I’m sorry I’m just catching up on this OC Power Authority cluster-f**k; The Voice of OC has been doing a great job so far covering it, but like a reluctant Mafioso I just seem to get “dragged in” to these things. Before I really look into this, I do have a few small details to contribute, and before that, if you care much, let me turn you on to the Voice’s oeuvre thus far:
Most recently, and the story that led to MY interest, was Noah Biesieda’s “Chaos Grips OC’s Green Power Agency, CEO Under Fire, Files Whistleblower Complaint“ . . .
And selected Voice pieces by Noah B., in order from the earliest, if you REALLY want to invest an hour:
- Orange County Power Authority Criticized For Lack Of Transparency,July 2021
- Top Official At OC’s Green Power Agency Abruptly Resigns Just Before Launch, Dec. 2021
- OC Clean Power Agency’s First Year Sees an Executive Resignation, Transparency Concerns, Jan. 2022
- OC Residents Face Electricity Price Hike After Clean Power Agency Picks Preliminary Rates, Jan. 2022
- OC Green Power Agency Expands Contracts Established Behind Closed Doors by CEO Last Year, March 2022
- Have Water and Power Officials in Orange County Figured Out a Way to Meet in Secret? – Poseidon meets OCPA! by Biesieda with Brandon Pho, March 2022
- OC Businesses and Public Agencies Left in the Dark As Power Authority Rolls Out, March 2022
TWO MORE: From this blog’s Greg Diamond last month: “OC Power Authority Hit with $2 million fine.”
And the latest from Irvine Watchdog: Over A Year Of Requests Later OCPA Is Finally Agendized. [by Irvine Council.] Special Meeting June 14th. [tonight!]
But, Why Probolsky?
Most of the troubles of our fledgling, ill-fated Power Authority seem to be rooted in the person of its CEO Brian Probolsky, troubles detailed in all the Voice articles linked above, as well as the Treseder letter paraphrased below. Brian is not to be confused with his equally corpulent brother Adam, who runs a push-poll firm named, comically, “Probolsky Research“ – Adam will get whomever pays him whatever results they want, while disseminating their propaganda; those clients are generally Republican politicians, parasitic agencies, and malodorous corporations like Poseidon Resources.
Brian on the other hand has been described as an OC “power broker,” and maybe it’s just a semantic confusion – someone should have told Melahat and Farrah that was a different kind of power. As we speak, the OCPA board is experiencing severe Probolsky remorse and appears to be fixing to fire the putz, even as he sues THEM on some farfetched pre-emptive “whistleblower” grounds.
But seriously, the question stands begging on the street corner: Why was this unlikely, money-grubbing, Republican creature, with no college degree and no discernible experience or interest in energy or the environment or even running a business, chosen BY DEMOCRATS to lead such an essential agency, which could have been so much better? (And hopefully still can.)
And here’s where I tell MY Probolsky story, from the one time I met Brian and talked with him. Around 2012-14, me, Gus Ayer and a few other friends were fighting hard against an OCTA/CalTrans scheme to put Toll Lanes on the 405 using $1.5 BILLION of our Measure M tax dollars. If you hadn’t heard: the idea was to use that tax money of ours, money we had voted to spend on highway improvements, to build FOUR NEW LANES along 13 miles from Seal Beach to South Coast Plaza – two going north and two going south. It was brilliantly engineered so that almost no property would be taken or impacted; something like a dozen bridges would have to be demolished and rebuilt; it woulda cost $1.5 billion and taken a few years, and woulda given us two new free lanes going each way. So far so great, right?
Except that wasn’t enough for our voracious overlords: After building those two new lanes going each way, they wanted to turn the FOUR INNER LANES – two going north, two going south – into expensive TOLL LANES. So, do you see? Us taxpayers get NOTHING for our $1.5 billion, and the years of construction hassle, unless we also want to also dole out a large toll. (We lost that fight – we managed to make it politically unpalatable for the elected leaders on the OCTA, so CalTrans took the project over and it is happening now in slow motion before your very eyes, if you live near the 405.)
