My wife and one of my daughters were driving north on Harbor Blvd. this weekend, between Sycamore and North, when they saw a collection of big candidate signs. You’ll see a series of five photos of them at right. The signs reminded me of an exchange I had with Lorri Galloway at the August meeting of the Democratic Party of Orange County, when she and I were endorsed for our respective offices over the objections of some of the other’s supporters.
I had spoken against endorsing Galloway because of my concern that the likely effect of such an endorsement might be to elect Lucille Kring as Mayor. Kring, with her complete disdain for civil rights and victims of police violence — her best shot for victory this year would be precipitating another protest-turned-riot, so everyone keep cool — and her utter contempt disdain for Latino political aspirations, and her willingness to give anything to the wealthiest powers in Anaheim so long as they back power to her, would be a disaster as Mayor; under the City’s view of its powers under JPA agreements, she could literally be fatal to its General Fund. By any legal means, she just can’t be allowed to win.
Galloway, a longtime ally of Mayor Tom Tait (in substance if not in style), seemed likely to be competing for the same “reform-minded” votes as Tait. And so I spoke against her not out of antagonism, but out of pure political practicality. Like Tait, Kring has been campaigning hard all year — and Galloway, frankly, has not. That’s just not a pathway to victory.
Within the previous week or two, interests aligned with Disney (presumably, SOAR-PAC, the “Support Our Anaheim Resorts” group intent on squeezing every possible dime out of the City’s residents and presenting them as offerings to Disney, the Angels, and the like — had done a phone survey on the race, asking questions assessing attitudes towards Mayor candidates Tait and Kring, City Council members Kris Murray and Gail Eastman, and Council challengers James Vanderbilt and Dr. Jose Moreno.
They didn’t ask even a single question about Lorri Galloway.
That, to me, seemed to be the banshee’s howl that Galloway’s campaign was as good as dead. If they were no longer factoring her into the race, then why should the Democratic Party? Under those conditions, our responsibility would be to, if anything, tacitly support the least objectionable Republican: Tait, by a mile.
On the major issues of the day — the Angels Stadium (and environs) leases, the Convention Center expansion, the Streetcar project, the move to district elections, etc. — it’s hard even to know what if any Galloway’s position on these issues are. (She was an early and strong opponent of the Gardenwalk Giveaway — the issue that dragged me into Anaheim politics in the first place, at the repeated request of Galloway’s assistant Joanne Sosa — but this valiant stand against the voracious Resort District, which cost her her own position as Mayor Pro-Tem, no longer seems to play a role in her campaign.) At one time, I had thought that her positions on these issues were similar to those that have been championed by OCCORD and CATER — opposing giveaways and favoring the district elections that might focus more attention on the interests of voters outside of the Resort District and Anaheim Hills — but if she still holds those beliefs she is being quite circumspect about them, at least outside of speeches to select audiences.
Kring, who had shamelessly lied about her commitment to take positions that had earned her the endorsement of Mayor Tom Tait, justifying her dishonesty with the classic line that (and I’m paraphrasing) “she hadn’t put such pledges in her campaign literature,” had done every slavish thing she could to lock up the support of both Anaheim’s Police Officers Association and SOAR. If all that Galloway could do was to siphon votes away from Tait to Kring, supporting her was like putting our head in a noose.
Galloway came up right after me and gave a blistering and crowd-pleasing speech, using the tent revival sorts of cadences and themes that I have since come to find quite disturbing coming from her. They are not merely “my way or the highway,” but “my way as God’s ordained next Mayor of Anaheim or the highway,” which, as I pointed out in a story linked here, raises the stakes an awful lot.
Galloway pointedly refused to “dignify my allegations about her lack of viability with a response” before she, naturally, responded. (My position was a lot more nuanced than that. Originally, I thought that Tait might be persuaded to drop out of the race in favor of a City Council seat. I didn’t care which of them was Mayor and which on the City Council, I just wanted both of the candidates whom I thought were taking good positions on the City Council. Of course, at the time I thought that Galloway was taking good positions. Now — who knows?)
In other words, up through about February or so, I thought that Galloway was quite viable. Then … she just disappeared from public debate. To me, that was the end of her viability. Anaheim has been in a crisis this year; a small crew of us volunteers (largely associated with CATER) have been fighting with the enormous powers of the City on the above issues — and she was just gone. It looked like chickenshit to “abandon one’s post” like that. I suspected that perhaps she had thought better of running at all — and I was a little surprised when she finally did file.
