After former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona was elected I quickly found out he was not what he had appeared to be. He cut a deal with since recalled Santa Ana Unified School District Trustee Nativo Lopez, when it was time for Carona to run for reelection. Carona endorsed Lopez who then returned the favor. I was none too pleased.
Back then I was still a conservative Republican, so I got on the phone and called the angry old ladies at the California Coalition for Immigration Reform. When I told them that Carona had endorsed Nativo, they went ballistic. I also wrote an editorial slamming Carona and Lopez, which appeared in the O.C. Register. I was told later by an insider at the Sheriff’s office that the phones rang off the hook for days with angry voters demanding that Carona not support Nativo.
When all of that blew up, Carona’s former Assistant Sheriff, George Jaramillo, called me up. At the time I was helping former Anaheim Councilman Lou Lopez with his Assembly race against Lou Correa. Jaramillo called me while I was at Lou Lopez’s office. Lou was a wily retired cop. When he heard that Jaramillo wanted me to go to Carona’s office to speak to them, Lou immediately said “Don’t do it Art, they might be secretly recording the meeting!”
Today we found out that Lou was right. Total Buzz broke the story that current Sheriff Jack Anderson finally fessed up that Carona “had a camera recording events in his office, which was linked to a computer located in a secret compartment in a closet.”
I ignored Jaramillo back then – and I am glad I took Lou’s advice.
I don’t buy Anderson’s story that he just recently found out about the camera. Apparently Anderson found the hard drive with all the recordings. I am sure the FBI will go to town on those recordings! I hope they find information that will help them go after Carona’s advisers, Jon Fleischman and Mike Schroeder. Not to mention Assemblyman Van Tran, who got a concealed weapon permit from Carona. (See picture above).
I wonder if Carona also put a camera in the ladies’ room at his office? That would be no surprise. Carona just might have been the perviest elected official in Orange County!
Anderson is no differnt then Carona&Jaramillo will do anything to further his career. Right now he is the puppet for Moorlach
This will be brought up at his trial, one way or another.
Either he was taping visitors to his office or the feds were taping him….
I’d suggest the feds start taping Santa Ana Mayor Pulido and those “closed session” meetings they have before council meeting.