Election day was tough on Democrats. What made it especially tough was the lack of turnout. If Democrats go to the polls, even in this Red County, we can be competitive and do well. While all the ballots are not yet counted, turnout was down. Way down.
For those Republicans who won, hardly a mandate when the number of folks who actually bothered to vote hovers between 20 and 40 percent.
Some random observations and thoughts:
- Sharon Quirk Silva deserved better. She did more for her district in two years than previous assembly reps did in 20. She was done in by poor turnout, an opponent who refused to debate her in addition to lying about her record and position on Prop 13. Many of us believe in a presidential year, SQS could knock off Young Kim who will run for re-election in 2016 with exactly no accomplishments to speak of. Sharon ought to give this another shot.
- Jose Solorio got bad advice from his consultant, and his thumping by Janet Nguyen means he’ll probably be a community college trustee for awhile. I don’t think his political career is over, but no one thought the margin between he and Nguyen would be that large especially after a money laundering scheme came to light.
- While Larry Agran was beaten for a city council race, don’t expect him to disappear from Irvine. The city’s standing as being the best in the county (if not the state) is largely because of the foundation Agran built for public safety, support for education and economic development. I expect Agran to be active behind the scenes developing the next set of Democratic leaders in Irvine.
- Taxpayer support for the Barclay Theater at UCI? Kiss that goodbye.
- Joe Shaw and Connie Boardman deserved better in Huntington Beach. The negative campaign against both of them was shameful.
- Bao Nguyen ran a great race in Garden Grove; he’ll be mayor of that city before the decade is out (we’re hoping sooner than later as ballots are still being counted).
- The OC Register’s endorsements had many more Democratic endorsements this cycle than in 2012 when they endorsed one candidate; we’re still surprised they stuck with some endorsements like financially-troubled Bill Brough for assembly, the questionable academic credentials of Ling Ling Chang for Assembly were not challenged but Jon Madison, a Democrat running for city council in Laguna Beach, got the full on investigation.
- Alt-weeklies are usually supposed to reflect liberal thinking — except in OC where the OC Weekly is more Libertarian. From Gustavo Arellano opening booing DPOC’s Henry Vandermeir at Original Mike’s to Scott Moxley’s hob-knobbing high fives with Republicans in Irvine, the paper meets progressive radio host Thom Hartmann’s definition of Libertarians as “Republicans who want to smoke weed and patronize prostitutes.” It’ll be interesting to see which paper goes out of business first — the Register or the Weekly.
- The Irvine Republican super majority (and we still hold out hope for Melissa Fox) needs to recognize no one won by a landslide. Choi is a two time mayor with less than 50% of the vote both times. Landslide Jeff Lalloway is clinging to a small lead. There’s no mandate; it was a last second field goal.
- The pitiful number of voters in Irvine made the Republican victory an expensive election per vote for the IEs who reached new levels of lying. The Irvine cop who allowed his badge to be used in a Lalloway flyer ought to be fired. Adding Sharon Wallin to a team of Republicans and using Sukhee Kang to promote a ticket against his friends was amazingly and brazenly unethical. And now the new council needs to protect the hand that paid for all these expensive mailers.
- Irvine Democrats were hurt by a lack of support from people who should have done more: Sukhee Kang should have done more to promote the ticket. Sharon Wallin and Paul Bokota could have lent their names to help the city council candidates and likewise, Agran and Fox should have backed Wallin and Bob Vu’s candidacy. The Irvine Republicans on the city council and the school board are much more aligned with their party’s interest than the Democrats are. I hope that changes.
- Lorri Galloway ran a completely positive campaign in Anaheim; Tom Tait ran a completely negative one that attacked his political enemies. His surrogates went after Galloway hard and she never returned fire. Tait wins big because Galloway’s base didn’t get out to vote because if they had, Dr. Jose Moreno would have done better and so would Donna Acevedo. In Acevedo’s case, she was trounced by two candidates who withdrew from the election weeks ago.
- When Tom Tait speaks of “kindess,” he’s lying. He has no idea what the word means. Let’s see how kind he is to unions negotiating contracts in the years ahead.
- The Angels are probably gone from Anaheim. The Ducks just might follow. But that land near the stadium will be worth so much more to the Tait family now.
- If you’re a Democrat, you shouldn’t be lending your name to helping a Republican candidates when there are party endorsed candidates on the same ballot. Anaheim council member Jordan Brandman and State Senator Lou Correa lent their names to mailers promoting Kris Murray and Gail Eastman over Dr. Jose Moreno. But likewise, Dr. Moreno backed Tom Tait over endorsed candidate Lori Galloway, which makes him equally culpable. So the criticism directed at Brandman by OJ blogger and DPOC central committee member Greg Diamond, who clearly did everything to promote Tait without actually using the words “I endorse Tait” is inconsistent. If you want to stab Brandman in the back for the mailer, get the knives out for Dr. Moreno and one for yourself too. Be consistent.
- I’m praying Jim Righeimer loses in Costa Mesa.
- Shame on those Republican candidates who did not participate in debates or candidate’s forums. In 2010, when Van Tran challenged Loretta Sanchez to debate, Republicans were screaming for her to not be cowardly. Sanchez debated Tran on TV and cleaned his clock. It’s too bad Mimi Walters, Don Wagner, Bill Brough, and a host of other Republicans didn’t feel like they needed to apply for the job and make the case for voters to vote. The Register should be calling these candidates out on that sort of thing, but they don’t.
- Unions could have done more.
