Write an entire story just to justify putting up a stupid picture? Why, we’d *never*!
“Right-of-center” Republican spokesblog OC Political, which I believe Vern joins me in liking quite a bit other than around election time, is providing coverage of the selection of the new Orange County Clerk-Recorder to serve out the term of Asmb. Tom Daly (D-Chevron), including next Tuesday’s whittling of this list of 25 candidates down to 10. They say that they’re going to liveblog this. Well, lah-dee-dah, OC Political. We’ll do more than reprint a list from Future President Todd Spitzer’s office — we’ll Google them!
That’s how it started, anyway, and then at some point we decided to take portions of it at least a little bit seriously. Here’s the updated list of the 25 Clerk “finalists” — we’re guessing that it’s more like “quarter” or “semi” — with more detailed information about each, where possible:
–Dick Ackerman (attorney, former state senator and assemblyman)
Say you’re Dick Ackerman. No, stop making that silly face. And pull that right eyebrow back down. Seriously, pretend you’re crooked former California Senate Minority Leader and long-ago Fullerton Councilman Dick Ackerman, and your three buddies who are currently on the Fullerton Council have asked you for help keeping their jobs.
That would be Mayor Dick Jones, and Councilmen Pat McKinley and Don Bankhead, known popularly as “the Three Blind Mice.” And they do know they need your help, as their shameful behavior in the wake of the brutal police beating murder of homeless Kelly Thomas….
-Dale Anderson (attorney)
It’s looks like there may be more than one attorney Dale Anderson in OC. We’re not going to risk guessing which one it is, if so.
–Larry Bales (FDIC settlement agent)
[We presume that this is this guy, who ran for Assessor in 2006]:
I am Larry Bales candidate for the Orange county Assessors office. I am the only candidate, elected or otherwise who has made major contributions to the passage of Proposition 13. I played a major investigatory role in the reasons for the passage of Proposition 13. I had appeared before the Orange County Grand Jury giving information regarding the past illegal assessment practices of the Assessors office. My testimony resulted in the indictments of the Orange County Assessor, Staff members in his office, and members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Eventually, 42 people were indicted during this probe….
–Andrew Calderon (law firm managing partner)
We’re guessing that it’s the guy mentioned here, not the meat cutter or the other one you’ll see if you Google this. Perhaps you might choose to use your middle name, Mr. Calderon.
-Alicia Campbell (Administrative Manager II at OC Public Works)
Here you go! Went to Cal Lutheran — and I know someone on LinkedIn who knows her there! Find her there yourself, if you can — you stalker.
-William Copulos (retired law firm managing partner)
Two people of this name in OC, and one in Honolulu. Again, we’re not going to guess.
-Ron Davidson (retired corporate CEO)
Possibly on Pinterest. We’re not clear on that — and we’re not following up. Call it a 404.
-Stewart Davis (corporate program contracts manager)
[I don’t know if this is the guy, but he sounds great! NASCAR and motorcycles in the County Clerk’s office! How many counties can say that?]
Director of US Operations for CRP USA, LLC. CRP Technology is a Rapid Manufacturing company specializing in producing parts and components for the Motor Sports and Aerospace industries. CRP has been instrumental in the success of many race winning F1, Moto GP, Rally Raid, ALMS (American Lemans Series), NASCAR and World Rally Championship teams. We also produce motorcycles for the new TTXGP series.
–Linda Dixon (former Costa Mesa mayor and council member, retired university assistant vice chancellor)
[The link is to her profile from her campaign in 1998. She sounds relatively respectable. Not sure what to do with that. Vern says that he can say more about her. Meanwhile, I also found a 2002 letter to the editor that suggests that she really really likes Costa Mesa!]
“Since Costa Mesa is receiving newspaper recognition, I felt compelled to share with the community a few facts about our outstanding city.We are close to the ocean (within three miles) without the fog, and we are lucky enough to live in one of the best climatic zones for gardening in the world — a gardener’s delight. Costa Mesa is a vibrant community– with wonderful residential neighborhoods and recreation programs fort he entire community, arts programs, youth sports activities, higher educational institutions, special events and 412-plus acres of parkland,all unique and enjoyable. We are proud to be a member of Tree City, USA,and most of all, just about everything a person needs can be found in Costa Mesa.”
-Elizabeth Fleming (contract attorney)
LinkedIn shows only one Elizabeth Fleming (who goes by “Beth”) in OC — and she’s a 3rd level contact in my network! As a fellow contract attorney (in the recent past) I’m rooting for her. Contract attorneys almost always need a better job!
–Michael J. Fox (attorney)
[No, this is not former Assembly Candidate Melissa Fox’s husband Michael D. Fox (a member of both the state and local Democratic Party E-Boards), nor is it the Canadian actor. I’m guessing that he’s associated with the firm of his name. If not, I’ll happily correct it. Based on his self-description, he actually sounds pretty damned qualified. That may be what the Supes should be looking for, but it doesn’t help this article be funny.]
