Silva and Solorio unite to do union’s bidding

Didn’t I warn you guys about Assemblyman Jim Silva? I called him a union squish, and worse, when he ran against Cypress Councilman Mike McGill. Now we are finding out, again that Silva is an absolute whore for the unions – particularly the cop unions.

Silva has teamed up with my other least-favorite local legislator, Assemblyman Jose Solorio, to deny the City of Newport Beach the right to patrol the coastal harbors in their city with their own cops instead of using the O.C. Sheriff’s Department.

Here is what Register editorial writer Steven Greenhut has to say about this, over at Orange Punch, “Republican Assemblyman Jim Silva, best known for spiking pensions on behalf of his union allies when he served on the board of supervisors, has co-sponsored pro-union legislation (with Democrat Jose Solorio) that would keep the Harbor Patrol from being shifted to Newport Beach. Silva often talks about local control, but is willing to put one of his few political principles aside on behalf of his union benefactors.

Assemblyman Silva told me that the harbors are used mostly by non-city residents, so the county ought to pay. Of course, lots of things are used by residents outside the cities that must patrol them. Most HB swimmers are not from HB, does that mean the county ought to patrol the city? Most Cal State Fullerton students are from outside Fullerton, I suppose.”

Unbelievable! Does Solorio think he represents coastal Orange County? And what is up with Silva? Has he run out of peanuts to feed the squirrels in Sacramento?

Silva, as many of you no doubt recall, backed the ill-fated Orange County PLA (Project Labor Agreement) which banned non-union contractors from bidding on Orange County public works projects. And now he is interfering in matters that have nothing to do with his Assembly District by once more carrying water for the unions.

Just a week or so ago I wrote about Silva’s colleague, Assemblyman Van Tran, who is backing a Lou Correa bill that will have a very negative impact on non-union public works contractors. And now Silva is at it too.

It makes you wonder why anyone bothers to be a Republican anymore. I expect Solorio to shill non-stop for the unions – but when Silva and Tran do it, their party members ought to let them have it.

As for Solorio, Greenhut also wrote today that he has been caught in an outright lie by the Times. Here is what Greenhut wrote, “In an article in today’s LA Times called “Little evidence offered of police privacy risk,” reporters Matt Lait and Scott Glover wrote that “Despite convincing state lawmakers last week that permitting public access to police disciplinary files would endanger lives, law enforcement advocacy groups have been unable to identify a single case in which an officer actually had been harmed because of the release of such information.”

Assemblyman Jose Solorio told the Times that he “had been told of ‘numerous examples’ where the release of an officer’s identity in a discipline case directly led to officers and their families being harmed. When asked to cite one such case, however, Solorio could not.” Neither could the unions name one incident.”