I came across a post from our ex-blogger, Tim Whitacre, over at Red-faced County/OC Blog. Many readers have been asking about Tim, who has been lying low since the Pulido hacks he backed last year for the Santa Ana City Council were defeated by Sal Tinajero and Michele Martinez.
In the post below, Tim answers a question regarding the candidate he backed against Carona, Bill Hunt, and whether or not Hunt might be in a position to run for Carona’s office. Well folks, here are Tim’s thoughts regarding the end of Carona’s career in law enforcement and politics:
Bill Hunt clearly has the advantage: He stood tall, told it like it was during the campaign and basically predicted we’d be where we are today, he and his Deputy supporters were wrongly and unfairly persecuted by Carona immediately after the election, he handled that in an upstanding manner not trading shots or taking swipes at Carona but preferring to let the process take its course. Then being forced with an unwarranted demotion or retirement he chose the latter and left with his integrity intact; choosing to use his experience to start his own PI firm and stay close to law enforcement
Art,
You’ve been a paid campaign consultant, too. How many races have you won?
And it’s entertaining watching you tearing at Red County, but that blog still kicks your blog’s ass any day of the week, no matter hwo names you call them.
Three strikes, Carona is out.
Strike 1: Culture of corruption
Strike 2: Lies and coverup
Strike 3: Persecution of opponents and anyone else in Carona’s way
I don’t care whether the successor is Martin or Hunt. I’ll vote for whichever one promises to sell Mikey’s pimp-mobile RV on eBay.
Poster 1,
One time – and only because Lou Lopez insisted on paying me.
Besides, that is not the point. Tim was no hero last year. He was a paid consultant. He told me himself that he would not help any candidates for less than $10,000 per campaign.
Tim cleaned up last year, with Hunt, two Pulido hacks, Rosie Avila (for Congress), and Carlos “Space Commander” Bustamante (when he lost his supervisor’s race). All of Tim’s clients lost last year. Every last one of them.
As for Red-faced County, how do you know? They don’t post their numbers, do they? So, tell me, how do you know that they are kicking our tail? Prove it.
Red-faced County’s bloggers cannot rip OC GOP machine candidates. That site is nothing more than a tool for the OC GOP machine.
OUTSIDER.
There are hundreds of well qualified “retired” sheriff/law enforcement officials out there.
Let Hunt, Martin, Walters and whomever else battle it out, not in a special election but in the Winter primary.
In the meantime let the “committed to not run” stand in sheriff run things.
“”I do not want to see Santa Ana police chief Paul Walters take over for Carona either”
I know Paul Walters, Paul Walters is friend of mine, Paul Walters would make grate Sheriff….. Art.
Was Mr. Whitacre overlooked for a special badge and concealed weapon permit, like 86 other “friends, relatives and donors” got when Carona took office? Play deputies of Carona’s inner circle.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-carona4,1,7064224.story?track=rss
Shortly after he took office, Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona and one of his top assistants deputized 86 friends, relatives, political contributors and others, giving them badges, powers of arrest and in some cases guns — despite the fact that none had background investigations and some had not been fully trained.
Three years later, the state’s Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training removed all 86 of the reserve deputies from California’s peace officer database, which meant the commission no longer recognized them as peace officers. Even so, 56 still have their badges and identification cards, and 14 have concealed weapons permits.
A commission executive said he knows of no other case in which reserves have been removed from the database. The commission does not have the power to force a police agency to comply with its rules, but it can decertify a reserve program — a step that would jeopardize the program’s funding and credibility………..
Of the original 86 reserve deputies, 29 had contributed to Carona’s inaugural election campaign in 1998 and his re-election campaign in 2002. Several others hosted fundraisers for him or the Mike Carona Foundation, a philanthropic group. The list includes physicians, lawyers, business owners and one of Orange County’s top restaurateurs, who has hosted several Carona fundraisers.
Several of the reserve deputies had ties to former Assistant Sheriff Donald Haidl, who established the reserve program for Carona. Among them are Haidl’s brother, sister, nephew and two other relatives. Haidl’s private pilots, his personal secretary and other employees from his auction company also were deputized.
Carona enlisted the 86 volunteers in his reserve program in 1999, the year after he had been elected sheriff. He did so despite alarms raised by the state commission and a county attorney, who questioned whether the reserve deputies had been properly screened and trained.
……………
Documents indicate that the appointments were rushed to avoid tougher training requirements adopted by the state and that red flags — including failed psychological exams and lying about a criminal history — were overlooked during the application process.
Among the applicants were a former police officer who had been fired for lying during an internal affairs investigation, an executive who failed to disclose he’d twice been arrested and another who was identified as “psych reject.”
Reserve deputies have been reported misusing badges and police credentials. In one case, a reserve officer hosting a Jordanian VIP flashed his badge to get a hotel employee in Anaheim to open rooms that were not under his name. Another reserve deputy became angry and announced he was an Orange County deputy when an Amtrak ticket taker asked him and his guests to move out of an area of a train reserved for business class passengers.
…………………..
One of the reserve deputies, who asked not to be identified out of concern his appointment might be jeopardized, said a core group of reserves who helped Carona get elected were less interested in patrol duties than the privilege of having a badge and being part of his inner circle.
Bwahahaha! You know, Art, you’d have made a great Pravda writer: “nothing more than the tool of capitalists and imperalists…”
I know Red County kicks this blog’s ass because I don’t know a single serious politico who takes your blog seriously. All you do anymore is obsess about Jubal and Red County. Every post you write is just like the last ten posts you wrote.
You are B-O-R-I-N-G.