“Michael J. Fox has a diverse background in addition to private practice. Mr. Fox previously served as in-house counsel to H.K. Realty, J.K Properties and their subsidiaries, entities that owned and managed over 16,000 apartment units in the greater Los Angeles area. Mr. Fox later served as Vice President and Associate Counsel for Fidelity National Title and as an Associate for the firm of Pite Duncan, LLP.
Mr. Fox has hands on real estate and business transactional experience with the negotiation and preparation of real estate purchase and sale agreements, formation and maintenance of corporations, limited liability companies, joint ventures and partnerships. He is proficient in all aspects of real estate transactions and knows how to avoid the pitfalls that can arise during the various phases of a transaction including the due diligence period, analysis, negotiations and preparation of contracts, financing, zoning, permits, title matters and escrow issues. Having litigated numerous cases that evolved from transactional errors, Mr. Fox has assisted clients avoid potential pitfalls and successfully complete both residential and commercial purchase, sale and section 1031 real estate transactions.“
[If this is the wrong Michael J. Fox, I suggest that he ask the Michael J. Fox who was chosen to sub him in. Someone in the Clerk’s office who knows about real estate? Huh?]
-Ellie Ghasemi-Fazeli (legal assistant at Office of Orange County Counsel)
Seven Google hits, six of which involve this announcement and the seventh of which (inviting one to look for any random person’s court records) suggests that she does actually exist, and is age 32. Too bad if there’s no more, because that is one seriously euphonious name.
–Lydia Lake (attorney)
[Yikes — ANOTHER apparently well-qualified real estate attorney! What went wrong with the process that a number of real estate attorneys become finalists? I’ll tell you a funny story about the firm where she works: whoever typed in its entry for the webpage “Lawyersdb.org,” which led me to her record, apparently had a slight pinkie-finger slip with their URL “fsglawyers.com” — and yes, it’s exactly what you think it is. I strongly suggest that FSG contact them to correct the record. Or sue them! Suing is also good! (Not intended as legal advice.)]
Lydia Lake is an associate of Friedman Stroffe & Gerard, P.C. Her practice is focused on general business and commercial real estate transactional matters.
Practice Groups
- Real Estate & Construction
- Corporate & Business
- Intellectual Property
Experience
Lydia counsels on deals and transactions for various real estate developers, national banking associations, tenants and large-scale landlords in matters including real estate, asset-based financing, ground, retail, office and industrial leasing and real property acquisition and disposition. She has drafted and negotiated retail, industrial and office leases, including ground leases, subleases, lease assignments, terminations and related contracts. Lydia has also drafted and negotiated purchase and sale agreements for single tenant parcels, unimproved land, office buildings, retail shopping centers and industrial parks, performed due diligence on the subject properties and conducted the closings for the transactions. In addition, Lydia represents lenders in connection with various loans. Lydia has prepared and negotiated easement agreements, indemnity agreements, non-disturbance and attornment agreements, and development agreements. Lydia’s practice also includes preparing property management, construction management, and vendor/supplier agreements for office and industrial property owners; landlord/tenant dispute negotiation; forming business entities, including corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships; registering and enforcing trademarks and copyrights; and general business advice.
Prior to joining FSG, Lydia was a commercial real estate associate in the Irvine office of Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis and in-house counsel to Linens n Things in Clifton, New Jersey.
-Nora Lesnet (Administrative Manager at OC Community Resources)
Apparently Director of the charitable foundation Association for Woman in Technology. Not quite as on point as a real estate attorney, but better than most of the politicians who made it. She also dodged a bullet — she has a page with a social activities group, but it’s not embarrassing.
-Francis Licata (attorney)
Apparently works for Law Office of James M. Fraser, One MacArthur Place Suite 310 (South Coast Metro), Santa Ana, and was admitted in 1976 to the California Bar. “Premises liability,” which I guess is real estate related, is listed as a firm practice area.
–Steve Madoff (consultant, former executive vice president of Paramount Pictures)
HOLLYWOOD, March 3 /PRNewswire/ — Steve Madoff has been promoted to senior vice president of business affairs and legal for the video division of the Motion Picture Group of Paramount Pictures, it was announced today. Madoff is responsible for business and legal affairs activities for the videocassette and disc, pay-TV, pay-per-view and multimedia markets. He reports to Jack Waterman, executive vice president, business affairs and finance, video and motion picture marketing. “This promotion reflects Steve’s substantial contributions to the growth of our company,” Waterman said. “His responsibilities will grow as Paramount expands its worldwide pay-TV, home video and multimedia businesses.” Previously, Madoff was vice president, business affairs and legal, for the video division since 1989. He was promoted to director of business affairs and legal in 1988 after starting at Paramount as an attorney in 1987. Before that, he served as International Counsel for the Motion Picture Export Association of America. From 1981-1986, Madoff was an adjunct professor of television production at the New York School of Television Arts. He was an attorney with Rakov and Bayles in New York from 1980-1982. Madoff holds an LL.M. degree in trade regulation from New York University School of Law and a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law. He also holds an M.S. in television and film production from Syracuse University and B.A. degrees in political science and creative writing from SUNY at Buffalo. Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Paramount Communications Inc., which is being acquired by Viacom Inc. -0- 3/3/94
-Tanya Mayweather (regional credit/collections manager)
Does Credit and Collections at CR&R, whose website is here. It’s a Stanton-based waste and recycling services company. Nice, but isn’t this a better qualification for Supervisor?