But back to the podium at that DPOC meeting: Galloway said something that struck me deeply at the time — but I didn’t have time to write about it. Seeing these pictures of signs reminded me of it.
She said, and while this is a paraphrase I think that it’s substantively accurate: “I know why Disney did those polls and it was not because they thought that I wasn’t viable!”
It was an aside — but it’s awfully telling. Let’s presume that she’s right about this. Why would Disney/SOAR-PAC leave Galloway out of its telephone survey if it thought that she was still viable? They’re trying to figure out how to spend their money — wouldn’t they want to know?
Some people muttered last spring that Disney was going to convince Galloway to come into the race as the attack dog against Tait, the deal being that the four-person Anaheim majority — Kring, Murray, Eastman, and the sole Democrat Jordan Brandman — would then appoint her to fill Kring’s Council seat. I didn’t think that that was likely — and she doesn’t seem to have done so. Her attacks on Mayor Tait have essentially been that Anaheim needs a woman Mayor pronto — I’ve never once heard her address the obvious point that Kring is also female — and that she, unlike the Mayor would have the power to win the Anaheim City Council majority to her side. (This is, of course, the same majority that kicked her out of the Mayor Pro-Tem position after she took a principled position on the GardenWalk Giveaway.)
If this was her being an “attack dog,” she was doing a pretty poor job of it. She attached me more effectively in eight minutes at DPOC than she had attacked her election opponent Mayor Tait in the previous eight months. And, so far as I recall, she didn’t attack him — or Kring, on the issues. The issues didn’t seem to matter; her divinely ordained destiny did. Maybe she did speak out on behalf of protecting poorer people, opposing Kring — but I don’t recall it.
So what could have been the reason that Disney left her off of the poll? The only reason that comes to mind is that they were checking to verify their suspicion that Kring’s campaign was dead in the water — and that pouring their money into supporting Kring would be a waste. In other words, if Kring was doing SO BADLY that her loss was a foregone conclusion, then it might just make sense to switch to Galloway even without knowing her poll numbers.
But, no matter how effective and irritating Tait has been when it comes to opposing the Resort District’s wildest desires, what price would Galloway have to pay for that? She’s have to favor the Streetcar, presumably; probably the Convention Center Expansion as well. Would she have to do an about face on her previous opposition to the Gardenwalk? What about her position on the Stadium Lot Giveaway — which it looks like Arte Moreno has gotten rid of without her? If the notion is that SOAR — which already came out strong for Murray and Eastman, but which has distributed no literature on the Mayor’s race at all — is going to support her simply out Anaheim-flavored “kindness,” let’s just say that that would be unusual.
The answer might be in these signs.
Some most likely low-level grunt did put a small Murray sign in front of Galloway’s big one, spoiling its carefully styled visual effect, but the overall effect here seems pretty clear. Whether Galloway and the two City incumbents are running on a slate or not, the effect of three huge signs in a row on a major thoroughfare — with nothing from Kring, Tait, or any other candidate around — is to make it seem like a coordinated effort. How Lorri Galloway can possibly reconcile her being on a de facto slate with Kris Murray and Gail Eastman, I do not know — and how the Democratic Party would react to it, given its support of Dr. Jose Moreno, is another mystery.
Signs that huge are not ones that one generally hands out for the asking; their placement is well-planned in advance. Maybe Galloway got there first and left the trailing spots to her competitors. Or maybe the tableau you see here (except for the irritating, from Galloway’s perspective, small Kris Murray sign) was planned. I haven’t seen much evidence until now to suggest that SOAR-PAC and its minions (wait … can a minion have minions?) are abandoning Kring for Galloway — but this again brings that possibility to mind. There’s an old saying: “When nothing else is working, try panicking!”
If that’s what happens to Lucille Kring, well, normally I’d console someone by saying that “at least you fought the good fight.” But she didn’t.
Could be right.
BTW, I just tried to post this comment at the nauseating Cunningham blog; I reproduce it here, for posterity:
Hugh, I’m missing something in your post. You seem to be blaming Tait for this so-called impasse. And yet he is only ONE vote on the council. What about the other four? Kring has fundraisers at the stadium. Murray says she is going to “work like hell” to keep the Angels. Eastman and Brandman enthusiastically voted for the one-sided “non-binding” MOU.
So what’s your real problem? Why not address your issue to at least two of the four who seem terrified to go ahead with the deal, and could have approved it months ago, with or without Tait.