- Money mattered in this election. Republican candidates had a lot more of it and got more of it from outside interests. If other the term “business Democrat” didn’t rub certain people the wrong way, imagine what some cold hard cash could have done for our candidates? It’s great to be for social justice, change and reform, but having some money to support candidates who can actually make that happen would go a long way to winning over losing.
- There are rules governing campaign laws — is anyone going to get fined for violating those rules? Likely not.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom.
- Connor Traut tops the ticket for the Centralia School Board
- Gila Jones wins a seat on the Capo Unified School Board
- Valerie Amezcua wins a seat on the Santa Ana Unified School Board
- Al Jabbar tops the ticket for Anaheim Union High School District
- D.R. Heywood wins a spot on the Anaheim City School District
- Katrina Foley gets the top spot in the Costa Mesa City Council race and Jay Humphrey is 18 votes away.
- Kris Beard is re-elected to the Garden Grove City Council.
- Tita Smith is re-elected Mayor of Orange.
So now what?
We do what Democrats did in 2000, 2002, and 2004. We get to work. We rebuild. We recruit good candidates. We build networks to get the vote out. We raise money.
While we congratulate those Republican candidates for their wins, there’s a big difference between winning a political election and actually governing effectively. For example, Righeimer, Tait, and Miguel Pulido are all examples of “winners” who can’t get anything done.
This is Dan at his most readable: Meandering, whiny, and blaming everyone except his pretties. PS, the Weekly’s political leanings have never changed, ever since we trashed Loretta in a cover story in 1996 and destroyed Bob Dornan’s career a couple of months later. But keep deluding yourself that we have—oh, and don’t you have Latinos to be patronizing to somewhere?
I believe Latino patronizing is your domain.
I’m excited about the GOP taking over the Senate. They now have to govern in the open. Put their names on actual legislation.
Something they have not done since Reid became majority leader. They were able to filibuster anonymously at record levels. Heck, they even filibustered their own legislation.
I’m anxious to see how they react when Obama pulls out the veto stamp.
One can only hope they are stupid enough to start impeachment proceedings.
Yes, Lorri kept quiet and didn’t say a mean thing. She had you do that for her. You did a great job!
I was never a part of Lorri’s campaign
Apt title, brilliant analysis. I’m particularly frustrated with the “amazingly brazen and unethical” conduct of Irvine’s GOP candidates; will there be any fallout?
in a word: No.
Diane, “brilliant analysis,” you say? Did you just fall off the trunip truck from the farm? If you believe the propaganda that Dan shovels, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you real cheap.
Well Dan, can’t say I am disappointed or surprised by your rationalization of the election, especially in Irvine. While I predicted it would be campaign money from dark outside forces and deceptive campaign flyers, Republicans learned those tricks right out of the Larry Agran Playbook. Sorry, I didn’t anticipate blame going to those downtrodden Democrats who stayed home and didn’t vote. Perhaps, it might have been simply because they were tired of Larry Agran’s lack of leadership and his mismanagement at the Great Park?
On the votes, in politics 1 vote difference between candidates is the same as 100,000. Acutally with her record of tax abuse, Melissa Fox is lucky to have gotten as many votes as she did. I would expect to see her back in 2016 for another try. She won’t beat Christina Shea but she might snag Beth Krom’s seat.
Had to chuckle on your whine about the “white elephant” Barclay Theater. I realize you wern’t around when it was proposed to the Irvine taxpayers. The City of Irvine was only supposed to provide partial financial support for ten years and the theater was then supposed to operate on it’s own. Shades of government tax dollars for all. Here we are twenty years later and the City is still pumping a million bucks a year into the bottomless pit, with no end in sight. To add insult to injury, the Barclay is so expensive to use, only a few local groups can afford it. It is time to shut off the public spigot to the Barclay and turn it over to a private entity who can turn it into a money maker.
We do agree on one thing. I cannot stand Costa Mesa City Council Member Jim Righeimer, aka “Curly Joe” from the Three Stooges. For what he has done to my former employer, the Costa Mesa Police Department, Righeimer desrves to be run out of town on a rail rather than re-elected. Sadly it looks like he will squeek by and still rule the roost.
I am looking forward to a lot of progress in Irvine City government during the next two years by our new Super-majority Council. But then, any improvement would be appreciated after Larry’s reign of mismanagement. Keep on spinning Dan.
” While I predicted it would be campaign money from dark outside forces and deceptive campaign flyers, Republicans learned those tricks right out of the Larry Agran Playbook.”
Thanks for the confession Pat!
1) “Wasn’t all doom & gloom” : Connor Traut? DR Heywood? Kris Beard? Because they have a D next to their name? I can’t imagine more doom and gloom. I realize you don’t know anything about Traut or Heywood, but how can you cheer Bao against Broadwater while feeling chirpy about Broadwater’s right hand man Beard?
2) Lorri “ran a completely positive campaign” while Tom “went after Galloway hard through his surrogates,” says the pot to the kettles. When and who were these supposed surrogates? A little snide paragraph here or there from Cynthia or Zenger? They are Tom’s surrogates and somehow you are not Lorri’s? How does that work?
Also, Lorri never supported or backed ANY of the council candidates.
I know Connor pretty well; I really didn’t expect him to do as well as he did. D.R. is a good guy. We had a great chat at the Truman dinner. I don’t know Kris that well but I’d argue he’s a better Democrat than you are.
A little snide paragraph here and there? I think you don’t pay attention very well. Exactly who was Lori supposed to back for council? Moreno?
Be careful driving in OC Vern….
Focus, Dan: How are Cynthia or Ryan or Zenger or any of my OJ people Tait “surrogates” and you are not a Lorri surrogate? And also: How do any of the things those people have written criticizing Lorri compare with the ten or twenty pieces you’ve busily written trashing Tait?
