Friends For Fullerton's Future

February 10, 2010February 10, 2010Dead heads

The Hypocrisy Deepens at Mauve County

Over in the purpling swamp of what used to be the “Red County” blog, Matthew J. Cunningham just topped himself, hypocrisy-wise.

Cunningham has been throwing out backhanded support for Tom Daly, a Democrat, in the campaign for 4th District Supervisor for a year now. Lately he has employed a pro-Daly blogger to actually promote Daly outright. That struck some people as odd for an allegedly “right of center” blog. Of course we know that Cunningham is just a gofer for John Lewis, the political impresario and lobbyist who is the mastermind of the Daly effort. That explains a lot. Including the lame post the other day by some fat-headed goon called Thomas Anthony Gordon attacking the race’s only real conservative – Shawn Nelson. And of course Daly’s campaign manager also chimed in, again using different aliases, to try to reinforce the theme.

Cunningham has been spinning the whole Daly thing by proclaiming that his is not a Republican blog, just a right of center one. When (and if) you get past the obvious discordance of a right of center blog supporting a union-backed Democrat and attacking a real conservative, you’re likely to find some real hypocritical treasures – as an alert Friend did today.

Opining in a comment in post thread about the Mission Viejo recall of RINO Lance MacLean, Cunningham has the nerve to criticize the recallers for causing the replacement of a Republican with a Democrat!

Say what?

Isn’t that exactly what John Lewis & Co. are promoting in the 4th Supervisor campaign? Replacing Republican Chris Norby with a County employee union backed Democrat – Tom Daly. For fun, check out last year’s Daly’s fundraiser host committee.

DalyFundraiser — The union bosses and lobbyists arm wrestled for front row seats...

Lest you think a Democrat can be a real conservative just take a look who’s backing Daly – County union bosses Nick Berardino (OCEA), Wayne Quint (AOSD), and Joe Kerr, head of the County OC Firefighters. Of course they could be backing Daly because of his fiscal conservatism, huh?

Oh well. It’s not as if this were something we didn’t already know. Still, the hypocrisy is quite remarkable.

February 9, 2010March 18, 2010Dead heads

The Horror! Hideous Doppelganger Roaming Streets of Orange County

by admin14 Comments

Here’s some free advice for the guys in the John Lewis/Daly for Supervisor Shop. Next time you dredge up a goon to do your dirty work you might want to make sure he has no embarrassing body doubles with the same name wandering around Orange County.

Yesterday we reported how the Mauve County blog raked up some slob from Santa Ana named Thomas Anthony Gordon, who, out of the blue, attacked Fullerton’s Shawn Nelson for being a defense attorney, therefore “soft on crime,” and hence unfit to be a County Supervisor.

As we pointed out, this was a theme Daly’s campaign manager has been pushing on blogs using an alias.

But back to Gordon. Maybe TAG wasn’t the best choice of hit men on the subject of crime, softness-wise. You see poor Gordo shares the identical name of another Orange County resident.

According to the Orange County Superior Court records, one Thomas Anthony Gordon has been arrested twice in Orange County. He is listed as 6’4″ and 230lbs in 1996 and 240lbs in 2005.

Both of the misdemeanors were for Vehicle Code Section 14601.1 (a) driving on a suspended license. The “.1(a)” part means the license was originally suspended for some type of reckless driving resulting in injury to someone.

The 2005 case was reduced to a lesser offense of driving without a license. He also has some failure to pay issues with the court.

Imagine that: two Thomas Anthony Gordons in Orange County.

What’s that you say? It’s just the same guy?

Naw, couldn’t be. Nobody with that scofflaw’s record would start throwing around his own mud on somebody else would he? And there’s no way the upright Lewis team at Mauve County would let that sort of individual on their blog in the first place, now would they?

Of course we have to wonder about Thomas Anthony Gordon #2’s opinion of defense lawyers. Maybe he’ll stop by and tell us.

February 9, 2010February 9, 2010Behind Closed Doors

Monkey Business At Daly’s Clerk/Recorder Office?

by admin15 Comments

A source inside the County government has directed our attention to a contractual relationship between the County Clerk’s department and a “consultant” that bears closer scrutiny. Our source has indicated that monies were paid out for questionable or dubious “services.”

This contract involves Barbre & Associates; Brett Barbre is a former County employee, a Water District official, and now a self-styled political public relations guy. It appears that Mr. Barbre received at least $36,000 through last summer to do something (see vendor report, above). What did he do? Our source tells us it was supposed to have something to do with organizing an Orange County Hall of Fame memorabilia display. We’re not buying into that just yet since such an inconceivably profligate waste of money, especially in a recession, is hard to ascribe to anybody – even a big spender like Daly.

