Eleazar Elizondo Opponent Demonstrates HIS Analytic Chops, Too!

Candidate with egg on face

Code name: "Candidate Huevo Ensucara"

Copyright law contains a fair-use exception for quoting something for the purpose of criticism, so I’m going to reproduce a large portion of this post by one of Eleazar Elizondo’s opponents, whom I will refer to only by the code name “Huevo Ensucara,” as used in the photo at right.  What follows (in poisonous green and stolid teal, with emphasis in frightening fuchsia)  is a direct quote from another local blog:

O.C. Hatch Act violators could include Quirk-Silva, Pham and Kang

So the Orange County GOP and the Democratic Party of Orange County want to use the Hatch Act to push candidates that are in their way out of the picture?  Well, that sword cuts two ways.  There are plenty of OC GOP and DPOC candidates who should be charged with Hatch Act violations, including:

  • Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat running for the State Assembly’s 65th District.  The fact that she is the Mayor of Fullerton could be a Hatch Act violation, “if the elected office is not the individual’s principal employment.”  She is a teacher.  That is her principal employment.  The Hatch Act contains an exception for public school teachers.  But the City of Fullerton gets some federal funding  And she is also on the Orange County Sanitation District Board, according to her official bio.  That agency receives federal funds. Adios Quirk-Silva.
  • Long Pham, a candidate for the 72nd Assembly District.  He listed his occupation as “Member, Orange County Board of Education.”  Oops.  The O.C., Department of Education gets a lot of federal funding.  And the education exception in the Hatch Act applies only to teachers.  See ya Long!
  • Gregg D. Fritchle, a Democrat running for the 55th Assembly District.  His ballot designation says he is a Social Worker.  Really Gregg?  For what public agency?  Busted!
  • Sukhee Kang, a Democrat running for the 45th Congressional District.  His ballot statement says his occupation is “Mayor of Irvine.”  If that is true the Hatch Act excludes him.  But if he draws an income from other sources that exceeds what he gets as Mayor, and in fact lives off that other income, he could be violating the Hatch Act, as the City of Irvine does in fact receive federal funds.
  • Jorge Robles, a “Law Enforcement Officer” and Republican who is running for the 38th Congressional District.  That is a Hatch Act violation as law enforcement agencies all get federal funding.  Bummer.

I would imagine that we could do this all night long if we start to look at all the local candidates running in November.  The fact is, the Hatch Act could take out a lot of candidates this year, here in Orange County. If it is going to be used by the hacks going after Moreno, then they better be prepared to see their pals get raked through the coals too!

  1. BuzzKill

    April 12, 2012 at 8:15 am (UTC -7)

    Sorry to burst your bubble, but the law applies to partisan elected offices. City Council and School Board seats do not count. Why you mention people who are not covered by the Hatch Act in this post is misleading ad best, a deliberate lie at worst.

    [OCBOE candidate]

    April 12, 2012 at 8:23 am (UTC -7)

    No, I just screwed up. Thanks for catching that. Too bad

Let us never be accused of unfairness — in one day, Orange Juice Blog has now provided two Orange County Board of Education District 1 candidates with opportunities to demonstrate their analytic skills.  (The post where Eleazar Elizondo analyzes an actual issue recently facing the OCBOE Trustees is here.)  Readers who will vote in that district are welcome to make their own comparisons.

(For the record, I don’t much care politically whether Moreno remains in the AD-69 race or not.  Let the law operate appropriately — so long as it’s interpreted correctly.)

About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)