At the time, Brian Probolsky, among and between dozens of similar gigs, was being paid to sell this shit sandwich to the public. And hence, once, he and I found ourselves sitting in a room together, discussing toll lanes. After a few seconds of tolerating my man-of-the-people gripes, he felt he had to tell his own amusing toll lanes story:
“I’ve been driving on toll lanes and toll roads every day for years, never paid for it and never got caught! At this point, if I ever DO have to pay a fine once or twice, it’ll be worth it!” And he guffawed a Probolsky guffaw. I resisted the urge to suggest that if the toll enforcers were relying on weight sensors, then his car probably DID register as having more than one person in it. Instead I sputtered, “But – but – our Measure M taxes…”
And still the question stands begging on the corner, ever more desperate:
Why Brian Probolsky?
Many folks including environmental watchdog and UCI professor Dr. Kathleen Treseder lay the blame for the Probolsky choice on DEMOCRAT (former) power broker Melahat Rafiei (above) and her protégé Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan. Melahat has been much in the news of late, as you may have noticed. In the 55-page FBI filing laying out the corruption case leading to Anaheim Mayor Sidhu’s resignation, AND the 102-page FBI filing leading to the conviction of Chamber CEO Todd Ament, Melahat is both omnipresent and referred to as “Cooperating Witness 1.” The Feds patiently explain that they’d been investigating Melahat for “theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds,” and other crimes; they also contend that she has “lacked candor at times” (i.e. lies, omits and hides things), and they only take her word when it’s “corroborated” by someone else… but they’ve given her a break so far because she agreed to wear a wire against her friends for years. (Melahat, still free, cheerfully claims to be innocent of all charges, that the FBI just got it wrong, and she only wore a wire out of a sense of patriotism! Aw, who ya gonna believe!)
But… shit, you probably already know all of this. What I have that you probably haven’t seen yet is the famed “Treseder letter,” and I have permission not to reprint it (Dr. Treseder is a little spooked over Probolsky “lawyering up”) but to PARAPHRASE it. And why do *I* have this letter, and this permission? Because I asked NICELY, unlike the Liberal OC’s Dan Chmielewski, who bristling with indignation that anyone would criticize his Melahat, came at Dr. Treseder like this:
Smooth, Dan! Smooth.
Now you have to start by knowing that the OC Power Authority was a great IDEA for a lot of reasons, and for therefore there were intelligent people who cared about making sure it happened right, and didn’t just turn into another typical OC scam-bureaucracy, where corruption mingles with incompetence to create that distinctive, intoxicating Orange County ferment that some thrive in… Sorry. What I mean to say is that Dr. Treseder is one of those educated watchdogs, keeping an eye on this new agency’s roll-out, and “collaborating with a local climate non-profit.”
Dr. Treseder (right) was also – IS also – running for Irvine Council this year, and early LAST year (that’s a lotta lead time!) she asked Melahat to be her consultant (not knowing, as most innocent OC citizens did not, of Melahat’s “unethical behavior.”) Melahat first wanted to get the approval of Farrah, they all met in May of 2021, Farrah (who is also on the OCPA board) liked Dr. Treseder and things moved forward.
But meanwhile the local climate nonprofit Treseder was working with developed concerns about CEO Probolsky – his questionable decisions on vendor contracts, founding documents, financing arrangements. Word on the street was that Melahat was giving “close guidance” to Mayor Farrah regarding the OCPA, so Treseder tried to speak to Melahat about the Probolsky issues. (Have I mentioned that the Treseder Letter is replete with links and screenshotted texts?)
This conversation did not go well. Treseder laid out her group’s concerns about Probolsky and wondered if Farrah could agendize an “employee evaluation.” Melahat said NO, claiming that Probolsky needs to stay CEO in order for Farrah to win re-election and Treseder to be elected. A strange and unexplained assertion. Melahat said anything Treseder and the nonprofit wanted done on OCPA, bring it to Melahat and she’ll “take care of it behind the scenes.” ALSO, instructed Melahat, “DON’T SHARE ANY INFO ABOUT OCPA PUBLICLY!” It’s NOT in the public’s best interest to have too much information, Melahat opined about us sheeple!
Things did not get better. Things got worse. A close (and unnamed) confidante of Probolsky began to confide in Treseder about Probolsky’s alarming actions. In June, Probolsky and OCPA General Council Ryan Baron brought forth a bold “JUST TRUST US” proposal authorizing them to negotiate and execute a “$50 million credit facility” without any oversight or transparency. Treseder spoke against this proposal, and Melahat texted her telling her to keep her mouth shut:
Noted.
