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Our toll lane fighters, left to right: HB Mayor Jill Hardy, CM Mayor Steve Mensinger, Assemblywoman Young Kim, Fountain Valley’s Mark McCurdy, Assemblyman Matt Harper, the MAN FROM ROSSMOOR, Westminster’s Diana Lee Carey, Costa Mesa’s Katrina Foley, FV Mayor Steve Nagel, Seal Beach’s Gary Miller also of the OCTA.
Well. That I wasn’t expecting! New Assemblyman Matt Harper, who represents at least half of the area that would be affected by the threatened 405 toll lanes, had been expected to bring back something like Allan Mansoor’s dismally failed bill of last year, which would have subjected toll lanes to a 2/3 approval vote of the people in the affected area.
But as it turned out, the new bill is to be brought forward instead by new Assemblywoman Young Kim of Fullerton, nearly 20 miles north. It fits because she’s on the Transportation Committee, and I also like that she’s outside of the “Corridor Cities,” given that we know the toll lane threat is going to spread from the 405 countywide.
But it’s painful to a Democrat who supported Kim’s opponent Sharon Quirk-Silva, as I can’t forget that SQS, along with our one other Democrat Tom Daly, despite all the lobbying they got from me and Diana Carey, let Allan’s bill quietly die in committee last year by boldly abstaining (so as not to piss off the dread Teamsters and Building Trades who see toll lanes as a makework slush fund.)
Will Young Kim’s bill have any better luck than Allan’s did, or will the general animosity of Sacramento’s Democratic majority to red OC, and their Union fealty, overcome their sense of justice? And is there a chance in hell that Governor Brown would sign such a bill? And is this bill at all different from Allan’s?
Well, I have an answer to that last question: Allan’s bill would have applied to anywhere in California, while Young’s is specific only to the OC – justifiable because we are a self-taxing county, voluntarily paying for our own highway improvements with our Measure M and M2 sales taxes.
Also there’s this twist – the law allowing Caltrans to foist toll lanes on unwilling counties has sunsetted since last year, leaving the malignant agency high and dry and giving us a little bit of leverage. (Do I have that right?)
Anyway I got up bright and early this morning to catch the modest but very well-done press conference announcing this legislation, and I got you-all some footage of it – well worth watching, only 12 minutes. The four speakers, emcee Harper (this was in the parking lot of his Costa Mesa office in the shadow of the 405); the fabled Diana Lee Carey of Westminster who has fought this fight longer than any of us by far; the BEST OCTA board director Gary Miller of Seal Beach; and new star Young Kim. They expertly hit every point I would have hit, I couldn’t have written their speeches better myself. (Well, I might have had Matthew say “imperative” a little less. And left out the favored Republican chestnut “RAM DOWN OUR THROATS” which Young Kim just couldn’t resist.) NOW WATCH.
[More observations to come…]
Wow!
This is a surprise, and a pleasant one!
I’m so used to so called “fiscal conservatives” screwing us belabored proletarians I actually allowed myself a moment of h-o-p-e.
That’s a c-h-a-n-g-e.
It’s bittersweet. I congratulate Young Kim and whoever put this ball on the tee for her on an inspired, deft, and appropriate political move. But my heart breaks because — as you’ll remember, Vern, and as our archives will attest — Democrats were out front on this issue first, coming out with a strong resolution before Republicans (with the exceptions of Moorlach and Miller) got their shoes laced. And, since then, as with numerous other issues, we have simply frittered that advantage away.
My going against the Building Trades on this issue is one thing that let to my (wholly improper) removal as DPOC Vice Chair. If the toll lanes go through now, Republicans will spend decades pointing at the gridlock on most of the 405 while the Lexus Lanes speed past the rabble and saying to voters: “we tried to stop that, but the Democrats made it happen.”
Too bad the DPOC Resolutions Committee has been trussed up, bagged, and left in a dark closet except when we can come up with something that will appeal to big donors focused on liberal lifestyle issues — which are great, by and large, but which pale next to voter anger at being sold out. So very, very clueless.
