This new press release from 68th Assembly district candidate Phu Nguyen is pretty brilliant and hard-hitting, but I think I should give the whole story more context… I think I’ll do that AFTER the press release, to explain a little more thoroughly what went on in Costa Mesa last night.
“Well … I have concerns…”
Nguyen Blasts Opponent For Failing to Correct Costa Mesa Budget;
Calls Vote on Firefighter Concessions Reckless.
Westminster, CA – Sixty-Eighth State Assembly District candidate Phu Nguyen today responded to the Costa Mesa City Council’s decision on Tuesday night to renegotiate its current contract with city firefighters, calling the agreement a “smart compromise saving a deficit-plagued city budget over $50,000 a month.” However, he lashed out at his opponent, Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor, for opposing the bi-partisan, consensus agreement.

- (The grownup in the race.)

“Allan Mansoor voted against saving Costa Mesa over $630,000 when it has nothing but red ink as far as the eye can see,” Nguyen said. “Again and again, he’ll tell you he’s for fiscal responsibility, but his record is nothing but bad budgets, raised taxes, and perks for himself.
“This vote was about people working together. I guess it didn’t fit his extreme, narrow ideology, and that’s sad for the taxpayers of Costa Mesa,” Nguyen continued.
The agreement requires firefighters to contribute an additional 5% of their paycheck toward paying for their retirement benefits and cancels a scheduled salary increase. The agreement passed on a 3-2 vote.
“It’s disappointing my opponent would rather play games for partisan advantage than solve a budget deficit that is chopping away at services like after-school and youth sports programs for the community,” Nguyen ended.
Costa Mesa faces a current year budget deficit of $16 million.
1888-8-VOTE-PHU * www.votephu.com * contact@votephu.com
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Vern again. This stuff is convoluted, and nobody’s been better covering the crazy goings-on in Costa Mesa than our friend The Pot Stirrer at “A Bubbling Cauldron.” Here’s his report of last night’s meeting, entitled “Meeting Beyond Belief.”
The firefighters’ voluntary offer, described briefly above and in greater detail at the Bubbling Cauldron link, will indeed save the desperately broke city of Costa Mesa over $50 grand a month. This deal was worked out in weeks of negotiations, solely because – despite rightwing caricatures of greedy grasping public employees – the firefighters of Costa Mesa are good patriotic citizens who want the city to thrive. It was incredible that two of the five Council members attempted to reject this gift, but I’ll get around to explaining why Mansoor and Bever voted against it.
As was mentioned, the agreement thankfully passed, thanks to Councilmembers Monahan and Leece siding with sanity over GOP discipline, and joining Democrat Foley in accepting the firefighters’ offer. What caused Bever and Mansoor to vote no? As the Pot Stirrer details, Bever – who had pointedly boycotted all the negotiations to begin with – babbled nonsensically about lots of reasons that don’t hold up. Conversely Allan, as he usually seems to do, offered NO reason for his vote (although I’d be surprised if he didn’t say “I have concerns.” If he didn’t it’s because we’ve been making fun of him for that so much.) No, the thankfully-losing Bever-Mansoor NO vote was all about this guy:
James “Riggy” Righeimer.
If Planning Commissioner James “Riggy” Righeimer manages to get onto the City Council Nov. 2, Costa Mesa will be in for as much of a nightmarish Riggy Decade as the nightmarish Mansoor Decade they are just escaping. A limitlessly egotistical and manipulative bully, serial carpetbagger, and unfortunately now the GOP insiders’ choice for Costa Mesa Golden Boy, he slipped into his appointed position by being Dana Rohrabacher’s campaign manager and has stacked his commission with loyal and ruthless allies whom he’ll be well-placed to drag along with him onto the Council. Of late he has functioned as a de-facto campaign manager to Mansoor, although he’s now starting with good reason to worry more about his own Council campaign. But I digress. Look for my articles soon: “Meet Costa Mesa’s Boss Hogg: James Righeimer,” AND “Meet the Anti-Riggy: Chris McEvoy” And if you Costa Mesans HAVE to vote before those articles come out, make it for Wendy Leece and Chris McEvoy! Okay…
Anyway, the way Mansoor treats immigrants is the way Riggy treats public employee unions – with supreme disrespect, blaming all problems on them, and hoping to score political points that way. Riggy is known to oppose accepting any deals like this one from the firefighters, because he feels that it deprives him of an issue to run on. HE wanted to be the one to cut the police and firefighters off at the knees when he gets in next month. So he – and the GOP machine that backs him – ordered their obedient puppets on the Council – Bever and Mansoor – to stop the deal. Big KUDOS to Republicans Monahan and Leece for putting the financial health of their city over this partisan gamesmanship.
And this illustrates what the nice old Republican ladies were telling me a couple weeks ago at the coffee they put together for Phu: Allan is “not smart enough for the job, and he’ll just do anything the Central Committee tells him to do.” We can’t be sending this cat to Sacramento, and Costa Mesans must be smart enough to reject Riggy as well, as so many other towns have.
Goldwater girl Corrine Stover with Phu, at her coffee.
Vern, thanks for the props… you captured the essence of our situation in Costa Mesa quite well… sad state of affairs, for sure. If Righeimer gets elected and Katrina Foley wins a seat on the school board and then abandons her council seat the Righeimer-led council will appoint a replacement – likely one of his cronies. That would be a “10 year seat” – two of Foley’s plus two 4-year terms as an incumbent. It will become a de facto Orange County GOP junta in charge of our city!
Thanks for the props yourself… but I think we should leave “GOP” out of this – as we’ve seen, Republicans Leece and sometimes Monahan can sometimes show independence and vote for the good of the city. (Although that could have a lot to do with the good influence and arguments of Foley.)
Right, because we Costa Mesans are lemmings who vote for whoever the council majority tells us to. Remember, Katrina Foley has been a top vote getter in every election, so your junta theory falls flat. The people elected these people, deal with it.
Whenever a Union makes “voluntary” concessions I get a bit nervous. Could the reason for this week’s deal from the CMFA be that once the new Council is seated, there will be sharper cuts and less money on the table?
Any good coach will tell you that, “It’s better to play Offense than having to depend on the Defense”; the Unions do this so well.
Oh yeah, did the “Grown Up” get his mailing address worked out?
I was kind of hoping / not hoping someone would bring up that “carpetbagging” BS again. Phu’s been living at his Westminster home since last year. We have plenty of proof of that but it’s not really at the top of his list of priorities right now.
Here’s a detail he told the journalist Reicher, that Reicher didn’t bother printing, and that I wish I’d have known. His PARENTS live at that Santa Ana house (which he owns, and used to live at before he moved back to Westminster.) So of course neighbors frequently see him and his wife & kids there.
Total bullshit and distraction. Which I should be ignoring. As to your other point, the firefighters gave generous concessions which fortunately a Council majority accepted, and they will be extremely helpful to the City’s finances. Evidently you and Righeimer would have liked to have gotten even more from them. Take away even MORE of their benefits; maybe not only postpone their scheduled raise, but lower their pay as well? You guys are extremists. A great way to demoralize, and eventually lose, all your public servants.
i don’t know where you stand politically, well i guess i do cuz my daddy lou probably loves you, but when i look into your eyes all that i see is that you will never sit at the table when i’m there..you can play the game with the big boys, but somebody’s daughter sees you as the kiss @$#! that you are….
Honey, isn’t it a bit early in the day to be so loaded?
JIM RIGHEIMER = BAD IDEA FOR COSTA MESA
Please visit http://www.righeimer.com
Birds of a feather!