In what would be an incredible coincidence if it hadn’t apparently been planned this way, the Democratic Party of Orange County is slated to vote on my fate twice by at its monthly meeting tomorrow night. Such meetings are open only to registered Democrats — that’s a Party rule, not mine, and I think that the press would be excluded from the restriction. So, if you’ve ever thought about registering (or re-registering) as a Democrat, now is probably a good time to do it. Thanks to our Democratic Secretary of State and her friends, you can even do so online!
Internal party squabbles notwithstanding, DPOC Chair Henry Vandermeir (at left) and DPOC Vice Chair Greg Diamond (at right) both agree that grassroots hero BETTY YEE is the best choice for State Controller in 2014! These two DPOC officers posed with Yee — noted for her strong commitment to fairness and transparency — on a very hot day at last year’s annual Labor Day picnic at the Santa Ana Zoo. Register by May 19 to vote in the primary!
All Democrats are welcome to attend tonight’s Democratic Committee meeting at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Hall at 7:00. You can find out for yourself what’s going on with your party. You may get to witness some interesting discussions — such as about who actually gets to vote tonight. Plenty of street parking is available. Leave your weapons at home. I mean it.
Got a street address for the Plumbers hall Greg?
Is this the correct location?
3904 W 1st Street
Santa Ana, CA 27034
No, it’s the former Carpenters Hall.
It’s at 1916 West Chapman Avenue, Suite B, Orange, CA 92868.
Are you a Democrat, though, Carl? The meeting is intended only for Dems. Not my rule.
Lol, so do you have to show id?
Yeah …. I would like to have some friends stand up for me as I got run over too.
No, I’m not a Dem., I’m a damned independent, not a Decline to state, as they refer to us. I was simply trying to fill in the blanks here.
BUT I could refile by following the provided link and then I would be a Dem,
I will help put up your campaign signs around town when you need help.
UPDATE from Greg’s inquisition:
Good news: He was ENDORSED by the DPOC in his DA race! Not even close.
And yet: The Party caved to Labor, and removed him as vice chair. 35-15 vote. It was pretty brutal.
Release the Kraken!
Democrats and unions for BAD PUBLIC PROJECTS! No public benefit? Union jobs? NO PROBLEM.
Thanks for the early Christmas present, DPOC.
The first vote was won by the unions by one vote. That one vote? Congressman Lowenthal’s rep. The reason, explained to me after the vote by that rep, “Because the Union.”
So, since Mr. Diamond was a vocal proponent against a project that will have a negative impact in at least six of Congressman Lowenthal’s OC communities one has to wonder why the Congressman would vote to oust someone vocally fighting to protect his cities and support a union that wants to harm them for few short term jobs.
I explore that at: http://losalnews.com/congressman-alan-lowenthal-sells-out/
I don’t blame Lowenthal, JM. There are good ‘uns and bad ‘uns, and he’s a goon ‘un. In fact, knowing his rep, I won’t make even presume that she was following his orders.
I absolve Lowenthal, Quirk-Silva (whose rep abstained), and both Sanchez sisters. If it cost the Building Trades a lot of coin or chits to keep them in line — and that’s how politics usually works, after all — then I’m glad that my refusal to bow led to that transfer of wealth. They have given me more time to work on my lawsuits. While I wish I could continue as a DPOC Officer, more time to do justice is a damn good consolation prize!
Now they either pay through the nose to the DPOC — which was the point, after all — or they make our Chair out to be a liar. Who exactly “lost” here?
Perhaps I was being disingenuous yesterday in suggesting that I welcomed your removal. For the simple reason that I did not want a friend to get hurt for doing a good thing.
But in another way, this is a blow to all of us. Unless, someone can shine some light on exactly why you were so summarily purged, I suspect many are going to assume you we’re being made an example.
The message this morning is clear: be intimidated, we will come after you if you dissent. Because of this, people will sit-out and shrink back to our collective disadvantage. For example: the abstaining Assemblywoman. Everyone in Anaheim should know that she failed to even take a stance. Why would anyone want such a person as their representative? And for who? Lorri Galloway? Jordan Brandman? Curt Pringle? Erg.