There are parts of the bible that your pastor Rick Warren apparently skips over. Gustavo brought up one the other day, Matthew 6:1-4 where you’re not sposta go boasting all over about your charitable giving or else you’ve already gotten your reward that way. How about also the not picking on your brothers and sisters for a “mote” in their eye when you got a pinche “beam” in your own? (Matthew 7:3)
That’ll do for now. But I would eventually like to hear how I am not as good a Democrat as Bruce Broadwater’s loyal lieutenant. Or how you can be cheered by that guy’s victory while still rooting for Bao to eventually beat the old gay-hating crustacean.
You Dems got your ass kicked but good.
Boa barely lost. When you consider GG is heavily Rebublican with lots of old Vietnamese voting Republican, GG will do Dem and soon.
Irvine’s lurch to the right is mystifying since most of the residents aren’t hardcore right wing fanatics. Irvine has done well will moderate Republicans and Dems.
Haha, I don’t blame you for assuming Bruce Broadwater is a Republican, unfortunately he and Miguel Pulido are not, as much as they seem like they should be. Maybe Dan thinks Broadwater’s a Republican too; generally just having the D next to your name is enough to make Dan a fan (see: Brandman, Beard, Traut, Heywood…)
I know Broadwater is a D; I prefer Bao. Honestly Vern, with the Republicans you adore I find it amusing you’re giving me grief.
I hold my head high finding Democrats like Broadwater and Pulido to be an embarrassment to what my Party stands for, and finding some Republicans such as Tait and Sandy Genis to be fine, honorable public servants that are often better choices than their opponents.
Sorry, but Tait ain’t honorable; he just gives you the time of day
No, Galloway did not run a positive campaign. She ran NO campaign, other than her husband running around reportedly threatening those he thinks put Kring signs too close to his property. Real positive.
You want to claim you were not part of Galloway’s campaign, therefore the venom you spewed all over some good people who deserved better doesn’t stain Lorri’s designer dress. But you want to blame Tait for anything anyone who agrees with him has ever said. Honestly it makes me sad to see anyone so completely jaded that you are unable to conceive of others fighting for our communities out of love for the community and not because we were ordered to by those in power or because someone is making a buck on it. Pure, grassroots community service is something very, very cool to participate in, and I get the feeling it has been a long time since you have even seen such a thing. I am truly sorry for that.
Dan, can we address this bizarre statement?
“The Angels are probably gone from Anaheim. The Ducks just might follow. But that land near the stadium will be worth so much more to the Tait family now.”
There are several mathematical impossibilities wedged in here, let’s see if we can extract them for review.
A) The only reason Moreno can even threaten to leave is because a 3 year opt out extension was given to his team by 4 complete idiots who lined up with the recommendation by Gafcon-employed Charles Black, claiming that a Forbes listed BILLIONAIRE would be rash, irrational, and unreasonable, acting out of emotion and panic in his handling of the most valuable asset in his portfolio, and therefore leave the sure thing he has in Anaheim for a “maybe” in a city whose population, financial resources, and political will all lack the ability to underwrite his bid for public goodies. So HOW do you suppose Tait is trying to ”make” the Angels leave when he is the only one on that dais voting against giving Moreno the option to leave? You are too smart to play that knee-jerk reaction game, Dan. Stop it.
B) Dan, even WITH that opt-out extension which was stupidly given to Moreno in the WORST breach of fiduciary duty in the history of Anaheim, WHERE are the Angels going before 2019? In an age of CEQA, where is Moreno going to find a parcel of that size, get it entitled, funded (by someone other than HIM or there is no point in leaving his free stadium in Anaheim) get through the lawsuits certain to follow from Escalade Moms doing sudden calculations on how many kiddie league soccer fields will be displaced by the stadium and parking lot, not to mention the traffic, light and noise pollution of something that is a KNOWN loss leader for the communities that host them. And let’s get it all designed down to the toilet stalls and electrical panels, so the Planning Commission can review every last detail including signage and light studies for the parking lot. Yep, let’s get through ALL THAT before 2019 so Moreno can move his team, just because he is pissed off that Tom Tait didn’t say yes on the first try. Again, I considered you smarter than that. BTW-wouldn’t the announcement of the Los Angeles Angels of Tustin make you HAPPY? It saves you a trip on the freeways, you can go to more games after a long day at work. Hey wait! I have an idea! Make a deal that all residual revenue from the Tustin Angels that spills over into Irvine can underwrite the Barclay Theater. Win-win for you, Dan!
C) How does the Tait family property, which is across the other side of Orangewood and down a block, become MORE VALUABLE when the surrounding land is NOT developed? I have seen deals made to develop property to increase real estate values, but I have never seen anything become MORE VALUABLE for NOT being developed. It’s a parking lot, not a nature preserve. Please, explain that, because somehow the FPPC missed it when they ruled Tait is NOT conflicted out.
