s defense is for naming “Tommy’s Angels”. My guess is that Norberto would say that he didn’t have that responsibility under the circumstances (which is legally true) and that he was just linking to a document. The alternative, which is what I probably would have done, is to print it out, manually redact a copy of it, scan it, create a composite PDF, and post that. Maybe I’ll do that on Tuesday.
so everybody at the recorders office is getting laid, i thought all you liberal dems were into that free love stuff
What Tom Daly does outside of his office with people outside of his office is his and his family’s business (barring illegalities.)
Sexual harassment (which is mostly not at issue) and giving publicly financed perks to paramours (which is) are everyone’s business.
In other words: “free love” is one thing, but love paid for by the taxpayer is not exactly “free.”
I Disagree.
If Tom fancied M->F Transexual prostitutes in Garden Grove, while pretending to be the “model” guy. I would describe that as “dangerous behavior”.
This is not to say it’s wrong, or different than a lot of middle aged white upper middle class men in Orange county (based on BP ad’s!) But it does represent a weakness, a serious weakness.
Today alone we learned that the public employee unions were responsible for the false DUI claim against the CM guy, clearly powerful organizations will stop at nothing to target decision makers. This is especially true at the Assembly level. THEY TEACH CLASSES ON THIS IN SACRAMENTO.
So If Tom’s sexual proweress (or David Benavides) doesn’t matter, let’s revisit some other cases.
That’s bullshit that “it’s his private life” line.
If he cheated on his wife, with employees, he is dust. As for the other, A guy who pretends to serve “underprivledged kids” in the name of God but cheats on his wife is just as much a loser and liar.
Welcome Assembly Member Moreno.
Refer back to my saying “barring illegalities.”
I’ve never even heard the rumors you’re apparently passing on about Benavides, but I’m not an avid consumer of gossip. We are in the middle of a campaign; anonymous slams in a blog comments section (spelled out much less well than anonymous letters to Supervisors) are bad form. If you think that you have to goods on him, don’t be nameless.
Moreno’s still not going to win unless people with money have a reason to make him win. Had this happened back in March or April, though, Daly might not have made the runoff.
Just think how much power Benavide’s Wife has for the future of Santa Ana. She could hold a press conference or a simple interview and say;
a) David and I decided to no longer be romantically and sexually committed or exclusive at a certain point, Why is that anybodies business.
Or she could say
b) David is a sick and twisted Liar S.o.B. Politician who betrayed all of his family.
but being a damn woman, she is not going to say or do anything to help us.
Wait, wait — before I check, I’m going to guess that the time-stamp on this one is between 1 and 5 a.m., 2xI’s hours of lycanthropy.
And … it is!
“Damn woman” comment aside, what would constitute “anything to help us”?
Why do you hate women Mr. Doubleye?
anything happening next door to me in Costa Mesa? where is the story on this union 911 call?
True, I hope we find out who made that call. If it really was a union plot, not a false flag operation and not some goofy loose cannon, then it’s embarrassing, should be condemned, and doesn’t help our side at all.
Yeah you may be right about Moreno, Strangely so. If Daly really goes down in flames, but still makes the ballot, how does Moreno not win.
Which given your past condemnations of Daly, I would think you might be open to. Especially dince does not appear to be a rank and file OCGOP GUY.
Unless the Devil you know is better than…..
I have mixed feelings. Joe is a very honest and likeable and independent guy. But a lot of the policies he would fight for in Sacramento are ones that I am against. Whereas Daly, if he weathers this storm, would at least vote with the Democrats on some things that are important to me.
I have to admit, I’d feel a lot of satisfaction if Joe won. Which I wouldn’t feel if tom did. You might notice I’m not spending time attacking or cheerleading for either of ’em.
Here’s how I’d see Moreno not winning (and let me emphasize that Daly has not yet been indicted for anything, let along convicted, this is all just a “what if”): the people who would like to replace Daly get together and say that they’d prefer to see a special election in early 2013 than to have Moreno occupy the seat for two years. Daly promises to quit immediately on arrival or to not even be sworn in to office; he’d need all of the friends he could get and could not betray people. Then the people who would like to run in the special dispatch their troops to ensure that Daly is elected.