–Hieu Nguyen (assistant clerk of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, former OC chief deputy recorder)
That link is to an FFFF interview of Nguyen by Fullerton’s now-Councilman Greg Sebourn. Mike Duvall liked him more than he did Norby; Lib OC’s Chris Prevatt did not.
According to this OJB article by Pedroza, he had started going by “Hugh” when he ran for Clerk-Recorder in 2009 (against Chris Norby.) “Larry” [Gilbert?] commented:
“Q-What does Chris Norby know about running the Clerk-Recorder’s Office? A-Absolutely nothing! Hugh Nguyen worked there twelve years and advanced to the #2 position. When possible, let’s start putting people in office who have the knowledge and experience to do the job right. Arnold is a perfect example of what happens when we don’t.”
And here they are again.
From Sebourn’s interview: some Daly-bashing!
5. Recently, Tom Daly has been criticized for his expenditures. FFFF has reported extensively on the fact that Daly convinced the Board of Supervisors to OK the purchase of a building in disrepair for $2.1 million, that Daly hired the relatives of political contributors, and that Daly has handed out tens of thousands in no-bid contracts to questionable consultants. As Clerk-Recorder, will you attempt to rite these numerous wrongs, and if so, how?
Response:
I plan to review the mission of the Vital Records program and source of long-term funding of facilities and operations. I will conduct this review with the assistance of the CEO, Real Estate & Facilities Department. I will report the results to the Board of Supervisors in public meetings and request policy direction. Based I want I have read, I believe the purchase of the vacant office building for over $2.0 million was not a good decision and it is not feasible or cost effective to renovate it into a Vitals Records facility at a cost of $5 to $7 million. I also believe the scope of the collection needs to be limited to public records of historical significance.Tom Daly has awarded a number of consultant contracts to friends and political associates during his term. He has structured these “Sole-Source” agreements to be under $50,000 thereby avoiding the requirement to obtain Board of supervisors’ approval. He has also split contract scope of work into phases to stay under the limit. He has also awarded contracts for work retroactively for work completed and has paid for services that were never delivered or of little value. This practice will STOP 100% under my administration. I plan to run the department in a fiscally conservation manner and follow the correct contracting and personnel procedures to accomplish the work of the office. The funds derived from user fees needs to fund the services and systems used and should not be diverted to pet projects and work for friends as has been the current practice.
–Chris Norby (former state assembly member and supervisor)
Nothing more to say beyond that link. I still feel that way. So, I understand, do others — but why don’t more other people say so? A Democrat could beat him for re-election.
–Bruce Peotter (attorney, former assistant public administrator/public guardian)
Another real estate attorney! Let me find a good quote from his site:
“The founding attorney of our firm, Bruce Peotter, was raised in a family where the entrepreneurial spirit was highly valued. He spent two years as the Assistant Public Administrator/Public Guardian for the County of Orange. In that role Bruce was able to see the negative impact on people and families caused by the failure to plan their estates properly. Too often, he saw families struggle with providing proper care and service to their family members in need. He has seen the benefit first hand in eliminating the need for government involvement in handling the affairs of estates. No one knows better than you how your estate should be administered and who should care for your family.”
–Renee Ramirez (assistant clerk-recorder)
She’s the Acting Clerk. That link up there is the most neutral thing I can find about her. Former boss Tom Daily likes her. Tony Bushala seemed not to be a fan. Oh God. There’s also this piece from OJB’s ancient Pedroza regime. FFFF and, to a greater extent, Pedroza seem to have been on a continuing jihad against her. That might be a point in her favor.
–Roy Reynolds (transportation consultant)
[Check, please!]
“Recent polling by my firm for the Costa Mesa Taxpayers Association found that 472 registered-voter households, 59 percent of those surveyed, believed the city “should look at all its options to solve the budget crisis, including outsourcing some of its services.” Of 803 responses to this question, out of over 27,000 automated calls made only to Costa Mesans, 27 percent answered “No” to the question, and 14 percent were Undecided.
The City Council’s strategy to take bids from private companies for work like vehicle upkeep, street repair and park maintenance is favorable to better than double the households we polled. The city will determine by a fair and competitive process whether it will be less expensive to use profit-motivated companies or unionized city employees to perform maintenance and support activities. We’d expect that contracts will be let to private firms only when it’s clear that the city will save money.
If outsourcing succeeds, and it will, union domination of municipal personnel will disappear as the city tries to shrink a multimillion-dollar budget deficit and mitigate $131 million of unfunded pension obligation”
He also wrote about the Clerk’s position on Pedroza blog, which is itself disqualifying.