D) As an aside, while Tait does not have a visible motive of personal benefit for NOT developing the land around the Stadium, those who DO have a great big motive would be the development team that already owns real estate contiguous with the Stadium District development parcel. And the entire executive team of THAT development company spontaneously broke out in financial support for Kris Murray’s campaign, in exactly equal amounts of uniform donations, one after the other after the other, about a week after the September meeting last year in which Murray led the way to develop the land RIGHT NEXT TO THEIRS. Talk about coincidence! Murray brings up the stadium lease out of the blue, Murray tries to have the negotiations shunted over to a back room Ad Hoc Committee, (twice) Murray leads the charge on the most outrageous of the claims during the September 3 and 24 meetings, Murray is working with Forde, Mollrich, and Pulido on the JEDI RDA deal that would underwrite the development of the Stadium District, Murray is in bed with Disney who also has a streetcar connecting to this development deal (which her mentor Pringle ALSO is up to his eyeballs in) Murray just recently insisted that Anaheim needs to KEEP using the CSL report they admitted to be bogus and is now shown to be the product of conflict of interest, Murray wants to bring back Gafcon’s Charles Black, and oh yeah, Murray is your new best friend. Tell us again that Tait is scoring the deal here…
E) And now the Ducks will leave too? I don’t even know when the Ducks’ contract is up, but considering they just put in new renovations and an addition to the Center, I’m not sure they are going anywhere just because you are personally pissed off at the leader of a city you don’t live in. Maybe you know the Samuelis better than I do (I have never met them) and in your close personal relationship they have confided to you that they too wish to give up a basically free venue nestled into major freeways and new transit station for a site as yet to be determined. I don’t know how anyone runs a successful business that way, but if you say so, Dan.
NOW let’s discuss the REAL problem, because it isn’t Tait, it isn’t Moreno picking up the team and leaving, and I have no idea from which hat you have pulled the Ducks instead of the rabbit, but COME ON. No the real problem here is that a LOT of moving parts have been assembled over the last 5 years of so, including Disney and a shell corp tied to Irvine company insiders, and Forde and Mollrich and Gafcon and all kinds of BIG BIG MONEY was supposed to fit together in perfect harmony, with Curt Pringle taking his percentage off the top and the Chamber getting their win bonus for participating. And the longer this mess drags on, with an honest Mayor shining sunlight on the scurrying creatures exposed with each lifting of each rock, the greater the chance that Moreno gets cold feet on being the middle man (his attorneys being WAY sharper than Rutan and Tucker and can easily figure out what happens when you mix defrauding taxpayers with interstate commerce and wire and mail transfers of funds and Moreno understanding Pringle has no love for him after the Los Angeles thing so he doesn’t care if Moreno gets left holding the bag) OR…the longer this drags on the closer that pain in the ass Ward woman gets to figuring out the pieces and telling someone other than the useless District Attorney about it. Unless she already HAS?!
Dan, save yourself and get as far from these creatures as you can while you can.
“No, Galloway did not run a positive campaign. She ran NO campaign . . .”
100% correct.
All sizzle, no steak.
You’re wrong Ryan. Sorry your disappointed that Galloway refused to engage the Clown Car. Galloway walked neighborhoods for months. If her base came out to vote, Dr. Moreno would have been elected too.
Keep calling people names, Dano. Working well for you.
The numbers don’t lie. I’ll say it again: all sizzle, no steak.
and the name calling on the blog you contribute to doesn’t call people names? Hypocrite.
Get a dictionary, Dan. That doesn’t make me a hypocrite.
Even if it did, it doesn’t justify your bad behavior.
Try walking the high road instead of looking for excuses to slum it with your ethics. You might enjoy it.
hyp·o·crite
/ˈhipəˌkrit/
noun
noun: hypocrite; plural noun: hypocrites
a person who indulges in hypocrisy.
synonyms: pretender, dissembler, deceiver, liar, pietist, sanctimonious person, plaster saint
yep
Oh, Dan. Know thyself.
For example: Write any checks lately?
ANYWAY. The point stands. Galloway failed to provide substance to her campaign, favoring appearance instead.
on the checks part, yes actually….why that’s an issue, I have no idea.
You’re wrong on Galloway; substance provided via her walking neighborhoods. She participated in candidate forums. She participated in numerous events around the city and hosted several. But again, your little clown car isn’t her target market and would never be.
Why am I not surprised that you don’t get it? Phone a friend.
Fine, Dan. She ran an issue based campaign. She got absolutely obliterated. Guess her issues sucked.
(That’s worse. Go with my argument. It sounds better.)
She lost because her base didn’t turn out. If they had, Moreno would have won and Acevedo might have beaten two guys no longer running. I get it Ryan. You don’t.
Well, this oughta be good.
If she ran a substantive campaign that was well resourced, why didn’t her base show up?
Great question; and one that Sharon Quirk Silva and Jose Solorio are also seeking answers for
Sharon let her opponent control the content of the campaign. As a result, all we got in Fullerton was a wealth of negativity. Her supporters, absent a real reason to show up, didn’t vote. That, and a pretty excited base from her opponent, explains her eleven point loss.
I don’t know what dream world you’re living in, but no “her base didn’t show” has nothing to do with the THIRTY FIVE POINT destruction of the Galloway campaign.
There was no base, or there was no campaign. Take your pick.
Sharon’s opponent lied about Sharon’s record; transgendered bathrooms is a major concern in Fullerton? Watch Young Kim disappear to a corner and deliver nothing for your district her entire term
Lorri’s base? You mean Democrats? Most of the Anaheim Democrats I know (which is MANY) voted for Tom … some loudly and proudly, some quietly, not wanting to hurt Lorri’s feelings. Lorri’s base DID come out … for Tom. And district elections! (How do you spin THAT one?)
I’m sure Tom will continue voting no on everything in Anaheim while his business pursues all sort of corporate cronyism opps in Garden Grove and Tustin; the results of the actual election are considerably lower than in previous years Vern. There’s nothing to spin; look at the numbers.
. . . And?
You’ve got a real knack for drifting off topic.
Your “base didn’t show” doesn’t explain a thirty five point pounding. Try again.
can you explain the poor overall turnout in Anaheim period. Tait got fewer votes than his last election. It was Lori’s lowest totals every fro a city wide race. So the people of Anaheim have re-elected a leader who cannot lead and will get nothing done. Nice going.