Moreno seems like a nice guy, but he’s this mix of libertarian and tea partier that ought to be impossible yet somehow thrives in OC. The real question is not whether I’d prefer Moreno over Daly, but whether I’d prefer him over whoever might replace Daly: Alvarez? Tait? Kring? Sarmiento? In a low-turnout election, with Disney apparantly HIGHLY INTERESTED in the seat, the possibilities are mind-boggling. Moreno’s just lucky that El Ambicioso Solorio can’t run, or his candidacy would be dead in the water for sure.
As for the other thing. At the risk of pissing off Vern, it should be noted that the same venue that introduced this latest pile of stink on OC POLITICS also posted the Carlos Bustamonte situation to light AYEAR AGO and this Daly thing for at least six months.
While that does not legitimize any thing it reminds me of the old saying “If you want learn whats really happening with the Giants or San Francico politics, don’ read the Chronicle, ask the drunk at Lefty O’Douls”.
Sorry to cross pollenate the post.
What would piss me off? You’re talking about Pedroza?
Yeah, we had the Bustamante stuff on this blog way back then, when Pedroza was still here! And we’ve always had commenters saying that kind of stuff about Daly…
Wait, are you saying Pedroza had this letter before Norberto got it?
I have no idea about the letter, but I know NSA or it’s sister station promotied this theroy using some of the EXACT terms months ago. Additionally, a commenter there, who I suspect is the author (the group complaint thing is too tightly wrapped up for my doubting mind) has posted there.
In his usual condesending style Greg easily dismisses Pedroza as the gossip guy, without aknowledging he was spot on with Bustamonte and now apparently Daly. But, it doesn’t matter, the guy who;s not a “consumer of gossip” writes three thousand words about what if!
One big difference is the guy is a slave to his own Non-partisan whims not ideolgy or party driven purposes.
_jesus, I just realized I just spent three paragraphs defend Art! That will get me on the “hate” list fast. I got to go watch Tebow.
Who is the commenter? Sounds fun.
Pedroza is a gossip guy. I could make all sorts of allegations, if I printed every single thing I heard (although if I were Pedroza I’d have the additional criterion of it serving my political purposes of the moment), and some of them would end up being spot on. It’s Drudge Report “journalism” — and it’s shoddy. Damn right I’m going to condescend. But due (and only due) congratulations to Art on being right this time — unless he’s been snared into a defamatory conspiracy.
“What if?” is the best I can do; I don’t know if the accusations are true. But these charges may well have political consequences, true or not, and those are something that I can usefully discuss. For example — how much does Disney invest in Brandman now, during the investigation? Worth knowing, eh? (My guess is that Disney will probably have the truth nailed down before whatever law firm is hired does.)
(Haha — my party wishes that I were a slave to it!)
You’re absolutely right — for gossip, Art is the go-to source for both readers and spreaders. My problem with Pravda is that he will only tell those parts of the story that benefit his temporary allegiences. He’s all in for Pulido over Benavides, so we’re reading about the candidate’s supposed infidelity. But when Tinajero was thinking about running, Art was prepared to jump ship to him, in which event we would be reading about Pulido’s alleged influence peddling. To get all of the gossipy rumors, we’d need both an Art Pravda and an anti-Art Pravda — sometimes more than one of the latter. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be (or see this site publish) either. Rumors are good for understanding possible relationships and motivations, but not so admirable when deployed mainly as weapons of destruction.
I was glad to see that Art now admits that Solorio was just using Martinez in AD-69 (I believe he put it as “posing for pictures with”) while actually supporting Daly. Welcome to the world of enlightenment, Arturo. To me, one of the most interesting things about the Benavides candidacy is that Art’s recent political love objects Martinez and Tinajero (along with Sarmiento, who is either the most clever of all or I am overestimating him) are supporting Benavides. Logically, given Art’s ticket on the Pulido-Alvarez train, one might expect trenchant Pedroza criticism and rumor-mongering about Michele and Sal — but maybe not! In some ways, the most interesting thing about reading Pravda’s rumor-mongering is seeing which bridges he’s willing to burn — and whether he remembers which ones he burned already.
Greg, after reading that because OCDP endorsed Jordan for the Anaheim City Council you could not support anyone else, I went to the CHIVAS USA game to find some solace, with no luck so ended up salsa dancing at the Alpine VIllage. I thought that one of the beauty of the american party systems is that they are not monolithic. I guess I am wrong.
I know the non PH.D Jose Moreno. He is the typical RINO as Michael Moore describes them. It is amazing to me how many RINOS exist. I asked one of my RINO friends why she votes Republican, and her response was that the only politician that had gone to her door asking for her vote was a GOP one.