–Steve Rosansky (real estate company president, former Newport Beach council member and mayor)
The spirit of Gus Ayer, who wrote the linked article, apparently says “no.”
–Harry Sidhu (business owner, former Anaheim council member)
The El Pollo Loco mogul and Tony Shahloub lookalike, late of the Anaheim City Council, was one of the architects of the GardenWalk giveaway. I have heard many amusing things about him, mostly from Republicans, and that doesn’t count Bushala’s dubbing him not mere a, but the, “assclown.” (Look! Vern has a picture!) He would be an even more atrociously political choice than most. Portions of his Wikipedia page, linked above, look like they were perhaps crafted by political non-admirers, which raises the question — why does he have a Wikipedia page?
–Steve Waechter (sales manager/computer consultant)
He got into a discussion about the Clerk position in comments with Roy Reynolds after the latter’s article at Pedroza’s place, which seems to account for most of his web presence. Did he acquit himself well? Judge for yourself. (Whoever “j karish” is, I think that maybe he or she should have been one of the finalists.)
There’s a good reason this [Clerk-Recorder] is an elected positon not a government employee. Assessor, Auditor Controller, Tax Collector too.
If you doubt that give some thought to Bradley Jacobs stated reason for not running for reelection as assessor.
That was classy. Where is Jacobs now? I want to call him up.
I can’t say the current assessor, a former employee and staff assessor purported to have the “professional technical skills” you cite is as good as an actually independent, elected assessor would be.
Some years ago, the current Assessor, Webster Guillory, proposed peeping into folks’ backyards to see if they were squirreling away any illegally-built swimming pools that, therefore, hadn’t been added to the home’s assessed value (and may not have been issued building permits. That’s not the kind of intrusion I’d allow from my government. The same can be said for Vector Control, a little known county agency that I’ve heard is ticketing homeowners for ‘green’ (unmaintained) pools — where’s the line?
You are correct that anyone running for these offices isn’t necessarily skilled or trained to actually do the work. That was evident with Daly, who’s a career politician, and has moved around a number of positions (like running CA High-Speed Rail for a moment or two). Neither are politicians necessarily effective managers.
None of that is what I meant.
Some years ago the state BOE staff was going around to counties trying to get the assessor to increase assessments, and thus taxes.
There was an audit report of Orange County assessment practices about that, and it had some recommendations that the county should do certain things and assess things in certain ways to increase those values.
When Bradley Jacobs didn’t file for re-election he stated something like this:
“The state is demanding assessors increase values to increase taxes, and as the independent elected arbiter of the value of property I cannot be involved in any such schemes.”
That’s from memory so it might not be word for word, but the gist of it is the elected assessor is responsible to his constituents. He has to follow the law but the elected assessor *IS* the people’s representative in that office.
I expect nothing more as a constituent than a fair hearing and to have the elected assessor, if I can convince him I am right and staff is wrong, to direct staff to change my treatment. All within the law of course.
The tax collector and the recorder, and even the auditor controller are similarly elected officials and are responsible ultimately to their constituents.
And that’s the way we want it.
I have said this for years to city council candidates: If we wanted the staff to just tell us all what to do we wouldn’t need you, or to have elections at all. But we don’t want the staff bossing us around so we do have elections.
Glad of that.
Oh, by the way, they did hire an aviation photography firm to take secret pictures of our backyards for I understand that very purpose. Paid a lot of money for it too.
That was before the rollout of Google Earth, which made further expense unnecessary, but brought everyone’s backyard into the Public Domain turning ‘secret’ and ‘snooping’ into hyperbole.
For a number of years, I’ve regularly seen a twin-engine airplane (white with black engine cowlings, about the size of a Cessna 310) flying a precise north-south pattern over my home, usually around noon, at least once weekly. It heads south to the beach, turns around and flies north about 1/4-mile east of its southbound pattern. I’ll bet money it’s taking pictures.
That was a delayed response!
That postcard election is what Prop 218 allows, and that was done by HJTA, who are very sensitive if criticized on that.
That postcard thing should be changed, they should have to get a majority of the postcards back signed as affirmative. The way it’s done if they just throw out the postcards and don’t mail them at all, they are a yes vote on taxes.
That is just wrong.
Please clarify. With the advent of mosquito-spread threats such as West Nile Virus, are you defending the privacy rights of foreclosing banks or negligent neighbors to run mosquito hatcheries? ‘Little-known’ Vector Control is for disease abatement, not cleanliness.
I don’t think Roy is coming out in favor of West Nile virus!
There’s a big difference between being against the government spending our tax money to drum up extra taxes. Taxes to pay the government workers’ lush pensions and benefits and being in favor of looking the other way when disease is the issue.
As to the Vector Control District, their prop 218 fueled “election” on a postcard some years ago stank to high heaven. That’s probably what Roy means, and as you can see I don’t disagree.
Correct. The post card election stunk in a number of ways. Vector Control is a government agency with minimal oversight that undoubtedly needs more aggressive scrutiny, especially on their budget, staffing and expenses.
This recruitment should not go to any former politicians. We don’t need some termed out politician hanging out in that office for the next 12 years.
