Those peacocks are not going to feed themselves...
Contrary what Harry Sidhu told Register heart throb Jennifer Muir the other day, speculation is mounting that Hide and Seek Harry Sidhu is not going to spend another dime on the 4th District Supervisor’s race, and neither are the unions – at least not on Sidhu. So where does all this leave us? What happens if ol’ #2 re-registers at his true home, the Elegant Yorba Estate, thus disqualifying himself for the November election? Will the race for third place suddenly become meaningful despite our attempts to make fun of it? Will the third place finisher Lorri Galloway be thrown back in the November election? She seems to have finished up about 50 votes ahead of Buena Park’s Art Brown.
Maybe Galloway better hold off on her own re-registration back at her real home.
OMG, you mean I gotta fake it for another five months?
So will Hairball Sidhu back out thus keeping Lorri’s fortune cookie dream alive and causing the unions to rethink their fall plans ? Fun stuff! Stay tuned!
Us rock-ribbed Republicans believe in lots of transparency and accountability.
It’s true. Ask anybody. Everybody says they want accountability and transparency in government, especially political candidates; but those in authority have a lot of incentive to keep their doings free from risk – the risk of being exposed as responsible for some screw-up or other; and the risk of fighting the inertia produced by institutional dead weight in a gravity-free environment. And of course the ability to pass along lucrative contracts to their pals.
And all this bring me to the point of this essay: it’s time for the Orange County Board of Supervisors to take charge of semi-autonomous agencies that have been operating under the public radar. Two of these “hidden governments” spring most immediately to mind: the Children and Families Commission – that seems to have been operating as a cash cow for the local repuglican machine, and the OC Cemetary District, ditto.
The Children and Families Commission is a poster child for liberal, under-scrutinized government. You may agree with its goals and method of revenue collection. But even if whole-village child rearing and confiscatory income redistribution are your cup of tea, you have to admit that paying a connected political operative like Matthew J. Cunningham $200 an hour to update Facebook and read blogs and hand out toothbrushes must diminish from the resources available to actually help kids. And what’s with all the lobbying? Hundreds of thousands worth in any given year at the State level, with Anaheim’s mayor-for-hire Curt Pringle being the chief beneficiary.
And then there’s the Cemetery District that paid Pringle to find a new graveyard and paid him another $25,000 as bonus for finding a site in Brea. I’m not even sure if Brea is going to go along with this, but let’s hope Pringle’s fee included guaranteed entitlements from the city. But I digress. The real issue here is why the District hired Pringle at all to do the work of a real estate professional whose compensation would have been a partial commission from the seller, not the taxpayers.
Well, we’ve got some new blood on the 5th Floor of the Hall of Administration, and hopefully these guys will start to attend to these and other agencies that need to be examined, made accountable, taken over, and if appropriate, disbanded. Sure, the ‘pugs will squeal and squawk.
And that’s when you know you’re doing the right thing.
JUNE UPDATE: I’ve spoken with another police officer who wants to know why we haven’t posted any more information on this story, as there were many witnesses to the alleged act. Rest assured, we are not going to stop digging until we get to the bottom of this.
FEBRUARY UPDATE: I spoke yesterday with the officer in question who has stated unequivocally that an incident did in fact occur, and that Councilman Jones has mischaracterized his innocence. The officer has been instructed by City Human Resources Department to avoid further communication with us.
We all know that Christmas parties are notorious for bad behavior on the part of some of the participants. When you are an elected official maybe you believe you can get away with some extracurricular activity without reproach. And maybe you are a just a bigger target for nasty accusations that aren’t true.
Jones Denies Story
Which is the case with Councilman F. Richard “Dick” Jones?
We have been informed by separate sources, both in the Fullerton PD and in City Hall, that Jones slapped a female Fullerton police detective on her buttocks at a police union Christmas Party on December 18th at the Summit House restaurant; and that the physical assault was followed up with a dismissive slur regarding Dick’s perception of the officer’s sexual orientation.