And things got worse. In a meeting the next day Melahat really laid down the law to Treseder and an associate of hers. Brian Probolsky is NOT GOING ANYWHERE! You people will just have to WORK AROUND HIM! Don’t contact any OCPA Board Members, just go through ME, MELAHAT, instead. “The Board Members do what I tell them to do!” [Treseder opines that if this is true about some Board members, it is not true of Susan Sonne, of whom she thinks highly.]
In response to a question, Melahat volunteered that Probolsky had offered to get Farrah onto the California Coastal Commission as long as Farrah made sure Brian stayed CEO. Treseder’s friend gasped, “This sounds like a cabal.” AND MELAHAT AGREED: “It IS a cabal, and Farrah is IN the Cabal.” Wow, that is really the word of the season, isn’t it?*
“It IS a cabal. And Farrah is IN the cabal.” – Melahat
Vern here, if I may briefly interject: Does this make sense? How could Probolsky pull strings in the Democratic Senate to get Farrah a CCC seat? It seems unlikely. The Senate President claims not to know him, and we know Farrah didn’t get the gig. Maybe Probolsky did think he had that power though, and maybe Melahat believed him (if she wasn’t just lying to Treseder.) The Probolsky brothers were both big Poseidon shills, as was our Democratic Governor, and a few months ago, as the Voice reported, Probolsky made some kinda secretive deal with the water pirates, so, really, maybe Probolsky did think he could get Farrah that plum job. [Update: See THIS comment for some explanation.]
I had HEARD that Farrah was trying to get on that vitally important Coastal Commission and I was relieved that she didn’t. I didn’t trust her, as a Melahat protégé, not to be a total Poseidon shill, like her other protégé Jordan Brandman, and with Farrah on the Commission, the desal pirates’ final faceplant last month might not have been so spectacularly UNANIMOUS! Plus… don’t these fucking people have their fingers in enough fucking pies? [Offhand, I know that Farrah was Irvine Mayor, OCPA board member, and Toll Roads Agency member – maybe even more!] Anyway, back to my Treseder paraphrase…
So, things kept getting worse, and worse. Treseder told Melahat that a close associate of Probolsky’s had told her, in confidence, that Brian was “corrupt.” Melahat REALLY wanted to know who that weak link was! But Treseder wouldn’t tell her. Melahat said she wouldn’t be Treseder’s consultant if she didn’t rat out her source. Treseder refused. Melahat offered to sign a non-disclosure agreement, if she could just KNOW WHO IT WAS. She e-mailed the NDA to Treseder, but Treseder had had quite enough Melahat and gave her her walking papers.
That was June 24 of last year, and Treseder had learned the nature of Melahat before a whole lot of OTHER OC Democrats, who had to wait 11 more months for the FBI to explain things to them. (Also, natch, Farrah immediately un-endorsed Treseder, and now talks like she’s a crazy ankle-biter.)
And Treseder never talked to Melahat again. And that’s the end of my paraphrase of the Treseder Letter. And I have a feeling the OCPA will be jettisoning that Probolsky guy like dead weight, and maybe they can actually move forward and do this community choice energy program the right way. Especially if they listen to folks like Dr. Treseder and her non-profit watchdog friends….
VERN OUT.
*We’ve been made aware of the anti-Semitic roots of the word “cabal,” and hope it doesn’t offend anyone, but it is an important factual matter that Melahat in Irvine, as well as Flint and Ament in Anaheim, use the term proudly to describe themselves.
Of course, we got to this one before they did.
https://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2022/05/oc-power-authority-hit-with-2-million-fine/
But note that there was a cogent defense to these allegations (which came primarily from an Agran-affiliated “news site”) presented in comments — although it raised its own questions, such as: “Did people always know that part of this plan involved losing this much money in the first year or so? Because if Irvine residents in particular didn’t know what was expected, then the of Agran’s criticisms do have some force.”
The more recent parts of the story is that Mike Posey of Huntington Beach apparently panicked and had Dan Kalmick replace him on the OCPA Board more quickly than planned, which would allow him to take a paid position on something like an “Audit Committee” (I forget the term used) of as little as one. Probolsky then either brought or threatened a suit claiming that HB had violated the Brown Act by scheduling the “reappointment” of Posey but turning it into the “appointment” of Kalmick, which harmed him (if I recall, he was terminated), and he is claiming protected whistleblower status for reporting the Brown Act violation.
