Anaheim Chamber, @ 5:30 Tues., Holds “It’s NOT a Bribe!” Fundraiser to Pay Off Kring’s $40K Loan to Herself

By
Greg Diamond
– November 24, 2015Posted in: "The OC", Fresh Juice

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I might give her $10 if she'd ever use a campaign photo from within the past 5 years....

Even I might give her $10 if she’d agree to use a campaign photo from within the past 5 years….

The Cunningblog’s transom has been defiled by yet another “legally, it’s NOT a bribe!” fundraiser announcement.  But this one’s sort of special.  It comes from Todd Ament on behalf of one of the Anaheim City Council members who keep on shoveling him money for nothin’ worthwhile:
Dear Anaheim Business Partner,
 
It may seem like it is far in the distance, but believe it or not, we just passed the one year away date for next year’s Anaheim City Council elections. As close observers of Anaheim politics know, 2016 will be a big year for Anaheim as we will elect our City Council for the first time by single-member council districts.
The districts have been adopted by the Council, however, four of the six districts up for election in 2016 have yet to be selected. Because she is at the end of her four-year term regardless, Mayor Pro Tem Lucille Kring will have to stand for re-election next year.
 
As you know, there has been no better Champion for Anaheim than Lucille Kring. She espouses the pro-jobs, pro-neighborhood philosophy in her votes, her actions, and her words, and has helped make Anaheim a leading example of how this vision can lead to great things for a community.
 
Because of the change in how elections are run, it is critical that Lucille be geared up and ready to go for a tough re-election fight. While there is no better campaign in Anaheim than Lucille, we can expect that those who yearn for a very different Anaheim will stop at nothing to defeat her. 
 
The best way we can help Lucille be ready for the election ahead is to help retire the last of her 2012 campaign debt from her last City Council campaign. We need to help her raise at least $40,000 to clear the books and let her start the 2016 cycle with a clean slate.
Anaheim City Council campaign limits for the 2012 election cycle were $1,800 per candidate and the law allows you to contribute up to that maximum amount to help retire debt, less what you may have already contributed to Lucille in 2012. Would you be willing to contribute to help erase Lucille’s campaign debt? Any amount will help this cause! Please make checks payable to [… can’t read this; looks like “Edna Mode.”]
 
In honor of retiring Lucille’s campaign debt and to thank her supporters, we are holding a reception on Tuesday, November 24 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at the El Torito in Anaheim at 2020 E Ball Road. We would love to see you there. If you cannot make it, please support this cause, and get Lucille ready for the 2016 election, by retiring her 2012 debt now.
 
We thank you for your support of Lucille, and of the pro-jobs, pro-neighborhood philosophy that makes Anaheim great. Hope to see you on the 24th!

Hey, if you want to give Lucille Kring money — or just write us a fake message saying that you plan to do so — that’s between you and whoever you think judges you in the afterlife.  I just want to make sure that you read the small print here to understanding how, even by the “legalized bribery” standards of many campaign contributions, this is even more like “legalized bribery” than most fundraisers.

Every dollar (up to $40,000 or so) raised through this campaign tomorrow night goes directly into Lucille Kring’s personal bank account after a brief stopover in her campaign account.

$40,000!  And it’s coming from people, like the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce itself, or people from Disney and SOAR, who want political favors from her — not just a year from now, but right now now!  Now, when she’s been voting on things like the Disney Gate Tax 45-Year Immunity Provision.  She’s getting her money NOOOOOWWWW!  (What could make it worse — if her husband were simply dropped into a lucrative new sles job where he might be dealing directly with the Convention Center?  Not that we know that to have happened….)

I know that none of this is supposed to be illegal even for a current officeholder — the first time I recall seeing Jordan Brandman on the Council dais at a meeting, he was triumphantly eliciting a publicly stated opinion to that effect from City Attorney Michael Houston — but it’s going to be hard to urge the resist to check.  Because if it is legal to essentially pocket donations from the people you just voted for — including the vote on deferring elections in majority-Latino voting pool District 3, of course — then that has a pungent whiff of scandal about it.  (Do you wonder why it’s taking place just after she’s done everything she could want her wealthy and slavering corporate supporters to do?  “Try it before you buy it,” I guess!)

I have about $1200 left of campaign debt to myself from my water board race as well, so originally I told last night’s DPOC meeting that I was going to hold a fundraiser outside of the El Torito in Anaheim at 2020 E Ball Road and see if I could get a taste of some of that sweet sweet “personal loan payoff” as well.  But then I realized that I’M NOT A PUBLIC OFFICIAL, so why would I expect people to hand me money a year after election.  So I’m thinking of standing outside of the El Torito tomorrow evening and carrying a large sign letting the public know what “legalized bribery” is taking place inside.  Anyone have some pointed wording of signs in mind?  Anyone interested in joining me?

Oh, and if you absolutely must make a donation to defray my debt, just in case I’m appointed to some City Council, you can still do so through this website.  (Offer ends in late December.)  If you hated Poseidon, you would have loved my page!  You listening, Disney?

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.)