Nor to government employees. Current or former employees of that agency. No way!
It’s not an issue of who has the expertise to record documents. The staff can do that, they have no problems doing that and you don’t need an elected official to have that expertise.
You don’t need an elected official with the expertise to preserve the archives.
None of that is what elected officials are about. Elected officials are here so the people have their representative in the office.
Incidentally, I applied.
So, where does this all leave us? Of the candidates about which much might be said at all, we can group them into three groups: (1) politicians, (2) conservative ideologues, (3) people who apparently have relevant substantive non-ideological experience.
(1) POLITICIANS
- Dick Ackerman
- Linda Dixon
- Hieu Nguyen
- Chris Norby
- Renee Ramirez (almost ran, after all)
- Steve Rosansky
- Harry Sidhu
(2) CONSERVATIVE (OR, FOR VERN’S SAKE, “CONSERVATIVE”) IDEOLOGUES
- Dick Ackerman
- Larry Bales
- Chris Norby
- Roy Reynolds
- Steve Rosansky
- Harry Sidhu
- Steve Waechter
(3) APPARENTLY RELEVANT SUBSTANTIVE NON-IDEOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE
- Michael J. Fox
- Lydia Lake
- Hieu Nguyen
- Bruce Peotter
- Renee Ramirez
- And maybe also, but that conclusion would require more evidence:
- Andrew Calderon
- Alicia Campbell
- William Copulous
- Ron Davidson
- Stewart Davis
- Elizabeth Fleming
- Nora Lesnet
- Francis Licata
- Steve Madoff
- Tanya Mayweather
LOL! What a waste of time. The job will most likely go to some politician. Don’t expect the Board to actually hire someone competent.
Art,
Nah, the board is not going to appoint some politician, they are going to appoint me.
To make the necessary changes.
Truth, justice and the American Way, right?
Steve Waechter
I’ll bet that they won’t choose you. [Note: mistakenly written as “me” originally.] Offer to give me 100-1 odds that they will and you might actually have a chance, in case they feel like spiting me. Are we on?
Greg,
I am not going to respond to that one!
BTW, I have blogged for years and years, but not usually as myself.
I am not new, not at all. Let me just say I have blogged in DOS mode, before the world wide web. Before the internet too.
There is value in blogging anonymously, no?
Steve Waechter
I never said you were “new.” I’ve blogged both under my name and under a pseudonym or two, but for long enough to establish a reputation. I started back in 1986, when U Michigan had a system that was an awful lot like contemporary group blogs, but in some ways better. And yes, it was pre-graphical interface (if you don’t count ASCII cows and such.)
Having my writing called “a waste of time” by Art Pedroza is something especially precious.
I’m not “expecting” the board to hire someone competent — but I did find a few who look like they might be. What do you do with your evening?
Greg,
Thanks, I never said you said I was new. What you did say was:
” He got into a discussion about the Clerk position in comments with Roy Reynolds after the latter’s article at Pedroza’s place, which seems to account for most of his web presence.”
That is likely my entire web presence under my true name. But like you, I was on USENET. And sure, that was clearly in some ways better.
And before that on bbs systems on dialup! With an S-100 computer! Extra credit if anyone knows what that is! If you do you should have a grey beard.
That’s a problem with using pseudonyms. When you finally want to be recognized for your own accomplishments, it can be hard to claim them.
Oh, I don’t think I would want to claim them. They stand on their own.
Maybe I was able to convince someone, maybe not.
But how many times I have had people say “Gee, never thought of that, maybe you’re right”. Lots of times!
That’s what blogging is for.
S-100… A blast from the past… I worked with some of the competing passive-backplane systems, like VME bus.
And yes, my beard is getting gray
the fix is in,,,,,first vote 2-2-1,,,second vote 2-2-1,,,,,third vote, norby becomes clerk recorder. remember who represents norby and who still represents a majority on the board
The ethically challenged, grinning one?
Stand by for about seven comments on this article.
heard the same thing, only the client was hugh nguyen
First, I’m more optimistic than most here that the BOS is really ready to turn over a new leaf, and get away from the perpetual promotion of corrupt insiders and career politicians – meaning (if I’m right) the choice won’t be Ackerman, Sidhu, or Norby. The three male Supervisors really have seemed mortified over how the County’s been run the last few years, and this may even be true of Bates and Nguyen.
I don’t know what Greg means, not only by “conservative,” but also by “ideologue.” Okay, Norby is a conservative ideologue. And Roy Reynolds is a particularly nasty conservative ideologue. But Ackerman, Sidhu, and probably Rosansky, are just what I’d call “gravy train Republicans.” They’re not driven by any strong ideology, they’re attracted to politics for the money and power; if we were in a majority Democrat county they’d probably be Democrats. That’s not “ideologues,” Greg, and not conservative either.
They’re not ideologues, but they play them in OC.
We are never agreeing about them not being conservatives. I don’t care what their hearts are like, I care what the do with their hands.