(I was putting off coverage of this until after the election, which for my part is not quite over. I tend to doubt that this is a Brown Act violation — Kalmick was already scheduled to take over earlier this year, and “reappointment,” when the incumbent wanted to leave the position, could pretty easily accommodate the “appointment” of a scheduled successor) — and Probolsky’s claim to whistleblower status seems highly dubious. (He also lays claim to ample qualifications for his job, which was news to me.)
What this might lead to is Huntington Beach suing Irvine for something like fraud — except that the HB City Attorney might refuse to do so, in hopes of harming his foe Kalmick — and if so will claim that the City has no right to sue because he controls everything related to law. That’s another story I’ve been putting off (but for longer.)
On May 20, 2021, The OC City Selection Committee met to vote on who to nominate for the California Coastal Commission. The Committee was predominantly Republican. In the minutes for that meeting, it shows that Mayor Khan attended and submitted her candidate statement for the position. The committee voted to submit Mayor Khan and three other individuals to the State Senate Rules Committee for consideration.
https://cob.ocgov.com/sites/cob/files/2021-06/05-20-21%20minutes.pdf
So Probolsky did all he could do to get her up to the Senate.
https://irvine.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=68&event_id=2005&meta_id=128635
Problosky tells City of Irvine the OCPA is transparent.
I have concerns that you, Kathleen, sat on this information for months. It also bothers me that I came to you and Ayn (via email) about the OCPA and you brushed me off. I explained how this organization is NOT going to help our environment and is running like a Ponzi scheme. I told you that taking these people at their word is not a very responsible thing to do, especially when you are attaching your reputation to it.
You and your organization was, at that time, feeding fuel to the fire. You should have done your homework before you had the public so hyped up about it AND you should have spoken out sooner and LOUDER!
For anyone to even think that the OCPA still has a chance is delusional. The only way to get 100% clean energy is to cut yourself off from SCE/OCPA, put solar panels on your roof and have a battery backup system installed. (But then we have the issue of batteries because they aren’t very clean and then of course when you need new solar panels what land are we going to use for dumping the old panels? Not exactly environmentally safe)
The OCPA was only purchasing power, they were not producing it. So what they are purchasing is a mixture of fossil fuel and perhaps some renewables. Because if they fed 100% renewables into the SCE grid, everyone would, at first, experience intermittent electricity to then none. Irvine doesn’t have battery fields or windmills to be able to store renewables so it just goes to waste.
Once again, Irvine is putting the cart before the horse. Infrastructure needs to be in place before you can just run around claiming we are all going to be fossil free…it doesn’t work like that and Kathleen, you should know that better than the average citizen. You should now be telling people how they are getting ripped off by the OCPA and advocate against it just as fiercely as you advocated for it.
But I know, you are running for a city council position and don’t want to taint it, at least that’s probably why you are not speaking out and it’s sad, really. If you continue holding back, how can you possibly be good for the people?
He can say whatever he wants. He can say the sky is blue and nobody would believe him at this point.
So, Kathleen, turns out my suspicions were right about you. You graduated from EmergeCA didn’t you?
So, explain how that works, you working both sides of the Cabal? Do you plan on getting into office and then that’s when we see your head twirl, like Farrah Khan’s? Your story coming out now, which by the way, isn’t a shocker since we all read the FBI report about Melahat. But YOU claiming to be an activist for climate change is nothing more than a ruse.
That’s why I couldn’t understand how you could not see that the OCPA was doing nothing for the environment. I thought you were just stupid but now I know you’re an idiot! We want to get rid of Farrah Khan, not so you can be put there instead.
I’m going to chime in here. EmergeCA is a very good and benign organization, helping to recruit and empower women in both parties to become effective candidates. Two or more women having gone through their training is not the basis for a conspiracy.
