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Left to right: Mission Viejo’s Mahmoud El-Farra, Huntington Beach’s Shayna Lathus, and Brea’s Blake Perez
Let’s try this alphabetically by city, shall we?
Aliso Viejo
Democrats have endorsed two candidates, newcomer Tiffany Ackley and School Board Trustee Gary Pritchard. I agree with both endorsements, but I want to add this: Tiffany Ackley was the most visible proponent for Dan Chmielewski prior to the meeting considering his expulsion from DPOC. (She distributed her letter for him before the closed session began, which is the only reason that I can say so.) I’m supporting her anyway, because she is one of the two best candidates. Chumley (as I call him, Tiffany) would probably oppose you simply on the basis of your having defended me in a similar similar circumstance. You have my endorsement, but it is tempered by my saying the above publicly.
Anaheim
Look over there.
Brea
Brea is divided into three categories: Yes, No, and NO WAY!
Yes: Blake Perez and Sean Thomas
No (though I’d be OK if one wins): Glenn Parker and Bill Hall.
NO WAY!: Cecilia Hupp (our Jen Fitzgerald), Steve Shatynski, Steve Vargas
Buena Park
District 1: Sunny Park (despite being caught stealing signs without FPPC ID, under the misconception that she could take them to the police as evidence. Easy mistake, especially in a dirty city when one is running against the cops’ candidate).
District 2: Ian MacDonald (I’m trusting the DPOC’s vetting here, which when dispassionate is usually pretty good)
District 5: No endorsement.
Costa Mesa
Mayor: Katrina Foley (I like Sandy Genis and have hoped that it was not true that she has traveled down the path of darkness led by the hand of the awful Jim Righeimer, but Geoff West says it’s true and I’m inclined to trust him.) The following are also Geoff’s picks, but I looked them over and they look legit.
District 3: Andrea Marr
District 4: Manual Chavez
District 5: Arliss Reynolds
Cypress
3 Seats: Nettie Bryan & Frances Marquez only (trusting DPOC vetting)
Dana Point
District 1: Amy Foell
District 2: Mark McGinn
Fountain Valley
Pass
Fullerton
District 3: Jesus Silva (despite that I like Greg Sebourn for a Republican and Nickolas Wildstar has the best beats)
District 5: Vern likes Ahmed Zahra. Ryan speaks kindly of Ahmed Zahra. DPOC endorsed Ahmed Zahra. The Arab American Democrats endorse Ahmed Zahra. I’m sorry — I don’t want Paulette Marshall to win this race, but I just can’t endorse Ahmed Zahra. If he wins, fine — but not with my endorsement.
Garden Grove
Mayor and District 1: No endorsements; ran out of time.
District 3: Thu-Ha Nguyen (trusting DPOC on this one)
District 4: Mark Paredes (enthusiastically and based on personal knowledge)
Huntington Beach
Council: Gina Clayton-Tarvin suggests bullet-voting for only Shayna Lathus. I think that it’s wise to use up the other two votes, or they’ll get deployed randomly — but I’ll compromise with Gina. I’ll join DPOC in endorsing Darren Ellis and stop there.
City Attorney: I DON’T CARE if he’s the only name on the ballot; vote against Michael Gates. I heard through the grapevine (I don’t actually recall which grape) that there’s an HB attorney named Jerry Friedman who will accept and care for your write-in votes. So write him in! (If I’m wrong about this, Mr. Friedman, I apologize — and I hope that Gates doesn’t arrest you on spurious charges.)
Irvine
Mayor: Without a decent Democrat on the list, if I lived in Irvine I’d be voting for Katherine Daigle. Actually, that’s not entirely true: if I lived in Irvine I’d be running for freaking Mayor myself so that there would be a decent Democrat on the list!
City Council (2 seats): The “Unity Slate” of Farrah Khan and Lauren Johnson-Norris. (Please elect both of them or there will be hell to pay!)
Laguna Beach
Council (3 seats): I actually really like the DPOC choices of Ann Christoph, Toni Iseman, and Judie Mancuso.
Laguna Hills
Pass
Laguna Niguel
Council (2 seats): DPOC says Deborah Townes. Checked her out; seems legit.