Nevertheless, Barbre’s name immediately piqued our curiosity since he claims to be in PR, a function that Daly supposedly hired former reporter Jean Pasco to perform. Furthermore, Barbre, a nominal Republican, was an early and public supporter of Democrat Clerk/Recorder Tom Daly in his quest to be our County Supervisor. Check out the “host committee” to Daly’s 2009 fundraiser. Yes, Brett, we see you right there, #6 in the first column. Later in 2009 Barbre also took on the job of introducing Daly’s hand-picked successor and Clerk Department employee, Renee Ramirez, to the OC GOP Central Committee. Coincidences?

Since Daly and Ramirez run the Clerk/Recorder’s office, we immediately started to wonder just what Barbre did, to pick up that 36K. We have such suspicious minds, you see.

And so we have made a public records request with the County to find out the scope of services that were supposed to be rendered by Barbre and just what was accomplished for all that money.

And when we do find out we will certainly share the information with you.

February 9, 2010February 8, 2010Dead heads

Transportation Boondoggles Belie Sidhu’s Self-applied Stick-on Labels

by Joe Sipowicz3 Comments

Harry'sFriend — It's all about #1, baby!

“Tough-minded advocate for streamlined efficient government.”

That’s how 4th District Supervisor candidate Harry Sidhu describes himself in that dopey Fullerton News Tribune ad he bought last week. We also read that Sidhu claims to have “fought to eliminate excessive and wasteful government spending.”

No examples, of course, to support the statements; evidently we are expected to accept Harry’s word for it.

But let’s make a quick visit to Sidhu’s campaign webiste. Under the “Transportation” issue heading we discover stuff all dressed up to look like an accomplishment that in reality gives the lie to Harry’s claim to be anything but an irresponsible public spendthrift.

Turns out Sidhu is a big cheerleader for the California High Speed Rail scam, a boondoggle on which hundreds of millions have already been squandered in “studies,” and with a gargantuan $50 billion price tag that ridership will never pay for. And of course he beats the drum for the jaw-droppingly expensive ARTIC plan in Anaheim, presumably hoping that if you build the southern terminus of the HSR a choo choo will have to show up sooner or later. A trip to the ARTIC website “benefits” page makes things crystal clear: $180,000,000 (yes, Friends you read that right) for a make-work government jobs program – mostly paid for with Measure M funds that everybody in the County has to pay through sales tax. Hardly the behavior of a fiscal conservative, is it?

Our Friends in Anaheim tell us that Sidhu is all gung-ho for this titanic fiasco to grease his relationship with outgoing Mayor Curt Pringle, who is neck deep in the HSR rip-off and who is looking for a soft place to land.

Pringlepug — Pringle on his knees again...

Pringle, not coincidentally, is supporting Sidhu’s carpetbagging run for Supervisor (he supported Ackerwoman, too) and has been raising money for him. Symbiosis. And we get stuck holding the empty sack. Typical.

Sidhu is “tough-minded” about one thing: perpetually running for political office. On matters involving our tax dollars he’s about as tough as a mildewed marshmallow.

February 8, 2010February 9, 2010Dead heads

Santa Ana Goon Enlisted to Attack Shawn Nelson

by admin16 Comments

The Tom Daly For Supervisor campaign being operated out of the back of the Mauve County blog offices enlisted an unlikely stooge today in an attack on Fullerton’s Shawn Nelson.

The individual’s name is Thomas Anthony Gordon (pictured, below), a participant in the byzantine and highly bitter world of Santa Ana politics. We had to do some digging to find out who this individual even was, and why he has all of a sudden taken an interest in the 4th Supervisorial District election.

The gist of Gordo’s post is that Nelson is a defense attorney, and because Nelson works to get his clients acquitted he is “soft on crime” and hence unfit to be a Supervisor. Some logic, huh?

This attack really isn’t too surprising. Daly’s campaign manager Chris Jones kept popping up here recently (until we busted him) using aliases trying to say the same thing. And it’s been obvious for a long time that Mauve County was just a vehicle for political promoter and Repuglican John Lewis who has been setting up the Democrat Daly as a lobbying target for years. But who orchestrated this little Valentine? It’s not very likely that Lewis, or Jones even know this Gordon character.

Aha! I think I’ve got it. The Mauve editor Matthew J. Cunningham is a prize pupil of Lewis and, of course a backroom Daly supporter. He’s been over here a lot lately commenting anonymously, too. It seems quite plausible that Cunningham stirred up Gordon, probably with the fact that their mutual enemy Art Pedroza has an ad for Nelson on his blog. What an idea! The stooge can do the dirty work and Cunningham can (try to) keep his hands clean.

Sound sort of weird. Of course it is. But the mission of Mauve County is now clear. Promote the career politician Daly, and attack Nelson.

For a blog that keeps pretending to be right-of-center it’s pretty sad that they evidently will be working against the only true conservative in the race. And all so that John Lewis can make money lobbying his boy Tom Daly in the County Hall of Administration. Repuglicanism at its worst.

February 8, 2010February 8, 2010Dead heads

Hide and Seek Harry On The Move Again. Claims New Address

by admin10 Comments

coackroach — Adios, Harry. We hardly knew ye.