My reply to your comment. Who knows if it’ll go up.
Agreed.
I’d love for someone to explain why Kris Murray and Todd Ament can’t count to three.
I mean seriously. They vote down the deal and then use the failure to pass the deal as a blunt political weapon?
I’m not sure who to feel sorry for. Anaheim voters being played for suckers or Arte for being played as a chump political tool?
It’s just sad all the way around.
I suspect that Arte got sick of them trying to use him in their profit-making scheme. That’s not based on any official non-public information, though. A plain vanilla Stadium deal will go through. A new Council with Tait and two of Dr. Moreno, Vanderbilt and Acevedo (yes, I do know which way to bet among them) would approve one.
No. Moreno (Arte) is actually being coached by the kleptos. The breaking off negotiations four weeks before the election is, as Ryan describes it, a cheap political hustle to try to make it look like Tait is somehow blocking this, knowing that most Anaheim voters are unaware that the mayor only gets one vote.
Moreno can’t get a stadium in Tustin by 2019 even if they wanted him and they won’t, meaning that he’s in Anaheim ’til 2029. Check out the Tustin MCAS Master Plan. Now where in the Hell is that stadium supposed to go?
I’ll give him two options.
He’s unaware he’s being USED as a giant tool.
He’s aware he’s being USED as a giant tool.
In either case, he’s still being used.
I don’t take Arte Moreno for the kind of man to be used by anyone. It’s a real damn shame, too– because he’s being used to leave millions of his own dollars on the table for someone else to scrap up later.
I sure wouldn’t want to be in Arte’s way when he finally decides to stop getting used. Look out, Todd. Don’t let the axe hit you on the way out.
Enjoy.
Anaheimster
Can you fools be anymore hypocritical? Now you’re complaining that the council majority didn’t override your hero Tom Tait? How dishonest can you be? You’re the same morons who have been saying the Angels have nowhere to go. Now that they have a foot out the door, you’re trying to blame everyone but the guy who has been driving them out the door (with help from people like you). You clowns will say anything.
Tom Tait is the one who has brought us to this pass. If he possessed a modicum of leadership skills, and conducted his mayorship like an adult rather than a spoiled child who throws a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way, Anaheim wouldn’t be in this fix. It would be nice if Cantor and Zenger would man up and admit it.
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September 28, 2014 at 9:23 pm
Ryan Cantor
What up, Ster!
I’ll admit I can count to three.
Three votes is what Kris Murray needed last September to pass the MOU. Three votes is what she needed to pass a deal in January. Three votes is still all she needs today.
Three votes to turn this into a political weapon.
Three votes.
Now, what was that you wanted an admission for?
We aren’t stupid. Murray and Ament are risking Anaheim’s future for the sake of one election. The Angels had no where to go, they gave them three extra years to find an alternative, and they failed to get the deal done.
The same week absentee ballots go out, what a shock.
Anaheim deserves better. I’ll settle for anyone who can count to three.
Also, I don’t know who owns that property on Harbor, but they’ve been hustling for Galloway in every election for the past 10 years with those giant signs of the never aging Galloway in her tailored red suit.
Picture courtesy of Basil Hallward.
What person living on Harbor Blvd. has the ability to get that honking size of posters? I presume that Bill Taormina doesn’t live there!
I’m sure he doesn’t live there, but you might be surprised how much rental real estate that guy owns.
The property is indeed one of the many, many, many parcels of real estate owned by Taormina or the many, many, many business entities that offer funding to the candidates of his choosing. And yes he throws those things on the lawn every election. As a tenant i would want to be relocated for the election, especially this year.
I admit I have had to re-read this post numerous times, the first time sputtering that Diamond had completely lost his mind and could not possibly understand the EXTREME hatred between SOAR and Galloway. Greg I am not sure when you got to CA but back in 07/08 Disney had Galloway DETAINED for being on their property! She called the Police Chief to say she was being arrested and was in some sort of Disney jail but he thought she was at one of those fundraisers where they lock you up in the “jail” until your friends bail you out with cash for the cause. Or so that was his excuse for leaving her….so if Disney/SOAR comes out in support of galloway (figuring out Kring is a non-starter is not going to take long for Hiltchak and company) there will be no greater sign than this symbol of Mickey wiling to completely whore himself out to get the taxpayer funded goodies that they most certainly are not going to go bankrupt over if they DON”T get. Greed, pure and simple.