People disagree with when Farrah’s “head twirl.” To my mind, the problems started with a relatively routine (though hardball) conflict between her and Melissa Fox, who after years of striving to get onto the City Council wanted to be the sole Democrat endorsed in the year when she finally won. Farrah reacted badly to that, unsurprisingly, and eventually would take out her ire on Fox’s protégé Lauren Johnson-Norris, trying to keep her off of the Council at the time of the Carroll appointment. But the most significant problems with her began when, I believe not long before that time, she hired Melahat Rafiei to advise her. Melahat was the fourth person at the meeting between Farrah, Carroll, and Patrick Strader. That, and the Council meetings where she disingenuously finagled to prevent an election that might have place Johnson-Norris on the Council, were covered extensively on this site.
I may be more concerned about climate change than you are, but I actually think that something like OCPA could be appropriate here to goose our society towards greater use of renewables. If done correctly, that is “doing something for the environment.” But (1) it absolutely would have to avoid being even significantly for the enrichment of those involved with it, and (2) it would requite a level of transparency that this venture not only didn’t approach, but that it seems to have strived to avoid. All of that is a quintessential Mehalat move.
It was reasonable for Irvine, as one of OC’s most wealthy cities and (at times) forward-looking cities, to decide that it would bank this proposal in the expectation of full repayment (and perhaps more.) But the proposal had to make sense — and I was never clear that it did — and both Irvine and the other cities involved had to be clear and informed as to the risks that they were taking. I don’t think that that happened.
I’d be interested in seeing Prof. Treseder’s own views on this, but I can imagine there being good reason why she would not, for now, feel able to comment — for reasons having more to do with legalities than political considerations.
Regarding the OCPA, Mike Carroll offered Irvine to pay for all the startup costs for any city that wanted to join. He did this for two very important reasons. One, it was the only way he could get cities to join and two, he used it for leverage, Irvine gets 2 votes on the board and the other cities only get one until the loan is paid back. A very unfair way to do business as a non-profit. Here is what he should have done which would have been fair … since Irvine taxpayers put up the funding (not Mike Carroll), and the money is to be repaid to Irvine through the ratepayers, it should EXCLUDE Irvine residents. We already paid for the startup costs through our taxes, why should we have to pay TWICE? Rather than think about the people and ways to keep costs down, he exploits it to gain power. The guy will do anything to benefit himself.
And here’s another thing, he lives in Turtle Rock, pays over $28,000 a year in property tax, sits on the city council and by his own admission, has a part-time legal consultant firm. Approx. every two years he refinances his home, goes back & forth on title from a trust to him and his wife, took a $500,000 line of credit, and is now maxed out on the value of his home except for maybe $20,000. His loan payment is interest only payments, meaning the lump sum of the principle is due at the end of the loan term. People that take out these types of loans have little monthly income and are expecting some kind of huge windfall. Nobody would normally have this type of loan because the interest rate is higher and it fluctuates. So, it’s no wonder that he worked it into the JPA that he can remain on the board of the OCPA even if he isn’t on the city council. He has no term limit. First of all, I don’t think it’s even legal because the Irvine council appointed him and, he is suppose to be elected by the people to serve the people on this public, non-profit, taxpayer funded organization. But then you have our city attorney, who is employed at the will of the city council, that approved the JPA. Was anyone looking out for us, the ratepayers in all this? Because clearly they need us to survive. Without any oversight as to how much and when they can increase rates, we are at the mercy of Mike Carroll. SCE has to go through a process and justify any increases with state regulators. They also inform us ahead of time. The OCPA on the other hand, can up the rates overnight. And once you are locked in with the OCPA, you have to give them 6 months notice before you can go back to SCE. Six months could mean paying double than what you’re paying now.
The last thing I want to say is about the renewables. Mike Carroll and Farrah Khan, under pressure from climate change activists, reluctantly said Irvine will go 100% renewable as the default. But, if you want your rate a little lower, you can select a lower tier. And they agreed to this default reluctantly because it’s a lot harder to cover up when you’re not purchasing renewables. So, I ask you, knowing SCE has ONE grid that services us, how is my neighbor going to get 100% and I (who will be opting out and staying with SCE) be getting 33% from SCE? Well, we’re not! We are all getting the same because it all goes in one grid and gets transmitted to us from the same grid. So, why don’t they just tell us that instead of offering this fake tier system, because it is fake and it’s fraud! So, here’s the argument…well yes we will be paying more for the benefit of the few (guilt trip that doesn’t cut the mustard) so that we can have a cleaner grid. Now that’s a huge assumption when you haven’t even verified (and that’s another story in itself) that the honest and noble Mike Carroll is actually purchasing renewables. How mad would you be if you learned he was feeding fossil fuel into the grid and charging you the price of 100% renewable? Mad probably isn’t the right word . . . fraud and abuse of public funds, punishable by jail time would be better suited.