She’s completely blameless, Daniel. Don’t try to make political hay out of that.
I told her that I would rather resign the position outright, without a vote, than risk seriously damaging her campaign. I also told her that I would rather than she voted against me than for me, if she didn’t abstain, because I can take risks of pissing people off as a non-officeholder than she cannot. I would have been seriously pissed had he taken such a risk on me. If I couldn’t win the vote without her, because other people couldn’t resist pressure, than it didn’t matter to me if I could win only if she made that huge sacrifice.
Pardon my bluntness here, but I cannot imagine Young Kim dealing even 1/10 as well with that sort of ethical dilemma as Sharon did. She and I have our differences on policy, but she’s demonstrated that she’s the sort of person who — even when the “right move” politically was to betray someone — refused to do so. I may feel disdain for some Democrats today, but if anything I feel more respect for her. And I get nothing from that — I’m now politically “too hot to handle,” so it’s not like I’ll be rewarded somehow. That’s my honest reaction, which I think that I’ve demonstrated that people should be able to expect from me.
So don’t go down that route, Daniel. It smacks of taking illegitimate political advantage, and if I don’t like it from Democrats you can imagine how I feel about it coming from Republicans.
barf
Double barf. Quirk had no ethical dilemma. An weaselly abstention was as good as a no.
And no, Young Kim is not my horse.
Oh, David — that’s so loony.
My preference, among the three options, was that she abstain. My second preference was that she, on whom many people’s hopes depend, make a tactical retreat and vote against me if need be. Her voting for me, which could have seriously damaged a campaign that I still fully support — was the one I favored least.
And, when I said this to her, she said that in effect that was a nice gesture on my part, but that she’d make up her mind based on what she thought was right. My candidacy could (and should) have been able to survive an abstention. It would have been harder to survive a vote against me. There is absolutely a difference between an abstention and a negative vote: the difference is “1.”
You are describing a purely practical political decision as an “ethical” alternative. It isn’t. Politicians and their blind followers are always excusing pitiful actions based on the “greater good” i.e., their staying in office for ever.
After a while we come to discover that after all the chipping away there isn’t anything left if there ever was.
Thats a lot of absolution.
Perhaps because you understand the way the world works in those circles.
Very seldom, will people stand for something or pose themselves in a risky situation. I think thats called integrity.
If I read you right, your fellow colleages are the kind of people that would watch a rape and then say, “well yeah I didn’t hold her down”, so don’t blame me.
So what happens to that position now that you have been removed? Do “they” place one of their pawns in there?
Nameless,
I agree with everything you said. I met this group and like I mentioned before, there were only a handful I met, who are worth a shit. They act more like a club… they like to tell everybody else what to do without lifting a finger to help… and they will turn a blind eye to wrong doings and won’t go against their party (team)
I know Greg likes Quirk Silva… I am not impressed with her. The Dems and Repubs are more concerned with keeping their party in power, not doing what’s right for it’s citizens.
Disneyland runs this city and nobody has the balls to stand up to them. If Greg is the next DA he needs to be impartial.
Greg, I do “blame” Lowenthal. He has absolutely no effective power over the OCTA and Caltrans. So, what does he do? He votes one of the most effective voices in keeping HIS OC CD cities protected from a very bad plan to expand the 405 out of a position of power. Unless the tradeoff for that one vote was that the Trade Unions will cease backing a half-assed plan to turn Cypress, Los Al, Rossmoor, Seal Beach, West Garden Grove and portions of Westminster into the west coasts largest cut-through parking lot then you were sacrificed for nothing. And somehow, when his rep says that you were voted against “Because the Unions”, it doesn’t sound to me that there was squat traded. There was a roll over.
I’ll say it now, like I said it in 1994 when the Telecommunications Workers Of America were controlling the OCDP. When the Union runs the political apparatus for the benefit of the Unions rather than the benefit of the Party, there is a damn good reason why the rank and file Democrats don’t want to have a thing to do with “their party”.
