In honor of the arrest of Eight Bell Crooks, our sclerotic ultra-conservative monopoly daily wants to get all interactive with you today! Journalist Brian Martinez has put up a real interesting rogue’s gallery of our lovely county’s “most notorious” Orange County officials going back to the 70s, and he’s soliciting input for who else should be there. I don’t know about the choice of the word “notorious,” I think what he means is “most corrupt and also got caught and punished.” But here’s what he’s got so far:
- Supe Robert Battin, 1975
- Supe Ralph Diedrich, 1977 “larger than life”
- Supe Philip Anthony, 1977
- Congressman Richard Hanna, 1977
- Congressman Andrew Hinshaw, 1977 (what a year! I was busy in high school)
- Newport-Mesa USD “trustee” Stephen Wagner, 1992
- Supe Don Roth, 1993
- Brea Mayor Ron Isles, 1992
- Treasurer Robert Citron, 1995
- HB Mayor Pam Houchen, 2005 (what happened to our Dave Garofalo?)
- Ass. Sheriff George Jaramillo, 2009
- Sheriff CARONA, 2009
- Assemblyman Mike “Drippy” Duvall, 2009
So help a guy out, we know this is just scratching the surface. Let’s help Brian get to 50 or 60, OJ community! Click here if you have any suggestions for him.
Let us not forget our own home grown Santa Ana local partners in crime from the barrio:
Ted Moreno
Tony Espinosa
Roman Palacios
Hector Oliveras
All elected officials or candidates for Santa Ana city council and all now convicted Felons. Ted Moreno served 4 years in a Federal Prison. That’s got to make some kind of list of Orange County’s worst political crooks.
What about Scott Baugh? In March 1996, Baugh was indicted on four felony and 18 misdemeanor charges related to his campaign finances. Criminal charges were later dismissed, some say for political purposes, after Baugh agreed to pay a civil fine of $47,900 for nine violations of the state Political Reform Act.
US Reps. Ken Calvert, aka “The Prince of Pork” and John Campbell
What about Nativo Lopez? What kind of a list do you put him on?
What about Former S.A. Councilman Gordon Bricken? Didn’t he get busted for using a city credit card to buy a T.V. on a city paid trip to Hong Kong?
Seems like we have had more than our fair share of political crooks in Santa Ana. How about former Councilman Dan Griset? Maybe Sean remembers him.
http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/daniel-e-griset
Kind of ironic that several of these crooks are still in the political business. Phil Anthony on the O.C. Water board and Dan Griset representing Santa Ana on the MWD Water board. I guess crime DOES pay!
And the ones still in power are exactly the ones that the Register won’t mention! Eh?
Smart!
OR
Juarez newspaper!
Delhi Moms –
Al Mijares, former SAUSD Superintendent, for his contribution to advancing the class system of public education in Santa Ana.
“Al Mijares, former SAUSD Superintendent, for his contribution to advancing the class system of public education in Santa Ana”
Dear Ms. Tart,
Do you mean to tell me that you don’t think Al’s ATM (Above The Mean) program was a winner? But look at how well our kids have done in school since he started that program? Have you measured the self esteem levels of our little ninos lately? That is much more important than those dumb test scores! The high school diploma is highly over rated anyway.
I would not be surprised to see John Williams, Orange County Pulic Administrator/Guardian and South Orange County Community College Travel Leech/Trustee, as well as his good buddy and financee of his second-in-command at the PAPG, the one who turns his head and refuses to investigate any of the alleged wrong doings of the PAPG for fear of not getting any sex from his would be unemployeed fiancee Peggi Buff, District Attorney Tony Rackaukas’s pictures up on the wall at the post office sometime in the near future.
How soon we forget! How come recently spanked (in court) OC Treasurer Chriss “Fraudster” Street isn’t on this list?
And if this is a list of “notorious” public officials, surely John “John Birch” Schmitz counts, what with his surprising extra-marital family man gig (two bonus kids) with a former student.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to nominate former U.S. Rep James B. Utt. According to the OC Almanac (here), “OC U.S. Congressman James B. Utt [made] national news [in 1963] by suggesting that ‘a large contingent of barefooted Africans’ might be training in Georgia as part of a United Nations military exercise to take over the U.S.”