Yeah, 2010 was a different year you’ll recall.
Look, Dan, this is not hard. Simple direct question: Are you seriously contending that turnout is the reason Lorri Galloway lost by THIRTY FIVE POINTS?
This is the biggest beat down of an endorsed Democrat in Anaheim this century.
Poised to win, indeed.
Ryan — you’re right. It’s not that hard. In 2010, Anaheim voters cast 61,237 ballots for mayor. On Tuesday, (so far) 33,243 have been counted (a little more than half). Tait got 33,340 votes in 2010 but just under 18,000 this go-around. Can you explain why Tait lost 15,000+ votes? Perhaps its because 15,000+ voters feel he sucked and wasn’t worth their vote this time. Biggest drop of an mayoral re-election in Anaheim history.
Hey, anyone know the secret code needed to get Dan to answer a question?
Let’s try donkey. Am I warm?
Thirty five points because of turnout. Utterly ridiculous.
15,000 votes because of turnout…get a clue Ryan
And that has what to do with the THIRTY FIVE POINT wallop? You contending that Galloway shoulda got 90 % of that to squeak by with a win?
That’s impossible to take seriously. Explain the beat down. Turnout doesn’t do it because it simply doesn’t add up.
Notice how just above, Dan assumes Ryan is defending the indefensible Young Kim? Just cuz he knows Ryan’s a Republican. How predictable everyone must seem to Dan, and how like a broken clock he’s usually way off.
“If her base came out to vote.”
The passive voice is a cop out. Say it with me.
Lorri failed to motivate her base.
That is it. You cannot blame voters for their lackluster candidate being less of a draw for the evening than Dancing with Real Housewives of the Zombie Apocalypse on TV. Galloway was less interesting to voters than a cold brew and a remote control, OR she was less credible than the Mayor she tried to unseat who DID manage to motive his “base” so they showed up to vote.
Tait received thousands fewer votes than he did in 2010. Explain that.
Cynthia —
If you’ll recall the land surrounding the park is worth more without the team; the Tait family owns a piece of property adjacent to the stadium which is why Tait could not participate in Angels negotiation per the FPPC. As for CEQA. please research how fast the Sacramento Kings new arena was approved. If there’s a will, there is a way, and, I’m told from a baseball source, Moreno can’t stand Tait for reneging on a handshake agreement. Where can Arte go? Dodger Stadium for a few years until he gets a stadium deal he wants. I’m sure Magic Johnson won’t mind collecting rent for a few years.
If the Angels leave, Anaheim just won’t be seen as a desirable place for any pro team. It becomes another Portland, OR, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City…a one sport wonder. Ducks’ attendance during the season isn’t that great (I’ve been to three games this season). Fans should come out. All it takes is a shiny new arena and poof….
It would sure be nice to have an NBA and NFL team here, but not with Tait at the helm. But I’m sure he’d be glad to have his company build a new arena in Garden Grove for the right price.
You ask me a number of questions and I repeatedly ask one of you which you never answer — why is CATER a part of the lawsuit over the San Diego Convention Center? You want people from outside Anaheim to stay out of your city’s business — why are you sticking your nose in Sa Diego. What possible interest do Anaheim taxpayers have in that project?
The coalition behind Galloway’s 2008 council victory was preoccupied with the passage of Measures L and M, and as such made a short-term deal with Tait. Reasonable enough as it turns out… So Galloway was never serious competition for the Mayor. Likewise, Lucille Kring was never a serious candidate because OCGOP wanted to stay focused on Irvine. Again, reasonable enough as it turns out…
But for whatever reason, Tait spent a lot of his own money to run up his numbers when he obviously was safe in any event. Perhaps he was trying to up the value of his endorsement by getting Vanderbilt elected for a couple years. But I mean, big deal… It’s a new game in 2016 and I anticipate that I will no longer be the only one taking Anabeim seriously by that point. A Tait endorsement will ultimately be pretty weak when put up against actual efforts on behalf of the parties.
Tait was given a pass, nevertheless, he payed dearly for it. Smooth.
These are some of the factors. Oc was hit more by the recession than San Diego. San Diego has recovered while OC still has not recovered the jobs. The Counties that went Republican are interior counties and OC because they tend to be Republican but also because of the recession factors as well. The Coastal counties with the exception of OC. In the long run L and M could helped Democrats its takes time for the Mayor What is interesting is Placer actually went more Democratic than Orange County it usually is the reverse but Orange County has the Register which hits how high housing is in California and the fact Orange County doesn’t have the fracking jobs o Texas is with discontent here like across the country the Republicans win.
Alt-weeklies are usually supposed to reflect liberal thinking — except in OC where the OC Weekly is more Libertarian. From Gustavo Arellano opening booing DPOC’s Henry Vandermeir at Original Mike’s to Scott Moxley’s hob-knobbing high fives with Republicans in Irvine, the paper meets progressive radio host Thom Hartmann’s definition of Libertarians as “Republicans who want to smoke weed and patronize prostitutes.” In Orange County a libertarian these days is going back to mean a John Bircher. Ron Paul has lots of ties with the John Birch Society and the Koch Brothers daddy was a john
bircher.
The dems didn’t get their ass kicked because about 25 yeas ago the Republicans got even higher percentages not just locally but in the state. Brown only lost by 13 percent back in the 1990’s Wilson got 68 percent of the votes while Neil only got 56 percent and a further right candidate would not got higher. The most far right presidential candidate got only 55 percent Barry Goldwater while Nixon and Reagan less to the right got over 60 percent Granted, Goldwater was less tp the right on social issues than Reagan and somewhat Nixon.