You think this is too far off to happen, think again. The SCE grid cannot sustain all renewables, it will become unstable and we will lose power. I believe I explained this in my last post. So what is the answer? Maybe this will help you to understand what isn’t talked about, other than the catch phrase “climate change”. . . People need to stop listening to what others claim and take the time to research and see what is reasonable to believe . . .
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhendrickson/2012/09/16/climate-change-hoax-or-crime-of-the-century/?sh=2a87714376d3
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1112950
Much kudos needs to go to Irvine Watchdog. These group of intrepid investigative civilian muck-rackers have been watching every Board meeting, every communication, and submitted multiple PRAs and even legal actions, all because we all equally share the passion of wanting to root out corruption from OCPA, and wanting it to accomplish what the ultimate CCE goal was: clean community solar energy to all of Irvine, at a reduced rate than SCE. Unfortunately, the Probolsky gasbags, along with masterminds Melahat and GOP Sleezeball Mike Carroll, and power-hungry Farrah has made OCPA into a circus, a sham, and a Ponzi scheme. It is all about power and money and influence to these klepocrats.
-Luis Huang, Socialist out to clean out Irvine, Nov 2022
I shoulda been paying more attention to “Irvine Watchdog,” I have a friend who writes there (anonymously.) I’ll update that introductory part with some of their more important pieces.
https://irvinewatchdog.org/
Never too late Vern. You had your hands full dealing with Anaheim corruption, good folks at IWD has Irvine corruption handled. Solidarity!
Luis
Luis, you need to stop running for offices where you just split the vote with people closest to your views. There are other and better ways to contribute.
Luis does not get enough votes to split the vote in Irvine
Are you stupid?
No, math is easy
How many votes do you think one needs to get to risk splitting the vote in an election?
And how many votes do you thing Luis has gotten?
An (honest) Irvine Republican writes me:
“I’m pretty sure Patrick Strader of FivePoint, who was instrumental in getting Mike Carroll appointed to the council, has promised Farrah all kinds of developer money as long as Farrah does what he wants. Strader and Adam Probolsky are very close and I’m sure that’s the reason Brian got that job. I have no proof of any of this but I know Strader well and how he operates. I can only hope there are some FBI recordings backing up my suspicions.”
Mark Newgent is not honest
Wasn’t him. Shit, I’ll ask the guy if I can use his name. What he said was “Don’t quote me on this,” but maybe he just meant that he wasn’t 100% sure.
If you guess a few more times you may get it.
Greg, we should let Neshanian comment on this post. He’s been following this a long time.
I’m bothered by the fact that he’s motivated primarily by anti-Muslim animus, but so so long as he eliminates that and the gratuitous insults from his comments then I have no objection to case-by-case approval.
(It will be interesting to see if he can abide by those terms.)
Open Letter:
On Fri, Apr 1, 2022 at 12:22 PM Luis Huang wrote:
OC Power Authority, master-minded by Republican City Councilmember and overall corrupt sleezebag Mike Caroll, has worked into the Irvine City Council this OC Power Authority (CCE “Community Clean Energy”) system.
Normally this is not a problem, and I fully support Community Solar Energy in many cities in California, BUT Mike Caroll are in cahoots with the Probolsky brothers (OC GOP operatives) where they trade power and influence for more power and influence and money. OCPA Board (Khan, Jung, Sonne, Wagner) handpicked Brian Probolsky to be CEO, paid by salary of $237K of Irvine taxpayer money. (At the time of most recent update, OCPA has been solely funded by $7.5 million from Irvine General Funds).
Now OCPA is jacking up rates for Irvine, Fullerton, Buena Park and Huntington Beach, when in fact, solar is less expensive than SCE mix of power generation…
OCPA CEO Brian Probolsky has widespread powers to dole out million dollar “CCE” contracts to his cronies and benefactors, who in turn will donate to Farrah’s Fred’s Sonne’s and Don’s re-election campaigns.
Voice of OC and OC REGISTER Reporters (cc’ed here) Noah Biesiada & Martin Wisckol hasbeen reporting on OCPA for the past +15 months as details were developing.
