I was a bit surprised this evening when I took a look at Red County/OC Blog and found that my name was on one of their headlines. Apparently Jubal/Matt Cunningham read the agenda for the next O.C. Board of Supervisors meeting and found out that I was nominated for the O.C. Public Facilities Corporation by Supervisor Janet Nguyen.
And then Cunningham added this comment to his post, “Art, as readers know, harshly denounced the efforts by this blog, Total Buzz, TheLiberalOC.com and Calitics to prod Janet Nguyen into disclose the three secret donors to her illegal legal defense fund, terming the effort a “blog lynching.”
Amazing. In so many words Cunningham accused me of not joining in on his “blog lynching” of Supervisor Nguyen because I was holding out for an appointment. He essentially accused me of participating in a payola scheme. Even though my blog is essentially non-profit whereas Red County/OC Blog makes thousands of dollars in ad revenue every month.
When Cunningham was appointed by Supervisor Bill Campbell to the O.C. Harbors, Beaches & Parks Commission, I don’t recall ripping him. Would that he were equally gracious.
As one would expect, various anonymous commenters on Red County/OC Blog immediately accused me of being unqualified and lacking credibility. I wonder what Cunningham’s credentials are, by comparison?
The fact is, Supervisor Campbell appointed him because they are longtime friends. And Supervisor Nguyen is attempting to appoint me because I live in the district, and I have been a supporter of hers for some time now.
And yes, I am indeed qualified. I have both the requisite education and the work experience to perform the job at hand. I am in fact a construction safety expert, as an OSHA authorized construction safety trainer, and I work as a Safety Director for a $68 million contractor. I have years of political experience as well. Why not appoint me?
Granted, I am no longer a Republican. But isn’t the Board of Supervisors supposed to be non-partisan? If so, I ought to fit right in as a DTS (Decline to State) voter.
And yes, I do blog in my spare time. But so does Cunningham – and so did Jon Fleischman when he too was a commissioner, while working for O.C. Sheriff Mike Carona. So being a blogger should not preclude me from serving as a county commissioner.
Let’s be honest about this. Cunningham is no fan of mine. And neither are the OC Reeps in general. Oh well. I am not going to lose much sleep over that.
Supervisor Nguyen is doing a great job of working with the people in her district. I am one of the most politically active people in the First District. As such my pending appointment should not come as a surprise.
I look forward to serving my fellow residents in the First District.
I guess our blog will now be home to two City/County Commissioners.
Welcome aboard! 🙂
Ryan,
Thanks. A good friend of mine told me last night that generally the Supervisors respect each other’s wishes with regard to commission appointments.
In the past few years I have endorsed and supported Bates, Norby, Moorlach and Campbell. Have I always agreed with all of them on everything? No. But I don’t think they would expect that of me.
I am looking forward to serving my fellow residents in the First District.
Congratulations Art! You deserve it. You have the education and work experience that is need for this appointment and will do a fine job! Again, congratulations!
No one said you are not qualified to hold an appointment – lets face it most ARE political favors
That being said, it would seem yours is as well.
To quote your words from OC Blog:
” I don’t think I will have any problems doing whatever it is that a public facilities commissioner is expected to do”
>LOL You don’t even know what the job entails…so how do you know you are qualified?
Congratulations, Art! If anyone’s qualified to serve on the Public Services Corporation, it’s you. This is great! I may not always see eye to eye with Janet Nguyen (lately, it’s been kinda close to never), but she DEFINITELY made the right choice here! : )
Flowerszzz,
Matt Cunningham admitted on Total Buzz, in September of last year, that he did not know much about his commission when he was appointed to the O.C. Harbors, Beaches & Parks Commission.
Here is his quote: “I have a lot to learn about all the lands the county holds,” he said.”
Did you ask the same questions about his appointment? I doubt it.
Nope – why? Because he was not on his blog and other blogs worried about what others thought and posting his resume so that others would like him.
Art I really dont give a crap what appointment you got. If that is what you need in your busy life to feel good, right on and good for you! Just quit pretending that it was due to your qualifications and not due to a political favor. We ALL know how the appointments go – helk I have been on a few myself.
What is the O.C. Public Facilities Corporation, and what does it do?
Flowerszzz,
I cannot win with you and your friends at Red County. You people attack my qualifications, I respond with said qualifications, and then you accuse me of posting my resume.
Whatever. Who cares? I am guessing that 90% of the attacks are coming from one person anyway – and you all know who he is.