I mean Wilson got 68 percent of the votes while Neil K got 56 percent of the vote in Orange County which is way down compared to the 1990’s. Hope the Dems win in Costa Mesa and its grat they won the mayor of Orange.
Dan – The election results in Irvine were disappointing. However it’s not over, the next issue of the Irvine Community News and Review is going to blow the lid off all those last minute mailers put out by the anti Agran IEs. They will do another profile of mail pieces with Pinocchios or stars give to the mailers based upon their truthfulness. In fact I have written a letter to the editor in the Open Forum that will detail my feelings about all those underhanded and dishonest tactics throughout the campaign. Dan, you are a good writer, maybe you could get a guest editorial or something maybe even with a cool illustration of you in the next edition of “Irvine’s new community newspaper.”
Bobby — I have contributed to both the Irvine Word News and the Daily Pilot before.
I believe the Irvine Police Association is filing a complaint against Councilman Lalloway but I’m waiting for additional details. Mayor Kang will be letting me know when his lawsuit is filed.
This wasn’t a landslide victory. Our Mayor and council should recognize that
No Dan. I’m talking about the Irvine Community News and Review. You should write a piece for that – I submitted a letter to the editor. I’m sure it will be printed because the “editor” wrote that he AND his staff “read every letter submitted and select the ones” that are the best. So again why don’t you submit something. Their print runs are for 40,000 to be mailer and 20,000 to be hand distributed so I’m sure more people would get a chance to hear your views on what happened in the election than just those who read this blog.
The policy the Irvine Community News & Rview hs for Letters to the Editor is identical to the policy that the OC Register and the LA Times ha. I decide who I write for thank you very much. I’m not your monkey.
“I’m not your monkey.” Wow, even nasty to the friendly folks who venture by here. Must have been a tough week eh?
The comments weren’t friendly.
Ryan, the secret word to make Dan speak is “subcontract” but the answer will be the fully vetted and entirely scripted version of events signed off by one of the Masters of the Universe or their lackeys. Mommy, Daddy, when i grow up I want to be a mouthpiece. That’s nice, son.
Dan, I have never kept secrets about CATER’s motives or actions. I am a member of both CATER and IOC, and both organizations are opposing pretty much the same bond arguments in both cities, so it made sense to team up and share strength and resources. Now, how about you share why you get wadded up about a version of events in which the Angels move CLOSER to your home base, where you too may share in the “economic opportunity” that the Angels bring to their host city? You do understand that makes no sense, right?
Actually it makes about as much sense as the theory that the Mayor of California’s 10th largest city is deliberately trashing a perfectly good deal that has the enthusiastic backing of the public and the entire remaining City Council, blocking the other 4 votes with his “magic mayor vote” like Jack’s magic bean, all so that property he no longer owns and has been cleared by the FPPC over becomes incrementally of more value based on your philosophy of real estate? Oh wait-OF COURSE that makes sense, it is brought to us by the SAME Mayor who is singlehandedly destroying Anaheim’s tourism industry so the TWO Garden Grove resort projects his company is nominally involved with (engineering, not finance, and not an investor) are NOT made worth more either?
And his magic voting power that not only erases the value of the other four, it seems to have made the other four votes in favor of the MOUs disappear completely….how does that work?
The land in which the stadium resides is worth more without a stadium; valuable property adjacent to land worth more, is now worth more. It’s not a hard concept. Who needs a council majority when Tait can get you to file a lawsuit to stop anything he doesn’t like.
Dan, you do understand that the comparison of the stadium land with and without the team is based on ability to build something else WITHOUT THE PARKING ENCUMBRANCES? The team goes away, the encumbrance goes away, someone can build something of more value to the City than the Stadium which none of us will go for (especially the Mayor and you cannot give ONE quote in which he WANTS to do that) because for some of us there are things more important than development money. On the flip side, the land owned by the Tait children is NOT encumbered by team parking requirements, they could tear down the industrial building tomorrow and put up something else, and that does not change with the stadium’s presence or absence. Apples and oranges, or in your case fruit cocktail with everything thrown in hoping something will appeal to the masses.
How about this? You find a quote, a direct quote from Tom Tait meaning you get to watch a few Council meetings and be exposed to reality instead of the Kool Aid fed to you by Arnold, Stu, and Matt, and you find me ONE direct quote from Tom Tait in which he wants to make the Angels leave, and is not merely supporting KRIS MURRAY’s demand for staff to determine demolition costs and identify a revenue source for the demolition costs on the Stadium, NOT TAIT. Find me ONE DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE MAYOR and I will make a donation to the Eli Home myself. Anaheim.net has the meetings, try September 3 when they approved the MOUs, September 24 when Tait showed the CSL report was a 14 page load of marshmallow fluff, or even September 30 when your buddy Jordan led the way to strip Tait of his agendizing power with a sick look of glee on his face equivalent to the rotten kid on the corner pulling the wings off butterflies. Really, go check the meetings, they are incredible to watch. And ONLY when you witness first hand what is really happening In Anaheim should you report on the “facts” and if you find ONE QUOTE in context I will make the donation to Eli Home. $100 do it?
oh WAIT! Murray asked for demo costs and demanded staff identify funding sources to demo the Stadium? Isn’t Murray also the one who supported giving Moreno the additional 3 year opt-out so he COULD leave? Tait opposed that, Tait was the ONLY one to oppose opening the cage door and letting the birdie fly, prior to their insane Lease Amendment (which was NOT cancelled with the MOUs but CATER IS STILL FIGHTING) the team was going NOWHERE before 2016. It sounds like Kris Murray is the one who wants the team to leave, perhaps so those donating to her campaign can develop the land contiguous with what they already control?
