It’s simple: the four candidates who support Campaign Finance Reform
are the ones you should vote for, and the Register agrees!
The Orange County Register hit a home run with their Anaheim Council endorsements Sunday morning, and we can only hope voters listen! That paper has always had it in for the corruption in OC’s biggest town. And Cunningham is hopping mad about these endorsements, but we’ll laugh at Matt later. I want to start with my favorite part, the Reg‘s enthusiastic endorsement of Hari Shankar Lal over Natalie Meeks (since Hari has been taking so much incoming lately…)
For Council District 6, we endorse Hari Lal. This choice is a no-brainer. Lal is an attorney who has been active in Anaheim neighborhood politics for years. He’s brimming with energy and ideas – including great ones such as creating a city ombudsperson. He is an passionate opponent of the pro-subsidy culture. He’s a delightful character who restores our faith in grassroots politics.
His opponent – former public works director Natalie Meeks – is a bland establishmentarian. When pressed, she couldn’t name a single idea to reform the city’s politics. That floored us. She spoke about the many times she oversaw the city’s use of eminent domain. The hotel and lodging association’s political action committee backs her. Blech.
Lal delightful, Meeks BLECH. NOT OUR WORDS. I can’t believe Natalie thought it’d be helpful to boast about her abuse of eminent domain. (That would be seizing private property to, for example, build Disney a publicly funded streetcar line from her other pet project ARTIC, a streetcar line which has thankfully been put on hold but could ALWAYS COME BACK if people like Natalie get elected!) Also, Nat’s pure, spotless-mind vacuum of ideas reminds me of District 4 candidate Gloria Ma’ae when she was first appointed. Nothing in that noggin! (Till someone gives ’em orders.)
Pringle’s & Meeks’ Folly.
The Register begins their editorial describing the “two schools of thought regarding [Anaheim’s May 2022] corruption scandal” – the Cabal’s preferred “shocked! shocked! How could Harry do this? Now let’s continue with business as usual,” versus those of us who saw this as an inevitable result of a decades-long culture of corruption that is still crying out for drastic reform. And the Register subscribes solidly to the SECOND school of thought, as does this blog.
Coming from that point of view, they also endorse Ashleigh Aitken for Mayor, over her cabal opponent Trevor O’Neil and the lesser candidates:
For mayor, we endorse Ashleigh Aitken. An attorney and long-time Anaheim activist, Aitken is a moderate Democrat committed to fiscal restraint. Most importantly, Aitken’s the genuine reform candidate. “The former mayor and his tightly knit ‘cabal’ were allowed to run roughshod at City Hall, and create a culture of intimidation for staff, management, concerned residents, and the smaller business community,” she told us.
Well said, and I’m an Ashleigh booster (although I didn’t realize she was an “activist!”) But I do believe she is an honest “moderate Democrat committed to fiscal restraint.” Someone needs to inform Galloway-besotted Liberal OC blogger Dan Chmielewski, who’s been trying to paint Ashleigh as the second coming of Bernie Sanders (just to sell his beloved Lorri as “the reasonable Goldilocks moderate perfect for Anaheim!”) But in case you doubt my enthusi-ASH-m, consult the following:
Her main challenger, Mayor Pro Tem Trevor O’Neil, talks a good game about his conservatism — on issues ranging from rent control to pension liabilities — but defends various giveaway deals and has a penchant for describing subsidies as incentives. Looking at the campaign donations O’Neil has returned is telling – from the Chamber of Commerce and leaders of the Angels.
Trevor does “talk a good game,” that’s for sure, and he can spew out those “conservative” talking points – good thing the Reg sees through that. Pension liabilities, really? This is the public-employee profligate who cheer-led an extravagant 2020 police/fire contract (at the beginning of Covid) that he ADMITTED would make Anaheim “dip into our reserves, but hopefully our revenue will pick up soon.” And yes, he “gave back” $2000 checks from the Chamber and Angels, and apparently that was effective theater, for a guy who knows he’ll be getting a hundred times that much in IE’s from the same sources. And there’s this:
The third candidate, Lorri Galloway, has raised little money and mainly will divert votes from Aitken.
There’s a lot worse than that they could’ve written about this sanctimonious charlatan, but it’s good they kept her down to one sentence – she IS just a spoiler candidate. (And 4th candidate Dick Lopez is actually a real nice guy with good ideas, and I hope we hear more from him in the future, but really any votes for Galloway or Lopez are votes that SHOULD be for Ashleigh, or you’re risking Mayor Trevor!)