There are dozens of activists who have been following this closely (Irvine Watchdog, OCCC, and SD OC Climate Action, to name a few).
Mayor Farrah Khan and OCPA Board are corrupt AF as they allow and are in cahoots with all this, very limited transperancy, no details given, and only legal recourse at my disposal are PRA requests…
Nothing will change until they fire Brian Probolsky, but they won’t do that because their Ponsi scheme might collapse…
Sigh…
Ok rant over, I’ll be sending this to Vern for OrangeJuice Blog post ….
I’m sick of all this bullshit affecting millions of ratepayers and Irvine taxpayers…
[Legal note: All of these statements made are one’s interpretations, and are opinions and alleged allegations of actions made by OCPA Board and OCPA CEO written by Luis Manuel Huang with tiny amounts of details that have not been substantiated in the court of law. Opinions and commentary are protected by the 1st Amendment.]
Luis
Of course Probolsky is corrupt and completely unqualified for his job.
He could have been a good public servant, but it just wasn’t in him. He has shimmied that blob up the greasy pole for 12 years, every step of the way looking out for his self-interest. A perfect, privately held kleptocracy all by himself.
This business with Ryan Baron is disturbing. At the County he seemed to be one of the few lawyers who could tell right from wrong. Boy was I mistaken. Supposedly, he got Probolsky appointed CEO – a clear and immediate conflict of interest.
I hate it when that happens to someone who was good. It’s like being surrounded by corruption, most people seem to succumb to it. It SEEPS INTO YOU after a while.
First, amazing and enthusiastic props to Dr. Treseder! She hereby has my endorsement for Irvine City Council — and LUIS HUANG, YOU HAVE TO STAY OUT OF HER WAY!
Second, while I don’t accuse Melahat of using or dealing in cocaine, it’s amazing that she could engage in what seems like coke-fueled insanity without it. This is so much worse than I imagined — and so is her degree of indiscretion in communicating in writing.
Third, I’m getting the sense that Chumley is a bigger piece of the puzzle than I had thought — between his dealings with Melahat and his dealings with Pringle-poinsoned Lorri — and bears investigation. I suspect that he would flip more quickly than a walrus rearing up out of the ocean — and he makes it his business to know the secrets. I’ll bet that he could destroy Cunningham too, if they have written communications.
I hate to give him good advice, but he’d be smart to hang on to them, because otherwise he wouldn’t be able to rebut other people’s misrepresentations and forgeries. Good thing he won’t listen to me!
It would be hard for June to top the glories of May 2022 — but I’m glad to see it’s trying!
The same day I was writing this story, I continued reading the 99-page Ament complaint – out loud – it’s me and Donna’s bedtime reading.
And I actually started to admire Melahat in a funny way. How much time and energy and scheming she can apparently pack into each day! She’s been like the energizer bunny of … this sort of thing.
Have I mentioned that Melahat’s nickname for Dan – loyal, credulous, obedient Dan – is “The Drunk Blogger?” I must not have a nickname.
She is admirable in her intellect and energy. But she’s also grasping for money and power with an amorality that strikes me as approaching sociopathy.
The latter may be what Chumley so admires about her. He’s similar, but far less adept and effective.
Greg, I am running to kick out Farrah for Mayor. Dr. Treseder is going to be our next city councilmember, and I look forward to working with her.
Don’t put in your papers until the last day. If there is another candidate (not Farrah) who is decent — and check with Vern about that — they don’t put in your papers at all. This is how you do good without doing harm. It’s what those oppose you hope that you don’t do!
Breaking news:
Laguna Beach City Councilmember George Weiss just called into Irvine City Council meeting 15 mins ago to make a public comment, expressing concern for what he has seen of OCPA, and questioning the leadership of Brian Probolsky, even making a comment regarding the firing (he meant resignation) of former OCPA COO Antonia Graham.
Wow!
Luis
Latest from Noah: https://voiceofoc.org/2022/06/ocs-new-green-power-agency-faces-increasing-calls-to-audit-its-operations%EF%BF%BC/
Irvine just finished meeting, and voted 4-0 (Mike Carroll absent) to audit the OCPA.
And right around now, the Huntington Beach Council should be discussing the same thing.
