We know that OC Board of Education candidate Ken Williams will not condemn himself for his choking assault on a 20-year-old driver who had been following his Escalade and then, when both exited their vehicles, tried to take a photo of the Escalade’s license plate. (Yeah, “things Escaladed quickly.”) We can be confident that his victim did not pose a threat to him if there was no arrest and report to the Sheriff’s office — with which Williams himself worked.

But we’d really like to know whether the two other candidates on his Hothead Ken’s governing slate — Jorge Valdes and Tim Shaw (!) — think that what he did is OK. (We’ll presume that his challenger the magnificent Dr. Nancy Watkins and the other OCBOE challengers, respectively Beatriz Mendoza and David Johnson, would agree that this is not how adults — especially ones entrusted with making policies involving children — should behave.)
But hey, we have two other school board members on the ballot as well right now! So, OUSD’s recall targets Madison Miner and Rick Ledesma — same question to you. Are you OK with Williams rushing a driver, physically disarming him (of his oh-so-dangerous smartphone camera), and choking him?
Voice of OC reported receiving an email from Williams on Feb. 14 saying, “I have an unsullied and exemplary 20 year career as a sworn law-enforcement reserve officer with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. … The woke left attacks me because I am pro-law enforcement, and oppose defunding the police or weakening criminal laws.”
No, in this case, it’s not his politics that are in question: it’s his ability to control his emotions like an adult while driving on the roads. Was this ever reported to the DMV? Why is this guy still allowed to drive? Has there been some sort of official favoritism here?
One more thought about his “exemplary 20 year career”. Williams’s record should now be considered officially “sullied.” The thought of his being empowered to arrest anyone under the color of law, and while armed, is alarming (and mind-boggling.) So will the Sheriff’s Office cut off Hothead Ken’s officer privileges until this trial is resolved? (Why haven’t they already done so?) And I favor law enforcement using its funding to support and enforce criminal laws against choking fellow drivers on the public highways — so what happened to that?
We’ll be sending out emails from my “Managing Editor” account to each of these candidates and we’ll let you know what they have to say. Meanwhile — don’t forget to vote your ballot from the bottom up!
The OCSD reserve officer schtick is no badge of honor. Jon Fleischman was one; so was kung fu golfer, etc.
Still, I would withhold judgment until some evidence is submitted.
David, what’s your deal with Reserve Deputies? I went through the academy and volunteered at least 20 hours a month for over ten years. Worked in patrol, the OC Fair, John Wayne Airport and other special assignments. Hard work but fulfilling. I was motivated to apply and serve after 9/11.
I didn’t know you were even alive anymore. Well done.
Let’s face it. Carona passed those badges out to political operatives and campaign donors. Your motivation was to play cops and robbers.
Our current Sheriff is just as bad as Carona – the guy who gave you your badge when you were his PR flack.
See? Some people remember.
And he reads the Orange Juice Blog! Hi Jon.
Yeah, that happened pretty fast. too. Hadn’t heard about this person in years and years.
Funny story: he once stuck his head in my office during redistricting when he was lobbying to split Fountain Valley so Janet Nguyen could get additional Viet votes from the north half as part of District 1. The idea was to protect Nguyen from Latino voters in the district and keep it Republican.
I don’t remember the conversation being too long.
He used to sometimes show up at Anaheim defending Tom Tait and speaking against the rampant corruption. So we were occasionally on the same side. But he’d still give me the stinkeye, probably because I used to reprint Pedroza’s photoshop of him with a pig snout.
So, just to be clear. A reserve officer in the OC Sheriff’s Department leaves the scene of a crime and does not report it is endorsed by the sheriff who knew of this incident? A primary care physician who is on the staff at Hoag, St. Joseph, and CHOC who embraced the deadly response of America’s Frontline Doctors to COVID and abandons a man suffering in the middle of the road remains on those staffs? A lot of people and institutions have a lot to explain.
That’s all an assertion. It may even be true.
Gosh, when you put it that way it sounds sorta bad!
Hey, do you have any interest in covering a trial?