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Naughty Paul Bokota is finally back in the good graces of the Democrats who matter.
Paul Bokota of the Irvine Unified School District Board seems like a pleasant enough guy — smart, good deportment, Harvard-educated, but (in my limited experience with him) not one to make a big deal over it — who has seemed to want to keep himself far away from the sturm und drang of Irvine Democratic politics. And who can blame him? He’s a Democrat, so he seeks the DPOC endorsement, but there’s no point in inserting himself needlessly into other people’s intra-party fights.
Unfortunately for him, it’s leg-breaking time in Irvine. Here, have a real-time look at Paul Bokota being bludgeoned by the PR-arm of Irvine’s Democratic establishment into endorsing Melissa Fox:
Liberal OC, 10/16:
Paul Bokota, a Democrat who has the DPOC endorsement in spite of endorsing no one in 2014 when asked to, is up for re-election and likely to win. … Bokota and Hamid have the official DPOC endorsements in the election. And while a [sic] Bokota is an incumbent, he’s a miser when it comes to making endorsements himself especially for Irvíne City Council. Democratic voters in Irvine ought to take that into consideration when casting ballots next month.
Do I smell smoke coming from your campaign, Trustee Bokota? Let’s check in a few days later:
Liberal OC, 10/20:
“As IUSD Board President, and an IUSD parent, I know that the School Board needs allies on the Irvine City Council who care about ensuring Irvine’s tradition of educational excellence,” Bokota said. “Melissa Fox shares my passion for education excellence in Irvine and is committed to helping us continue the success of our Irvine schools.”
“Paul Bokota’s endorsement means a lot to me,” Melissa Fox said, “because I know how hard he works to keep our Irvine schools exceptional. As a member of the City Council, I look forward to working with Paul to support our schools and maintain excellence.” … [Long list of endorsements for Bokota follows two paragraphs down.]
OK, fine, people want Bokota to endorse the DPOC candidate in the tough Irvine City Council race. Sounds reasonable….
BUT WAIT! The DPOC endorsed TWO candidates for the two seats on the Irvine City Council! Why has Bokota only endorsed one of them? In fact, why is Liberal OC only all heated up about his failure to endorse socially liberal “Business Democrat” Melissa Fox and not his failure to endorse popular “woman of the people” Farrah Khan as well?
I guess that that’s just how arm-twisting politics works in Irvine Democratic circles….
Hmm, what to do? OK, I’m nowhere nearly as good at this as Chumley is, but let’s give it a go:
While Bokota is an incumbent, he’s a miser when it comes to making endorsements himself especially for Irvíne City Council, such as for DPOC-endorsed activist and populist candidate Farrah Khan. Democratic voters in Irvine ought to take that into consideration when casting ballots next month.
Sorry to do this to you, Paul, but it appears to be the way that things get done politically in your city. If the squeeze on you was to endorse Fox and only Fox, and you feel that you have to give into it, then please just come here and say so — and well ask Farrah if she’ll let you off of the hook. Meanwhile, we wish you good luck in your own election — WAIT, I’M DOING THIS WRONG!!! Umm, you’d better come through if you know what’s good for you, got it, Bokota? (Whew! Almost blew it there!)
Above all, note that even Larry Agran isn’t really endorsing Farrah Khan. Larry’s fake newspaper, ICN&V, split that endorsement with Anila Ali and Shiva Farivar. Thus, all three of these candidates have no hope of winning. They exist solely to dilute the “second” vote on many ballots. (Eg, after Fox or Shea, who gets the second vote?)
The main victim of this tactic is Dale Cheema, and of course, these three candidates themselves.
But back to the school board
What this article misses is that IUSD board collectively loathes the Agran. Even several of the “left wingers.” Paul Bokota is wise to stay as far as possible from the remnants of the Agran machine as he can.
First, when the Agranistas ran the show, they made a big show of “supporting our schools,” including a ballot measure. However, a (left-wing) school board member explained to me that the net contribution to the IUSD’s insanely tight budget at the time was basically bupkis when everything got netted out.
Second, Larry has ran candidates to explicitly pick of certain board members. This is has not gone unnoticed, and was not appreciated, because
Thirdly, Irvine’s school board has done a great job ignoring partisan divides and actually doing their job. There are IUSD board members whose politics would make Greg’s skin crawl. There are IUSD board members Greg would love. That’s a democracy. But, unlike our city council, there is relatively little partisan bickering on the IUSD Board.
Fourthly, Larry is being a pain in the ass about the new High School. Yes, the new high school site is _terrible_. But Larry controlled the park for years. He could of gotten that high school sited anywhere he wanted. But Larry only raised the issue _after_ he lost control. And THEN he’s had Harvey Liss writing about the “toxics” issue in almost every single issue of ICN&V, Larry’s fake newspaper. Poser.
Lastly, the Agranistas have gone from 3 seats to 1 seat on the city council. Why would anyone hitch their wagon to the losing side if they didn’t have to?
Paul doesn’t need the DPOC endorsement to win. IUSD incumbents almost never lose. But getting tied to Larry Agran, which is what endorsing Melissa Fox would do, just might cost him his seat.
Well, he did endorse her. But Melissa herself is cautious enough that I don’t think that it is like his endorsing Beth Krom.
I like the Agran group much more than you do, as you know — despite of the likelihood that perhaps half of them would like to see me deep-fried — but they never really provided for the possibility that someone would beat them (even if by violating campaign finance laws, which should have been anticipated. Nothing is forever.) The sorts of things you mention at the end are what happens when you improvise after the floor falls out from beneath your feet. I think that the school siting issue that you mention is a legitimate one and that Larry (and Harvey) are right on the merits — but I also think that Larry is not now effectively available to carry the banner on the political fight.
Then again — no one else is both willing and able to do so, are they? And that, right there, is my best defense of Agran. Even if his record is mixed, who else would have done the good things that he has done?
The sad thing about Irvine is that so many people just want to beat the other side, no matter what, even it it’s at the expense of good policy. I expect that none of them perceive themselves that way, but that’s how it looks to me.
So does Sean Panahi have a chance against Choi? I haven’t even heard of him campaigning. Brian Chuchua, with lots of people behind him, would have been chasing Choi around right now like a dog after a squirrel.
As for Farrah — this is going to do damage within the party that will last for a long time. Not many people dislike Shiva or Anila on their merits, but lots of people see something real, gracious, and special in Farrah. Shiva and Ali can just content themselves that had one of them got the second endorsement, they would be the ones getting spat on right now instead, just to ensure that they had the second-most votes of any Democrat in case Shea came in first or second. I don’t even know if Melissa’s supporters would even deny that at this point.
From Fridays’ Slate mailer.
Shiva Farivar announces two prominent endorsements:
Sukhee Kang & Beth Krom
the two highest vote-getters in Irvine municipal history.
Farrah Khan’s mailer had… four pictures of a smiling Farrah.
Yep — the DPOC endorsement means nothing to some political Democrats.
Farrah’s supporters don’t have the political stature of Shiva’s. A mixed blessing and curse….
Sukhee Kang? Wow! That’s a big deal getting the endorsement of a State Senator, even if he’s from Fullerton.
No, wait. That isn’t right.