Not to be outdone by fellow 4th District Supervisor campaign carpetbagger and multiple address occupier Lorri Galloway, Harry Sidhu has pulled up stakes again and abandoned his address at the beautiful Calabria Apartments, #106. The Registrar of Voters verbally confirmed the switcheroo this morning.

HarrysHome — Let's hope Harry got the Manager's Move-in Special

Was it the proximity to the bowling alley or the pool hall? Was it the complete lack of landscaping? Or was it just the sheer impossibility as the residence for a rich man like Sidhu, whose carpetbagging was getting a lot of attention anyway. It sure was a great image and just the sort of thing to burst a political bubble.

Some of Harry’s campaign blog monkeys have been hinting recently that Harry was now living in a house he owns in the 4th District – a lot more plausible than the Calabria, to be sure, but in no way mitigating the fact that HARRY SIDHU IS A CARPETBAGGER! Whether or not Harry will even pretend to live in his new home for the next four months is an excellent question, the answer to which we will no doubt be pursuing diligently.

Ah, well. Thus endeth Harry’s flirtation with the common man. Wonder if he ever even got to meet his neighbors.

February 8, 2010February 8, 2010Arts & Architecture

Haiku Monday

by Yoshii The Bushido Poet6 Comments

Cherry blossoms fall

Thirty-two pearl stepping stones

Dark clouds approaching

February 8, 2010February 8, 2010Harry Sidhu

Sidhu’s Wacky News Tribune Ad

by admin4 Comments

Sidhu-Frauds-News-Tribune-2 — But he doesn't even live in our district, does he?

I came across this sort of goofy Harry Sidhu political ad in the News Tribune the other day, repeating the mantra of his paid blog monkeys that Sidhu has “represented” 40% of the 4th County Supervisorial District by being on the Anaheim City Council.

Harry and his “team” must be really concerned that the carpetbagger label is sticking. It is, and it will, because that’s what he is. But that’s only part of the problem. The other issue is whether Sidhu even lives in the District at all.

Please also note that the ad uses the simple title of “Mayor Pro Tem.” Why no mention of Anaheim? Harry can’t be dumb enough to think people in our city are ignorant enough to believe he’s Mayor Pro Tem of Fullerton, can he? Or is it just more sloppy work by his “team.” We already know that he holds Fullerton residents in such low regard that he dodged the Supervisor candidate forum held by NUFF a couple weeks ago. Sad.

The text of the Sidhu ad is even more pathetic. Experience? Harry doesn’t identify a single thing he’s done to make Anaheim government more “streamlined” or “efficient.” He says he fought to eliminate “excessive and wasteful government spending” but doesn’t give a single example of his fiscal conservatism. Wonder why?

Apparently Sidhu and his handlers also hope that voters are ignorant of the fact that the County government has almost no involvement in any sort of job creation schemes; and owning fast food franchises seems to be Harry’s only job creating calling card. More sadness.

Too bad for Harry that constantly running in political campaigns isn’t a job skill that voters hold in high regard.

Nothing to talk about and seemingly unaware of real County issues – that’s the campaign. And that’s a bad combination.

February 6, 2010February 7, 2010Harry Sidhu

Oops. Sidhu Did It Too.

by Grover Cleveland7 Comments

A few days ago I did a post about how Tom Daly’s campaign for 4th District Supervisor received a contribution from Sharon Quirk’s campaign account and how the County Code prohibits that.

Turns out Harry Sidhu was the similar recipient of a fellow politico’s largess. On August 16, 2009 he received $250 from “Marty for Brea City Council.”

That would be Brea City Councilman Marty Simonoff.

February 6, 2010The Observer

Observer Editor Sends Letter to Herself?

by Travis19 Comments

Helen Logan of Fullerton sent us the following note regarding a “community opinion” printed in the latest edition of the Fullerton Observer:

Is S.K. of Fullerton actually Sharon Kennedy, who lives with her mother in Fullerton, the author of this letter? If so, then why would she write a letter to herself?

The Fullerton Observer’s letters to the editor policy allows the editor to only identify the author with his or her initials and the city he or she lives in, if there is a good reason for requesting anonymity from the editor, Sharon Kennedy. Why the need for anonymity for the above innocuous letter? Who in Fullerton fears retribution from angered Haitian shop owners or militias?

I sought the answers to my questions in a separate Observer article titled “Haiti Supplies to Survivors & a Brief History”. Only one sentence, replete with syntax and spelling errors, mentioned distribution problems arose and survivors had to wait a few days to get these supplies.

The poor research and writing of the Fullerton Observer’s articles and its lack of journalistic ethics reveals this newspaper to be nothing more than a collection of opinions. This newspaper and its editor lack credibility.

The Fullerton Observer touts itself as Fullerton’s only independent newspaper. I thank those other newspapers that are dependent on investigative reporting from real journalists and their valid editors for giving me insight into the facts.