This ISN’T about hearts vs. hands, this is just about hands. It’s about the real difference between conservative ideologues and garden-variety Republicans, and what they actually do, and it’s a relevant distinction for positions like this.
A conservative ideologue like Norby or Reynolds will sometimes buck his party and do something – that we might consider either good OR bad – in service to one of his values such as smaller government – like when Norby was the only Republican to join Jerry Brown in opposing redevelopment agencies while the other Republicans followed orders and played politics with the issue.
While Gravy Train Republicans like Ackerman or Sidhu, or Cunningham, or the Anaheim Council majority, will do whatever it takes to please their funders and cronies, which will often involve waste and dishonesty.
There’s a difference. And I’m not saying I want either of them necessarily. In fact I’m starting to favor Hieu, who, based on his statements above and what I know of him, seems like a true conservative. (Omitting the word “ideologue” which I’m aware carries the derogatory connotation of “at the expense of reality.”)
Regarding Renee Ramirez, have you seen Adam’s new article on Jordan Brandman? http://www.voiceofoc.org/county/article_9377e54c-8a63-11e2-aab5-001a4bcf887a.html
It should be DISQUALIFYING, for Renee.
Excerpts:
“The Orange County clerk-recorder’s office is refusing to release a report prepared by Anaheim City Councilman Jordan Brandman that was originally due six months ago because it is still in “draft” form, raising questions about whether the councilman failed to fully complete the tasks of his taxpayer-funded contract while he was campaigning for office….
“…District Attorney Tony Rackackaus also has questions about Brandman’s work and whether the councilman has been abusing public resources. Rackauckas’ office has been reviewing a complaint that while an Anaheim Union High School District trustee, Brandman used a small district office for personal use, a possible violation of state law that is punishable by a $1,000 fine.
“Assistant Clerk-Recorder Renee Ramirez, who is vying for the clerk-recorder job, said that questions submitted by a Voice of OC reporter about Brandman’s work at the agency must be reviewed by county lawyers before they can be answered….
“…Clerk-recorder staff purged Brandman’s public calendars, which is a regular practice when a department employee resigns, according to Ramirez. But according to open-government experts, that is a violation of the state’s laws on public records retention.
“’Jordan’s [computer] hard drive, network account and email account were cleared out and deleted upon conclusion of his County employment. This is standard policy for those no longer employed by the Clerk-Recorder. I can’t say whether or not any calendar appointments ever existed,’ Ramirez wrote in an email to a Voice of OC reporter.”
In short, in service of her cronies Daly and Brandman, she has destroyed evidence. As the first commenter points out, “The county does NOT clean the hard drive etc. of staff after they leave. That work is transferred to the person who will need it for history or to take over the position. Unless…..you have something to hide….”
We citizens should object to Ramirez as strongly as we do to Ackerman, and let the supes know why.
Holy crap. That’s bad even by OC standards. Adam sure has his timing down.
ACKERMAN. Okay, Ackerman and Ramirez are both just UNACCEPTABLE. We just looked at the strikes against Ramirez; Ackerman also doesn’t deserve a position of trust because of #2) the way he and his wife lied about their residence when he tried to get her into office a few years ago; and #1) his actions as “Judas of the Fairgrounds” in 2009, which he still has yet to answer for. I’d sure like to hear Spitzer or Nelson or Moorlach question him about all that, but in any case he and Renee don’t deserve to make it into the top ten….
Last week we linked to a list of ten likely crimes or infractions crooked Dick likely pulled off regarding the Fairgrounds Swindle:
1. Advised OC Fair Board to orchestrate a $250 million land fraud against residents of State of California.
2. Facilitated Serial Meeting in violation to the Bagley-Keene Act among several Fair Board Members. (see billing record detail)
3. Arranged and advised OC Fair Board members, in violation of “Gov’t Code Section 1090” conflict of interest laws, by forming the OC Fair Foundation that attempted to purchase of the 150-acre OC Fairground. The California Attorney General warned board members about these violations and withdrew their state mandated legal services.
4. Facilitated OC Fair Board members in violation of State Gift Laws by using OC Fair/State funds to set up the private OC Fair Foundation.
5. Was hired in violation of State Dept of General Services contracting laws – OC Fair Board never approved his contract.
6. Paid Nossaman contract using laundered money – Paid through LSA.
7. Was hired in violation of State Law preventing Boards and Commissions from hiring outside council without prior approval by the Attorney General.
8. Back-dated LSA-Nossaman Contract submitted to the 32nd DAA purportedly authorizing his already-paid Legal Fees.
9. Submitted “False Claims” to the 32nd DAA by using the SEIR EQC land-use contract as the purported authorization for Nossaman’s legal fees.
10. Violated one-year restriction on lobbying state legislators – violation of the Milton Marks Act. Statute of limitations will run out this July.
Let’s NOT have this crook be our Clerk-Recorder.