The only reason Utt doesn’t qualify as notorious is because only about fifteen people know who Utt was: Orange Countians have no memory and don’t give a shit about history. Too bad. Our county’s history is seriously entertaining.
Tom Fuentes knew Utt and considers him a mentor. Or so he said recently at a SOCCCD board meeting.
How about putting Tom Fuentes on the list? Re notoriousness, pissed off Mexican-Americans count, right?
My immediate (amateur) impression as well – the Reg only picks people who are safely imprisoned or otherwise destroyed. Everyone else – hands off, careful!
Ah – Schmitz- I immortalized him in song, back in the day – back in the 80s!
To the tune of “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”
Ron gets shot again, Alex plays the fool again, Casper gets annoyed,
Wishing to avoid an unpleasant coo-oo-o-oup,
Bush goes on the air, telling soldiers everywhere he is in control –
John Schmitz does not agree and he tells him so -o -o o.
But as the bulldykes reach for their guns, a noise comes from behind:
Bang! Bang! Reagan’s silver hammer came down on our heads…
(We were always a little worried back in that decade that that clown would start a nuclear war.)
Ron Caspers disappeared under mysterious circumstances and he got a park named after him . Just sayin’…
Hey Bushala, what about your Fullerton Councilman Dick Jones, didn’t he assault a female police officer, what ever happened to that investigation, huh? Did Dick pull out and come clean?
“The only reason Utt doesn’t qualify as notorious is because only about fifteen people know who Utt was:
Was he any kin to the Utt that they named the school after in Tustin?
http://www.tustin.k12.ca.us/HTML/schooldirectory/school-sites/02-utt/utt.htm
This may have to be a 20 page pull out special section. I bet it would help sell newspapers if the O.C. Register had the guts to print it? I don’t think anyone has ever printed photos and articles on the whole last of O.C. politica bad guys. Did you notice there are no women on the list? What about that Doris gal who showed up on the assembly floor in her bath robe. Did she commit any crimes?
Also, what about the staffer for the board of supervisors who was killed after being shot by an arrow jogging around Mile Sq park? Did they ever solve that crime? Anybody still working on that one?
What abuot next Bell city like to be implicates santa ana city council whit pulido first in the line?
6:59, I did some checking, and it turns out that C.E. Utt was a pioneering (late 19th Century) Tustinite. Evidently, he is associated with a particular peanut, which was sold all over the country. Since James B. Utt (1899-1970) was born in Tustin, it is very likely that these two are related; perhaps father and son.
P.S.: nice ditty, Vern
Delhi Moms –
Hijacking the opportunity for a quality public education can be construed as criminal.
BT W … your monikor indicates that Delhi Moms could be a group of loosely organized Delhi mothers. Is that accurate or is your monikor misleading?
Newport-Mesa USD “trustee” Stephen Wagner, 1992 – This was a pretty good choice….he
took the school kid’s money…and bought art pieces for his collection. He spent money on
a nice house and such…….he was appointed and endorsed by the President of the School
Board. It was pretty bad.
The reality is…that the worst crooks probably excaped being identified and covered up their
mis-doings. Too bad we may never know….the truely bad ones that stole and stole and stole.
“Hell’s Bell”…….is truely remarkable that they actually caught these people. Thank God it was
in a off election year and all the pieces just fell into place because they are such dolts!
Tony B – Caspers and a few others presumed dead in a boating “accident” off Baja in the early 70’s. His Chief of Staff at that time, who was not on the boat, was a (then) young fellow named Tom Fuentes.
*While in the Army in 1969, wrote a letter to Jame B. Utt, my Congressman and told him
that there was work afoot in the Republic of Germany to Re-Unite East Germany with the West
and restart a NEW NAZI Party! Utt, wrote back and assured me that then President Richard
Nixon would never allow the reunification of the two Germany’s! “America, love it or leave it!”
rw
P.S. Great comment from Roy Bauer…ya gotta love it!