The Democrats are controlled by big union money, plain and simple, an no amount of lobbying by activists is going to persuade any legislator to vote against them, ever. Same reason now ex-Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva supported the desal plant plan we all hate. When it comes to these projects (and police abuse issues) Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter The Gates Of the Democratic Party and get real about who wields the power there, it’s cops and teamsters, etc. Those are your bedfellows.
To be fair, it’s not quite that simple. It’s more like this: “The Democratic establishment is controlled by corporate interests cutting the big campaign checks, and some (but NOT all) union leaders go along to get along and hustle for crumbs in the process.”
There, IFIFY.
Exactly. And some local union leaders are among the best in the country — and duly hated for it as a result.
“liberal lifestyle issues”
That resonates with sarcasm. Please elaborate.
No, not sarcastic. At our last meeting, our long moribund-by-choice Resolutions Committee — which before it was hamstrung I and my gang had been able to use to pass the aforementioned resolution — presented an easily passed resolution, and our Legislative Committee proposed support for a bill, that I think will elucidate the term “liberal lifestyle issues.”
We voted to support getting rid of the personal and religious belief exemptions from California vaccination: the sort of issue that certain sorts of activists think is not only worthwhile (which I agree) but can serve as a focal point of organizing (which is wishful thinking to the extent that it is thinking at all.) Sorta pales next to Republicans being able to say that they (despite excellent Dems like Hardy, Foley, and Carey in the photo above) were responsible for blocking the hijacking of the 405 for the rich. (Seriously, how do we DROP that sort of easy pop fly?)
We also voted to support SB-128, the “End-of-Life Option Act,” which as I recall would implement an Oregon-style “Compassion in Dying” approach to people in the final stages of fatal illnesses. This actually IS a class issue to some extent, as people with means can generally find a doctor or hospice to provide them with as much painkiller as they want, but it’s not one made for organizing in OC outside of the smattering of liberal households in Irvine and Newport and Laguna, who are already voting our way but mostly (to understate things) not donating.
I’m liberal; I agree with the above; you and other of my GOP friends may not (although if you do, good luck with pushing those stances in your own party.) But I think that we could better organize over issues such as Poseidon and San Onofre (on economic as well as environmental bases) and not selling our entire county to developers and such — which is difficult when one’s primary strategy is to get campaign donations from developers.
Elaboration complete.
Just for the record, Democrats who were involved in this first: Diana Carey, Gus Ayer, Shaw & Boardman & Hardy of HB, me and Greg. Jose Solorio wrote some good stuff too last year, but didn’t seem to work very hard to win.
Republicans who fought and are fighting hard on the wrong side: Pringle, Don Hansen, Jerry Amante, Bill Campbell.
It evens out, we just don’t have that many Democrat electeds here, less than ever any more.
And two Republican OC legislators who are especially notable in their silence right now – something I’d meant to add to the story – Don Wagner (as he runs against great toll lane fighter Moorlach) and Travis Allen (who tries to avoid the issue while he hobnobs with the OCBC crowd)
That’s a nice list of local elected officials on the Dem side, Vern, but state Dem officials know who butters their bread.
Wagner can’t go against it. His Kleptocratic patrons Pringle and Lucetta Dunn wouldn’t like it.
I wonder if Moorlach has the chops to hit Wagner over it. Repeatedly. Until he’s jelly.
Hi Vern ~
I believe that the photo caption that includes “Fountain Valley Councilman John Collins” should state that it is “Fountain Valley Councilman Mark McCurdy.”
Right you are, duh, and I talked to Mark for a while after. It was hard to tell from the pic tho, and I thought they were both there, and Collins used to always come (but I guess that’s when he was Mayor.)
No, wait, I was just seeing if you were paying attention.
*”No wired Toll Roads…..EVER!”