Linda Dixon I remember as a nice lady when she was Costa Mesa Councilwoman. This was back like 2005 – 2008, during the dark, anti-immigrant Mansoor years. I don’t know which Party she’s in, but I know that she and Katrina Foley were usually the two-member minority going against Mansoor, Bever, and Wendy Leece (who was much more of a brainless GOP follower back then.) This means Linda and Katrina mostly voted against immigrant-bashing measures and labor-bashing measures.
I don’t see what particularly qualifies her for Clerk-Recorder though. I’d hope rather that she’d come back to the Costa Mesa Council when Wendy’s termed out in ’14. She and Katrina could take that open seat and hopefully beat Riggy too, joining Sandy Genis for a reasonable, competent majority of cool chicks!
ROY REYNOLDS used to write here, in January and February of ’09, when I was on *cough* sabbatical.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/author/roy-reynolds/
Before and after that he commented frequently and anonymously (often as “Golightly.”) He’s a real nasty piece of work. Gus Ayer knew him well, and always described him as “lugubrious.” I guess they had some kind of tangled history in Fountain Valley, regarding transportation policy. Gus was, I think, the only person Roy hated more than me – now that Gus is dead, I’m probably number one. But he hates most people – all Democrats and many Republicans. He seems to have developed a man-crush on The Moorlach however, and maybe he thinks that’s his ticket to Clerk-Recorder.
He writes anonymously for Art’s blog now. I can tell which pieces, because whenever I comment “sounds like Roy wrote this” that gets deleted. The stuff he writes about OCTA is actually very knowledgeable, and he’s totally on the same page as me and Gus re. the 405 Alternatives … but the last thing he would EVER do is link to OUR work.
He is a right-wing ideologue and calls himself a tea-partier. Again, I do not see what especially qualifies him for Clerk-Recorder. But he won’t get it anyway because nobody likes him.
So in other words: the Supes will consider him qualified?
Also – he worked as a pollster-for-hire-as-in-tell-you-what-you-wanna-hear a la Probolsky, for Riggy’s crowd in Costa Mesa. Gus nailed him there as well:
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2011/04/roy-reynolds-podcar-booster-turned-pollster-and-our-report-from-feet-to-the-fire/
HARRY SIDHU. I doubt a majority of the Board takes him seriously, and Emami noticed Shawn’s visceral loathing of him. You were wanting his ass-clown pic?
That’s from the boys at FFFF, who consistently made a very strong case that Mr. Sidhu was nothing more than an “assclown” of the highest order. Of course, at the time, they were attacking anyone who was running against Shawn for Supervisor. But I became familiar with his assclownery myself toward the end of his tenure in Anaheim Council. And not only is he a tool of corporate interests, he’s also one of those people who manages to be both arrogant and stupid at the same time.
I’m not too worried about him getting chosen though.
I’m crossing my fingers for one of the actually QUALIFIED people, like Michael Fox or Hieu Nguyen. I’ve met Hieu once or twice, and we shouldn’t think badly of him just because Pedroza liked him. The reason Art, myself, and many others were drawn to Hieu, was our very legitimate criticisms of Tom Daly – his waste and cronyism. I’d be real happy if Hieu got picked, he knows just what he’s doing.
I also can’t help but root for Michael J Fox because of the spirited and good-humored way he has dealt with his Parkinson’s Disease.
Let’s revisit this post and narrow it down radically when they pick the ten finalists – that’s a week from tomorrow, or tomorrow?
our favorite attorney did work for hugh when he ran for that office
Well, I really think our favorite attorney is inescapable, and cannot be considered a disqualifier. Tell him he’s still “ethically challenged” though. At least until Professor Bauer tells me he’s not.
I’d like to leave this post as-is — it’s the last that we’re ever going to hear if some if these people! — and do a really serious one after the herd is culled tomorrow. This is oddly fun.
Please don’t make me say again that it’s not that Michael J. Fox. Poor guy’s already probably been suffering for 30 years….
I’m still pulling for the contract attorney.
…. Not to mention the heroic, nay suicidal way he attempted to save Sara Jessica Parker in Mars Attacks!!!
So, damn, between logistics and technical difficulties, Emami beat me to the scoop – the Supes have narrowed the pool down to ELEVEN now. All the people we like, and all the people we don’t like, are on it. Just not the people we’ve never heard of. I’ll do a bigger post on this in a few, but here’s the line-up, starting with the ones who have the support of all five supes, down to the ones who have only two:
5-
Hieu Nguyen – yay!
Renee Ramirez – boo! (We gotta get that Adam story to the supes.)
Bruce Peotter – ??
4
Ackerman (boo!) – all but Janet!
Norby (meh) – all but Moorlach.
3
Larry Bales (all but Moorlach and Janet)
Rosansky (all but Janet and Shawn)
2 – I assume these don’t have much chance:
MJ “Back to the Future” Fox
Madoff
Reynolds
Sidhu.
Emami is an asset to the blogosphere. I’d say that it pains me to say it — but it doesn’t.
So each one voted for 7?
I need to know more about Peotter. He has a history in County govt, but he also seems like he may be qualified.
Putting aside Nguyen, about whom I’ve heard too much good and bad to know which way is up without further study, the one who stands out based on my initial look at them is MJ Fox. (My deepest apologies, counsellor, for dooming your bid by saying so.)