Yesterday we sent Dick Jones an e-mail asking him to respond to this allegations. Here is what he said:
I just learned of this allegation this weekend. This is completely untrue and I have no idea why or how this rumor was started. People who know me, know I would do no such thing to anyone. Thank you for asking me. Such an accusation is very upsetting as there is no truth to it!
So now we have an accusation and a denial, and as yet no response from the officer in question. So the real question is why anybody in the Fullerton PD would attempt what would evidently be a smear on Jones? That’s a good question and one we will be pursuing.
In any case, difficulties arise, including the possibility of a cover-up of this alleged incident within both City Hall, as well as in the ranks of the police union itself. Apart from the issue of a typical hush-up for a politician, there remains the subject of other parties who may have a stake in making sure that news of the alleged incident doesn’t get out. The City Manager is a close personal friend of Mr. Jones, and would certainly render any investigation problematic. Meanwhile, the police union is apparently in the process of bargaining a new agreement and may very well be in need of Jones’ vote.
If true, the incident would certainly center on the behavior of Jones, of course; and also the rights of the officer in question who may be feeling pressure from her bosses and also from her union brethren to let the matter go – at least for now.
Alternatively we are confronted with the possibility that someone within the Fullerton Police Department has concocted and sold a story in order to make Jones look bad. But what for? Who knows? In any case, the timing may be poor. Angering a potential vote during labor negotiations is probably not the best idea.
We’ll stay on top of this as best we can. Particularly to make sure that this situation doesn’t end up playing a part in a labor agreement negotiation.
A while back we posted a story about the OC Grand Jury callying for a lobbyist registry. They also attacked the practice of government agencies paying lobbyists to lobby other government agencies. Teri Sforza at the OC Watchdog did a post, here.
Yes, it certainly seems even more disturbing when practiced by opaque agencies like Water Districts and of course, by our old pals at the Children and Families Commission.
God bless America, land of opportunity!
As we have amply documented, this commission has paid Curt Pringle to lobby on its behalf and it has also employed the services of former State legistalor Phil Isenberg. Just yesterday we did a post about wordsmith Matthew J. Cunningham raking in some big bucks getting ready and attending a lunch for legislative staffers. Presumably the whole thing was a lobbying sales job.
The worst part of this of course, is that the OC commission is not lobbying for itself. No point in that – unless there’s a call to change the money distribution formula to benefit OC. No, all these hundreds of thousands of lobbying dollars are going to defend Prop 10 revenue in general. In other words, the OC Children and Families Commissions is spending all this dough lobbying for the other 57 counties’ First Five Commissions.
Yeah, but those other counties don't have a wordsmith of my caliber!
Are these other counties lobbying themselves? Who knows. Not unlikely. But this just emphasizes the point that the whole thing is out of control – no matter how many times Cunningham ghost writes blather about how well run they are.
And while we’re at it, let’s remember The White House Writers Group and their six-figure contract to promote the commission outside around the country!
If you think about it the whole thing really stinks. Time to pick off the scab on the commission and see what’s supperating underneath.
In a post today (or was it yesterday? Aw, who the hell cares?) the Voice of the County Public Employee Union passed along a story they got from the LA Times (no link thanks, you punks).
Of course they are doing it for the wrong reason. Their story is all about how their paymaster Nick Berardino was made to look like a chimpanzee for publicly attacking Webster Guillory and getting dressed down by the County CEO. The implication is clear enough: Rackaukas won’t investigate criminal wrongdoing by politicians. True enough. But why haven’t we heard a single word from the Voice of OCEA about Democrat Tom Daly hiring friends and the relatives of campaign contributors; about County staff withholding critical information from the BOS regarding the purchase of a derelict building on Civic Center Drive; about the Children and Families Commission hiring political hacks for bloated PR and lobbying contracts; about a political operative getting $48,000 to “study” a sports hall of fame; about a candidate for supervisor who committed voter fraud by perjuring himself twice on official documents?