So Dan, explain how Tait can want the team to leave if he was the lone vote against the mechanism to let them leave? How Tait benefits when his kids’ land is NOT encumbered by parking obligations thus the presence or absence of the team has no equivalent bearing on the Tait property, and again, WHY are YOU so worked up when the move to Tustin is a direct benefit to you personally and perhaps financially? With all the economic benefit moving south to Tustin some of it is likely to spill into Irvine and help your own tax base, like I said, identify the funding for the theater (I also have a soft spot for the arts, I would support that use of tax dollars if you proposed it.) Is this one of those Liberal, “we have to pass the bill to find out whats in it” things we conservatives don’t get? No, no, we don’t want the team and all of its benefits down by US, you stay up there in Anaheim or we will call people names…is that the game? I don’t get it. Sorry, I just don’t get it.
Go find a quote or stow it on poking the Mayor over the Angels leaving. You can disagree over whether the development deal is good or bad but to say he wants the team to leave is simply not intelligent, and you are smarter than that. You are also too smart to accept as gospel the spin offered by others, so give me first hand accounts of the proof Tait is kicking out the angels. Help you buddy out, she has no influence to peddle and will need the donations.
So much to cover. First off, yes I do understand the comparison of the stadium land with and without the team and the parking encumbrances. And Tait has never said he wants the Angels to go, but there’s a difference in his words and his actions.
The city has had multiple failed attempts at developing the land (I seem to remember a Sportstown USA thing that never happened). But let’s be clear here. A framework for negotiations was put forward, and tait rejects it as bad for the city but offers no alternative plan. Arte Moreno was expected by Tait to spend (risk?) hundreds of millions of his money to develop the land near the stadium without a cent of taxpayer dollars being placed at rish. Moreno’s people told the LA Times they’d share profits with the city (without saying how much). Tait has offered no plans for developing that site other than suggesting a 50-50 profit sharing plan with Moreno. No specifics. No alternate agreement that Tait could share with Moreno. Tait even asked a sportswriter at the LA Times what he thought about developing the parking lot.
Since Arte and Tait are both “businessmen”– it’s clear trust is key to making any deal and Moreno no longer trusts Tait. The deal Tait seeks is not found in today’s professional sports industry — just ask those people in Atlanta who are surrendering a 16 year old downtown stadium for Cobb County with no provision to call the team “The Cobb County Braves.” You do understand that keeping the development deal separate from the Angels allows Arte and Anaheim to share in the profits alone instead of sharing it with every franchise in Major League Baseball.
Tait asked for the value of the land with and without the team which reports say angered Moreno. So Kris Murray asking for demolition costs is more than a fair question because once the team leaves, you’re on the hook for that. You could hope the Rams come back, but since they can’t get the deal they want in St. Louis, do you really think they would think Tait would be receptive to the team coming back on terms they want?
The property Tait gave to his kids to avoid an FPPC conflict of interest (just how does those kids pay the taxes on that?) will be worth more if the team leaves, the stadium is demolished and a new development comes in — but I ask what new development? Is there a competing plan we’re all not aware of?
Let me correct you on one more thing. I last spoke with Matt Cunningham just before the election; we chatted about the Irvine elections. I have met Arnold Forde once about six years ago. My interaction with him is a single handshake. I saw Stu Mollrich briefly on election night and said hello. I have spoken with Stu about 4 times in the past two years, mostly on issues dealing with clean technology. So please do me a favor and tie your tin foil conspiracy laden hat on nice and tight when you fantasize about who is feeding me what information.
And continue to be Tait’s foil and file lawsuits against Anaheim whenever Tait doesn’t get his way. You do know the city will recover the costs of litigation against CATER; it’s not legal fees but costs associated with defending against your lawsuits. If you were so righteous on these suits Cynthia, why does CATER have such a small membership list? If you got $10 for every vote Denis Fitzgerald got in the last election, you could make a case for popular support. The last time I stopped in at the Ink and Bean was during Anaheim’s Farmers Market. I stopped and ask folks a few questions: 1. Are you from Anaheim? Do you live here now? (mostly affirmative’s to both questions). 3. Do you know what CATER is? (no one knew a thing). 4. Do you support CATER’s lawsuits against the city to stop the convention center expansion that will create hundreds of jobs? (Resounding no’s). The average Anaheim resident doesn’t know who you are and what you do.
Tell you what, if you find a quote from the Mayor with a specific plan to keep the Angels and specifics on developing the property, I’ll make a $100 contribution to the charity of your choice.
The reason that people did not vote for Lorri is because they have finally figured out that she only uses people to her benefit. She used Anna Drive and the people who live there to make herself look good and yet when Yesenia was arrested, she failed to show up and help her. She turned her back on her. She also used the grieving mothers and has since turned her back on them. It won’t be long before she dumps the kids that have been helping her too. Something better will come along.
May be some people got tired of seeing the posters of Lorri wearing fine clothes and showing her pretty self instead of telling people what she would do for the community. May be they heard of Lorri’s husband, Mike, threatening neighbors for allegedly political signs too close to hers. As far as the statement “If Lorri had won so would Moreno” that is completely BS. Moreno is a far better human being than Lorri. Thank God he does not reflect her evilness.
Lorri isn’t evil. Her base didn’t come out. And the same people who would have cast votes for her would have cast them for Dr. Moreno
“Lorri Galloway ran a completely positive campaign in Anaheim; Tom Tait ran a completely negative one that attacked his political enemies.”