The Trade Unions want the 100 or so jobs that the buildout of the 405 will bring. The fact that the plans have two or three northbound lanes ending at the county line means that all the traffic being pushed north will have to go through a funnel and with all that traffic having nowhere to go on the 405 it will feed into the communities as frustrated drivers (like water) seek the path of least resistance. So the OCDP in doing the trade unions business of taking out of power one of the more effective voices that was saving the 200,000 or so people that would be detrimentally effected by this very bad boondoggle. Since 100% of those residents happen to be Lowenthal’s constituents, yeah I hold him responsible for folding to the Trade Unions and helping to screw us out of a very effective voice.
Greg and I had two good progressive friends there who almost voted in his favor… and changed their minds at the last minute. Their votes would have changed the outcome. They both gave speeches, very nuanced ones, which were also full of love and respect for Greg and didn’t hinge on bending to the unions. I’m talking about Dr Bill Honigman and Greg “Gericault” Ridge. I’d like to give some pixel space, within the coming days, to their reasoning. They both expect major great things from Greg.
What reasoning?
Lowenthal’s rep – wasn’t that Melahat Rafei, sitting behind us? Campaign manager of Jordan Brandman and several ACTUAL Republicans? The last person you would ever hope to vote against corporate welfare? Still… why do you say “that one vote?” I woulda said the votes he lost by were from our friends who ALMOST voted for him.
Melahat is close with Lorri, and she defriended me on facebook when I called her out for being a mouth piece for Pringle and the Chamber back during the hate speech pho-controversy.
Release the kraken, indeed. We are now in a world of post-partisan grifting in which the Kleptocracy reaches well across party lines to pull and persuade.
I predict this is going to backfire badly which is good. A las Barricadas!
This conservative Zenger fellow is sounding like Che this morning.
I think so too — which is good only to the extent that it leads to reform.
The unions are, at least, fighting on behalf of people who are desperate and suffering. I hope that those Republicans who are enjoying watching this fight are willing to take on the bloated and privileged in their party just as hard as I have mine. Many of my Republican friends here give me reason for hope about that — but, I can attest, it’s very hard work.
A luta continua!
Le mot juste, Ricardo!
Do you think that you would have lost your DPOC position if you were not running for DA?
Hard to say how the two things impacted each other. You did see, where I commented earlier, that he GOT the DA endorsement?
What was it JM, by a healthy damn chunk – like 75%
Greg can’t enjoy both… barf barf
The hell I can’t!
I’m very proud that my party stood me against the strong contrary preference of the Chair.
If (let’s say for the sake of argument) they gave in primarily over the threat of defunding by the unions, that disappoints me — but hell, that happens all the time in politics. Individuals like me have the luxury of being “profiles in courage,” to take on an extravagant label for what I’m doing here — officeholders and parties can’t do so as easily.
I’m much more heartened by their willingness to endorse than disheartened by their decision to remove me. And the only thing that really pisses me off, that I think was unjustifiable, is that they didn’t get to the resolution about Kring’s “saves us the cost of a trial” quote. But tarring and feathering is hard work, so they were tired.
I want outrage!!! Did you see all the links I had in my last post? Each was a labor of love in your defense! Vengeance! Vengeance!
Best served cold.
OK, in my case, it won’t exactly be cold, but I have some work to do before I write about things later today. Write the first of many, many pieces, probably, because what happened last night was an example of what oughtn’t.
I would say 75% would be the low count. I think there were only two or three “no” voices.
Clearly the leadership was there to do punitive damage to Greg. They want to hurt him as much as they can. Greg has clearly pissed of those with power (Union leaders who just happen to be the leaders of the OCDP).
The bottom line on the OCDP was well put by one clearly deranged speaker. You are sitting in a Union Hall. It’s not the Democratic Party of Orange County. It is the Union Party of Orange County and you better sure remember that.
That’s actually a very good question, skally. I don’t know. The timing of this is suspicious; if it emerged organically from the unions, which is of course their story, then the fact that it has damaged my campaign for DA (through distraction, if nothing else) is a coincidence.