Thank you, Vern! You got it exactly right. The big issue is that when we passed Measure M, we were supposed to get an additional lane. But, their plans to take away the HOV lane leave us with same number of free lanes as we have today……before spending $1.3 BILLION to reconstruct the bridges. The OCTA moto for M2 is ‘promises made, promises kept’….it should be ‘promises made, promises broken.’
For the Corridor Cities this will mean enduring years of construction, and permanent congestion on our city streets that will fundamentally change the livability and sustainability of our business districts and residential areas. But South County will be paying big toll fees or enduring worse congestion in the GP lanes. Assemblywoman Kim understands this, but I wish more people would wake up and DO THE MATH!
The OCTA moto for M2 is ‘promises made, promises kept’….it should be ‘promises made, promises broken.’
Yes, and let’s not forget the ARTIC promise made to the voters in 2006. When it became inconvenient for the Smash N’ Grab Club to build ARTIC as promised they just rearranges the words, the logic and the law to suite their own purpose.
Speaking of ARTIC – my theory is that Anaheim Stadium is toast – to be torn down for Disney’s Star Wars park. ARTIC fits nicely with that scenario. Tie it all together with the long promised extended monorail.
Welcome to 2012 or so. Go back and read some of our old articles about Anaheim, particularly Cynthia’s. That’s certainly one possibility — and, if it’s a better deal for Anaheim citizens than the stadium is, possibly a preferable one. Except: instead of a monorail, look for a bulldozer. I forget whether Cynthia’s yet written about what she expects to happen, so I won’t beat her to it here if she hasn’t.
I remember this matter Greg. The unions should be less touchy over friends letting friends charge down a rabbit hole without questioning values and dumping each other for being rational. I know unions have a bad rap, especially in OC, the bastion of conserving power and keeping it. Unions smack of commie-pinko-conspiracy- blaming and that’s a concern. More and more unions are being marginalized and getting desperate around the eyes.
I’m glad we get a vote in this matter, too. And the OJ blog has been a clarion call to alert the lugubrious proles to get up and vote their interest!
Now….how to capture or sustain public attention long enough to vote. To register to vote. To remember to vote on voting day………….my head hurts. Any logo or picture we can put up on billboards on the freeway to make minds motivated? I know everyone I know hates this project.
Sorry Steve, but you missed that pitch badly. Here in OC the construction trade unions are joined at the hip with the Smash ‘N grab Club that keeps trying to rip off the citizenry on scams like the 3-Mile Trolley, the ARTIC fiasco, the Anaheim Convention Center bond swindle and 405 toll lanes that will create hardly any jobs at all. And then there’s the Poseidon Adventure.
One could actually think that the union leadership is being paid off without being accused of tin-foil hat paranoia.
I think that you may have misread Even’s comment. It doesn’t contradict what you’re saying. I think that “bad rap” was probably supposed to be “bad rep,” though.
I feel your pain. Certain union leaders there, just like certain union leaders I’ve encountered here in Nevada, have this horrible habit of selling out their own members’ best interests just for vague promises of “JOBS!!!” and guarantees of “access” & “juice”.
Concerned members desperately need to rise up & demand new leadership. They’re being failed by these “leaders” who are working against working class interests.
“Boldly abstaining”
Another classic.
Good for Assemblywoman Kim! This was a hose job from the start.
A previous poster painted this as a partisan issue where one party “frittered an advantage away”. Maybe its high time we dump these party idealouges and govern sensibly. If we need to champion Young Kim to do so….then lets do it. One thing is clear: Her predecessor NEVER would have the courage or good sense to introduce this bill.
Regardless this is a good thing.
It’s not and should not be a partisan issue. Republicans like Moorlach and Miller earned a great deal of credit here. I’m simply saying that, as a partisan Democrat, it boggles my mind that — having gotten out way ahead of the issue — we Dems are letting local Republicans become the heroes in the fight against the grossly rich who want to be able to get from San Diego to downtown LA and beyond without having their cars slowed down by hoi polloi. Best of all, from their perspective, Kim’s bill likely won’t pass — so they both get credit for populism AND their donors probably don’t get pissed off by their succeeding!