Laguna Woods
Pass
La Habra
I’ll go with Michael Blazey and Jose Medrano, the latter just to mix things up a bit.
La Palma
Pass
Lake Forest
This is the city that was selling “Poll Site Corporate Sponsorships.”
PASS! PASS! PASS!
OK, seriously — I’ll support anyone who would stop the city from selling “Poll Site Corporate Sponsorships.” I know that it’s too late to find out now, but … yeeesh!
Los Alamitos
Council: Under no circumstances should anyone vote for racist juice dispenser Dean Grose — and shame on the OCGOP for endorsing him. There are three incumbents for the four seats — and they will probably beat Grose without your help. So I suggest bullet voting for solely Tanya Doby and GiGi”Finch
Mission Viejo
Council (3 seats): The DPOC wants me to endorse only Mahmoud El-Farra for these seats and I have to admit that he looks quite impressive. But I notice that decent guy Greg Raths was not endorsed by the OC GOP, which supported only two candidates. Well, I think that El-Farra could use some decent company if he gets onto the City Council, so even if voting for Raths as well may make his victory slightly less likely, it also increases the likelihood of knocking off one of the endorsees — so that’s what I’d do if I lived there. (If Raths is no longer a Republican, all the more reason I’d want to support him.) I’ve made it up to El-Farra by making him one of our cover models.
Newport Beach
Maximizing distance from a Peotter gets you this endorsement! Running against one gets you a special mention!
District 1: Mike Glenn
District 3: Tim Stoaks
District 4: Roy Engelbrecht
District 6: Joy Brenner <== most important one!
Orange
Mayor: Doug Vogel
Council: Betty Valencia, Adrienne Gladson
(If you’re a conservative and can’t stand the above, Zach Collins seems nice. But you should still vote for at least Valencia.)
Placentia
District 2 and City Clerk: No endorsement, but also no content
District 4: Richard Nichols, Jr.
Rancho Santa Margarita
Council (3 Seats): Wendy Braun, Chris McLaughlin (basically being anti-incumbent here)
San Clemente
Council (3 seats): Jake Rybczyk, Jackson Hinkle. If you must vote for a third, let’s make it (looks at ballot designations) Tiffany Joy Robson Leet.
San Juan Capistrano
Pass. Hopefully Michael Laux will offer an opinion. UPDATE: That was quick!
District 2 Kim McCarthy
District 3 Pam Patterson
District 4 Jeff Vasquez
Santa Ana
Mayor: Sal Tinajero
Ward 2: Sandra Pena Sarmiento
Ward 4: Roman Reyna
Ward 6: Nelida Mendoza
Seal Beach
(only District 1 has a battle): Joe Kalmick
Stanton
Mayor: Brian Donohue (I don’t know much about him except that he’s a Council member and he’s running against David John Shawver, who I recall being a mess.
District 3: Vote for one of the women.
Tustin
Council: WRITE IN SHERRI LOVELAND!!!
Villa Park
Council (3 seats): Diana Fascinelli
Westminster
Mayor: Christopher Ochoa
Council (2 seats): Jamison Power and Anita Rice
Yorba Linda
Council (2 seats): Lourdes Crus ONLY!
*Newport Beach….It maybe a Joy….to live there yet!
District 2 Kim McCarthy
District 3 Pam Patterson
District 4 Jeff Vasquez
These candidates will push back against big developers…
Thanks. Your choices have been added to the text.
I’m sorry to have given the impression I like Ahmad (sp) Zahra in Fullerton 3. That was a while back. He has since struck out with FOUR misdeeds that I don’t need to get into right now. I’m with Johnny Ybarra, honest conservative and friend of Bushala.
Costa Mesa….its Arlis, with one s and SHE is another MIT graduate joining the ranks of public service. Arlis Reynolds and Andrea Marr (Naval Academy) are the two best candidates Costa Mesa has ever had. Katrina Foley has shown her smarts already by guiding them through a mysogynistic attack from the opposition….Genis, Mansoor, Figuerdo Wilson….Reynolds, Marr and Foley stood firmly on integrity, honesty, kindness, and goodness. Anna and Ron should keep an eye on this talented group of women as they bring sunlight to Costa Mesa city hall.