I never attacked your qualifications…infact I don’t think anyone did. Hell, no one even knows what the commission does – not even yourself – so how do we or your know if you are qualified?
The only thing I saw was that people were saying that it was a political favor and commenting that they now understand why you have been defending Janet so.
You are the one saying it is not political favor (BS)and posting your qualifications and offering your e-mail address for you to send people your resume….which BTW have NOTHING to do with the position you have been appointed to.
Art:
It was pointed out Janet appointed you to some obscure commission in the wake of your slavish coverage of her.
Somehow, in your mind, that becomes an “attack on your qualifications” and you treat us to your academic history since pre-school.
Nobody attacked your qualifications, and nobody asked for your qualifications, and nobody said this appointment has anything to do with your qualifications.
It’s amazing you haven’t accused your critics of being racists. I suppose that’s next.
Flowerzzz aka Floresss you don’t make any sense and sound foolish.
Congratulations Art. I met with a member of the Republican Central Committee and he told me, “It’s a good idea to stay on good terms with Art. You don’t want him as an enemy”. How powerful is that!
It seems ridiculous to quibble over some commission appointment. Of course an elected official is going to choose supporters and others who share the same vision. Elected officials want to be successful and they all have agendas that they want to fulfill.
Janet’s failure to submit a report of finances on time was wrong and no one should defend it. However we are all going to make mistakes and should move on. If she has a habit of doing shady things with reporting and financial issues going forward then she will be subject to elevated criticism, as can be expected. Breaking trust with citizens is a fatal mistake that will eventually damage a reputation. Once is different than repeat offenses. Ask Rob Richardson how his deceptions are all playing out lately.
Janet did win the election and she is lending her support in Santa Ana by showing up to some of the events in the city. Santa Ana needs all the friends it can get. She is supporting Michele Martinez – but that should come as no suprise. Those two are younger than most and most likely share common desires for government under their terms.
Art and others are on a cabinet to help consult Michele, too. That makes sense because they all seem to want a better city and are looking for ways to achieve that.
Anyone who wants to help give SA a leg up into become a city to be proud of should be encouraged. Petty turf wars have not helped this city in the past and they won’t be helpful going forward either.
Art or others. What do these county commissions pay per meeting? How many meetings max allowed? thanks and good luck! I think you deserve it.
Art – do you have the requirements?
have knowledge of the following: real estate; county property tax structure; municipal bond market; securities and exchange commission; municipal securities rule making board; and municipal bond law.
I was going to ask the same thing. Jubal update his post with the official description of this commission. It listed the following as the MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS for a director:
“Min. Qual.: Directors appointed generally, among other things, have knowledge of the following: real estate; county property tax structure; municipal bond market; securities and exchange commission; municipal securities rule making board; and municipal bond law.”
Perhaps Art can enlighten us: how do you meet those qualifications? Do you meet those MINIMUM qualifications?
And who wants to lay odds Art tries to change the subject rather than answer the question directly?
Congratulations Art. I know you are committed to doing a great job for the people of the first district. All these folks attacking you are either jealous or just haters.
You always give 110% effort when you get involved in things. Just look at the success of this blog. It is a testament to your hard work.
Poster 17,
Here are some of the courses I completed in my MBA program:
1. Accoutning and Finance
2. Managerial Accounting
3. Managerial Finance
4. Business Economics
And I took many other electives from the accounting, finance, and general management courses.
I also completed a certificate in Project Management.
All these folks attacking you are either jealous or just haters.
Yeah, Sean. That’s all it is. it couldn’t that this is payback for Art’s slavish coverage of Janet, or that Art may not meet the state qualifications for the position. Nice to see your brain’s still working on one cylinder.
Art,
Thanks for posting those courses you took, but can you please be more specific?
In other words, did those course cover, or do you have knowledge of:
— county property tax structure
— municipal bond market
— securities and exchange commission;
— municipal securities rule making board
— municipal bond law
If you don’t, you could always ask Janet to appoint you to a commission where you do meet the minimum qualifications.
That should be “stated” qualifications.
Poster 21,
All of those topics were covered in various classes. Those were the easy courses. The Statsitics class and the Accounting classes were brutal.
The one exception is the county tax item. The courses covered taxes in general – fed, state and local. They were not specifically about county taxes.
You can find out more about the Keller Graduate University MBA online. The course catalog lists all of the courses I took. That MBA took me three years and was no easy matter – but I did graduate just shy of earning honors. Good enough for me.
I hope this puts to rest the issues raised in Jubal’s latest non-story.