Has anyone other than me wondered why neither of the two main partisan blogs in OC – the Liberal OC and Red County have even mentioned the OC Fair scandal a-brewin’?
Red seems intent to chatter about all sorts of Fair topics – but not the crooked Foundation itself. Blue doesn’t seem to have posted a comment about the Fair at all.
Are these two paragons of “reasoned debate” both so involved in reasoned debate that they have missed one of the biggest stories of the year?
Over the week-end we read some interesting things about the surreptitious “Fair Foundation” and their publicly paid lobb….er, consultant, Dick Ackerman. It transpires that the State AG, Jerry Brown has pulled the plug on legal support for the Fair Board, arguing quite reasonably that the Board majority are members of the clandestine Foundation, and that the taxpayers ain’t gonna pick up the tab to defend their misfeasance. Now they’ll have to pay for their own lawyers, thankfully, and we won’t.
We also learn that Ackerman’s law firm was paid over $19,000 in public funds to do something (not lobbying of course – that would be illegal). We would dearly love to see the billing statement with dates and activities.
Honorary Fringer Vern Nelson has an excellent post this AM over at the OJ blog.
free commercial for Vern
The helpful folks over at the OC Progressive have posted a fun run down here, passing along info gleaned by the Daily Pilot via a public records request.
Despite all the obfuscation and dust kicking up by Foundation apologists, it seems like the truth will emerge.
Here is a very good column we came across today by Barbara Venezia. in light of some of the non-conversations we’ve been having here lately with a Fair Board supporter, we thought we’d share it.
Why isn’t anyone calling for the removal of the current Orange County Fair Board? Doesn’t personal responsibility matter anymore? When you take into consideration the collateral damage they’ve caused with this ridiculous self-serving shell game of buying the fairgrounds, every single one of them should be held accountable, including the two who were not part of the nonprofit shenanigans.
When I asked board member Julie Vandermost why she wasn’t a part of it, she emailed, “It’s a matter of not having enough bandwidth in my schedule.” David Padilla didn’t return my call; rumor has it he wasn’t even asked to participate in the nonprofit. If true, you have to wonder why.
I’m not buying Julie’s clever excuse and David’s non-response speaks volumes. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they were probably the first ones who saw something hinky in this plan. Why didn’t they speak up? Was it because they didn’t want to rock the boat and lose the lucrative perks of being on the Fair Board? Or were they afraid of the blow-back speaking against powerful fellow board members could bring?
Does personal responsibility go out the window if you just keep your mouth shut?
This Fair Board’s questionable behavior should be enough ammunition to explore removal. Let’s not forget they were smack dab in the middle of the Mike Carona trial with board member Debbie Carona. Then there was the whole messy ticket/private dinner scandal that some argued amounted to “gifts of public funds,” perks estimated at approximately $40,000 plus. When this was taken away, tongues wagged that 50 percent of the board considered quitting.
Now Costa Mesa’s setting aside beaucoup bucks to create a plan B, (making a bid to buy the fairgrounds), should plan A, (getting the governor to rescind the sale), not work. This exercise in futility could’ve been avoided had the OC Fair Board done their job and not lobbied for the sale or formed their own nonprofit to buy it.
When is someone going to talk about the elephant in the middle of the room? It appears this board is not looking out for the best interest of the public. Politicians generally hate going after those who fund-raise and have political juice, but what if they’re out of control?
Maybe it’s a task for Supervisor John Moorlach; after all, accountability’s something his office has preached repeatedly. Sure his administration’s taken its lumps as they’ve gone after some sacred political cows like pension reform, but whether you agree with them or not, this group seems fearless. It would make sense for Moorlach and company to lead this charge.
But will he? He’s gearing up for a tough re-election bid. Going after political heavyweights on the Fair Board could cause a rift within his party; then again, being pro-active on this issue could give him a leg up with voters. Wonder if he’s a gambling man?
Costa Mesa, coupled with the OC Board of Supervisors, could accomplish rescinding the sale and requesting new board members. So who’ll have the chutzpah to stand up for personal responsibility? We all should.
Freelance writer Barbara Venezia’s opinion column appears online and in The Current every Friday. Email BV at bvontv@earthlink.net
Amen, Barbara, and thank you for saying what no one in the Republican hierarchy has the courage to say. Clean the Augean Stable at the OC Fair. Even if we have to divert the Santa Ana River to do it!
This great post was written the other day right here in Fullerton by our good Friend and fellow blogger Martha Martelongo, about the 72nd election as a watershed for the OC GOP. Enjoy!
This past Tuesday night, I was in Orange County for the special election to fill the seat vacated by the disgraced, resigned, Republican, Mike Duvall, for the 72nd State Assembly district. Duvall was handpicked by the entrenched ethically bankrupt establishment of the Orange County GOP. The same group that handpicked, Linda Ackerman, whom they thought would be a shoe-in, because she is the wife of former Republican Senate minority leader, Dick Ackerman.