Mike Duvall says hi to Adam…
Mike Duvall??? Not… not… the return of DRIPPY?!?
Let the record reflect Larry Agran just wiped the floor with Mike Carroll.
Pray elucidate! What was said and done? Unless you’re being literal, in which event “wow.”
Yeah, I’m gonna have to check out the video of THAT meeting. And we need a report from HB, who discussed it last night as well. Those are the two biggest members of OCPA.
Did you-all get the gist of Probolsky’s pre-emptive “whistleblower” lawsuit against the Board? He got wind that he was gonna get fired, and is attempting to disqualify Dan Kalmick, the HB rep, because his appointment by HB council wasn’t properly agendized or some such shit. This would have prevented an anti-Probolsky majority and prevented his firing.
I suspect the anti-Probolsky majority has grown though. And they need to can his sidekick the general counsel as well. And start fresh with honest people.
Remember William von Blasingame, fired from the SA water board by Newsom because he was too critical of Poseidon? HE WOULD BE PERFECT.
OCPA announces new hires. 5 to be exact.
https://cal-cca.org/orange-county-power-authority-makes-five-key-hires/
Ben Brazil pushes send. Late to the party much?
https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2022-06-16/marys-kitchen?_amp=true
Epoch Times tries to appear relevant.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/irvine-and-huntington-beach-order-investigation-into-oc-power-authority_4540687.html
Irvine City Council files missing persons report regarding Mike Carroll.
Knives out. Carroll seeks his pound of flesh, Kim seeks a run at ceremonial mayorship. Both shoot a canon over Khan’s bow. https://irvinewatchdog.org/2022/06/23/voice-of-oc-irvine-city-council-looks-to-limit-mayoral-power-ahead-of-election/
Chubby chimes in all pro-Agran!!!
https://theliberaloc.com/2022/06/22/in-irvine-carroll-and-kim-steal-another-agran-idea-on-rule-of-2-advocate-for-city-charter-change-on-mayor/
OC Register editorial board gives thumbs down to the OCPA. Moorlach grins.
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/06/22/predictable-chaos-in-orange-countys-power-agency/amp/
Moorlach is so 1990s.
That is a truly stupid editorial.
The puny reaction to climate change is an example of what economists call “market failure.” This is EXACTLY when we need to government to come in an address that failure. The idea of goosing along a switch to green power generation is — IN THEORY — a good one.
Unfortunately, Melahat — a rapacious capitalist’s rapacious capitalist — got involved, and she turns everything to shit.
One of Melahat’s common moves is to hijack good ideas and turn them into new sources for her own political gain and personal profit — as she also did with the cannabis dispensaries. It’s one of the most hideous things about her, because it tarnishes otherwise worthy ideas.
I was going to ask when Noah Biesiada began writing for the Irvine Watchdog, but I see that they just stole his entire story and reprinted it verbatim. This is not a confidence booster in the site.
Chumley’s not wrong about the Big Check thing being ridiculous — but it also seems like the kind of thing he himself would champion as smart public relations if he liked the candidate. So that means he went 1-for-3 here.
The idea that an appointed mayor — which Jodi Balma champions! — is some perversion of democracy (as his rare reader Florice Hoffman says in a comment) has more to do with Florice’s not wanting to see her role as a queen/kingmaker within the Democratic Party diluted than it does in any actual political analysis. I’d love to see Prof. Balma debate her on this.
So Chumley is securely in the Agran camp again. Honestly, I can’t tell where his loyalties lie without access to his bank account and social calendar. The notion that eliminating the Rule of 2 — albeit in a way that seems ripe for abuse — is “stealing from Agran” is the kind of PR brilliance that makes Chumley what he is.
Wait, wait — it’s actually printing two Agran memos in what (generously estimaing) was 3-point type, without allowing readers to click for a legible PDR, is truly the sort of brilliance that makes Chumley what he is.
The lasso tightens around the OCPA. Hat tip Mark Newgent.
https://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/2021_2022_GJreport/2022-06-24_Orange_County_Power_Authority_Come_Clean.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3u2_Q4H2_-bgc55R1qu_c6NyuPboUe_0kO0EJd9UW0JgN2KJftChCxgWs
Pretty damning. Probolsky file a whistleblower complaint to protect his ass. The idea of The Probe doing anything other than to protect himself is laughable.