And yet…today I could actually see that scenario. Kring is a loser, she has run for, and lost, EVERY attempt at higher office. Not once has she EVER simply stayed in the office she asked taxpayers to trust her with, and every time voters have told her to go pound sand and take her overly-ambitious, self-serving self home to Ron. The only reason I backed her was her promise to support Tom (broken) her promise to be independent of Pringle/Disney who have become one and the same (I am ashamed to have bought her promise) and her promise she was done with chasing higher office, she had learned her lesson and just wanted 2 terms as Council helping to get Anaheim past the destruction of Pringle before she left political office. She understood voters would never let her gain a higher office than that, and frankly I think she was afraid she might not make this one. So her polling numbers must suck beyond words.
Given the MASSIVE amounts that Disney has on the table right now in OUR FUNDING which THEY WANT for THEIR PROJECTS, they cannot afford to let someone NOT on the take get into that seat. If that means selling their souls (as thin as they are at this point) well hey, billions is billions, right?
Streetcar we know won’t transport anyone near the capacity needed and the City’s docs show will make congestion worse, but it SATISFIES transit requirements for new development so they can build their 3rd gate. i didn’t say it has to make sense. Leaving from ARTIC (where I am pretty sure our lobbyist friend scored big for a client) using OUR ROAD REPAIR money from a gas tax Pringle pushed through the ballot while on OCTA. Talk about your “long cons”….I’d admire the vision to put this together if I didn’t have to pay for it!
Oh-don’t forget that tearing out the hotel of that poor midwestern family who is NOT politically connected in Anaheim, leaves the hotels flanking either side of the new pedestrian bridge where the ParkVue hotel once stood worth exponentially more for having access to Disney as their front porch…and which lobbyist has clients on both sides of that poor doomed hotel? Yup, our buddy the former-Mayor-turned=lobbyist.
Convention Center which lures business travelers to backfill visitor numbers in off-season, I don’t think it is nearly the draw that staff wants us to believe, but Disney doesn’t have to pay for it so why not make the demand and boost even marginal numbers at no cost to them? And of course, whose client got the no-bid contract to spend our bond money for the Convention Center we may or may not need but have not established we can afford, approved on the most outrageous legal premise in history? Yup, our buddy…
…and when the Gardenwalk cannot get a loan to build a questionable hotel even WITH the subsidy underwriting the hard-money loan interest rate, and Disney scoops up the property in another BK sale, the “feasibility gap” say Disney MAY NOT score the same subsidy, and that is fully enforceable….with a letter from the City Council. gee it seems pretty easy to keep that letter from blocking your subsidy if you OWN the Council…
Yeah I can see how the Disney/SOAR folk could either hold their noses REALLY REALLY HARD and back Galloway when they see Kring tank, or might even be quietly working both ends against the middle so no matter who wins they owe you a solid (or a few hundred million of them) at this point I would not put it past them to try buying off Fitzgerald (who I believe would rather become a woman and suffer daily sexual harassment than capitulate to the Mouse that already reportedly shut down a well for percolate contamination while he warned the public it was happening)
So I guess maybe Greg is NOT smoking anything on the weekends that would render him unable to function as my legal advisor on Monday…yeah, Disney buying anyone they CAN or think they can….I can see that. And this crowd selling their souls to the highest bidders, I can see that too. I guess they all deserve each other.
These comments are so much fun to read. Good job, everyone.
To return to this briefly: it’s worth pointing that Lucille Kring’s screaming and flailing over the top kamikaze attack on Tom Tait yesterday can be read either as an attempt to boost her own campaign … OR as an attempt to drag Tait down to her level so that Lorri Galloway — ever silent these days — can remain above the fray. (If it’s the latter, it hasn’t worked so far.)
But what’s in it for Kring if she’s going to spend the next five weeks serving, essentially, as Galloway’s faithful ninja assassin in the climatic battle against Tait? It’s hard to say. Revenge? Feminine solidarity? The glory of becoming Mayor Pro Tem? Yeah, OK — that last one makes a little sense, if one’s sights are set sufficiently low. (And, if rumors about her poll numbers are right, this is pretty much all she’s got unless she wants to move to Tustin and start wooing Arte Moreno from there.)
*The phone calls are made….the rings are exchanged ……the campaign fund raisers slide into 2nd base and the next thing you know……you have a new Mayor. Whoever wins makes the decision to take the cash and the seat.
*You can set your watch on it…….