Is it inappropriate for me to say that I’d like someone who doesn’t plan on using this as a steppingstone for higher office but DOES plan to hire only people who can improve the quality of the office rather than shmooze potential donors? Because that’s what I really want.
A lot of them voted for candidates who only got one vote, and did not move on to the semifinals.
Peotter does seem qualified. This partly breaks down to qualified vs. political hacks – although Renee is both qualified and unacceptable.
That last paragraph sounds like Hieu, based on the impression Sebourn and I got of him.
Yeah, I finally went to Emami’s site and got the raw totals. Pretty interesting. The only Spitzer vote who didn’t make the cut was the woman who seems to be from Newport Coast with the social networking site profile. (A non-embarrassing one, or I wouldn’t mention it. I’m sure that Spitzer had his reasons.)
No one supported the contract attorney. Well, we’re used to that level of support. Good for Governor Moorlach for supporting Lydia Lake. But he also supported Steve Madoff? Okay … but what was his reasoning?
Shawn Nelson is the only one who batted 1.000, but he only took six swings rather than ten.
The big news is: Bruce Peotter is in my LinkedIn network — through Ron Winship! We must seek the scoop from Ronandanna. If he’d permit me to publish it here, I’d do so. My sense that he’s probably a Republican — they probably all are — but that doesn’t rule out his being decent, competent, sane, and committed to public service rather than personal advancement. I just don’t know if that’s true. Getting 5 of 5, though, as someone who people would have known from his time in the Public Administrator’s office, probably speaks well of him. Probably.
Vern Said “A lot of them voted for candidates who only got one vote, and did not move on to the semifinals.”
What went on last week and today was outrageous.
They should have each given their whole lists last week. Some of the names might be on more than one list. With Spitzer saying last week to Nelson “That 8 is my list too”. The process was being subverted. Oh so carefully subverted. But subverted.
They should have all given all their names having reviewed the voluminous applications last week and come back a week later with final selections having heard their colleagues’ choices.
As some said, “I like some of yours too”. And there is always a chance that they might discover some common ground.
The whole meeting today was a little weird if you ask me.
So Spitzer voted for all if the candidates who got three or more votes? Was he copying off of other people’s papers? This is no way for a future President to behave!
before you get too excited about peotter, you should check into why he was asked to leave the public guardians office
Or, you could just tell us.
Yes, do tell us.
in time, in due time
Hmph. OK, then at least answer a subsidiary question: who was it that asked him to leave the Public Guardian’s office?
Yes, we need this, fifth floor fly. I’m writing about all the top five, and don’t know nothin’ about him.
it was mutually agreed to by mr peotter, then public guardian john williams, county counsel, certain members of the board and the district attorney
Well, fly, between County Counsel, the DA, and “certain members of the board” that likely means enough institutional memory to affect the decision. And yet: five votes. I’m inclined to presume that either it isn’t material (as would be embezzlement or other criminal act) or it isn’t relevant to his prospective duties as Clerk-Recorder. Is there a reason to rebut that presumption?
two out of the top five
the fix is in
Given that the top five vote-getters were the five most prominent OC political figures (except with Peotter replacing Sidhu), this is not exactly going out on a narrow ledge.
And how is it a “fix” when it may be one of five (somewhat disparate, except for party registration) people?
because it is a sham
the winner will be nguyen or norby
OK then, let’s presume that you’re right. Where do we go from there?
Moorlach didn’t even nominate Norby, so one vote for Hieu.
I’ve heard that the Jan-Tran feud may be dying down some ahead of Janet’s SD-34 race, in which case she needs to support Hieu. That’s two.
Nelson probably needs to mend FFFFullerton FFFFences after the homeless shelter thing. One for homeboy Norby.
Bates seems like she’s prefer the ideologue. Two for Norby.
So the decision comes down to Spitzer. The question becomes, who can help him become DA on his way to the American Presidency: a cranky, widely disliked, washed-up libertarian or a seemingly qualified Vietnamese man?
Congratulations, Hieu Nguyen! Am I close?
(How was it fixed, by the way, and by whom — and if so why not for Ackerman?)
What’s this suggestion that Hieu is a Trannie? Are they saying that somewhere? The Liberal OC? Or are you assuming that? he sure wasn’t when I knew him in ‘010.
Shawn doesn’t need to mend FFFFences with anybody. I just got off the phone with him, and he seems actually proud of the shit he’s taking for doing what he considers the right thing for the homeless. “No good deed goes unpunished,” he laughed. He’ll vote for the person he thinks is most qualified. And NOBODY who’s already getting a government pension.
My sources told me that he was on that side of the divide. Verbal conversation. Not Lib OC.
Good for Nelson! But — lots of the rabble there were furious with him at the time, so what does his not going unpunished suggest if not fence-mending?
Not every Viet who gets involved in politics is a devotee of Van Tran or Janet. (In fact very few of them are devotees of Janet.)
Yes. And yet.