I salute Republicans for the maneuver here, both its substance and its tactical brilliance, as I generally do when the local GOP rouses itself to do something actually good. But, as a partisan — dammit, Dems SHOULD have been in the lead on this and we just chose to shoot ourselves in the foot.
I find most of your middle paragraph confusing, as if you are new to OC.
what a disappointment, here i thought that young kim was a full on ed royce clone. ed is going to have to bitch slap her (where is janet when we need her). and while i love matt’s hatt, he is wrong.
hopefully, cooler heads will prevail and the toll road will be created. i am tired of having to drive with the proletariat
Yeah, well if you were REALLY a success in life you’d get to the Staples Center by helicopter. And she only gets slapped if her bill passes — and not by Royce, who’s a North and West County guy. It’s South County that wants this Middle-Class Bypass most.
i agree, we do need to bypass the middle class. and, yes, the helicopter is more convenient but i kobe keeps taking up two spaces at the heliport
*So what do think of the Nuclear Attacks against Moorlach by the Republican Constabulary? Don’t think we have ever seen this much attack cash go after another
Republican since Richard Nixon ran against the famous Helen Gahagen Douglas….
I don’t think we like them.
we like anybody who goes after john “i will take your pension but i am keeping mine” moorlach
When has Moorlach tried to cancel someone’s existing pension rather than trying to limit future ones? You’re implicitly asking him to do the former to himself, not the latter.
Helen Gahagen Douglas was a Democrat.
*And her mother used to take our calls and go out surfing with us. Ever hear of Stonewall Jackson? He played bass in Ron’s band in high school until he had that unfortunate OD. Lordy, lordy, lordy!
*Wow…Stonewall! Now there was a…General!
*HGD…was really a Republican moderate. From the Nelson Rockefeller school of Communist Industrialist. She was slimed over and over again.,…until everyone thought she was the wife of King Faruk…..who loved Labor Unions. She was the wife Melvyn Douglas, an actress and a strong women’s rights, civil liberties and world dearmament supporter. She had a lurid affair with LBJ and probably made Lady Bird watch. She was elected three terms to Congress starting in 1944 and if anything was from the Henry Wallace wing of the Democratic party. The election of 1950 featured HGD being challenged fradulently by another Democrat woman named Downey. She withdrew and JFK himself gave money to Dick Nixon to run against her. This is one the dirtiest moments in American History and involved Harry Truman and all the usual suspects. Anyone with an inkling of inquisitive nature should look this story up on Wikipedia and they really should make a movie about this. It shows the inside of the sausage factory. Moorlach is stuck right in the middle of this current bratwurst.
*Misspoke….Sheridan Downey was a former male US Senator who withdrew from the HGD race, left it to someone named Boddy and then HDG defeated Boddy and then Tricky Dick ran against her after they dirtied her up unforgivingly.
And where are the Supervisors? Mrs. Steel is conspicuously missing………
No she’s not. She’s in Palos Verdes.
Good zinger, Zenger!
Oh but Supervisor Steel is so CUTE, the way she giggles whenever she’s forced to make a comment. And how she plays games and checks out her Facebook throughout meetings on her i-phone, as attested to by someone who has a good view of her pretty regularly.
Yes, the actions of a great leader! Wow, we shouldn’t feel so bad about low voter turnout in Orange County–Los Angeles City had a 10% showing for their recent elections.
CJ
Now should one disparage the voters for that, CJ — or the leaders who fail to connect to them? It’s worth considering why so much of the rest of the world can make such a connection — and we no longer can.
*Mayor Sam Yorty followed Richard Nixon when he left Congress to run with Ike in 1952……..We loved Mayor Sam. A Conservative Democrat….who was later a great Mayor of Los Angeles.