Unknowingly I had a brief conversation with Tom Daley at the “Somos Anaheim” march, regarding OWS. Later I realized that besides a small group of “Chicanos Unidos” tea shirts, I was in the middle of a bunch of local politicians, No wonder I overheard a guy talking to somebody else that he did not support an external investigation of the police shootings…
Politics force us to be pragmatic. I will end up knowingly voting for two republicans this time. Leo and Kring. I would even vote for Tom Tait if he runs for some other position, as he earned my respect handling the police fatal shootings and supporting district elections now.
Salsa anyone?
I’ve supported Greens, Peace & Freedoms, independents, and occasional Republicans in the past. One of the things that I give up in exchange for being able to “work from within” at attempting to influence how the party machinery is steered is that I can’t support anyone against an endorsed Democrat. For me personally, this is a small price to pay compared to what I think I can help to achieve by being involved in internal party politics — and it’s a reasonable thing to ask of me. Rank and file party members, by contrast, can do what they will — and I’m glad for that.
Jordan has not yet been endorsed; that decision is made tomorrow. Daly was endorsed earlier this year. That prevents me from endorsing or helping Moreno. It doesn’t prevent me from saying that from what I know of him I like him personally, but that I recoil from some of what I take to be his positions on economics, which strike me as orthodox Republican-Libertarian rather than RINO.
I have plenty to focus on without those races — and I can’t vote in either of them anyway.
I’m not sure how you use the term RINO, Ricardo, or how Michael Moore uses it. I use it (despite some Republicans telling me I have no business using it) to describe a Republican who doesn’t live up to what I understand to be the professed ideals of their Party – most notably fiscal conservatism & small government.
From that point of view I call the Anaheim council majority of Murray, Sidhu and Eastman RINOs, as well as Ackerman and his disciples such as the receontly-recalled Fullerton councilmen.
On the other hand, Republicans like Tom Tait, Tim Whitacre and Joe Moreno step on toes in their Party, but do that in the service of real Republican ideals. Those three (and hopefully Leos and Kring) fight corporate welfare, which to me is fiscally conservative. So I do NOT call them RINOs. They are better Republicans than the Republican hierarchy in this town, and the monsters that represent that Party in Washington and Sacramento.
Vern, this link describes Micheal Moore’s definition of RINO . He was reporting on the 2004 GOP convention : http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2004-08-30-moore-gopamerica_x.htm
The GOP doesn’t reflect America
By Michael Moore .
“Hanging out around the convention, I’ve encountered a number of the Republican faithful who aren’t delegates. They warm up to me when they don’t find horns or a tail. Talking to them, I discover they’re like many people who call themselves Republicans but aren’t really Republicans. At least not in the radical-right way that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft and Co. have defined Republicans.
I asked one man who told me he was a “proud Republican,” “Do you think we need strong laws to protect our air and water?”
“Well, sure,” he said. “Who doesn’t?”
I asked whether women should have equal rights, including the same pay as men.
“Absolutely,” he replied.
“Would you discriminate against someone because he or she is gay?”
“Um, no.” The pause — I get that a lot when I ask this question — is usually because the average good-hearted person instantly thinks about a gay family member or friend.
I’ve often found that if I go down the list of “liberal” issues with people who say they’re Republican, they are quite liberal and not in sync with the Republicans who run the country. Most don’t want America to be the world’s police officer and prefer peace to war. They applaud civil rights, believe all Americans should have health insurance and think assault weapons should be banned. Though they may personally oppose abortion, they usually don’t think the government has the right to tell a women what to do with her body.
There’s a name for these Republicans: RINOs or Republican In Name Only. They possess a liberal, open mind and don’t believe in creating a worse life for anyone else.
So why do they use the same label as those who back a status quo of women earning 75 cents to every dollar a man earns, 45 million people without health coverage and a president who has two more countries left on his axis-of-evil-regime-change list?
I asked my friend on the street. He said what I hear from all RINOs: “I don’t want the government taking my hard-earned money and taxing me to death. That’s what the Democrats do.”
Money. That’s what it comes down to for the RINOs. They do work hard and have been squeezed even harder to make ends meet. They blame Democrats for wanting to take their money. Never mind that it’s Republican tax cuts for the rich and billions spent on the Iraq war that have created the largest deficits in history and will put all of us in hock for years to come.