The winner in that race, Chris Norby, born in the City of Fullerton, in the heart of the District, has been a teacher, a City Councilman, a County Supervisor. His politics have earned him a reputation for being a staunch defender and innovative leader for limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual property rights, education reform, and public employee pension reform, all issues that resonate with the independent minded majority of Republicans who live in the strongly Republican District. He speaks to these issues with moral clarity, authority, boldness, conviction and consistency.
We don't live here. We're just pecking our way through...
With the announcement by a woman named Sue Perez (who is connected to the wackos at Trinity Broadcasting and seems to be a friend of Lorri Galloway), that she intends to run for 34th State Senate District, we have the spectacle of yet another candidate who doesn’t live in the district they want to represent. The announcement by this woman who wants Senator Lou Correa’s job, got us to thinking about some of our recent aspirants for State and County office, including the Ackerwoman and Lorri Galloway, herself.
We all know by now that Ackerwoman lives in Irvine, but wants to represent North OC in the State Assembly; Galloway lives in Anaheim Hills – in the 3rd Supervisorial District – but claims to be running for the 4th District.
Other than that they are all females, a common denominator is that any one could soon be using the yard next door as their phony residence. Of course we have left out Harry Sidhu who, like Galloway, lives in the 3rd District.
The Trouble With Harry? He doesn't live in the 4th District, either.
What is it with these birds? Can’t they just stay in their own yards?
Heh heh. A backroom deal? You came to the right place!
Our pals over at the OC Weekly have finally got on board the OC Fair story. Scott Moxley has described a letter from County Counsel Nick Chrisos to a State AG rep about the obvious conspiracy by Fair Board members to create their own insider cabal to push for the sale of the Fair – to themselves.
The lawyer hired to shepherd this little back room deal through the legislature was none other than the husband of the Ethically Exuberant Ackerwoman – Dick Ackerman. In his article Moxley forgets to mention that good ol’ Dick hadn’t even been out of the Legislature for more than a few months himself and so seems to have violated state law by lobbying the Legislature, a characterization of which Ackerman is already trying to slime away from.
Like husband, like wife. Linda, Dick’s supposed better half, is running as a candidate in an Assembly district that she doesn’t live in, pushing a resume that is patently fraudulent. And worse yet, Dick claims to “speak for his wife.” What a team. And they want us to think that she is the ethical choice!
You want ethics? We got lots of ethics all over the place...
But back to the OC Fair deal. Now that at least one government entity has finally gotten involved, it’s going to be really hard for Ackerman, Inc. to wriggle off this hook. And consider this: since the County Counsel has got involved, its a real good bet that at least one County Supervisor other than Chris Norby has Ackerman in his/her sights.
Here’s an e-mail we just received from a Friend that raises all sorts of questions, enjoy!
Eastside Church in Fullerton is conducting a large scale service day today. Not all, but most of the projects were at public school campuses. I am very appreciative of the service to the needy which is taking place with this initiative. Sending out hundreds of people to clean, make repairs and generally assist public schools in doing what they are paid to do already is further propagating what I believe to be that most tragic of notions, that PUBLIC EDUCATION IS UNDERFUNDED…HARDLY. Before reading on, understand that many Fullerton teachers have already expressed concern that this endeavor is “taking jobs.” Believe me, that’s the only part of this that makes me smile.
I understand that Eastside’s mission is to be ‘out in the community’ and not locked behind the confines of their church. I applaud that. However, I count on (increasingly foolishly it seems) traditional community church’s like Eastside to be populated by wiser-than-typical parishioners who understand many of the most obvious problems in our state and country.
As I write this as one who works to remain informed of local school government, I know that several of the current Fullerton School District Trustees are hopeful that a new parcel tax can be passed so that we can pay an even larger percentage of our incomes to an educational system which has allowed unions to lobby any possibility for significant fiscal or moral change for that matter, out of existence.
As public education has become a jobs program and reward for liberal public employees and voters, we cannot:
Volunteer teach without union approval.
Terminate incompetent teachers within a timeframe that does not waste tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. My daughter and her classmates are currently enduring this teacher union supported injustice and waste of taxpayer dollars.
Break the back of the cancerous philosophy of compensation within a matrix of TIME SERVED and EDUCATION ACHIEVED which utterly ignores competence or performance.
Liberally outsource functions which could drastically reduce cost and improve performance.
Those are just a small sampling of the changes which could literally solve the problems of public education but for the insane axiom dejour that teachers are heroes simply because they are teachers. Today, Eastside unwittingly (well…not so unwittingly) bolsters the notion that teachers are underpaid even though the turnover is nil for a job that thousands apply for and few ever leave before retirement. Public teaching is a job which offers a fixed pension, summers off and nearly ironclad job security for the tenured.
