Last December I posted a strange story about O.C. Supervisor Chris Norby, that included a story about him sleeping by the Old County Courthouse. Today the L.A. Times revealed that my post was spot on. I took a lot of heat for that post, but I doubt anyone is going to apologize now that it has been corroborated by a major newspaper.
Apparently Supervisor Norby’s life took a turn for the worse when he got divorced from his third wife. I can understand that. Divorce can often leave people feeling destroyed and hopeless. It is hard to believe though that Norby’s family and friends did not do more to help him during his troubles.
Here are a few excerpts from the Times’ article:
Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby acknowledged Friday that he spent campaign funds to pay for a one-week stay at a Fullerton hotel last August because of marital problems, an expense labeled a “study of homeless and motel families” on financial disclosure forms.
“I’m surprised it was on the campaign [account]; it should not have been,” Norby said. “And I’m going to reimburse the campaign because I was there for personal stay.”
Rumors have abounded about the colorful supervisor of the 4th District for the last several months as his marriage to his third wife, Marsha, came to an end. He spent a few days sleeping in his office, then one well-remarked-upon episode in a park, before checking into the Fullerton A Inn. He paid $340 for the room at the bed and breakfast, according to his disclosure forms.
“Ever heard of the term the doghouse?” Norby said. “I mean, sometimes people need to reassess and look at things a different way. So that was a resident motel; they charge by the week.”
He stayed from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7. On Aug. 6, Norby, whose personal life had already generated a fair amount of gossip, took a rest on a bed of grass in front of the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana and was roused by deputies. Rumors circulated that he had spent the night in a park because he had no place else to go.
Marsha Norby, who said she never told her husband to leave, expressed surprise Friday at his use of campaign funds for the hotel stay. “For as much as I’ve been through, he’s not one to mismanage funds and do something inappropriate,” she said.
But local government watchdog Shirley Grindle said Norby’s misuse of campaign funds showed “incredibly poor judgment.”
“He even tried to cover this up by claiming it was studying homeless people,” Grindle said. “I mean it’s only $340; he should have never tried this.”
Norby said that though the use of the funds was “mostly personal” he had also learned a lot about the homeless and motel families during his “informal study.”
Norby has been a supervisor for five years and will finish his term in 2010. Previously, he was on the Fullerton City Council for 18 years.
This is not the first time Norby has run into trouble for violating campaign laws. In the fall of 2005 he and his campaign’s then-treasurer, Michael DiCostanzo, were fined $10,000 for violating four counts of the government code.
His most recent disclosure forms for the last half of 2007, however, were still missing information. His treasurer, Presley, said the “oversight” would be fixed and an amended disclosure filed.
I cannot believe that a $340 oversight merits so much scrutiny. But this certainly is a weird tale. Again, I am sorry to see Norby in these straits. He is a good guy for the most part. He has however made some strange endorsements the last few years, including backing ex-O.C. Sheriff Mike Carona. I think Norby will weather this storm. But I must admit some relief at having a post that was questioned turn out to be closer to the truth than anyone wanted to admit. And I scooped the Times by several months.
“Scoop”? Right.
This doesn’t vindicate what your earlier post. You said Norby was found drunk in a park — and he wasn’t.
And the criticism you received was for the sleazy manner in which you injected those rumors — for which you had no substantiation — in order to smack Norby around for questioning Janet Nguyen’s use of HCA funds for her office budget.
The LAT article doesn’t make what you did, and your motivation for doing it, OK. The only reason the LAT wrote a story is because campaign funds are involved.
Chris made an error in judgment, but it doesn’t justify what you did.
Matt,
Go back and read my post again. I admitted that the entire story was based on a pajarito. I did not assert anything. Instead I used words like “allegedly.” Perhaps nuance escapes you.
You are by the way a fine one to talk. My post was substantiated by the Times, for the most part. You on the other hand got slammed by EVERYONE when you outed the names of molestation victims while you rushed to praise John Urell, the obfuscater for Catholic priests and Mater Dei officials who molested children. As I recall it, even John and Ken slammed you on the radio, which was priceless.
Go back and scurry under your Red-faced County rock…
Matt,
BTW, I noticed you did NOT report the Norby story on your blog. You also did not report about the dirty deputies getting away with the murder of an inmate.
Here is a slogan you can use over at Red-faced County, “Red County – only the news we want you to know.”
Jubal is right. Using “I heard it from a parajito” is just a slimy way to engage is less than half truths.
Your glee at someone else’s troubles is even more disturbing. Norby is a good guy. Anyone who has experienced similar experiences understands how challenging they can be.
Art…I challenge you to take a look at yourself. You’ve become a sad little man with a bag of rocks who gets great delight in throwing them.
I’m not asking you to support those you have a philosophical disagreement with. Just be more constructive in your approach.
You used to be a swell guy. I wish we had the old Art back.
Ken Maddox
Not that it really matters, but are he and the 3rd wife divorced or just separated? Either way, wonder why this 3rd attempt only lasted a couple of years —-
Ken,
No, I disagree with both you and Matt. Blogs are not news. They are opinion. I very often make use of somewhat unsubstantiated sources, or off the record sources. More often than not I am right on. As in the instance referenced in this post.
The OC GOP’s culture of covering things up does not serve the public well. Better to fess up, apologize and move on. In this case, to Norby’s credit, he did exactly that.
I do like Norby. I am saddened by his problems. When I posted the original story, back in December, he was attacking a friend of mine, Supervisor Janet Nguyen. My post served to remind him to tend to his own issues and leave her alone. Which he did.
I don’t know why some of you in the OC GOP continue to attack Janet. Please know that I won’t stay silent when you people are going after her.
Janet, unlike you, has never supported PLAs. And she never supported Mike Carona – a mistake you and Norby shared. She has been an exemplary Supervisor and she remains a Republican I can support. There are so few of those nowadays.
The old Art was naive. He won’t be back anytime soon. As for being constructive, the fact is this blog does a lot of great work for the community. But we won’t stay silent when politicians deserve an upbraiding. We will however be fair – both Dems and Reeps get it on this blog.
Thanks by the way for posting with your name. Matt had to be outed by the OC Weekly before he started using his real name, but even now he hangs on to that ridiculous pen name he started out with.
To me the saddest part of this story is that Norby has no friends. I pity the person that ends up friendless and homeless. His lawyer brother is a staffer in Norby’s office. I’m shocked his own brother would not let him sleep on his sofa during his break up with his wife.
I have to object. How is it an “oversight” to charge motel living as a study expense? Norby would have had to personally forward his receipt, and make up the cover story, right? That’s commission, not omission. Nobody made up his homeless study excuse for him–how would they have known?
Norby also supported Measure D.
Art –
You were spot on.