Geoff West Writes THE Definitive 2014 Election Takedown of Jim Righeimer and Measure O — You Have to Read It!

By
Greg Diamond
– October 22, 2014Posted in: "The OC", Fresh Juice
Righeimer in Bubbling Cauldron

Scale not to size.

OJB could link to posts from our friend Geoff West at our co-“OC Political Blog of the Year” A Bubbling Cauldron without reading them and still feel that we were steering our readers in the right direction.  But we do try to read them — and once in a while a masterpiece comes down that demands a story begging you, especially if you’re from Costa Mesa, to go there and partake.  The story at the top of its RSS feed right now, “Why I Won’t Vote for Jum Righeimer,” is that sort of tour de force.  Go and read it — smile and rejoice that Geoff West is still on the case.

Here are some tidbits — a couple of sections taken from the middle of the piece that may especially appeal to Juicers’ refined tastes — describing the horrific “record of accomplishments” compiled by Riggy in his first (and hopefully only) term, to whet your appetite:

DOUBLED LEGAL FEES

  • Because of his capricious actions since he took office Legal Fees have doubled.
  • His first major misstep was the illegal and ill-advised attempt to issue layoff notices to more than 200 city employees, which resulted in turmoil throughout the city,  the death of young maintenance worker,Huy Pham, and a lawsuit that still percolates.

A FAKE FISCAL CONSERVATIVE

  • He portrays himself as a fiscal conservative, yet hands the CEO a $1,000,000 contingency (slush) fund annually, which Righeimer uses like pocket change to fund his whims during the year.
  • He views the Convention and Visitors Bureau as his own special piggy bank.  The CVB covered cost overages for the now-notorious 60th Anniversary celebration.
  • On that subject,  the whole event is still under scrutiny by the the Orange County District Attorney’s office and, so far, has resulted in the termination of one employee – after receiving 9 months paid leave and a $170,225 settlement.  That dark cloud hangs directly over Righeimer.
  • The CVB sponsored a trip for Righeimer to China a couple years ago for “business development”. Righeimer, a shopping center developer, has also made junkets to Las Vegas with an entourage of city staffers to a shopping center development conference the past couple years.  So far, no business coming from those trips is evident.
  • He brays about paving city streets, but conveniently forgets to mention that the money for that asphalt came from not hiring enough city staff to provide the essential services on a timely basis.  His is a philosophy of potholes before public safety.

There’s more — so much more — but you’ll have to go to Geoff’s joint to read it all.  And there is a lot to read, so bring some water with you — although not any food, because you might have trouble keeping it down.

About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)