[N.B. Register excerpts were edited to remove overuse of the word “unabashed.”]
District 3
(central Anaheim, currently Dr. Moreno)
For Council District 3, we endorse Al Jabbar. A member of the school board, Jabbar promises to focus on bread-and-butter community issues and on cleaning up City Hall. He emphasizes the need to make it easier for small businesses to set up and grow by reducing bureaucratic hurdles in City Hall. On the public safety front, he supports broader investments in mental health services and youth programs.
Wow, this Jabbar sounds like Tom Tait! Listen to the klepto mouthpieces and you’d think he was Che Guevara.
His opponent, Natalie Rubalcava, is the business candidate, and while we support the Orange County business community, we are swayed by Jabbar’s independent perspective.
I really wish they’d put “business candidate” in scare quotes like I just did. Natalie is the OCBC (OC Business Council) candidate. LITERALLY. She’s COO of the parasitical group. Far from helping any “businesses” aside from the HUGEST dues-paying members (like Disney) OCBC has been solidly in support of EVERY taxpayer ripoff in Anaheim, from the Stadium Giveaway, to the Disney Streetcar, to EVERY HOTEL SUBSIDY our kleptocrats could dream up. And there’s this:
District 2
The Near-west, currently represented by Gloria
For Council District 2, we endorse Carlos Leon. He’s more liberal than us on several issues, but is a solid City Hall reformer with similar sensibilities to Jabbar. “I want to make sure small business owners have the ability to fulfill their dreams of opening their own businesses, and make sure that everyone gets an opportunity to be successful in our city,” he told us.
His opponent, Gloria Sahagún Ma’ae, is an appointed city councilmember who sat on the pro-subsidy Support Our Anaheim Resort PAC. She remains a core member of the Old Guard.
And there’s much more that could be said, that’s really bad, about Gloria, and we have written it here:
- The Anointment of Gloria Ma’ae, pt. 1
- The Anointment of Gloria Ma’ae, pt. 2
- Gloria, Trevor & Diaz vote to “KEEP ANAHEIM DIRTY!”
But while we wait for our friends to make a good Gloria video, let’s examine:
A Tale of Two District 2 Fundraisers.
I was just perusing Gloria’s campaign Facebook page, and came across her last, August 19, fundraiser which was held at (drum roll?) Brewery X, the Cabal’s official brewery. Brewery X is 5 or 6 miles away from Gloria’s district – almost in the Hills – but it DOES have the distinction (such as it is) of having hosted Mayor Sidhu’s staggeringly expensive Feb. 2020 “SAVE THE MAYOR” dinner, which was his response when he heard we were launching a recall against him.
But, looking at Gloria’s pictures… really? Did nobody come? There are only five pictures posted, and maybe eight attendees visible, half of them identifiable usual suspects – Play-mayor Trevor speaking, former councilwoman Kris Murray speaking, and longtime Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman Ross McCune standing with Gloria at the bar – way to keep your distance from the scandals, Gloria!
Kris! Did you miss her?
Killin’ it… and he could be your Mayor if you’re not careful!
Put your hands together for Gloria! (Is that a low-tech teleprompter?)
The candidate kickin’ it with the Chamber’s McCune.
Damn, that looks like Todd Ament from behind, but… it couldn’t be?
“Hi, my name’s Gloria! Do you know if you live in District 2 by any chance?”
But, serio, I couldn’t help but compare that to the packed, energetic event Carlos Leon had a couple weeks later at Casa Garcia:
.
I don’t know, is it just me, or is there something of a contrast between those two events, Gloria’s and Carlos’?
Twilight of the Wordsmith
I would say these Register endorsements made Chamber husband Matt Cunningham apopleptic, but that would be a common inaccuracy, as “apopleptic” means you got so upset you couldn’t form words, whereas Matt came up with all of THESE words. Apparently this is the first election cycle in which he notices that our county daily values honesty over Party or supposed ideological bent.
Outraged, he reminds us that Al Jabbar is in a “public employee union,” and also that he’s hostile to that public employee union known as the police (presumably because he went to a Black Lives Matter rally during the post-George Floyd days – for shame!) And also he repeats his lying canard that Jabbar and his allies push “Critical Race Theory” on Anaheim highschoolers (something that only exists in certain colleges.)