The votes and common sense rationale of Christian church communities in America is one of our only remaining hopes for a continuing America which is of, by and for the people. If they too drink from the Kool-Aid of mistaking subordinating taxes with our labor as being a form of service and not a form of foolishness, then our problems were greater than I previously thought.
Most depressing have been the arguments which I have heard defending Eastside’s service to government.
This will somehow lead to a diminishing of today’s false understanding of the separation of church and state (which I certainly agree that this has become a misguided tirade of the left).I believe the reverse to be true. This foolish service will give fuel to the fire of those who ridiculously opine that any mention of God in a Public venue is a violation of the First Amendment.
That end times are near anyway, so what difference does it make?I’m not sure how to respond to this. I guess then that we should just ignore any fight to preserve our constitutional government and just go pick flowers?
Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s…Ironically, this is the best argument of all to think this stuff through. From the Christian perspective, I would certainly think that America and her accompanying freedom would be considered to be an amazing gift from God. I have news for Christians who use this as an excuse to remain blind (frequently mistaking this for politeness) to political issues. You are squandering what is one of the greatest gifts from God in our time. A free America.
I believe Eastside Church to be a great place both run by and attended by terrific people. However, it would be unsupportive to stand by silently as they contribute to the very problems which most threaten government’s subordinate position to the people and in so doing, weakening the very principles which protect freedom of religion in our country.
Lest anybody think that I am over the top, understand that I am a believer in local change. There is little hope for wisdom on a grand scale if there is none on a local scale.
Over at the Orange Juice blog, the ever-ebullient Vern Nelson has posted an overview of the big pow-wow held the other day in Costa Mesa that was organized to clarify the whole proposed sale deal. Apparently the two masterminds of the meeting – Assemblymen Van Tran and Jose Solorio – have as much grasp of the issue as a pair of two-week old jack o’ lanterns.
Tran and Solorio know the score
Vern, to his credit, keeps the issue of Dick Ackerman’s lobbying for the secret Fair Board cabal in front of the public. Ex-legislators are supposed to refrain from lobbying for a full year after their departure from office, but apparently Dick was up in Sacto this summer pushing to get the necessary enabling language in the budget bill.
What is that obnoxious odor?
Now the Fair Board members involved in the deal are trying to nicely characterize his efforts as “consulting,” even as they pretend not to know how much money was spent on Ackerman’s questionable services. Well, the distinction between a consultant glad-handing votes and a lobbyist is lost on us. It’s probably a moot point since nobody in law enforcement seems to want to enforce it. Ah! Another one of those unenforceable laws dispensed with! God it’s great being a Repuglican!
I'd sell my soul for a cold one right about now...
When we returned to the FFFF HQ today we noticed that somebody had been rummaging around in the medicine cabinet. Sure enough, some of our ritual mescaline had disappeared. And later today we received the following communication from the boys in the white, unmarked van, purporting to be yet another snagged Dick Ackerman telephone conversation. Although we know who the other communicant is (or claims to be) we have been unable to discover anything about this individual. If any of the Friends can help out we would certainly appreciate the assistance.
(phone ringing)
Dick Ackerman: (snort) Yeah, Ackerman here.
Louis Cyphere: Hello Richard. Louis Cyphere calling.
DA: Oh, Jesus.
LC: Come again?
DA: (Grunting sounds) Heh heh. Sorry, boss.
LC: Richard please stop making animal sounds. I want to know what’s been going on lately. You haven’t been in touch.
DA: Been busy. Trying to beat that bastard Norby. Need some more help. Things aren’t looking too good.
LC: Ah, Richard, they rarely do. But I’m wondering, well, you know, what’s in it for me?
DA: Hgpmph. Um. Well, Hell…
LC: Hmmm?
DA: I mean, you know…
LC: You see Richard, the thing of it is, I feel I’ve already pretty much optimized my investment in you and the missus, and I have so many political things on my plate right now.
DA: 72nd at stake. (grunting) Lots of possibilities in Sacramento.
LC: Yes, well, the 72nd was pretty much bought and paid for back in ’95. Surely you remember that arrangement.
DA: Ughmpmphh. Yeah, sure boss.
LC: Good. Well, the World Series is over and the Yanks have won again, so I suppose…what more do you want?
DA: Gotta shut down the blogs. That Bushala. Goddammit! Killing me. I mean killing us. I mean killing Linda! Phone calls, signs, blogthings, Goddamn signs. Right there on the way to Dolan’s house.
LC: Richard. No need to blaspheme. What do you want?
DA: (snarling sound and a low bark) Take him out. Accident. Overdose. Suicide. Something.
LC: Calm down now Richard. You know I can’t do that. Bushala, again? You mean our arrangement with Malcolm didn’t work out? I could try to cut a deal with him.
DA: Yeah. Heh. Heh heh. A deal (three quick grunts).
LC: Greek Orthodox?
DA: (undecipherable) What? Goddamit, that white van is out back behind the badminton courts.