The Republican Party’s leadership knows America is not only filled with RINOs, but most Americans are much more liberal than the delegates gathered in New York.”
forget all this political stuff, lets get back to who daly is banging…are they at least cuter than the ones carlos nailed
Vern, it’s time to hose off willie again….
I take it back, this isn’t going away quietly, the OC Register covered it. http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2012/08/27/county-turns-to-outside-investigators-to-examine-daly-accusations/161307/
From the Reg article:
“Daly’s attorney, Dan Callahan, called the accusations “unfounded.” Four women named in the anonymous letter have signed declarations under penalty of perjury denying that the incidents described in the letter occurred. Callahan provided copies of the signed declarations to the Watchdog. This is no more than just an underhanded dirty political attack on Tom,” Callahan said.”
The person sent the the anonymous letter is probably the same guy who set up Riggy for a false DUI.
@skally (way back at 2:58 p.m. on 8/27): Your last sentence undermines the previous, and better, point.
Daly will probably win the race regardless of this controversy. If he’s wounded enough to have to drop out, in some ways he’s no less likely to win because of the allure of a special election open to all comers regardless of existing office. So I don’t see why it would be set-up designed to influence the results in AD-69. The only person I know who is supposedly advising Moreno and pushing this story is Art P., and even if he were inclined to do anything as rotten as making up such charges I just don’t see him doing anything this elaborate.
@nameless — it’s serious no matter whom Daly hired, eh?
If Daly hired Dan Callahan, this is serious.
Callahan is a HEAVYHITTER. He sucessfully argued the Beckman case which made loecal legal headlines a few years ago. While humble, Dan Callahan is a barracuda. He is no Wiley Aiken.
This may implode under pressure.
If Daly were the real target of this letter, then why didn’t the letter-writer send it in during the primary, when it would have done political damage? The same accusations had been appearing in comments here and elsewhere for a couple of years, probably by the same person.
The real target is probably Renee Ramirez, the Number 2 who wants the BOS to appoint her Clerk-Recorder when Daly goes to the Assembly. The letter alleges Ramirez knew all about these alleged office shenanigans and did nothing. In the charged atmosphere at the county, sexual harassment/hostile environment charges are deadly.
So who in county government wants the Clerk-Recorder job and has relationships in that office who can help in sidelining Ramirez as competition for the job? That’s the question to ask. My guess is the person’s initials are H.N.
There’s a simpler explanation.
(1) Whoever released it may not have wanted to mess with the results of the primary. (Anti-Martinez? Anti-Perez?)
(2) The charges could be true and for strategic purposes they want to raise the issue while Daly is still with the county.
My knowledge of players in county government doesn’t go that deep, but so far it looks to me that “H.N.” could be Hawn Nelson or Hanet Nguyen.
Try Hugh Nguyen, who ran against Daly for C-R in 2010. He worked in the C-R office under Gary Granville, and still has friends there.
Well, if he did it and if he is lying and if he is found out, he is in for a world of hurt.
That’s three “ifs,” though….
Merely suggesting his involvement would n’t be surprising, noot that he is the actual author of the letter.
Unfortunately, Tom will get away with all this. Are these allegations true? Absolutely!
You think the Woman who was given Senior Supervisor title wants it taken away? The pay, the perks? I don’t think so.
You think the woman who gets an extra $3,000 on top of her salary for “education reimbursement” wants that to stop? I don’t think so.
You think the woman who threaten Daly with black mail if he didn’t re-hire her after a year of absence is going to go give him up now? I don’t think so (she needs that for security + perks).
Long story short, this piece of crap has been getting away with hiring his friends, his wife’s friends, daughters friends, campaign contributors for years some with a $100+K salary. He has been trowing away taxpayer money in promoting his name all over the County, what makes you think he will be stopped now?
This was obviously drafted by a specific person within the agency that despises Tom Daly. I can speak for myself that being named within this letter is ridiculous. I worked hard to be in the position I am in now. I have been there for several years and started from the bottom up, I was never favored and I went through the correct interview process. I may have been hired full time, but I worked my way to where I am at now and I AM DAMN PROUD!!!!
You must be high. No one works hard at that office. Even Tom rarely shows up to work.
Wow really Renee Ramirez should be appointed the next Clerk Recorder. You go to be out of your mind. She is an idiot and she can’t even do her job as a manager.
BOS please take a closer look at the 12D funds. You will see how much money they spent on extra help and remodeling the Fullerton office without going to the Board.
Also contracts to Tom Daly friends (Townsend)??????