And of course he reminds us that Hari Lal hadn’t paid his property taxes in three years, which is a common thing a homeowner does when they’ve registered a dispute with the assessor over the amount they’re being charged, which Hari has for three years (over Prop 60 and 19 which are supposed to lower rates for seniors.) If you lose, you pay penalties and interest, which Hari fully intended to do if he lost.
In any case, long story short, THE SITUATION IS RESOLVED NOW, and Hari has paid the disputed amount, “UNDER PROTEST,” and expects to receive the vast majority of the amount back if he prevails in court later this year. Not an issue any more.
Oh yeah. Exactly ONE person liked Matt’s post, which has been up a few days. I wonder if she went to Gloria’s big fundraiser at Brewery X?
Today is “Talk Like a Pirate Day.”
Arrggghhh …..
OK, this kind reminder weighs towards your receiving our endorsement.
Great job Vern. Keep exposing these charlatans.
This has Steve Greenhut’s fingerprints all over it.
Ya think?
That “insider” Matt Cunningham wrote on his Anaheim Observer Facebook, “We [royal we] don’t know who makes the endorsement decisions at the Register,” and WE were not inclined to give him a clue.
Poor Jerb is still in a twist, wondering why and how ANYBODY could prefer honesty ahead of place conventional political spectrum. He can’t grasp that it’s not (radical) left vs. whatever. It’s honest government versus corruption.
Wordsmith has spent so long on his knees that he’s lost all moral compass – if in fact he ever had any to lose.
the Orange County Register has come a long way since the days of Republican Dominance and mostly a “libertarian”(vote NO on every bond issue on the Ballot) O.C.Register Opinion Page,
The Pete Wilson, George Deukmejian years,
.. Orange County was “Democrats need not apply”!… I wholeheartedly support the ticket that has been endorsed by the Register, let’s help the LA Times follow suit…
Oh, it’s still libertarian! But corrupt giveaways to wealthy interests in exchange for personal political gain is almost as anti-libertarian as it gets in electoral politics, so it’s one of the places where we and the Orange Lady see eye-to-eye. We’ll enjoy it while it lasts.
It’s lasted at least since the Tait days.
Isn’t there a bridge somewhere for Gloria?
This “blog” or whatever rag this proposes to be- is such a one way opinion slanted so far left you fall off the map. The OC Register must not do their homework as their choices for District representation is awful.
“So far LEFT” eh? Because we and the Register want to stop the corruption? In previous years we’ve supported James Vanderbilt, Tom Tait and Cynthia Ward – I guess to you they’re “so far left” as well.
Whatever you say, thank you for your opinion. But remember, the world is not all left and right, and there’s nothing right OR left about giving away millions in public money to your wealthy contributors!
Must be a Jerbal follower.
Maybe she was at Gloria’s big Brewery X bash! There were about three people there I couldn’t name
I noticed Jerb was exercising the Royal Pronoun. I wonder if he has a mouse in his pocket (see what I did there?). Or maybe he was referring to Sidhu or Ament in his pronoun deployment.
Well, they are not amused.
That would be odd, given that he is in a mouse’s pocket.
It’s about honesty vs. crony capitalism, graft, and casual corruption, not about right, left or center.
Thank you, presumably entirely disinterested reader. Sorry (not sorry) that you stubbed your toe on us.
Trevor O’Neill is a first-class public safety bootlicker masquerading as a conservative Republican. For all his tough-talk on fiscal restraint he has worked on behalf of the fire and cop union goons for years spoon feeding them massive pay and benefit increases. Would be worth to pull his current 460’s to see how much cash they’ve dumped in his campaign.
I got a hit piece today against Aitken from the Odious O’Neil. It attacked for her relationship with that Melahat Whatever, and how Melahat Whatever was embroiled in a scandalous FBI probe. Now that takes a special kind of MFer.
Honest to Baby Jesus, you can’t make this shit up.
Yeah I saw that. He emphasizes “She hired Melahat even AFTER she was arrested by the FBI.” Well, Melahat never TOLD anyone she was arrested.
Also there’s “She voted with Melahat 100% of the time!” like there’s so many controversies on a Fair Board, especially if you’re both Democrats. And also, she cut ties with Melahat back in January long before the scandal broke.
But I knew this was gonna happen…
The funny thing is that there actually ARE problematic Fair Board votes – like the mud arch memorial to farm labor.