At yesterday’s Orange County budget hearings 2nd District Supervisor John Moorlach just couldn’t seem to get away from his blaming of public employee pensions, particularly the 3% at 50 pension benefit for public safety members, for the budget woes of the county. While this is the same old tune from Mr. Chicken Little, the fact that he has no problem making facts up as he goes along trying to demonstrate his point is the very definition of hubris.
Hubris (also hybris; pronounced /ˈhjuËbrɪs/) means extreme haughtiness or arrogance. Hubris often indicates being out of touch with reality and overestimating one’s own competence or capabilities, especially for people in positions of power.
When Supervisor Bates suggested that Moorlach’s wasteful brainchild the Office of Independent Review be considered as a possible budget reduction to save front line public safety jobs such as deputies, investigators, and even prosecutors, Moorlach just about lost it. He then went on to rant about every program that he considers of no value, including the Orange County Grand Jury, complaining that they should be cut before any of his wasteful pet projects.
But his ultimate act of hubris for the day was reserved for his attack on public safety pensions which he had the gall to blame solely on State Senator Lou Correa. I’m paraphrasing here but Moorlach said that Senator Correa, when he was in the Assembly sponsored SB 400 which granted the 3% @ 50 benefit to public safety workers in the state. That set the standard where by local municipalities, like Orange County offered the same benefit to remain competitive. Supervisor Moorlach advocated the implementation of that benefit to the Supervisors he now criticises for making the decision and which he is having the county waste millions in legal fees to try to overturn.
While it is true that Senator Correa voted in favor of SB 400, he was not the sponsor, nor was he he driving force behind the legislation. The bill received broad bi-partisan support. The final vote in the State Assembly registered only 7 votes against, and 3 abstentions. The Senate registered only one abstention and zero no votes. In fact, no arguments were made in opposition to the legislation. This hardly represents a partisan decision by the legislature. “Law and Order” Republicans were more than happy to join Democrats in supporting SB 400.
But to top off his hubris in making up facts, Moorlach has the nerve to launch a false attack on the very Senator responsible for the additional $50 million that the county gets from the state to balance its budget due to Correa’s SB 8.
So Mr. Moorlach, please get your facts straight. Just because you say it doesn’t make something true. In fact, the truth is usually far away. Mr. Moorlach, you supported the Boards decision to file for bankruptcy in December 0f 1994. In fact, had the Board of Supervisors not panicked and held on to the risky investments that had caused the collapse of the County’s financial portfolio, we would have not needed to file bankruptcy at all, and would not be paying down the massive debt that is sucking $18.4 million from our annual budget.
Same Lou Correa that LIED about not raising our taxes?? He pledged not to — and broke his promise. What kind of a lying putz does that make him? How about ex-Senator?
Chris, with his re-election, JMWM is a termed out politician in Orange County. His remarks are likely the start of him building his political resume for the next job and why not start from a familiar position for him — which is bashing public employee pensions? Expect more of this from him in the days ahead, as well as lots of help with it from the syncophanic media – like the OCR.
Speaking of the OC Grand Jury. Is there any news about their investigation into the no bid contract fiasco involving the county I.T. dept. It has been several months since the story broke but it seems to have disappeared totally. It is amazing to me that “Pat” Bates and Janet Nguyen beat Mr. Moorlach to the punch in breaking the probe to the public. Or maybe not….