Jordan Brandman, Facing Democratic Protests, Will Reportedly Skip Truman Dinner

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When protest raised its angry head he bravely turned his back and fled.

When protest raised its angry head he bravely turned his back and fled.

Pressure has apparently been building on Anaheim Councilman Jordan Brandman to reverse his vote on which of Anaheim’s newly created election districts will come up for election in 2016, versus in 2018.  Brandman joined Republicans Kris Murray and Lucille Kring in rejecting Mayor Tom Tait’s motion that the three most Latino districts in the city be among those to have elections in 2016.

Tait’s motion respected the intent of the settlement of a voting rights lawsuit and was proposed by every single member of the public who spoke during the public hearing.  It was rejected by a 3-2, in which Tait was joined by a fellow Republican, James Vanderbilt.  Instead, the majority assigned the only district with an actual majority of Latino voters, District 3, to a non-Presidential election year two years later in which Latino voting is expected to be comparatively depressed.

Brandman has faced opposition on Facebook and elsewhere from former City Council candidate Dr. Jose Moreno, the official Democratic candidate whom Brandman refused to endorse last year in favor of Republicans Kris Murray and Gail Eastman, and longtime DPOC activist and former Resolutions Committee Chair Jeff LeTourneau, among others.  They have argued that this move is a clear attempt to undercut decades of community activism and the results of a recent lawsuit, filed by Moreno, Amin David, and Consuelo Garcia, to strengthen the ability to Latinos to achieve long-delayed self-representation on Anaheim’s City Council.

Brandman has apparently heard the voices of his protesters — and has decided to turn tail and run.  As Anaheim’s highest Democratic elected official, he was slated to give the welcoming address at Saturday’s Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC) annual awards banquet, the Truman Dinner, which will be held at the Anaheim Hilton.  OJB has learned that he has now canceled his participation in the Truman Dinner, and in fact will not attend the dinner at all.  (So, there’s another ticket available to anyone who wants it.)

Brandman was apparently concerned about the prospect of facing protests, including possibly being booed while on stage, from the many members and supporters of DPOC who have been shocked by his decision to postpone for two more years the day when Central Anaheim, the most Latino portion of the city, can choose its own representative.

LeTourneau has stated that several members of the DPOC Central Committee plan to use a special emergency procedure to bypass its (currently moribund) Resolutions Committee.  They will bring up a resolution at next Monday’s monthly meeting to demand that Brandman heed the wishes of Anaheim’s Latinos and reverse his vote — allowing all three Latino majority or plurality districts to vote during the 2016 Presidential contest.

Increasing pressure is now being applied on those who have endorsed Brandman to remove their endorsements — an effort that is expected to intensify greatly if Brandman sticks with the fellow members of his Council majority.  Word is that several people who have endorsed Brandman are worried that their continued support for Brandman under these circumstances would be perceived as showing indifference to one of the most important issues currently facing Latinos in all of Orange County.  This of course includes the 46th Congressional District, the race in which Brandman is opposed by Joe Dunn, Lou Correa, and Bao Nguyen.


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.)