There will be 3 open seats (and maybe 4) for Fullerton’s city council this November.
For those that are interested or considering running for any one of those seats, our Friends would really like to know your opinion about the following issues:
1. What’s your opinion about Redevelopment in Fullerton and the recent council vote to expand Redevelopment?
2. What’s your opinion on the roll the city manager plays with the city council?
3. What is your opinion about public employee pensions?
4. What is your opinion about holding people accountable for their actions?
5. What is your opinion about Zone changes and General Plan Amendments; are they ever justified and if so, why and when?
6. What is your opinion on the High Speed Rail coming through Fullerton?
7. What is your opinion about the way things are going in Downtown Fullerton?
8. What is your opinion about the proposed Fox Block development?
9. What is you opinion on future development in West Coyote hills?
Self-styled conservative 3rd District Supervisor Bill Campbell, who supported Harry Sidhu and who sits atop the Children and Families Commission – where he directs public largess to his pals and cronies, supports the OC Human Relations Commission.
Does he ever.
Here’s a clip of Big Bill actually choking up over the possibility that the Board of Supervisors might actually do the right thing and pull the taxpayer plug on this nonsense.
Notice that his focus is not on “measuring” anything, but is anecdotal and really is just about “showing” that the County has concerns for everyone. Typical.
Oh, and way to be in touch with your feelings, big guy.
Well, they’re at it again. The Voice of OC which is funded by (drum roll) the OCEA and the OCEA PAC Treasurer Chris Prevatt have coughed up yet another load of happy horse shit about Shawn Nelson.
Here is Tracy Wood of the Voice of OCEA; and here is Prevatt, picking up the ball and running even farther out of bounds. Of course Matthew Cunningham passes along the story as a “top story”, too, just as if the Voice of OCEA were a real news source.
They are deliberately mischaracterizing Nelson’s statements about a possible new Coyote Hills meeting, trying to make it look like Nelson was trying to lobby for a new meeting so he could change his vote.
At the Council meeting last Tuesday at a “second reading” of the Council denial (BTW, that’s a new one on us!) discussion arose about additional information that the Council had not heard. Whether there was any real merit to that claim remains to be seen. Nelson was dubious, but basically volunteered to attend one last special meeting before swearing in as Supervisor if his colleagues felt inclined to do so.
Quirk and Keller declined, and on a vote of 3-2 the original denial was confirmed. Story over.
What’s funny is that Prevatt is spinning this as some sort of issue that Hairball Sidhu can use in the fall against Nelson. Did he let slip the official union position on the fall election? Hmm.
Okay, this isn’t about Fullerton – not directly, anyway, but Janet Nguyen is indeed the Chair of the County Board of Supervisors. And we’re in the County.
Our Fringe Friend Gustavo Arellano has passed along an invite to Ms. Nguyen’s August fundraiser at the OC Weekly with the usual mordant commentary. Depending on the amount you give to her you will be classified:
No level for rickshaw driver?
WTF? You can be a “bamboo?” Or two? Then comes the “Empress” and “Emperor” sponsor level. Sweet Baby Emanicipator! Okay, the comestibles are some sort of Asian fusion blah-blah-blah, but this is America fer chrissakes!
How about a Mandarin level for a hundred bucks? Or a coolie grade for 50 dollars or less?
If you take a doggie bag you can actually feed your whole family on the Commission's dime - and get paid, too!
Looks like about $2,540 billed for activities leading up to and including a Republican legislative “staffer lunch” back in March of 2009. Hope there were some crusts left over to help feed the children.
All that dough to persuade GOP staff aides about how wonderful the Rob Reiner commissions are? You’ve gotta be kidding!
Note that third item about Riverside County making their “first Five” Commission a county agency. I wonder what that sort of scrutiny would mean for our Commission. No more Campbell crony contracts?