However, Rackauckas has cultivated political ties with some wealthy Democrats — ones whom consultants love to please. It’s entirely possible that the genesis of this involved a dirty trick to lower my percentage of the vote against Rackauckas — for some political reason, as a payoff, or simply out of spite. I doubt that I’ll ever know.
And that is why — I know that people will have a hard time believing that I’m doing this — I want to give proper credit to my party for doing something brave last night. The recommendation of the “Endorsement Committee,” led by the Chair, was to take no position on my race (which would be a hard slap in the face — although I think that it would ultimately be worse for the party than for me.)
Instead, people moved to recommend my endorsement. I gave a good speech, as did several friends and supporters — and the vote in my favor was something like 25-7, with mostly the die-hard bosom supporters of the Chair voting against it.
When you want to conclude that the county Democratic Party is just craven, you have to wrestle with that fact. The Building Trades, and the Rackauckas supporters within the party, would have strongly preferred that I be rejected by the DPOC — which was why that was the recommendation of the Chair’s committee. Instead, they stood tall and independent and took some risk — not as huge a risk as retaining me, but a serious risk nonetheless — of resisting outside control and doing what should have been obvious: supporting the Democrat.
They deserve serious credit for that — and I am not going to sit idly by if people here decline to provide it to them. That took guts.
Greg, no offense, but your chair should be fired for not recruiting a candidate for DA that he could endorse.
Not being able to do so is an overwhelming indicator of incompetence. While I certainly echo your message of courage, it’s very clear that your chair is more interested in building personal connections than advancing the party agenda.
For many major Democratic figures, Rackauckas is their horse.
No one before me — Democrat or Republican — has run against Rackauckas since 2002. It’s not “incompetence” so much as widespread cowardice regarding the consequences of doing so. (OK, in Todd Spitzer’s case it’s political calculation, so ironically he gets a pass there.) What has happened to me is minor compared to what would be happening to someone with a $500,000 war chest.
As for your statements about our Chair — is it too late for me to prudently decide not to comment? 😉
P.S. To my recollection, I was the only person in the party trying to recruit a DA candidate — and I think that I asked at least 30 people, without so much as a nibble.
It’s his job to recruit candidates he favors for county wide office.
He didn’t do his job. That’s incompetence.
It’s incompetence only if he and his sponsors wanted him to do that part of his job. Otherwise, it’s a different unkind word, one not involving competence.
Greg, I believe you received the Central endorsements because you would be a good DA.
You are fiercely tenacious, pour attention over every detail, and live and die over principles before politics….
Doesn’t make a very good Vice Chair, but would be great as a DA.
If you were looking for principles and purity, I suggest going to cooking school?….I don’t think you’ll find it in politics.
That, and you were the deciding vote. So that is a big deal. Expound.
I was far from the deciding vote. There were 2/3 rds of the committee that voted. I was just one of them, so I guess could you say , we ALL were the deciding vote. But if you want view me as your “Judas”, so be it. I stand by my actions and statements I made last night.
Wow, do you use such care in deciding everyone’s proper place? How did Diamond come to have the position in the first place?
I want to address one additional issue that was mentioned by “the union bitch” (hey I have to identify her some way and before someone accuses me of misogyny, if it had been a guy I would have used the label “the union dickhead”). She really has a hard on about free speech. I lost count the number of times that she went apeshit about the blog and Greg’s involvement. Clearly an issue of control freaks not having control over a loose cannon who speaks his mind. I may not always agree with Greg, but his right to say things in a public forum does NOT get squelched by the wishes of dorks like her (it should be noted that she was also the person who felt the need to remind everyone that they were in a “Union Hall”, just in case they forgot who the fuck was in charge here).
One other thing that PISSED me off about TUB was her belief in “purity”. It seems that being friends with and working with people from across the isle is a charge worthy of execution. Considering that I successfully sued my city working WITH a hardcore lifelong member of the GOP; that in order to get anything done in my city I must work with three members of the GOP; and that unless they are batshit crazy TParty members generally working with and having a good relationship with the relatively sane members of the GOP is HOW YOU GET SHIT DONE, she comes off as no more than the flip side of the TParty nut cases who insist on “purity” above everything else.