Dan, Tom only pointed out the records of Murray and Eastman, which are abhorrent.
I thought Tom was running for mayor and not city council? Why do you suppose Tom never addresses his poor judgement in asking Doug Pettibone to run? Or did Tom know and thought no one would find out?
Dan, do yourself and everyone a favor and SLINK AWAY from Anaheim. You were SO FAR out of your depth…
and give a free pass to a tea bagger conservative mayor? not happening
Vern, you obviously missed the sarcasm in my answer
There is that unfriendly tea b***er term again.
And in reference to one of the nicest, most honest guys you could ever hope to meet! Just cuz he’s fiscally conservative…
STFU Vern – you use that term as well.
Only in reference to crazy-a** f**ks, though.
Let me know when Tait actually has a plan for anything other than saying no.
Her base came out and voted for Tait. Accept it and move on.
“The policy the Irvine Community News & Review hs for Letters to the Editor is identical to the policy that the OC Register and the LA Times ha.” It is not the policy of the Register or Times to create and print fake letters from people who do not exist – when it printed a fake letter to appeal to racists and xenophobic voters that Agran’s slate would stop foreigners from buying houses with cash – that is gutter politics – appealing to racists that yours is the slate to stop “foreigners” The entire anchor of the Agran campaign was the lie that people were receiving a community newspaper – where is the “newspaper” now? Where is the “staff” that reviewed and selected only the “best letters?” The fake paper showed their contempt for the people of Irvine – Agran started out as Lenin who turned into Stalin – you are the only dopy liberal friend/apologist he has left… he icepicked all his former friends. But you are a successful PR consultant so you must have made a sizeable amount of money running interference for Agran all these years – you are a successful Democrat PR specialists. $200 million rolling around, you must have gotten a slice of that to provide some forum of PR right? You’ve done so much cheerleading so much blogging – they surly would have thrown you a bone for your talent and skills and loyalty —
That isn’t what the “racist” letter said at all. As for Chinese nationals who are buying homes here and paying cash, my new next door neighbor is one. We love them because they paid top dollar. I have a Chinese translator app on my iPad so we can communicate. The key is simple sentences. So that “racist” comment is actually factual.
Where is the newspaper now? Probably on hiatus until 2 years from now. What happened to the five day daily Irvine World News.
I have not made a dollar from Agran for doing PR. My practice is not based on politics or government. The only money we’ve ever received was funds for ads from Agran’s ticket. This was the first year in this blogs 8 year history we received an ad from that slate. But none of the ads have any bearing on coverage.
You know Bobby. There are gracious winners and bad winners. You won. Congrats. Perhaps you can explain IEs that suggest Sharon Wallin and Sukhee Kang backed Republicans. Or that Jeff Lalloway had the support of Irvine Police when he didn’t. But to call Larry Agran a racist just makes you sound like a low information voter.
If you want to get a rough idea of how much Republican obstruction costs our economy, one way to do that is to compare how our GDP has grown historically in years when the GOP has had the ability to obstruct Democratic policy with years when it has not- http://politicsthatwork.com/graphs/gdp-performance-divided-government
The area between that blue line and that green line gives you a pretty good idea of how much economic growth we’ve lost to Republican-created gridlock in modern times. It looks like we as a people decided to keep throwing money down that rat hole at least until 2016. What is crucial is that we stem the problem in 2016 rather than having to wait all the way until 2020.
I can provide a bit of background on HB because I live there and was involved with Erik Peterson’s campaign. Boardman and Shaw lost because the HB Community Forum was created in April 2014 and folks there started to ask questions of all the candidates. Joe and Connie simply refused to engage their constituents which made them get questioned even more. Then, the people started really taking a look at their actual record and they were found wanting, especially Joe Shaw.
So, the phrase “Joe Shaw and Connie Boardman deserved better in Huntington Beach. The negative campaign against both of them was shameful.” is totally false. Voters took a hard look at their records and more importantly, their terrible attitudes towards their constituents and they were kicked to the curb for it, justifiably.
I hang out at the HB Community Forum, as sort of their loyal leftist voice, and I can attest that there’s some truth to what Michael says here (Hi Mike.) There were a lot of folks angry at their fairly conservative town being led by a few liberal environmentalists who seemed (and maybe sometimes even were) arrogant and out of touch.
But it’s just as true that a million dollars was spent against them, and FOR the three candidates who came out on top, by an unwelcome new alliance of developers, building trades unions, police and fire unions, the chamber, mobile home park owners, and Poseidon, all of whom had reasons to hate Team HB.
If this million dollars weren’t an important factor, if it was just this conservative populist groundswell that did it, we would have had honest conservatives Erik Peterson, Lyn Semeta and Hek Valdez come out on top (and I would be less upset with that) rather than developer handmaidens Barbara Delgleize, Billy O’Connell and Mike Posey.
The coming years are gonna be more of a challenge than ever – keeping Poseidon at bay, slowing down high density development, preserving Bolsa Chica, and getting any semblance of justice for mobile home owners. I hope the HBCF folks (many of whom care about these issues) join forces with us lefties – we’re gonna need each other to make this new majority do the right thing.
Hi Vern !! we’re in full agreement !! if the rumors are true, and we’ll certainly see soon, the chamber folks spent an egregious amount of money to control the Council. But, i’ve never seen an issue like high density unite the tribes in HB…if they think they are going to push more of it just because they got elected I have a feeling they’ll be disappointed…do you agree ? i’ll lock arm in arm with every citizen to put a halt on high density.