Thomas and Larry and sometimes Sean are the only ones who write anything informative anymnore. You just rant.
As for Red-faced County, how do you know? They don’t post their numbers, do they? So, tell me, how do you know that they are kicking our tail? Prove it.
I don’t know their numbers. But I can see yours on Sitemeter. Even when you get a link or article that bring new readers, your traffic plummets right back down. Which means the newbies read your rants and never come back.
Posters 7/8,
Really? Take a look at Sitemeter. Click on “Exit Pages,” which tells you what stories our readers click on before they leave our blog. It is a good barometer as to which stories are hot.
Seven of the current top 10 stories were written by yours truly.
BTW, just look at how THIS story has blown up, with eight comments already. And here YOU are commenting on THIS story, which I wrote.
As for our numbers, the fact is our total universe of readers has exploded over the last few months. And we get new readers every single day. You can keep putting us down, but we keep on going.
As for Red-faced County, just look at their pathetic weekend coverage. News links and that is it. We keep on writing, seven days a week. Our new “Week in Review” feature, which we publish on the weekend, has become a huge hit as well.
If Red-faced County wants to be #1, let them post their numbers so we can see the truth. Otherwise they, and you, are just blowing in the wind.
Click on “Exit Pages,” which tells you what stories our readers click on before they leave our blog. It is a good barometer as to which stories are hot.
Seven of the current top 10 stories were written by yours truly.
Exactly my point. They read your posts and then they LEAVE!
And I notice you’ve now removed the Sitemeter link!
Poster 10,
I can’t win with you, can I? Fine, try the “Entry Stories.” 9 of the top 10 are mine.
Look, I am proud of my co-bloggers, but Sean Mill and I write the stories that tend to blow up. And I lead that category. As I should. I started this blog and I continue to quarterback it.
The sitemeter link is there. Just scroll down. We are at 683 hits today. Likely will get to 800 at this rate. Not bad. And we have over 2,500 page views. That means our readers today have read at least three stories each. So much for your theory of “one and out.”
Art, are you kidding me??? Bill Hunt a politicain and not a Cop??? Do your homework before you say something like that. Bill Hunt has worked every position of merit in this department and was one of the best street/narcotics/gang cops we ever had. I have met Ralph Martin, a very nice man, but check his resume real close. He has not done as much, nearly as much as Hunt. Martin served as a “driver” for his Sheriff and as an Admin. deputy for a long time during his career. He may have commanded many different squads, but that is very different than being a “squad/gang detail” member, on the front line. Art, Hunt is not a politician. And the remark about Whiticare being being appointed a post in the department is absolutly rediculous. THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN. Please becareful what you write. That was way off base…More to follow
Poster 12,
I am serious when I say that Hunt is a politician. Many readers told me last year that Hunt, at his various appearances, came off as a hothead. They also said that Martin was the most composed of the candidates.
As for my remark about Whitacre, rest assured that part of the reason he hooked up with Hunt was in fact to try to weasel his way into the department. Hunt must PROMISE never to make such hires. Whitacre would, in short order, become the next Jaramillo.
We need a Sheriff…not a politician.
Art, Art, my good friend. Believe when I say that Bill Hunt is not a politician. I take it you have never met him, just taking the word of others. I have known Bill for 20 years and have nothing to gain from his appointment. He is not a hothead, but very Passionate about his love and feelings about OCSD. That’s it. He will never hire anyone like Whiticare the way Carona has. It’s called Integrity, and that is what Bill Hunt stands for, or I would not be wasting my time at this hour, when I have to work in the am. Talk to Bill yourself before you make commentary. And by the way, is does’nt matter if Ralph Martin was calm, cool, and collected during his interviews. That is not what is important. HE IS A POLITICIAN. That’s why he is the way he is. hunt is not a politician, but a COP. Thanks for letting me blog JWRB
Hey, you put the Sitemeter back!
Art, look at the visits over the last year. You had a good month this month. But for months and months youy always say the same thing, about all these new readers you claim to have, but your Sitemeter never backs up the claim! But you keep lying anyway.
I don’t care how many people read your blog. my point is it’s just one exampel of how you are a compulsive liar. I never see the other blogs bragging about their readership, because they’re probably not insecure weirdos who think they have something to prove.
It is fun to see worried detractors trying to minimize this blog’s impact.
A year ago, the average amount of visitors = 350/per day. Now, I notice it is a bit closer to 700 per/day. This blog is like a tasty, but little known restaurant. It gets some play in the local food column and many people show up following the article. But no one eats out EVERY day, so repeat clientele starts to build re-visiting habits over time.
This blog is funky enough to attract a readership. It also has good local issues which further invite participation. The addition of several new bloggers and new controveries also helps. Like the “little engine that could”…. you can see the modest, but measurable progress.
I particularly enjoy the detractors that show up – as regular readers (they seem to know all the details of what’s been posted for weeks, if not months!)- and try to prove that “no one” is interested in reading OJ.
Someone tell me that Irony is dead! 😉
Because Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters has done such a great job in Santa Ana, OC should promote him to Sheriff???
Mr. Whitacre has more courage in his little finger than the entire Orange Juice Blog combined! Semper Fi Tim!
Dear Art:
Even though I disagree with Sheriff Carona in many issues, especially in immigration and never voted for him but for Mr. Hunt, and as far as I know, in my book he is innocent until proof guilty by the federal court system. If we all believe in democracy and in the judiciary system let them do their job. My prayers are with his family and with the sheriff department.
Benny Diaz
Benny, why do you feel the need to pander to the Little Sheriff? Is there something we don’t know???